World Baseball Classic XXV - Everything Thread

[ViZion]

ViZion Daily
Sports Page - C1

Finally, A Win!


Hollier Steals Home

By: Tom Hesh

Vitalita, ViZion - "Wait, what... he's going! The pitch is on its way, and Hollier... he's... he's safe! Hollier swipes home! Hollier did it!" still reverberates from the announcer in my mind. Hollier swiped home after doubling and stealing third in the sixth inning to take the lead. Before Hollier doubled, the Gamers had just two hits - a second inning blast by Davaloz and a fourth inning bomb by Lenard. The lineup had managed to squeak out two runs on only two hits and no walks through the first five innings before Hollier did some damage of his own.

"We played a much better game today. Our offense didn't click on all cylinders, but we got the job done. And a shout out to the Hapster, who pitched great for us!" Hollier said in the clubhouse after the victory. Indeed, Hapse Woods pitched eight very good innings, allowing only three runs on four hits and a walk, striking out four. While not dominate, he pitched very effectively with his dynamo curve, deceiving change, and a low-90's fastball that looks more like a mid-90's heater.

"These guys played well today. They battled. They got timely hits and our pitching came together today. Hollier really lit up our team with that home plate steal, and Hapse really stepped up for us today on the mound!" Manager Lumar said in the postgame interview. Indeed, after Hollier's sixth inning steal home, the team got six hits and added another run the rest of the way for a final score of 4-3 over the Allinlia All Stars.

"This is the start of things." the massive DH, Davaloz, said. "Damn straight!" Hollier replied, "We're not giving up. This team is too good to go down. We will fight for every win, and we're going to make it to the playoffs!"

Tomorrow, the team travels to St. Luc as Edgar Luis takes the mound for the Gamers against Quentin. The team sits at 1-3.

[Aardenland]

Aydin Aces Aardenland's Fourth

Aardenland makes it three-in-a-row by defeating struggling Estope

With a third win under their belt, Aardenland's national team continues the Fifth Group's oppression of the still winless team from Estope. Liefdestad's Rowan Aydin pitched seven innings with letting nary a run past the plate. Aydin was pulled from the game after the seventh Inning due to a complaint of stiffness in his throwing hand. Melvin Stokkers, the manager of Liefdestad's rivals the Kings, and assistant manager on the national team commented on Aydin's discomfort in a postgame interview. "He [Aydin] pitched a great game tonight," said Stokkers. As for his hand, we think that the discomfort will last only one, two days, and he will probably be back to pitch in the ninth game." The nineth game is also against Estope, and will be played in Aardenland. Kazim van Prooijen, the de facto closer of the Aardenland team, saved his first game in th WBC in style by fanning three consecutive batters to retire the side in the ninth inning. (Translated from Dutch) "I have plenty of confidence for our team; as much as I have for myself," said van Prooijen. "Our team will win the division, and I shall end every game I pitch. As for Rowan, I'm not worried. The reports of him being out for the rest of the competition are nothing but sensationalism." Aydin and van Prooijen are teammates on the Liefdestad club. The fifth game, marking the halfway point of the first part of the competition, will be played against the highest ranked team in the Group, the Lycrabon National Team (Ranked 8th worldwide) in New Koninghaven. Ally Valiant will take the mound for Aardenland. With both teams tied for the lead in the division, whoever wins this contest will lead the group going into the second half of the Classic.

GAME SUMMARY

Fourth Inning

Aardenland: With Taylor Nolden pitching, Sally Karlsson singled to center field. Silver Wouda hit a two-run home run to left field. Desmond de Waal flied out to deep center field. Odessa Kroon singled. Ricky Bruijn reached on a fielder's choice to second base. Marty McCormick doubled into the center-right field gap, scoring Bruijn. Aardenland leads, 3-0

Fifth Inning

Aardenland: With two outs, Sally Karlsson hit an inside-the-park home run to left field. Aardenland leads, 4-0

Sixth Inning

Aardenland: With two outs, McCormick walked. Crijn Legierse doubled into the center-left field gap, moving McCormick to third. Erin Carter pinch-hit for Barry Rillo. Carter singled into right field, scoring Legierse and McCormick. Aardenland leads, 6-0

Eighth Inning

Estope: With one out and Aaron Spielman pitching, Alex Avez singled to right field. Max Meister singled to left field, moving Avez to third. Cory Keys struck out. Jessie Driggers doubled to right field, scoring Avez and Meister. Bill Sands relieved Spielman. Henry Fowler singled to center, scoring Driggers.

Player of the Game:

ROWAN AYDIN -
Pitched seven scoreless innings for Aardenland.

[Pretty Awesome Persons]

"Hello and welcome viewers! I'm live from New Madrid, our great nation's capital! I'm at Kuna Square to be exact, and as you can see there are probably forty or fifty thousand people behind me awaiting the election results. Polls in Northern Pretty Awesome Persons close in 5...4...3...2...1! Polls are officially closed, and a winner should be projected soon...."

Thirty minutes later

"There are 723.9 million eligible voters in our nation, and record were broken today with 700 million estimated votes cast...and it looks like we have a winner!"

Voice over speakers: "Ladies and gentlemen! The election results are in. We can now project a winner. Your 2060 presidential election winner is...MARIJA VIDOVIC!"

"AND VIDOVIC WINS! VIDOVIC WINS! AND APPARENTLY WE CAN PROJECT A LANDSLIDE! 77% of people voted for Marija Vidovic, compared to a measly 5% for Amelia van Stegen....

In reality
Amelia van Stegen wakes up shaken. "Holy sky fairy. What the hell did I just dream?" Amelia looks at her clock on the bedside table. 4:55 AM. "Are you kidding me? *sigh*" Amelia puts the covers over her face and shouts. She sits up and picks her phone up. She dials a number and puts the phone to her ear, impatiently waiting to hear a voice at the other line.

"Amelia? What the hell are you doing calling me at this time? Go to bed..."

"Lena, listen to me. I just had an awful dream." Lena Prochazkova* was the vice president of the nation.

"Oh yeah? What? Did you get married or something?"

"No, even worse. I lost the election."

"Are you...are you...DID YOU SERIOUSLY CALL ME JUST TO SAY THAT?"

"Lena, you're not listening! Marija won 77% of the vote! And we only got 5%! How could that happen?"

"Amelia, you're not even forty years old** and you're going to go gray worrying about this damn election. Look, new polls were released last night, you lead Vidovic by 35%. If there was anything to worry about, we would be doing something about it...now go to bed, Amelia. I'm tired. You might go to baseball games all day, but I actually have to go around and try to sell your campaign to people. Not that it needs any selling. The only parts we have some trouble in is Western Pretty Awesome Persons, but they're only 11% of the population. You're going to win."

"You think going to baseball games is all easy and fun? Holy skyfairy, Lena. Do you not watch the games?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Then you should know that watching our team is play like watching....remember Ante at the Christmas part way back when we were senators?"

"Oh man, don't even remind me. He was so drunk you felt bad laughing at him. But hey, you know those Eastern Awesomites. They can drink a bathtub of beer and not feel satisfied. What about that?"

"The team is worse than that....I bet a drunk Ante could hit the ball better, harder and more often than anyone on the entire team! I bet even I could hit better than any of them! It's torturous, Lena. You gotta sit there for three hours, maybe stretch a little between an inning...and holy SKYFAIRY, Luka Zupancic is the worst PR partner! It's awful, Lena. And then after the game, you gotta hold a press conference and act happy and proud of the team, while promoting yourself. You wanna switch, Lena?"

