International Baseball Slam VIII Everything Thread (IC)

[Coconut Isle]

The Furry Coconut
Reporting from not in Gregoryisgodistan

World Baseball Classic to commence
by Anthony Bjorn Chip Darian Edouard Ferdinand Giles Heston Ivor Jebediah Khan Lane Magnus Noel Ozzy Peyton Quinton Ricardo Sherman Tai Ulysses Vladimir Will Xander Yuri Zeb

The mighty dwarfs of Coconut Isle have been placed into a formidable group, with the top seed being Gregoryisgodstan, also having a home ground advantage. The Gregoryisgodistani, who would rather rue our nation, because we were named after the most formidable and humble of fruits, the coconut, will need to be on their toes! In fact, saying the word coconut is illegal! Can you believe that! That is so stupid, but you didn't hear that from me.

That's why I have decided for safety's sake that I will be watching all of the matches live from the comfort of my lounge room, because I don't want to be killed. Though brave fans, if you do decide to trek to Gregoryisgodistan, make sure you don't say the word coconut! Instead replace it with the government-approved Xylocarp, and you'll be fine. Or else, face the consequences! We hear that their leader, a one Lord Almighty Gregory likes to execute those who say that word, and the sheeple populace can do nothing about it! Sheeple wake up! Sheeple wake up!

And last time, they claimed to kill 3500 people from Coconut Isle. What they didn't know, was that they actually killed 3500 dwarfs, so that actually counts as 1750 people, but even then, dwarfs have a mystical life cycle in which that when they die, they become an actual human being, because naturally, people that are small eventually become people that are large (like in the human life cycle). This is a process called vat-mixturisation -- we throw all of the dwarfs bodies into a vat, and stir it with some purple organic goo blessed by the holy power of Margaret, and there's a large pipe in the end, and naked humans fall down it. Then they get a citizenship, and acquire the qualities of the dwarfs that made them up. This continues until the mixture is finished, and then the leftover parts become 'used parts' which then becomes the goo of the next cycle. It's a truly ingenious system, and Gregoryisgodistan should be proud for making more humans for us.

Anyways, I'd like to also say what a racist the Lord Almighty Gregory is. He is a racist noob who can't even stand the word coconut. I invite him to hold my hand, and let us unite the world through harmony, peace and freedom! For that is the real Coconut truth! Let us serve coconut daiquiris, and have shredded coconut in our chocolate bars, and let us realise the awesome power of Margaret, our deity by making coconut heads for all, and throwing them as hard as you can in peoples faces! Margaret must want this to happen -- indeed, this is the third time in a row we have faced against Gregoryisgodistan in competition. It's time to avenge our losses! Let's show them!

COCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUTCOCONUT

[Lisander]

Late and without the oportunity to do neither a training, Lisander lose the first.

The Arminhos hadn't much luck today. Problems in Airport have delayed the team, that arrived in stadium only one hour before the game. There was no able time to train and recognize the pitch, and the result was a disastrous 4-7 against Minecraft Miners Axemen. After the game, the captain and Right-fielder Julian Matsumori answered the Reporters.

-We had a lot of flight delay, and we could not even sleep properly in last night. We came to play today in the sacrifice. We played with our training shirts. Organization problems messed up our life in the competition. What we will do now is train harder and try to revert this situation, to at least go back to Lisander with a positive result after the end of first stage.

---

Lisander National Baseball Team - The Arminhos

With plans to get to the end at least in the top 20 of the competition, Lisander trained hard the last few months. Popularize baseball has not been easy since the first participation of the team in IBS6, but gradually, baseball has gained ground in public parks, public and private schools, children's games and even on television. The sport was once restricted to college students, begins to draw attention of the public. People understand that the team is still at the beginning, and participations in these championships serve to gain experience.

The team is composed of students and Alumni of the four major universities of the country, the same ones who searched the National Confederation of Sports to create an amateur league in the nation. Among these, Julian Matsumori, Rei Yokoyama and Tiago Porter, winners of Prince Theo Medal for being in 2013 12-0 sequence of Lisander University Baseball League, when St. Michael University won all league games. Although inexperienced, Lisandens make a slightly offensive game. STYLE MODIFIER: +1.7

Catchers
C August Morel (R/R)
C Adrian Solis (R/R)

Starter Pitchers
SP Tiago Porter (R/L)
SP Pierre Oyon (R/R)
SP Alain Matsumori [L/R]
SP Benedict Morel [R/R]
SP Edward Langley [L/L]

Bullpen
RP Theodore Canterville
RP Alexandre Barone
RP Julius Vizanni
RP Martin Barrios
RP Frederic Nanterre
RP Lucas Potter
RP Timo Burnier

Infielders
SS Rei Yokoyama
1B Ricardo Ríos
2B Cyril Montez
SS/2B Trevor Essendon
3B Kenji Hirano
1B Andreas Monteiro

Outfielders
LF Paul Cantinus
CF Andreas Argan
RF Julian Matsumori
RF Toji Akagi
LF Martin Hansen

Lineup/ Batters
1 Julian Matsumori (RF)
2 Martin Hansen (LF)
3 Kenji Hirano (3B)
4 Rey Yokoyama (SS)
5 Cyril Montez (2B)
6 Andreas Monteiro (1B)
7 Andreas Argan (CF)
8 August Morel (C)
9 Tiago Porter (P)

Coaches
Tom Hiddleston
Scott Niedermeyer

Working on it.

If you post before me, and only if you post before me:

Choose my Lineup: No
Choose my Runscorers: Yes,but be reasonable and follow the Batter sequence.
RP Injuries: TG me first
Godmod Injuries: No
Follow my Rotation: Yes
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes, but keep it simple, don't go that absurd
Use DH at home: No. Lisander don't use DH.

[Kiana Mura]

Blue Foxes pull off shock triumph over Abanhfleft Revolution
Boško Bogdanov, Head Sports Reporter for the Maljara Times
There was euphoria in the Kiana Muran camp this evening as the team, in its maiden IBS match, took a 4-1 victory over group top seeds Abanhfleft Revolution. The Blue Foxes came flying out of the blocks, scoring all 4 points in the second innings of the match, before superb fielding made sure that Abanhfleft weren't able to get a look in. The hero of the day was most definitely Daniel Kaloyanchev, hitting a home run with fellow batters Žan Sarka and Andon Gáspár already on bases having hit a double and a single respectively. Following the match, Kaloyanchev reflected the delight of the team. 'We're ecstatic. We really didn't have a great deal of expectation coming into this tournament, but tonight everyone showed that we aren't just here to make up the numbers. Before the match, I did have this good feeling that we were going to play well, but this result is beyond even what we could have optimistically expected. Hopefully we can carry the momentum forward, and maybe even win the next game to step towards qualifying for the next round, too.'

