Étienne Coste

Étienne Coste

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born January 1, 1972

Biographical Information

Etienne Coste pitched in the French Division I and for the French national team, as did his brother Guillaume Coste and his nephew Gédéon Coste. His father Serge Coste was a Savigny Lions executive and his brother-in-law Philippe Denis coached for France.

Coste allowed 13 hits, 9 walks and 10 runs (7 earned) in 9 innings for France in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup while fanning four. The 19-year-old led the team with four appearances, tied for third in the event, one behind Epifanio Pérez and Kun-Yuan Chuo. His 7.00 ERA led France; Francois Moufflet (8.64) was their only other hurler under 9. His debut came closing out a 30-5 mercy rule loss to Spain, succeeding Jean-Baptiste Meunier and allowing two runs (one earned) in 1 1/3 IP after his three predecessors had given up 28 runs (15 earned) in 4 2/3 IP.

He tied for 8th in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup with four appearances; in 10 innings, he allowed 24 hits, 6 walks and 24 runs (19 earned), striking out two. He tied Patrice Baudin and Samuel Meurant for the most games pitched for France. His 17.10 ERA was not the highest on the team, putting him fifth on the seven-man staff. In the 1993 European Championship, he was 1-1 with a 11.57 ERA. He lost to Massimiliano Masin and Italy but beat Johan Söderström and Sweden for France's lone win in the four-game Bronze Medal series. He tied for 8th in the Euros in games pitched (3) and tied for 4th in starts (2).

The right-hander only pitched once in the 1995 European Championship. Relieving Cedric Fournier, he got the win over Slovenia and Samo Perko, allowing two hits, a walk and a run in two innings before Boris Rothermundt relieved. He pitched three games in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup (4 H, 5 BB, 4 R, 4 ER in 4 IP), finishing ahead of the team ERA of 9.86. He took a loss against Italy, relieving Maxime Leblanc and dropping it in the 10th to Roberto Cabalisti. He tied Meurant and Emmanuel Aubes for the team lead in games pitched, having led the team (or tied) in all three of their Intercontinental Cup appearances. That made France's career leader in Intercontinental Cup games pitched, obviously.

French stats prior to 2000 are unavailable; he was 7-3 with 1 save and a 5.29 ERA for Savigny in 2000, leading the team in wins. He won his only game the next year to end his career in France's top loop.