"No thanks, Amelia."

"Exactly, you should be happy you get to ride on a big bus with people who aren't Luka Zupancic and be on a winning team."

"It can't be that bad."

"Lena, we're 0-4! The way it's looking, we won't have a win, EVER."

"Then why do you go...I'm sure there better ways to do PR."

"The ABL is my creation, and this whole thing is my creation. I fall or rise with its success. I can't just abandon my creation."

"Wow. You'd make a nice mom, you know that?"

"Yeah well. I'll adopt a kid soon."

*What a ticket, huh? Van Stegen/Prochazkova 2060!
**Age allowed to run for House of Reps & Senate: 23, age to run for president: 28, no term limits. Amelia won at age 29, she's currently 37. Prochazkova is 35. Average age in PAP: 26.

[The Serbian Empire]

The Serbian Empire Wins Against Kodomo Dragons 5-2

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

The return of Nemecek to the bullpen was not needed in this game as the Serbian Empire pulled into a non-save situation until the bottom of the 9th inning where The Komodo Dragon team scored their second run of the game with a home run. Jure Klemenic drew first blood with a home run in the second inning. This one was a powerful line drive that hit the left-field foul pole. The Komodo Dragon team tied the game in the bottom of the third, 1-1 but from there the Serbian Empire continued pull away with a two run double hit by Josip Petrovic in the 4th inning driving in Borislav Cedomiric and Momcilo Dusanovic, a second Jure Klemenic home run in the 7th inning which was a powerful shot to left-center field just about 40 feet shorter than yesterday's mammoth home run, and a steal of home after stealing 3rd base by the fleet footed Darko Dordic who replaced Cedomiric in the 8th inning. Drazenovic replaced Dordic for the ninth inning in right field as Dordic's arm is quite weak. Marijo Darkovic threw for 8 and a third of an inning giving up two runs and Danilo Tudjman closed out the game with two strikeouts after replacing Darkovic after a home run and a walk with only one out in the 9th inning. Tomorrow's game is against Estope, a team ranked 33rd in the world and a good measure of if the Serbian Empire can be more than the fourth or fifth best team in this tournament Group 5. There is a chance to make the next round of 16 if the Serbian Empire wins against Estope tomorrow and repeats results from earlier in the tournament, but the odds are as the worst team in seeding in the round of 16 if they make it at all. That would be a fate little better than not making it to the round of 16 at all.

Three Stars of the Game, selected by the Beograd Journal
MVP: 1st Baseman Jure Klemenic for his pair of home runs and second and third home runs in two games.
Second Player: Catcher Josip Petrovic who had two hits and two runs batted in.
Third Player: Designated runner Darko Dordic for a pair of stolen bases and an unprecedented second steal of home in today's games.

[Schmiegelland]

After the first two matches of misery, Schmiegelland had won a game!

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

With another loss on the horizon, down by one in the tenth inning, D'sukal Jiimna hit a 2 run homer to give Schmiegelland a chance of progress to the next round. They would need a miracle, though.

[New Montreal States]

PAUL STEWART HITS A GRAND SLAM

Serbian save specialist slings seven strikeouts in superlative sortie scuppered by sweet-swinging Stewart's splendid slam

SHERBROOKE - The Reformed Expos won their home opener at Cité Sportif 5-3 over a Serbian Empire side whose ace closer Anton Anzic struck out the final seven Paladins batters in a row. The strikeout streak, however, came after a seventh-inning grand slam by Paul Stewart put the game out of reach for the Reformed Expos.

"Even the palest and most virginal of sabermetricians would have no choice but to agree that a team that hits a grand slam during a game has a much, much better chance of winning that game than a team that does not hit a grand slam during the course of a game," said feisty old-school manager Lionel Dayton, before spitting his chaw into a wastebasket, grabbing a nearby bat and smashing a water cooler into little soaking-west bits of plastic. "Our aim is to do to the rest of this group what I've just done to this water cooler, and what we've done to the Serbs and Estopeans the last few days. This is the Classic where we finally stop [messing] around and started playing ball!" bellowed an animated Dayton in the locker room after the match.

------------------------------------------------

THINGS GET AARDER

Reformed Expos drop 11-inning thriller to up-and-comers Aardenland

AARDENLAND - Pitching dominated tonight's game, as the Reformed Expos Luc Montselle pitched nine innings of one-run ball, while his Aardenland counterpart Ernie Porter responded with ten innings of two-hit ball, with only one really bad pitch the entire night - a hanging breaking ball to Larry Walker in the 4th inning that allowed Walker to tie the game 1-1.

Aside from that, batters struggled to get the ball out of the infield, as Montselle tied up Aardenland's lineup with high heat and a vicious cut fastball that left righthanded batters muttering in disgust on their way back to the dugout. Porter replied with tight control and good patience, keeping his wits about him on the rare occasions he fell behind in the count.

"We preach patience and trying to get ahead in the count and force the pitcher to throw strikes," said manager Lionel Dayton. "That's a lot less effective when you've got a guy like Ernie Porter who's out there channelling the Buddha on the mound."

------------------------------------------------

TAKING OUR LUMPS AGAINST LYCRABON

They still seem mad about the Komodo Dragon game

ST. CATHERINE, LYCRABON - The DH-less Reformed Expos struggled to find any offense on the road against traditional WBC powerhouses Lycrabon. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, looked comfortable at home, picking up offense in short bursts on their way to a 3-1 win. Second baseman Chad Price set the tone for the Blue Jays, going 3 of 4 on the day, including a leadoff double in the bottom of the 4th inning.

The Expos, meanwhile, couldn't get comfortable at the plate, especially with no designated hitter. Their one real rally came in the second inning, when Antoine Ledoux drove in Mitch McCracken for the Reformed Expos' lone run of the night. The rally ended abruptly when starter André Couselle hit a tapper back to the mound for an inning-ending double play with runners at the corners.

Manager Lionel Dayton was philosophical about the road loss to the top-ranked seed in the group. His only comment to the press was the question: "What kind of masochists enjoy watching pitchers try to hit?"

[Qazox]

Quebec gets to Soles in 6th and 7th, Qazox now 3-1.

Qazox  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1  3
Quebec 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 X  5

For 5 innings, Soles and Bergeron had the lookings of a classic pitcher's duel, but 2 Qazoxian errors, one each in the 6th and 7th, allowed the hosts to take a 5-1 lead into the 8th. Despite allowing a run in the 8th and 9th, le Expos held on to win and tighten up a group 8 race. Qazox finishes the first half of the schedule at home vs. Kinzar.

WIN: Maurice Bergeron
LOSS: Rene Soles
SAVE: Herbert Jansen
MVP of Game: Maurice Bergeron (QUE) 8.0 IP; 2 runs; 2 ER; 11K; 1 BB

[Super-Llamaland]

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

What is up with this team?

After two losses to easy opponents--(ninety-ninth ranked? unranked? Really?) That's the question fans are asking now.

Actually, clippings from game news (wins and losses) were put to the accuracy test in a poll.

Vargas Inquirer (Dominic Wallace): "This national team is shaping up for a great year, but they might not do it this year." -16%
New Llama Weekly (Bryan Lawless): "What a marvelous team! Great progress against tough teams!" -4%
LlamaSporter.com (Lou Dong): "This team is winning against tough teams and dropping games to the easiest ones." -28%
LlamaSporter.com/baseball (Chad Jennings): "What is up with this team?" -32%
Ryan Freeman-Lance (Mysports.com): "Looks like another disappointing year." -20%

-Quote One was before the first game, quote two was after the Yesopalitha Win, quote three was today, quote four was today, quote five was after the second game

Anyways, to the game!

