NOVA ANGLICANA TO PARTICIPATE IN WBC 27
Allen Talos, Londinium Courier
The Ministry of Sport announced today that the long-awaited first entry of Nova Anglicana into any major world sporting event ever would be in the 27th edition of the World Baseball Classic. When asked about Nova Anglicana's sporting debut, famously gruff manager Graig Lowman gave a veritable sermon by his standards: "We're excited and grateful to receive this honor. Our squad is tough, and hopefully we can advance. Good night and God bless."
The Lions have played several warmup games in preparation for this monumental event. They defeated the NABL All-Star squad, such as it was, 7-2 behind seven strong innings from Elmer Sutton. They also took 5 of 6 from various MiLB squads in the northeastern United States, showing the Lions' ability to compete on the world stage. (OOC: Nova Anglican baseball media stand in awe of the level of play in the United States. 5 of 6 against AA and AAA squads is nothing to brag about, but a good result.)
However, they will face a tough road, as they were drawn into Pool #7. They will face the co-hosts of WBC 27, Maklohi Vai, in their very first game. Ranked #6 in the world, the Lumai have a venerable history and will be an extremely difficult matchup. It will be up to ace Elmer Sutton to keep the team and the game under control. The Lions will receive a much-needed day off following their first game, and then will square off against world #15 Karditan, a tough test for young Felix Murphy, especially on the road. They then receive a bit of a break when they take on fellow unranked opponent Super Bwitain at home and then travel to face Kerblaekistan, ranked a mere 49th in the world. (OOC: [sarcasm][/sarcasm]) The second half of the schedule will feature flipped home/away sites. The 5-man rotation that Lowman is using will only afford Kip Fischer and Justin Garcia one start apiece, but I speculate that he wants to avoid wasting Sutton by throwing him for 2 turns against powerhouse Maklohi Vai. This will also allow Murphy to receive a cushy matchup against Super Bwitain.
This Lions team will lean heavily on its veteran bullpen and will look for offense from NABL MVP Roman Jennings and home-run king Kareem Al-Aniz. They are young up the middle, as the keystone combo of Chris Fletcher and Jarrod Novak have just 4 combined seasons of major-league experience. Elmer Sutton is a true ace at the top of the rotation, and Felix Murphy is the best young pitcher in the game, but Justin Garcia is an upside play right now, and Noah Hawkins and Kip Fischer are low-ceiling guys who won't record a lot of punchouts. Don't expect dominance from the starting rotation, and the bullpen may have to bail them out of more sticky situations than Lowman would like.
For this maiden voyage, a record of 3-5 would have to be taken as a great success and the best case scenario, as Maklohi Vai and Karditan are baseball giants and will almost certainly take both games. If the Lions could steal one from Kerblaekistan and sweep New Bwitain, they would be well on their way to establishing themselves on the international baseball scene. The important thing for this first team is to keep their composure and fight to the bitter end. We Nova Anglicans applaud the hard-fought loser nearly as much as we do the well-deserving winner, and as long as these Lions show maximum effort, we cannot ask for anything more. Stay tuned, Nova Anglican baseball fans; the Lions' roar is about to be heard on the world stage for the very first time.
