World Baseball Classic XXV - Everything Thread

[Aardenland]

Aardenland in First

National team outlasts New Montreal in eleven-inning bout, to tie for first place in the fifth group

At Peace Stadium, Aardenlanders finally got to witness an Aardenland victory at home. Aardenland managed to scrape up a walk-off win in a grueling eleven-inning contest. Ernie Porter, the veteran star of the Flanders Fighters, pitched ten innings, with only one run given up on Larry Walker's fourth inning solo shot. "I felt pretty good today," says Porter in a postgame interview. "I was worried about how we would compare to the foreign players, with this being Aardenland's first Classic. Iddo[Dietrich]'s performance yesterday gave me a lot of much needed confidence. I dug in, and I didn't shift my focus until the tenth inning." Silver Wouda knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh with a single. "Nothing special about a single, but I'm glad to hit it when I did." With their record now 2-1, and having dealt New Montreal's first loss, Aardenland is now in a four-way tie for first place with New Montreal, Lycrabon, and Komodo. With seven games left to play, it means little, but with such a great performance against a top tier team (New Montreal is ranked 17th worldwide), fans are anticipating further success from Aardenland's best. Tomorrow, Aardenland will fly to Estope to play its national team, ranked 33rd and without a win yet in this World Baseball Classic. Rowan Aydin will pitch.

GAME SUMMARY

Second Inning

Aardenland: With Luc Montselle pitching, Odessa Kroon doubled to center-right field. Ricky Bruijn flied out to left field. Crijn Legierse singled to center field, scoring Kroon. Aardenland leads 1-0

Fourth Inning

New Montreal: With Ernie Porter pitching, Larry Walker hit a home run to left field. Tied 1-1

Eleven Inning

Aardenland: With Ian Lecavalier pitching and one out, Zef Veek singled to right field. Veek stole second. Sally Karlsson grounded out to first, moving Veek to third. Silver Wouda singled to center field, scoring Veek. Aardenland leads 2-1

AARDENLAND WINS 2-1

Player of the Game:

ERNIE PORTER -
Pitched a masterpiece, allowing only one run in ten innings pitched.

[Super-Llamaland]

Yesopalitha 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 5
Bloodbath Generation 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3

Cyborg Holland 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 3 8
Sckeckoa 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 5

Quebecois Acadiana 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 6
Super-Llamaland 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 5

Our Llamas lost a game they should have won, dropping a 6-5 contest to unranked Quebecois Acadiana.

SCORING SUMMARY
First Inning- Danny Mills Triple, Alex Cameron scores, 1-0
Third Inning- Alex Cameron Doubles, Darren Bradley Scores, Keith Duncan Scores, 3-1
Ninth Inning- Brett Rochester steals third, Brett Rochester scores on an error, 6-4
Ninth Inning- Jake Addams hits a solo home run, 6-5

MVP: Alex Cameron (2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B)

Pitching Box Score

L. DAVIS (51): 6+ IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 4 K/4 BB: Davis says "I just wasn't on today"
R. JACKSON (50): 3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 K/3 BB: Jackson didn't say it, but he wasn't on today either.

[The Serbian Empire]

Lycrabon 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 4
The Serbian Empire 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Another Serbian Empire loss to a ranked team, but that is not a surprise as Nemecek was not on the mound today either due to blisters. The good news is that Milos Nemecek will able return to pitching with the next scheduled game against the unranked Komodo Dragon team. The only run and one of three hits for the Serbian Empire was a monstrous home run by Jure Klemenic which was estimated to have went 493 feet, the longest home run of the tournament so far. The other two players to produce a hit were Filip Drazenovic and Darijo Sreckovic. Drazenovic is the personal catcher for Alojzij Albinik. Albinik gave up 3 runs in 6 innings of work.

[Pretty Awesome Persons]

"Hey, um, Luka...you think we'll win a game soon?" The stadium was empty except for Amelia, Luka and the Awesomite team. Amelia and Luka were sitting behind the dugout, and the team was standing around the pitching mound.

"Amelia...*sigh* I don't even know. We had a chance today...but we just...well, Jovanovic actually...tired out. He threw 5 innings of shut out ball, but collapsed in the sixth, you saw that!"

"Yeah well. Five good innings don't win us games now, do they? And we play Milchama next...might as well just forfeit the game now."

"Aw c'mon Amelia. Look at those guys on the mound! That's your investment right there! We might be 0-3 right now...soon to be 0-4...but, most of them are in their mid 20s! Give it another tournament or two, you'll see, soon our team will be up there with the best...just give it time."

"Luka, the elections are taking place a few months from now. The biggest issue isn't the economy, the average Awesomite earns sixty-two big ones a year, and our money is worth twice as much as the international standard. The biggest issue is who can unite this country the best! I beat the Native Awesomites on their home turf, and have done everything in my power to make sure Awesomites unite together as Awesomites, AND THAT'S ME AND IF WE DON'T LEAVE THIS TOURNAMENT WITH SOME HONOR, I WON'T WIN." Amelia looked at the mound and saw the team staring at her. "Oh. Sorry guys, didn't mean to disturb you. Continue with your meeting." Amelia looked at Luka again. "You see my point?"

"*sigh* Yeah, Amelia. But this isn't all about your reelection. Ever hear about a thing called fun?"

"Yeah, I love having fun. Watch." Amelia pulls out her handgun and fires three shots in the air.

"Amelia! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Having fun. I can't get arrested because diplomatic immunity. And if they say anything, we'll just stomp on them with our military."

"How is abusing diplomatic immunity fun?! That's just being stupid!"

"Whatever dude. I'm coming to these games, right? I'm spending almost three hours of my day watching these games, only to watch us lose! And it's not just me who's upset, the Aweosomite people are upset...you think they like watching their team lose EVERY DAMN DAY?"

"No. But they can't expect us to be world beaters considering how young our league is."

Ivo Kovacevic, the coach of the Awesomite team, walked over to Amelia and Luka. "Presidenta van Stegen, Commissioner Zupancic. It's nice of you guys to stick around...we've looked for the two of you before, but never saw you."

Amelia responds, "Oh well, you know, being the presidenta and all...I kinda have to keep it on the down low."

"Oh yeah...that makes sense, I guess. How have you liked our games so far?"

"Well, I've seen some good things and some bad things. It's a shame that we haven't won a game yet, but I'm sure that in a tournament or two, we'll do a lot better."

"Definitely. Jovanovic got tired after the fifth, and I told him I was going to call in Auer to pitch the rest of the innings, but he insisted on going back out there again. If Jovanovic wasn't so stubborn, we could've had out first W* today."

"Ah well, it's our first WBC, we can't expect our team to go undefeated."

"Yeah, we can't. But trust me, our boys are trying their hardest out there...it will get the job done soon."

"I can't wait."

"Well, I'm sure you guys have some important places and things to do, so I'll leave you. It was nice seeing you two." Ivo walked away but turned around quickly. "Presidenta van Stegen, just know that whatever happens, you've got my vote." Ivo walked back to his team.

Amelia was surprised. Luka turned around and laughed.

"See, Amelia? At least you'll get one vote!"

*In Standard Awesome, the letter W is said "double-vee"

[Saintland]

Saintland                        0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  3
Raxillion                        0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2  4

Royal Two Broadcast

Saintland has taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 9th on a Matthaeus Bebius solo home run. Paulus Famulus pitched 8 innings, allowing just 2 runs and is in line to pick up the win. The "Wild One" Josephus Oppius took the mound. He walked the first batter from a full count after 9 pitches. The "Wild One" strikes out the next 2 batters from full counts. Iosue Galenus and Thomas Crispus call the action.

Iosue Galenus - The cleanup hitter for Raxillion steps up to the plate. The Wild One needs just one more out and our Kingdom will have our first victory of the tournament.

First pitch is on high and inside.

Thomas Crispus - Lead umpire Dave Musgrove calls it strike 1.

Iosue Galenus - That had to be near 100 on the radar.

The second pitch is a fastball right down the middle of the plate. Oppius aimed for low and outside.

Iosue Galenus - He made contact with the pitch.

Thomas Crispus - A hard hit ball. Oh no! It has a chance.

The ball goes over the center field fence.

Iosue Galenus - Game over. The Sanctii lose again.

Thomas Crispus - A walk off home run for Raxilliion and they improve to 3-0 in the tournament. The Kingdom of Saintland is now 0-3 through 3 games.

Iosue Galenus - What is happening down there?

The Saintland bench has cleared. The entire team rushes to the mound.

Thomas Crispus - A brawl has broken out. The Sanctii are fighting one another!