Meanwhile, at home, greater attention is being paid every day to the Blue Foxes. Topline viewing figures hit 5.7 million during the 6th innings of the match, a 42% share, with even higher expected for the next match in the group, while Blue Fox banners are appearing all over Maljara and Antilleia. Elsewhere, in the other Group C match, the Neyosil Sidrats lost out 6-4 to the Albagaria Luck Swingers, while hosts Gregoryisgodistan secured a victory over the Yayness Yowlers by the same scoreline.

[Abanhfleft]

MUSINGS OF AN ARMORED DINNER JACKET
Official blog of Ibrahim Ahmadinejad, Right Fielder of the Verbergerkinnh Cubs and the Abanhfleft Revolution

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS? WE'VE BEEN DEFEATED BY NEWCOMERS KIANA MURA IN OUR FIRST GAME!


Justin Yardley bows his head in shame after the Abanhfleft Revolution was defeated 4-1 by the Kiana Mura Blue Foxes in the Revolution's first match in the 8th International Baseball Slam. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Umkhonto Thabowane)

LIVE FROM DISTRICT 2, GREGORYISGODISTAN - Well, looks like we're getting back to our old ways now. And I don't mean that in a good way.

Uh, yeah, about the game... If you were on CNN Sports during the hours of 9 and 11 in the morning, then surely you must have seen the match live on national television. All right, let's go over what we've done, what we've failed to do, and what he can hope to correct before the second match comes around.

On the "what we've done" part, what we've done is to underestimate these fellows. Since we've got a high ranking in this tournament following our stellar performance in IBS VI--ah, the memories--we felt pretty confident that our experience on the diamond was gonna carry us above these newcomers. Sadly, we were very much mistaken in that respect. Like I said in my earlier post, the Blue Foxes have got a bright fire burning in their bellies, and we didn't care to even try to extinguish that flame before it consumed us in a quite unexpected 4-1 thrashing in Gruel Park. It's kind of like the Spanish Inquisition in that respect. No one expected it.

On to the "what we haven't done" part. Now, here's a little team secret that hasn't been allowed to be let known to the public, but Big Bo Zimmermann--or actually, it's "Coach" now--has given me permission to "leak" it to you guys. We used to watch game footage of our opponents in earlier days, and sometimes we would even rummage through the darkest corners of the Internet just to get much-needed information. But today we did not do that. Today we decided that we were so high and mighty that a bunch of blue foxes can't even have a hope of stopping the revolution. You'll notice that I'm not typing the team names correctly. That's intentional. I'm really trying to make you guys think of a pack of blue foxes, which by the way is a biological impossibility, being merciless against the onslaught of a human revolution. But on the diamond today, it didn't actually work. We didn't prepare for the Blue Foxes coming flying out of the box and surprising us all. That's why they managed to get four runs at the bottom of the second, and why we could only muster a single paltry run from Carlos the Jackal at the top of the eighth. That's the textbook example of a shameful display, that is. We didn't lock down either offensively or defensively, and that allowed the Blue Foxes walk away with the W. In a way, they deserved it. They certainly tried a little more to get it than we did; that's for sure.

And on, we've come to what I know everyone hopes is the end to my little rant, the "what we can do to recover from this" part. This is actually pretty simple, my dear followers. We've gotta do what we used to do back in the day, when we were riding the top of the wave all the way to the finals. I don't know what happened to us in the intervening period--perhaps it's because we've been going through disappointment after disappointment, and we allowed such a mindset to pervade all of us, and that's led to the subsequent disappointments. Well, no longer. This time the Abanhfleft Revolution, your Abanhfleft Revolution, promises to no longer wallow in our failures, and instead use the mistakes that we have committed in our losses to improve ourselves, and come out triumphant in the games after. That's an Armored Dinner Jacket promise, and everyone else in the team has also made this commitment.

Anyway, our next match will be against Neyosil in Prune Juice Park, just beside Gruel Park. After all is said and done, we've still lost only one game. We've got five more to go, and this time we're gonna be fighting to get only Ws out of these games. The Abanhfleft-Neyosil match will be broadcast live on CNN Sports at 9 AM. This is the Armored Dinner Jacket saying, ciao, peace. Catch you in my next post.

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions' 6th IBS Campaign Off to Good Start

Allen Talos, Londinium Courier

The Nova Anglicana Lions are getting to be old hands in the IBS, having participated in six of eight possible Slams. The post-WBC tournament offers teams the ability to wind down their international season in a more casual environment, instead of seeing it end abruptly. The other purpose the IBS serves is to introduce the world to a number of new teams each year, who often pop up for the IBS and are never seen or heard from again. This year seems to be an extreme case of this particular phenomenon, with only eleven of 24 teams having participated in a Slam before. The Lions' group is composed entirely of first-time participants: the laughably-named Hambeich Toasters, the Abidawe Eagles, and Royalsoldiers C.B. Is it just me, or does having a national club baseball team seem a little odd?

In any case, the Lions opened up IBS play against Royalsoldiers in the cozy confines of Navy Baseball Field. This park seats only 1,350 spectators, which makes it small, but not so small when you consider that the biggest stadium in use for this competition has only 5,500 seats. If there had been another bid, I feel certain that Gregoryisgodistan would not have won. These facilities are wholly inadequate for an international baseball competition of this magnitude. I have it on good information that we were preparing a bid, but that it was scrapped due to "other national priorities." In Navy Baseball Field, I heard the sound of pop-guns and firecrackers going off outside the stadium, which I can only assume is the "usual sounds of a naval academy" that we were warned about prior to the game. It was quite distracting to me in the press box, so I can only imagine what the players must have felt about the noise.

Felix Murphy was on the hill for the Lions, and apparently neither the noise nor the Royalsoldiers players bothered him one bit, as he tossed seven scoreless innings. He scattered four hits and one walk across those innings, and did not permit a man past second base. He struck out eight and made a nifty glove toss to Barry Glover at first base to snuff out a potential bunt base hit. Graig Lowman lifted him after the seventh, citing after the game that he "didn't want to stress out his arm" and was trying to "keep him fresh for the rest of the competition and for club play." The vigorous international schedule has been blamed in the past for hurting players' domestic performance, but recent studies have shown only the faintest of correlations between the two. Danny Hauser pitched the 8th, allowing a two-run double to third baseman Alex West. Hauser is a good young player, but his overreliance on the fastball will continue to burn him, even against mediocre competition. Trent Burkhardt got one of his 99 MPH fastballs turned around on him by George Powers, who "powered" the ball out of the yard in the last inning, but Burkhardt set the next three batters down in order, two via strikeout.

