WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 17 ROSTERS/RP/SCORES

by **Lycrabon** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 6:09 pm

Day 1 Cutoff, brought to you by Riverside Stadium, home of the Championship Series....

Day 1:
Home teams in CAPS

HOSSAIM 2, Tocrowkia 1
Western Cuba 7, AMERIGANISTAN 4
MEDDICIA 7, Mantwenic 6

Group A             P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Western Cuba      1 1 0 0  7  4  +3  3
 2 Meddicia          1 1 0 0  7  6  +1  3
 3 Hossaim           1 1 0 0  2  1  +1  3
 4 Tocrowkia         1 0 0 1  1  2  -1  0
 5 Mantwenic         1 0 0 1  6  7  -1  0
 6 Ameriganistan     1 0 0 1  4  7  -3  0

TELAMAR 6, Sarzonia 4
MYTANNION 5, The Babbage Islands 4 (F/10)
Bergnovinaia 4, MEGURKO 1

Group B                    P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Bergnovinaia            1 1 0 0  4  1  +3  3
 2 Mytannion               1 1 0 0  5  4  +1  3
 3 Telamar                 1 1 0 0  6  4  +2  3
 4 Sarzonia                1 0 0 1  4  6  -2  0
 5 The Babbage Islands     1 0 0 1  4  5  -1  0
 6 Megurko                 1 0 0 1  1  4  -3  0

Quintessence of Dust 7, SAUGEAIS 1,
ROYALSOLDIERS10, Qazox 6
COTEDELAPOMS 11, Delaclava 5

Group C                     P W D L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Quintessence of Dust     1 1 0 0   7   1  +6  3
 2 Cotdelapoms              1 1 0 0  11   5  +6  3
 3 Royalsoldiers            1 1 0 0  10   6  +4  3
 4 Qazox                    1 0 0 1   6  10  -4  0
 5 Delaclava                1 0 0 1   5  11  -6  0
 6 Saugeais                 1 0 0 1   1   7  -6  0

Zwangzug 5, CATHAIS 0
PONTINUR 3, Tarrentum 2
Mossulia 9, COSUMAR 6

Group D          P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Zwangzug      1 1 0 0  5  0  +5  3
 2 Mossulia      1 1 0 0  9  6  +3  3
 3 Pontinur      1 1 0 0  3  2  +1  3
 4 Tarrentum     1 0 0 1  2  3  -1  0
 5 Cosumar       1 0 0 1  6  9  -3  0
 6 Cathais       1 0 0 1  0  5  -5  0

Cassadaigua 2, NORTH ORUS 0
ZIRAKUL 4, Lycrabon 2
Silver Beach 6, SIBIRSKY 5

Group E             P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Cassadaigua      1 1 0 0  2  0  +2  3
 2 Silver Beach     1 1 0 0  6  5  +1  3
 3 Zirakul          1 1 0 0  4  2  +2  3
 4 Lycrabon         1 0 0 1  2  4  -2  0
 5 Sibirsky         1 0 0 1  5  6  -1  0
 6 North Orus       1 0 0 1  0  2  -2  0

Newmanistan 5, TANZORIA 2
Milchama 5, ANTOLETIA 2
STUFFED TAXIDERMISTS 4, Churchma 1

Group F                    P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Newmanistan              1 1 0 0  5  2  +3  3
 2 Milchama                 1 1 0 0  5  2  +3  3
 3 Stuffed Taxidermists     1 1 0 0  4  1  +3  3
 4 Churchma                 1 0 0 1  1  4  -3  0
 5 Antoletia                1 0 0 1  2  5  -3  0
 6 Tanzoria                 1 0 0 1  2  5  -3  0

by **Cotdelapoms** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 8:00 pm

Powerful Bradley Makes Up For Shocking Hampton Start

Usually masterful pitcher Danny Hampton had a rocky outing in his first contest of the 17th World Baseball Classic, giving up 5 runs in 4 innings against Delaclava, but he was saved by an outstanding 4-5, 2 circuit effort from second baseman Casey Bradley. Hampton's control betrayed him early on, walking three consecutive batters in the 2nd inning and then allowing a base clearing double to Kalvin Burke to put Delaclava up 3-1 early on.

Indeed, other than the aforementioned Bradley, nobody on Cotdelapoms was hitting much, and Delaclava had a 5-4 lead in the 7th, when starter Jason Paluca came out of the game and Luis Pancevo came into the game, but Pancevo was wild and threw too many meaty pitches that the Cotdelapomais sluggers feasted on. Bradley's two circuits were also joined by another by Frédéric Lefranc, and a huge triple by Jim Gilmour. The traditional aggressive baserunning by the Cotdelapomais side was also useful, Dan Alexander scored from 2nd on a pretty timid single to centre field, but Alexander's massive early jump gave him the momentum, and he barreled over Delaclava catcher Tim Joneson, who was shaken but remained in the game.

The Cotdelapoms bullpen was strong, throwing 5 shutout innings, split between Hugo Valentin, Simon Giroux and Timothy Johansson. The Apple caps next will face off with unranked Saugeais, who struggled with the heavily favoured Quodites today.

by **Zwangzug** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 8:24 pm

(OOC: Just for the record, Quintessence of Dust, we usually call them "report cards" or something in the US but the joke does work over here!

)

You're listening to deedeedeedeeDAT! deedeedeedeeDAT!

Um, you're. You're listening to WTB dadadadah, dadadadadah.

Yeah...okay, you're listing to WTB, AM 1450 in DEEdedeeder DEEdedeeder

Um. Zwischen? They've...had a rough couple of...okay, not couple per se, but they seem to be back with dahdahdahdah dahdahdahdah much...

catchier...

riffs.

This can't end well.

"Hello! And welcome to game one of the World Baseball Classic! Well, maybe not game one because there's games going on all over the place! But...yeah."

"Where are we?"

"Cathais."

"It says Cathatis here..."

"Well, no one honestly gives a rip. Okay, let's play ball!"

"...and quite a windy day today, blowing out to left-center here at the Cathatis Memorial Stadium."

"This place feels sort of cramped. I mean, there's bandboxes and then...eh, I don't know. It's just sort of...old."

"Aw, I think it's sort of cute."

"Cute? Cute? Kittens are cute. Do you want to play baseball inside of a kitten? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Uh...no. Just...pointing out the weather."

"The weather. Huh. Anyway the pitch to Keigenbey--that'll be drilled into left, it's at the wall--gone! Blitch'll come in and the Zebras take the lead."

"Yeah, and, this is weird, one of the home fans came up with the ball but...I don't understand what's going on."

"Foreigners. You don't need to understand 'em..."

"...Nice movement on that curveball."

"Here's the sign from Pisciott. This one's--hit softly to short, Aleplow will come up with it and flip to Blitch to force Hua-Geng. Chi-Pa reaches first."

"We went through this over the break. It's probably Mo and Kun. I think their family names come first, then their personal names."

"Oh...you mean they're like the weird Ianix?"

"Ianix aren't weird. Not all of them. I mean some probably are. Actually come to think of it--"

"I mean the weird Ianix who put their last names first and their first names last."

"That doesn't make any sense at all. You mean some people put their family names before their personal names."

"Whatever, it's still weird. Whoever's up now, #28, takes a ball high."

