World Baseball Classic 26- Everything Thread (IC)

by **Taeshan** » Mon May 20, 2013 6:37 pm

"Oh my god."

"What."

"They lost again."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope."

"Top seed in the group, 7th ranked in the world, and they can't even beat the lowest two teams."

"This is quite ridiculous."

"And we haven't got to play Lycrabon yet."

"Yeah, this is complete bullshit."

"Crapped on my happy mood."

"All over it, this is complete shite."

"Got to be kidding me, damn sucky team."

"This is just plain idiocy."

"So annoyed."

by **Beldonia** » Mon May 20, 2013 6:42 pm

Bullpen Sinks Beldonia in Second Game
by Rodger Forley

After a shutout win in their first game, the Beldonian Nationals fell to the Maklohi Vai Lumai in the second game, giving them an even record and a third place standing in group 4. The sellout crowd the Nationals take an early lead; they also sat glued to their seats watching them systematically lose it.

Goose Finley led off the game with a solo shot, followed by one off the foul pole courtesy of Monticort Preston in the second inning. Beldonia's lead grew to three when Ray Monte knocked in Ryan Wilkinson, who ran home from second on a single. Nevertheless, starting pitcher Arwai of the Lumai settled down and pitched well for the rest of the game. Beldonian pitcher Jim Steilacoom pitched sparkling two-hit ball until the sixth inning, in which Ri'ino Uilnai was walked and cleanup hitter Mae'ao smashed a two run homer. Steilacoom was pulled, but not before reliever Tom Stevens gave up one more run, tying the game.

Things unraveled for the Nationals from there. Setup man Bud Wu gave up a homerun to Uilnai in the eighth inning, and Gary Colesey and Drew Canton combined to give up three runs in the ninth. The Beldonians faced a four run deficit and were retired in a perfect inning twirled by Maruamo Riwara.

The Beldonians, who began this Classic atop the standings in Group 4, now find themselves in third. Said Steilacoom, "It's tough to start the game that takes your team out of such a great position. You just have to stay positive. I have one more start at least, so I'm focusing on that." When reminded that he wasn't the losing pitcher and that he still notched a quality start, he responded, "Doesn't matter to me. The opposition got momentum from the home run that I gave up."

It's true that Beldonians probably expected more out of Steilacoom, the young hurler who recently took home the Top Pitcher award in the BMLB. Goose Finley, the most colorful of the Beldonian players, said, "I'm not happy about it. I helped to get us a three run lead early, and our pitchers blew it. This is supposed to be the cream of the crop, and they're tossin' like minor leaguers out there. Ain't no excuse for it."

The Nationals now look to their next game, which will be against forty-first ranked The Serbian Empire. Veteran Mary Effenrube, who gave a solid performance in his last WBC, will start for Beldonia. Perhaps he's just what this team needs.

by **Strawbee** » Mon May 20, 2013 7:21 pm

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM "NEWS OF BASEBALL" ON STRAWBEE GOVERNMENT TV CHANNEL 8: THE SPORTS ZONE!!

Karditan                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Equestrian States          0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  1

Strawbee                   2 0 0 0 0 6 0 2 1 11
Skeckoa                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  4

The Republic of Lanos      0 0 1 0 1 3 0 1 2  8
Free Republics             1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  4

Group 3                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States           2    2   0    13    1  +12     6
2 Karditan                    2    1   1     7    3   +4     3
3 Strawbee                    2    1   1    18   15   +3     3
4 Free Republics              2    1   1    15   15    0     3
5 The Republic of Lanos       2    1   1    10   11   −1     3
6 Skeckoa                     2    0   2     5   23  −18     0

ALL EVENED UP!
No need for panic, Strawbee bats pound Skeckoa for 11 runs, Strawbee now 1-1

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL PLEASE READ! It has come to Strawbee government attentions that "rogue reporter" has sent anonymous news postings and photos to international sportings news sources and Strawbee tabloid STAR'S LIVES (shocking photos of glorious leader Strawberry at ball game, buy your copy today! click internet link HERE for E-shipment!) We are here to alert you now that whoever wrote this is nothing but dishonorable and disgruntled person who is just out to write anger and falsities for trying to disparage our great nation and leader. Perhaps he spreads these lies cause he is having bitter feelings due to physical and mental weakness leading to personal misfortunes in life? Who knows baseball fans. Be sure to rely on the official Strawbee reportings for all your baseball news. It is the only way to be certain that you are safe from any inaccuracies or falsehoods in your information!!!
------

NOW ONTO THE GAME! PLAY BALL!

Strawbee Legends of Baseball Pitcher Spotlight: Bubba Klang

Bubba Klang is longtime starting pitcher of Allinlian Professional League team: The Charlai Scallops! He is well respected on Scallops team and has had much success there. He is skilled and crafty pitcher that will keep opponents off guard and provide veteran leadership to our young players! Last WBC he faced Kintratar and went 1-1. Pretty solid!

Game Report:

The Strawbee team takes to the road for the first time in Skeckoa! It was matchup of two proud former playoff teams seeking their first win of WBC tournament. Great and Honorable leader Strawbee traveled to Skeckoa as well to cheer on Strawbee team who had to bounce back from disappointing loss to hot new team: Free Republics! It was surprising and disappointing loss that reminded us here on the sports zone of Strawbee when they shocking high ranked team Tynaela at their home last WBC.

Strawbee's bats would bounce back quickly though against Skeckoa team. Troy Logan hit monster home run in first inning to score Jayson Enkhtuya and bring Strawbee up with 2 run lead! That old power hitter can still smash it out of the park friends!

Bubba Klang held Skeckoa's fearsome offense at bay, not giving up a single run through 8 innings before being pulled in 9th as opponent team score 1 run RBI off him.

Skeckoa's starting pitcher would shut down Strawbee team as well for 4 innings but would be sent back to dugout in 6th innings as Strawbee bats break through for monster inning scoring six runs to bring Strawbee's lead to 8! Hank Orr would smash 2 run RBI double and Chip Snelling would hit 2 run homer to make it 6-0. Strawbee not done yet folks as Rupp Batbayar would hit RBI to score Calvin Klugg and then Tony Khongordzol would hit sacrifice fly ball to score Golden Flower from third. Skeckoa bullpen would then finally be able to end the inning with game score at 8-0

Strawbee would score even more runs in 8th inning with RBIs from Calvin Klugg and Golden Flower and then in 9th inning Rolland Tomorbaatar would hit solo home run to bring Strawbee up 11-0!

Skeckoa would start to bust up Klang and Strawbee bullpen in 9th inning though! They would score 4 runs, but in the end they were too far behind to make a come back as Manager Kevin Saran sent our reliever Sargo Batukhan in to shut the door and end the game. 11-4 our final score. A huge blow out of a very good team! Strawbee's offense has been great and the bats in our lineup are now feared throughout all of group 3. If we get more wonderful pitching showings like what veteran Bubba Klang gave us than we should be in good shape to repeat as mighty playoff team! Let's go Strawbee!

Player of Match Honor Award: Bubba Klang: 8ip 1R 8Ks

--RBI Tracker--

Chip Snelling: 1HR 4RBI
Hank Orr: 1HR 3RBI
Rolland Tomorbaatar: 1HR 2RBI
Troy Logan 1HR 2RBI
Calvin Klugg: 2RBI
Jayson Enkhtuya: 2RBI
Rupp Batbayar: 1RBI
Tony Khongordzol: 1RBI
Golden Flower: 1RBI

GLORY TO STRAWBEE!

ALL HAIL GREAT AND HONORABLE LEADER STRAWBERRY!

by **Sakurakoku** » Mon May 20, 2013 7:34 pm

9th inning rally falls short as Wolves fall to 1-1

This round went to the alpine pack animals.

Brett Rochester made a leadoff walk in the 6th inning count into a run on a Tyler Thomas single and closer Nick Bowden made it stand as Super-Llamaland came away with a 4-3 victory against Sakurakoku. Hikaru Horie and Kazuhide Suzuki both had solo home runs in the loss.

Up 4-3 going into the ninth inning, Bowden was brought in following a three-up three-down eighth by Robby Irving. After Kazuhide Suzuki drew a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth as the Wolves' tying run, Azusa Uemura laid down a bunt to advance him. Third baseman Alex Cameron threw the ball to first and got Uemura out, preferring to allow the Wolves a slower runner on second rather than let "Azunyan" demonstrate the reason behind her catlike nickname. In retrospect, it appears to have been a smart decision on Cameron's part: a pinch-hitting Homura Saitou punched a single into right field but the slower footspeed of Suzuki combined with a clean throw home by right fielder Chris Harder held the tying run on third, where Suzuki would not move from again as Bowden proceeded to strike out Yuuhi Katou and induced Hikaru Horie to ground out to shortstop to preserve the save for Super-Llamaland.

The Silver Wolves now return to Kugamachi for their tournament home opener against familiar foe Zwnagzug. This will be the first time the two teams will play in the group stages - Sakurakoku is a lifetime 1-6 against the Zebras, the lone win coming in the final series of WBC 21.

Sakurakoku         1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  3  8 1
Super-Llamaland    0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 X  4  9 0

W - Lucas
L - Aishi
Sv - Bowden

Scoring Summary:

Top 1st: Katou struck out looking. Horie homered to left-center. Yasuzumi grounded out to second. Yamagishi struck out swinging. Sakurakoku, 1-0.

