French Adventures

By Gerard Cros
June 9 2007

This summer, TRU's two baseball players from France, Anthony and Gregory Cros, have returned home and they brought with them fourth-year TRU player Nathan French, who joins the Cros' to play club baseball in Europe.

Just last week, the France team coach, Jeff Zeilstra, announced that Anthony and Gregory, members of the TRU team and members of our club “the Barracudas” will be part of the France team which will play in the Olympic test tournament in Bejing (August 12-22) and the European championship (September 5-16) in Barcelona (also a qualifier for the Olympic games and world championships).

If this choice was somehow expected for Anthony who has been on the National team before, it was a wonderful surprise for Gregory who has accomplished tremendous progress during his stay at TRU.

"I would like to express my gratitude for the great job done by Ray Chadwick and all the people who make your baseball program a program of excellence." says Gerard Cros, father of Anthony and Gregory. "The fact that these players are selected to their National team and that Nathan French is now playing in France (and notably in a European cup tournament in June) will make TRU even more attractive to French players. I will certainly continue to promote your program and look for fellowships to make this program accessible to our best players."

The Barracudas have really changed their spirit and ambition since the three boys have arrived.

The team has won two very important games in Toulouse last weekend (3-1 and 15-1) and are back in the race for the play-offs.

Nathan was a dominant pitcher during the first game, where he pitched 8 solid innings with no points against. He has proven to be a wonderful player and team mate already.

The same weekend, Anthony caught two games as backcatcher and Gregory played at third base. Both of them were very efficient at the bat the entire weekend.

The boys, and the Barracudas, will be in Holland next week week for the Cup Winners cup.

Many thanks for your efforts and dedication!

Gerard Cros
President of the Montpellier Universite Club (MUC) Baseball “the Barracudas”
President of the Regional League
Member of the French Federation Committee.