On the offensive end, the Lions took a few innings to get warmed up against Roy Hudson. The Royalsoldiers ace allowed just a hit and a walk in the first three innings to go with three strikeouts. But Kelvin Freeman led off with a single, and Kareem Al-Aniz pounded Hudson's first pitch into the trees for a two-run homer. In the 5th, Josh Jennings drew a one-out walk, moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on Josh Heckman's two-out single. Al-Aniz led off with a walk in the 6th, which prompted manager Troy Lewis to pull him from the game in favor of Danny Klose. "Flick" Barnes singled to center and Khris Caldwell hit a bouncer to short that was just slow enough to keep the Lions out of the double play. With runners on third and first and one out, veteran shortstop Jarrod Novak hit a long fly ball that Nathan Wheat hauled down just in front of the wall in center, scoring Al-Aniz. Barry Glover knocked the next pitch into the right-center gap, and the ball bounced and rolled around enough to score Caldwell all the way from first and give the Lions a 5-0 lead. Kelvin Freeman would cap the scoring with an opposite-field home run to left against Rudolf Dunn in the 7th.

In other games, the Abanhfleft Revolution were upset 4-1 by the Kiana Mura Blue Foxes, Super-Llamaland made short work of the "Sword Bloke Thunder", hosts Gregoryisgodistan needed five runs in the last two innings to avoid an embarrassing upset by the "Yayness Yowlers", and in our own group, the Abidawe Eagles got a single run in the first inning, but that would prove to be all they needed, as they shut out the Hambeich Toasters 1-0. The Lions will play the Toasters next, so let's hope that their bats stay just as silent against Justin Garcia. The Lions will play at 11 AM local time at Professor UZ91APZLA Field, which seats only 975 people and has no lights. Well, despite the ludicrously small stage, the Lions will look to start a two-game winning streak.

Editor's Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Londinium Courier or the Nova Anglican government.

[Neyosil]

Well, that was an interesting experience...Despite the Albagaria team completely failing to turn up, they actually managed to win... It all started in the bottom of the second, when Albagaria somehow managed to score their first run. How on earth the Sidrats managed not to score any runs until the fifth innings, against a team which did not, in fact, exist, simply mystifies me. By the end of the fifth innings, the Sidrats had managed to get the score to 2-2 against the non-existent Luck Swingers. Somehow, against all odds, the Luck Swingers managed to score three whole runs in the bottom of the seventh, before a 1-1 eighth innings left the Sidrats with 4 runs to go to defeat a team that DIDN'T FRICKING EXIST. I mean, seriously, how the hell can a non-existent team beat the awesomeness that is the Sidrats??? I swear there must have been some sort of mix-up, and the Sidrats actually won, like, 10-0, but someone decided that didn't sound right and changed it... I don't know, something like that.

[Fratton]

Fratton entered a team of unknowns, wearing old uniforms for their first match. This was due to a boycott from the main team over lack of uniform and pay. The unknown bumble bees did OK, losing 3-1, but was still decent for a team that came almost unprepared due to the boycott.

[Southern Democratic States]

The Southern Bears wins!

The Southern Democratic States Southern Bears beats the 31st ranked Garifunya 3-2 at Slaves R Us Field. To show their support for the slaves, the Southern Bears wore shirts with "free the slaves" written in the back instead of their own names. The game was delayed 29 minutes after a streaker ran onto the field wearing nothing. He was dickapitated, castrated, and executed between the center field and 2nd base. Starting pitchers were Tyler floyd for SDS and Abraam de Bruin for the Dolfijnen. Garifunya were the first team to score in the third inning. The first batter in the third inning was Julius Thering who was grounded out. Florian Schoeten hits a single. Rico Ortwijn comes at bat. Tyler Floyd throws a ball, Schoeten steals the 2nd base. Ortwijn stikes on the 2nd throw and Schoeten steals the 3rd base. Ortwijn hits a sacrifice fly and Schoeten scores. Maarten Diepman is flied out and it's the third out. It's 1-0 Garifunya. The Southern Bears retaliates immediately. Noah Murphy hits a single. Jared Hanson strikes out. Randall Worth hits a double, Noah Murphy advances to the 3rd base. Mary Jane Castro is flied out. Nate O'Flaherty hits a single, Murphy scores. Travis Layne is flied out. The score is 1-1.

Garifunya strikes back in the 4th inning. Konraad Larruij hits a double. Dierk Bolscher is grounded out. Kaspar Smalbroek hits a single, Larruij advances to the 3rd base. Barrent Grijn walks, Smalbroek advances to the 2nd base. The bases are loaded. Zeno Bolt comes at bat. Bolt hits a ground ball, it could be a double play. Noah Murphy catches the ball and throws to the 2nd base. Grijn is out. Jared Hanson throws to the 1st base to complete the double play but the ball comes too late, Bolt is safe on fielder's choice. Larruij scores and Garifunya leads 2-1. Thering comes at bat but he's grounded out. SDS doesn't scores in the 4th inning and Garifunya doesn't scores either in the 5th inning. SDS is batting in the bottom 5 inning. Noah Murphy is the first batter and he hits a double. Jared Hanson is grounded out. Randall Worth is flied out, Murphy advances to the 3rd base. Mary Jane Castro hits a single, Murphy scores. Nate O'Flaherty strikes out. The score is tied 2-2.

Klaas Blikman comes on the mound in the bottom 8 inning. Nate O'Flaherty comes at bat and is flied out. Travis Layne hits a solo homerun. The score is 3-2 Southern Bears! The score remains the same and SDS wins. Winning pitcher is Tyler Floyd. Losing pitcher is Klaas Blikman. Jarrod Finnegan, who pitched in the 9th inning, gets the save.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Cutoff for Matchday 2....

Edit: And results.

Group A
Frenline Delpha Anacondas                      0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Southern Democratic States Southern Bears      1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X  2

Estenia Blue Stars                             1 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 1  8
Garifunya Dolfinjen                            0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  3


  Group A                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Estenia Blue Stars                             2   2  0   16   5 +11    6
2 Southern Democratic States Southern Bears      2   2  0    5   3  +2    6
3 Garifunya Dolfinjen                            2   0  2    5  11  −6    0
4 Frenline Delpha Anacondas                      2   0  2    3  10  −7    0

Group B
South Califas Stars                            0 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 2  8
Minecraft Miners Axemen                        0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  3

United States of Devonta Duck Beaters          2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0  6
Lisander Arminhos                              0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3  9


  Group B                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 South Califas Stars                            2   1  1   11   9  +2    3
2 Lisander Arminhos                              2   1  1   13  13   0    3
3 United States of Devonta Duck Beaters          2   1  1   12  12   0    3
4 Minecraft Miners Axemen                        2   1  1   10  12  −2    3

Group C
Kiana Mura Blue Foxes                          1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Albagaria Luck Swingers                        0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 X  4

Abanhfleft Revolution                          1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Neyosil Sidrats                                1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 X  6


  Group C                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Albagaria Luck Swingers                        2   2  0   10   7  +3    6
2 Neyosil Sidrats                                2   1  1   10   8  +2    3
3 Kiana Mura Blue Foxes                          2   1  1    7   5  +2    3
4 Abanhfleft Revolution                          2   0  2    3  10  −7    0

Group D
The Sword Bloke Thunder                        0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Milchama Warriors                              0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  3