Bottom 4th: Cameron grounded out to shortstop. Mills singled to right. Harder doubled to left, Mills to third. Rochester sacrifice flied out to center, Mills scored. Addams walked. Thomas doubled to right, Harder scored, Addams scored. Lucas popped out to first. Super-Llamaland, 3-1.

Top 5th: Suzuki homered to left-center. Uemura flied out to left. Aishi walked. Katou popped out to first. Horie grounded out to second. Super-Llamaland, 3-2.

Top 6th: Yasuzumi struck out swinging. Yamagishi doubled to center. Kaneko singled to left, Yamagishi to third, Yamagishi out at home, Kaneko to second. Dojima doubled to right, Kaneko scored. Suzuki flied out to center. Tied, 3-3.

Bottom 6th: Rochester walked. Addams grounded into fielder's choice, first baseman Horie to pitcher Aishi, Addams out at first, Rochester to second. Junji pitching. Thomas singled to right, Rochester scored. Dawson pinch-hit for Lucas. Dawson singled to left, Thomas to second, Thomas out at third. Bradley flied out to left. Super-Llamaland, 4-3.

by **Ethington** » Mon May 20, 2013 7:37 pm

Walsh hits 8th inning Grand Slam, leads the Owls to 15-3 rout
Written by Alan Smith, Baseball Columnist

Ethington                       1 0 2 0 3 0 2 7 0 15
Aardenland                      1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

#23 Ramsey: 1/4, Single,  RBI, SO, BB
#55 Walsh: 3/5, 1 HR, 1 GS, 6 RBI, Double
#9 MacKenzie: 2/5, Single, Double, RBI, 2 SO
#72 Owston: 2/3, 2 Singles, FC, Stolen Base, Sac Fly, 
#88 Flynn: 1/5, 3 SO, Ground into DP, Single. 2 RBI
#70 Bardsley: 1/4, Single, Stolen Base, SO, RBI.
#2 Errol: 1/3, 1 HR, 3 RBI, SO, BB
#1 Cléirich: 1/4, Single, SO, Ground into DP.
#10 Moreau: 1/3, HR, SO, RBI
  → #58 Seppänen: 1/1, Single
    → #26 Carmen: 0/0

The offense started early in Aardenland, as Tobias Walsh had his first RBI of the day in the first inning. Cavan Ramsey walked on nine pitches, and Walsh turned around and hit a double off of the first pitch. Later, in the third inning, Cam Moreau would hit a solo homerun, his only hit of the day. Ramsey would strike out, and Tobias Walsh would hit a solo homerun as well. The Owls would give Dietrich an early night with a three run fifth inning.

Owston would get aboard with an easy single. Bardsley would join him, and Owston would advance to third. With runners at the corner, and Damon Errol would send the pitch to deep right field, putting the Owls up 6 to 2. In the seventh, Sullivan MacKenzie would hit a double, and Owston would hit another single, moving MacKenzie to third. During Flynn's at bat, Ollie Owston would steal second, putting both runners in scoring position. Flynn would then hit a single that would short hop the wall. MacKenzie scored easily, and Owston would beat Ricky Bruijn's throw to the plate.

Finally, the Owls would put the nail in the coffin, and put it in the hole with a seven-run eighth inning. Errol walked, and Cléirich would then hit an infield single. Errol's quick speed allowed him to reach second safely, and Aardenland would fail to get an out on the play. Seppänen, who had come in relief of Moreau the inning before, would then hit a shallow single to load the bases. Cavan Ramsey would strike out, bring Tobias Walsh to the plate.

Brick Moreland, play by play announcer wrote:"Walsh at the plate, in a 2-1 count. He's already hit a home run to left field, back in the fifth. He digs in and awaits the pitch. Sands, into the wind, fires. Walsh swings, he hits it hard to right, it's high, it's long, IT'S OVER THE WALL! TOBIAS WALSH, SMASHES ONE TO RIGHT FIELD, AND IT JUST CLEARS THE WALL! HE'LL COME IN TO BE MOBBED AT THE PLATE, AND ETHINGTON TAKES A 14-3 LEAD! That pitch was dead centre, BEGGING to have a hurt put on it, and Tobias Walsh takes up the offer!

Up next, are the hosts, Cassadaigua. This game will be played at Stadio Sasaka, and will be a 1 PM afternoon game. The pitching matchup will feature a workhorse in Damien Vergil, facing Samantha Leblanc. Vergil will use a two seam, four seam, slider, and curveball, while favoring his four seam fastball. Leblanc prefers to use a splitter.

by **Qazox** » Mon May 20, 2013 7:39 pm

Qazox starts off slow...

Qazox                           0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 1  5
Western Cuba                    0 0 1 0 3 3 0 1 X  8

Despite leading 4-1 in the 5th, Qazox' Harvey Mell allowed a pair of 3-run HRs, one in the 5th and one in the 6th, as Qazox lost 8-5 to open up WBC 26 play.

CF- Justin Madroe  2-5, 1 run, 1 SB
2B- J. C. Vulp 2-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double
3B- Brianna Handel 1-5, 2 RBI, double
RF- Chad Cochran 0-5, 3K, 1 RBI
C- Allie Durmitt 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 HR (in 4th inning)
SS- Zach Joswyn 1-5, 1 error
1B- Joshua McCullen 0-4, BB
LF- Leslie Fanueil 1-4, 1 run, double
SP- Harvey Mell- 5.1 IP, 7 runs, 6 ER, 6K, 2BB, 2 HR allowed (L 0-1) (0-2 batting, 2K)

... But rebounds with 8-run fifth

Trailing 3-0, and being no-hit to that point, Qazox erupted for 8 runs on 11 consecutive hits, including a stunning triple from Starting pitcher Jillian Hecht, that made it 5-3 Qazox.

Cowardly Pacifists              0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Qazox                           0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 X  8

CF- Justin Madroe  2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI 2 SB
2B- J. C. Vulp 2-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double
3B- Brianna Handel 2-5, RBI, double
RF- Chad Cochran 1-3, 2 BB, RBI
C- Allie Durmitt 1-4, 1 BB, 
SS- Zach Joswyn 2-5, CS
1B- Joshua McCullen 3-5, 2 runs
LF- Leslie Fanueil 2-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 2 doubles
SP- Jillian Hecht- 7.0 IP, 3 runs, 3 ER, 7K, 1BB, (W 1-0) (1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, triple batting)

by **New Montreal States** » Mon May 20, 2013 7:42 pm

STRONG PITCHING A PRIORY CONDITION OF VICTORY FOR REFORMED EXPOS

Lachapelle-Lachance keeps Expos in game until they could get to the Pelicans' bullpen

VALDEMONT - The NMS Reformed Expos overcame a near-complete lack of offense for the first six innings of last night's game, rallying from a 2-1 deficit with two-run innings in the seventh and eighth to overcome the plucky Pelicans of The Priory of St Luc. Reformed Expos manager Lionel Dayton credited starter Luc Lachapelle-Lachance with keeping the team in the game while the lineup struggled to come to grips with Pelicans' starter Fr. Jacques. Lachapelle-Lachance scattered three hits and two walks across seven solid innings of work. A leadoff walk by Fr. Benedictus, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Sir Theodore and an RBI double by Br. Eugene and a two-out solo home run in the sixth by Br. Miguel, were the only blots on an otherwise solid performance from Lachapelle-Lachance.

Fr. Jaques looked to be the story of the night, though, fearlessly sallying forth over both corners and putting the Reformed Expos to flight through the first six innings of play. Greg George's eye-roll after striking out in the first inning on a slider that danced just below his bat set the tone for the Reformed Expos during the first six innings. Jean-Charles St-Anton's two-out home run in the bottom of the fourth was the only hit the team managed against Fr. Jaques until the seventh.

Things began to turn the Expos way at that point, when Ephraim Zimbalist Jr. turned on the slider that had been baffling the Expos all night for an opposite-field single. A suddenly cautious Fr. Jaques began dancing around the outside corner, giving up a five-pitch walk, his first of the night, to Greg George. Needing to protect a one-run lead, and without the questions of pride arising from a no-hitter or shutout, Pelicans manager Sir Zachariah quickly went to the bullpen, bringing in Br. Jorge an inning early to try and pitch out of the jame. After St-Anton couldn't get a bunt down in fair territory, Br. Jorge jammed him for an infield pop-up. He then got Loic Cloutier to fly out to shallow left, preventing the runners from advancing. He was on the verge of escaping the jam when Larry Walker drove a hanging breaking ball off the rightfield wall for a bases-clearing double that put the Reformed Expos on top for good.

The bottom half of the Expos lineup cobbled together another two runs in the eighth inning, as Br. Leo came on to try and hold off the Expos's lead to one run. This was not to be, however, as Michel Boucher-Thivierge led off with a double, and was then driven in by Max Fortex's long single into right field. Fortrex was awarded second base on a balk, advanced again on a slow grounder to second by Vaillancourt, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zimbalist. The Pelicans, having gone down quietly in the eighth, couldn't manage anything against closer Alexandros Diapoulos, and the Reformed Expos found themselves off to an early 2-0 start.