On the non-bright side, the offense was a non-factor. On the bright side, Brett Rochester ran around the bases for an inside-the-park homer that bounced by left fielder Andy Chung in the fourth! What a great clip! On the not-so-bright side, it was with the bases empty. Worse, it was the only run of the game.

To the pitching!

Tommy Yaft took a risk and started Rick Jackson when some conflicts hit. It failed. Jackson gave up 7 in 4 2/3 with six walks and just a single strikeout. Regularly slotted Allan Roswell was put in despite an injury and pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. Really, Yaft?

Anyways, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

[Powersith]

Powersith Baseballl Giants fall to 3-1

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

Karditan came in, and wrecked the Giants. Karditan scored 3 runs in the 1st inning, 2 in the 3rd, and 4 in the 5th. It was just pure demoralizing.

The game started out quick as two Karditan players hit singles. Then a home run batted them all in to make it a 3-0 lead. In the 3rd inning a 2-run homer came in from Karditan, extending the lead to a 5-0. Charlie Kaz got a score on the board with a solo homerun, the score would be 5-1. In the fifth inning, well, the game was considered over. A Karditan grand slam ended the hopes of the Giants. Powersith did get a 2 runs in the 7th inning by a Ben Belmont two-run homerun, but that would be the last score they would get. Karditan would score again in the 9th inning. The game would end with a 10-3 final. Powersith's high-octane offense could not do anything, and the lockdown defense played like they were uninterested. The batting was absolutely horrendous. Things have to change if they want to get back on track. They now stand in 2nd place behind Sitcoumount, the only 4-0 team in the group. The Powersith Baseball Giants stand at 3-1

Stats:
Pitching:
John Phoenix: 5 IP 9 ER 3 Ks
Nino Rodriguez: 4 IP 1 ER 4 Ks
Batting:
1.Stephan Contras 1/5 (1 single)
2.Ben Belmont 1/5 (1 home run)
3.Steven Choi 0/5
4.Henry Links 0/4
5.Guermo Menenrick 0/4
6. Mendez Wilson 0/4
7.Vickkanov Bleckat 0/3
8.Charlie Kaz 1/3 (1 Home Run)
9. Timothy Aswell 0/3


Complete Batting Stats:
1.Stephan Contras 11/19 .578 batting avg
2.Ben Belmont 8/19 .421 batting avg
3.Steven Choi 7/19 .368 batting avg
4.Henry Links 6/16 .375 batting avg
5.Guermo Menenrick 7/16 .437 batting avg
6. Mendez Wilson 4/16 .250 batting avg
7.Vickkanov Bleckat 2/12 .222 batting avg
8.Charlie Kaz 4/12 .333 batting avg
9. Willie Ways Jr. 1/3 .333 batting avg
10. Willie Ways III 0/2 .000 batting avg
11. Timothy Aswell 0/6 .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: 0-0 9.0 ERA 3 Ks
Lei Wingo:

Bullpen (Relief/Closers):
Joseph Wasco: 1 Save
Jermey Les: 1 save
Kivnov Reknov: 1-0 1.0 ERA 3 Ks
Nino Rodriguesz: 0-1 1.0 ERA 4 Ks
Vergil Smith:

Game Preview @ Sitcoutimount

Sitcoutmount stands as the only 4-0 team in Group 4. However, this team is very familiar with Sitcoumount Les Royales. Powersith and Sitcoumount were in the same group in World Baseball Classic XXIV. The series was split 1-1. The question is, who wins?

Both teams are very even when it comes to offense and defense. Sitcoumount has beaten every team it played with impressive fashion. Powersith has pulled an upset over #7 Taeshan, and has dismantled Parsee Mizuhashi and Rodard. Their only loss came to a Karditan dominance. However, with both teams playing each other for the 3rd time, who will rise as the game changer? Both teams have outstanding players. For example, the Baseball Giants have star batters Stephan Contras and Guermo Menerick, batting .578 and .437 respectively. This match will be pretty even.

Lei Wingo will start against Sitcoumount's Trent Davis. Both pitchers are very good, and so who will rise up from the two? Last WBC, Lei Wingo went 0-1 with a 5.5 ERA.

Can Powersith come on top again and avenge their loss? More importantly, can they win and pull another upset as they did versus Taeshan? We shall find out tommorow!

[Vaugania]

VauganiaSportsToday

Thrilledge: Our Homer Away From Home

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

The pitchers in our most recent matchup against Thrilledge got smacked around liked rag dolls and torn apart by offense. You could practically tell the story of the game through homers. In fact, I think that's exactly what we'll do.

1ST INNING

Francois DuBois is eager to get things started. After getting to a 3-1 count, he launched the next pitch over the right field wall. Team Vaugania is elated by their quick start. Pandemonium ensued after Kerby Rychel hit another almost to the exact same section as DuBois.

Score (HR): Vaugania 2(2), Thrilledge 0(0)

3RD INNING

Thrilledge's Jayhawk Edmonson and Sanderson Alvarez manage singles off of starter, Kostyantyn Wasylyk. Two at bats later with two outs, Blastings Thrilledge boomed a hit over the center field wall. The Golden Eagles are, at this point, dejected that their back to back homers aren't even enough to tie. They all make a silent pledge to destory Quincy Martabano when they come back up to bat.

Vaugania 2(2), Thrilledge 3(1)

4TH INNING

Marty Bzibziak keeps the pledge. On the first pitch of the inning, he drilled his 5th home run of the WBC over the left field wall. Roman Janicek almost repeats, but only bounces the ball off of the right center wall and triples. Jaromir Braun got him home with a sac fly. The Golden Eagles are now pleased once again. However, their happiness was squandered by a Byron Pendarvis home run.

Vaugania 4(3), Thrilledge 4(2)

5TH INNING

Francois DuBois got on base with a single and Rychel followed up with a double. Chris Ketcham, the rookie who replaced Martabano for the 5th, had some nerves and they got the better of him. Radim Mencher earned a 5 pitch walk and loaded up the bases. This of course meant that the newcomer would have to face Marty Bzibziak, henceforth nicknamed "Obliteratron 5300", with the bases loaded. He didn't stand a chance against the catcher. Obliteratron 5300 rocketed the ball out of the park for a grand salami. Things didn't seem so bad after Davis McKinley hit a two run shot though.

Vaugania 8(4), Thrilledge 6(3)

6TH INNING

The 6th inning didn't quite ive up to the 5th, but there was still some heavy hitting. DH Cliff Gilbert, who was finally playing his first game for Vaugania today, got a solo homer off of Heywood Barnsfield. Jeremiah MacDougal answered with his one solo home run off of Ernie Baer.

Vaugania 9(5), Thrilledge 7(4)

7TH-9TH INNING

Compared to the rest of the game, these 3 innings were incredibly boring. Thrilledge's pitchers did their job and Whit Kedzierski and Jonas Abel took care of shop for the Golden Eagles. We have now improved to 3-1 in the group round.

Final Score (HR): Vaugania 9(5), Thrilledge 7(4)

Our next game is against Backyard Sports who is ranked 49th. This is the first of a three game homestand. The other two opponents are The Sova Empire and Zwangzug. Both of which we defeated in their home ballparks.

[Elykyellek]

Elykyellek defeats Shadowbourne 9-5!