"They probably think our way is just as weird."

"Hah! Betcha you're right! Except I bet they don't go around saying, ooh, our way looks weird to them."

"Some of them probably do. Wind has shifted to straight out in center now."

"Heh. It's only cause we're so individualist and everything that we get to think differently from other people. When you put the group first, you stifle that."

"Um...I...don't..."

"Poked into right for a single, the runner will advance..."

"...a small group of Zebra fans getting excited now, they're standing and cheering up here by the booth."

"Now that's just unsportsmanlike. I'm sorry, but we're in no rush! You can stand and leave once the game is over."

"Um...they're not standing to leave or anything. They're just...standing...up...and cheering because we got another out."

"Whatever. Yet another pinch hitter, Ze Ling-Zhan entering for another of the innumerable relievers."

"Yeah, I'm a little surprised these guys can't put their depth to more advantage."

"Their loss. And this one'll be hit deep, but Throop reaches into some unusually-placed foliage and makes the catch to end the game."

by **Qazox** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 8:51 pm

Qazox at WBC17

QAZOX stunned by 5 run rally in 8th.

Leading 6-5 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, Qazox brought in new closer Robert Tokadden. After 5 pitches, Qazox trailed 8-6 and went on to drop the opener to very lightly regarded Royalsoliders 10-6. Thus the era of Linda Werth begins with another mind-boggling loss to a team Qazox in the past would have creamed by at least 10 runs.

I take full responsibilty for this loss. Perhaps I kept Jerri (Werth) in the game too long. We'll learn from these mistakes and move on. We still have a tough road ahead, and we aren't out of it with 9 games remaining.

Linda Werth was qouted as saying after the game.

Well isn't nice that the coach's daughter was left in, and she's blameless for the loss. The stats prove otherwise. 7.2 IP, 9 Hits, 7 ER, 5 Runs, 5 K's, 6 walks, 2 hit-batters and 2 wild pitches? By far the worst performance by a Qazox pitcher in the opening game of a WBC. I wonder if Michael Hunter, Sean Carey or Juan Diego had thrown up those stats, if Ms. Werth would be so forgiving. I doubt it. If these are the best players the QBF decides to use, I shudder to think of the future of Qazox baseball. Up next for Qazox are a pair of home games against Delacalva and Saugeais, both coming off of 6 run losses. Just one game in and is Qazox in a must-win scenario already? I hope not, but if we lose either game; then perhaps it would be time to panic.

LINESCORE

Qazox          2 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0  6 14 1
Royalsoldiers  0 2 2 0 0 1 0 5 x 10 11 1

W- Royalsoldiers RP #2 (1-0)
L- Werth (0-1)

BOX SCORE:
Qazox 1st: Corell singled to left. McGillicutty sacrifice (2-4); Corell to 2nd. Sdmar singled to right, Corell to 3rd. Holmes struck out. Sinclair doubled to center, Corell and Sdmar scored. Flint grounded out (5-3). 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 LOB. 2-0 Qazox.

Royalsoldiers 2nd: 2 runs, 4 hits, 3 LOB. 2-2. Werth: hit batter and walked 2.

Qazox 3rd: McGillicutty safe at 1st, advanced to 2nd on 3rd baseman's throwing error. Sdmar walked intentionally. Holmes singled to right, McGillicutty scored, Sdmar to 2nd. Sinclair grounded into fielder's choice (6-4), Sdmar to 3rd. Flint flied out to left. 1 run, 1 hit, 2 LOB, 1 error. 3-2 Qazox.

Royalsoliders 3rd: 2 runs, 1 hit, 2 LOB. 4-3 Royalsoliders. Werth: 2 walks, wild pitch.

Qazox 5th: Corell singled to left. McGillicutty doubled to right, Corell to 3rd. Sdmar flied out to center, Corell scored, McGillicutty to 3rd. Holmes grounded out (6-3), McGillicutty scored. Sinclair grounded out (4-3). 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 LOB. 5-4 Qazox.

Qazox 6th: <New Pitcher: Royalsoliders RP #1>. Flint popped out to third. Carre 376 ft HR to left. Jae singled to left. Jae advanced to 2nd on Passed Ball. Thomas struck out. Corell flied out to center. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 LOB. 6-4 Qazox.

Royalsoldiers 6th: 1 run, 4 hits, 3 LOB. Werth: 2nd wild pitch.

Royalsoldiers 8th: 5 runs, 2 hits, 1 LOB, 1 error. Werh: walked first 2 batters and hit 3rd batter. Got a 5-2 DP to get 2 outs before 3rd walk of inning re-loaded the bases. Robert Tokadden gave up single, scoring 2 runs. Sinclair's fielding error allowed 2 more runs across before Tokadden pulled. Charlene Iya got out of jam despite allowing single to 1st batter. Trailing runner thrown out at home by McGillicutty to end inning.

by **Newmanistan** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 10:07 pm

One of the most difficult things for Army General Benedict Freeman in his making of plans for the invasion-of-sorts of Secristan was to convince the various leaders of the individual troops that the time was right, and they must maintain their focus. In particular, Sargent Winston Hillcrest out of Dover City was a little stubborn about beginning now. After formally greeting each other, Hillcrest expressed his displeasure that he would miss the opening of the World Baseball Classic qualifying, with the Rockets on the road in Tanzoria.

“Mr. Freeman, sir, can’t this wait? The game begins in 15-minutes. Courtney Ratigan’s on the mound and you know how much I well, enjoy watching her pitch.”

“It could wait, but it’s not going to. I am under strict orders of His Majesty to prepare for the invasion of the land formerly known as Secristan, and Dover City is critical to our initial successes. I need your regiment to be in the best physical conditio.... hey is that calendar the new Rockets baseball swimsuit edition?”

“Yes Sir! And that’s the other Courtney... Courtney Weinman. How can such a petite brunette have so much power ability?”

“I don’t know where all that power comes from with her. But anyway, we need to be focused properly, because the resistance we are sure to face in Secristan from loyalists to the old government could be just as deceiving as the home run capabilities of Miss Weinman.”

“As you requested sir, I did prepare a plan for our initial entry into Secristan, we will travel 30-miles north of East Penthoria, and then surround the city, and conquer it. If we capture East Penthoria first, then getting to Amherst becomes that much.... hell yeah Courtney, way to strike out the side in the bottom of the first! I missed the top of the inning though, thanks to you! Did we score?”

“(checks his phone). No. We had a single from Danielle (Scott), but nothing else. North of East Penthoria sounds like the best way to go about it. Can I see the plans you have drawn up on the amount of troops and all that fun stuff.”

They begin to go over some logistics, though find themselves distracted by the Rockets three-run third inning to take the lead on the team from Tanzoria. Good ol’fashioned Rockets baseball it was. A one-out double from Stacie Meadows. Sacrifice from Danielle Scott, then three consecutive hits from Weinman, Meghan Butler, and Kristen Wheeler put up the innings three-spot. The sky blue and white seemed to be in command, just as Hillcrest was with his strategy. With the basics taken care of, they began to work on the timing of the plan. The timing of the bottom of fourth run from Tanzoria was good for their plans, serving as a reminder that even though this invasion was expected to go smoothly, there was always going to be that bit of resistance.