Up next is a trip to Western Cuba, where the Expos will be very hard pressed to keep their winning streak going.

by **Super-Llamaland** » Mon May 20, 2013 8:09 pm

Group 9
Soviet Party 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Allinlia 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 X 5

Carasatoga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Zwangzug 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 X 4

Sakurakoku 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3
Super-Llamaland 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 X 4

Group 9 Pld W L RF RA RD Pts
1 Allinlia 2 2 0 10 5 +5 6
2 Super-Llamaland 2 2 0 11 8 +3 6
3 Sakurakoku 2 1 1 10 5 +5 3
4 Zwangzug 2 1 1 8 6 +2 3
5 Carasatoga 2 0 2 6 11 −5 0
6 Soviet Party 2 0 2 2 12 −10 0

A three-run fourth by the Llamas propelled them to a 4-3 victory and a 2-0 start. It's nice, but so was the 4-2 start they had in WBC 23 before fading back. It's too early to see whether the Llamas will be successful.
Zwangzug returned to form with an easy 4-1 win, Allinia beat the Soviet Party 5-1. Allinia is tied with the Llamas for first place.

Chris Evans, bullpen coach. He once was a phenom.

He went twelve and five in the Level-Two minors after Talahita picked him seventeenth in the draft, with a 3.18 ERA and 126 K's in 117 Innings. The next year, he climbed up to the highest Llamanean minor league: Level Five, in a hitter's park. But still, he was fourteen and six with a 2.75 ERA. He even threw ten innings in the majors that year, going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Then came the majors. The less successful Llamanean Baseball League (LBL). And an ugly first four years with Talahita:

7-12, 4.38 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 2.3 BB/9
6-17, 6.24 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 4.4 BB/9
3-2, 2.39 ERA, 6.3 K/9, 2.1 BB/9
10-13, 4.42 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9

Talahita cut him after that. Later, he was picked up off the Level-Four scrap heap by Apple Valley, home to Tim Morrison, the best pitching coach, some said, ever. He had a bumpy first year, but then Morrison sorted things out:

6-8, 4.82 ERA, 6.5 K/9, 1.2 BB/9
12-3, 1.99 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9
14-6, 3.48 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9
17-10, 3.35 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 4.6 BB/9
21-7, 2.64 ERA, 12.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9

Morrison was hired to a foreign league after his twenty-one win season. The pitchers stumbled without him:

11-10, 4.47 ERA
6-15, 6.24 ERA
12-7, 4.23 ERA

Then Evans retired for the international team.

Leo Davis is a phenom. But he finally slowed down in the second half of 2011, then in 2012.

6-7, 4.28 ERA
12-10, 4.47 ERA
(Career Average: 16-7, 3.28 ERA)

The issue was tracked back to the second half of 2010, where Davis went 2-3 with a 4.48 ERA before surrendering to arm surgery.

Evans knew what to tell Davis. It was what Morrison would tell Evans, and who knew, maybe one day Davis would tell somebody. (Maybe that 3-year-old on youtube).

"Stop throwing your fastball, because they can hit it, even if you think it's invincible."

Of course, Evans (who threw a 92-mph fastball) would be much more easily persuaded than Davis (who hit triple digits an average of .68 times a game over the past 3 years). But he was determined to try.

Leo Davis's dilemma was not that his arm had wore down, like the critics said. It was that he began to think he could get everybody out with his fastball, his 97, 98, 99, 100 mph fastball. Maybe he was afraid to throw his cutter with fear of arm injury. But after a while, everybody knew he would throw a fastball, and his ERA shot up.

Evans told him to use his cutter more, than was on his way to watch the next starter, curveball-hurling Ryan Lucas.
Lucas had injured his arm. Evans rushed back to see Leo Davis.

"You're starting tonight."
Silence.
"Huh?"
"Go warm up. Lucas got hurt."
Silence.

Davis threw his cutter for the first two innings. All cutters, four strikeouts. Thomas Yaft came out to tell Davis use the fastball and he did, although not too much. Evans had succeeded. But they were down 1-0 when the Llamas came up in the bottom of the fourth after being blanked earlier.

M Danks triples to RCF. Danks to third. No out.
A Cameron flies out to LCF. Danks scores. One out.
D Mills strikes out. Two out.
C Harder walks. Two out.
B Rochester singles. Harder to third, Rochester to first. Two out.
With J Addams batting, Rochester steals second. Two out.
J Addams doubles to RF. Rochester scores. Harder scores. Two out.
T Thomas pops out. Three out.

Davis gave up two more runs and finished with a good line:

7.1 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 10 K/4 BB, 109 P, 3.68 ERA

Evan Daye finished things up as closer Nick Bowden rested.

1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K/0 BB, 19 P, 0.00 ERA

In the sixth, pinch hitter Drew Robertson smashed an RBI triple into the right-field corner. Robertson finished 2 for 2 with an eighth-inning single.

Through two games...

Hitting Hero: Alex Cameron was 2-for-4 today and is an aggregate 5-for-8 (.625) with 3 RBIs and 2 RS.
Hitting Zero: Tim Thomas was 0-for-3 and is now 0-for-7 with no RBIs OR Runs

No decision on pitching yet.

by **Allinlia** » Mon May 20, 2013 8:23 pm

Home Cooking!
Allinlia defeats Soviet Party 5-1, win 2nd straight home match to take group lead

Soviet Party           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Allinlia               0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 X  5

Carasatoga             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Zwangzug               0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 X  4

Sakurakoku             1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  3
Super-Llamaland        0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 X  4

Group 9               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Allinlia                2    2   0    10    5   +5     6
2 Super-Llamaland         2    2   0    11    8   +3     6
3 Sakurakoku              2    1   1    10    5   +5     3
4 Zwangzug                2    1   1     8    6   +2     3
5 Carasatoga              2    0   2     6   11   −5     0
6 Soviet Party            2    0   2     2   12  −10     0

Reporting From Fonzona, Allinlia

Player Spotlight: Eli Wells

The young ace pitcher of the Brineport Grays, Wells not only led his long suffering ballclub, (along with power hitter Gus Farllai) to a championship and is the recipient of multiple pitcher of the year awards, he also has been highly successful for the Allinlian WBC team as well going undefeated last time out.

Allinlia was riding high from it's upset victory over Zwangzug to open the tournament and would find themselves in front of a sellout crowd at Fonzona again as Eli Wells took to the mound to face off against the unranked Soviet Party baseball team still licking their wounds for their opening day loss against Sakurakoku. The game today had the makings of a great pitching duel through 3 innings as neither team could break through against the opposing squad's starter. Allinlia would draw first blood with a big 4th run inning punctuated by a 3 run homer from Aiden Stairs. Conan Marteen would also hit a home run to put Allinlia ahead 4-0. Nick Fasano would score in the 5th as well to give Allinlia a 5 run lead before Soviet Party finally scored against Wells scoring 1 run in the 6th inning but that would be all they could muster as the empire's bullpen closed the game out strong to give Allinlia a very nice 5-1 victory. Allinlia will now travel to Sakurakoku to face off against a strong playoff veteran trying to get themselves back to glory. It should be an intense match against 2 very evenly matched teams and a real test for Allinlia as they won't have the benefit of the passionate Fonzona fans this time. Allinlia heads into the game confident and in excellent playoff position with their 2-0 start. Group 9 is highly competitive however and nothing can be taken for granted at this early stage, a win here though would make a strong statement that Allinlia is ready to be taken seriously as a championship contender

---RBI Tracker---

Aiden Stairs 1HR 4RBI
Conan Marteen 1HR 1RBI
Nick Fasano 0HR 1RBI
Paul Majuwitz 0HR 1RBI
Andy Capps 0HR 1RBI
Devin Kearns 0HR 1RBI
Toby Abbott 0HR 1RBI

by **Milchama** » Mon May 20, 2013 9:27 pm

"According to plan"

"Oh yeah"

"8-3 win, +10 run difference after two games"

"It's wonderful"

"Yes"

"Ok look"

"What?"

"I can't do this charade anymore"

"What do you mean? Are you a traitor?"

"No, I'm still rooting for the Warriors but if they win too much it will ruin our RP storyline"

"No it won't. First, never forget that we never have, and probably will, have a RP story. Second, this "fall from grace" crap was a terrible storyline. There is no reason why dominant team remains dominant is any less good"

"Oh yeah good point"

"Yeah I know"

"I felt like it was almost against the plan"

"Remember that there is no teleology"

"Right"

"And that Milchama winning is always good. We're the number one seed so we should win all our games"

"Right"

"And finally that we're arrogant bastards publicly"

"Yeah these things happen when you start a nation at 15"

"Exactly, we were arrogant bastards at 15 and that hasn't changed in 8 years"

"Damn, we've been on this thing for 8 years"

"A long time"

"It's even going to survive camp"

"Yeah, that's crazy"

"Is this still IC?"

"I have no idea"

"Let's go with yes"

"Ok then"

"Yeah, let's get back on topic. So a great game right?"

"Definitely, especially that fifth inning"

"Well not for McKinley"

"True but for hitters it was paradise"

"Yeah we gave X quite whooping"

"Yep"

"10 batters, 5 runs, 8 hits"

"Everything was rolling"

"Yep"

"And that's what we need"

"More runs"

"Exactly"

"So none of this losing crap, just win baby!"

"Yeah just win!"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

by **Karditan** » Mon May 20, 2013 9:35 pm

Part 1
Part 2
A little shorter today, because it's currently an ungodly hour

Jacob rubbed his hands together, stalling for time to come up with another excuse. “...are you really sure about this? There's a couple of problems with her play...”

“Yes, I'm sure. She's the perfect five-tool player from what I've heard.”

“Well... she can't slide head-first!”