Nickname: Lions
Acronym: NA
Style Modifier (if necessary): Not sure, lean towards aggressive, though, some real power in the lineup, but fairly balanced
Home Stadium: Archbishop Stadium in the Capital of Londinium (30,000)
Starting Rotation (order as given)
LHP #38 Elmer Sutton, 35 - veteran headlines rotation, fastball/changeup/screwball mostly
RHP #17 Felix Murphy, 24 - young up-and-comer, nearly unhittable slurve
LHP #44 Noah Hawkins, 28 - fastball tops out at 88, but makes up for it with tough cutter, slider, change, and curve
RHP #56 Kip Fischer, 30 - Fischer a power sinkerballer who pounds the zone, average secondary pitches
RHP #27 Justin Garcia, 25 - electric fastball comes in 4 and 2-seam varieties, along with developing slider, but struggles with command
Bullpen
LHP #26 Clark Boone, 33 - sixth starter/long man, throws consistent strikes and keeps his composure
RHP #21 Al Fowler, 40 - epitome of steadiness, has recorded at least 25 S in each of past 8 seasons
LHP #14 Kyle Pauley, 24 - potential setup man, can get lefties and righties with fastball/curve/changeup
RHP #32 André Leclerc, 26 - Quebecois throws a tough frisbee slider from a sidearm slot, death to righties
RHP #37 Bill McCaffrey, 34 - big 12-6 curve is his main weapon, impeccable control
RHP #43 Royal Barbour, 28 - touches 95 with the fastball, great stuff but can lose it if he doesn't get the calls
LHP #50 Ellis Rhodes, 29 - LOOGY (Left-handed One Out Guy) has tricky 2-seam, circle change, bad platoon splits
RHP #41 Eduardo “Eddy” Cavazos, 35 - jovial closer features a tough splitter, slider, comp with Jose Valverde (in his prime)
RHP #23 Trent Burkhardt, 23 - wild card of the staff, has been known to hit triple digits, but the next one could be at your head (by accident)
C #2 Josh Heckman (R/R), 24 - Heckman has great instincts behind the plate and is a tough man to strike out, still working on calling the game/handling the staff
C #18 Raleigh Hightower (L/R), 31 - Hightower, while not a great hitter, has a little pop, but his main value comes from his blocking skills and strong arm
C #29 Shad Burdette (R/R), 39 - veteran catcher knows everything there is to know about the game, dangerous in a pinch-hit spot, but unlikely to get the start
1B #22 Kareem Al-Aniz (L/R), 27 - this Sunni Muslim takes Fridays off to attend prayers, (OOC: My Friday opponent, please RP this so that the time of the game does not conflict with noon prayers) big black man with a big black beard and big black bat, mashes HRs, including a league-record 501-ft bomb
CI #34 Philip “Phil” Carter (R/R), 28 - this converted 1B now plays 3B, features defensive versatility with a strong arm and good glove, gap-to-gap power rather than long-ball power
3B #3 Brice Napier (R/R), 29 - Napier has a serious strikeout problem, but if he gets a hold of one, look out
2B #5 Chris Fletcher (S/R), 25 - Fletcher is a 15/15 guy with great range at 2B, not very patient though
SS #6 Jarrod Novak (R/R), 24 - a great honor for this young man after just two seasons at the major league level, 20/20 guy with good arm and great range, future MVP?
MI #7 Reid McClendon (L/R), 33 - veteran here more for lefty bat and defensive skills than for being a star, solid all-around player, but nothing special
OF #16 Martín Torres (S/R), 29 - Torres is a speed merchant and a defensive whiz, .300 hitter but no power, aggressive on basepaths
OF #45 Guy Bélanger (L/R), 35 - Bélanger contributes a little bit of everything, decent power, good arm, corner outfield defender, good pinch-hitter/defensive replacement
OF #13 Teddy Cunningham (R/L), 22 - Cunningham can play any OF position and play it well, below-average arm, hit tool still in development, good speed
OF #19 Roman Jennings (R/R), 30 - most recent MVP of NABL, Jennings had .906 OPS, 30/15 guy with .320 average, if he has a weakness, it's the high fastball, but he just might get on top of it
OF #24 Austin Reeves (R/R), 32 - Reeves has an absolute cannon in RF, mitigates poor speed with good routes, average power, but has a good K/BB ration
Graig Lowman #60 (Manager)
Dante Woodward #1 (Hitting Coach)
Charley Battaglia #47 (Pitching Coach)
Claude Corbett #9 (1st Base Coach)
Freddy Snider #8 (3rd Base Coach)
Marcellus Maloney #15 (Bench Coach)
Rhett Upshaw #52 (Bullpen Coach)
Starting Lineup w/o DH
CF Martín Torres
C Josh Heckman
LF Roman Jennings
1B Kareem Al-Aniz
RF Austin Reeves
SS Jarrod Novak
3B Brice Napier
2B Chris Fletcher
P Pitcher's Spot
Starting Lineup w/DH
CF Martín Torres
C Josh Heckman
LF Roman Jennings
DH Kareem Al-Aniz
RF Austin Reeves
SS Jarrod Novak
1B Phil Carter
3B Brice Napier
2B Chris Fletcher
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers:
Yes/No
Choose my lineup: Yes/
No Follow my pitching rotation:
Yes/No
Godmod scoring events: Yes/
No RP injuries to my players:
Yes/No, but not serious ones. Back stiffness, jammed fingers, bruises, etc. Nothing that would keep them out of the lineup for more than 1 game. Reciprocity is expected.
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes/
No Eject my players: Yes/
No, maybe the manager, though.
Godmod other events:
Yes/No, but TG me first with what you plan to do and I'll give you the yea or nay.
Use DH at home: Yes/
No