World Baseball Classic 12 Everything Thread

[The Babbage Islands]

ARMAGH, Tesla (BPA) -- The Babbage Islands opened their schedule in World Baseball Classic 12 with a 4-1 win over Bluth Corporation.

The Bumblebees scored three in the first inning with a mix of smallball and longball, and never looked back. Tori Simpson led off the Babbage first with a single off Bluth starter Dwight Fish, then immediately stole second. Thomas Leonard followed with a well-placed bunt down the first-base line, beaten out for a single with Simpson advancing. Wayne Richards then drove in Simpson with a long sacrifice fly to center. After Frank Moore went down on strikes, Armagh Brawlers DH Vincent Smith delighted the home fans with a towering home run to left, 3-0 Bumblebees.

Bluth got one back in the seventh, as Babbage starter Parker Thompson gave up his only two hits of the game in a complete-game victory. The Babbagians matched that run in the bottom of the seventh on an Aaron Ford solo home run.

Next up for the Babbage nine is Yafor 2, also in Armagh. Don Tyler will start for the Bumblebees.

Bluth Corporation   000 000 100 - 1  2  0
The Babbage Islands 300 000 10x - 4  9  1

W - Thompson (1-0).  L - Fish (0-1).  HR - Smith (1), Ford (1).

[Quintessence of Dust]

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Game Report: Quintessence of Dust v Quakmybush
Posted by MetaNarrativesFTL

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15,000 fans came out on a cool summer evening to watch video screens inside the Raptor Bowl of the game in Quakmybush, and they weren't disappointed as Masami Tamagotchi pitched us to a win over the hosts. After beating them in the World Cup of Hockey, it was the turn of the baseballers, and Tamagotchi led a charging assault, pitching out 24 batters for 2 runs, and lining a skimming homer to the right field pole in the fourth.

The game began in the best possible way: Kelly Maddox lined one for a single on her very first plate appearance (after having worked the count for 8 pitches), Georgia Fox took a walk, and both were quick enough to advance and beat the double play when Barry Pullman ground out. Emily Sanderson was the second debutant to get a hit in her first up, her fly to short left centre dropping in for a 2-RBI double as the leadoffs ran home. She then stole third in vain as Momoko Koumura and Jurgen Barthes ground out.

Masami didn't have a great start: their leadoff popped an infield fly to Tabitha, but then she gave up a single and a double down the right field line to allow their cleanup to hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI. The next batter ground out to Tabitha, but with 2 hits in the first innings, it looked like Quakmybush had the batting power to stay level.

And the 2nd innings didn't go well for us. Tabitha caught one high and inside on her left shoulder - the first of two hit batters that Quakmybush starter threw - and then Amanda walked, to when Masami hit a right-centre gap fly to load the bases, it looked like we could start another scoring drive. But Kelly flailed at one outside the zone, Georgia bunted a third strike foul, and Barry toed another grounder to 1st base to leave with us no runs, 3 runners left on. Fortunately Masami did her stuff on the mound, with a ground out, catching a pop fly herself, and getting her first K on the final batter.

Emily and Momoko ground out, but Jurgen was hit on the chest by the next one and, oddly, managed to steal second against a Quakmybush catcher who was really not on his game. In the end it didn't matter as Tabitha hit a weak fly to right centre. Masami burned through the 3rd without a hit, and after Amanda ground out came up to bat in the fourth with the score 2-1. The left with the score 3-1, hitting one right on the screws to burn all the way down the right field line and clear the fence. (See my previous posts on the value of a hitting pitcher.)

Of course, home runs are impressive and what the fans want to see, but they're rarely enough (unless you're a Tocrowkian). With Kelly and Georgia grounding out and just a 2-run lead, there was still much work to do. Masami sure began doing it (throwing nine consecutive strikes, though their third batter toed the last one to Georgia for an easy ground out to avoid the 3-K-in-9). Five of six batters ground out in the 5th, with Masami throwing another K - her fourth.

Things picked up in the 6th. Jurgen got his first hit of the classic and Tabitha advanced him to second on a sacrifice bunt. Amanda ground out but Jurgen got back to avoid the double play, and then hared home as Masami - that's right, her third hit! - poked a single to right and got in ahead of the throw. Kelly hit a second single, but Georgia ground out into a fielders choice, meaning our 3 hits were only worth 1 run - still useful on what looked to be a low-scoring surface. Masami followed up by taking the next three for no walks and no hits - impressively, she didn't walk a batter all night.

The 7th was the rockiest part of the evening. With everyone else grounding out and Emily swishing at a ball, Momoko lined a double for nothing to leave it at 4-1, but then Masami gave up a single while Barry failed to throw out the stealer at second, and then a pinch hitter mustered a second single to drive in a run. And Momoko, playing out of position and always something of a liability, let a grounder slip past her to advance the batter on an error. With the tying runs on base, Masami kept a cool head and threw her sixth K.

Tabitha ground out but Amanda hit a career long, 423 foot fly to deep left centre to take it to a 5-2 score that would hold for the rest of the game. Our other batters ground out, but the pressure was off as the diminuitive shortstop connected. Generally considered the weakest batter in the lineup, it did her chances of remaining the first team player no harm at all; it also did for the Quakmybush starter, who was pulled for relief after giving up his second home run. Masami and Kelly then ground out, but Masami followed with another no-hit, no-walk innings.

With two outs and a 2-2 count, Emily watched the final Quakmybush pitch sail by, and kicked up some fuss when it was called a strike. She was ejected, with Anne Wu subbed in to play first base and Momoko switched out to left field. Mazio Mizokuchi was given the chance to record his first save, and though he walked one, the game ended with its only double play (3-6-3).

This was really a must-win game. We didn't advance last time because we failed to make the most of our chances against low-to-middle ranked sides. This time we have to if we're going to offset the presumable damage against Liventia and Qazox. Django will need to pitch as well as Masami did, and the hitters need to step up: far too many weak groundouts. The good news is Barry was the only player not to get on base, and the defence was generally pretty sharp, especially from Tabitha.

[Cassadaigua]

Christina’s Space

Good morning Cassadaigua! I’m Christina Barrett and what a great game we had against Secristan last night! We have heard very often that Steve Jamison is such a great ace pitcher, and he is, that’s what makes our putting five runs on the board against him very special. It all started in the first inning, when we got two runs. I led the inning off with a single, and Brittany Knowles followed up with a single of her own. After a sweet double steal that could them by surprise (though I do not know why it did), Rachel Weston knocked us both in with a two run single. In the next inning, we get another on a solo home run by Amanda Meyer, and then in the third Brittany and I score runs again. There was one out when we again hit back to back singles. Rachel Weston flew out to left and we did tag up, and we were able to score on a Katie Sheridan double. We had Jamison chased at that point, and a quick 5-0 lead. We didn’t get anything off of the Secristan bullpen, but we did not have too. Meghan Corrigan had pitched brilliantly with six shutout innings. They got two off her in the seventh, and then one off our closer Katie Sanderson in the 9th to make it 5-3, but we felt as though we were in control of this game from start to finish.

It is a big victory for us, winning on the road in Secristan. That is something that we will hoping to do very often in the playoffs as well. With this behind us, we could open up a little bit on the other teams in the group and solidify our status as a top two team in Group A. We expect to be that, but things do not always play out on paper the way we might think they will. We remain on the road to play Delaclava, who lost to Peso Grande, and then have a road game with that very Peso Grande before opening at home with Vephrall. Two years ago, they were in our qualifying group too, and we split with them so they will have confidence that they can do it to us again. I truly believe that Vephrall is a good team and they will have a bright future in the World Baseball Classic over the long haul. If we can put a streak together right now that would be so great.