Saul leveled the most incredulous glare he could muster at the scout. “You have to be kidding. Of course she can, it's just a little uncomfortable.”

“But she's supposed to be this Speedy Gonzales-type! What kind of base-stealer won't slide head-first?”

With a sigh, Saul started to count off on his fingers. “Ty Corn, Jack Robins, Lou Rock. You know, history's greatest? Headfirst slides weren't common until Pete Tulip decided to risk his face on every extra base. And with, what, 4200 career hits? He probably had more head-first slides than the entire league had in the hundred years before he played. And, of course, everyone had to be like Pete. Well, until the gambling thing broke, a'course, but you get my point. Don't matter which way you slide as long as you know what you're doing.”

"There's just no changing your mind, is there?" Jacob looked out the window, forlornly, as another tumbleweed blew across the plain.

"No. Now get out to Beuton and get her contract."

by **Zwangzug** » Mon May 20, 2013 9:40 pm

(OOC: as per my discussion thread post, please do TG me with ideas about what, if anything, you want to see if I stick with these "flashback" RPs. I hope I'm not earning RP bonus credit from, you know, stealing Milchama's dialogue, but at least this time around it was very relevant to a conversation from last night.)

The Bassabook Baritone

Yes, we cover baseball. As of now.

Great Moments In WBC History: "I did and they sucked"

Some call it "advanced scouting," others call it "espionage." Whatever you call it, it was employed by Dweedle Dee and Dweedle Dum, the infamous pair of Milchamian (not Milchaman) fans who visited the sixth World Baseball Classic, in Liventia. The Warriors were extremely wary of their fellows who had gotten off to 4-0 starts in the preliminary group stages, to say nothing of early dynasty Az-cz.

The sign stealers learned that the Zebras "like to turn double plays." Holding down second base and attempting to participate in those twin killings was Bianca Thiesen, notable for two reasons. Firstly, she was the only woman in the starting lineup--there were no women pitchers, either, although she had two peers on the bench. It was a difficult tournament for Zwangzug's women to make names for themselves, a cause not helped by a play-by-play announcer skeptical of his female partner's qualifications. (They didn't last long, but then, who does?) The other fun fact about Thiesen is that she played for the franchise eventually known as the Zwischen Bears. They'd just gotten through another renaming. And had still not decided on becoming the Zwischen Bears. Oh well.

But whichever Dweedle came to watch the Zebras learned little more, as then-manager Reynolds decided to throw them off the pace. The ensuing dialogue says it all:

Milchama wrote:"...At least you could of filmed the football"

"I did and they sucked at it"

"The Zwangzug national football team? They're top 20 in the world"

"No the baseball team, they were quite bad"

"Why were they playing football?"

"I have no idea, I couldn't hear anything but it was ridiculous."

In a hard-fought match of pitchers versus position players, the latter prevailed 23-19. Highlights included Colin Gutenberg (Mustangs, long relief) not realizing it was the kind of football you play with your feet, Tobias Utopia (soon-to-be Bears, closer, and yes, we did have a bullpen in those days) scoring a hat trick in the losing effort, and Mitt Amadeo (Aurora, middle relief) appreciating the nuances of the goalkeeping position despite the best efforts of Zwangzug's then-contemporary footballing establishment.

For the record, the decoy worked; in the third-place series, Zwangzug swept Milchama, to partially avenge their defeat in the previous final.

For some reason, football-style tiebreakers have never gained popularity as a method of settling ties in baseball. That said, the Zebras might have taken to it after that final, which took ten innings for Milchama to win. It would no doubt have curtailed the interminable Milchama/Qazox encounter in the first group stage (a long win for the Warriors saw them join the Pheonix in clinching). And current technologies employed by statisticians everywhere do run the slight risk of inattentive use leading to...er..."pitchers' duel-esque" results. But maybe good old extra innings are for the best. As the vaguely-misogynistic play-by-play guy once said, "You can have tactical complexity or stupid idealism, not both."

by **Maklohi Vai** » Mon May 20, 2013 10:41 pm

Part 1

Kumalo drove out to the airport waiting area around 3 pm, plenty in time for Bishop Lennon's 4 pm flight. It was a perfect day, about 83 and sunny, with a light breeze from the west. The roads were mostly clear, as it was the peak of the early summer season where everyone was at home trying to finish up their last projects for school and work. Kumalo drove largely with apprehension about the meeting. He had met once before with Lennon, but it was a rather short and rushed visit. The man had been kind, but there was no time for real long term reflection between the two. Now that he was making it his primary focus, Kumalo hoped that would come to fruition.

The first glimpse Kumalo caught of Bishop Lennon was not a promising one. Gone was the man who had come as the bearer of faith with broad shoulders and a thick head of gray hair. This man in the lobby was hunched over, with wispy hair and slightly unkempt clothes. He coughed as Kumalo spotted him and called him over.

"Bishop Lennon!"

"Ah, my brother Kumalo!"

The two men embraced, and Kumalo could feel the tenseness fall out of Lennon's body. He remembered his mother's saying: "The elderly clench to put on a face of appropriate quality, but the harder they clench the quicker they lose their dignity."

"Relax, Bishop."

"Thank you, thank you. So, where do we go first?"

"Well, we will bring your things back to my home, where you will be staying."

"Ah, so kind."

"Anything for a brother of the faith, Bishop Lennon. We are glad to have you."

"Will we be talking much tonight?"

"I have not planned that, but if you would like to discuss your health---"

"No, no, no. The focus of this journey is our faith, not my health."

"But Bishop, I do not want to see you suffer. You can receive free medical care if you are evaluated to be in a serious condition."

"I will be fine. I may die, but I don't want to die in a hospital bed."

"I see, Bishop Lennon. If you change your mind, do not hesitate to tell me."

The Bishop waved him off. They walked, or in the Bishop's case, hobbled, their way to Kumalo's car. The ride was mostly in silence until the end, when downtown Kolo Lahi came into sight. The Bishop stirred.

"Those people, up there in the towers, how many of them believe?"

"Not many. We have less than 5000 members in our organization."

"Then what do they believe in?"

"Nothing, Bishop. Maklohi Vai is over 90% atheist."

"Is Margaret, to you, a deity?"

"She is a deity, yes, but I don't believe she is a goddess. I believe Margaret is a divine being who has powers beyond mortal control. My job is to appease her to use those powers in the favor of my country and its people whom I love."

"Your cause is admirable, Brother Kumalo, but I disagree. Margaret is the Great Goddess whom to we pray, I believe."

"And I can understand that as well, Bishop Lennon. I believe Margaret's powers only extend so far as the cover the realm of sports and athletic events. By extension she affects anyone who is a fan, which is quite a lot of people here."

"So do you wish for all people to pray to Margaret?"

"I do not, because no faith that has full belief is a pure faith. In Maklohi Vai's previous dimension, there were men who set up cult like followings of all of their citizens. This lead only to bad things. In every society, there must be some who believe and some who don't."

"That is quite interesting. I wish to talk with you more on this."

"As do I, Bishop Lennon."

And the car ride went back into silence. The Bishop went up into his room after dinner, mind still set on the conversation he had had with Kumalo. He felt the need to think more on the subject, and to formulate his precise response. Perhaps Father Dylan back home could help?

Maklohi Vai                0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 3  7
Beldonia                   1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Scoring Summary
6th: Mae'ao hit a three run home run to left, driving in Aputo Roma’ai and Iao Laina, each of whom had singled.
8th: Iao Laina hit a solo home run with two outs.
9th: Mae'ao led off the inning with a double to right. Koilani Ruputuo hit a single to drive him in, and then Arnao hit a two run shot to left to drive them both in.

Stat Update:
HR: Mae'ao 3, Arnao 1, Iao Laina 1
RBI: Mae'ao 5, Arnao 2, Wolo Rakinalmanai 1, Moalna’akai Lai 1, Iao Laina 1, Koilani Ruputuo 1

by **Equestrian States** » Tue May 21, 2013 5:56 am

ESPN: Equestrian Sports Programming Network
Equestrians Emerge Victorious From Pitchers' Duel

Group Stage - Game 2        1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9      R  H  E
 Karditan                0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -   0  2  0
 Equestrian States       0 0 0  1 0 0  0 0 X  -   1  4  0

WP: Fireball (1-0)
LP: Money Ball (0-1)

PONYVILLE - After seeing the Phoenixes obliterate Skeckoa 12-1, most fans expected the much-anticipated Equestrian-Karditani game to be a high-scoring affair. But what transpired at Ponyville Park was anything but a battle of the bats. Rather, it was the pitching prowess of both starters that defined the contest. With neither side able to put many runners on base, the two-out RBI single of Ashley Hamilton in the fourth inning would prove decisive enough combined with the two-hit gem of Fireball. It was the second complete game thrown by an Equestrian pitcher in the first two games of the 26th World Baseball Classic.

Next up for the Phoenixes is their regionmate: Strawbee, a team they easily swept in the group stage of the last Classic.

by **Sangti** » Tue May 21, 2013 7:11 am

SANGTI'S HIDDEN CAMERA SPORTS SHOW

Deportes Cámaras Ocultas showing Mr. Monico Deligero's post match locker room conversation with the Sangti Indios. He is not clearly in a mood after giving up the lead against Ko-oren in their first home match of the WBC26. The video is not available but the audio is available. (weird though) The players were anonymized. It is obvious which voice was Monico's. But we still altered the voice quality by Digital Signal Processing.