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

Today the Elykyellek National Baseball team defeated Shadowbourne 9-5 to a roaring sold out crowd at Ostrich Colony Park in Elykyellek City. A tie game going into the top of fifth, Shadowbourne hit a three run homer off of pitcher Wally Boag put Shadowbourne ahead 5-2. Elykyellek responded with a couple of homers of their own in the bottom of the sixth. First with a grand slam hit by Marc Davis, then with a three run homer by Joe Rafnt to allow for a 7 run inning putting Elykyellek ahead 9-5. With that insurance Elykyellek was able to hold off any more scoring by Shadowbourne to get the win.

[Milchama]

"Wow! McKeon has no idea what he's doing"

"Yes he does"

"No he doesn't"

"Wait one second"

"Why?"

"I got to give you props for figuring out the manager name and gender"

"Oh thanks dude"

"You're welcome. Anyways, you're still wrong, clearly the players suck"

"What do you mean?"

"Well look at our games, we lost once with 4 runs in the 8th and this time were lucky not to lose after they scored 3 in the 9th"

"So?"

"Our bullpen sucks"

"Well apparently it was the mop up man who came in"

"Yeah, you know who the mop up man is?"

"Teashmo Contallion"

"Exactly, he finished 2nd in holds last year for the Pirates"

"Right"

"So he's still an incredible pitcher and should be shutting down scrubs like Kinitar"

"I don't think we played Kinitar"

"Who did we play then?"

"Kinzar"

"Whatever, they're new, and unimportant"

"They're 2-1"

"Beginners luck, we'll beat them later and eventually get back to where we were"

"Really?"

"Well if our bullpen doesn't collapse"

"Truth"

"Dare"

"No, I take truth"

"Ok, ummm..."

"Can we do this later?"

"Sure"

"Thanks"

"You're welcome"

"So then Milchama"

"Right those guys"

"Good guys"

"Oh yeah, most def"

"Do you think they have a chance?"

"Ummm... duh"

"Good point"

"Look, it was a 2 game slump, it just happened at the beginning with changed our perception. If they had happened after a 4-0 start things like firing the manager would not have become things"

"Right"

"So we're good"

"Exactly"

"Sweet"

"So then let's just root root for the Warriors"

"Exactly"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Skeckoa]

Excerpt from the Skeckoa Journal:

The bats were flying high as the Eskeckii National selection took a late 9-0 lead over the Expos going into the eight inning.

"Yeah, it was great really" said Coach Geronimo CRUZ after the game. Our guys were seeing the ball well and they were damn well hitting it."

Hitting it they were, as star Herald BELTRE went 3 for 4 with a Home Run, driving in 3 of Skeckoa's 10 runs. A big source of production also came from another, less expected source. First Baseman George Walker III, known for having one of the flashiest gloves at First base showed today that he also knows how to shine with his bat during the clutch moments, when he ripped a line drive though the 4-hole and into Right-Center field.

On the other side of the ball, ethnic Eskeckii left hander Ko'kung ETROKEH'pesh through 7 innings of spectacular ball, never letting a runner past second base through the first six. ETROKEH'pesh would leave after seven after CRUZ saw signs of fatigue and after the 27 year-old was drilled by a come-backer that would ricochet off of his head and into the glove of 2B Constantino ORTIZ for the last out of the inning.

From there, the eight inning of Eskeckii defense was above horrendous. The half inning took a full 34 minutes, 4 different pitchers, and did not end until after the Expos batted around and the Eskeckiis allowed nine runs to cross the plate. The inning only ended after a double of the bat of Expos LF had been appealed by the Eskeckiis and the umpires ruled that in fact the runner had not touched first base.

The game took a full 4:24 and an estimated 34.056 were in attendance. The Eskeckiis improve there record to 2-2 for the tournament.Tomorrow will be an off day where manager CRUZ has promised to go through the bullpen and iron out any problems with the mechanics of the pitchers to prevent an inning like that in the future.

[Kinzar]

President Kevin Spencer sat in his office with his two daughters as the game against Mapletish entered the 9th inning of play. He had already been in a good mood after having been made aware that his recent job approval rating had increased to 81%. It's the first time any Kinzite leader has seen that rating exceed 80%. How could he ever mess that up? Kinzites were buying in to this whole international presence thing, and the baseball team performing well made the public optimistic that the nation would also do well, economically speaking, from Spencer’s policies. Radeek Williams had thrown a gen on the mound, going eight scoreless innings, and scattering just three Mapletish hits throughout this team. “Mapletish beat Milchama”, Spencer said often to his kids, to try and pick up their spirits.

His teenage daughters weren’t terribly interested in watching the game, but since they rarely had any quality alone time with their father, they wanted to make the most of it. The older daughter, Katherine proclaimed to sister Danielle that, “Radeek will give up a run in this inning!” Kevin, excited to see that interest, made a bet with Katherine that Williams would pitch the shutout, or else he would give her an extra $1,000 of spending money. Danielle chimed in, “I bet he gives up two runs not just one!” Kevin chuckled and made a similar bet. It didn’t matter to him, if he had to pay these out, he could just use taxpayer money. Williams easily shut down the first two Mapletish batters to face him, but Harold Parker would reach first on an error by Jimmy Deakin. Next up, was Bobby Harmon, and he hit the ball a real long way. 419-feet to be exact, and all of the sudden a game that was smooth sailing became a nail-biter. Danielle Spencer momentarily cheered, only to see the scowl on her father’s face, and thought she at least wait to celebrate collecting her money. After the home run, it appeared as though manager David Rogers was going to go to the bullpen, but Williams convinced him to keep him in the ballgame. It almost backfired, as a well hit ball by Carver Cornelius sent Devon Charles to the warning track, but the left fielder was able to make the catch for the third out of the inning. Victory for the Wildcats! Kinzar improved to 3-1 with the win! And more importantly on this day, victory for the President’s daughters, who each won themselves an extra $1,000. At first, Kevin was only going to pay Danielle, until Katherine reminded him that he changed the rules of their bet from being one run, into having to be a shutout. Kevin smiled as his daughter began to learn the art of finding loopholes to make promised agreements work in your favor.

The next morning, Spencer made an impromptu speech to the nation of Kinzar, and hoped that other national leaders and business owners would be listening. Sports, and baseball were just a small part of it, and the hope was now that the nation could be seen as a great spot for international companies to pay a visit too. Spencer unleashed a plan, stating tax breaks for foreign companies would be in effect, and hoped to add more economic trading partners. Additionally, he called on wealthy Kinzites business owners to take a chance and expand their businesses overseas. Now, would be the perfect time for them to make the move, to try be the leaders of the movement, and not later be followers of their competitors. The speech stopped short of promising additional support from the federal level, as Spencer wants businesses to take on the risk themselves.

As for the baseball team, the hope is that they too, can remain leaders. Leaders at the top of the standings, that is. Who would have thought that five games into qualifying, Kinzar would be taking part in a battle for the top spot in the group? Both Kinzar and Qazox are 3-1, and while the home-side will be the favorites, the Wild cats will look to keep the momentum rolling. So far, things are going very well, and fans are beginning to wonder if just maybe, Kinzar could get a playoff spot.

