World Baseball Classic 29 - Everything Thread

[Equestrian States]

World Baseball Classic 29 - Playoff Stage
Round of 16 - Game 2 Results

Ponyville Park, Ponyville
 #1 Ko-oren                    2 0 0 1 1 1 4 0 0  9
#16 Milchama                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0  5

Ko-oren wins series 2-0

Foragers Field, Whitetail
 #8 Saintland                  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0  4
 #9 Super-Llamaland            0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 3  7

Super-Llamaland wins series 2-0

Mountainside Field, Stalliongrad
 #4 Vaugania                   2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  4
#13 Kingdom of Costa Luna      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1  5

Series tied 1-1

New Harmony Arena, Manehattan
 #5 Karditan                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3  4
#12 Cassadaigua                0 0 1 0 1 1 0 6 X  9

Cassadaigua wins series 2-0

Forest Stadium, Everfree
 #2 Alitaba                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
#15 Nova Anglicana             0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 X  3

Nova Anglicana wins series 2-0

Trottingham Memorial Stadium, Trottingham
 #7 Gregoryisgodistan          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2  5
#10 The Fair Republic          0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 4  7

Series tied 1-1

Baltimare Harbor Grounds, Baltimare
 #3 Hicana                     1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  3
#14 The Royal Barangay         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Series tied 1-1

West Orchard Field, Appleoosa - Scorinated by Northern Sunrise Islands
 #6 New Wolfopolis         2 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 0  8
#11 Equestrian States      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Series tied 1-1

[Milchama]

"Wheezed out again"

"I blame everyone!"

"Fire them all!"

"Burn everything!"

"Let's go!"

*And thus did start the epic riot of 234 MCE where all of Alexandria did burn and most of Port James and a good bit of New Babylon and parts of the Coast and that one bit of Tel Morlin and just for kicks that one Mongol city that nobody can pronounce. It was a good riot.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People:

"Our intelligence services in Hicana indicate that the military leaders responsible for the attacks on our nation and Gregory Llama Land has been fired by the Hicanan president. Our sources believe this means peace is imminent. I have yet to receive word of surrender from the Hicanan government, but I expect it to come soon. We shall finally have peace in this nation. Hicana shall surrender before the awesome might of the Lord.

"I applaud the Hicanan government for making the right decision for their people. Otherwise, we would have been forced to drop our entire arsenal of solar-powered bombs and destroy their entire nation. Everyone would die. The nation would be wiped off the map. It would perish from this multiverse. So congratulations, Hicanan government. You saved your whole nation by finally admitting you were wrong.

"In the event that I am wrong and Hicana does not surrender, continuing to persist with these attacks, the threat still stands. If Hicana attacks either our nation or Gregory Llama Land, we will drop our entire arsenal of solar-powered bombs on their nation, completely destroying it. You will all die. Do not let it come to that. Surrender immediately and unconditionally. There is still hope for your nation.

"Finally, I wish to announce that Rebecca Lillard has successfully been transferred to the authorities in New Wolfopolis who will attempt to 'rehabilitate' her. I have no confidence that this method will work and wish their government would do the right thing and execute her and her entire family, purging her genetic material from the country and preventing the murder gene from being passed on. However, in the interest of preserving the friendly relationship between this country and the New Wolfopolis, I have agreed to extradite Ms. Lillard. We have received certain compensation in return, the terms of which I cannot disclose. Thank you to the New Wolfopolis government for your cooperation.

"One more thing - Go Bat Slaves!"

[Super-Llamaland]

#8 Saintland                  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0  4
 #9 Super-Llamaland            0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 3  7

Win and we're in

<-Darren Milicic, posted at The WBC Project (thesportsproject.com/wbc)>

So, the Tigers beat a team of naked women seven to four. Besides, uh, the naked women, the unique thing here was that we didn't score until the sixth. Usually we get our runs in pretty early, but nope, not today. And after A.J. Rondout threw seven innings of quality pitching (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 10 K/2 BB, 108 Pitches, 0 HR) and the offense finally came through in the sixth in seventh in poetic fashion.