Back in Pocono City, Emperor Michael IV was also watching the game while awaiting the report from Freeman. Only then would he give his ultimate blessing on the offensive. For now, he knows that much of the World has no idea that he is planning on this, and the military activity that has taken place within the Empire has been dismissed as being nothing more then training exercises. Soon after the Rockets completed their 5-2 win over Tanzoria, a game in which Courtney Ratigan tossed a complete game, allowing just the two scores on six hits, with a pair of walks and twelve victims of the strikeout, Freeman made his call to the Emperor. They went over the plan, and approval was given.

They slept that night, but at 7am sharp, the first troops would cross the Penthoria and began making the Emperor’s plans a reality: the former Secristan was now going to be part of the Newmanistanian Empire. He wasn’t sure what kind of international resistance there would be. Maybe Cassadaigua, but that’d be about it.

by **Quintessence of Dust** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 2:59 am

A selection of articles from the In Brief section of the QBS website.

Kivistö, Moran see off Saugeais

Opening day upsets abound

DoTF shrugs off "paranoid ramblings"

Thlurking Planet

by **Cassadaigua** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:40 am

Jennifer’s Space

After the season that Rachel Friedman has had at home, it’s great to be on her team now for the World Baseball Classic. I know from having faced her this past season, that she is a real nightmare to have to go up against. For such a young pitcher, it is impressive what she has done so far, and a lot of that stems from her confidence and gameday preparation. I saw some of that in the last Classic when she was on our rotation as a 20-year old, but over the last two years, she is a much different pitcher. I would always have told you that she was a mature pitcher, but she has taken that to a new level now. She hasn’t quite given us all of her secrets, as after all, we will be hitting against her once again after the Classic is over, but in talking to her, I have gained a real great respect for what she has accomplished. She was not intimidated by opening up the Classic for us as we look to defend our title, and why should she be? Rachel was unhittable at home just about, and an inexperienced nation like North Orus was the one with all the pressure on them. I’m sure it was exciting for their players and their fans to finally see the nation playing for international glory, but their assignment of a home opener against the defending World Champions surely had them sweating. You have to give them some credit, as they seemed to be well prepared, and we had some trouble initially, with their pitcher. Let’s face it, that pitcher knew we had never seen him before and he pitched well. But not as well as Rachel. Friedman had their hitters looking silly all game long, managing 17 strikeouts and not walking a batter during her complete game shutout. If not for a 3rd inning single, we’d be talking about a perfect game, but sometimes that kind conversation can seem really old in terms of the Classic. The 2-0 victory gives the appearance of a close game, and even though you never know when the other team can put together a bloop and a blast, we seemed comfortably in control after getting out two runs in the fourth, courtesy of Kiersten Murphy’s two-run double. We get to go home now and will open against Zirakul.

The only negative about yesterday was that I got a phone call from my husband while I was in North Orus and he was talking about Queen Cassie giving orders for the military to get in a state of readiness. My husband Jeff, if you don’t know, is a colonel in the Marine Force, and with the Queen’s orders, he is beginning to wonder if we might be in a conflict pretty soon.

Not part of Blog:

A message from Queen Cassie to Emperor Michael IV of Newmanistan:

“Your Majesty, I have noticed that your training exercise, as you called it, as begun to go beyond your border. I remind you, that your eastern border ends at the Penthoria River. I know the people of Secristan are in a difficult situation right now following the collapse of their government, but they need help now, and not whatever it is your doing. I want to believe that this is not a troop deployment with the intention of taking over this land. However, if it is, be assured that we are not going to just sit here and watch. The land is to be respected as neutral territory in case their leaders should return. You are not entitled to this land so I hope that this is not what it looks like.”

by **Tocrowkia** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:52 pm

NordicNation.net

World Baseball Classic 17 coverage

In an upset loss to Hossaim, the Nordics began the new Classic on a sour note. Alexandria Dassow whom was stuck with the loss was a tough-luck loser in this one. Despite an eight K, one walk, eight inning effort she gave up a run too many and the Nordics offense, now an interesting mixing of veterans and rookies in key places just couldn't get it back. Fear not though, for confidence is high within the clubhouse as the team heads home!

by **Lycrabon** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:05 pm

Day 2 Cutoff, brought to you by Buiffwhisker.....for all you do, this Buf's for you....

As yesterday, home teams in CAPS

TOCROWKIA 10, Ameriganistan 5
HOSSAIM 5, Meddicia 3
WESTERN CUBA 4, Mantwenic 2

Group A                P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Western Cuba       2  2 0  0  11   6  +5  6
 2 Hossaim            2  2 0  0   7   4  +3  6
 3 Tocrowkia          2  1 0  1  11   7  +4  3
 4 Meddicia           2  1 0  1  10  11  -1  3
 5 Mantwenic          2  0 0  2   8  11  -3  0
 6 Ameriganistan      2  0 0  2   9  17  -8  0

Mytannion 5, SARZONIA 3
TELAMAR 5, Megurko 2
Bergnovinaia 10, THE BABBAGE ISLANDS 3

Group B                     P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Bergnovinaia             2  2 0  0  14   4 +10  6
 2 Mytannion                2  2 0  0  10   7  +3  6
 3 Telamar                  2  2 0  0  11   6  +5  6
 4 Sarzonia                 2  0 0  2   7  11  -4  0
 5 The Babbage Islands      2  0 0  2   7  15  -8  0
 6 Megurko                  2  0 0  2   3   9  -6  0

Royalsoldiers 5, QUINTESSENCE OF DUST 4
SAUGEAIS 2, Cotdelapoms 1
QAZOX 9, Delaclava 4

Group C                     P  W D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 Royalsoldiers             2  2 0  0  15  10   +5  6
 2 Quintessence of Dust      2  1 0  1  11   6   +5  3
 3 Saugeais                  2  1 0  1   3   8   -5  3
 4 Qazox                     2  1 0  1  15  14   +1  3
 5 Cotdelapoms               2  1 0  1  12   7   +5  3
 6 Delaclava                 2  0 0  2   9  20  -11  0

ZWANGZUG 3, Pontinur 2
CATHAIS 3, Cosumar 2
Mossulia 4, TARRENTUM 3

Group D            P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Zwangzug       2  2 0  0   8   2  +6  6
 2 Mossulia       2  2 0  0  13   9  +4  6
 3 Pontinur       2  1 0  1   5   5  +0  3
 4 Cathais        2  1 0  1   3   7  -4  3
 5 Tarrentum      2  0 0  2   5   7  -2  0
 6 Cosumar        2  0 0  2   8  12  -4  0

CASSADAIGUA 9, Zirakul 4
NORTH ORUS 6, Sibirsky 2
Silver Beach 6, LYCRABON 0

Group E              P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Cassadaigua       2  2 0  0  11   4  +7  6
 2 Silver Beach      2  2 0  0  12   5  +7  6
 3 Zirakul           2  1 0  1   8  11  -3  3
 4 North Orus        2  1 0  1   6   4  +2  3
 5 Lycrabon          2  0 0  2   2  10  -8  0
 6 Sibirsky          2  0 0  2   7  12  -5  0

Antoletia 6, NEWMANISTAN 4
Stuffed Taxidermists 4, TANZORIA 2
MILCHAMA 11, Churchma 1

Group F                     P  W D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 Milchama                  2  2 0  0  16   3  +13  6
 2 Stuffed Taxidermists      2  2 0  0   8   3   +5  6
 3 Antoletia                 2  1 0  1   8   9   -1  3
 4 Newmanistan               2  1 0  1   9   8   +1  3
 5 Churchma                  2  0 0  2   2  15  -13  0
 6 Tanzoria                  2  0 0  2   4   9   -5  0

by **Lycrabon** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:24 pm

CAPITAL CITY GAZETTE
The Three Rivers news leader
http://www.capitalcitygazette.com.lyc

Em-barrassing

CHARLESTOWN -- Embarrassing. That says it all.