[Lymantatia]

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

Zwangzug 4-2 Lymantatia
The Lymantatian baseball team lost to Zwangzug 4-2. Clearly the team is a little better than us.
Runscorers:
Lymantatia: Laurent Gonzalez (1), Mario Raymond (1)
Zwangzug: Sonia Ross-Meyer (4)

[Grandterre]

Grandterre Sports - World Baseball Classic Matchday 4
November 10, 2002 - We have finally won a match. We defeated Michael VII. Our record is 1-3
Scoring

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

Runscorers
Phillip Park (Inning 2)
Phillip Park (Inning 4)
Phillip Park (Inning 6)
Joseph Yales (Inning 7)
Phillip Park (Inning 7)
Phillip Park (Inning 9)

[Ko-oren]

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

--reader submitted column---
So there's no stopping the loser train

Four matches, and at least we've had one victory. Against Central North America. The team that miraculously beat most of the reknowned teams in the group so far. So CNA lost. Against the team that miraculously lost against every team and is continuing to lose apparently.

Yesterday was Byfugland. They're the top seed in the group, so even if we had gotten a good record until so far, we would've struggled to even come close to winning. Anyhow, it was 4-4 after nine innings. And anything past the ninth inning has not worked out for the Greenblues so far... Yesterday held no surprises or anything different from these earlier matches. Byfugland had the first run after four innings, though this lead was quickly dealt with. It did not take long for Byfugland to take another lead (2-1), about halfway into the match. The Greenblues had two more runs through Hidetada and Fujiwara, and even took the lead. From this point on, the only thing the team had to do was keeping the Jets from getting too much runs. This did not really work out, as they had two more in the last inning. At least Shotoku kept Byfugland from winning it after nine innings by scoring a last one. Then the Jets had two more runs and everything was over.

What does this teach us? That it might be time for the next generation to come through. All current players are in the same age group and are nearing their 30's, which is far from old but apparently the magic is over. It might be wise to keep a few older players and a lot of young players. The next generation is extremely talented like that.

---

Do you want your column to appear in the KSN too? Submit a column of not more than 300 words (longer will be ignored/redacted) and hope it will be published! Your columns could also appear in your local edition: Northeast, East, Northwest/Center/West or South.

[Saintland]

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

Saintland loses again

(SP) The Kingdom of Saintland lost for the 4th consecutive time in the World Baseball Classic. Marcus Laelius fared little better than the other Sanctii pitchers so far, as he allowed 7 runs and got pulled for long relief in the 4th inning with nobody out. On this day, the bats came alive for the Kingdom, as they kept fighting their way back into the game and were at least able to force extra innings. So far, this entire tournament is a disaster. The team will return to the Kingdom today to continue disgracing our Kingdom with their atrocious performance. "I've watched some of the World Baseball Classic on the Royal Networks and I wish I hadn't. This team is truly a national disgrace. They can't beat anybody and then they turn around and fight one another on worldwide television. Everybody I've talked to throughout the Kingdom is already looking forward to the other upcoming tournaments. At least, I have more time to train with my team of gridiron stars. Our luck has abandoned us." - Prince Petrus

The Kingdom of Saintland was behind 3 runs after the 1st inning. In the 3rd, Petrus Arminus singled and Marcus Tragus drew a walk. After Marcus Laelius struck out, Petrus Tragus came up with 1 out. Tragus hit it hard and it landed in the deepest part of the park. The ball would hit the wall and bounce back toward the field of play, out of reach of the outfielders. Tragus made it into 3rd base for a triple as the cutoff man acquired the ball. Saintland had scored 2 runs. Ioannes Sentius struck out and Paulus Sittius hit a routine ground ball to shortstop to end the inning.

In the 4th, Saintland would score again, as Lucius Maccius led the inning off with a home run to tie the game at 3. In the bottom of the 4th, Laelius allowed 4 runs to score, the last 3 coming on a 3-run homer. Thomas Ulpius came in to pitch and got out of the inning. In the top of the 6th, Saintland struck back. Paulus Sittius led off the inning with a double. Lucius Maccius was walked intentionally. Lucas Maianius hit a sacrifice to left field to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Matthaeus Bebius got a fastball right down the middle and made the most of it. The ball was hit hard and ended up in the gap. The runners scored and Bebius quickly rounded the bases. As Bebius rounded 3rd, the right fielder had acquired the ball. He threw toward the plate and it was going to be close. The catcher went to block the plate and the ball got there in time, but Bebius ran right through him and knocked the ball out. He was SAFE at home for an inside the park home run. Arminus struck out. Marcus Tragus got on with a double. Paulus Arminus chose not to send in a pinch hitter and Thomas Ulpius came up to bat with 2 outs. Ulpius hit the ball right back to the pitcher and he caught it easily to retire the side.

After allowing a run in the bottom of the 6th, Petrus Tragus doubled to start the 7th. After a steal and a sac fly, Saintland was once again within 1 as Free South Califras led 8-7. That would remain the score after 7 innings. In the top of the 8th, Lucas Maianius led off with a solo homer to tie the game at 8. Matthaeus Bebius would get on with a single and steal a base. Petrus Arminus hit a ball to shallow left for a single that moved Bebius to 3rd. Arminus called for a substitution. Lucas Cnisius would play 2nd base instead of Tragus for the rest of the game. Cnisius singled and Saintland took a 9-8 lead, their first lead of the day. Petrus Iulus came in to pinch hit for Ulpius. Iulus hit the ball right at the first baseman. He caught it and stepped on the bag for a double play. Arminus decided to hit and run and that proved ill-advised as the ball was a grounder to 3rd base. With the speed of Petrus Tragus, there was no way he was going to be thrown out on that play, but Arminus was halfway to 3rd base before he realized his mistake and a rundown ensued. Eventually, Arminus was caught by the shortstop and the inning ended.

Arminus decided to get over his anger from the previous day and give the Wild One another chance. Josephus Oppius was not himself on this day, as he was wilder than usual and his fastball was clearly not on. After the first batter hit a massive home run off of him to tie the game, Arminus took Oppius out of the game and went with Lucas Rufus. Rufus shut down the remainder of the lineup for Free South Califras. In the 9th inning, neither team seriously challenged to score a run. In the top of the 10th, Matthaeus Bebius doubled with one out, but Arminus hit into a double play, ending the half-inning. A tired Rufus was sent back onto the mound for a 3rd inning and he somehow got the first 2 outs, but not before allowing runners to get to 1st and 3rd. With 2 outs, he loaded the bases with a walk. Bases loaded, bottom of of the 10th, all tied at 9, an exhausted Rufus threw a pitch that ended up right down the middle of the plate. It landed in shallow center field. The lead runner scored quickly and Saintland had lost yet again.

Today, the Sanctii return home to face Ko-oren at Royal Park. Ioannes Bebius will start for the 2nd time. There is one noteworthy change, as King Paulus XV has stripped Petrus Arminus of his captaincy and has appointed Paulus Tragus as the new captain. Arminus will be benched and Thomas Ennius will be the new catcher for Saintland. "I am disappointed in Petrus Arminus. He has disgraced my Kingdom by losing control of his team. The entire world now knows Saintland as the team that brawled with themselves at the World Baseball Classic. The atrocious play and decision-making of Arminus against Free South Califras also played a factor in my decision. He has proven himself unfit to captain a baseball team. I have requested that Petrus Tragus refrain from playing Arminus for the remainder of the tournament. I have also decided to suspend Arminus for 50 games from his league team and suspensions will be forthcoming for the remainder of the National Team if their play doesn't improve. I will not tolerate this kind of performance or this kind of behavior from athletes that are representing my Kingdom." - King Paulus XV

[Zwangzug]

(OOC: Lymantatia, I'll use the posted line score too, but it's impossible to have had Ross-Meyer score all my runs in that case, so I'm changing that.)