Iosue Galenus - In all my years covering sports, I have never seen anything like this.

Thomas Crispus - The captain is coming and Petrus Arminus throws a right hook to Josephus Oppius.

Iosue Galenus - I can't believe this. The entire Saintland National Team is self-destructing on worldwide television and the team captain has just knocked out the closer. Petrus Arminus has just knocked out the 7-footer Josephus Oppius.

Thomas Crispus - Ioannes Sentius is furious. He just delivered a chop block to the knees of Petrus Arminus.

Iosue Galenus - That just made the captain angry. Here comes Arminus. He's going for a takedown.

Thomas Crispus - He must have been watching mixed-martial arts on Sanctustube. A picture-perfect MMA-style takedown and now Arminus is just pounding him on the ground.

Iosue Galenus - What a disaster. Here comes the security entourage. They're trying to separate the players.

Thomas Crispus - Security has finally separated the players.

Iosue Galenus - Josephus Oppius is back up and security can't hold him back. He's going for Petrus Arminus.

Thomas Crispus - The entire Royal Army couldn't hold Josephus Oppius back. He is furious at his captain.

Iosue Galenus - We are out of time. Join us tomorrow as the Sanctii visit Free South Califas, if they can stop fighting each other long enough to get on the airplane.

Thomas Crispus - I wonder what Sister Maria Polus thinks about this display. We'll find out on the Nightly News with Andreas Epidius.

Royal Two - Nightly News

Andreas Epidius is in his news studio in St. Petrus, Saintland. The international feed is still showing the Saintland Basebrawl.

Andreas Epidius - Welcome to the Nightly News on Royal Two. Today, Prince Petrus returned from his World Tour. But first, we have an exclusive interview with Sister Maria Polus.

Sister Polus is seated in the studio next to Andreas Epidius.

Andreas Epidius - Sister Polus, it is a pleasure to have you on tonight's Nightly News. You wrote an editorial that was picked up by the Saintland Press today.

Sister Maria Polus - I am honored to be on the Nightly News. It is wonderful that so many people are receptive to the message of Righteousness.

Andreas Epidius - Is our Kingdom really all that sinful a place? To my knowledge, the rest of the world appears to be much more sinful than our Kingdom.

Sister Maria Polus - We are all sinners, Andreas. We are sinners in the hands of an angry and vengeful God. God hates sin. God hates all us wicked sinners. Since you doubt the sinfulness of this Kingdom, Andreas, it is apparent to me that you are hiding numerous sins.

Andreas Epidius - Fair enough, Sister Polus. I have sinned countless times and I am grateful to the nuns that educated me for their efforts to encourage me to do penace for my sins. Sister Polus, you also wrote that we should attend Church services every day instead of just attending the mandatory service on Sundays.

Sister Maria Polus - Yes. Church services purify the soul.

Andreas Epidius - You also advised married couples to practice celibacy until the end of this baseball tournament. Is that really practical? Isn't marriage supposed to be about providing an appropriate outlet for our lusts so that we are not tempted into worse sins?

Sister Maria Polus - You are correct on that point. Marriage is for those who are too weak to overcome lust. It is a necessary evil to produce children and to prevent greater sin. This is why it is immoral to take any measures to prevent pregnancy when engaging in that disgusting act. Nonetheless, it remains perfectly practical to remain pure for a few weeks, even for the most lustful of sinners. If you cannot control your lust, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Andreas Epidius - I cannot argue with you on matters of faith, for you are a nun and I am just a journalist.

Sister Maria Polus - That is correct. The True Church of Iesus Christus is the only legitimate authority on religious doctrine. The doctrine of the Church, when approved by the Patriarch, is true because the Patriarch says it is true.

Andreas Epidius - Let's discuss a different subject. You are the High Inquisitor for the infamous Progress High School, which has a student body comprised of some of the worst foreign resident brats in the entire Kingdom. Can you describe your work at that school?

Sister Maria Polus - Since King Paulus XV's Holy Decree of a few weeks ago, I have been the High Inquisitor at Progress High School, a school founded by foreign resident agitators to teach wicked and immoral things to their children. When I took over, I implemented some sensible measures to restore discipline and the little brats walked out on me.

Andreas Epidius - The entire Kingdom remembers that awful situation. Their children were doing and being taught unspeakable things. Then, that vile foreign-funded organization had the gall to blockade the streets of St. Paulus on a Sunday morning and make nearly everybody in that city late for Church. Explain to us exactly what happened with the student walkout situation.

Sister Maria Polus - After I took over as High Inquisitor, a bunch of little delinquents decided to skip school. They made a false report to the police of a planned illegal protest by that vile organization that has so viciously libeled the Patriarchy. At one point, they actually went outside of a Church of Saintland school and started chanting slogans that were blasphemous and seditious. Fortunately, the staff at that school chased them away. The following day, the police were ready as the little brats again decided to play truant. They were captured by the police. From what I've heard, the police made sure to hit them a few times with the nightstick.

Andreas Epidius - Good for them. Serves the brats right. I apologize for interrupting. Please continue, Sister Polus.

Sister Maria Polus - That was very naughty, young Andreas. Anyways, the police dragged them to school and I made examples out of the whole lot of them in an assembly. Now you can ask me your next question.

Andreas Epidius - It is unfortunate that it took the police so long to bring those truants back to school, but they have to take any reports of the whereabouts of that gang of atheistic trollops seriously. How have things gone at Progress High School in the past few weeks.

Sister Maria Polus - Very well. Although we continue to have our fair share of discipline problems, I believe we have gotten to the root of the problem. Most of those foreign brats seem to have recognized that they cannot misbehave any longer, but we still unfortunately have a minor rebellions every day.

Andreas Epidius - It seems like you have done a great job at Progress High School. Like the rest of the World, you just witnessed the total meltdown of our Kingdom's baseball team on international television. What are your thoughts?

Sister Maria Polus - I think it is disgraceful. We are truly in Days of Despair in the Kingdom. Our ice hockey team got embarrassed in the Gold Medal match and now our baseball team lost yet again.

Andreas Epidius - I have just received confirmation that the fight has been broken up and the Sanctii are on their way to Free South Califas for tomorrow's game.

Sister Maria Polus - That is what happens when a Kingdom turns away from God and chooses to follow the ways of the World. Our land has become a Land of Wickedness. We are too greedy. We have too much lust. We are too prideful. We have turned away from the Word of God. We need to pray to God, begging him to forgive our sins and heal our land.

Andreas Epidius - Sister Polus, do you believe that the team will be able to get along tomorrow against Free South Califas? Will they be healthy enough to perform their best?

Sister Maria Polus - In my experience, boys will be boys. They fight one another and then they make up and get along. That doesn't mean that they should get away with such misbehavior, but boys usually don't hold grudges. I'm sure the team will get along tomorrow, maybe better than they've gotten along so far. Maybe they won't be feeling the best, but they are Sanctii. They are used to being sore. They are used to being tired. If they trust in God, they will overcome.

Andreas Epidius - And we will finish the interview on that note. Thank you for coming on our program, Sister Polus.

Sister Maria Polus - Thank you for having me. I enjoy every opportunity I get to spread God's word.

[Vaugania]

Lymantatia                       3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
Vaugania                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0  4

1ST INNING

Leif Solberg stood at the top of the dugout and sucked in a big breath of friendly Vauganian air. After two successful road campaigns, he was happy to be back home in a familiar ballpark. He leaned up against the rails to watch Felix Brauer throw the first pitch of the game. Brauer went into his windup and gave Laurent St. Simon a fastball. Off it went. The ball sailed and sailed and sailed over the centerfield wall.

"Markum!" Solberg barked into the dugout.

"Sir?" the substitute infielder replied.

"You saw that too, didn't you?"

"I did, sir."

"It's gonna be a long night."

Lymantatia didn't stop there. They got a series of hits off of the struggling Brauer and earned themselves two more runs, making it 3-0. Solberg walked over to the phone as calm as he could and picked up the receiver to call the bullpen.

"Hey, boss," came Gavrilo Costel's voice on the other side of the line.

"The next time Lymantatia scores, I don't care if it's next inning or in the 7th, Frano's going in. Have him ready," Solberg ordered.

"Will do."

3RD INNING

Lymantatia scored. They just made a good hit and got a runner around the bases. Solberg walked over to the phone a second time and dialed the bullpen. "Send him," ordered Solberg simply.

Frano Zupan trotted out of the bullpen as Leif strolled out to the mound. "You're done, Felix. Hand me the ball," commanded Leif. Brauer did so and trudged back to the bullpen head hung low. Solberg tossed the ball to Zupan and returned to his post in the dugout.