Super-Llamaland Tigers                         0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  3
Screamerstan Gladiators                        0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2


  Group D                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland Tigers                         2   2  0   17   7 +10    6
2 Milchama Warriors                              2   2  0    6   1  +5    6
3 Screamerstan Gladiators                        2   0  2    2   6  −4    0
4 The Sword Bloke Thunder                        2   0  2    6  17 −11    0

Group E
Hakiafo Terns                                  0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0  4
Fratton Bumble Bees                            2 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 X  7

Gregory Llama Land Fuzzy Llamas                1 2 0 1 0 0 3 4 0 11
Patistan Green Caps                            0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1


  Group E                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Gregory Llama Land Fuzzy Llamas                2   2  0   14   3 +11    6
2 Fratton Bumble Bees                            2   1  1    8   7  +1    3
3 Patistan Green Caps                            2   1  1    4  12  −8    3
4 Hakiafo Terns                                  2   0  2    6  10  −4    0

Group F
Royalsoldiers CB                               0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 2  6
Abidawe Eages                                  0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

Nova Anglicana Lions                           0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3  6
Hambeich Toasters                              0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  4


  Group F                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana Lions                           2   2  0   12   7  +5    6
2 Royalsoldiers CB                               2   1  1    9  10  −1    3
3 Abidawe Eages                                  2   1  1    5   6  −1    3
4 Hambeich Toasters                              2   0  2    4   7  −3    0

Group G
Yayness Yowlers                                0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  4
Adoxinia Red Dragons                           2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Gregoryisgodistan Bat Slaves                   0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0  4
Coconut Isle Dwarfs                            0 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 X  5


  Group G                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Coconut Isle Dwarfs                            2   2  0   15   5 +10    6
2 Gregoryisgodistan Bat Slaves                   2   1  1   10   9  +1    3
3 Yayness Yowlers                                2   1  1    8   8   0    3
4 Adoxinia Red Dragons                           2   0  2    3  14 −11    0

[Kiana Mura]

Blue Foxes lose out 4-3 to the Albagaria Luck Swingers
Boško Bogdanov, Head Sports Reporter for the Maljara Times

Manager Teodor Matoušek and captain Andon Gáspár were in agreement that getting carried away was certainly the Kiana Mura Blue Foxes' downfall against the Albagaria Luck Swingers following today's 4-3 defeat. Another stellar performance by Daniel Kaloyanchev was not enough to stop the narrow loss. Matoušek was nevertheless positive following the match, saying that more was to come. 'Today there were a lot of positive signs. We're batting well and getting points on the board very nicely, but we failed to muster the same fielding prowess that we showed against Abanhfleft. This is all still, of course, a learning experience for the team, and we can take away lessons to be learnt and come back stronger next time.'

Elsewhere in Group C, the Abanhfleft Revolution's rotten start continued with a 6-2 loss to the Neyosil Sidrats, while the hosts Gregoryisgodistan succumbed to a close 5-4 loss to the Coconut Isle Dwarfs.

[Abanhfleft]

MUSINGS OF AN ARMORED DINNER JACKET
Official blog of Ibrahim Ahmadinejad, Right Fielder of the Verbergerkinnh Cubs and the Abanhfleft Revolution

UNLUCKINESS CONTINUES! SIDRATS TRIUMPH OVER THE REVOLUTION


Carlos Teves of the Abanhfleft Revolution is tagged out by Timotheus Andonov of the Neyosil Sidrats in Abanhfleft's second consecutive defeat in the International Baseball Slam VIII. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Umkhonto Thabowane)

LIVE FROM DISTRICT 2, GREGORYISGODISTAN - Sometimes I just wonder why we even bother.

Yet again, Abanhfleft has been beaten by another newcomer side in the International Baseball Slam. This time, it's Neyosil's Sidrats that have handed us our second consecutive defeat. Oh, man. Looks like we haven't learned from all of our mistakes against Kiana Mura. If this continues, then get ready to accept my resignation, because I'm out of this. I want no part of this team anymore if this is going to be our performance for the next four days.

The game looked like it would be much better for us, because Carlos the Jackal managed to bag a home in the first ever pitch of the game. Sure, none of the other batters got as lucky as he did, but it looked like a good start for us. The Sidrats weren't as lucky, and it took their third batter Benigno Brankovicz a tiring effort to secure each and every base that he got before finally getting the run at the bottom of the first. Like I said, it looked like this game was finally going to go our way.

And then the second inning happened. Jayzus, it's always the second inning that gets us, innit? Not only were we shut out by the Sidrats at the top of the second--all thanks to their excellent pitcher-batter Mauro Low--the Sidrats then got a whopping 3 runs in, also courtesy of this Low guy! Thank god it wasn't a grand slam like what happened with Kiana Mura yesterday, but it's still a very painful experience for us all. It's deja vu, guys! Thankfully we didn't decide to just give up right there and then, and Heng Jiangming--that lovable Chinaman!--got us another run to keep us within arm's reach of these Sidrats.

Alas, it didn't really work out. We never got another run after the third, while Neyosil just kept racking it in, courtesy of Ciaran Foxx at the bottom of the sixth, and then Narcisso Wolff bagged a run of his own at the bottom of the eighth. After that, victory was all but assured for the Sidrats, and group stage elimination is once again a distinct possibility for us once again.

Jayzus, sometimes I just wish we can skip to the end of the group stage and see if we managed to get through or not without actually going through any games. Sometimes I wish we can just run tournaments like this through a computer that will take the teams' playing styles and experience and then spit out the results. Maybe one day, such a thing will finally happen, but while it's still a dream in my mind, we'll still have to stick to playing these games ourselves and experiencing the pain of a loss or the ecstasy of victory ourselves.

Sorry if this post has suddenly got a bit of a rant at the end. Normal, slightly-biased programming will resume tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, our next game will be up against the Albagaria Luck Swingers, who are currently living up to their nickname by being on top of the group despite not having an official roster. The match will be staying in Prune Juice Park, and will be broadcast live on CNN Sports still at 9 AM. This is the Armored Dinner Jacket saying, ciao, peace. Catch you in my next post.

[Coconut Isle]

The Furry Coconut
Reporting from Gregoryisgodistan

WE WON
by Anthony Bjorn Chip Darian Edouard Ferdinand Giles Heston Ivor Jebediah Khan Lane Magnus Noel Ozzy Peyton Quinton Ricardo Sherman Tai Ulysses Vladimir Will Xander Yuri Zeb

Hey so I just realised that it is alright for me to come to Gregoryisgodistan after all! Why, as long as I have all the papers on me at all times, then I should be able to say coconut whenever I want, where-ever I want! And I realised just in time too, that we've managed to win against the Gregoryians! OH EM GEE, right! It was a race to the finish, but the Dwarfs have managed to win by five runs to four in a stunning fashion. We must feel sorry for the team, as we're sure that heads will roll... at some location... somewhere in Gregoryisgodstan.

