Lords Baseball Softball

Welcome!

Welcome to the English language site of the La Madeleine Lords, a baseball and softball club in Metropolitan Lille (France). This site is not regularly updated, however you may write to us (in English or French) at lords.bs@gmail.com for information about our baseball and softball teams.

Come and join us! New members of all ages and skill-levels are welcome any time of year!

New Year's Series 2008

After two days of competition at a frantic pace, BAT Paris took home the title in their first participation in the tournament.

2008 Final Rankings
1st - BAT Paris
2nd - London Meteors/Angels
3rd - Gent Knights
4th - Caen Hornets
5th - Ronchin Dragons
6th - La Madeleine Lords
7th - Rouen Huskies
8th - Tournai Celtics

The quality of play was outstanding and the participants were in excellent spirits all weekend long.
Many thanks to all of the teams from near and far, who played the game and helped make the tournament a success!
A full recap of the tournament with photos and videos will be along soon!

6th Annual New Year's Series

New Year's Series: 26 & 27 January 2008

The Lords will be holding their sixth annual New Year's softball tournament at the Romarin Sports Complexe on 26 & 27 January 2008.

The New Year's Series is held every year in January, and is arguably the most competitive fastpitch softball tounament in France held north of Paris. In a short time, it has grown from a small regional competition to an event attracting teams in recent years from as far away as Paris and Rouen, as well as Belgian clubs in Frameries, Wanze and Tournai. This year's edition will also have a team from the UK participating.

The games are very short, generally up to five innings and around 45 minutes each, but the pace is fast. Batters come to the plate with a count of two balls and one strike, so every pitch counts.

This format allows for a large number of games to be played. Each team is awarded 2 points for a victory, and an additional bonus point if they score 10 or more points in a game, or if they allow five or fewer points. The total number of points determines the standings and the placement for the finals.

The tounament begins early on Saturday afternoon and continues into the evening. Action picks up again on Sunday morning and the finals are held in late-afternoon on Sunday.

The past winners are:

2007: Ronchin
2006: Dunkirk (59-Nord)
2005: Frameries (Belgium)
2004: Ronchin (59-Nord)
2003: Ronchin (59-Nord)

This year's edition will feature the following teams :

In baseball, they're the French champions :

The Rouen Huskies will be in town for the third time, bringing along their great sportmanship and fun attitude. That doesn't mean that they don't mean business, because the play every game to win. They were 5th two years ago and 3rd last year.

The reigning champion Ronchin Dragons have not only participated in every edition of the tournament, but they have been finalists every year, and won three times. They're always competitive and look to capture a fourth title against an expanded field of teams.

Paris BAT will be participating for the first time this year. We have never met them on the field, but their reputation precedes them, as they are the winners of the Women's European B Cup.

Another newcomer, the Ghent Knights will be one of our two Belgian participants this year. We haven't met them in the past, but look forward to their participation.

The Tournai Celtics represent the other half of the Belgian contingent. Two years ago, they created the surprise with a third place finish and last year they were the runners up in a hotly contested final.

For the first time, the UK will be represented at our tournament by a team made up of players from the London Angels and the London Meteors (Mets). As with some of the other participants, we've never seen them in action, but a quick look on the web indicates that softball seems to be pretty well developed across the channel.

The Caen Hornets have never participated in our tournament before, but unlike the other first-timers, we've played them before, most notably in the finals of the Rouen Huskies tournament in 2006.

The La Madeleine Lords, hosts of the tounament, finished in fourth place for the second consecutive year in 2007. Despite a history of excellent performances on the opening day of the competition, the late Saturday nights have never translated into successful Sunday mornings. The Softball section of the Lords is in a renewal phase, and the team is looking forward to testing itself.

You can download pictures from the 2006 edition here.

Or have a look at the team photos in the recap article from last year's tounament (article in French).

Excellent effort in Rouen. Lords still on the Podium.

After a 10.00 arrival in Rouen, the Lords had four games to play in their group against Caen, Rouen 2, Le Havre and Louviers. The Lords were tripped up by Louviers, and finished second in group play to Caen as a result of a tie break (run average), despite beating them, and the team was therefore relegated to the bronze medal game.

The title lost for this year, the Lords would have to try to beat Bois Guillaume to retain a place on the podium. With nearly flawless play, the team came away with a one-run victory. The Lords are proud of the team's effort, especially given the inexperience of this year's team.

A notable highlight of the tournament was the election of the Lords' Gwénaëlle Dulpouy as tournament MVP! Congratulations Gwén!

Here's hoping that the Lords can improve on the exploit at their own New Year's tournament at the end of January.

*DH Pool*	W	L	PCT.	GB
Valenciennes 1	13	5	,722	-
Ronchin 1	11	6	,647	1½
Lords 1	8	10	,444	5
Compiègne	3	14	,176	9½

*PH Pool*	W	L	PCT.	GB
Valenciennes 2	7	1	,875	-
Dunkerque 2	5	3	,625	2
Lords 2	4	4	,500	3
Wailly	4	4	,500	3
Ronchin 2	0	8	,000	1

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Final Standings 2008

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Welcome!

New Year's Series 2008

6th Annual New Year's Series

Excellent effort in Rouen. Lords still on the Podium.