8TH INNING

Arnold Perkins, who came in for a tired Zupan, held down the fort against Lymantatia. The team jogged in from the field as Kerby Rychel put on a helmet and fetched his bat. Rychel doubled into left center by getting the ball to bounce the entire 375 ft. to the wall. Radim Mencher came up behind him and found himself facing a full count. The next pitch was a curve that didn't have quite enough break on it, so that one was deposited into the left field stands.

"This actually looks like we're going to make some sort of a comeback. Doesn't it, Cliff?" Solberg said.

"Uhhhh, yes... sir," came the reply from the bored substitution.

Slugger Marty Bzibziak stepped up to the plate with bases empty and a 2 run deficit. He stared down the opposition as if he were looking into the inner depths of their souls, trying to squander their every hopes and dreams, giving them no hope about tomorrow or the rest of their life. That's at least what Brett Springsteen thought about it. He's really into adjectives and descriptive storytelling. Bzibziak nailed the ball with the meat of his barrel and Joseph DeLisle didn't even bother backtracking to the center field wall. Bzibziak earned his 4th homer of the tournament by a wide margin. The bottom of the order managed to tie it up. Leif Solberg was giddy with excitement, "I think we have a shot here, guys. Things are looking up. What do you think, Neilsen?"

"Ummmm... yes?" the backup outfielder halfheartedly answered.

10TH INNING

All of Leif Solberg's hopes and dreams ended right there. Lymantatia put another run across the plate and Vaugania couldn't answer. Lymantatia 5, Vaugania 4. Final.

The manager dropped to his knees, "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!" He cleared his throat, "We really need to sep up the pitching game. We have two ranked opponents left before we start the second half of the group round. Let's not kill our own chances. C'mon, gents."

[Estope]

Estope president Leon Bare arrived at Thomas-Johnson Field and was greeted by almost 19,000 baseball fans. This would be the first time that a president would take such active intrest in a game. He threw the first pitch, a wild pitch that hit the dirt about three feet from the plate, before he was escorted up to his private box to watch the game. The game was extremely boring. Inning after inning went by with no hits and no runs. The announcer, Jim Gregory, tried to keep the sold out stands entertained through this snoozer of a game. But after seven innings of shut out baseball, the crowd was getting restless. Everyone knew that Komodo Dragon had no business even being in this game. After all, this was their first year, they were unranked, and they were going up against a stout Estope team. Vice president Robert Parkman fell asleep in his chair next to the president and his picture was captured by many national news programs. Normally an avid fan, the 72 year old vice president just couldn't stay awake to witness the incompetence. Finally in the eighth inning some runs were scored. But it was not exactly what the fans were looking for. Komodo Dragon had hit a two run home run to take the lead, an insurmountable lead for such an offensive incompetent offense. President Bare was distraught. All the work he had put into this team for them to be successful so that they could be a positive diplomat to the world was unraveling. The team was about to lose yet another game and fall to 0-3 and last in the group. He nudged Fr. Michael Willis , his Secretary of Religion, and asked him to begin to pray. Fr. Willis pulled out his rosary and obliged. It didn't take long for Estope to respond as they loaded the bases and scored a run with no outs. However, the prayers could only get them so far. The next three batters, Avez, Meister, and Keys, all struck out. This tournament had already become a disaster. They had already fired their batting coach and now people were being to call for manager Felipe Sweigart to be fired as well. In only his second season he has led his team to the Round of 20 in last year's World Baseball Classic and won the Maklohi Vai Baseball Tournament. But the public easily forgets these achievements and has grown accustom to winning. In order for this team to qualify, they will almost certainly need to win every game remaining on their schedule. A mighty feat but one that can be accomplished if this team lives up to their potential. If not expect to see some major changes with this team in the upcoming years.

Komodo Dragon                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Estope                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Next game at home vs. Aardenland.

[Elykyellek]

Elykyellek defeats Songhia!

Elykyellek                       1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1  4
Songhia                          0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2

Today the Elykyellek National Baseball Team defeated the Republic of Songhia National Team in an away game at Songhia National Stadium in Sokassa. Elykyellek scored early in the first with a single homer by Ub Iwerks. Sterling Holloway let in one run in the second. In the sixth inning Ward Kimball scored on a double hit by Marc Davis to put Elykyellek ahead 2-1. In the seventh inning Marty Sklar scored on a single homer. In the bottom of the eight Sterling Holloway was replaced after 7 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs and getting 9 strikeouts, Joe Fowler finished out the inning. In the top of the ninth, Marty Sklar gets his second run of the game after a single by Bob Gurr to put Elykyellek up 4-2. Closer X Atencio finishes out the game with three strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth, gaining the save and keeping Elykyellek's lead in tact.

[Powersith]

Powersith Baseball Giants Improve to 3-0 After Win

Powersith 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 1 2 9
Rodard 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 4

The Giants have just matched the number of wins from last WBC, but this time, in just 3 games. The Baseball Giants now improve to a 3-0 record after a 9-4 win over a win less Rodard team.

The game started with the usual national anthems. The Powersith Baseball Giants would wear their black away jerseys. The first 2 innings were defensive, as Brian Bakerson earned 4 Ks and got outs from others. Same went for Powersith, 6 up to bat, 6 out. but with 2 on and 1 out in the 3rd inning, Stephan Contras hit a 3 run RBI, as it went sailing into the stands. The defense held until the 6th inning as Rodard hit a homerun to make it 3-1. In the 7th inning another 3 run RBI came from Vickkanove Bleckat. Rodard responded with a 2 run homer. The 8th inning brought a home run from Charlie Kaz. The score would be 6-3. The 8th inning began with closing pitcher Kivnov Reknov to finish the game as. The 9th inning had Henry Links batting in an RBI double. Roddard would score another run, but would get 3 outs before a comeback. The final score would be 9-4.

Stats:
Pitching:
Brian Bakerson: 7 IP 3 ER 4 Ks
Kivnov Reknov: 2 IP 1 ER 3 Ks
Batting:
1.Stephan Contras 2/5 (1 single 1 homerun)
2.Ben Belmont 2/5 (2 singles)
3.Steven Choi 2/5 (2 singles)
4.Henry Links 1/4 (1 double, 1 RBI)
5.Guermo Menenrick 2/4 (2 singles)
6. Mendez Wilson 1/4 (1 single)
7.Vickkanov Bleckat 1/3 (1 triple RBI)
8.Charlie Kaz 1/3 (1 Home Run)
9. Timothy Aswell 0/3


Complete Batting Stats:
1.Stephan Contras 10/14 .714 batting avg
2.Ben Belmont 7/14 .500 batting avg
3.Steven Choi 7/14 .500 batting avg
4.Henry Links 6/12 .500 batting avg
5.Guermo Menenrick 7/12 .583 batting avg
6. Mendez Wilson 4/12 .333 batting avg
7.Vickkanov Bleckat 2/9 .222 batting avg
8.Charlie Kaz 3/9 .333 batting avg
9. Willie Ways Jr. 1/3 .333 batting avg
10. Willie Ways III 0/2 .000 batting avg
11. Timothy Aswell 0/3 .000 batting avg

Pitchers Complete Stats:
Starting Rotation:
Willie Ways Jr.: 1-0 4.0 ERA 6 Ks
Willie Ways III: 1-0 3.0 ERA 8 Ks
Brian Bakerson: 0-0 3.0 ERA 5 Ks
John Phoenix:
Lei Wingo:

Bullpen (Relief/Closers):
Joseph Wasco: 1 Save
Jermey Les: 1 save
Kivnov Reknov: 1-0 1.0 ERA 3 Ks
Nino Rodriguesz:
Vergil Smith:

Game Preview Versus Karditan

With Powersith heading back home, things look promising against their next opponent, Karditan. Powersith stands at a 3-0 record, while Karditan stands at 1-2. Karditan has struggled to earn wins, they have played great fielding and defense at times, but are inconsistent. It will be tough for Karditan to stop Powersith's high octane offense, who has scored 21 runs in 3 games. Basically averaging 7 runs per game. Powersith's pitching and defense have been phenomenal as well as they have only allowed 11 runs in this 3 game win streak. Only allowing 3.6 runs per game, it will be tough for Karditan to get things going.

Another new pitcher will be in the spotlight as John Phoenix will be the starter for the next match. In the domestic leagues he had a record of 10-3 and an ERA of 1.13. He was the league's Willie Ways award winner, which signifies the best pitcher in the league. Look out for his laser arm as he pitches fastballs at 103 MPH. He says that he is "excited, and the adrenaline is pumping, and feels that I can do an outstanding performance" for the game versus Karditan.