We must especially thank Proton Accelerator for being a fundamental part of our team, managing to catch the ball even though it was situated 5 metres under ground, and was a massive underground circular accelerator of about 2km in length, and had to be placed there at least a month in advance through Tileanian technology. But it was worth it, as a ball that was hit so hard managed to fall through the ground by 5.1 metres and it fell into the accelerator, where it was deemed (by the referees) as being caught by Coconut Isle, and that was what sealed the win for us. (Note that the ball was promptly smashed into by a proton travelling near the speed of light which would have nearly nuked the entire world, if it weren't for Jim Snakeoil, the mayor of Cocoa Isle, who before hand managed to smear the entire inside of the accelerator with anti-energy, which absorbed the mass of energy like a sponge.)

Special mention should also go to Greg Gregory Gregson, the 3rd base pitcher for Coconut Isle, who was accidentally named by the announcer as Lord Almighty Greg Gregory Gregson, where the announcer was promptly executed on the pitch for saying that. Greg Gregory Gregson said in the post-match interview that: "Oh, my parents used a random name generator online when choosing my name, and the name Lord Almighty Gregory popped up, so they gave it that little bit more oomph - I guess the announcer got confused and paid the price for it [executed] but it's sport, and at the end of the day, there are zero margins for error in sport."

[Fratton]

Fratton Bumble Bees shocked yesterday with a supringsly comfortable win over Hakiafo Terns. The team, still consisting of unknowns wearing old uniforms because of a first team boycott, seemed more experienced than they looked after leading 2-0 in the first innings, then getting a memorable 3 in the 2nd. The match was broadcasted on local channel Kings TV due to the boycott, but nearly 6 million Frattonians watched a wonderful win!

[Neyosil]

Well, that's better. We managed to win one. And against an actual, extant team. Amazing.

Abanhfleft Revolution managed to score a grand total of two runs, with Carlos Teves taking a home run from the first pitch of the game. Come the bottom of the first, and not only Mauro Low, but also Celestino Barends were both run out. By the time Benigno Brankovicz came up to the plate, it was starting to look like it was going to be a tough game. Brankovicz managed to get to first base, and no further. Thankfully, the Sidrats managed to get him home by the end of the innings.

Come the second innings, and Mauro Low really started to show the nation, and indeed the world, that he really was back on top form after his injury break. Taking three batters out of the competition with ease, he then came up to the plate with the Sidrats already one run up in the innings, and Samuel Kasun standing ready at second base. Low hit a belter, and scored himself a home run, with Kasun bringing the Sidrats' total up to 4. Another run for the Revolutionaries in the top of the third looked promising for a moment, but it would prove to be their last run of the game. The Sidrats just kept getting better and better, and in the end they were just too much for the exhausted Abanhfleft team. A final score of 6-2 puts the Sidrats in prime position to go through to the knock-out stage. All we need to do is beat Kiana Mura......

[Estenia]

[/size]Estenian Blue Stars Baseball Team[size=200]

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes (but be realistic)
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: No
Godmod scoring events: NO
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes
Use DH at home: No

Rotation

1: Nikolai Popov (R/R)
2: Konstantin Vasilyev (R/R)
3: Yasha Matveev (L/L)
4: Vadim Kaminski (R/R)
5: Kazimir Yakovlev (R/R)

Bullpen

CL: Nestor Krupin (R/R)
SU: Miron Petrov (R/R)
MR: Leonty Filipov (R/R)
MR: Georgiy Lagounov (L/L)
MR: Sevastian Bogomolov (R/R)
LR: Makari Lagunov (R/R)
LR: Samuil Markovic (R/R)

Starting Lineup 

2B: Prokopiy Bogomolov (S/R)
RF: Volodya Utkin (L/L)
CF: Vladislav Kuznetsov (R/R)
1B: Andrey Mikhailov (S/L)
3B: Afanasy Petrov (R/R)
LF: Spartak Pasternack (S/R)
C: Iosif Alkaev (R/R)
SS: Sergey Vasilyev (R/R)

Bench

C: Sevastyan Volkov (R/R)
IF: Vitali Markovic (R/R)
IF: Abram Pasternack (R/R)
OF: Ferapont Pajari (R/L)
OF: Zinoviy Pajari (S/R)

Style Modifier: -1
Manager: Saveli Matveev
First Base Coach: Roman Fyodorov
Third Base Coach: Svyatopolk Popov
Batting Coach: Slava Polzin
Pitching Coach: Demyan Yakovlev
Bench Coach: Melor Konstantinov
Colors: Blue and White
Demonym: Estenian
Trigram: ETA(Because Estope is EST and I don't want to still Estope's trigram)

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Bat Slaves Fall to Xylocarp Isle

The Gregoryisgoditan Bat Slaves have fallen to a team with a name of a forbidden fruity word, who we shall euphemistically call Xylocarp Isle. The players for that team, who in spite of popular belief are not sapient xylocarps, managed to pull off an improbable 5-4 victory on Gregoryisgodistani soil. Although the Xylocarpislians were techically speaking the "home" team in that they batted last, the game was played at Pervert Chaser NAUSJW Ballpark in Gregoryisgodistan, and the Bat Slaves should have had the home field advantage. They still lost, and to a nation on the Enemy List no less.

Before the game, Public Address Announcer K9100ZLLAPP was executed on the field for improperly introducing Xylocarp Isle player Greg Gregory Gregson, invoking the name of Lord Almighty Gregory to refer to the third baseman. He was immediately executed on the field for blaspheming the Lord's name, and his head would later be made into a bomb and used to blow up the family home with the family chained inside, including his 91 year-old mother, his wife, three children, and two grand children. They are all dead now, much to the delight of Lord Almighty Gregory.

However, the rest of the day did not delight Lord Almighty Gregory at all. In a televised speech, he said "This is a humiliating loss for us. Fortunately, we have four games left to avenge this, and will be playing the Xylocarp Isle heathens again in just a few short days. We had better win then or there will be punishments. Still, I remain confident we will go through to the next round. Our team has won five out of six International Baseball Slams we have been in, including two in a row. We are going to three-peat again. Then we will four-peat, five-peat, six-peat, and so on. We are the most glorious team in the world. We are Gregoryisgodistan. I am the Lord Your God, and the Xylocarp Isle heathens dare to name themselves after a forbidden fruity word just to insult me. We must destroy them, both on the field and off. For now though, we will focus our energy on winning this group, or at least moving on to the knockout stage. From there, we will win the championship and hoist yet another IBS trophy. Nobody else but us has a chance. The Llamaneans haven't even posted a roster yet - they won't win. And nobody else is close to us in the rankings. They won't win either. This is going to be an easy Gregoryisgodistani victory. We shall roll to victory, smashing over anyone who stands in our way. And if we don't, there will be punishments. Mark my word, there will be punishments. Up to and including death. I really hope it does not come to that, but if it does, that is what will have to happen. People will die. Mark my words. You do not want to make me invoke that. Go Bat Slaves!"