"Come on team! WHY DID YOU LOSE? You guys had the lead in the third inning until the start of top of the fifth! It could have been an close game! But what did you do? give up 8 runs in 2 innings? That's unbearable son of...!"

"But sir! This is our first foray into the World Baseball Classic. This could not be our season but hey, we will bounce back in a number of seasons."

"Well you're right... WAIT A MOMENT THERE! THIS IS OUR FIRST HOME GAME YOU MORONS! AND YOU DARE PERFORM POORLY AND LOSE BY A GARGANTUAN MARGIN?!? AND WHAT IF WE ARE UNRANKED YOU STUPIDS DID YOU HEAR MY PRESSCON EARLIER! IT IS NOT EVEN THE CASE IN THIS SIXTH INCARNATION OF THIS WBC!!! MANY UNRANKED TEAMS WERE THERE BUT THEY CAN BEAT HIGH RANKING NATIONS!!! THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE! Number ******************* you will be benched for the next game."

"But..."

"There are no BUTS! (throws something, the camera is hit and is broken)

(NO SIGNAL DETECTED)

Anyway here are the results of Group 2.

Group 2
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec   0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1  3
German-Spanish Empire         0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  4

Ko-oren                       2 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 5 12
Sangti                        1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Cyborg Holland                0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  3
Milchama                      0 0 3 0 5 0 1 0 X  9


  Group 2                      Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Milchama                       2    2   0    16    6  +10     6
2 Ko-oren                        2    1   1    15   10   +5     3
3 German-Spanish Empire          2    1   1     7    7    0     3
4 Cyborg Holland                 2    1   1     9   10   −1     3
5 Sangti                         2    1   1     7   15   −8     3
6 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec    2    0   2     4   10   −6     0

ERRATUM: The affilate of DCO, Diario Deportivo del Sangti made an error in their report. The Sangti Indios did not host Cyborg Holland. It was Ko-oren.

by **Cassadaigua** » Tue May 21, 2013 8:26 am

Time to cut this off again!

Group 1
Schmiegelland                 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Sova Empire               0 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 X  5

Thrilledge                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Michael VII                   0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Yesopalitha                   0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  3
Kriegiersien                  0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 X  4


  Group 1                      Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Kriegiersien                   3    3   0    14    5   +9     9
2 Yesopalitha                    3    2   1    12    5   +7     6
3 The Sova Empire                3    2   1     9    9    0     6
4 Michael VII                    3    1   2     7    9   −2     3
5 Thrilledge                     3    1   2     3    7   −4     3
6 Schmiegelland                  3    0   3     7   17  −10     0
                    

Group 2
Milchama                      0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0  6
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec   0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3

Sangti                        0 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 1  7
Cyborg Holland                1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

German-Spanish Empire         2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Ko-oren                       0 2 0 1 1 0 2 0 X  6


  Group 2                      Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Milchama                       3    3   0    22    9  +13     9
2 Ko-oren                        3    2   1    21   13   +8     6
3 Sangti                         3    2   1    14   18   −4     6
4 German-Spanish Empire          3    1   2    10   13   −3     3
5 Cyborg Holland                 3    1   2    12   17   −5     3
6 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec    3    0   3     7   16   −9     0

Group 3
Free Republics             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Karditan                   0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 X  3

Skeckoa                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
The Republic of Lanos      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

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


  Group 3                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States           3    2   1    14    4  +10     6
2 Karditan                    3    2   1    10    4   +6     6
3 Strawbee                    3    2   1    21   16   +5     6
4 Free Republics              3    1   2    16   18   −2     3
5 The Republic of Lanos       3    1   2    10   13   −3     3
6 Skeckoa                     3    1   2     7   23  −16     3

Group 4
Vaugania                   0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2  6
Maklohi Vai                1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  4

Shadowbourne               0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
TWS of the Mediterranean   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2

Beldonia                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Serbian Empire         0 0 0 0 3 3 0 1 X  7


  Group 4                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Serbian Empire          3    2   1    11    6   +5     6
2 Vaugania                    3    2   1    15   12   +3     6
3 Maklohi Vai                 3    2   1    15   12   +3     6
4 TWS of the Mediterranean    3    1   2    10   12   −2     3
5 Shadowbourne                3    1   2     4    6   −2     3
6 Beldonia                    3    1   2     7   14   −7     3

Group 5
Estope                 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0  3
Backyard Sports        0 0 0 0 1 5 0 1 X  7

Saugeais               1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Sicoutimont            0 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 X  5

New Bierstaat          3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  6
Free Swiss States      0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3  5


  Group 5               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Sicoutimont             3    3   0    21    7  +14     9
2 New Bierstaat           3    3   0    14    9   +5     9
3 Saugeais                3    1   2    12   11   +1     3
4 Backyard Sports         3    1   2    11   11    0     3
5 Free Swiss States       3    1   2    11   13   −2     3
6 Estope                  3    0   3     5   23  −18     0

Group 6
Darmen                 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 0 0  7
Kinzar                 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  5

Thatius                0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1  3
Bloodbath Generation   0 1 1 4 0 0 4 0 X 10

The Fair Republic      3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Mapletish              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0


  Group 6               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Darmen                  3    3   0    24   12  +12     9
2 Kinzar                  3    2   1    18   11   +7     6
3 Thatius                 3    2   1    18   13   +5     6
4 Bloodbath Generation    3    1   2    17   21   −4     3
5 The Fair Republic       3    1   2     7   14   −7     3
6 Mapletish               3    0   3     5   18  −13     0

Group 7
Qazox                           0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3
The Priory of St Luc            2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  4

The Jahistic Unified Republic   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Cowardly Pacifists              0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 X  3

New Montreal States             2 2 0 1 3 0 0 1 0  9
Western Cuba                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2


  Group 7                        Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 New Montreal States              3    3   0    19    6  +13     9
2 Western Cuba                     3    2   1    24   20   +4     6
3 Cowardly Pacifists               3    2   1    15   12   +3     6
4 Qazox                            3    1   2    16   15   +1     3
5 The Priory of St Luc             3    1   2    10   17   −7     3
6 The Jahistic Unified Republic    3    0   3     8   22  −14     0

Group 8
Cassadaigua                     0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Ethington                       0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 X  5

Powersith                       0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2
Byfugland                       0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 X  6

Aardenland                      1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1  5
Free South Califas              2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  4


  Group 8                        Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ethington                        3    2   1    23   10  +13     6
2 Byfugland                        3    2   1    14    8   +6     6
3 Cassadaigua                      3    2   1     8   10   −2     6
4 Free South Califas               3    1   2    14   11   +3     3
5 Powersith                        3    1   2     7   15   −8     3
6 Aardenland                       3    1   2    10   22  −12     3

Group 9
Super-Llamaland        0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2
Soviet Party           0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 X  4

Zwangzug               0 0 1 0 2 2 2 0 0  7
Sakurakoku             1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Allinlia               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3
Carasatoga             0 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 X  5


  Group 9               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zwangzug                3    2   1    15    9   +6     6
2 Allinlia                3    2   1    13   10   +3     6
3 Super-Llamaland         3    2   1    13   12   +1     6
4 Sakurakoku              3    1   2    13   12   +1     3
5 Carasatoga              3    1   2    11   14   −3     3
6 Soviet Party            3    1   2     6   14   −8     3

Group 10
Taeshan                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  2
Lycrabon               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Slembana               0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Saintland              0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Komodo Dragon          0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Scandigrad             2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3


  Group 10              Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Scandigrad              3    2   1    16    9   +7     6
2 Komodo Dragon           3    2   1    14   12   +2     6
3 Lycrabon                3    2   1    11   10   +1     6
4 Saintland               3    1   2     9    9    0     3
5 Slembana                3    1   2     8   12   −4     3
6 Taeshan                 3    1   2     7   13   −6     3

Challenges: (In no way do these need to be followed. Their purpose is to provide inspiration for RP when it could not otherwise be found).

Historical Challenge: Reference a past World Baseball Classic that I pre-determine. Today, World Baseball Classic 15.

Random Nation Challenge: A nation from the Who's Chatting list on the main page is randomly selected. (Nations participating in the WBC will not be picked). Reference that nation in some capacity. Today: United Federation of Canada

by **Equestrian States** » Tue May 21, 2013 9:38 am

ESPN: Equestrian Sports Programming Network
Andrew Andrus: Now the Most Hated Being in the Equestrian States

Group Stage - Game 3        1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9      R  H  E
 Equestrian States       1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -   1  9  2
 Strawbee                0 1 0  0 0 0  0 2 X  -   3  7  0

WP: Sargo Batukhan (1-0)
LP: Andrew Andrus (0-1)
SV: Vaan Percy (1)

PEERSON, STRAWBEE - Well, so much for a perfect record.

After taking an early lead on Blazer's first pitch homer in the top of the first inning, the Equestrian States simply didn't play at their usual level. A lazy error by Steven Wilson in the second frame basically gifted Strawbee the tying run, which seemed to steal the energy away from the visiting Phoenixes. That's not to say the Equestrians didn't generate any offense; no, the Phoenixes had plenty of baserunners, but couldn't get any of them across the plate.