Be sure to check in here on PSSN for the game live! Will Powersith's big scoring offense, and lockdown defense be too much for Karditan to handle? We shall see tommorow!
***

The Powersith Baseball Giants sit atop group 4 with a 3-0 record and point difference.

1 Powersith 3 3 0 21 11 +10 1.000
2 Sicoutimont 3 3 0 15 12 +3 1.000
3 Taeshan 3 1 2 7 7 0 0.333
4 Karditan 3 1 2 13 14 −1 0.333
5 Parsee Mizuhashi 3 1 2 12 17 −5 0.333
6 Rodard 3 0 3 12 19 −7 0.000

[THRILLEDGE]

"Breaking news coming out of The Equestrian States today: Thrilledge's national baseball manager Matthew Haering has been fired effective immediately. This coming after an 8-6 loss to Backyard Sports, a team ranked 49th in the world, which put the Dreads in a 0-3 hole to begin the World Baseball Classic. Collin Hatt, manager of the Lomado Beach Dragons will take over for the remainder of the tournament. We send you over to Gene Spiegel, commissioner of the Thrilledge Baseball League in a live press conference."

"...it had to be done. The lack of success so far this Classic is pitiful and we cannot stand for this embarrassment. We know Coach Haering is a fantastic coach but it is the time to move on and in a new direction, hopefully soon enough to make the playoffs. By the look of things it doesn't seem like it will happen but with Coach Hatt stepping in, I think we have our best shot."

Code: Select all

Thrilledge                       0 1 1 0 1 0 0 2 1  6
Backyard Sports                  0 2 0 5 1 0 0 0 X  8

WP: Delvecchio
LP: Shrewsbury
SV: Morgan

HR: Thrilledge: MacDougal, Armstrong. BS: Phillips, Kahn (2)
RBI: Thrilledge: MacDougal, Ivey, McQuaid, Armstrong (2), Thrilledge. BS: Phillips (2), Kahn (4), Sanchez, Delvecchio
SB: BS: Robinson, Wheeler

[Qazox]

QAZOX continues hot start with win over Mapletish

Mapletish 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2
Qazox     2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 3

A good outing by Brian Rhodes, allowing just 4 hits in 7 innings, though 2 solo homeruns were hit off of him by Bobby Harmon and Oscar Dowling. Qazox though scraped 2 runs in the first off of Joyce Jaron thanks to a bit of bad fielding. In the 6th, a 2 out seething-eye single by Yasmine Cutler scored Juan Couly, which provided the final margin. Up next, Qazox will face Quebec.

WIN: Brian Rhodes
LOSS: Joyce Jaron
SAVE: Zander French (3)
MVP of Game: Brian Rhodes (QZX) 7.0 IP; 4 hits; 2 ER; 2 runs; 7 K; 1 BB.

[Maklohi Vai]

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The word was slowly spreading around Kolo Lahi about OAM. Whispered conversations amongst friends talked about this new group dedicated to Margaret.
"Well I support Margaret, but I think it's going a bit too far."
"It's a good idea, but I think you have to keep it entirely secret. We don't want any mumbo-jumbo infecting our youth."
"Oh, it's great! I've never had a group before, and I'd love to join."
"You know what this sounds like to me? A CULT!!! It sounds exactly like a cult praying to a suspicious figure. I don't like it."
"Well, I guess it's ok, but I'd rather they didn't try to draw anyone in."

It was not yet to the point of being common knowledge, but it was most certainly heading in that direction. Lokumo had now set up a website for the group, and was maintaing it with a mix of baseball information and inspirational messages. Featured most prominently was a big red banner that stated Kumalo's address and the time of the meeting, once again 9 o'clock.

On a personal level, Kumalo was starting to get worried about the size of OAM. He was naturally a cautious man, and having so many people so close to his inner circle made him uneasy. What if they found out personal information? What if they were just using the group to get closer to him, so they could just pull a scandal on him when he wasn't expecting it? WHAT IF IT WAS ALL A CONSPIRACY???

Kumalo took a breath.

Conspiracy theories could be left up to other people. He had other things to worry about, like the government. They were very religiously accepting, of course, but they required religions with more than 50 followers to be registered with the Department of Culture. How would they respond to OAM? Was it a religion or something else? Could someone cite OAM as a reason for military deferment? Kumalo assumed none of these would turn out to be issues, but one never knows for sure.

Then there was the problem of his grandmother. She was atheist like most people in Maklohi Vai, but she, unlike many, was an ardent anti-theist. She fought against any religion, and any suspicious activities would receive her full attention. She was the sort of person who, when hearing a person say "Pray for my sister in the hospital," would say in response "Don't do that, it's not going to work." This got her the disdain of many, but she stuck by her beliefs through and through. What would she say when she heard of Kumalo's dealings? Would she get mad? Would she try to stop him? These things Kumalo did not know, and that is what perhaps made him the most nervous.

However, he had to keep his focus on the upcoming prayer night. He had sent out the message that everyone should bring two chickens, so that no unexpected numbers were encountered. What he didn't expect, though, was the sheer volume of people that showed up.

At or around 9 o'clock, 91 people showed up at Kumalo's door, carrying a combined total of 204 chickens (some hadn't gotten the memo). It was a madhouse inside, with people milling around all over the place, waiting for the proceedings to start.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!" Kumalo paused.
"THANK YOU FOR COMING TONIGHT TO THIS MEETING OF OAM. WE WILL BEGIN IMMEDIATELY WITH A PRAYER. PLEASE BE SILENT."
Kumalo had no time to think. He had to pray right now.

"Margaret, we invoke your name tonight with two intentions, to thank you and to ask of you.
As you can see, many people are here tonight, observing my prayers and wishing their own upon you.
We thank you for your service to our team, as over three games you have led them to victory.
Margaret, we recognize here tonight that it is only your ultimate power and decision that can do such a thing for our team.
No other force can eclipse yours, and no mere mortal can have a final say in your decision.
Today, therefore, we pray only in hope that you will exercise your divine wrath upon our enemies and lead them to defeat.
Margaret, it is only you who can do these things, and so it is only to you we pray.
In addition, we offer this bounty of sacrificial offerings for your pleasure and enjoyment.
May you go well, Margaret, and consider our humble and respectful prayer as you do so."

It was on the short side, but Kumalo thought it was appropriate. Don't mess with what works was always a good motto to have. OAM would have to wait for originality.

---

Game Recap

ViZion                           0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Maklohi Vai                      0 0 1 0 2 1 1 1 X  6

Scoring Summary
3rd: Mae'ao hit a solo home run to left with two outs.
5th: With two outs, Mae'ao hit a monster home run to drive in Iao Laina, who had hit a single with one out in the inning.
6th: Arnao hit a solo shot to right.
7th: Mae’ao hit a double to drive in Ri'ino Uilnai with two outs.
8th: Moalna’akai Lai tripled to drive in Arnao, who had led off the inning with a double.

Stat update:
HR: Mae'ao 8, Arnao 2
RBI: Mae'ao 14, Arnao 4, Iao Laina 1, Moalna’akai Lai 1

[Strawbee]

A Legendary Start!

The Strawbee Baseball Legends have made their debut to the World Basebal Classic with a bang. The small newly formed desert dictatorship bordering Allinlia's west, lacking a professional baseball league of it's own but able to fill out a roster with a rag tag bunch of talented young Allinlian Baseball League professionals of Strawbeean citizenship, have put the world on notice with a 3-0 start and sitting atop group 7

They began with a shocking road upset of Tynaela, the 11th ranked team in the world with a solid pitching performance by The Seguin Pioneers' ace Viktor Ganzorig who expressed disappointment in not being invited on the Allinlian squad last year despite his dual-citzenship. Strawbee took the lead with a 2 run homer by veteran Patronus Falcons star Hank Orr and a solid inning by Normonwoth Wolves Closer, Vaan Percy.

Strawbee proved that their upset was no fluke with a 9-7 road win over 37th ranked Kintratar. The home team got to Bubba Klang early but the Charlai Scallops pitcher recovered and the young batters of Strawbee exploded with 9 runs before Bubba Klang was chased off by a 7th inning rally and Kushi Odval was brought in to stop the bleeding. Strawbee was able to hold Kintratar scoreless through the 8th and 9th to win

Excited by the unexpected 2-0 start over 2 of the group's most threatening teams, the crowd at Peerson sold out the stadium for Strawbee's home debut against fellow unranked team Schmiegelland. The road team was clearly ready to shake off their winless start to their first WBC but were held scoreless through 3 by the young pony Carbon who would go on to pitch 7 very solid innings.