TIGERS SIXTH: Danks walks on 6 pitches, Earnest singles to CF (Danks to second), Matthews flyout to RF (Danks to third), Moreno singles to CF (Danks scores, Earnest to third), Camden singles to SS (Earnest scores, Moreno to second), Rochester pops out to 1B, Cassini strikes out on 9 pitches. TIGERS LEAD 2-1.

TIGERS SEVENTH: PH Bryant triples to RCF, Baxter walks on four pitches, [b]Danks singles to LF (Bryant scores, Baxter to third), Earnest doubles to CF (Baxter scores, Danks to third), Matthews pops out to 2B, Moreno strikes out on 5 pitches, Camden grounds out to SS. TIGERS LEAD 4-2.

But then, of course, Bobby Fritz had a blowup. One clout from Martha C, who sped around the bases for an easy triple, and the game was soon tied at four apiece. Fritz blew his second save of the classic and the twenty-two-year-old may have to start worrying about replacements eight years too soon. Nick Bowden recovered from yesterday's meltdown with a scoreless inning. Who's it going to be tomorrow?

Trick question! Nobody, and you'll see why.

Ninth inning: We ran up two outs far too quickly, with pinch-hitting Roger Harkless opening his playoffs with a whiff and Max Danks, possibly distracted by the naked woman on the mound, tapping a nice, fat, hanging curveball harmlessly foul before flying out to shallow center. This was not poetry, but at least Jake Earnest was up. Everypony knows Jake Earnest is clutch.

Earnest weakly tapped Lucia E (we'll assume this is a different Lucia E than the ace pitcher)'s first offering to second. Urk. Another extra inning game.

But the naked Priscilla N slipped, possibly because of her lack of shoes, and bobbled the ball. She fell over and Jake Earnest was on first with a convenient E-4.

Things snowballed, with the worried reliever throwing four straight balls to Trevor Matthews.

Can you see how this ends? You're right, because Bryant Moreno smashed Lucia's first offering 453 feet into straightaway center to end the game. 7-4, Tigers advanced.

Oh, and by the way, television ratings of the game were suspiciously up 20%. I wonder why.

[The Fair Republic]

Tony Williams walks into the locker room in Trottingham Memorial Stadium. The chatter of his players dies down immediately. Tony smiles and is still amazed after all his year managing, that he still commands his players respect. He stares down at the floor, at a loss for words. A 4 run bottom of the 9th saved the Toucans from elimination yesterday. He hopes that he won't need a rally to get past Gregoryisgodistan.

"Listen up." He speaks just above a whisper. He doesn't need to speak louder, they can all hear fine.

"Today is the deciding game. Everyone will be watching at home to see if we beat Gregoryisgodistan to advance to the quarter finals. You thought it was a big stage yesterday? Think again! Now they are playing to not get eliminated, and they want it ten times as more than you do. There hungry and ready to strike!" Now that doesn't mean that we can't win. You just have to follow these rules,
1) Don't F*** up- Enough Said
2) Work as a team- In baseball 1 person can't win or lose a game. You win as a team, you lose as a team.
3) Remember the fundamentals- Don't try to be the hero, play smart baseball, play good baseball and play team baseball and we will win. TOUCANS ON THREE, 1........2.........3, TOUCANS!!!!! Practice is in 5 minutes and for gods sake Henderson tuck in your shirt and look like a ball player!

[Sangti]

KPMB Chief Pedrito Mariano with some Arias personnel

Pedrito travelled from the KPMB office to the deserted building in Mogya, where he met with the people of Gran Supremo Antonio Arias. He himself was a Arias crony and he used to be there as an enforcer, killing anyone who trespasses in sight. He discussed what he wanted to happen in a few days time.

"I know that we had a suicide bomber unit or something here?" Pedrito asked.

"Well what do you want to do, Mr. Sports Chief?" One of the men asked, He wore an all black suit with a black face mask.

"Well, i want you to kill the members of the National Baseball Team. Antonio ordered me that if The Royal Barangay fails to deliver the title to our nation, then, they will never set foot in this land ever again."