[Sarzonia]

It must be baseball season.

Mountaineer Field in Clyburn was packed to watch the Sarzonian national baseball team take to the field against Vlasi. Kate Schmidt jogged out to her position at third base, now batting sixth in the order. Everything else was the same as it usually was for the Stars.

Except one thing. Veteran righthander Ken Sutcliffe strolled onto the mound, not John Morgan, the traditional ace of the Stars staff. He only received a smattering of polite applause from the very surprised Stars faithful.

What they didn't realise was that when Manager Jim Paulsen saw the schedule and realised that world No. 1 Newmanistan would be both the fifth and 10th match on Sarzonia's schedule, he swapped Sutcliffe's and Morgan's spots in the starting rotation. Against three unranked sides, it likely wouldn't matter which hurler got the start, but against 16th ranked Dancougar and the Rockets, starting anyone other than their best pitchers was not an option.

Stars supporters groaned when Vlasi put four runs on the board in the top of the first, nearly forcing Paulsen to go get Sutcliffe, but the veteran settled down, getting a crucial strikeout to end the inning without further damage. Then, shortstop Chris Spontanelli lashed a two-out double to left field. First baseman Hank Everly walked, then designated hitter Skip Hale was hit by a pitch.

Up came Schmidt, who swung mightily and couldn't connect on a curveball. However, she could hit a fastball, and she deposited the enemy hurler's attempt to sneak one by her over the 329 foot sign in left field. Just like that, the Stars equalised.

Sutcliffe threw four scoreless innings after that first inning disaster, then Everly and Hale hit solo homers to provide the Stars with a lead in the bottom of the fourth. Kerry Clark came on and closed the door in the top of the ninth to give Sarzonia the victory.

At the post-match press conference, Paulsen was asked immediately why Sutcliffe got the start against Vlasi.

"Our fifth and our last group stage matches are against Newmanistan," he said. "If we played our rotation the way we normally would, Sut would have been up against the Rockets. I wanted Morgan to face them."

"You've got Brian Edwards going against Dancougar. That part of your plan as well?"

"He's our number three starter. Actually, I'll move him up to start our next match, which is away to Oreington Canada. That means Charlie Palmer will pitch against the Black Wings."

"Do you have any concerns that this will seriously disrupt your starting rotation?"

"That's something I'm going to deal with when the time comes," Paulsen said. "I want our best pitchers going against our best opponents. Period."

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS-BLACK WINGS TAKE IT TO THE DIAMOND

Kuraizawa, Dancougar- For the first time, the classic rivalry that exists between Newmanistan and Dancougar hit the baseball field, a sporting arena in which the Empire holds as large advantage of the Kingdom. That’s a bit of a role reversal from the football and the gridiron where Dancougar has won championships and we have not. Even though the Rockets had a stranglehold on the Bird on Skates for the longest time, even that coveted trophy is in Atlantian Oceania now. Dancougar doesn’t only qualify for World Cups, they’ve won the whole shabang. In gridiron, the Kingdom holds three World Bowl trophies, two of which came at our expense. We’ve won the lacrosse battles, for the most part, but even there Dancougar is making strides, as evidenced in the most recent World Lacrosse Championships. Baseball however, is one thing we have on them. This is our game and where we thrive. We are glad to see Dancougar involved now and there is truth to rumors that they were prompted to join for the last one in a response to some Newmanistanian trash talk.

Dancougar responded by assembling an unorthodox team. They have assembled a bunch of teenage girls, from Nozomu Itoshiki High School and have called that their national baseball team. Many people laughed. Ok, most people laughed, calling it a cheap attempt to boost Pretty Sportsmen Erika ratings in the country. They did not qualify for World Baseball Classic 11, but they had a respectable showing for a first time nation, and the young ladies certainly impressed the world with their ability. The nature of the group schedule did not allow for a meeting between the teams, but this time things are different. Newmanistan, ranked #1 in the world still, and Dancougar, ranked 16th, are in the same group. Not only that, but the schedule had them playing each other to start of the group stage, right here on a high school field.

The bleachers at NIHS were full and young Clarissa Voint astutely realized that this would be because Dancougarans who’d rather be at home playing with robots then watching a baseball game might actually have an interest in watching with that game against Newmanistan. Of course, many Newmanistanians made their way, but were very disappointed in the lack of seating for them. Starting pitcher Stacey Keisler, arguably the greatest pitcher in World Baseball Classic history had already guaranteed that she will win both starts against Dancougar and that the team would make very short work of them in the process. She proved to be correct in the long run about the victory, but what may have been overlooked is that when these two teams play in any sport, and there is a gap in the rankings one way or the other, the game always ends up being much closer then you expect. Newmanistan gets the win, but by a modest score of 3-1, and back at NIHS they may just take that as a moral victory.

Newmanistan was not sharp at the beginning of the game, and Carrie Nicolette explains what may have happened. “We were all geared up for this exciting game against Dancougar. We have seen other Newmanistanian athletes have wonderful rivalries with them and we expected to see the same kind of thing here. Instead we come here to a high school field. Dancougar has some great stadiums, like that new one they built in Lakeport, but yet we have to come to a place like this. We brought a bunch of supporters but they couldn’t even sit down. I expected better from Dancougar, really. We all did, so I think it took a lot out of us, demoralizing us quite a bit and that was tough.” Notice that Nicolette made no reference to the pitching of Sarah Propeado, who shut the Rockets out for the first six innings, and allowed just two hits. Nobody on the team really seemed to think Propeado was the reason they didn’t get hits, and that it was simply because of the let down factor. In the seventh inning, Carrie led things off with a double into the left centerfield gap and scored on a single by Rachel Crockett. Later in the inning, Meghan Butler, making her WBC debut, did so in impressive fashion by sending a fastball over the left field fence to make it 3-0 in favor of Newmanistan. Propeado hung the curveball, and you don’t want to do that to someone with a SLORC of over 80 or else you will regret it! Keisler had dominated the Black Wings all day, striking out 12 and allowing three hits in the eighth inning. In the ninth, she made two mistakes, back-to-back doubles by Kagami Mimeko and Amber Dextrous that accounted for the Dancougar run.

Well, it was indeed a fun game as we made the most of playing on this field. We wonder what these young ladies will think when they step foot on Proving Grounds turf later on in qualifying. I’m sure that will quite an experience. In the next game, Courtney Lombardi will start against Vlasi at the most Sacred Field in Newmanistan. Vlasi lost their opener in Sarzonia, 6-4.

[Delaclava]

The Delaclava national baseball team:

Manager: #00 - Doc Pepper

C 50 Tim Joneson
1B 16 Jacob Nieves
2B 32 Ellis Moore
3B 17 Jim Jeffries
SS 3 Takashi Kibachi
LF 8 Brad Schaffer
CF 26 Devon Kizer
RF 7 Kalvin Burke
OF 24 Carlos Ruiz
UTIL 1 Ryan Flaffer
UTIL 4 Ivan Caleva
UTIL 13 Luke Torovic

SP 10 Jason Paluca
SP 23 Severiano Sanchez
SP 44 Denton Wolfe
RP 2 Ohana Lui
RP 40 Matt Wheeler
RP 97 Luis Pancevo

All games in Delaclava are played at the Delaclava National Athletic Complex, Baseball Field 1. The stadium seats 97,000.

[Dancougar]

Previously: Things that aren't as good as the original have left me in despair!

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L: Propeado (0-1)

It was standing room only at the Nozomu Itoshiki, partially because word had gotten out because Newmanistan was in town and partially because the stadium was really small. You couldn't even really call it a stadium. It was a diamond flanked by a few stands, and there were some floodlights in case it got dark. The amenities, though, were few: the bathrooms were in a dingy building that also housed the concession stand, which looked like it was being run by someone's mom. And the grounds crew was one guy, so if it rained, the field was doomed. Yes sir, nothing but the best for international sport, right?