Dictator Madam Strawberry was in attendance to watch the match and was reported to have said that she "couldn't be happier" with the performance of the national team thus far. Carbon denied being nervous at the prospect of performing in front of Leader and his solid outing was evidence of that.

"I really don't know why this kid isn't in the ABL right now." said Professional ABL catcher for the Bellong Barracudas, Calvin Klugg. "He was a pleasure to work with, the way he pitches is very disciplined." Scmiegelland would put on a fierce comeback against closer Vaan Percy who until this game looked unhittable. They would ultimately fall just 1 run short as Percy recovered with a strike out sinking curve.

Strawbee is now in excellent playoff shape as it has had some of it's toughest games early. Road wins against 3rd highest ranked Kintratar and favorite to win the group, 11th ranked Tynaela were certainly unexpected, and will help the Legend's positioning immensely since many predict that if Strawbee is to do what has so seldom been done in the WBC and make the playoffs in their debut year, they must knock out 1 of these two.

manager Saran warned that there were still 7 games left to play in this group. "it's important that we do not get too excited." Indeed, Strawbee has yet to play host nation Equestrian States, who have been strugging but are still a team to be feared in the group. New Matawan is starting to look like an exciting team and Kintratar, Tynaela, and Schigelland will certainly be out for revenge against the upstart Strawbeean team.

"Alot of people just looked at us as '3-7 Allinlia's little sisters.' and wrote us off I guess." said Chip Snelling, possibly referring to the internationally well respected sports media from Qazox's much talked about WBC predictions. "I think we are proving that the Allinlian Baseball League is a very serious and competitive professional league, and that Strawbee can be a baseball nation. The fans' interest is great, we could get an ABL expansion team or two in Strawbee if this keeps up."

[The Sova Empire]

"Alright guys, again I really don't care if you win or lose. Zwanzug is a 15th ranked team, and we are unranked. Let's put on a show for the home crowd. Halleluja on 3. 1,2,3 HALLELUJA!!!!!"

The proud TSE team marched on the home field for the 2nd time this season. Last home game, a 10 inning heartbreaker vs. Vaugainia dumped TSE in last place in group 9. However, a win vs. Thrilledge away put TSE within reach of 1st. Even though Coach said he didn't care about the score, he actually kinda did. Coach Greg walked onto the field accompanied by a 5'10" 15 year old. With a mic in his hands, Greg introduced this kid.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Temple Dome tonight for the game Zwanzug @ The Sova Empire. Throwing out the honorary 1st pitch tonight is a kid by the name of Dom "The Bomb" VanOyEn. He was born with an extremely rare genetic disease that kills all of the brain cells at the exact minute that he turns 16. Dom is 15 and 364 days old, and his last wish was to see this game, and his wish is more than granted tonight. Dom, take the baseball!"

Dom has experience with playing baseball in school, so he wound up and released a 107 mph fastball right down the middle. Even the Zwanzug fans gave him a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout. With that, the game began with no scoring through 2 and a half innings.

In the third, Gary Roffeld singled, stole second, got to 3rd on an error, and daringly ran toward home on a passed ball. The catcher, Abbing-Kinton ran to meet him faster than anticipated, and Roffeld was caught in a rundown. After a leaping catch in game 1 and an inside the park HR in game 2, no one knew if he would be out or safe at third or home. As the rundown got closer, Roffeld knew he was going to have to do something fancy. As the catcher threw to 3rd, Roffeld did a 180 turn, sprinted, then vaulted off the ground, over Abbing-Kinton, did 2 twists in mid-air, and landed safely on the other side. He was then able to touch home and drive the score up to 1-0. The TSE bench players caught him as he lept down into the dugout, and Coach Greg just laughed. "That kid will never cease to amaze me"

(OOC: I inserted this following paragraph to explain the delay in scoring and the 2 run 4th for Zwanzug)

The game was just starting to get bizzare. An extremely hard hit fly ball hit the 400ft ceiling, right into a power box for the lights. All the lights went out, and the backup lights shined a red haze over the stadium. Coach Greg grabbed his 300 watt lantern and got up to the pitchers mound. The rest of the players in the dugout followed coach, and the Zwanzug manager did the same. Both coach and manager shook hands and started to make small talk. The umpires decided that since most of the ball had been destroyed in the small explosion, that they would rule it a ground-rule double, scoring 2. After a lenghty delay, the lights came back on, and Tammarah got the remaining 3 outs in the inning.

Beisdes that, no particularly spectacular plays happened, other than 2 solo HR's in the 4th and 7th innings by John and Jane Doe off the bench. As Tammarah got the final out, the team swamped him at the pitcher's mound. All but Coach Greg, who stayed behind and pushed a big red button that dumped a bucket of Gatorade from the ceiling to the pitcher's mound. Greg just smiled and thanked the builders of the Temple Dome that they could build that.

As the team celebrated in the locker room, Coach had good words for the team. "Great job guys, we are now tied for 1st place with 3 other teams. Our next-" Tom Sova, assistant manager, interrupted the speech and wispered into Greg's ear. "Oh no" was all Greg could say. He buried his face in his hands, and took a seat. Tom stood up and told everyone that they should probably take a seat. "Everyone got a chance to sign Dom's baseball, right?" Everyone generally nodded. Tom resumed "Good. The bad news is that due to clerical error in the time of Dom's birth and a change of timezones, Dom's 16th birthday came earlier than expected." A few gasps and some mumbling filled the room.When the room got quiet again, Tom finished his statement. "Dom was taken back to the hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after. He passed away in the top of the 3rd inning. Just before anyone could score. He never got to see us lead."

Many got down on their knees and prayed for the VanOyEn's, and even the most stoic players teared up a little. Greg stood back up. "Dom's funeral will be on our off day on Friday. Can I expect my players to attend?"

"Absolutely" said Huu
"Sure will" said Watt
"No Prob" said Ida Kno
"You Bet" said most of the rest of the team.

"Thank you" said Coach Greg and Tom in unison. Tom left the locker room, and Coach Greg followed him, but turned around briefly to finish by saying "Good job today guys."

[Kinzar]

Wildcats nearly claw their way back

With all of the “firsts” in which Kinzar has racked up over the last two games, it was time to enter some more national firsts into the record book, but this time on the opposite end. It may not be a bad thing that it took three games to get the inevitable first loss, and at some point at the conclusion of this tournament, the Wildcats can take some solace in their gritty effort at the home of the 2nd-ranked team in the world. Despite falling behind 7-1 in the contest, Kinzar made a valiant effort to come back and sent the potential tying run to the plate in the 9th inning. The frantic rally fell short, and Milchama gets a first of their own, their first win of World Baseball Classic 25 qualifying. You can be assured that it was seen as a bad thing that it took them three games to get their first win.

Milchama has a storied history, a lot of it in the early days of the tournament. They had a semifinal appearance in the first ever World Baseball Classic, and lost in the championship of the second. By World Baseball Classic 5, they had won 2 championships, but looking at the list of the top four finishers, their name started to disappear from the list after the 8th event. Perhaps then, when they won the World Baseball Classic 23 crown, it was a bit of a surprise. When judging a great dominant team, sustained success is something that Kinzites will appreciate most. Milchama and Zwangzug are the nations that jump out at us as the most consistent since the start. A few have had their moment in the sun, and a nation like Qazox, who was good early, desperately needs to find their Classic of resurgency like Milchama did. Unlike the first road game in Pretty Awesome Persons, where it was impossible for visiting fans to get tickets, some were able to score tickets for the game in Milchama. After all, they have likely played many “newbie nations” along the way in qualifying, some better then others, so we can forgive them if they would be a little less interested to see us in their ballpark then they would have been other teams.

With the Wildcats opening up qualifying with a 2-0 record, some so-called baseball experts took the opportunity to move from being in awe over participating in the Classic to being critical of manager David Rogers’ decision to start Glenn Elliot against the Warriors. Conveniently, this criticism did not start until after Milchama took a 4-1 lead after three innings, with some more joining the chorus after five, as the Warriors extended their lead to six. The starting rotation was announced prior to the group draw, so therefore it is safe to say that the order of pitchers is how Rogers thinks of them. The experts noted that with a ten-game group schedule, it would have made more sense to re-arrange the rotation based on their opponent. In other words, instead of pitching the first game against Pretty Awesome Persons, Matthew Barnes should have been on the mound today, against Milchama. After the game, Rogers brushed off this criticism, telling the media that the five pitchers chosen should not be thought of us a conventional starting rotation that a domestic club might have, but as the best five starting pitchers in the country, and each one is equally dominant. Rogers proclaimed that he stood by his decision to pitch Elliot, and then commended his team for the way they tried to come back in the 9th inning.