On a night to dedicate Charles Davis Stadium, the Lycrabon Blue Jays played dead, getting shutout and no-hit by Silver Beach 6-0. In addition, Silver Beach had 15 strikeouts to go with the no-no. Silver Beach got all they needed on the first pitch of the game: deep bomb over the left-center field wall, and into the Ohio. They tacked on two in the third, and a three spot in the eighth.

"Ugly," was the popular response to the game. "We play a whole lot better, and need to pick it up to get in. We still have two against the 'dagans, so we need some huge offense for them."

SB	102 000 030 - 6 12 0
LYC	000 000 000 - 0 0 1

by **Newmanistan** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:38 pm

General Freeman and Sargent Hillcrest met to discuss the initial influx of troops into Secristan, where they would go from here, and perhaps something else.

“Sargent, I see you are reading the paper. What are they saying about our movement and the response from Queen Cassie?”

“Beats me as actually I’m checking out the sports section and reading about Jessica’s blow up and the inexplicable loss to Antoletia in the World Baseball Classic. Been a lot of upsets so far."

“Well the last Classic showed us that there is no such thing as an easy win in qualifying anymore.”

“Did you see what Jessica did?”

“Not really, and we have troops who here in Secristan now who will be facing some resistence once the loyalists understand what we are doing. Hopefully not until we’ve taken East Penthoria. Look, I care about the Classic as much as you do, but we need to be properly focused here.”

“Jessica punched the umpire in the face. Twice.”

“What?! Elaborate.”

“In the first inning, the Antoletia batters never took their bats off their shoulders, because just about everything Jessica was throwing was being called a ball. After the third walk that loaded the bases, she charged home plate and began arguing with the umpire. The ump gave her the ‘heave-ho’, and she responded by clocking him the face with a right jab. He just stood there, stunned, and Jessica gave him seconds. Christina (Sanders, the manager) eventually got in there and separate Jessica from the umpire. Then Christina barked at him for a little bit. She put Michelle Harrison in, but the umpire only allowed her five warm up pitches, which sucks given that she was completely cold to begin with. She walked the first batter she faced, to make it 1-0, and then when she got a pitch over the plate, it was sent into the left field stands for a grand slam and just like that, we were doing 5-0. It was a bunch of bullshit. Not to mention there was an additional delay because of all the litter that had to be cleared up off the field.”

“That’s crazy. I order you to get us some kind of replay at once of the event.”

“It will be my pleasure. Well, as for Queen Cassie.....”

“(General Freeman interrupts). Screw Queen Cassie. No, not like that. So, that must have been a pretty deep hole for the Rockets to climb out of.”

“Well, yeah, Antoletia actually got one-more in the first because it really took Michelle a while to settle in. They actually started to take the game over, but they got jobbed again in the eighth.”

“Dare I ask, how so?”

“Well, it was 6-4, bases loaded with two outs, and just a terrible strike three call on Rachel Cuyler to end the inning. The strike two call was terrible, too. Even more horrible when you consider what this umpire was calling a ball in the first inning. That got Christina out of the mound to argue and she was ejected from the game as well.”

“Did she punch the umpire?”

“No. But she probably wanted too. (Laughs)”

“What’s gonna happen to Brasfield?”

“Well, Jessica has historically been one to have problems with authority figures, probably similar to what some loyalist Secristanis will be when put the Newmanistanian flag on top of the East Penthoria City Hall. I doubt she’ll miss her next start, Christina never suspends players over arguing with umpires.”

“If they have problems with authority then I say make them an authority figure themselves. Maybe Jessica should become mayor of East Penthoria!”

“(laughs) Yeah, that would go over well!”

“Alright, so as for Queen Cassie, it looks like they aren’t just going to stand there and look pretty like good Cassadagan should.”

“Though we have a better military then Cassadaigua, I’d rather not have a drawn out conflict with them, because they are decent enough. I did some research on this nifty website called nseconomy. It tells you how much, generally, a nation spends on their military. They spend 15.8 trillion, we spend 37.6 trillion. So yeah, we’ll be stronger, but they are not a pushover.”

“I think we can eventually come to a resolution with them. But if they think we’re just gonna draw a line halfway through Secristan and say we have this side and they have that side, well that’s just asinine.”

“Just wondering about Cassadaigua’s army. Is it mostly women?”

“I’m not sure, exactly. Maybe we can get clarification on that somehow.”

by **Qazox** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:54 pm

Qazox at WBC17

Delaclava blinks first after early pitching duel.

Through 5 innings Qazox and Delaclava seemed to be participating in a game for the ages, but a wild pitch from Delaclava's Severiano Sanchez sparked Qazox to a 9-4 win. After a 2-run 2-out RBI double by Takashi Kibachi broke the scoreless tie in the 6th; Qazox took the lead in the bottom of the 6th. In the bottom of the 7th, with Sanchez still going, a wild pitch on a 3-2 count to Tyson McGillicutty sent the speedy runner to 2nd, as Tim Joneson couldn't find the ball. After that pitch, Sanchez allowed 3 consecutive hits and Qazox broke the game open from there. Delaclava did score twice in the 8th, chasing Michael Hunter. Jayde Sinclair had a pair of 2-run doubles in the 6th and 7th, and 4 hits on the night, to pace the offense.

Up next for Qazox is Saugeais, 2-1 winners over Cotdelapoms earlier today.

LINESCORE

Delaclava  0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0  4 10 0
Qazox      0 0 0 0 0 3 4 2 x  9 16 0

W- Michael Hunter (1-0)
L- Severiano Sanchez (0-1)

BOX SCORE:
Delaclava 6th: Tim Joneson singled to left. Jacob Nieves struck out. Ellis Moore popped out to center. Jim Jefferies singled to right, Joneson to 2nd. Takashi Kibachi doubled to center; Joneson and Jefferies scored. Brad Schaffer infield single to 3rd. Devon Kizer flied out to left. 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 LOB. 2-0 Delaclava.

Qazox 6th:: Sdmar doubled to center. Holmes singled to right, Sdmar to 3rd. Sinclair doubled to right, Sdmar and Holmes scored. Flint struck out. Jae singled to right, Sinclair scored. Thomas grounded into 6-4-3 double play. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 LOB. 3-2 Qazox.

Qazox 7th: Corell flied out to left. McGillicutty reached 1st on dropped 3rd strike, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch. Sdmar singled to left, McGillicutty scored. Holmes singled to right, Sdmar to 3rd. Sinclair doubled to center, Sdmar and Holmes scored. <Pitching change: Sanchez out; Ohana Lui in>. Flint grounded out to 2nd, Sinclair to 3rd. Jae singled to right, Sinclair scored. Thomas walked. Corell grounded out to pitcher. 4 runs, 4 hits, 2 LOB. 7-2 Qazox.