"... This isn't as good as the original," said Clarissa at last, thinking to all the other Newmanistan-Dancougar clashes throughout the years. There was football in the National Stadium, which had been constructed specifically to host the national team. Then there was gridiron at the Shin Jared Koeppel, which the government had funded in response to growing interest and success. Even the lacrosse team, which played at Dyson College, saw its facilities improve. And when she looked to the other side of the field, well, there was no contest. Tundra Falls was friggin' Tundra Falls. Plus, the rumors of spirits floating about the complex made her all giddy inside.

Even the fans were inclined to agree, or maybe that was because they weren't fully versed in baseball. Anyone casually following the game probably expected a lot more, you know, hitting. And especially from the Rockets, given that they were the world's number one team. No one was entirely sure if Sarah was actually Stacy Keisler's equal or if the Rockets were so unenthusiastic about the game that they weren't even trying that hard.

It wasn't hard to guess what Schwartz thought.

"The problem is that whenever something happens for the first time, it creates a set of expectations that must be met for all future incarnations," explained Schwartz as the team returned to the dugout. The top of the sixth inning had just ended and they were still scoreless, with Sarah retiring the side on just eight pitches. "And this is true from all points of view. What must the Rockets be thinking right now? 'Why are we forced to play in this run-down place?' 'Why must we entertain this team that can't hit?' 'Where is the passion that grips each nation when they play each other?'"

"Like I said, a pitcher's duel is a good thing!" cried an exasperated Sarah. "Scoreless against them is a great game!"

"Because this game has not lived up to expectations, they are actually, consciously, performing worse than usual," claimed Schwartz. "If you look at their play, it's the only possible explanation. They've only stolen a single base today! Isn't that completely uncharacteristic?" Keisler finished off one batter and prepared for the next.

"It's because nobody's getting on base!" replied Sarah.

"Other games between Newmanistan and Dancougar have produced classic atmospheres and results, but both they and the fans recognize that this isn't nearly as good as the original!" Schwartz cried, as Keisler retired a second batter. "Sometimes expectations are adjusted accordingly. After all, if you expect less from something, the disappointment is lessened. And sometimes, one uses that expectation of a letdown as an excuse to try less! If a sequel is never going to be as good as the first movie, why break the budget or try anything new? And if a rivalry game isn't going to be as good as the earlier ones, why play at full potential when half power will do?"

"LIKE... I... SAID...!!" Sarah spat out. Keisler ended the inning by forcing a pop out and Sarah grabbed her glove in a huff and trudged back out to the mound. The cool demeanor she'd carried through the first six innings had been evaporated by the usual conversation with Schwartz. Rachel Crockett drove in the first run, and a few batters later, the Rockets had all the runs they needed when Meghan Butler tagged a fastball for a two-run shot. Sarah's normally perfect hair was starting to fray around the edges as she watched the ball sail over the fence.

From the dugout, Schwartz could only sit back and sign. "Definitely not as good as the original," he said. "I preferred the Miz Propeado from the first half of the game."

"Sorry, sorry!" squeaked Lois from the end of the bench.

On the mound, Sarah watched Meghan cross home plate. She looked left, to the right, off into the distance, and wrung her hands: "ZETSUBOU SHITA!"

Schwartz sighed. "Again... not as good as the original."

[Albundania]

Blue Crew take win!

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs	Hits	Errors
Albundania	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	4		1
Oreington Canada	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2		0

Home-Runs
Alb. - Carl Soriano (1)

RBI's
Alb. - Carl Soriano (3), Hunter Upton (1)

SB
None

Albundania will take this opening day win, but they realize that they have a long ways to go to have any hope of qualifying. ASN reports.

[Liventia]

Play-by-play commentary from Liventia Baseball Radio

"A beautiful afternoon here in Fyendor as Liventia open their WBC Twelve campaign on the road with ace Ben Nichols on the mound. Fyendor have a righty starter on the mound, but we don't appear to have their teamsheet at this moment."

"The team are playing with the designated hitter today, so the Liventian batting order looks like this: Steven Lucking leads off playing second. Wade Purglove bats second and plays short, with first baseman Wayne Tope in the three-hole. Left fielder Darren Ashley, the team's big bat, is in the cleanup spot. Ryan Turry, playing third, bats fifth and the DH Brad Tretheway will be hitting sixth. Luca Orping in right, Phil Uttley in centre and Brendan Poore doing the catching are the bottom third of the order."

"The first pitch to Lucking is a ball. Lucking hit three seventy-three in the Liventian regular season before interleague. Swings at the second pitch for a one-one count." [...]

"Lucking on first through the base on balls and the count is two and one on Purglove. The pitch is a fastball and it's hit on the ground at the shortstop, who'll throw over to second to get Lucking. No chance to get the speedy Purglove, so score that a fielders' choice, six to four." [...]

"That's the inning, no runs on no hits and no errors, with a man left on at first." [...]

"Nichols throws the first Liventian pitch of this tournament for a called strike and the bottom of the first is underway. Second pitch. Forkball it looks like, there's contact and it's lined towards the right fielder. Base hit, the first of the game." [...]

"One out, runner at second in the bottom of the first. Payoff pitch coming. Hit deep to right, Orping is there to make the catch. The runner's tagging up... gets into third without a throw." [...]

"Swinging strike to make the count full. Runner on third, two down in the first for Ben Nichols who has thrown fifteen pitches so far this inning. Knucklecurve, it looks like there, change of speed after a couple of fastballs but the hitter isn't fooled and fouls it off." [Four foul balls later...]

"Eleventh pitch of this at-bat coming up. The windup... swing and a miss! Strike three to end the inning on a nasty circle changeup. No runs on a hit, and a runner left at third." [...]

"Bottom of the second here in Fyendor. No runs and no hits yet for the visitors. Twenty pitches into his outing, Nichols is. That's ball one outside." [...]

"The switch-handed batter now facing Nichols could be problematic with a runner on second. Forkball down and in to the batter, count is one and nothing. Expect a fastball from Nichols here... down the middle... well hit. On the ground past the third baseman, the runner's home, the batter's trying for two... Ashley charging in for the ball but won't make the play at second, and throws to the cutoff man instead as Fyendor get on the board first." [...]

"Fly ball to centre, this will be the inning. Seventeen pitches for Nichols this inning as Fyendor score one run on two hits and leave a man on at third." [...]

"One out, Uttley having grounded out to second, count on Poore is oh and one. The pitch is inside but Poore makes contact. Grounder going the other way, going between third and short and that'll be a single." [...]

"Steven Lucking batting with the count at one and two. Reached on a walk in the first. Curveball misses low in the dirt, Lucking did not chase. Two and two's the count with Brendan Poore on first. Let's see what the pitcher offers... here it comes. Ball meets bat as Lucking has just absolutely crushed this one! Going deep to left-centre, back, back, still going, it's over the wall, it's a two-run home run! Fastball down the middle is always dangerous and Lucking was sitting on the heater, he took that four hundred and forty-nine feet! Steven Lucking rounds the bases to join up with Poore at home plate as Liventia get their first runs of this Classic via the long-ball from one of the more unlikely sources." [...]

"That's the inning, three hits and two runs via the long-ball leaving one on base, Liventia out to a two-one lead." [...]

"One-two-three inning for Nichols, he appears to have settled into his groove now. Fifteen pitches to strike out the side and the score remains as it was." [...]

"That's the end of the top of the fourth here in Fyendor as Liventia strand runners at the corners, no runs on one hit, score remains two-one." [...]