Clearly, Lord Almighty Gregory is furious and the Bat Slaves had better win all their games if they want to live. The loss to Xylocarp Isle is especially infuriating due to the latter being on the Enemy List and naming themselves after a forbidden fruit. Only time will tell how this plays out, but the Bat Slaves will play as if their lives depend on it, because they probably do.

[Estenia]

Estenians catch up second win, remain at the top of the group

In an unexpected perfromance, the Estenian Blue Stars won again, I mean crushed again their opponents in the Death to Estenia stadium. All of the players were escorted by the Speciala Armija (Special Army) of Estenia in order to prevent assasination and when everything was set up and safe, the match began.

Inning one of the 9 the game had, Estenian Blue Star batted first. With the evening sun on the reight of the batter named Nikolai Popov, who was excellent 2 seasons ago when he played against the Gregoryisgodistanis and proved to be the player that messed it all up for them. So he began with a point and then after 3 faults he was out. A Garinfuyan player batted next, he failed too. Then Vasilyev batted, he failed too even after trying for several minutes to hit the ball correctly.The second inning was awful from both sides, failing again and again. Batters could not just hit properly even though they tried. Third inning was excellent for Estenians with Popov scoring 2 more runs for his team. On the 4th one, a Garinfuyan scored a run and then it finished. The 5th inning was the same with second, bad from both sides that couldn't score a point. The 6th inning was an incredible perfrmance from the Estenians, with Yakolovlev scoring all the points with a 4 run shot, excellent batting by him. The next was a very bad perfromance by Estenia, failing to score and then the 8th one was a distaster, with Garinfuyans scoring 2 points but the game was already won 7-3 was a score to admire. But then on the 8th inning Kaminski scord one more run for his team to make the stunning Estenian Blue Stars - Garinfunya Dolfinjen 8-3.

Outside the stadium, a Gregoryisgodistani almost attacked Popov but a man called Andriy Sesemov who watched him coming punched him in the face with the Gregoryisgodistani got up and Sesemov kicked him in the gentials and some people clearly heared the 2 most famous words around the globe "F*CK YOU" in French in order the Gregoryisgodistanis don't understand that he's an Estenian. But then another Gregoryisgodistani came by but it was Popov who saved him this time, when the Gregoryisgodistani jumpd, he kicked him in mid air with the Gregoryisgodistani falling down with blood getting of his face. At the hotel, some 500 Speciala Armija forces were keeping the Estenian Blue Stars safe over the night, capturing two assasinators from Gregoryisgodistan and sending them into an Estenian jail in the embassy of Estenia in the region.

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions Need Extras to Hold Off Toasters

Allen Talos, Londinium Courier

If you had told me that the Lions would go to extra innings against a team named the "Toasters", I would have laughed you out of the room. But team names are no indication of how teams will play, and the Hambeich Toasters proved that in yesterday's IBS Group F matchup. The Toasters got on the board early, when their #7 hitter knocked a 2nd-inning RBI single. That was the only damage against Justin Garcia in six innings. He allowed just four hits and a walk while striking out nine, a most impressive performance at his thirty-five years of age. But he was surpassed by the Hambeich pitcher, who allowed two hits and two walks in his first six innings, silencing the Lions' bats. In the 7th, they finally broke through; with two outs, third catcher Tommie Griffin singled back up the middle to score Jarrod Novak and tie the score. Sebastian Lafferty came on to try to preserve the tie, but the Toasters' pinch-hitter whacked a flat fastball from Lafferty into left-center field to score their #6 hitter and put the Toasters back on top.

In the top of the 9th, with the score still at 2-1 Toasters, Khris Caldwell led off with a shot to right-center that banged off the wall and got him into second with a double. After Jarrod Novak popped up, Josh Jennings drew a walk on a 3-2 slider. Barry Glover hit a high chopper to the right side; the Toasters' second baseman was able to stop it from getting out of the infield, but his only play was to first and there were runners on third and second with two outs. The Toasters' manager brought in a new pitcher to deal with pinch-hitter Leon French, and they pitched around French, running the count to 3-1. The pitcher threw a fastball low and away that French managed to reach out and punch into shallow right; this scored Caldwell and Jennings and gave the Lions the 3-2 lead. Jamey Conroy was unable to hold the lead, unfortunately, as their #3 hitter parked a 96 MPH fastball to tie the score and the game headed into extra innings.

In the first extra frame, Josh Heckman flied out to open things up, but Kelvin Freeman singled and then stole second. They then walked "Flick" Barnes intentionally, but Khris Caldwell made them pay, reaching down and golfing a pitch almost off his shoetops into the stands for a three-run homer to put the Lions up solidly, 6-3. Kyle Pauley came on to get the save, the first of his international career, but he allowed two hits, a walk, and a run in what was a bit of a shaky outing. Had the game been any closer, I think that Graig Lowman would have pulled Pauley, but with a three-run lead, just about any reliever can get three outs. It's a good thing that the game started at 11 AM, because there are no lights at Professor UZ91APZLA Field. I find it hard to believe that there aren't enough baseball facilities in Gregoryisgodistan to avoid having to use a stadium without lights, but them's the breaks.

In other games around the Slam, Royalsoldiers needed extra innings to defeat the Abidawe Eagles 6-4. The Eagles have played in two close games so far; let's hope the Lions end up on the right side of the scoreboard against them. In Group C, the woes of the Abanhfleft Revolution continue; the #4 overall seed dropped their second straight game, this time to the Neyosil Sidrats. What the heck a Sidrat is, I don't know, but Abanhfleft shouldn't be losing to them. Super-Llamaland barely edged the Screamerstan Gladiators 3-2 to improve to 2-0; they have a matchup with the Milchama Warriors next. And finally, our hosts fell to the Dwarfs of Coconut Isle 5-4 in a loss that must especially sting considering the nature of the word "coconut" in Gregoryisgodistan. Tune in to StateSports1 tonight at 21:00 to catch the Lions take on the Abidawe Eagles and try to end the first half on a good note.

[Affiliated South Califan Sprawls]

★ SOUTH CALIFAS STARS ★

Home/first uni: Black with medium-thick dark green pinstripes and thick lettering 'Stars' with white trim. White pants.
Away/second uni: Light gray with dark red pinstripes of same thickness and lettering 'ASCS' with white trim. Light gray pants.
Alternate uni: Dark red, with stylized black baseball bat, and bright red star inside a black star near tip of bat. Black lettering 'ASCS' or 'Stars' with white trim. Dark gray pants.