Delaclava 8th: Moore doubled to right. Jefferies 402ft HR to right, Moore scored. <Pitching change: Hunter out, Wynne in>. Kbashi flied out to left. Schaffer struck out. Kizer grounded out to first. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 LOB. 7-4 Qazox.

Qazox 8th: McGillicutty flied out to right. Sdmar walked. Holmes 368ft HR to left-center, Sdmar scored. Sinclair singled to left. Flint singled to center, Sinclair to 2nd. Jae grounded into 5-4-3 double play. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 LOB. 9-4 Qazox.

by **Silver Beach** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:56 pm

Complete game shutout nets the win for Silver Beach

In World Baseball Classic qualifying, Silver Beach got a 6-0 victory on the road, to improve to 2-0 in qualifying. Ironically, this is their best performance ever in a WBC, and its only been two games!

The fun started in the first inning. In the first inning, on the first pitch, Silver Beach had a leadoff double to start the game. The leadoff double was followed by a walk. The Home manager then decided to go to the mound, and try to calm the pitcher down. 40,000 fans rooting against Silver Beach, yet somehow they walked away with a victory. But as soon as he got off the mound, it seemed as if the talk worked. The next two batters struck out, and the #5 hitter was in an 0-2 count, with men on first and second base, and the crowd on its feet. It looked as if Silver Beach would strand those runners on base. Then, a hanging curveball was left, and BAM! A 425 foot blast gave Silver Beach a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and they never looked back once.

Grant Hendell, the starting pitcher in this game, had a great line. He went the full 9 innings, allowing 7 hits, having 4 strikeouts, and forcing 5 double plays. He also did not walk one batter, and threw 107 pitches in the ball game. He started dealing from the get go though. In the first inning, after allowing a leadoff single, he induced a double play ball. That's how things seemed to go for him throughout the entire game, as he would allow a hit, then get a double play ball, then hit, then exc..... He pitched like the ace he truly is today. This is the kind of pitching we need if Silver Beach wants to win the WBC.

In the 6th inning, Silver Beach put its last 3 runs on the board and broke it wide open. After the 3 run blast in the 1st inning, The opponents had retired 14 batters in a row. But then Silver Beach got on a rally. Silver Beach got a single, then a single to move a man from first to third. So with runners on the corners with 1 man out, the man at the plate struck out. The next guy drew a walk, to have the bases loaded, and the cleanup hitter at the plate. He came threw, hitting a bases clearing, 3 out double down the right field line, to break the game wide open, and put the score at 6-0, where it was at the end of the game.

If Silver Beach keeps having all around performances like this, expect to see them go far into the WBC.

by **Zwangzug** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:58 pm

Deededede dat deededede dat...

"And we're set to take on Pontinur. Never heard of them, shouldn't be a challenge."

"I don't know. They beat Tarrentum..."

"...swung on and missed, two and one."

"Croes has got to be hoping Cieger can pitch deep into this ballgame. After Loomis' shutout yesterday--well, the less we see of our bullpen the better."

"I'll give you that. This one's--swung on and laced deep to left. Street backpedaling but he won't reach it, it's a double, and Pontinur are...on the board?"

"Yes. Yes, right above where it says "Zwangzug"..."

"...really embarrassing."

"It's the fifth, we've got time. And with two on already."

"Whatever. Aleplow--cracks this one into right! Street comes in, they'll send Hietala, the relay from second is not in time! And Zwangzug takes the lead! That's more like it..."

"...good control in the first few innings but faltering now with that walk to Craga."

"This one's over the plate. But Throop gets all of it, that'll be extra bases. Craga comes in, and the Zebras pad their lead..."

"...And Smalls finally gets up in the bullpen."

"You think we should bring in Smalls to get this out? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Better her than Chane."

"Why do we need anybody to get one out against some unranked team? If we go to the bullpen we'll risk...you know..."

"The bullpen. Imploding."

"Yeah. Ball outside, come on. But, I mean, the bullpen--that's us beating ourselves. I think the odds of us beating ourselves are better than these guys beating us."

"That'd sound a lot more convincing if Cieger hadn't walked the last two."

"Hey, you know what...oh, swung on and connected, that'll drive in another run..."

by **Tocrowkia** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:28 am

NordicNation.net

World Baseball Classic 17 coverage

Code: Select all: TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E AGN 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 0 TOC 2 2 1 0 2 0 0 3 0 10 22 0

WIN:
Sofie Behm (1-0)
HRs:
Johnny Stryker 1 (1), Stella Kallow 2 (2), Kevin Monroe 1 (1)

Despite the bitter loss of the championship series in the last Classic and the frustrating upset on day one, a good time was had by all when they returned home. This time the Nordics home games are being held in Siegfried Grand Stadium in Pharamas; the very same field the Nordics debuted in the WBC ten long years ago. Several hundred thousand gifts were given out to the fans whom braved the freezing winds and flaky snow, and the Nordics of the past met with the Nordics of the present, exchanged some handshakes, talked, and posed for some pictures before the game.

The game saw the Nordics rookies finally establish themselves and feel what it's like to win all the way up here on this stage. One of the rookies, Stella Kallow had a tremendous day with two 2-run homeruns today, with Stryker and Monroe, veterans obviously, joining her in the act of lifting the ball out of the park! Now owning a .500 record, the Nordics are still looking up at Western cuba as their main rival in the group!

by **Stuffed Taxidermists** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:47 am

The National
World Baseball Classic 17
Stufefd Taxidermists sit second in their group in the World Baseball Classic, after two straight wins against Churchma and Tanzoria. The team are suprised and happy with their results at the Cup. The coach of the team says they are hoping too progress, but are not getting their hopes up. The National will have updates when more matches are played.

by **Cassadaigua** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:25 am

Jennifer's Space

You have to be happy with our second game of qualifying, a 9-4 win at home over Zirakul, as after all, not many teams that are a perfect two for two, and especially not all the teams that you would expect to be. We expected the team from Zirakul to be pretty good because history shows that first-time nations that take the time to provide a roster to the world usually do better then the ones that do not. But Brianna Bates gave us the great start on the mound that we knew that she would. It wasn't as amazing as Rachel's was in the opener, but that kind of domination is never something that is expected of our pitchers. In the end, Brianna pitched a solid seven innings, and allowed three runs on seven hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts. Most teams, except Newmanistanians, possibly, would label that as a "quality start". Our bats were clicking as well, getting two in the second on Kiersten Murphy's two-run blast, and then another two in the fourth on three consecutive singles. That enabled us to open up a 4-0 lead, and after they cut it to 4-2, we scored three more in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away, thanks to a bases clearing triple by the person writing this blog. We added a couple more in the eighth, getting us our nine runs in the five-run victory.