"Sixty-eight pitches through four for Ben Nichols as he sits down the side leaving a runner at first, just the one hit in the inning for Fyendor." [...]

"Steven Lucking to lead the fifth off for Liventia. He's already walked and homered in this ballgame. Here comes the first pitch of the fifth, which Lucking promptly drills into shallow right for a line drive base hit. Looks like he'll stop at first as the second baseman gets to the ball." [...]

"Two out, Steven Lucking at first for Darren Ashley the cleanup man. The count is three balls, no strikes on Lucking, who might well be taking here. Slider... ball four. Or so Ashley thinks, but the ump's called it a strike! Looks like it might have just clipped the outside corner. Count is three and one and Ashley will dig in again. Fastball this time, which Ashley rips. Deep to right-centre! Still going! That's off the wall, and the right fielder's not getting to that one! The centrefielder's come over to pick it up, Lucking is safely home, and Ashley's going for third. No throw and he's safe into third!" [...]

"One run crosses home plate on two hits and this game is now half-over, score is three-one." [...]

"Count is one and two on the batter, two outs here in the home half of the fifth. Ben Nichols has already gotten a groundout and a K this inning. Here's the pitch. Circle changeup is hit softly, it'll barely make the outfield as the centre fielder comes into shallow centre to make the out. Nothing doing here this inning." [...]

"Designated hitter Tretheway up first this inning and takes ball one. Tretheway's had a mixed day, he's struck out and walked. That's high and tight for ball two. Is he taking all the way here? Pitch comes in, and he's had a hack at it. Contact made, liner into right for a single." [...]

"No runs on one single and no errors, Tretheway stranded at first." [...]

"Nichols has thrown seventy-eight pitches through five and he's out to start the bottom of the sixth. First pitch is hit on the ground to second, and this will be a quick out. Score that a groundout, four-three. Next batter up has yet to get a hit today. The pitch from Nichols, and again that's hit on the first pitch in almost the exact same spot. Easy throw to first for Steven Lucking, four to three once again." [...]

"So a quick one-two-three inning for Nichols then, just five innings needed to get out of that inning with three ground ball outs. Heading into the seventh." [...]

"Three up, three down innings in both halves of the seventh then as the score remains three to one. Ben Nichols has thrown ninety-two pitches through seven, this is a very solid start from the ace." [...]

"Ashley batting with nobody out in the eight. One and one the count, the windup. Nice swing from the slugger and it's lined, between first and second, and it will fall for a hit. That's a single, and it looks like the Fyendor starter's time is up. Seven plus innings, allowing three runs and responsible for Ashley on first." [...]

"Ryan Turry now, he's oh for three today. First pitch is a called strike on the inside corner. Turry didn't like that and throws the ump a glare." [...]

"Two and two to Turry. Oh and that's just blasted! Lined deep to centre and still going! The centre fielder's not going to get to this one, Ashley's rounding third coming home, and that's over the wall! Two run home run for Ryan Turry and it's a five to one ballgame, that one went four hundred and forty-four feet." [...]

"Middle of the eighth then, two runs score on three hits and one man left at second for Liventia. Nichols looks like he's coming back for more." [...]

"Two out here in the bottom of the eighth as Liventia look to seal this game up. Ben Nichols, team ace, will make the oh and two pitch here. He's thrown a hundred and six pitches but the Liventian bullpen remains inactive. The pitch, and it's well hit. Flyball towards centre, and it'll fall before Uttley can get there. Runner's rounding first. The throw... not in time. Double." [...]

"The one-two pitch. Lined towards Purglove, but the bat's shattered! It's heading for Purglove who has to duck out of the way, that's an infield single. Runners at the corners now with two out." [...]

"Three balls, no strikes, as Nichols gets ready to deal. That's well outside. Ball four and the bases are jammed in the bottom of the eighth. And here's a rarity you'll hardly ever see. After a hundred and sixteen pitches, Mike McKay has decided that's enough for Ben Nichols. It's the first time in WBC pool play he's not had a complete game, but with the bases jammed and the tying run coming up to bat, McKay's going to Oliver Todd, the closer. This is a save situation for Todd, since as long as the tying run is on base, at bat or on deck, any relief pitcher making the last few outs gets a save." [...]

"Todd making his warmup throws now. He was a starter at the last WBC, and belted a grand slam home run against Quintessence of Dust — a feat he might be hoping to repeat this Classic — but he's now the closer. He's a knuckleballer so this will be very interesting. He throws just that and a slow fastball, around seventy-five miles an hour. First pitch is the fastball, contact made, runners are going. Purglove gathers the ball and flips it to Lucking for the force out at second to end the inning and get Liventia out of the jam." [...]

"Two out in the bottom ninth with Fyendor trailing by four. Count is one and two. Todd readies... it's a floater... and the batter strikes out swinging! That's the game. Five runs on eleven hits for Liventia, one run on six hits for Fyendor. Winning pitcher is Ben Nichols, save goes to Oli Todd. Join us again tomorrow!"

[Zwangzug]

"We're here in the cavernous San Fernando Dome, with Gerrin Aladan just finishing his warmup tosses."

"With Tristan Gronosky set to take the mound for Zwangzug, this will be a pitching rematch of the first quarterfinal game in the LAZY international playoffs."

"That time around, the Uharan Otters exploded for twelve runs. With DeSouza, Jarridan, and Makuur set to lead off for these Firebugs, are we in for a reprise?"

"I don't think so. Marvin Stania is the only Bear non-pitcher on the team, and Zwangzug will have a wide variety of talent to call on. That said, you never know."

"And neither do you."

"Right, right..."

"...The two-and-one, poked into right field. Yeaton catches the cutoff but he can't get either of them, Makuur scores to make it 2-0. Giorhad pulls up at first."

"The Firebugs off to a fast start here..."

"...slider inside, ball one."

"She needs to start swinging, and quickly, if the Zebras are going to go anywhere in this game."

"Why is that? She was pretty successful her first time up, drawing a walk."

"Yeah, but the Yaforite pitchers are used to batters waiting them out."

"But they wouldn't do it if it didn't work."

"Hmm, you might be onto something--"

"Alperin gets all of that changeup, ripped into the outfield. Quashnock is in and the Zebras are finally getting somewhere..."

"...Ajaran shutting this one down."

"Trying to, anyhow."

"Of course."

"Spacchi pops this one up, Terrihoran drifiting under it...and makes the catch."

"The Firebugs take the opener, 5-3. We'll have more results in a minute..."

[Secristan]

Going 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2? Find out soon. Cutoff time.

(Home team on left)

Group A:
Secristan 6-3 Vephrall
Delaclava 0-5 Cassadaigua
Peso Grande 4-5 (12 inn.) Warner Channel

Group A	        W	L	RF	RA	RD
Cassadaigua	2	0	10	3	7
Secristan	1	1	9	8	1
Vephrall	1	1	6	6	0
Peso Grande	1	1	8	7	-1
Warner Channel	1	1	5	7	-2
Delaclava	0	2	2	9	-7

Group B:
Oreington Canada 2-4 Sarzonia
Dancougar 4-3 Albundania
Newmanistan 6-1 Vlasi

Group B	        W	L	RF	RA	RD
Newmanistan	2	0	9	2	7
Sarzonia	2	0	10	6	4
Albundania	1	1	7	6	1
Dancougar	1	1	5	6	-1
Or. Canada	0	2	4	8	-4
Vlasi	        0	2	5	12	-7

Group C:
The Babbage Islands 2-3 (10 inn.) Yafor 2
Bostopia 5-3 Bluth Corporation
O5vx 2-8 Zwangzug