Prior to the 9th inning, the headlines would all have been about a great storied nation like Milchama taking the new nation to school and thoroughly dominating them in every aspect of the game. While the Warriors still won, the life that Kinzar showed in the 9th may have shown the world a little something about the character of our nation. Down 7-2 against reliever Teashmo Contallion, who was in there likely to get some innings while Warriors manager Joseph McKeon rested the main guys of his bullpen following 8 strong innings by Eddie Hunt, the Wildcats did not go down silently. Though the first batter did, as Jimmy Deakin popped out weakly to short. Next up, pinch hitting in nine-hole, Eduardo Gonzalez doubled down the left field line, and was driven in on a Marion Phillips single. Contallion struck out Watanabe, but then walked Pablo Morales. With two on, Howard Treadwell drove in the runners by doubling off the right field wall, and made it 7-5. Brett Alexander came up to the plate and represented the tying run. On a 1-1 pitch, he nearly got himself what would have been a double or even a triple if the ball did not land just inches on the wrong side of the foul line. If only that stayed fair. Contallion eventually got Alexander to ground out to end the game and prevented his team from going 0-3. Right now, no one is talking about moral victories, or the close call. These are professional athletes, and they lost a game, learning that losing will sting, even if you were not expected to win at all.

The fourth game on the schedule will see Kinzar play at home against 63rd-ranked Mapletish. The Baseball Lions defeated Milchama earlier, and also sport a 2-1 record, meaning we should see an exciting contest in Hudson.

[Sicoutimont]

"Carver, your stories suck! Give us somethin' good!"

"Nah! You guys made fun of my last story!"

"Uh, Carver? Your last story was painfully boring! Give us something good!"

"Carver, Carver, Carver!"

"Fine! But if you guys mock me, no more story-time, ya babies!"

"Alright....we won't mock you...." an unknown player ended with a laugh.

"Here goes nothing...geez you guys....So we're in the finals against Augusta, we're in Saugeais. So we go down to the hotel bar, and the Athletics are sittin' in there! At this point, we're up 1-0 in the series, and there was some bad blood between the two of us..."

"Did ya fight em?"

"Who's tellin' this story? Anyways, we head off to the bowling alley in the hotel..."

"I take it you didn't fight em...."

"So we're bowling, and I get a few strikes, and we see them walkin' down the street...."

"Tell us something funny, you idiot! Do you not understand humour?"

"Fine! One time, we was sittin' around in the dressing room, havin' a few pops. So then, all my teammates started yelling at this one guy to tell them stories, so he went insane and killed all of them."

"You're not funny."

"Well what do ya wanna hear?"

At this point, Manager Maurice Sorotane walked in: "I wanna hear about how we're going to play Taeshan tonight, boys. Get it together! And Carver, your stories are.....get something funny if ya want to get a laugh"

"Screw you guys"

And with that, the team headed out for warmups prior to the game against Taeshan. The game would be the 3rd of the WBC, and the toughest yet-Taeshan were ranked 7th in the world.


Royales Beat Taeshan Off Late-Game Comeback

Sicoutimont                      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2
Taeshan                           0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

First, we must apologize for a misprint-last night's game was in Taeshan, not Field PowerEternite as previously said in last week's edition of the St-Simeon Post. But now, onto the game. Javier Perreois was Les Royales starting pitcher, and Matt Richards started the game for Taeshan. The game began boring, with no scoring until the 4th inning. Tim Wasaver brought Adam Fisher home, before teammate Zack Childs hit a pop fly to first base which Boullion Carvier caught to put away the inning. The next 2 innings were a pitcher's duel, until the 7th inning. Richards was brought off for closer Dan Mashkov, Taeshan's Gyroball thrower. His first pitch was a Change-up, but Victor Santana took advantage of it for a single. Loic St-Ignace would double, and Jose Colognon would sac fly to bring Santana home for a score. The Gyroball would strike out Martin Vauton, and the inning ended. For the 8th, Perreois also left the game in favour of Fernard Dantes. Dantes would strike out the first two batters before catching a low drive right across the pitcher's mound to end the 8th inning, and get to the 9th. Mashkov left the game for Taeshan, as fellow closer Joseph Pierre came in. His first 4 throws took Victor Santana away on pitches, which brought Loic St-Ignace to the plate. Pierre's wild pitch would allow St-Ignace to take 1st. The next player, Jose Colognon, got away with a walk, after being hit by a pitch. At this point, Pierre had a talk with manager Jay Nedved. He would leave the game for Adam Williams to come in. After this, Martin Vauton struck out, and Jaeg Norstrom sac flew St-Ignace to 3rd base. As Francis Boullion could not bat in Taeshan, not using the DH rule, Fidel Sanchez was up. He hit a single to bring St-Ignace home. 2-1 Sicoutimont. Pedro Santana just missed a home run next up, being caught on the track by Todd Adams, to bring the game to Taeshan. Now, Oscar de la Rovere brings you the final call, in the 9th with 2 outs:

Dantes will remain in the game, after giving up that double to Zack Childs. Taeshan need a score to bring it to extra innings, and 2 scores to win the game. Now batting for Taeshan, number 42, Kenton Bleacher. Bleacher is 0-3 so far in this game, with a sac fly in the 3rd inning, and a pop fly behind him in the 5th which was caught by Jose Colognon. Fernard Dantes surprises him with that pitch, a low curve for strike 1. Now pitching again, Dantes puts a fast ball down the middle..swing and a miss, strike 2. Now, the final pitch...knuckleball top right corner...it's swung at, and hit! It's a straight drive to shortstop Pedro Santana, who scoops it up for the out at 3rd base....final score 2-1 Sicoutimont, as Les Royales improve to 3-0. Catch us here again as Sicoutimont take on Parsee Mishuhasi on Radio-Baseball 750!

Geez, Oscar. You don't sound as excited as you did last game! Then again, this game wasn't capped off by a 10th inning home run. Still, it was an exciting game! Catch the next game, Sicoutimont-Parsee Mishuhasi, from PM, as Les Royales take on the Green Youkai on TVSportSicoutimont, livestreamed from sicoutiansportsnow.scm, and on the radio with Oscar at Radio-Baseball 750!

[Allinlia]

Hello Win Column!

The Allinlian All-stars seemed a bit put-off by unfavorable comparisons to their counterparts on the unranked Strawbeean team, made up mostly (with the exception of power hitters Hank Orr and Troy Logan) of younger and less celebrated ABL ballplayers and even a few as of yet nonprofessional athletes.

The Allinlian group is considered to have more talent than 3-0 Strawbee but Allinlia has started out 0-2 in the monstrous group 10 with blowout losses to Kerblaeckistan and Maklohi Vai leaving many to wonder if this group can improve on last WBC's 3-7 record and causing many to accuse the team of lacking heart and effort, treating these games as exhibition games, rather than being in the post season, the attitude that their opponents certainly bring to the field.

"These players are the stars of their team, the best in the league, and there are a couple future hall of famers on this squad, but they seem to care alot more about winning the championship of their own domestic league than winning WBC, and this has gotten under the skin of people on Allinlia's sporting administrations that see success in the WBC as being critical to bringing international attention, interest, and respect to their domestic leagues. People there are wondering aloud if radical changes to the roster must take place next year and if younger, less celebrated players with more to prove, similar to the construction of Strawbee's roster, would be preferable."

"There is a distinct lack of national pride here." said one sports commentator, "These guys have their massive paychecks and the love of the fans back home no matter what happens so they aren't going to take this tournament as seriously as Western Cuba or Maklohi Vai or Kerblaekistan. Right now, for Allinlians, it's all about your domestic team and the domestic league. For Western Cuba, it's all about the WBC, and winning the WBC and anything less than the championship is a massive disappointment. that's the big difference right there."

"Playing on this international stage is great, I'm having a ton of fun playing at this level, against teams and players I've never seen before. I don't want to not be invited next WBC." said a seemingly worried Paul Majuwitz.

The Allinlian team seemed to join him in responding seriously to the criticism by playing what manager Ron Gardner described as "perfect Baseball" against the Priory of St. Luc, picking up their first win in dramatic fashion on the road with a 10-0 rout, courtesy of a complete game shut-out by Brineport Grays ace Eli Wells. Unsurprisingly the brilliant performance was delivered by the starting 5's youngest player.