It was a day where it would have been very difficult to have lost as we celebrated our World Baseball Classic 16 championship in the home qualifying opener. There was already enough of a dampening mood over the event after Queen Cassie put the military, which is 60% female and 40% male, on a high level of alert in response to Newmanistanian movement of troops into the former nation of Secristan. Even though they have tried to dismiss it, most of us know what is going on, including my husband, who works in the Marines. Jeff has been one of the people told that he may be deployed into Secristan for a possible conflict. I can't comprehend what is going on here. On one hand we have what used to be Secristan, which in it's day, was a highly profitable and successful nation, and it is now falling into ruins. Their people, regardless of their incomes before, are beginning to feel the pinch now, and something must be done. Newmanistan seems to feel that the answer to this is to take over the country. But does a larger Newmanistan then pose a threat to us? Queen Cassie is probably looking at it as there will be no way Newmanistan gets all of it. So do we just cut it in half and split it the way a mother would spilt the last piece of cake to her two children? Jeff has explained to me why it is not that easy. I wish we could resolve this without tanks, guns, and bombs, though. There has to be a way, right?

(not part of blog)

Queen Cassie makes her military response plans (this is not a public statement, so you wouldn't know this until ships left port!):

"I'm sure Newmanistan is targeting Amherst. We'll get there first as they toil around in East Penthoria. Deploy the Navy. We'll travel the Gulf, get there first, and give them a little surprise when they make it there."

by **Lycrabon** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:29 am

Silver Beach wrote:Complete game shutout nets the win for Silver Beach

Grant Hendell, the starting pitcher in this game, had a great line. He went the full 9 innings, allowing 7 hits, having 4 strikeouts, and forcing 5 double plays. He also did not walk one batter, and threw 107 pitches in the ball game. ........

Well, THAT might be a first. The loser of the game writes it as a no-no, and the winner writes it as a 7-hitter.

by **Cathatis** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:15 am

Cathatis Gains First Win In World Baseball Classic 17

Cathatis today reached a .500 record in the 17th World Baseball Classic at home to Cosumar. The 3-2 result was the first win after a substantial 5-0 hammering at Memorial Stadium. Here is the game summary...

The game started well, with Cathatis winning the toss and choosing to pitch. Number 13, Gua Dan-Cao stepped up to the plate and faced Michael Stoneburry, the opening batter. Two fast pitches then a surprise curveball from the power-pitcher knocked Stoneburry straight out. Xavier White, the left-fielder then stepped in, and knocked the first pitch straight out to left-field, where Kun Chi-Pa dropped the catch, enabling white to run straight to second base unmolested for the first hit of the match. However, Gua faced Jakk Clyde and David Gellano, getting both out for three pitch strikeouts.

As the match progressed, Gua continued with a strong match, losing only 9 hits in the first 7 innings, with the Batting order managing 27 hits, but struggling to get any of them to mean anything, as the game reached the top of the 8th still at 0-0. The crowd began getting restless as the teams emerged for the 8th inning. Gua threw for 2 fast outs, before Luke Crisalus struck a slow ball hard. The ball went flying, reaching high, and fell rapidly, heading towards the crowds. The Cosumar fans began cheering what they were sure was to be a home run. Unfortunately, a deep centre-field caused the ball to strike the wall about a foot below the top straight into the hands of waiting centre-fielder, Ji Huo-Sa. This left the game at 0-0, and with 2 outs, Cathatis filled the bases with two outs. A deep shot flew straight into the hands of waiting Duke Yeagar in the right foul zone.

As the game went into the 9th, several fans threw beer cups at the coaching stuff as the team emerged for the 9th, one narrowly missing the shoulder of pitching coach, Chin Hui-Bo. The fans were promptly ejected and the match continued unmolested. Gua emerged, and his first pitch, a fast ball was hit straight out to right field, enabling Xavier White to run straight to second base. Jakk Klyde emerged, and with 2 strikes and 3 balls, hit the pitch fast out to left-field, where it bounced off of the barriers and into the crowd for a home run, putting Cosumar 2-0 up. However, Gua recovered, undisturbed and promptly disposed of Gellano, Yeager and Archer without a hit. Cathatis emerged from the bench, hoping to recover the match. Nong Si-Mi and Mo Hua-Geng, the infielders, were promptly disposed of without a hit. However, Wa Huan-Diu and Ji Huo-Sa both hit the ball for singles, loading the first and second bases. Number 5, Qiu Qiu-Ruo smashed a curveball hard, flying into Left-Centre field. The ball flew for around 400 feet, straight over the stand for the game-winning 3 RBI home-run, giving Cathatis the 3-2 win.

Man of the Match was given to Qiu Qiu-Ruo, who's statistics were:
Hits: 4
At Bats: 7
Batting average: 0.571
Home Runs: 1
RBIs: 3

The next match for Cathatis is at Tarrentum, the 14th ranked team in the Baseball rankings, which will be at the massive MegOil Imperial Stadium, with a 53,000 person capacity. Their record so far is 0-2, with a 4-3 loss to Mossulia and a 3-2 loss to Pontinur.

Scorecard:

Team:      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R H  E
Cosumar    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2 11 0
Cathatis   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3 31 0

by **Lycrabon** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:02 pm

Day 3 Cutoff, brought to you by the Capital City Gazette, official newspaper of the Lycrabon Blue Jays!

DAY 3
Tocrowkia 10, MEDDICIA 1
MANTWENIC 6, Ameriganistan 5 (F/11)
WESTERN CUBA 7, Hossaim 6

Group A                                P  W D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 Western Cuba       3  3 0  0  18  12   +6  9
 2 Hossaim            3  2 0  1  13  11   +2  6
 3 Tocrowkia          3  2 0  1  21   8  +13  6
 4 Meddicia           3  1 0  2  11  21  -10  3
 5 Mantwenic          3  1 0  2  14  16   -2  3
 6 Ameriganistan      3  0 0  3  14  23   -9  0

MEGURKO 3, Sarzonia 2
Mytannion 8, BERGNOVINAIA 1
THE BABBAGE ISLANDS 6, Telamar 4

Group B		 P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Mytannion                3  3 0  0  18   8 +10  9
 2 Bergnovinaia             3  2 0  1  15  12  +3  6
 3 Telamar                  3  2 0  1  15  12  +3  6
 4 The Babbage Islands      3  1 0  2  13  19  -6  3
 5 Megurko                  3  1 0  2   6  11  -5  3
 6 Sarzonia                 3  0 0  3   9  14  -5  0

COTDELAPOMS 2, Quintessence of Dust 1
Royalsoldiers 5, DELACLAVA 2
Saugeais 7, QAZOX 4

Group C                      P  W D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 Royalsoldiers             3  3 0  0  20  12   +8  9
 2 Saugeais                  3  2 0  1  10  12   -2  6
 3 Cotdelapoms               3  2 0  1  14   8   +6  6
 4 Quintessence of Dust      3  1 0  2  12   8   +4  3
 5 Qazox                     3  1 0  2  19  21   -2  3
 6 Delaclava                 3  0 0  3  11  25  -14  0

COSUMAR 4, Zwangzug 3
MOSSULIA 6, Pontinur 3
TARRENTUM 3, Cathais 2

Group D           P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Mossulia       3  3 0  0  19  12  +7  9
 2 Zwangzug       3  2 0  1  11   6  +5  6
 3 Pontinur       3  1 0  2   8  11  -3  3
 4 Tarrentum      3  1 0  2   8   9  -1  3
 5 Cathais        3  1 0  2   5  10  -5  3
 6 Cosumar        3  1 0  2  12  15  -3  3