Group C	        W	L	RF	RA	RD
Yafor 2	        2	0	8	5	3
Bostopia	2	0	7	4	3
Zwangzug	1	1	11	7	4
Babbage Islands	1	1	6	4	2
Bluth Corp	0	2	4	9	-5
O5vx	        0	2	3	10	-7

Group D:
Qazox 5-1 Quakmybush
Fyendor 2-1 Chesstaland
Liventia 6-3 Quintessence of Dust

Group D	        W	L	RF	RA	RD
Liventia	2	0	11	4	7
Qazox	        2	0	11	4	7
Q. of Dust	1	1	8	8	0
Fyendor	        1	1	3	6	-3
Chesstaland	0	2	4	8	-4
Quakmybush	0	2	3	10	-7

Group E:
Pokemonman 1-7 Taeshan
Milchama 4-5 Barnettsville
Palmouth 3-4 (13 inn.) Tree Hugging Lesbians

Group E	        W	L	RF	RA	RD
Taeshan	        2	0	14	3	11
Barnettsville	2	0	9	4	5
Milchama	1	1	7	7	0
T.H. Lesbians	1	1	6	10	-4
Palmouth	0	2	5	7	-2
Pokemonman	0	2	1	11	-10

Group F:
Steroga 2-4 Tocrowkia
Iglesian Archipelago 2-5 Prestonia
Lovisa 4-7 Uiri

Group F	        W	L	RF	RA	RD
Tocrowkia	2	0	12	5	7
Prestonia	2	0	7	3	4
Uiri	        1	1	10	12	-2
Ig. Archipelago	1	1	6	8	-2
Steroga	        0	2	3	6	-3
Lovisa	        0	2	7	11	-4

[Taeshan]

X Island Inquirer

It is always great to start a young season on a tear. The Purple Knights have done that this year defeating Tree Huggin Lesbians 7-2 in game one last week, and this week playing in Pokemonman the team defeated the home Pokemons 7-1 by one more run then they defeated the Lesbians by. Behind number 2 pitcher Zeke Peters and his overpwoering Fastball, Curve, Changeup combination the team easily defeated the new team to the international stage. In the coming weeks they will continue to need offense, but like they have done in the first two games they will still need their age old defensive play.

It was a great day for a game in Pokemonman. Even thouhg the clouds wer over the overcast feild, the sun shone through when the game started. Behind Peters the Knights ralied as they did in the first game after going down 1 in the third. Socki Lewis would get homrun number 2 on the season on a fastball at the letters scoring Riane Totalez, and Freddy Myers in the fifth. He got homer number 3 on the season in the 6th scoring Totalez again making it 5-1. The final two runs came of a Totalez two RBI double to left which should have scored only 1 if it was not for a defensive error. We wis the team luck in the coming games, and the team is looking very good.

[Barnettsville]

As seen on BSN

Jason Patrick: Welcome to Milchama Stadium. Jason Patrick here, alongside my tag-team partner, Dan Markleson. The Red Hurricanes proved tonight that their opening-game victory was no fluke, defeating previously unbeaten Milchama 5-4.

Dan Markleson: And unlike their first game, this game was a back-and-forth affair. Scoreless tie until the top of the third -- after the pitcher draws a walk, Jonathan Strong smacks a double down the first base line. It’s enough to bring Wilson all…the….way around, ‘Canes 1-0. It stays that way until the fifth. Leadoff single, shallow fly to third, third batter hits a grounder to Matthews that should be a double play. Four to six to… the stands. Error on Luzier, first for him and the team. After an intentional walk to bring up the pitcher, that strategy backfires. It’s deep, Jason, and I don’t think it’s playable. Milchama goes up 3-1 after five full.

JP: Top of the sixth, two out, 3-2 count on Luzier, he makes up for the error with a solo shot to make the score Milchama 3, Barnettsvile 2 after 5 and a half. Wilson goes 6 innings, allowing 3 runs, 2 earned. He also had 7 strike outs and 3 walks, 1 intentional. Sean Gindlesperger allows one in the eighth to make it 4-2 at the end of eight innings; then the fun begins.

DM: Top of the ninth, Luzier gets hit by a pitch. Borderline hit, but the ump called it. Javier Martinez grounds one to third, flip to second. Close play, Luzier gets called out at second - that brings out McCracken. That’s when Mr. Dictionary fails our intrepid leader, who gets the early exit. Matthews strikes out, and Shawn Cartman becomes the hero again. He cranks a home run juuuust barely fair - three run home run for a 5-4 Hurricane lead, his second of the tournament.

JP: Which brings on the unofficial closer, Jason Baker, to nail it down. Strikes out the first batter, second man flies out. Two hits later, he gets a grounder to end it. Final score: Barnettsvile 5, Milchama 4. Baker with his second save of the tournament, and next up: a road trip to winless Palmouth, where Matt Goodman will get his first start of the tournament. From Milchama, Jason Patrick and Dan Markleson saying see you tomorrow.

BARNETTSVILLE 5 8 1
MILCHAMA 4 11 0

WP: Gindlesperger (1-0): 2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
S: Baker (2): 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R
HR: Luzier (1), Cartman (2)

[Albundania]

Blue Crew take loss, but only just

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs	Hits	Errors
Albundania	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	12	0
Dancougar	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	4	13	0

Albundania
RBI: Kevin young (2), Derek Pujols
HR: None
SB: Vernon Suzuki

Dancougar
RBI: Amber Dextrous (3), Clarissa Voint
HR: Amber Dextrous
SB: none

Albundania is now 1-1, and on their way to just missing qualification if this keeps up.

1: Albundania @ Oreington Canada 4-2
2: Albundania @ Dancougar 3-4
3: Albundania @ Newmanistan
4: Sarzonia @ Albundania
5: Vlasi @ Albundania
6: Oreington Canada @ Albundania
7: Dancougar @ Albundania
8: Newmanistan @ Albundania
9: Albundania @ Sarzonia
10: Albundania @ Vlasi

TEAM STATS

AB: 65
H: 21
AVG: 323
HR: 1
R: 7
RBI: 7
SB: 1

[Sarzonia]

It's not very often that Sarzonia can win a match during which third baseman Kate Schmidt goes 0-for-4.

However, that's exactly what happened as Sarzonia defeated Oreington Canada 4-2 in their first away match of the 12th World Baseball Classic. First baseman Hank Everly hit two two-run homers to lead the way offensively and Brian Edwards tossed seven innings of five hit ball to pick up the win.

"It was nice to see our team play well," said manager Jim Paulsen. "We're a better team than some people give us credit for."

With lefthander Charlie Palmer slated to pitch against Dancougar, Paulsen appears to be pushing all the right buttons. At least for now.

"We wanted to show people that we're more than the sum of our parts," Schmidt said. "This is not just my team. This is a team that has the potential to do things if we set our minds to it."

As for Palmer, the soft-tossing lefty said he was ready to face the Black Wings.

"I'd better be, right? I'm going to be seeing a lot of them, I suppose," he said.

Note: The Woodstock Mountaineers, in conjunction with Sarzonia's national baseball team organisation, announced that Mountaineer Field in Clyburn has been renamed Walter Cronkite Memorial Park. The change will take effect for the home fixture against Dancougar.

"He was a legend," said Everly of Cronkite.

[Quintessence of Dust]

The New Cleethorpes Enquirer
Turry stars as doubts emerge about Koumura



Code: Select all

      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H E
QOD   1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0   3  7 1
LEN   2 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 X   6 12 1


Quintessence of Dust stumbled against old foes Liventia, taking their record to 0 for 3 against their WBC11 adversaries. The 6-3 loss at Shocker Stadium sets the Quodites back in their quest for qualification as Qazox and Liventia took the early, expected lead in Group D. Leftie pitcher Patrick Stephenson pitched 8 innings for 3 earned runs, but the real star was third baseman Ryan Turry, who followed up yesterday's 2-RBI homer with an astonishing game, in which he was 3 for 4 with 5 RBI, including two home runs. One of the early stars of the 12th WBC, he appears to have hit a rich vein of form.