Pregame: Hello from Lymantatia, this is an exhausted Hiroto Empp-Ishikawa taking over for Gareth as he gets the start against the home team. We've been off to a slow start, so he seems pretty nervous...hmm. Maybe I can hand this off to someone else, I'm not feeling that great either.

First inning: Hello! This is Boipelo McEllow. It's a warm day here in the young region of Equatoria. I believe Charles-Marcus Lawrence took the mound for the home team? Hard to read names on those uniforms, but apparently most of the pitchers are named Charles something so it was a solid guess, anyway. Anyway, we went down in orders, as did they. Gareth is pitching quickly today, but makes up for it with very slow windups--let's hope he doesn't have to go to the stretch.

Second inning: Tikva Penmadder reports: backwards K, F9, 6-3 for us in the top half, 4-3, 3-1, 7 for Gareth in the bottom. Also, let the record show that Hiroto's scorecard is illegible and if you try and count pitches you will have to run out of room and make arrows everywhere, like he does.

Third inning: Peter Butel-Tiand notes that we got the first baserunner of the game as Kate Penmani-Trebs drew a walk, only for Lymantatia to show life with a Nicholas Stephen single. Come on, Zebra batters, show some life. Tikva and Hiroto continuing to bicker behind me, at least they're enjoying themselves.

Fourth inning: Danny Geith-Pfeno refuses to slavishly continue to this bolstering of Amatchi's ego when any uninspired account of this game could point out that Rusensman got team Zwangzug's first hit of the game, that he was stranded on second after stealing, etc. He also notes that Stephen's hit does not significantly alter the spacing of Zebra batters in the dugout, that is to say, people leave Amatchi a wide berth anyway, rightly concerned about the merits of this silly book. They are smarter than I give them credit for Good riddance

Fifth inning: look at me I can write Descriptive if I want it just takes a long time and no one cares as the game is moving fast. The pitchers are good. Today I am not sick I hope tho I didn't feel good getting out of bed and had a saltine instead. Aminda.

Sixth inning: Seriously, "tho"? Thank you for joining us, Aminda, I know Gareth will appreciate that we all pitched in. Should see about getting some of the rookies, the way this game is going we'll be here for a while (but then again it is moving so fast!) Gareth likes to keep it low, I've said before, so we're getting outs in one pitch where it might have taken three. -Hiroto

Seventh inning: Hullo world then, I'm Cynthia Roddis, stuck with Amatchi and his Bear gang in the Northeast so I'd heard about this project. To be quite fair, I'm not grasping why he didn't just go for a good old regular season, the way we run through 'em these days it's a bit doable. All the same, here we are, I am writing in the book--or, "Āhezr", as they say in Laurentian. A polyglot place this, although a bit on the terse side. We've stretched and all, good for the fans to have time to catch a snack I reckon, as there's not much in the way of offense to drag out these innings.

Eighth inning: Hey, what's up? Bradley Goran, ace of the rookies I guess, aka @bgoran19 for those of you keeping score on your cell phone. Looking forward to my chance to start, probably against The Sova Empire--and won't that be great to come home to Spenson! Good news, we've finally broken through. After Christopher Abbing-Kinton walked, Brian Vondle struck out looking. Kate Penmani-Trebs blasted it to the wall, where Nicholas McIntyre totally caught it. But Christopher moved up to second, where he scored on Sonia Ross-Meyer's hit, before Amir Rusensman grounded out.


Of course.

Janvier had been letting me stick with it, just sort of pushing ahead--sure, we weren't scoring, but I wasn't making mistakes. I probably would have gotten greedy at the plate if I'd gotten to bat today, trying to do it all myself, and yeah, the bottom of the order came through. But no excuses.

Stephen grounded out, Gonzalez singled, Raymond doubled to tie it. Janvier came out to the mound, I told her I had it--I must have been trying to convince myself--Claude sends the next pitch rocking past my ears into shallow center to score Raymond. No sense sticking around, Roddis got out of it, but still...

Ninth inning: Huh. Normally this is the point we'd just have been exhausted at, but we actually came through. Yania's single pushes in Jen, so that was a start, though of course Abbing-Kinton had to go and ground into a double play. If he wasn't, you know, our only source of offense sometimes he could get kind of annoying. I'm being hard on him, he calls pitches all right.

But then Roddis shut them down in order. Extras. Can we do it? Or are we in for another marathon low-scoring drag? I'm not getting my hopes up.

Tenth inning: Oh, wow! Duha came on as a pinch-hitter, drew a walk, and then Ross-Meyer hit a home run! So some of the Zebras are getting on the board. 4-2 Zebras in the tenth...

and that brought up Tikva, who hit the first batter, Janvier came out to talk things over--left her in!--and she shut down the rest. This is one relieving no-decision as it were.

[Taeshan]

"Thats what i'm talking about boys, 9-1 we really showed them who we are out there. great effort, great teamwork. It's explosions like this, at the right time that can really do wonders for a team. You think the time we won the WBC we were great for the whole month, no we hit our stride at the right time and rode it through to the championship and into glory. We had 7 losses that campaign, but 16 good wins with a lot coming in deciding games. Heck this tournament is as wide open as any, and i think we can put Taeshan back on its pedestal."

"Yeah coach, we made them pay for our losses."

"Winning feels good doesn't it."

"Yessir."

"Now as long as we can continue to win, whether in a blowout, or in a close duel we will be champions. Whether or not we win it all, Champions try their best. Here's a history lesson, WBC 3..."

"Oh no not this again..."

"Shut up. During WBC 3, the Purple Knights were just entering the world, hell we didn't enter our first world cup until months later. They were placed in a group with a team who was twice champions, Az-cz. And what did they do...They beat them.We pushed them like no one had in two tournaments. They had lost 3 total games until we came up and knocked them down. 17-0 in the previous season, and then here comes little Taeshan to beat them."

"I was there that day, a great game. Memorable. Now we can be the mighty Taeshan, or we can lose again. I believe we are mighty, we can win. We can play like champions today, and every day we step on that field. If we don't we don't deserve this life."

[Maklohi Vai]

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

The first loss of the tournament also brought about the first doubt in Kumalo's mind about OAM. It was a mixture of fear, anxiety, and curiosity about how people would react. He knew that he would have some devoted followers show up, but it was the people on the fringe he was worried about.

But Kumalo considered again, and he realized that he shouldn't truly get worried until that night. That would be the true indicator of whether OAM could survive as an actual group. The website still blared the red banner announcing the location and time of the meeting, along with the notice about each person bringing 2 chickens. The meeting would hopefully go as planned.

Kumalo still had to grapple with telling his grandmother, though. Her staunch anti-theism would not take a backseat to family relationships. Her wrath would most certainly be inflicted when Kumalo told her. It was in his own best interests, Kumalo thought, if the announcement came at a prosperous time for OAM. That way, he would have nothing to worry about with the organization while he dealt with his grandmother.

Kumalo had also consulted Nomolo about registering with the government. Nomolo told him how long the process was, but that it wasn't terribly complicated. This was another load off Kumalo's shoulders, but he still had to think about the timing. Did 1000 members qualify? Probably so, but that number could fluctuate. Kumalo would have to see how the meetings turned out.

The matter of the day, however, was clearly the prayer. What had gone wrong yesterday? Did he need variation? Did he need more simplicity? Was it just a bad day for Margaret? These and other questions raced through Kumalo's mind, confusing many things.

It was only proper, then, that the meeting that night demanded his effort. For it was a monster meeting of 325 people, with a total of 701 rubber chickens. Kumalo shivered in fear, for this was the defining moment of OAM. His prayer could lift up these people out of a loss, or it could stagnate their feelings.