And so, when Strawbee came to bat in the eighth inning, it was still a tie game. Everything fell apart from there. After walking the first two batters, reliever Andrew Andrus surrendered a double to Troy Logan that scored the go-ahead run for the "Legends". Chip Snelling stepped into the box next and was promptly beaned in the side by Andrus, prompting the umpire to warn the benches against any funny business. Now with the bases loaded, what is the last thing a manager wants to see? A wild pitch. Narrowly missing Calvin Klugg, the ball sailed away from Stonewall to the backstop.

It was a pathetic way to fall behind, and Firefury wasted no time yanking Andrus from the mound. Cirius promptly struck down the next three batters without any difficulty to bring the Equestrians to bat with a two run deficit. Despite loading the bases off a couple of clutch hits with two outs, the Phoenixes could not muster the final blow to drive the runners in...again.

The loss means that (obviously), the Equestrian States' perfect record is fried. The Phoenixes will look to emerge from the ashes of defeat as they return to the Equestrian States to host unranked Lanos (1-2).

by **Ko-oren** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:07 am

Cool Kids' Club

With a 6-3 victory over German-Spanish Empire, the Greenblues beat the third best team in the group (excluding Ko-oren itself). This leaves Cyborg Holland and RK Quebec as last two opponents of the first half of this group stage, and so far (well, only three games in) we may not complain. First there was the loss against Milchama: that could happen to everybody. Then the blowout win against Sangti, still 2-1 in the group, but a RD of 12 less than the Greenblues'. This shows that Sangti are definitely here to win something, maybe even upset something, but so far they lacked any kind of luck against us. If they can upset Milchama, who knows what will happen with (at that time) three similar teams. But we are not there yet. This match day had the game against German-Spanish Empire, one of those countries that are in almost every international competition nowadays, and Greenblue teams have stumbled upon them a lot lately. Right now it's baseball, and that is to GSE's disadvantage: Ko-oren is a good team, and still getting better. GSE did start very well with two runs right of the bat, but it was even at the end of inning 2. For the rest, this was a calm game, more tactical than dynamic and fast-paced. Pitchers took their time, catchers took their time, coaches took their time too. Some substitutions here and there, and even some of the players on the Greenblue side that haven't played in this or last tournament got some minutes. Eventually, Ko-oren slowly got closer to the win, with an run in the fourth and one in the fifth inning. With two more runs in the seventh, the Greenblues were almost untouchable. GSE did decrease the lead to three, just before the end.

A slow game indicates that besides Milchama and Ko-oren, Sangti and German-Spanish Empire also have some aspirations this tournament. Ko-oren already played both of them, and we will see for how long they can compete, but if they continue like this we've seen some future greats at work. About the future: Ko-oren's squad is aging heavily and new talent is imminent. The first bye day will see a match between the NT and a selected U-25 team to see what kind of new players we are going to see.

Back to our regular schedule, here is the WBC 26 overall box score:

Ko-oren               2 2 0 2 3 1 3 3 5  | 21
Others                3 0 2 0 0 1 3 1 3  | 13

With two late runs, it is almost like Ko-oren is actually good near the end of a game! At least Ko-oren's RD is positive, which out of all teams in Group 2, only Milchama can say. That's a small cool kids' club.

Ko-oren's Colonies #3: Zakhoren

On to the third colony of Ko-oren, and this time it is the colony that is furthest away from the mainland: Zakhoren. It is not as remote as Skyvinduryoren (episode #7 most likely), as it is bigger. This also makes this colony a world of its own. Governments never had time to settle in this country, which makes it little more than an instable rocky group of islands. The people practically live in anarchy, neglecting the countryside, but many people in cities do not even have bad lives. Municipal governments even have the biggest influence, with legislation (as far as it applies) different per city. Most of the restrictive Ko-orenite legislation does not happen here, which makes weapons easily obtainable. Maintenance to buildings, the environment or infrastructure hardly happens, and if it does, it is by a party that immediately profits from the maintenance. The black market is far bigger than the 'clean' one.

The people plan ahead of time and hoard clean water and food. All in all, life in Zakhoren is not that bad, if you know where to look. The sense of community is nowhere as strong as here, and people enjoy more freedom than Ko-orenites in some respects (weapons, alcohol, gambling). Still, it is not as regulated as Thaulandi (also laissez-faire, but fair toward the people). Zakhoren continuously ignores legislation passed in other colonies, and even if it would be implemented, there is hardly a police force to maintain the law. The army tends to control the rural areas of the colony, and makes sure enough food is produced to keep the population alive. Together with Ko-orenite government help, Zakhoren's HDI is lower than any other colony's, but it is still far better than many third world countries'. Moreover, war has never occurred in the country, and even a civil war is not realistic. Still, with the army influence and the availability of weapons, it is the unsafest place in Greater Ko-oren.

The rural areas, apart from some valleys fit for agriculture, is rocky and hilly. Rivers dissect the main islands, and rain often falls. The temperature is hot and humid during summer, and ice cold during winter.

Rugby and gridiron (sometimes with improvised protective clothing) are the most popular sports. Basketball is popular in the cities, and in winter people play ice hockey. Their football teams are one of the few companies in the area, and they compete every year in the Greater Ko-orenite Cup, though never in their home stadiums of Zakhoren. They always play away matches, which also accounts for their (often) poor performance.

by **Cowardly Pacifists** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:24 am

CP Baseball Report

May 21st - Phrytton, Majestic Freeholds of Cowardly Pacifists

SOTO PITCHES A GEM; SANDPIPERS ENJOY VICTORY IN HOME OPENER

 The Jahistic Unified Republic   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
 Cowardly Pacifists              0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 X  3

Winning Pitcher: Seth Soto
MVP of the Game: Darrin Shelton

Superb pitching and some late-innings heroics earned the Sandpipers a win in their home opener, as the CP baseball squad shut out the Jahistics 3-nothing. The win comes as a boon to the Sandpipers, who many expected to have difficultly rebounding after pitcher Holloway's disastrous 5th inning against Qazox.

But pitcher Seth Soto managed to right the ship. Through seven-and-a-half innings, Soto absolutely befuddled the Jahistic team, who seemed out of sorts playing without their designated hitter and lead-off man, Joel Austin. "It's all about game planning," said Soto in a post-game press conference. "We knew from watching the Jahistics that many of their players will swing at balls thrown just a bit high. Put the right spin on that, and they'll pop the ball up every time. Maybe it's a coaching thing I don't know. All I do know is that it's exploitable, and when you see a trend like that you exploit it for all you can."

"Soto may lack tact," added pitching coach Santiago Horton, "but the score backs up what he's saying. You don't end up with that many pop-fly-out's in a game by accident."

Soto stayed in game until Ronnie Bryant relieved him in the late eighth. Bryant went on to retire the next four batters to earn his second save of the Classic.

To his credit, Jahistics pitcher Lyson Luis also pitched an impressive game. He held off the Sandpipers until the seventh inning, when a fielding error by Jahistics first baseman Ted Jennette allowed Terence Ruiz to reach home off of a Lester Snyder single. Set-up closer Mike Polito gave up two more runs to the Sandpipers in the eighth, as short stop Darrin Shelton hit a ground-rule double to score Austin Schneider and Albert Wells.

The Sandpipers now go on the road to face the Reformed Expos of New Montreal States. The Reformed Expos are flying high right now, returning home off a decisive 9-2 victory over powerhouse Western Cuba. They top Group 7, and will look to continue their winning streak in front of their home crowd.

FULL SCHEDULE
~~MD 1: @ the Priory of St Luc~~ WIN 9-4
~~MD 2: @ Qazox~~ LOSS 3-8
~~MD 3: Home vs the Jahistic Unified Republic~~ WIN 3-0
MD 4: @ New Montreal States
MD 5: Home vs Western Cuba
MD 6: Home vs the Priory of St Luc
MD 7: Home vs Qazox
MD 8: @ the Jahistic Unified Republic
MD 9: Home vs New Montreal States
MD 10: @ Western Cuba

NEXT MATCH vs. New Montreal States
Sandpipers Starting Pitcher: Levi Scott
Reformed Expos Starting Pitcher: Paul Thibault

THE SANDPIPERS AT A GLANCE

WBC # 26          Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Current Rank   Current Place in Group
                    3    2   1    15   12   +3   Unranked       3rd Place

Lifetime Win/Loss:     2-1

by **The Serbian Empire** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:52 am

Serbian Empire Improves to 2-1

Stat Line for Game #3

Beldonia 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
The Serbian Empire 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 1 X 7

In the 4th inning, a Mike Danks home run sailed over the fence for Beldonia's only hit. The Serbian Empire responded with a pair of three run home runs in the 5th and 6th innings off of Marty Effenrube. #33 issued an impressive 8 innings pitched with 7 strikeouts and allowing one hit and one walk. #27 finished off the game in a non-save situation with a trio of strikeouts. The Serbian Empire's released the names of #4 as Nemanja Milic, #6 Momcilo Alenic, and #41 Vladimir Halisevic by a report from Radnicki Nis fan club members. Milic produced the 6th inning home run with Vucevic hitting a home run in the 5th. Milic also drove in the run in the 8th inning with a double to produce 4 RBIs.

United Federation of Canada to increase maple syrup exports?

Nemanja Milic is known to eat pancakes every morning before the game and loves maple syrup. His production isn't the only good news for him though as the United Federation of Canada is increasing their sale of maple syrup from the UFC Maple Syrup Reserve.

by **Strawbee** » Tue May 21, 2013 2:07 pm

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM "NEWS OF BASEBALL" ON STRAWBEE GOVERNMENT TV CHANNEL 8: THE SPORTS ZONE!!