The same cannot be said for Momoko Koumura, the troubled "star" of the Quodite batting lineup, who is now 1 for 8 in the Classic after a hitless day in which she provided three of Stephenson's 11 strikeouts. She also left five runners on base, a problem common to all Quodite batters: runners from four hits, three walks, one base reached on error and one hit by pitch were all left on, with the only runs coming from three solo home runs. "We're a good running team," said captain Barry Pullman, who redeemed an 0-for-5 showing against Quakmybush with two home runs today, "So we need to convert our runners on base. Today we left seven [eight] on, and that's not good enough, when you have enough to tie or win but you don't convert it."

Pullman and Turry traded home runs: Pullman hit his very first pitch 432 feet to deep centre in the first innings and led off the third with a 399 foot deep fly over left centre, but in the bottom of the third with two outs and a 1-2 count, Turry unleashed his second homer of the Classic, a 429 foot beast to deep centre, to tie things at 3-3. Then in the fifth, Wayne Tope lined a single and Darren Ashley showed great patience for an 8-pitch walk, before Turry drove both in as he cleared the left field fence for a second time, this one good for 399 feet (in fact, it landed in the exact same popcorn bucket that Pullman's had - how about that).

In fact, the Quodites led in home runs, 3-2, with Jurgen Barthes leading off the second with the game's longest, a 458 foot solo to left, but they couldn't convert runners on base. Both teams were weak in this regard: Liventia picked up 12 hits (8 from Scheinhardt, 4 from Stephen Williams who was brought on after the second homer) and 4 walks (3 to 1), plus a base reached on an error at 1st base from Koumura, who had an all-round shocker at the Shocker (her 2nd error in 6 opportunities, admittedly fielding out of position) but only scored on 4 hits. Apart from Turry's home runs, they scored two in the first: Stephen Lucking did his job by taking a walk, stealing second, and moving to third and then home off groundouts by Wade Purglove and Tope; Ashley then dropped in a fly for a single, stole second, and was driven in by a Turry short fly single. The inning ended with bases loaded as Brad Tretheway walked and Luca Orping hit a single, meaning Scheinhardt faced the less than enviable prospect of pitching to his eighth batter, though he got the K - one of only 2 he served up.

With 6 earned runs on 8 hits with a 2/3 K/BB ratio, it was a drab performance from the Quodite pitcher, who will need to up his game considerably to remain competitive. Williams pitched 3.2 innings for four scoreless hits and a 2/1 ratio, and Mazio Mizokuchi had one batter ground out. It was a poor showing in comparison to the stellar Stephenson, who could probably have pitched a complete game, but was given a rest for the final innings, with closer Oliver Todd registering a save on one innings with three flyouts for no hits. Stephenson's win included an 11/3 K/BB ratio, a WHIP of 1.25, and an ERA of 3.38.

Six of Quintessence of Dust's seven first batters registered a hit, with Koumura the exception. Appearing with newly-dyed red hair, her performance, coupled with defensive errors, leaves serious doubts about how well-suited to international competition she is, despite her stated desire to escape the low-paying, low-priority Minimal League Baseball system and play abroad. The troubled star has weathered personal troubles, including a much-documented Oxycodone habit the termination of which recent comments cast severe doubts on, and is considered by some to be more concerned with flashy styles - her new hair colour a prime example - than baseball performance (including her widely-mocked comments that she would never take steroids as they weren't slimming).

EDIT: Editorial Announcement: We have, on reflection, sacked the author of the above piece for overuse of the word "star", as well as spending longer talking about Momoko's hair than describing the Quodite batting performance. Future NCE reports will be held to a higher standard. Edit edit: and for overruse of the phrase "in fact". Edit edit edit: and for misspelling "driven". Twice. And "hit". Edit edit edit edit: and for writing half-stoned match reports at 2.30am. Go to bed, you wanker, you're fired.

[Dancougar]

Previously: the game with Newmanistan wasn't as good as the original

Code: Select all

             1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  -  R  H  E
Albundania   3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     3 12  0
Dancougar    0  0  0  0  0  0  1  3        4 13  0

WP: Lenken (1-0) - 3.1 IP, 0 ER
HR: Dextrous (1)
RBI: Dextrous 3 (4), Voint (1)
R: Dextrous 2 (2), Mimeko (2), Sanretour (1)

The loss to Newmanistan had been somewhat expected. Of course, almost all of the papers didn't understand baseball and all they had to say was how boring the game had been. Take, for instance, the Stoneridge Post:

This 'base ball', no matter how I look at it, looks to be cumbersome, slow, and an altogether foreign game. For three hours at the Nozumi Itoshiki High School, I was treated to what could have only amounted to ten or fifteen minutes of live action. Most of the time the players are left to soak in the sunshine and find interesting places to scratch themselves.

The few fans who really understood the game were impressed by Sarah's strong six innings of work, and even though she wilted in the seventh and ultimately lost the game, that was about all they could have asked against the world's number one team. They were in for a rude shock, then, when Albundania came into town and put on a hitting clinic that had Sarah running scared for most of her time on the mound. Only some strong defense from Joy and Juliet kept the score manageable.

The visitors were up 3-0 after the first inning and continued to put runners on base. Twice, they put runners on first and second and threatened to extend the lead. Twice, the team turned a double play. Juliet skipped with glee to the dugout after each one, wondering how much attention from Schwartz her play was going to get.

The Wings were hitting, too, but had the same problems as their opponents - they couldn't finish. So many stranded runners. So many lost opportunities. And while the Dancougaran fans were certainly among the least polished baseball aficionados in the world, they recognized crap when they saw it. So they booed.

"It would appear that our efforts are unappreciated," Schwartz observed, as a can of soda bounced off the roof of the dugout. Abby immediately ran to where the can had connected and leaped up onto the bench so she could tap the ceiling in reply. "When you think about it... the first game was much better, don't you think?"

"You wouldn't shut up about how awful it was!" cried Sarah, a vein in her forehead bulging.

"Well, that's because it was," replied Schwartz calmly. "But from this game's point of view, that one is now the original." Sarah tilted her head and raised an eyebrow to compensate. "The match with Newmanistan was nowhere near as good as previous matches against the Rockets, in other sports," explained Schwartz. "Continuing onward, now treating that match as the original, isn't it obvious that we've gotten worse?"

"We're certainly having a hard time bringing in runners," said Norma. "But we're hitting the ball much better. I don't know if you can say it's actually worse."

"The undeniable truth is that no matter what we do, our situation will only grow worse as time goes on!" cried Schwartz.

"That's precisely correct," came a deep voice from the back of the dugout. Schwartz turned in surprised as the figure revealed himself.

"Section chief!" Schwartz said. Indeed, it was the same man from the Sports Ministry who'd given him this assignment before the last tournament.

"Do we really need someone else who thinks like you?" muttered Sarah as she watched the team strand some more runners.

"You're young, so you don't have the kind of experience that we do," the chief answered. "But no matter what it is, the quality will degrade forever! An institution's competence! A romantic relationship!" As Schwartz gushed over the outpouring of pessimism, a cheer went up from the bench and the crowd as Clarissa brought home Amber to make it 3-1. "It's all because of the initial enthusiasm brought on by the advent of something new," the chief continued. "That spark can never be recaptured."

"Naturally, I have observed the same with the baseball team!" said Schwartz. "As you can see, the excitement of our first World Baseball Classic has tempered by the realization that without the element of surprise, our talent will not be enough."

