One day, the love story between baseball and the Régnier family will be a subject of study. A curiosity. The new specimen is 23 years old and is called Tom, son of Frédéric and nephew of Pascal Régnier, the “prez” of the Boucaniers. The two brothers created the club in 1985 and they played there until Division 2. But young Tom had first deviated from the trajectory, before experiencing a traumatic episode. “At 10 years old, I played soccer and I suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in my knee.”
Back on the straight and narrow, on the diamond of the Port-Neuf terrain, to perpetuate the family tradition. “There are similarities between football and baseball, like running, endurance or explosiveness. What I liked about this sport are the difficulties we have to face. We have a mountain in front of us, the road is very long. »
“Happy and fulfilled”
Tom Régnier is the only player to have lived his entire career in La Rochelle. “My choice was not to go to Pôle France. I didn’t really have any pretensions and I have no regrets. I am happy and fulfilled to participate in the adventure of the Boucaniers at the highest level and to contribute to the evolution of the club. »
A versatile utility player, he is used in several positions. With a psychological aspect and a power of character always tested. “Baseball is a lot of work and questioning. I’m having a pretty complicated hitting season. This is an area where we are often faced with failure and it is quite frustrating. You have to try to get out of this kind of period through mental strength, without questioning everything. »
“Fortunately, I managed to break a bad run in Montpellier”
“In the elite, you can’t afford to be in difficulty for too long. My temperament is to be a little stressed, I always want to do better, but you have to accept that you can’t control everything. Fortunately, I managed to break a bad streak in Montpellier. »
Rarely complete
The Boucaniers have just experienced four defeats in a row (Sénart and Montpellier), which took them out of the first four places synonymous with playoffs (5th, 7 victories, 9 defeats). “The level of squads has increased in recent weeks with players returning from American universities,” notes Tom Régnier. The teams are very close to each other. Each time, we didn’t get far, but it’s a high level, it often comes down to a few decisive points. I’m not very worried, it will come back. »
Lucid and demanding, manager Pablo Ossandon is waiting for a reaction to reverse the dynamic. “Our hitting problem is worrying. How do I experience it? I don’t like this period. This annoys me because this is the area in which we train the most. Our current reality is that between those who work and those who go on vacation, we are rarely complete, as will be the case again this weekend. It’s difficult to perform well with 14 players when some opponents are 18 or 20. But we will play hard. »