Cassadaigua 3, SIBIRSKY 1
SILVER BEACH 3, Zirakul 2
LYCRABON 6, North Orus 0

Group E              P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Cassadaigua       3  3 0  0  14   5  +9  9
 2 Silver Beach      3  3 0  0  15   7  +8  9
 3 Zirakul           3  1 0  2  10  14  -4  3
 4 Lycrabon          3  1 0  2   8  10  -2  3
 5 North Orus        3  1 0  2   6  10  -4  3
 6 Sibirsky          3  0 0  3   8  15  -7  0

Newmanistan 7, STUFFED TAXIDERMISTS 6 (F/10)
CHURCHMA 7, Antoletia 1
MILCHAMA 5, Tanzoria 2

Group F                      P  W D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 Milchama                  3  3 0  0  21   5  +16  9
 2 Newmanistan               3  2 0  1  16  14   +2  6
 3 Stuffed Taxidermists      3  2 0  1  14  10   +4  6
 4 Churchma                  3  1 0  2   9  16   -7  3
 5 Antoletia                 3  1 0  2   9  16   -7  3
 6 Tanzoria                  3  0 0  3   6  14   -8  0

by **Meguroko** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:01 pm

The Megurokan National

SPORTS

WBC 17

World Baseball Classic 17 is on, Meguroko, and we are 1-2-0. The first 2 games we lost. The next 1 we won!

BOXSCORE

Meguroko 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
Sarzonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Meguroko beat Sarzonia, 3-2, today.

by **Qazox** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:41 pm

Qazox at WBC17

Bullpen blows another one.

Leading 4-1 entering the 8th, Qazox looked like the opening day loss to Royalsoldiers was just a fluke, as Sean Carey had allowed just 1 run on 4 hits through 7. After walking the lead-off batter, Manager Linda Werth took Carey out, suprisingly as he'd only thrown 86 pitches by then. In trotted Greg Chambers to relieve him. After just 8 pitches the game was tied at 4, and Qazox would go on to lose 7-4 to drop to 1-2 early in qualifying. Appearently Qazox isn't the only top 20 team struggling, as Sarzonia and Delaclava are 0-3 and QoD is 1-2 as well. The early struggles of 4 teams that many have picked to make the playoffs is not suprising at a WBC, but to have the supposed top 3 teams in Group C have a collective record of 2-7 so far is a bit stunning.

Up next for Qazox is Cotdelapoms, 2-1 winners over Q.o.D. earlier today.

LINESCORE

Saugeais  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 1  7 11 0
Qazox     0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4  9 0

W- Kim Yun-Sung
L- Greg Chambers (0-1)
Sv- Ringo Grenier

BOX SCORE:
Qazox 2nd: Holmes flied out to right. Sinclair singled to right. Flint doubled to center, Sinclair to 3rd. Jae singled to left, Sinclair scored, Flint to 3rd. Thomas singled to left, Flint scored, Jae to 2nd. Carey sacrifice to pitcher, Jae to 3rd, Thomas to 2nd. Corell singled to right, Jae and Thomas scored. McGillicutty struck out. 4 runs, 5 hits, 1 LOB. 4-0 Qazox.

Saugeis 3rd:: Blackman struck out. Evans 411ft HR to left. Honda singled to left. Benoit fled out to center. Robinson struck out. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 LOB. 4-1 Qazox.

Saugeis 8th:: Honda walked. <Pitching Change: Sean carey out, Greg Chambers In>. Benoit doubled to center, Honda to 3rd. Robinson flied out to center, Honda scored. Gardin doubled to left, Benoit scored, Gardin to 3rd on throw. Lind singled to center, Gardin scored. <Pitching Change: Chambers out, Charlene Iya in>. Roland doubled to center, Lind scored, Roland out advancing to 3rd. Romero triple to left-center. <Pinch-hitter: Tuffy Jackson batting for Kim Yun-Sung> Jackson singled to right, Romero scored. Evans walked, Jackson to 2nd. Honda flied out to center. 5 runs, 6 hits, 2 LOB. 6-4 Saugeais.

Saugeis 9th:: Benoit flied out to right. Robinson 419ft HR to left-center. Gardin flied out to left. Lind struck out. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 LOB. 7-4 Saugeais.

by **Zwangzug** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:35 pm

"We're coming to you live from Orangila Capital Field, now here's a nice stadium."

"There's a retractable roof here but it's wide open today, it's a clear game and we should be set for some good baseball..."

"...Street pulls this one to right, should be extra bases, and there we have a double."

"And that'll bring up Pisciott, yet another Dragon."

"Did they get the third out? Is that what you're telling me? Because I think we're still up to bat."

"No, I mean, Pisciott plays for Kerlagrad. Like Street. And Craga, come to think of it."

"Oh. Isn't that a little lopsided? Ball, low."

"Well, I mean, they don't have any pitchers on the national team. And none of their pitchers really deserve it, they're just a strong offensive team."

"I guess...swung on and missed to even the count."

"None on the bench, either. Just a lot of them peaking right now."

"Is it really fair to say that they're peaking? Time-wise, does anybody know what's actually going on?"

"I trust Gina Croes."

"Hmm. This one'll be poked deep enough, they'll send Street, and the Zebras get on the board first..."

"...looks a little nervous out there."

"And Klyde gets back to the bag, yeah, that's a lot of pick-off attempts."

"Cosumar haven't been running a lot. The Zebras have, effectively--if Aleplow hadn't stolen second in the top half Craga might not have been able to drive her in--but Lutrick should get on with it already."

"Yeager sends this one to right. Keigenbey settles under it, makes the catch, but the run will come in and this game is tied again..."

"...hmm. Interesting choice, I mean, it's not a save situation or anything, so I can see why she wouldn't go with Racine."

"Not Chane. It's tied! We can't afford this!"

"Maybe they'll bring in Racine for the ninth."

"Hmm, good point. Anyway, Gellano steps in, and we're ready to get this started again..."

"...Good eye. Archer's been gauging the strike zone well, almost got caught looking back in the third but now seems on top of things."

"This one will be...aw come on. Lifted into left-center, Gellano comes in, and the Dragons lead it 4-3..."

by **Newmanistan** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:36 pm

Newmanistanian troops have surrounded East Penthoria and expect the city to fall into our hands by the end of the day. There has not been a lot of resistance as for the most part the invasion surprised the people and those who may have protested did not have the time to plan a counter attack. Still, many people welcome the occupation, considering what the alternative is. There have been some rebel loyalists, but right now, there is not much fighting. Sargeant Hillcrest begins his briefing to General Freeman.

“As expected sir, it is going smoothly. So far I count casualties at three. Two deaths from opposing gunfire and the other was reportedly in a traffic accident as he expressed anger upon finding out that we lost the game to Antoletia.”

“What’s been the fallout from that?”

“Nothing really as after all you have to expect casualties. Overall, I think we... (gets interrupted).”

“(interrupting). No, I meant the fallout from the loss to Antoletia.”