St. Luc's Sir Larken played solidly, holding the Allinlians to 1 run through 3 and 3 runs through 5 before being pulled in the 6th when Allinlia went on a rally with home runs from Paul Majuwitz, and Andy Capps to blow open the lead. Larken impressed the Allinlian squad by shutting down the legendary Aiden Stairs, who at one point stuck out on 3 pitches.

"That guy on St. Luc could have alot of success in our league." said pitcher Xavier Wilson, "There really aren't alot of guys who can do that to Aiden, at least not that I've seen, the ones I did see are all old guys who have been in our league forever. I know I sure as hell can't beat him like that."

Sportswriter Ken Gibson:

"Group 10 is really a monster group full of teams that have alot of WBC experience. ViZion is technically unranked but they have made a deep run into the playoffs before, Kerblaekistan is always competitive for getting in, Maklohi Vai is one of the most exciting up and coming playoff teams, and of course Western Cuba is the world's best. The only teams that lack this experience are Allinlia and St. Luc, and the latter team was named "newcomer most likely to impress" by the Qazox sportswriters. This is probably top to bottom the most dangerous group in the tournament, but the Allinlian squad can't be making excuses, a win like this on the road, over a pretty good little young team like the Pelicans, shows the talent on that team and what they can do when they play at their highest level, they had a bit of a chip on their shoulder, they came in prepared, and they treated St. Luc with respect and treated the game like a must win. This is what they simply have to do if they are to stand any chance of winning games in this group."

Allinlia has indeed silenced the critics for now, a 10-0 win over anybody speaks volumes. Here is hoping that this sudden burst of brilliance from the all-stars is not a fluke. They have yet to play Western Cuba, those games are sure to be the ultimate test for Allinlia.

[ViZion]

ViZion Daily
Sports Page - C1

Gamers Yet To Win


Gamers walk off the field after another defeat

By: Tom Hesh

Maklohi Vai - Manager Lumar Johnson exploded behind closed doors after another loss after the team played an "...absolutely horrible game." While the media was not allowed into the clubhouse for over half an hour, echos could be heard through the door as the manager savaged his team in his furious post-game rant that lasted nearly half an hour.

At one point, we could hear him screaming, "If you don't want to fuckin play your heart out and lay it all down to win, get dirty and shed blood and sweat and tears, then get the fuck out of here because God knows I don't want you here if you aren't serious about this! We're representing ViZion, so don't take this so damn light!"

Afterwords, only a couple players stuck around after the doors opened. Jerrell Hollier, unofficially the team captain in World Baseball Classic 25, was one of them. "We haven't played to our level. Skip laid into us, and he did so rightfully. We haven't gone out there and give it all we have. We lost two winnable games. And today we played lousy ball. This team is better than this. We're all better than this. And as one of the few returning veterans from our World Baseball Classic 19 team, there's extra responsibility and blame on me. Some of these guys are really fighting. Laying it all out there."

Hollier, for his part, has been hustling. When asked what he meant, he said "I got more in there. I can and will push more, fight harder. I haven't used all my energy, and that's not how you play the game. If you're not 110% spent of all your energy and having to summon that inner fight by the end... well, you're not giving it your all. I wasn't."

The team managed only four hits, no walks, and sixteen strikeouts against Maklohi Vai, while the teams pitching got torn up. Starter Jose Valverde lasted 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks. After that, a parade of Marty Longs, Brandon Johnson, and Zak Hypse allowed a run in each inning through the rest of the game as the team lost 6-2.

Tomorrow, the Gamers start Hapse Woods against Buddy Cox from the 49th ranked Allinlian All Stars. The All Stars are 1-2 so far, having just won big, 10-0, against St. Luc.

[Zwangzug]

(OOC: Blatter is a long-running cycling RP thread, all usernames are fake.)

BeyondLinks: official Blatter account of Kerlagrad Courier Sports!

So basically the early days of the BUBL, then. Thanks for sticking with me.

Join us next time to take on Lymantatia, who appear to have exactly three competing pro teams.

And will probably make the highlight reel for defensive failure.

Well, that concludes a depressing day all around, in which Abbing-Kinton was our only source of offensive life, delayed the game doing it.

What kind of a dome is this that they let rain in or whatever? Spenson, I was wrong to ever doubt you.

Pinch hitter Egenman rushing off the field to avoid some sort of liquid spilling from the ceiling. I don't blame her.

Game over, 3-2 final.

I wouldn't like to be the uniform manager designing the left fielder's shirt.

Another home run from Jane Doe, 3-2. Bleep this.

In other games so far...why are there so many flags? They unnerve me.

Well done to Greg Sova for managing his bench well, these starters seem pretty...nondescript.

Solo home run from John Doe ties it, 2-2.

Update: huh, that was ruled a ground-rule double. Kostomel and Maugher score, 2-1 Zebras.

You have no idea who's on first, or, indeed, anywhere at all.

Yes, okay, the team's now called the Elefants. My mistake, forgiveable since they *change it so often*.

@bigpileofcrabs @ipipoorah @marguerite_pearl @xdistrict Point taken, shut up.

Maybe because they remember nobody being able to make sense of their teammates' names either.

The Werwolfs players seem to be making friends with the Sova Empire starters.

The players at least seem to be getting along. Backup lights are enough to tell that they're not brawling.

I take it back, Spenson fans, you look like the bleeping future compared to this. Seriously, what the heck.

Update: no one likes my idea.

Mind you, everyone else has their phones out and is snapping pictures. Come on, guys, let's play the game by the camera flashes!

Runners on second and third, one away, and he launches it so high it destroys the lights. Power is completely out here, of course my phone still works.

Abbing-Kinton, you moron, just when things couldn't get any worse.

@hourglassdreams If we had a better television setup, would anyone bother with your fancy-pants radio?

Gary Roffeld scores for the home team, check out this replay, does my link work?

And maybe a jersey that spells our name right, these are ugly as bleep.

Are you a fan who's made the trip out here? Meet me in the fifth inning at the concessions stand and I'll buy you a hot dog or something.

@blackchildradius When you've got your scoreboard figured out, let me know.

Technological sophistication here, radar guns even for the ceremonial first pitch. Get on that, Worm Hole.

World Assembly stats for hosts: 41% of deaths of old age, 21% attributed to Acts of God, rounding error for contrived, implausible diseases.

@dragonslayer10 I'll give you capitalism any day, comrade.

I'm here in the Sova Empire, which is a...foreign country.

[Byfugland]

THE FLIGHT PATTERN- Your Official Source for All Things Jet Sports

Byfugland was unable to overcome a deep early hole, falling 4-3 to Free South Califas. Byfugland starter Duke Tomlin surrendered three runs in the first inning, and one in the second before finally settling in. The damage, however, had been done. The Jets offense remained at bay, unable to get a good rally going throughout the game.

Byfugland scored one run on a solo shot from Buddy Koback in the bottom of the fourth inning, and two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two out, two run double by slugger Hank Pruitt. Pruitt and Koback were responsible for three of Byfugland's four hits.

The Jets, though they lost by one run, never really put together a scoring chance in the final three innings.

"They had us figured out," Byfugland manager and Minister of Sports Hank Boudreau said after the game. "Their pen was able to shut us down. It's frustrating."

The game marks the Jets' second loss in three games, a very disappointing start for a team beginning to get accustomed to making the playoffs. The Jets have only scored nine runs thus far, a very anemic start for a usually potent offense.

"We need to get the bats going," Boudreau added. "We gotta score runs if we want to win."

[Birolika]

Despite a deep lack of understanding of the game Birolika had cleared two games on the trot. The first had been against Shadowbourne, the third seeded team in the group and possibly our only beatable opponent amongst the ranked sides. This game proved a surprise for the Birolik side as they managed a close 3-1 defeat of Shadowbourne on home turf with home runs from Bronx and Helk in the first and third innings. The deciding run of the game for Birolika really came when debutant Nevan Colca scored a double out to centre to run in Jack Harlow for the third run of the game. Our game however wasn't the only game to produce a surprise as unranked Elykyellek defeated number four in the world Darmen in a shocking 5-1 win, unranked Songhia also produced a shock beating 18th world seeds West Guiana 3-2.

Birolika's second game was a slightly simpler matter of defeating Elykyellek, although they had upset Darmen. The game seemed to run very smoothly for the Rams as the third innings saw Birolika put themselves comfortably on top with a 2 RBI double coming from Colca and a 2 RBI home run from Roger Harton. The only other runs for Birolika came in the 8th innings with a walk producing a run off of loaded bases and a sac fly from Harlow putting in the second.