Free Republics             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Karditan                   0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 X  3

Skeckoa                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
The Republic of Lanos      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

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

Group 3                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States           3    2   1    14    4  +10     6
2 Karditan                    3    2   1    10    4   +6     6
3 Strawbee                    3    2   1    21   16   +5     6
4 Free Republics              3    1   2    16   18   −2     3
5 The Republic of Lanos       3    1   2    10   13   −3     3
6 Skeckoa                     3    1   2     7   23  −16     3

Legendary Upset!
Strawbee gets heroic unexpected victory over Equestrian States in front of home crowd

Strawbee Legends of Baseball Pitcher Spotlight: Carbon

After going undefeated against Schmiegelland in Strawbee's WBC debut, young ace pitcher Carbon made Allinlian professional baseball league history by being first pony player to play in Allinlian league when he was drafted #1 by Bellong Barracudas baseball club. (Strawbee pony players Golden Flower and Bold Starlight would also be drafted that year) Carbon would become Barracudas #1 pitcher and win AL pitcher of the year award. Carbon is future superstar player and will only get better in coming years!

Game Report:

Strawbee baseball team returns to our home field triumphant after big win in Skeckoa but they faced their biggest test yet as they were playing best team in group and in world: Equestrian States! Young superstar Carbon took to the mound against tough Equestrian pitcher Kelly Stevens. Equestrian States team showed why they are world elite baseball team as Carbon got in trouble early as Blazer smashed his very first pitch for a home run to bring Equestrian States up 1-0.

Strawbee would answer back and tie thanks to uncharacteristic error by Equestrian States fielder Steven Wilson. The game would turn into epic pitching duel by both starters with many close calls for Carbon as Equestrian State's hitters got into scoring position many times, but Carbon would not be hit with nervousness and shut them down at every turn!

Score remained tied at 1 through to 8th inning when Troy Logan scored RBI double to give Strawbee the lead! The full house of fans at Warlords Stadium went wild for our team! Strawbee wasn't done yet as Equestrian State's reliever began to lose focus, accidentally hitting Chip Snelling with fastball pitch to put him on base and then letting fly bad wild pitch with bases loaded to bring Strawbee up 3-1. Pitcher Andrew Andrus was pulled and replaced with Cirius who shut down Strawbee hitters and ended the inning. Equestrian States would be unable to mount comeback as embattled closer Vaan Percy protected our lead and recorded great save to finish off epic upset win for Strawbee!

"We won because we had more discipline" said Strawbee Manager Kevin Saran "Not alot of people in the group can get a win over Equestrian States like this so we should be in good shape if we just play like we know we can from here on out." We at the sports zone certainly agree with Saran's wise words!

Great and Honorable Leader Strawberry was at the game and despite some claims about lack of passion and interest on her part she was standing and cheering for our team when they got this great win. Strawbee's first victory in their fierce rivalry with Equestrian States. The rivalry score is now 1 win for Strawbee and 2 wins for Equestrian states.

Kevin Saran had this to say: "Equestrian States are bemoaning the loss of a perfect record in the group, but we are only focused on each opponent and getting to the playoffs." Could lack of proper perspective have led to surprise loss against Strawbee team? Watch out Strawbee! Equestrian States will get chance for revenge at their house in second half of tournament!

Everyone should be getting excited for Strawbee team, we are now in good playoff position with this win but we face tough test against very good Karditan team tomorrow. Good luck Strawbee!

Player of Match Honor Award: Carbon, 7ip 1R, 7Ks

--RBI Tracker--

Chip Snelling: 1HR 4RBI
Hank Orr: 1HR 3RBI
Troy Logan 1HR 3RBI
Rolland Tomorbaatar: 1HR 2RBI
Calvin Klugg: 2RBI
Jayson Enkhtuya: 2RBI
Rupp Batbayar: 1RBI
Tony Khongordzol: 1RBI
Golden Flower: 1RBI

GLORY TO STRAWBEE!

ALL HAIL GREAT AND HONORABLE LEADER STRAWBERRY!

This document has been reviewed and approved by the official Strawbee sports bureau

by **Darmen** » Tue May 21, 2013 2:14 pm

Bishop Robert Lennon, a servant of Margaret. Greetings to you, Father Dylan, a man whom I trust most greatly. My days are numbered, but then again, aren't they for all of us? I have arrived here safely in Maklohi Vai, thanks to the awesome protection Margaret provides to those closest to her. My illness is clearly taking a toll on me, I was sure that the plane ride would complete my demise, but it did not!

I am fairly certain, and please correct me if I am wrong, that I am an important figure in our Church, and as such, my funeral will be a spectacular event. But what exactly makes up a funeral for a believer of Margaret? The High Priests have been silent on the issue, and I invite their wisdom, but for now will dictate what I believe.

Firstly, life. Life is one of the greatest gifts Margaret has ever given to anyone. It is in fact why we celebrate the Day of Creation, to remember that without her we would not exist, nor would this world, or the multiverse. Her awesome power created it all. So, why then shall we not celebrate life at every chance we get? I would like for my funeral to be a celebration of life, and not just my own, but all of ours'.

Secondly, burial or cremation? There is some question as to what exactly happens to a man when he passes away, but the Prophet has given us a small glimpse of the afterlife. According to the Prophet, a man who passes away is given a most important choice by the Great Goddess herself. He is allowed to pick from among four options: good places, bad places, no places, all places. New paths, old paths, wide paths, narrow paths. I do not know which path I shall take, but I do know dear brother that it shall not be no places or wide paths. And if you ask me, I myself believe that a man becomes anew when he makes his decision. Therefore, I shall have no need for my body anymore, and how long it takes for my body to return to the earth is not important.

Thirdly, rememberence. I would like to be remembered in the most positive way, and in fact would like for you to speak at my funeral, detailing the events of my life, my testimony in the faith and even what you think my legacy in this life has been. Speak quickly though, we don't want the other faithful to fall asleep with boredom do we now?

And lastly, fellowship and praise. I think any Church function should be a time of fellowship amongst believers. And why shall we not offer praise to Margaret as well? We should in fact praise her every minute of every hour of every day, but alas, this is not possible. So we praise her when we can, lifting our voices in prayer, offering rubber chickens in sacrifice, and living our lives in honor of her. My death shall simply present another oppritunity.

Finally, before I end my letter, I must ask for your advice. I am having difficulty making our dear Brother Kumalo see our point of view, that Margaret is all powerful, that her reach extends beyond the football pitch or baseball diamond. How do you think I should approach this subject?

Farewell Father Dylan, my Brother in the Faith. May all be well with you, and may I breathe long enough to read your response. Pray for me.

by **Super-Llamaland** » Tue May 21, 2013 2:29 pm

Group 9
Super-Llamaland 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2
Soviet Party 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 X 4

Zwangzug 0 0 1 0 2 2 2 0 0 7
Sakurakoku 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3

Allinlia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
Carasatoga 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 X 5

Group 9 Pld W L RF RA RD Pts
1 Zwangzug 3 2 1 15 9 +6 6
2 Allinlia 3 2 1 13 10 +3 6
3 Super-Llamaland 3 2 1 13 12 +1 6
4 Sakurakoku 3 1 2 13 12 +1 3
5 Carasatoga 3 1 2 11 14 −3 3
6 Soviet Party 3 1 2 6 14 −8 3

The Llamas and Allinlia team both had easy chances against unranked teams to go undefeated. Zwangzug would probably win too, and they did 7-3. Allinia somehow lost to Carasatoga 5-3 and the general consensus was "Llamas First Place! Hooray!"

Then, they lost.

Ryan Lucas was not very good in his return and may have re-injured himself: in just 4 1/3 IP, he surrendered 3 earned runs with six hits and two walks to just one strikeout. He pitched himself out of many jams to keep it close. Lucas threw a mere 82 pitches.

Rick Jackson also injured himself (what is with the Llamas and injuries today?) after 2/3 IP. He allowed a hit and a walk but was hit by a line drive (the hit). Jackson struck out one.

With no long relievers to go to, Allan Roswell was forced to pitch. Roswell threw the remaining pair of innings and did not give up a single hit. He struck out two but walked four, throwing 38 pitches.

The rotation was in tatters:

Evan Masorka RHP: Still here, OK
Ryan Lucas RHP: Injured for 2-4 weeks
Leo Davis LHP: Good, but will he revert to hurling all fastballs?
Allan Roswell RHP: Can't pitch tomorrow after 38 pitches.
Rick Jackson RHP: Injured and not a starter anyway.
Chris Lee RHP: Maybe?
However, the wind was blowing straight out the next day. Everybody knew that knuckleballers stunk with blowing wind.

And so it was determined:

Gm 1 MASORKA
Gm 2 ~~LUCAS~~ DAVIS
Gm 3 ~~DAVIS~~ LUCAS
Gm 4 ~~ROSWELL~~ MASORKA
Gm 5 LEE
Gm 6 ~~MASORKA~~ DAVIS
Gm 7 ~~LUCAS~~ ROSWELL
Gm 8 ~~DAVIS~~ LEE
Gm9 ~~ROSWELL~~ MASORKA
Gm10 ~~LEE~~ DAVIS

It was decided. They would have Masorka twice, Davis once, and Lee once against the two top-ranked teams.

To the hitting!