“Nothing. Christina, as expected, as offered no kind of punishment to Jessica Brasfield. Here, I dug up an audio clip of her statement of the incident:

(Audio clip from Sanders): “After reviewing the pathetic calls that led to Jessica’s outburst and punching of the home plate umpire, we have found her poise to have been pretty impressive as after all I think many of us would have done more then just punch him twice. It is a disgrace that the umpiring in such a great and prestigious event continues to be so poor. I think also, that we are targeted by umpires from nations who are jealous of our status as the greatest nation in the world at the sport, and therefore they enjoy seeing us lose. There is no other explanation for what happened, and it’s a shame that our home fans had to experience such a travesty. Not only the bad calls, but in the allowance of just five warmup pitches to Michelle Harrison, which led to further damage considering she was not even warming up to that point as there would have been no reason for me to. Then in the eighth, when we looked like we were heroically going to pull this game out anyway, the calls to Rachel (Cuyler) were equally as bad. We have discussed these events as a team and we are prepared to overcome them in Stuffed Taxidermists.”
(Upon being asked if Jessica will be punished): “She was punished enough by those horrible calls. I wouldn’t even thing about adding on to it.” (End of audio clip)

“Very good, Sargent. Glad to hear that Christina won’t punish them any further. I’ve received word that we can consider East Penthoria ours tomorrow. Is the flag ready for City Hall?”

“It’s as ready as Kaitlyn Ahearn is for the Taxidermists.”

“I haven’t heard any international dissention on what we are doing other then from Cassadaigua. So far, everyone is cool with it?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It should be obvious to the world what we are doing now, but maybe it will take the sky blue flying over East Penthoria. The less resistance the better.”

“Make sure the soliders are nice and gentleman or ladylike to the East Penthorian citizens. After all, we have to make it look like we are doing this for them and not in order to control the River and expand the Empire. That is key to keeping the resistance from the Secristanis down.”

“Of course, sir. Then we can make Cassadaigua look like the enemy if they try to get involved.”

“Exactly. Well, game’s almost on. Guess we can watch it.”

The two do indeed watch the game, which was quite an entertaining affair. The Rockets got on the board first with a run thanks to Stacie Meadows leading off the game with triple and scoring on a sacrifice fly, but then surrendering a game-tying run in the bottom of the inning. It was one of those games 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2...... until it was 6-6 after nine innings. Fortunately on this day, it would be the Rockets getting the win, thanks to a Kristen Wheeler RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning. Erica Barrett, who pitched the 8th and 9th innings as well, in keeping the game at 6-6 over those two innings, remained in the game in the 10th to earn the victory. The closer pitched extremely well, allowing only one hit in the three innings of work. Kaitlyn Ahearn though, was a little off, which is bad news for the starter who was also a little subpar in WBC 16. She gave up four runs in five innings, all earned, walked two, and managed only four strikeouts. Said Carrie Nicolette, now a well-respected baseball analyst on Southport Baseball Tonight, “This is not good for a pitcher that should be in her prime right now. Kaitlyn cannot continue to make an international living off what she did two Classics ago. It’s a rotation that would have the potential to be in tact for several years into the future, but Christina will make changes if she needs too. Everyone knows Courtney Keisler is on the way, but there are other good pitchers in the Empire too that are capable of taking over this spot. While we know that Jessica Brasfield was stiffed by the umpires, and thus we cannot hold anything against her, Kaitlyn was erratic tonight, and it almost led to the Rockets falling to an unheard of record of 1-2.”

by **Silver Beach** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:07 am

Walkoff 3 run shot wins it for Silver Beach

Silver Beach had an exciting comeback victory at home, getting a walkoff 3 run home run in the bottom of the 9th, to pull off the 3-2 stunner, and keep Silver Beach on pace for first place in their group, as they are 3-0.

In the first few innings, the score was 0-0. Both pitchers came out dealing, as the Silverian pitcher retired the first 8 he faced, before giving up a walk to the 9 batter in the third inning. The 33 year old pitcher, Louis De Graza, came in dealing today, as Silver Beach turned out that it needed the greatness of De Graza to pull off a victory. He had a very good line, getting a No Decision going 8 1/3 innings, allowing 9 hits, and 1 earned run(and 1 unearned), with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. He deserved a victory, but at least throughout the part of the ballgame that he was in, he just came in and slammed the door shut.

In the 4th inning, Silver Beach had a key error in the outfield. With 2 outs, and their cleanup hitter at the plate, the cleanup hitter hit a fly ball out to deep centerfield. When the center fielder, Yamano LaFave, ranged back to catch the ball, he dropped a sure one that was in his glove. This error proved costly, as it would have been the last out for the Silver Beach team. Instead though, the opponents had a runner on 2nd base, with 2 outs. At that, De Graza threw the pitch, and a RBI ground rule double was hit, for Silver Beach to go down 1-0. On the very next pitch, the same result happened, an RBI ground rule double, and at that, Silver Beach was down 2-0 after De Graza got the next guy out.

The Silver Beach offense could get nothing down all day on the opponents. They only scattered 3 hits throughout the first 8 innings of the ball game, and hit into double plays in the 3rd inning, and the 6th inning. A leadoff single in the 8th inning went for nought, as the baserunner was picked off at first base. Everything was going against Silver Beach, as this record crowd, dressed in Silver and light blue, was beginning to get antsy.

In the top of the ninth inning, De Graza allowed a leadoff single. After striking out the next hitter, De Graza allowed another single, to put runners on the corners with one out. They withdrew him from the game to a standing ovation from the crowd, after throwing all of 107 pitches it 8 1/3. The way the Silver Beach hitters were going go, it seemed like they would lose this ballgame. The setup man came in though, and slammed the door shut on the opponents. After a flyout, the CF, Yamano LaFave, made up for his error, with a huge play, by catching the ball, and gunning the runner down at home plate. This proved huge, as Silver Beach went into the ninth inning with momentum.

In the bottom of the 9th inning, Mr. LaFave got a leadoff single. After getting this single, he stole second base, which proved huge for the crowd. They were waving the towels, and things were getting very loud inside Lulika City Field, where the record crowd of 38,717 was getting very noisy. After that, the next two hitters both got out, with two popups. The next hitter, in an 0-2 count, fouled 3 balls off, and then hit an infield single, hustling down the first base line. With the Silverian crowd on their feet, it looked like the momentum had all swung Silver Beach's way. Here is the radio announcement of the final pitch.

"Wow, what an infield single Jerry. He hustled down the line, and because of that, Silver Beach is still in this thing. Wait- let's see this pitch! The closer for the opponent winds up. The crowd gets louder, as he delivers what looks like a curveball. Wait, it looks like its hanging! IT IS! The ball is crushed down the right field line! If its fair, its gone. Its gonna be a home run! PUT IT ON THE VICTORY COLUMNNNNN YES!!!! SIlver Beach has won! Three run jack down the left field line wins it for Silver Beach, as the crowd goes wild! 3 run blast! Victory for the Silverians!!!!"

Alfonso Ramirez after his walkoff home run. Game started noon Silver Beach time, ended around 4 PM Silver Beach time.

What a win for Silver Beach. As they go on with lots of momentum, everybody is looking forward to their next game at Cassadaigua, who is the defending champions, and #2 in the world. They are currently tied for tops in Group E, and both two games ahead of the 3rd place team. This will go a long way in deciding who will win this group, as the upstart Silverians, ranked 38th in the world, look to shock the entire globe. We see you next time, catch the game at 8:30 PM Silver Beach time(6:30 in Tasmania) on SBBC. Travel to the game, get loud. Let's hope Silver Beach can go 4-0!!!

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 17 ROSTERS/RP/SCORES

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