The Trois-Rivières Aigles (French: Les Aigles de Trois-Rivières) are a professional baseball team based in Trois-Rivières. They compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference, and play their home games at the 4,000-seat Stade Quillorama, which opened in 1938 as the Stade Municipal de Trois-Rivières.
| Trois-Rivières Aigles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Information | |||||
| League | Frontier League (2020–present) (North Division) | ||||
| Location | Trois-Rivières, Quebec | ||||
| Ballpark | Stade Quillorama | ||||
| Founded | 2012 | ||||
| League championships | 1 (2015) | ||||
| Division championships | 0 | ||||
| Former league(s) | Can-Am League (2013–2019)[1] | ||||
| Colours | Red, black, white | ||||
| Mascot | Grand Chelem l'Aigle (in English: Grand Slam the Eagle) | ||||
| Playoff berths |
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| Ownership | Emmanuel Turcotte, Michel Côté, Miles Wolff, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Éric Gagné | ||||
| Manager | Jonathan Albaladejo | ||||
| General Manager | Simon Laliberté[2][3] | ||||
| Media | Le Nouvelliste, 106,9FM, CFOU 89,1FM | ||||
| Website | lesaiglestr | ||||
Founded and established by Emmanuel Turcotte, the team is the second franchise in Trois-Rivières to use the Trois-Rivières Aigles name. The original Trois-Rivières Aigles, founded in 1971, were affiliated to the Cincinnati Reds as a Double-A affiliate playing in the Eastern League. In addition, a team in the Ligue de Baseball Junior Élite du Québec bore that name, winning the 2007 pennant. The Aigles' mascot is Grand Chelem the Eagle.
History
editAfter various attempts to place a franchise in Trois-Rivières (including various exhibition games), the Can-Am League finally announced the Aigles' membership on October 3, 2012. Notable co-owners include 2003 National League Cy Young Award winner Éric Gagné and Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Marc-André Bergeron.[4]
On November 14, it was announced that Pierre-Luc Laforest would serve as the Aigles' inaugural manager. Laforest is best known for his time among the Aigles' provincial rivals the Québec Capitales, winning the Can-Am League MVP award in 2009 and serving as player/hitting coach in 2011 and 2012 (Laforest has been a member of all four of the Capitales' four consecutive Can-Am league pennant winners).[5]
In 2015, the Aigles qualified for the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's history. On September 13, 2015, the Aigles defeated the Rockland Boulders in Game 5 by a score of 7–2 and won the opening series 3 games to 2 and advanced to the championship for the first time in franchise history. They played the New Jersey Jackals and defeated them 3 games to 2 to win the 2015 Can-Am League championship, their first in franchise history.
The team joined the Frontier League for the 2020 season when that league absorbed the Can-Am League in a merger. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and extended closure of the Canada–United States border, the league announced that the Aigles (along with the Québec Capitales) would be unable to compete for the 2020 season (which was eventually cancelled). The club later announced they intended to organize a separate league in Québec for the summer as an alternative, but these plans were eventually scrapped by both clubs.
The continued closure of the Canada–United States border, unfortunately resulted in pushing the Aigles’ first game in the FL to the 2022 season. Ottawa, Québec, and Trois-Rivières were replaced on the 2021 schedule by Équipe Québec. Équipe Québec used the Canadian players from the Titans, Capitales and Aigles to craft their roster and spent the first half of the season on the road, before returning to Canada in late July. Équipe Québec split home games between Stade Canac in Quebec City and Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivières.
On July 30, 2021, Équipe Québec hosted the New York Boulders at Stade Canac and won the game 10–8 in front of a full house of 2,800 spectators, the maximum number allowed during sanitary measures.
On September 12, 2021, Équipe Québec qualified for the playoffs, and they faced the Washington Wild Things in the best-of-five divisional round. The crowd of 3,750 gathered at Stade Canac during Game 3 represented more than 900 people than the number allowed due to sanitary measures, and Québec were able to pull a 3-2 win over the Wild Things. They however lost Game 4 and 5, which ended their very unique season. Équipe Québec finished the season 1st place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 52 wins and 44 losses with an average of 2,288 fans in 24 home games, including the playoffs. A full reset was done by the front office to immediately shift focus to the 2022 season.
Current roster
edit| Active roster | Coaches/Other | |||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Notable alumni
edit- Pete Laforest (2013)
- Pedro López (2015)
- Éric Gagné (2015)
- Jerry Gil (2015)
- Andrew Taylor (2015)
- Ryan Bollinger (2014–2016)
- Danny Richar (2016)
- Andrew Chin (2017)
- Bubby Rossman (2019)
- Oscar Hernández (2023)
- Jesen Therrien (2023–present)
- Mario Feliciano (2024)
Season-by-season records
edit| Trois-Rivières Aigles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | W–L Record | Win % | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2013 | 43–56 | .434 | 4th/5 in Can-Am League | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2014 | 37–58 | .474 | 4th/4 in Can-Am League | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2015 | 50–46 | .521 | 4th/6 in Can-Am League | Won Opening Round over Rockland Boulders 3–2 Won Championship over New Jersey Jackals 3–2 |
| 2016 | 35–65 | .350 | 8th/8 in Can-Am League | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2017 | 39–61 | .390 | 6th/8 in Can-Am League | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2018 | 53–49 | .520 | 4th/8 in Can-Am League | Lost Opening Round to Sussex County Miners 3–2 |
| 2019 | 58–37 | .611 | 2nd/9 in Can-Am League | Lost Opening Round to New Jersey Jackals 3–2 |
| 2020 | — | — | — | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 | Did not play. See note | — | — | -- |
| 2022 | 45–50 | .474 | 7th/8 in FL East | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2023 | 38–57 | .400 | 7th/8 in FL East | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2024 | 44–51 | .463 | 5th/8 in FL East | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| Totals | 494–574 | .463 | — | 12–13 |
1: In 2021, Équipe Québec, a combination of the Aigles, Quebec Capitales and the Ottawa Titans playing in the Frontier League. With a record of 52–44, they finished first in the Atlantic Division, and lost the Division Series to the Washington Wild Things 3-2.
References
edit- ^ "Can-Am League, Frontier League Merger Announced". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. October 16, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
- ^ Cossette, Jonathan (December 22, 2020). "Simon Laliberté nommé directeur général des Aigles, René Martin président". L'Hebdo Journal (in Canadian French). Retrieved January 5, 2022.
- ^ "Raphael Gladu de retour à Trois-Rivières". Le Journal de Québec (in Canadian French). Agence QMI. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
- ^ "Can-Am League Expands to Trois-Rivieres". Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. October 3, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
- ^ "Laforest Tabbed as Trois-Rivieres Manager". Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.