"Margaret, we pray to you tonight with the greatest possible humility and respect.
Your powers are of a kind known nowhere else in the entire spectrum of all being.
Mortals like us cannot touch your strength, nor can they challenge your prowess.
For you, Margaret, are the sole determiner of our team's fate.
This fate is tied to more than just 9 men, though, as this fate carries millions as well.
These millions are the people of Maklohi Vai, loyal to their team.
Their emotions rise and fall with the success and failure of this team, no matter what.
Therefore, Margaret, you carry the emotions of all these people.
It is up to you to determine how they feel and how they live.
While we are mortals, we are humble ones who would like nothing more to serve you.
Margaret, your aid of this team would mean more to us than ever before.
We pray to you, Margaret, to help these people thrive so that they may serve you.
Margaret, we make a sacrifice as well to appease you, and we thank you for your time."

"Nay, fellow man, say that which you feel, for it is this which will lead to your advancement and your goal"- Ufa'ikolo, 1243

---

Game Recap

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

Scoring Summary
8th: Mae'ao hit a two run homer to right that drove in Iao Laina.

Stat update:
HR: Mae'ao 9, Arnao 2
RBI: Mae'ao 16, Arnao 4, Iao Laina 1, Moalna’akai Lai 1

[The Sova Empire]

PRE GAME
Sunny Day: Hello, and welcome to Big City Stadium in Metropolis, Backyard Sports! Sunny Day here with Jack Fowler calling tonights game The Sova Empire @ Backyard Sports. Jack, how about we talk to the visiting coach before the game?

Jack Fowler: Sounds good, Sunny. Coach Greg Sova, this is Jack Fowler, in the booth. Do you copy?

Greg Sova: Sure do Jack, it's a pleasure to be here today.

JF: First off, congratulations on your victory vs. Zwanzug, the 15th ranked team in the world. Many people have pointed to Gary Roffeld's acrobatic play to get safe at home as the real winner of the game. How do you see it?

GS: I give Roffeld a lot of credit. He's been part of the reason why we've been close in these games. Almost saving the Vaugainia game, avoiding the tag at THRILLEDGE, and the aforementioned play in the Zwanzug game have really made him a valuable player to have on the team. However, he has been experiencing a lot of joint pain because of his fanciness, so a few motrin and a seat on the bench are just what the doctor ordered for tonight.

SD: Who will fill in for the game tonight?

GS: I will split the game between the powerful-but-clumsy Doe's, who both homered in the Zwanzug game. Also, I'm really proud of my bench players for stepping it up. They are who I say won the Zwanzug game.

JF: Our time is almost up, but-

GS: Hey, you caught the "lights out" play that the Zwanzug catcher made, right? Hahahaha, just when you thought you saw it all, something like that happens.

JF: Haha, nobody was seeing too much after that hit. Before we go, what are going to be the key's to winning the game tonight?

GS: There are 4 people I'll be keeping my eye on tonight from the Backyard Sport's team. Pete Wheeler and Vicky Kawaguchi are lightning in a bottle, and we are going to have to keep them off of the basepads. In addition, Pablo Sanchez and Kiesha Phillips have enough power to light up Metropolis, so we aren't going to be giving them much to hit tonight.

SD: Thank You, Greg, it's nice talking to you.

GS: You too, Sunny. Have fun up there, it's gonna be a show tonight.

SECOND INNING:
Greg Sova: Oh look, Ida Kno's on third again.
(general laughter on the bench)

THIRD INNING
Greg Sova: Come on guys, you can't just walk Pete Wheeler! Oh my goodness (bury's head in hands).
(2 stolen bases and a sac fly later)
Greg Sova: And that's why.

FOURTH INNING

Sunny Day: Pablo hit it, and it's going way back, to the wall, and it's gone! Wait, and it's still going back, will it clear the seats, IT WILL! Pablo has hit it out of the park!

Greg Sova: (get's on phone) Hello? Someone please get an autograph from this Pablo kid for me please. Thanks. (hangs up)

NINTH INNING

Greg Sova: Can someone say 3-1? Good start guys, what a way to start the WBC.





Scoring Plays:

INNING 2:
TSE: Ida Kno triples, scoring Huu from first 1-0
INNING 3:
TSE: 2 run HR off the bat of Kenneth "Y" scores himself and Ida Givadurn. 3-0
BYS: Pete Wheeler singles, steals second, steals third, and is sacrificed home. 3-1
INNING 4:
BYS: Pablo Sanchez's solo HR leaves the stadium. 3-2
INNING 5:
TSE: John Doe hits his second HR from the bench. 4-2
INNING 6:
BYS: Achmed Khan singles Kiesha Phillips in from 3rd. 4-3

[Karditan]

Adair Sports
presents
PonySport!

And now, for the final installment of PonySport's game-ready professional baseball gear, Wing Rosin Bags:

Many a pony wish they had the capacity to grab things like the humans do. Unicorns can, to an extent, and can even make throws using their magic--but strict limits are imposed in the Karditani Baseball League on how far a unicorn is allowed to magik the ball, reducing their throwing effectiveness to the infield. Earth ponies are plumb out of luck; all they have are hoof-strikes. But pegasi provide an interesting option: grabbing the ball with their wing and chucking it with a strong flap. It doesn't have the raw power of a hoof-strike, but with enough practice can be more accurate and reliable for shorter throws--such as from the shallow outfield and pitching. But the fact remains that while pegasi do have some capacity to fold their wings in such a way to grab a ball, it isn't a very strong grip. That's where our product comes in: Wing Rosin specially formulated to stick on a pegasi's wing and raise the force of friction enough that the ball won't slip before you want it to. It washes off easily, as well. Here is some footage of Cliff Leaper and Gale Wind making tremendous use of it:

The camera, seemingly situated just behind the center-field wall of Imperial National Baseball Park in Powersith, zooms in on the mound. There stands Cliff Leaper, the bright-yellow pegasus ace of the Fillydelphia Fillies, who's start had been shifted back to the fourth game of the classic. Turns out Scott Kasmeer's sister's wedding was scheduled on the same day, so they had moved him up a start to prevent rust from setting in, and he had pitched well against Parsee. Wind walks onscreen, takes a knee, scoops up the Adair Sports-brand rosin bag and gives her right wing a good dusting with it. She tosses it to Leaper, who effortlessly grabs it with his left wing, before rushing off to get back into right field. Leaper gives the bag a few tosses himself, drops it off behind the mound and hoofs the rubber as Stephan Contras steps up to the plate. Geoff Jones lowers his mask, gets the ball from the ump and tosses it out to Leaper, who catches it with his hoof-glove and tosses it to his wing. He lifts his right-front hoof up, pulls his wing back, then lunges forward while flicking his wing forward. The wing had been angled just so that the ball rolls off the tip, flying up and in at the Sithian leadoff hitter. Contras takes a hack at the cutter, but it did precisely what it was designed to do: got up and choked him. The hollow-sounding crack was followed by a lazy fly ball straight upwards, Jones ditching his mask and recording the first out of the bottom of the first with ease. Ben Belmont saw it coming, though. He took a step back in the box, swung early and drove the next cutter into deep center-right-center. Aaron Aaron got to it as quick as he could manage, but by the time Starline had the ball Belmont was standing at third. Steven Choi then took to the box, wanting to cut back the three-run deficit the Sithian pitching had allowed in the top half. This time Leaper released the ball with a little more curl on the edge of his wing, producing what he fondly referred to as a 'feather-ball,' an off-speed pitch of his own creation. Choi practically swung out of his shoes going for it, swinging well too early and over. Leaper followed with a hard curveball that Choi took, Jones slamming to his knees to keep the ball in front of him. Leaper then blew a cutter past Choi to put the count at 1-2, but Choi waited back on the next feather-ball and dug into it. It was a relatively routine fly ball out to left, a bit 'iffy' in terms of 'deep enough to tag up'. Belmont was pretty confident, though; he seemed pretty fast, and it was pony out there making the throw. It'd be a piece of cake to score. Well, it looked like someone left that cake out in the rain. Wind backpedaled a bit, then ran up to meet the ball mid-stride; her hoof-glove closed in on it while she trotted along on three legs. A little toss popped the ball into the air and her momentum carried her wing right into it, curling around for just a moment as she landed hard on her front-left hoof. Pivoting to put more momentum on the throw, she flapped her wing forward with all her might, the ball one-hopping to the plate where Jones caught it at waist-level and slapped the tag on a [clearly surprised] sliding Belmont.

