BASEBALL. After a first half of the season below expectations, Big Bill believes he has come out of his lethargy. “We regained our confidence at bat and we’re ready to start the final stretch before the playoffs,” said the team’s head coach, Jonathan Breton, with confidence.
Currently, the Big Bill has a record of 10 wins and 14 losses, while in the middle of the season, his average was less than .500. “Of course we would have liked to be a little more efficient, admits Jonathan Breton. In past years, our weak moment was at the end of the season. There, we experienced this lethargy in the first half of the calendar. We hope that is behind us. »
During the first weeks of action in the Major League Baseball of Quebec (LBMQ), the Big Bill lost the services of its #1 pitcher, Samuel Poliquin, who decided to continue his professional career with the Aigles de Trois-Rivières, in the Frontier League. The injury of Cédric Vallières and certain absences of Mathieu Boutin also hurt the record of the representatives of Coaticook. “However, we discovered great talents in Alexandre Pharand and Émile Bellemare. They did a very good job,” said Breton.
“What you need to know is that despite our defeats, with the exception of one or two games where we escaped it by just over five points, we were never too much downgraded by our opponents. Fans who come to the stadium always get their money’s worth and they are given a good show. »
The arrival of veteran Vincent Guay at the end of the season and the signing of an infielder from Montreal, in the person of Alexandre Guay, punctuated the news of the last few days at the Big Bill. “It will bring us some depth, which never hurts for a formation. All that remains is to have healthy arms on the mound. At bat, things are going really well. You will also have to avoid the infirmary. I therefore intend to return to a record of .500 or even higher than that by the end of the season,” said the Big Bill head coach.
The final stretch of the regular season will still be difficult. There are many games to be resumed due to unenviable weather conditions at the start of the calendar. “We will play on a Tuesday and a Thursday, which means that we will have a streak of four games in five days,” he explains.
The playoffs will be played the same way this year, that is, the top three teams in each division will receive a bye to the next round, while teams #4 and #5 will have to s to face as a curtain raiser. “If we hold on, we’ll get to the second round without having to go through a 2 of 3,” said the Big Bill coach, who sits third in his division at the time of writing.