Umpire submitted for games not involving ASCS: Shir Pataki

Permissions & conflicts

Choose my Lineup: Occasionally. it's presented here in order
Choose my Runscorers: Yes
RP Injuries: Yes. Nothing extreme
Godmod Injuries: Never
Follow my Rotation: Yes
Eject my players: A) Only once a game; B) Only twice in a week
Godmod other events: up to a point (possible in the laws of physics we know of, hopefully something that's happened IRL at some point)
Use DH at home: No. insert one of the listed PH if DH Rule is in effect

Fans may antagonize authoritarian regimes but generally won't recklessly endanger their lives or players' liberty or wellbeing. Players, coaches, federal officials, etc. will never do so, and will generally be either diplomatic or quiet.

Style: Aggressive, physical, in all aspects of the game: hard slides, throws, tags; taking risks both on the basepaths and on defense; relying on raw speed to manufacture runs in tight games; making an intimidating presence in general. OTOH, manager Sam Renie is tenacious but understated, walking quickly to the mound to make a change and walking slowly to an umpire to build tension before arguing balls and strikes.

Elected manager: Sam Renie (Gaslamp Quarter)
Hitting coach: Gwen Havener (Santa Ana SSZ)
Bullpen coach: Chinedu Maite (Long Beach City)
First base coach: Lee Radoslav (Chula Vista)
Third base coach: Ali Kirstine (Santa Ana SSZ)

Starting rotation
LHP Rodrigo Leonor Quinones (San Luis Obispo City)
RHP Sonia Roberta Guiomar (Santa Barbara City)
RHP Dana Davison (El Cajon)
LHP Heidi George (Channel Islands SSZ)

Relievers
RHP Candace Beumers (Mission Bay)
LHP Ernesto Gracia Ramos (Chula Vista)
RHP Dan Hortens (Brooklyn Heights)
RHP Maricela Alma Belmonte (Santa Maria)
LHP Yaro Scott (Barrio Logan)

Starting lineup (per usual batting order)
CF Ray Scott (Barrio Logan) (S)
3B Joaquin Sonia (Westwood) (L)
LF Gabriel Medina (Santa Monica) (R)
1B Clio Nkechi (Long Beach City) (S)
RF Phil Winter (Santa Ana SSZ) (L)
C  Paco Garza (Bell) (S)
2B Lou Maarika (Santa Ana SSZ) (R)
SS Rani Kruz (Buenaventura SSZ) (L)

Substitutes
PH(R)	Kelly Tyson (Compton)
PH(L)	Elise Gunhi (Eastwood SSZ)
IF	Sandy Lorena (Paramount) (R)
IF	Dia Terzi (Gaslamp Quarter) (R)
OF	Angel Jimena Morales (City Heights) (R)
OF	Pat Esperanza (Gaslamp Quarter) (L)
C	Bev Ursula (Skid Row) (R)

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Cutoff for MD3!

Edit: And results....

Group A
Garifunya Dolfinjen                            0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0  5
Frenline Delpha Anacondas                      5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  6

Southern Democratic States Southern Bears      1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Estenia Blue Stars                             0 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 X  5


  Group A                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Estenia Blue Stars                             3   3  0   21   7 +14    9
2 Southern Democratic States Southern Bears      3   2  1    7   8  −1    6
3 Frenline Delpha Anacondas                      3   1  2    9  15  −6    3
4 Garifunya Dolfinjen                            3   0  3   10  17  −7    0

Group B
Lisander Arminhos                              2 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0  7
South Califas Stars                            0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1  3

Minecraft Miners Axemen                        0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 1  5
United States of Devonta Duck Beaters          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0


  Group B                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Lisander Arminhos                              3   2  1   20  16  +4    6
2 Minecraft Miners Axemen                        3   2  1   15  12  +3    6
3 South Califas Stars                            3   1  2   14  16  −2    3
4 United States of Devonta Duck Beaters          3   1  2   12  17  −5    3

Group C
Neyosil Sidrats                                0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0  3
Kiana Mura Blue Foxes                          3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 X  5

Albagaria Luck Swingers                        0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 1  6
Abanhfleft Revolution                          0 0 0 3 3 1 1 0 X  8


  Group C                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Kiana Mura Blue Foxes                          3   2  1   12   8  +4    6
2 Albagaria Luck Swingers                        3   2  1   16  15  +1    6
3 Neyosil Sidrats                                3   1  2   13  13   0    3
4 Abanhfleft Revolution                          3   1  2   11  16  −5    3

Group D
Screamerstan Gladiators                        0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Sword Bloke Thunder                        0 0 1 2 1 2 1 0 X  7

Milchama Warriors                              1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0  7
Super-Llamaland Tigers                         1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2


  Group D                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Milchama Warriors                              3   3  0   13   3 +10    9
2 Super-Llamaland Tigers                         3   2  1   19  14  +5    6
3 The Sword Bloke Thunder                        3   1  2   13  20  −7    3
4 Screamerstan Gladiators                        3   0  3    5  13  −8    0

Group E
Patistan Green Caps                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3  4
Hakiafo Terns                                  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2

Fratton Bumble Bees                            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Gregory Llama Land Fuzzy Llamas                0 2 1 0 1 5 0 0 X  9


  Group E                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Gregory Llama Land Fuzzy Llamas                3   3  0   23   5 +18    9
2 Patistan Green Caps                            3   2  1    8  14  −6    6
3 Fratton Bumble Bees                            3   1  2   10  16  −6    3
4 Hakiafo Terns                                  3   0  3    8  14  −6    0

Group F
Hambeich Toasters                              0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0  3
Royalsoldiers CB                               0 1 2 0 1 1 1 0 X  6

Abidawe Eages                                  0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 0  5
Nova Anglicana Lions                           0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2  3


  Group F                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana Lions                           3   2  1   15  12  +3    6
2 Royalsoldiers CB                               3   2  1   15  13  +2    6
3 Abidawe Eages                                  3   2  1   10   9  +1    6
4 Hambeich Toasters                              3   0  3    7  13  −6    0

Group G
Coconut Isle Dwarfs                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3
Yayness Yowlers                                0 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 X  7

Adoxinia Red Dragons                           1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Gregoryisgodistan Bat Slaves                   0 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 X  5


  Group G                                      Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Coconut Isle Dwarfs                            3   2  1   18  12  +6    6
2 Yayness Yowlers                                3   2  1   15  11  +4    6
3 Gregoryisgodistan Bat Slaves                   3   2  1   15  12  +3    6
4 Adoxinia Red Dragons                           3   0  3    6  19 −13    0

No games tomorrow, as it is an off day. Matches resume Tuesday.

[Abanhfleft]

MUSINGS OF AN ARMORED DINNER JACKET
Official blog of Ibrahim Ahmadinejad, Right Fielder of the Verbergerkinnh Cubs and the Abanhfleft Revolution

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! LUCK SWINGERS' LUCK RUNS OUT AGAINST THE REVOLUTION


Players of the Abanhfleft Revolution form a dogpile upon Desmond Bo after scoring the walk-off home run to give Abanhfleft its first victory in the International Baseball Slam VIII. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Umkhonto Thabowane)

LIVE FROM DISTRICT 2, GREGORYISGODISTAN - We have finally gotten rid of the curse! At least, we think so.