"And it isn't even just the team!" the chief answered. In the meantime, Abby, who had entered the game as a relief pitcher, put a quick end to the top of the eighth and the rally began. "As time goes on, the lack of success will degrade the experience of seeing a game. The fans will vanish and the atmosphere will not be as good as it once was!"

"The game reports have declined, as well!" Schwartz said. "Isn't it safe to say that none of the news produced by Dancougar is as good as the originals?"

Before the chief could reply, Amber tagged a high fastball. A cheer erupted as the Wings took their first lead of a night - a three-run shot to make it 4-3. Joy walked over to the two men and smiled brightly. "Of course we're not as good as the originals," she said. "We're better!" She skipped away to celebrate with the team, as Schwartz and the section chief were left alone in a corner of the dugout.

"Huh," said the chief. "Well... I guess there's that."

Schwartz sensed the change in mood immediately. "I... take it you won't be relieving me, then."

"Nope."

Next up: @ Sarzonia
The debut of Laurie Dickinson?!
Once again, we'll leave you in despair!

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

VLASI DONE AWAY WITH

Tundra Falls- After beating their biggest international rival, Newmanistan came home to play on their home turf, at the Tundra Falls Proving Grounds against the nation of Vlasi. Vlasi was defeated by Sarzonia by the 6-4 in their opener and are making their debut in the baseball world. Their first two assignments were pretty difficult, having to go to Sarzonia and now head here to the Proving Grounds, giving them a true Baptism of Fire. The baseball stadium was full to capacity with a lot of the overflow seating in the in racing grandstands used for the game as our fans were quite excited about seeing our team back on the field. There have been some reports that World Baseball Classic 12 is going to be the final WBC for much of the core of this team, even though none of them have said anything about that yet.

Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch was Sarah Boland, one of the leaders of national baseball team between the seventh and eleventh Classics, who has now retired from international play, though still playing for Springfield. She received a standing ovation as the fans well know what she has done for the team. Though Boland is a third baseman, she apparently got some good advice from someone as she threw the pitch right down the center of the plate for what would be a strike (although probably hit). Courtney Lombardi then took to the mound and it would be her day to pitch. For Courtney, this is a big World Baseball Classic since she moves up from 3 to 2 in the rotation (or 1C to 1B as Christina Sanders calls it). She was impressive in the first, striking out two of the three batters she faced. In the second, Newmanistan put their first run on the scoreboard as Natalie Monroe drove in Rachel Crockett with an RBI single. Crockett had singled herself, but then advance to second on a wild pitch during the Monroe at-bat. Newmanistan tacked more runs in the third, and it all happened after the first two batters were retired. Brittany Wright dragged a bunt down the third base line for a hit, and then went on to steal second. And then third. Meghann Carrillo drove her in with a single and managed to steal second herself. The next batter, Carrie Nicolette, sliced a double down the left field line to now give the Rockets a 3-run advantage and then she would be brought in on a single by Rachel Crockett. Vlasi pitcher Jarred Thaddeaus escaped further damage when left fielder Otto Samuel made a nice diving on a Natalie Monroe fly into the gap to end the inning.

With a 4-0 lead after three innings, Courtney Lombardi had all the runs she would need but she still was going to make things very difficult for Vlasi. She did not allow a baserunner in those three innings, or in the fourth and her strike out total was already up to eight. In the fifth, Vlasi was able to get their first hit of the game off of her, but when the next batter hit into a 4-6-3 double play, it was all for not. As if the lead wasn’t big enough, the Rockets tacked on another in the bottom of the fifth when Tara Cuyler went yard to right field to make it 5-0. It appeared as though Newmanistan was on their way, and they were. Vlasi broke up the shutout bid in the seventh as they pieced three singles together, all coming with two outs to manufacture a run, but after Lombardi got out of the inning, all seemed safe again. Courtney did not give up another hit, and finishes with the complete game, allowing one run on five hits. She did not walk anyone and struck out a very impressive thirteen. It was yet another impressive display of pitching by Newmanistan hurlers. In the eighth inning, Newmanistan put another run on the board as Sarah Conrad hit a two-out double that would score Rachel Crockett. That made it 6-1, and that would be your final. A great game by Newmanistan, and now the team is 2-0 and already putting their stamp on Group B. Newmanistan will remain at the Proving Grounds to take on Albundania, and Kristen Haynes, the #1C starter, will take to the mound. The Blue Crew is 1-1, and squandered a 3-0 lead late in their game against a team of teenage girls, and their team of national all-stars fell to Nozomu Itoshiki High School by the score of 4-3.

[Tocrowkia]

Code: Select all

TEAMS        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E
Tocrowkia    0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1    4 9 1
Steroga      0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0   2 6 0


WIN:
Matthew Shaporio (1-0)

After the slugfest of Matchday 1, many expected the power surge to carry over into the second game. It did not, however as neither team was able to lift a ball out. Still, the Nordics won because they are a multi-tooled team, as this game well proved. Yesterday, Tommy Thunder pitched a complete game with three earned runs. Today, young ace Matthew Shaporio matched the feat with a complete game, one earned run performance of his own. Shaporio cruised early in the game, striking out the side in order after his own batters were tired without much damage to speak of.

Steroga was actually the team that struck first in the game, though it was in an ugly fashion. The Steroga lead-off hitter, Uttkarsh Motallzadeh, hit a chopping ball to short in the bottom half in the second. Haviland booted the ball whilst trying to field it and was unable to retire the speedy lead off hitter. He advanced to second on a looping single to left by Rishit Gupta, and reached third on a fly out by Avinash Siddharth. He would eventually score on a Prapti Subhudhi. So, one unearned run. Tough to stomach, as Haviland usually flashes Platinum-Glove caliber defense at short, but what's done is done.

Kitten Dyfuse lead off the inning with an infield single, and promptly swiped second. She advanced to third on Willhelm Dynrus' flyout and would score on a single from Haviland. In the 5th, it was much the same as the Catalyst, Johnny Stryker hit a ball that had eyes between first and second. He steals second, and then third, scoring on a Kevin Monroe grounder. Shaporio was charged with his only earned run when, after a Pradeep Kumar double, he was driven in by a single off the bat of Naman Shah. Domino Mazdrick had an RBI double her self, driving in Kevin Monroe who had singled in the 7th. The 4th Nordic run was a sac-fly off the bat of Jordan to drive in Mazdrick. Final score, 4-2 Nordics.

[Zwangzug]

"We are live from O5vx--now that sounds like an advanced sabermetric statistic if there ever was one--where both teams are hoping to rebound from opening day defeats."

"But only one can do so, unless maybe the losers get hot towards the end and carry momentum into game three."

"Yeah, no."

"Greta Orsulak taking her warmup swings, and we are underway..."

"...Minium singles the other way to lead off the second."

"Heralded as the future last cup, Minium's slap hitting is helping out the Zebras in the...er, I guess it would be the present now."

"That's generally the way it goes, yes. Alperin takes ball one from the lanky southpaw..."

"...first and second with nobody away."

"Blaise Spacchi coming to the plate."

"He rattled off a long hitting streak with the Gray Sox last season, but trailed off during the later months..."

"...two and two. He drills it into the outfield, long run for the center fielder, he dives--oh, it's a magnificent catch!"

"That wasn't a catch."

"And you have to say the momentum has shifted in the host's favor with the bottom of the order--"

"He trapped it. Minium just scored. 1-0..."

"...to bring up Marvin Stania."

"He's three for four today, with two singles and a double."

"Strike called, oh and one..."

"...this is connected and through the hole on the right."

"Yeaton will score without a throw, Connell holding at third and now it's eight-two..."