Finally it came down to the game against West Guiana which saw a return to the Pods ground. This time the fans were out in full force and it was a rare warm Sunday evening. Play got off to a slow start with both pitchers experiencing 1-2-3 innings in the second and again for each of them at least one more time that match. Rams pitcher Gonzalez even managed to put in eight dismissals in a row through the first, second and third innings. Eventually the break came in the fourth when Molton hit a home run and ran in two others with him. From there Birolika managed to defend the game out with Gonzalez remaining calm through a tense 6th innings and only gave away one run despite the bases being loaded for a good portion of the innings. With this Birolika sit in first in their group with a perfect record and with all the other ranked sides sitting in 3rd-5th place with only one win each. Up next Birolika have Songhia who sit in 6th place and are unranked, so it might be possible for them to pull another win and continue the unbeaten streak.

[Taeshan]

"Well that was disappointing."

"Losing to Sicoutimont, really it was beyond outrageous."

"Now we are down to 1-2, after starting out with a win, what is this crap."

"Yeah, seriously we need to buck up, turn this around and show the world why we are the 7th highest ranked team in the world. Heck if we don't win out and make the next round with a great record, we might fall back into that ice age of Baseball before we regained are high level."

"Yeah, this could really hurt us, we need to figure out why we can't win. and turn it around."

"Coming in i thought that we had this group, now i'm so concerned that we are not really the best, and need to probe it day in and out."

"The world as a whole is getting better, and we need to come out and show that we are one of the best, only way we can do this is by winning."

"By winning in style no less."

"Yes we must prove a point each and every game, and make sure everyone continues to Remember the name."

"Fear the name."

"Word."

[The Sova Empire]

OOC to Zwanzug: The LF jersey (after a temper tantrum from my IC uniform manager) just says "Y". Thus, the "Who's on First?" routine still works with 8/9 players on the team.

IC:

Place: Team zepplin, en route to Backyard Sports match

"So coach, where are we going for this next match?" asked the naturally curious 1B Huu
"Who asked that?" blurted Ida Kno
"I dunno." added Roffield
Amid laugher throughout the aircraft, Coach Greg informed his team that they were going to Metropolis to face the Backyard kids.
"Ooooh! I loved playing that as a child" added the usually quiet Ida Givadurn
There was general agreement throughout the team, as stories were being told about the heroics of the virtual Backyard kids, usually about Pablo Sanchez smacking one out or the abuse of the Orbiter powerup.
"On a more seroius note, in the wake of Dom's death, I don't think it would be in good taste to even pitch to Kenny Kawaguchi. Just walk him unless the bases are loaded. Got it Tammarah?" Coach spoke up.
"Yes, coach" Tammarah acknowledged
"Tammarah, be careful with Pablo. He is just as powerful as his virtual self. Also, infielders please watch Pete Wheeler. He wont hesitate to steal, so watch him."
The infield crew nodded.
"Alright, you may carry on with conversation. Gary Roffeld, I would like to see you for a minute." Greg waited, then pulled his star rightfielder aside. "How is your wrist feeling? I just watched a replay of the vault, and it looks like your wrist twisted a bit."
"To be honest, both wrists and my right ankle are feeling very sore." Roffeld conceded. Coach thought hard for a couple of awkward seconds, and made a tough decision.
"Please understand that I'm not angry at you. You basically won us that game, and you saved the 9th inning of the Vaugainia game. However, it is my professional opinion that you should rest a bit. I'll put one of the Doe's in, either one homered, so you'll be alright." Coach attempted to comfort his rightfielder, but in the end, he needed to tell Roffeld to take a night off.
"Thanks coach"

The zepplin landed safely near Metropolis, where the match against Backyard sports should be theoretically easier than the last 2 victories, but victory would be uncertain until the scoreboard said "FINAL"

[Equestrian States]

The Pony Republic of Equestrian States
The 25th World Baseball Classic Visitors’ Guide

HOST CITY: EVERFREE

THE CITY

The city of Everfree is located in the central region of the Equestrian States, northeast of Canterlot. However, Everfree is perhaps the most bizarre city in the Equestrian States, or at least by the standards of the equine citizens of the nation. Surrounded by the dense, jungle-like, Everfree Forest, the city is home to the largest percentage of non-equine citizens of any Equestrian city due to the city’s unique nature.

In the Equestrian States it is almost unheard of for an unexpected storm to spring up. This is not because the nation is dry and barren (the Equestrian States is actually rather fertile), but because of its magical occupants. Pegasi (one of the three major sapient equine species) are naturally and magically blessed with the ability to move clouds and generate weather. However, there is only one region in the Equestrian States in which that is not the case. The Everfree Forest (for reasons which are still being debated among the scientific community) is not subject to the same laws of nature as the rest of the country, with clouds that move without the aid of a Pegasus. Elsewhere in the world, this would be considered normal, but in the Equestrian States it makes the Forest peculiar. In addition to the Everfree Forest’s strange weather patterns, the diverse (and oftentimes deadly) animal life long dissuaded any Equestrians from attempting to forge deep into the Forest.

However, when non-equines began to move in greater numbers to the Equestrian States following its emergence from isolation, humans and other non-equine sapients found the region to be more natural, and began to form a city near the center of the massive jungle. Now, decades later, the city has grown immensely, but still is inhabited mostly by non-equines (such as humans, griffons, dragons, and others).

For human tourists, the city of Everfree is more likely to remind them of a normal human city elsewhere in the world. Granted, the immense jungle-like Everfree Forest is still unusual, but there are far more humans in Everfree than one would see elsewhere in the pony-dominated Equestrian States. The most common destination in the city is probably the boundaries of the Everfree Forest as part of a safari-like expedition. Tours typically take place in the morning to early afternoon, as the Forest is incredibly dangerous after dark, and few dare venture in for fear of the many creatures that dwell in it.

THE VENUE

FOREST STADIUM


Location: Everfree
Capacity: 25,000
Tennants: Everfree Dragons
Will host: Round of 16 and Quarterfinal games
Located on the outskirts of the city, near the edge of the Forest, is wild-looking Forest Stadium. As is the case with many Everfree sports venues, the wild appearance is matched by the local fans devotion to their teams. In nearly every poll, Everfree teams rank near the top for best home-field advantage, which the Equestrian national teams often harness for international competitions. But regardless of who is playing, a full house should always be expected.

RP Cutoff for Match Day 4

[Equestrian States]

Group 1

Raxillion                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Central North America            2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 X  5

Byfugland                        0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2  6
Ko-oren                          0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0  4

Saintland                        0 0 2 1 0 3 1 2 0 0  9
Free South Califas               3 0 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 10


Group 2

Birolika                         0 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 0  5
Songhia                          0 3 1 0 2 2 0 5 X 13

Shadowbourne                     1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0  5
Elykyellek                       0 0 0 2 0 7 0 0 X  9

West Guiana                      0 0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0  6
Darmen                           0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0  4


Group 3

Bloodbath Generation             0 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 0  7
Super-Llamaland                  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Skeckoa                          0 0 5 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 10
Quebecois Acadiana               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0  9

Yesopalitha                      1 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 1  7
Cyborg Holland                   1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  3


Group 4

Taeshan                          0 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 1  9
Rodard                           0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Karditan                         3 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 1 10
Powersith                        0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0  3

Sicoutimont                      1 2 3 1 1 0 1 0 0  9
Parsee Mizuhashi                 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1


Group 5

Aardenland                       0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0  6
Estope                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0  3

The Serbian Empire               0 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 0  5
Komodo Dragon                    0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2

New Montreal States              0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Lycrabon                         0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 X  3


Group 6

Grandterre                       0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1  5
Michael VII                      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Saugeais                         2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Alphabet Letters             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Slembana                         2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Thatius                          1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3


Group 7

Tyneala                          0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
New Matawan                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Strawbee                         2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  4
Equestrian States                0 1 0 0 2 1 3 1 X  8

Kintratar                        0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1  4
Schmiegelland                    0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  5


Group 8

Qazox                            0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1  3
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec      1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 X  5

Milchama                         0 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 1  6
Pretty Awesome Persons           2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Mapletish                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Kinzar                           0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 X  3


Group 9

The Sova Empire                  0 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0  4
Backyard Sports                  0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0  3

Vaugania                         2 0 0 2 4 1 0 0 0  9
Thrilledge                       0 0 3 1 2 1 0 0 0  7

Zwangzug                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2  4
Lymantatia                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2


Group 10

The Priory of St. Luc            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Kerblaekistan                    1 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 X  7

Maklohi Vai                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Western Cuba                     0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  3

Allinlia                         0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
ViZion                           0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 X  4