The team squeaked out a mere six hits all night. Those hits were condensed into the first, sixth, eighth, and ninth:

FIRST: Danks triple, Bradley walk, Cameron strikeout, Mills 3-6-3 DP
SIXTH: Dawson single, Danks strikeout, Bradley 4-6 FC, Bradley steals second, CAMERON RBI SINGLE, Mills flyout
EIGHTH: Thomas strikeout, Dawson flyout, Danks single, BRADLEY RBI TRIPLE, Cameron groundout
NINTH: Mills walk, Harder walk, Rochester groundout (runners to second, third) Addams walk, PH Roberts popout, Dawson flyout

The Top Hitter Count:

Danks 3-8, 3 BB, 2 R
Bradley 2-9, RBI
Cameron 6-10, 4 RBI, 2 R
Mills 1-9, 2 BB, RBI
TOTAL 12-36, .333, 6 RBI, 4 R
TOTAL W/O CAMERON 6-26, .231, 2 RBI, 2 R

Not good. The manager settled on a new lineup.

2B Danks
CF Rochester
3B Cameron
RF Harder
1B Mills
DH Dawson (if needed)
LF Addams
SS Bradley
C Thomas (who is now 0-12)

Next, a hopeful win against rivals Allinia.

by **Sicoutimont** » Tue May 21, 2013 2:29 pm

Royales Continue Winning Ways At Home

The game began to an ovation for Les Royales, playing there first home game as one of the top ranked sides in the world. Saugeais received equal cheering as the 10th and 11th seeded teams in the world ranking played in there first-ever match up. Javier Perreois and Rodney Ray got the start for this game, as Sicoutimont looked to retake the group lead after New Bierstaat's 6-5 win over Free Swiss States earlier that day. Saugeais also looked to rebound from a 1-1 start by defeating the second seeded Royales. That seemed to be how the game was going early, as Winston Chapman hit a double early to bring Garret Garner across the plate, who beat the throw from Boullion Carvier to put the Rangers up 1-0. The second inning saw more of the same, as Herve Hoffler and Radcliff Snider were brought home from a Osvald Stewart home run. Pip Joubert would be struck out, and Marco Bishop would go down on an infield fly to end the inning, that ball caught by the pitcher Perreois. Rodney Ray faced Les Royales mid order now, and Loic St-Ignace would lead off with a single. Jose Colognon was hit by a pitch and walked to first base, and Martin Vauton did not like that as he hit a double, scolding Ray as he went by for the pitcher's earlier move. Jaeg Nordstrom would single and St-Ignace became the first Royale to get home, making the score 4-1. Jose Colognon had words for Rodney Ray as he was left stranded, sparking a verbal war of words between these players the rest of the game. The 4th inning, Les Royales began to push harder, with Xavi Esquinardes homering after Ray went 3 up 3 down in the 3rd. 4-2 was the score, as Victor Santana doubled to RBI Boullion Carvier, before being left stranded on 3rd base. 4-3 was the score now, and the away side would get nothing more from Les Royales pitching staff. Jose Colognon went to second base, before Alfonso Soriano hit Les Royales' second homer of the game to go up 5-4. That would be the last scoring play of the game, as Loic St-Ignace caught Marek Atterbury's high fly ball to end the game. Les Royales are on the road again now, as they head to Schmidt Field in New Bierstaat as the current top seeds in Group 5 meet up. Carlos Santa Maria will start, his first game of the Classic. In other Group 5 action, Backyard Sports defeated Estope 7-3, as Estope's struggles continue. Good luck to Les Royales in there next match, as only 1 team will be left at the top of the group at 4-0 after the game!

by **Saintland** » Tue May 21, 2013 2:37 pm

Slembana defeats Saintland 2-1

(SP) Today, the Kingdom of Saintland faced Slembana in their home opener of the 26th World Baseball Classic. A capacity crowd of 51,773 was on hand at Royal Park to see the National Baseball Team play their home opener. It was a pitcher's duel that was close all day long. Neither pitcher gave up many hits on the day, which made for a short ballgame. In the end, Paulus Famulus faced just 29 batters on the day. He gave up 2 home runs and recorded 27 outs. Meanwhile, the Sanctii had the bases loaded on multiple occasions. This was yet another wasted opportunity. King Paulus XV is probably not happy. "We got runners on base today, but we just couldn't drive in runs. Paulus [Famulus] made 2 mistakes in an otherwise flawless outing and we lost to a team we should have beat. I don't think I've ever seen so many wasted opportunities in a baseball game where only 3 runs were scored."

The game started after a lengthy Cantus Virginum concert. They didn't just sing the national anthem, although that was the last song they sang. They sang 2 dozen songs, delaying the start of the game by over an hour. Their screaming fans didn't care that the baseball game was being delayed, since they had come to see the concert anyway. After Paulus Famulus struck out the side in the top of the first inning, Petrus Tragus led off the bottom of the 1st with a double. Ioannes Sentius reached on an infield single, as Tragus remained at 2nd base. Paulus Sittius hit a routine fly ball to the left fielder for the first out. After working the count and fouling off a half-dozen pitches, Lucius Maccius hit a routine grounder to the shortstop, who flipped to second and then to first for a double play to end the inning. The Sanctii had wasted their first scoring opportunity of the day. It would not be their last.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Paulus Famulus struck out the 7th hitter in the Slembanan lineup. He forced the 8th hitter to ground out to the pitcher. The 9th hitter got ahold of a mistake pitch and the light-hitting middle infielder somehow hit it over the fence for a home run. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Slembana's pitcher gave up a leadoff walk to Lucius Maccius. Matthaeus Bebius hit a double, moving the slow slugger to 3rd base. "Iron" Lucas Maianius was up next. He struck out. Petrus Iulus hit a shot right at the 3rd baseman for out #2. Marcus Vagnius drew a walk, bringing Marcus Tragus up to the plate. Tragus tried to check his swing and ended up accidentally laying down an awful bunt with the bases loaded. The Slembanan catcher picked it up and stepped on home plate for the 3rd out to end the inning. The Sanctii had blown their 2nd scoring opportunity of the game.

In the 5th inning, Tragus hit a leadoff single and stole both second and third base. However, Sentius struck out, Sittius hit a grounder to the first baseman and Maccius struck out. Petrus Tragus was stranded at 3rd base and the Sanctii had wasted yet another run-scoring opportunity. There would not be another serious scoring chance until the bottom of the 7th inning.

But, play did not resume for the bottom of the 7th until after the 7th inning stretch. During this stretch, the game was delayed as the Patriarch of the Church of Saintland came out to broadcast a message to the global audience watching this game. The Patriarch spoke first in Latin, so the crowd in the stadium and everybody watching on Royal Two could understand his message. Then, he spoke in the language of English, which is the most commonly used language outside of the Kingdom. The Patriarch explained what the Church of Saintland was and told the worldwide audience watching that God has a Plan for their lives and He wants them to join his True Church and discover what it is like to live the way God intended. He promised them a better life, in both this world and the next, if they joined the True Church and embraced its teachings. The SP can only say that the Patriarch was speaking the Truth and we encourage every foreigner reading this article to immediately convert to the Church of Saintland, embrace its teachings and convert your family and friends as well. Yes, God wants everybody to be saved, even the most wicked souls that have committed the most sins over their lifetimes. All you have to do is join the True Church, repent of your sins and attend Church of Saintland services on a regular basis. If you do this, you too can enter Caelum instead of burning in the fires of Infernus.

There was also a baseball game going on, although that is less important than the fate of your eternal soul. In the bottom of the 7th, Marcus Vagnius came up first. He hit a long fly ball to the warning track in center, but the center fielder caught it a few feet in front of the fence. Marcus Tragus was up next. He swung at a 1-1 fastball and sent it through a gap into left field. Tragus made it into first for a single. Petrus Tragus was up next. On the 1-1 pitch, Marcus Tragus took off for 2nd. Neither the pitcher nor the catcher expected this move, so Marcus Tragus easily beat off a throw by the catcher. Petrus Tragus took the 1-2 pitch and hit it into right field. It dropped into right field just over the right fielder's head. By the time he realized where the ball was and threw it to the cutoff man, Marcus Tragus had long since crossed the plate and Petrus Tragus was on 3rd base with a triple. Ioannes Sentius tried a squeeze, but the catcher tagged Tragus out at the plate and still tossed to first for the double play. The game was tied, but the Sanctii had wasted an opportunity to expand their lead.

The top of the 9th inning rolled around as Paulus Famulus struck out the #8 and #9 hitters for Slembana. Their leadoff man came up and somehow got all of a Famulus fast ball. It went over the fence in left field for a second home run. Slembana had a lead. The Sanctii would load the bases again in the bottom of the 9th. However, Paulus Sittius would ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded. The Kingdom of Saintland had lost 2 to 1, but they had outplayed Slembana.

Meanwhile, Taeshan scored a run in the top of the 9th and another run in the top of the 10th to stun Lycrabon 2 to 1 and Komodo Dragon defeated Scandigrad 4 to 3.. Tomorrow, the Kingdom of Saintland's National Baseball Team will be visiting 41st ranked Komodo Dragon. Currently, every team in Group 10 is either 2-1 or 1-2, so this will likely be a very competitive group. In all likelihood, the Sanctii will need to win 5 out of their next 7 games to make the playoffs. That is difficult, but doable. As always, tomorrow's game will be broadcast on Royal Two. It will be a critical day for the Sanctii in their efforts to to make the playoffs.

World Baseball Classic 26- Everything Thread (IC)

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