This has to be one of the strangest games the International Baseball Slam has ever seen. The Albagaria Luck Swingers, newcomers to the tournament itself, are not only leading the group they are currently in, they're also favorites to win this match, over the Abanhfleft Revolution, which is ranked 6th in the IBS ranks. Yes, I know that's redundant, but that's the only thing that I could think of at the moment.

Now about the match itself. So it appears that the Albagarians have a team in Gregoryisgodistan, but they've apparently forgotten to bring their official roster sheet, and their uniforms also have no names on them, only numbers. So I have no way of knowing who scored against us, but at least we know how much they scored against us. The game started runless for the entirety of two innings. That was good, considering that both of our losses had started in the bottom of the second. And then the Luck Swingers got lucky, as their name suggested. Two of their batters managed to get past our defense--yours truly included, sadly--and we weren't able to respond in kind at the bottom of the third. It looked like we were heading for another debacle, one that could quite possibly mark our early exit from this tournament just two years after trying our hardest.

But the baseball gods then decided to smile upon us in the fourth inning. The Luck Swingers didn't manage to score at the top of the fourth, and then, once we were set to begin play, Carlos the Jackal struck the ball with such force that it was already a home run long before it hit the ground. Habibi Teymourian and Heng Jiangming--those two guys!--managed to get two more runs for the country, and finally giving us a lead that we so totally deserved. </totallybiasedblogging>

And guess what? Our luck just continued! The runs just kept on coming and coming! I even got one at the bottom of the seventh, just to give us that little bit of a bigger gap between us and the Luck Swingers, who got lucky again at the top of the inning, getting three past Johnny Kabebe. But no matter. Even though Albagaria managed to score one more run at the top of the ninth, we already had the lead, and all Desmond Bo had to do was score a homer. And this he did. The poor guy is still spitting out the dirt that ended up in his mouth after he dogpiled him after the win.

Ah, the feel of victory is irreplacable. What I would give to feel it three more times after this. All right, that's enough from me now, and I probably wouldn't post something IBS-related next day, because it's a rest day, thank god. That should probably give us time to review game footage from the earlier games so that we can remember what to expect from our opponents in our next games. The game the day after tomorrow will be against either Kiana Mura or Albagaria once again, but at least the match will still be broadcast live on CNN Sports at 9 AM. This is the Armored Dinner Jacket saying ciao, peace. Catch you in my next post.

[Milchama]

"So what's going on?"

"Oh we're in another tournament that's not the World Cup or the World Baseball Classic"

"I didn't even know there were other international tournaments besides those"

"Well it's still baseball"

"Oh that's nice"

"It is"

"So we're sending the development team then?"

"Yep it's the B team"

"Nice"

"So how have they been?"

"Undefeated!"

"Really?"

"Yep, they even beat Super-Llamaland"

"See this just proves the obvious theory"

"It really does"

"I just don't understand why we don't always win"

"It's all because of the small sample size"

"Oh small sample size"

"Oh small sample size"

"So sad"

"Yep if it were large enough we would win every single time"

"Whatever, at least we're winning now"

"Yep"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Milchama]

Since it's a B squad nobody really cared about the roster and thus was not reporter in any Milchamian daily but here it is:

C: Martin Flores
1b: Davis McCutcheon
2b: Israel Florid
SS: Yisrael Miller
3b: Jami Tormers
LF: Kent Marsh
CF: Johnny Mackles
RF: David Truma

SP: Torres Villa
SP: Cornell Smith
SP: Wally Jenkins
SP: Doron Noros

RP: Xavier Gones
RP: Tomer Awe
RP: Oren Queresh
RP: Paulina Morel
RP: Julie Rittard
Swing: Dan Zomes

Bench:
2b/SS: Steve Barsch
RF: Mac Florent
CF: Avi Keremel
1b/DH: Gary Shents
3b/LF: Geshanal Borakantanaos
SS: Kollel Greenberg

[Kiana Mura]

5-3 win sees the Blue Foxes rocket to 1st place
Boško Bogdanov, Head Sports Reporter for the Maljara Times

Captain Andon Gáspár scored 3 points as the Kiana Mura Blue Foxes continued their fantastic start to the International Baseball Slam. The captain led by example, scoring in the first innings along with Žan Sarka and Branimir Kováč, before taking two further points in the 3rd and 6th innings. This, unbelievably, catapults the team to the top of Group C on point difference, with the Albagaria Luck Swingers in second place. Halfway through the group stage and with qualification for the next round still a great possibility the mood amongst the team was sky high. 'To be honest, we can't quite believe how well it has all gone so far,' said current leading point scorer Daniel Kaloyanchev. 'The win against Abanhfleft was definitely the high point and we were really lucky that it happened in our first game, as it's given us so much confidence and belief that on our day we really can compete here. I think many of the guys are a bit disappointed that there's a rest day - we're just all so desperate to get out there and play!'

The Blue Foxes go into the next game, against Abanhfleft Revolution, knowing that a win combined with a win for the Albagaria Luck Swingers would mean almost certain qualification for the next stage, and failing that, wins against Neyosil and Albagaria in the final two games would also ensure it. For a team in their first ever tournament, there's a real feeling around the camp that the IBS VIII Kiana Mura Blue Foxes could be going down in the country's sporting history.

[Estenia]

Death to Estenia Stadium, District 16
1800 local time, weather is windy and warm with 4 degrees celsius

"I love watching the Estenian Baseball Team playing. They have advanced over the last two editions, those coaches are doing their jobs with their players and this proof is now on the field. Another victim for us cause seriously they were also crushed up by us. It was a very nice game, all those 9 innings were proved fun to watch, like the previous 2 games. But unlike those, our performance has deceased. Hasn't it?" asked Yuri Markovski his colleague, also being his cousin Grigoriy Zinovski who answered "It has deceased, to be honest from eight home runs we made each match, we reduced it to ive, at least, the homeruns we received have also deceased since our last match which is good. Popv is keeping good, the others are not, really."

"I must agree with that too, only Popov's form has remained in the standard levels. I just hope that the others will keep doing that too."

"That won't be easy Yuri. The squad's got a day-off tommorow, I hope we will have enough time for rest and to increase the style of playing to the maximum level, the only thing I need now is to Qualify from those stupid groups because I am sick of my team getting disqualified in those, in EVERY DAMN sport."

"Grigoriy, calm down we've finished in high positions at many tournaments but baseball is not that popular in here, the advancement of Proffesional Baseball in 2 years is a huge success and remember, we're not Willemstad. We're not Nova Anglicana or Imota either and most of all we're not the hosts of this tournament. So better give good attitude to the players because they might be the reason you'll be cheering the name even if they reach the round of 16."

"You're right, I'll try be more supportive. See you at the next shift, it's 04:30."