[Sicoutimont]

"You guys keep harpin' at me for a story! How about one of you funny guys tell us a story, eh?"

"Shut up Carver, we want a story!"

"Only if you tell us a story!"

"Fine, but one of ya first!"

"I'll take the bullet" said Fidel Sanchez.

"It was a late night in November. A man and his friend were walking down the street of the town of San Alberto, population 3000. It's on San Cristobal, and is surronded by forests and mountains. They decided to be adventurous for a change, so they ventured into the woods. Murders were known to happen in that area. So they ran in, and BAM! A guy with a chainsaw ran out!"

"Don't tell a horror story! You know Pedro can't take 'em!"

The team all laughed, and turned around. Of course, Pedro Santana was sitting in the back, holding a baseball bat like a sword and whimpering.

"It's all right, baby Pedro! No one's gonna hurt ya here, we're safe......"

Pedro got up and left the room, while the others laughed.

"He's such a baby about horror stories!"

"Let's prank him!"

"Yeah!"

And so, the team got started on a mischevious plan to scare Pedro Santana out of his mind. After the Powersith game, of course.


Royales Destroy Parsee Mizuhashi

It was at home at Field PowerEternite where Sicoutimont's baseball Royales dismantled Parsee Mizuhashi 9-1. Carlos Santa Maria was perfect through 4 innings, before allowing a hit. On the other hand, Victor Santana got the ball rolling in the first inning with a home run to get the lead 1-0. From there, the game was never in doubt. 8 runs, including 5 homers, gave Les Royales an 8-0 lead going into the 7th inning. The homers went to Boullion Carvier, Jose Colognon, Jaeg Nordstrom, Victor Santana and Francis Boullion. The other 2 runners to cross the plate were Pedro Santana and Martin Vauton. Sorry, Loic St-Ignace. At least Alfonso Soriano got stuck at 3rd base, but you couldn't even get first! Mysterious Rabbit Youkai was pulled in the 4th inning after going down 6-0, and was replaced by Phantom Musician #57. Early in the 7th inning, Alfonso Soriano crossed home plate off of a Victor Santana double. Powerful Oni hit a triple early in the 7th, and later crossed the plate with a Bridge Princess Youkai double. The inning would end however off a double play started by Alfonso Soriano, who tagged Bridge Princess Youkai out at 3rd before throwing to first to end the batter's inning. Carlos Santa Maria left the game in the 8th inning for Claude Perrault, who ended the inning and the 9th to close the game. We take you to the final out, as announced by Oscar de la Rovere:

"Perrault, pitching to Doll Using Youkai. 1 strike, 2 balls. 1 out here in the bottom of the 9th, with Bridge Princess Youkai on 2nd base. Doll Using Youkai has been arguably the worst Youkai tonight, going 0-5. Here comes the pitch, it's popped up into the crowd for strike 2. Now the pitch, and it's hit! The ball goes straight to Pedro Santana, he tags Bridge Princess Youkai out at second for 2 outs, now the throw to Boullion Carvier, he's reaching, the umpire rules as Doll Using Youkai slides in....out! That's the game, and Les Royales have won again, 9-1, off a beautiful double play in the 9th inning! Catch us here again for Sicoutimont-Powersith, the top 2 teams in the group. It should be a great game-can Les Royales remain the only undefeated team in group 4, or will Powersith end the 4-game streak to retake the group lead? Find out with me, Oscar de la Rovere, on Radio-Baseball 750, from our broadcast booth at Field PowerEternite!

No one calls it better than you, Oscar. Tune in on the radio, TV, or computer to catch the game between Group 4's current leaders, Powersith and Sicoutimont. These teams played before, in the 24th World Baseball Classic, where they tied 1-1 after 2 games. The last game at Field PowerEternite was a 9-7 win for Les Royales. Can Les Royales remain undefeated through the first half of the group stage? Find out tonight!

"

[Equestrian States]

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

HOST CITY: PONYVILLE

THE CITY

Ponyville is among the most attractive cities in the Equestrian States, located west of the massive Everfree Forest (see the ‘Everfree’ entry in this guide for more details), and along the banks of the Mane River. A pleasant city that, like Canterlot, has incorporated the conveniences of the modern world with the traditional Equestrian city, Ponyville holds a growing role in the economy of the Equestrian States as a center of transportation between Canterlot, Everfree, Manehattan, and (to a degree) Cloudsdale. Its central location makes it an almost mandatory stop for any tourist visiting the western half of the Equestrian States mainland.

Originally a fairly common Equestrian village in the country during its long period of isolation from the rest of the Pony Lands, Ponyville has long been seen as the best example of the typical, picturesque, Equestrian town. However, with the Equestrian States’ emergence into the international scene, Ponyville’s location led to its quick development as a national travel hub. But, as opposed to most cities in other countries where transportation played a major role in growth, the efforts of the Equestrian government to maintain a relatively clean environment by creating a vast public transportation system, kept Ponyville from becoming a smog-choked city.

With Ponyville being a ‘green city,’ the surrounding rivers, forests, and grasslands are nearly as pristine now as they were when the town was first founded. This environmental beauty is only part of Ponyville’s appeal, which also comes from the small-town feel of the Old Town district. Having changed very little over the years, Ponyville’s Old Town is probably its best tourism revenue generator, as visitors can browse shops and other stores for small keepsakes and souvenirs. But the impact of sport cannot be forgotten when talking about Ponyville. The town has long been a relatively competitive force in Equestrian domestic leagues across multiple sports, and the most popular of these teams is the hoofball club, Ponyville United. Ponyville’s rich tradition of athletics paid off in another way, as Elements Stadium (the home of Ponyville United) hosted the most Globe Cup final.

THE VENUE

PONYVILLE PARK


Location: Ponyville
Capacity: 32,000
Tennants: Ponyville Stars
Will host: Round of 16 and Quarterfinal games
Located near the Ponyville Marina along the banks of the Mane River, Ponyville Park is among the more modern-looking venues that will be hosting playoff matches at the 25th World Baseball Classic. Having been built with style in mind, Ponyville Park also boasts the distinction of being among the most visually attracting baseball fields the Equestrian States has to offer. Unless the Equestrian national team is involved, fans here are generally among the most civil in a nation that is famed for being accepting of most (if not all) foreign visitors. As long as an entertaining game is on, the denizens of Ponyville will be more than happy to cram themselves into the stadium.

RP Cutoff for Match Day 5