French Athletes Personify FIBI Motto

by Jonathan Weaver

It didn’t matter to France’s club baseball team how many runs Armstrong Legion scored yesterday morning in Ford City.

Nor did it matter that they were playing six innings in 90-degree heat.

They were playing “for the love of the game” – just as the Freeport International Baseball Invitational intended.

French Coaches Gaetan Le Poupom and Detlev Bernard said the 12-member team – ironically named the Hawks playing against athletes that regularly play for the Armstrong High Riverhawks – traveled a total of 17 hours (from Paris to Frankfurt, Germany to New York by plane and from New York to Freeport by car) to participate in the tournament.

“It was a long trip,” Le Poupom said.

France plays eight games before Saturday evening’s USA vs. International game – and at all six participating fields.

Ray Smith, of Buffalo Township, hosted the French coaches during their first trip to the Freeport International Baseball Invitational in 2013. He is one of four host families during the week of tournament baseball.

“We’ve stayed in touch with them ever since they left, and they actually made contact with us before the international team did,” Smith said. “They talked to us last winter and told us they were thinking about coming and were in the process of fundraising.

“They wanted to know if they could come stay and we said ‘Sure!’ It’s a lot of fun – it’s as rewarding for us as it is for them.”

Smith’s grandsons played baseball at Freeport, and one of which plays for the Freeport River Pirates this week.

So far, the French athletes have toured Pittsburgh at Mount Washington and the Strip District, as well as a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, and will attend a Cleveland Indians baseball game before flying home.
“They don’t have any professional teams – soccer is the predominant sport in Europe,” Smith said. “It’s a great way to see the city.”

The French athletes do not have school-sponsored teams, but rely on club teams to compete.

Left-hander Nicholas Olivire was the starting pitcher for the Hawks, and induced a pop-out and fly-out before the Armstrong Legion began scoring.

Olivire, 17, said playing against Armstrong Legion was difficult because there is not a lot of competition in France.

Nicholas played alongside his older brother, Juilliume.

Pitchers for both teams had a pitch count to determine how long they would throw during the game. Le Poupom said nine of the 12 French players also pitch from the mound.

Dakota Sunday, of Blairsville, induced two strikeouts in his first inning of work against France.

Usually a closer or shortstop for the varsity Blairsville Bobcats, Sunday was recruited last week after playing against Armstrong Legion.

“I love baseball – the more baseball, the better,” Sunday said.

He said it didn’t matter if he played an American team or an international team – even though it was his first time playing against an international opponent.

“Same ball, same rules,” Sunday said.

As well as his four innings on the mound, Sunday also contributed three hits at the plate.

Sunday also recruited his friend, Omar Ward – an athlete from Kiski Prep – to play in the first few games. Ward leaves to play in another travel tournament Thursday.

Coach Ed Morris explained a half-dozen players are not available to play after tomorrow because of a local Palomino tournament so he recruited players from Blairsville, Indiana and Kiski – athletes who were just opponents earlier this summer.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.