"...So after being held to three runs against Yafor 2, the Zebras recover nicely with eight runs against this debutant team."

"Well, when teams play worse opposition, they do tend to score more."

"That's not always the case, though."

"Of course not. In general, teams tend to score different numbers of runs. It's sort of a bell-curve thing--by determining the endpoints of an interval that's, oh, 2.24 standard deviations away from the mean number of runs a team scores, you have a good estimate of how many they'll score on any given day."

"Why 2.24?"

"Well, it encloses the bulk of the possible outcomes--97.5 or so. Also, it's about the square root of five."

"And this matters because...?"

"It's the Offensive 5-Variance eXpectancy, of course!"

"Forget I ever asked..."

[Oreington Canada]

Oreington canada news today
Oreington canadain team forgot to announce roster
"well we were busy those 2 days to get ready we forgot to add the roster"said GM for Oreington canada Scot Willbert
after the game as he finally announce Oreington canada's after they suffer another lost. So here is Oreington canada's roster

Pitchers
Juan Caodo
Kyle Smith
Henary Orktin
Catchers
Xi Lin
Fred Hermandz
Infielders
George Hermandz
Ron Tetskt
Migual smach
Maruo kitpen
Outfielders
Toby Nolbe
Caros carrtdtory
Will Kurt

"We lost 2 and that's ok" said Rumas Herdz. "Besides it just are first WBC and we here to see how we compete on an international level in baseball"
"We planing for two extra practices a day so we can get ready for all the remain games and we're in one of the toughest groups this year and if we're able win at least once I'll be happy" said GM Scot Willbert

[Milchama]

Milchama National News- Tribune- Sun- Times- Post- Gazette- Chronicle- Journal- Dispatch- Telegram- Star- Monitor- Enquirer

Sports Section]

Warriors Mad

The anonymous Milchama Warriors, in a new strategy by the MBA mostly because the baseball establishment still feels the WBC to be beneath them. Who exactly is playing we don't know but we will do our best to look under the hats and maybe by the end give you a complete picture on who just is here. Since this is the offseason, we can't just go by the usual see who isn't playing for their respective teams, which kinda sucks to be honest but what can you do?

The team is 1-1 with the closer blowing the second game, in rather embarrassing fashion (3 straight walks, really? REALLY!!) but the real story of the tournament is how none of the players in Milchama managed to get on the all tournament SLORC team. Considering that the country name means war and the rather aggressive stand of many in the country the lack of one member on the SLORC team was rather embarrassing. The first baseman said it best, "Really! Really!! Really!!! REALLY!!!! I'M GOING TO KILL WHOEVER DIDN'T PUT US ON THAT ROSTER!!!!!!!!! RAWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!"

I would say they shouldn't mess.

Stories for tomorrow: The Warriors mysteriously get a new closer
Quintessence of Dust reporter mysteriously murdered
SLORC roster changed
Milchama win 10-2 over worse opponent.

Watch out folks!

OOC: Since this is also acting as a pseudo-roster post some things about Milchamian baseball history. They have participated in every baseball tournament since World Cup 23 (my first World Cup). In that time they first always seemed to lose at the semi finals or finals in the tournament until the 3rd or 4th WBC where they won, then they won 2 or 3 more times, in a row. Since then the Milchamians, who always thought they were the best baseball nation in the world anyway, now had the results to justify that belief have since been sending out B and C teams to "give other teams a chance." (Well that and the fact that MBL teams have been reluctant to release players for internationals). Therefore if you think Milchama is arrogant in soccer you ain't seen nothing yet!

[The Babbage Islands]

ARMAGH, Tesla (BPA) -- The Babbage Islands fell to 1-1 in World Baseball Classic play with a 10-inning loss to the team from Yafor 2, 3-2.

Yafor 2 scored all three runs off solo homers in the fourth, eighth, and tenth innings, with two by right fielder Algerin Makuur and the last by catcher S'taraan Amiordin . The first two were off Don Tyler, who pitched 7 2/3 innings of six-hit ball with eight strikeouts. Allan Filler got the last out of the eighth, and closer Jared Michaels made a rare two-inning appearance. Michaels struck out the side in the ninth and one more in the tenth, but allowed the game-winning home run to Amiordin and took the loss.

The Bumblebee runs came in the seventh inning as Tori Simpson doubled home Harold Gillespie from first with two out, then scored herself on a Thomas Leonard single. Yafor 2 reliever Tyrius Validor picked up the win.

Knuckleballer Flip Brown will start for The Babbage Islands on the road against group favourites Zwangzug in the next match, as the Bumblebees complete a stretch facing three teams with previous Classic experience.

Yafor 2             000 100 010 1 - 3  7  1
The Babbage Islands 000 000 200 0 - 2  7  0

[Delaclava]

DELACLAVA STAR.com

BREAKING NEWS
Peso Grande 4 - Delaclava 2
Cassadaigua 5 - Delaclava 0

Delaclava 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 20 2
Peso Grande 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 - 4 5 0

PLAYER AB R H BI BB SO
Kibachi SS 5 1 4 0 0 0
Schaffer LF 4 0 1 1 0 1
Burke RF 5 0 2 0 0 1
Moore 2B 5 0 2 0 0 0
Jeffries 3B 5 0 2 0 0 1
Nieves 1B 5 0 2 0 0 1
Kizer RF 4 0 1 0 1 1
Joneson C 4 0 2 0 1 1
Sanchez P 4 1 4 1 0 0
Wheeler P 1 0 0 0 0 0
Pancevo P 0 0 0 0 0 0

E - Jeffries, Burke
2B - Kizer, Nieves
3B - Kibachi
HR - Sanchez
SF - Schaffer

PITCHER IP H R ER BB K
Sanchez 7 0 1 0 0 11
Wheeler (BS, 1) 1 2 1 1 1 1
Pancevo (L, 0-1)0.1 3 2 2 1 0


Delaclava 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 7 0
Cassadaigua 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 X - 5 11 0

More on both games later.

[Central Prestonia]

Royals Coast to Victory On Stubbs, Estevez HRs

Prestonia coasted to a 5-2 victory over the Iglesian Archipelago this afternoon as the team put on a hitting clinic, notching 11 hits in the game while utterly overmatching the Iglesian team in every aspect.

In contrast to last game, the Royals' bats heated up early today, with Stubbs powering a 2-0 fastball over the center field fence in the first to make it 1-0 Prestonia.

The Iglesians struck back quickly however, with Leonardo Costa powering a two-run shot off Santos to make it 2-1 Iglesian Archipelago in the second. With Santos surrendering five hits in that inning alone, it seemed as though Prestonia was faltering under the heat of the competition.

The team, however, quickly regained its composure. In the fourth inning, Estevez blasted a grand slam to right to make it 5-2 Prestonia, a score that would hold despite the Royals' best efforts to extend their lead. Santos, meanwhile, would pitch six and two thirds, giving up 5 hits, 2 earned runs and a walk while striking out 4.

"It wasn't one of my better games," Santos said in a postgame conference. "I lost the handle on that curve and Costa slammed it, and after that I just lost my composure I guess. We won but it could very easily have gone the other way. It's a big game, mistakes happen but I know what I did wrong and what I need to fix."

Manager Sparky Anderson offered no comment on the team's unexpected 2-0 performance thus far, but said he has confidence that his team can be playoff hopefuls.

"We've got the best guys in the country on this team. We'll get to the playoffs if we keep our focus I think."

Prestonia plays number 13 ranked Lovisa next, followed by a much-anticipated home game versus the reigning champion and regional rival Tocrowkian squad.

Code: Select all

 
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
PRE 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 9 0
IGL 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0

W: Santos (1-0)
L: Bugutambe (0-1)


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