"That's ridiculous."

"So you won't accept this deal? I know all your dark secrets, and I wouldn't hesitate to spill them out, Mr. Congressman."

"I'm not saying that I won't do it. I was wondering what came through Antonio's mind when he made that decision."

"OK then, make sure the plan succeeds."

"Roger."

[Hicana]

From: The Desk of Peter Stanton, President of Hicana
To: The Desk of Lord Almighty Gregory, Leader and Deity of Gregoryisgodistan

Dear Lord Almighty Gregory,

It should please you to learn that one of your spies in our military, Private Nelson Ogilvy, shot dead General Alexander Sanchez IV, the man who orchestrated the attacks of Gregoryisgodistan and Gregory Llama Land. I have appointed Brigader General Kevin Alder to become our new general, and he should prove both cooperative and competent.

Sanchez's attacks were without government permission, but the brief war between our two nations is something I can not pass the blame on for. The government of Hicana offers their sincerest apologies to the families of the three killed and eleven wounded in District 35, Ward 11, along with the estimated 403* killed and 1,502 wounded in Gregory Llama Land. For the crime of these brutal murders, we would have condemned General Sanchez to a life behind bars and possibly execution, but as it stands, we won't need it due to Nelson Ogilvy.

The Hicanan government surrenders unconditionally to Gregoryisgodistan. We would like to honor the innocent deaths in Gregory Llama Land and District 35, Ward 11 with a monument in Hicana to remind the people of these crimes we have committed.

The Hicanan newspapers are already calling it the "seven-day war" due to its short length.

-Peter Stanton
President
The Republic of Hicana

*We have increased our death toll to 403 from 293 after recalculating the formula.

Hicana Army Release #0201

The Hicanan government has surrendered to Gregoryisgodistan in the seven-day war between the two nations. The war began with the death of Peter Volcker, a hockey player who competed briefly at the Twenty-third World Cup of Hockey.

Through bombings, the Republic of Hicana killed 403 in Gregory Llama Land and 3 in Gregoryisgodistan, the other belligerent in the Seven-day War, along with one Hicanan spy, while our side suffered twelve deaths, not counting the late Mr. Volcker.

Our hearts go out to the following military deaths:

• Private Conrad Wilkenson, Centi IX, Division Sixteen
• Private Harry Sanchez, Centi IX, Division Sixteen
• Private Jeff Plum, Centi IX, Division Sixteen
• Junior Sergeant Jason Robinson, Centi IX, Division Eighteen on loan to Division Sixteen
• Private J.D. McKenzie, Centi IX, Division Sixteen
• Private Mark McKenzie, Centi I, Division One
• General Alexander Sanchez IV, General from 1997-2014
• "Xenon" Carlos Miguel Hernandez, Centi VL
• "Neptunium" Michael Soy, Centi VL
• "Helium" James Finn, Centi VLII
• "Iron" Greg Smith, Centi VLI
• Brigader General Mark Morris, Brigader General from 2010-2014

The Seven Days War is over. Our hearts go out to the families of the deceased on both sides, and wish for peace to reinstate itself.

[Equestrian States]

World Baseball Classic 29 - Playoff Stage
Round of 16 - Game 3 Results

Mountainside Field, Stalliongrad
#13 Kingdom of Costa Luna      1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
 #4 Vaugania                   1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 X  4

Vaugania wins series 2-1

Trottingham Memorial Stadium, Trottingham
#10 The Fair Republic          0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
 #7 Gregoryisgodistan          0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X  2

Gregoryisgodistan wins series 2-1

Baltimare Harbor Grounds, Baltimare
#14 The Royal Barangay         0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1  4
 #3 Hicana                     0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

The Royal Barangay wins series 2-1

West Orchard Field, Appleoosa - Scorinated by Northern Sunrise Islands
#11 Equestrian States      1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
 #6 New Wolfopolis         0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 X  3

New Wolfopolis wins series 2-1

---

Quarterfinals

#1 Ko-oren vs. #9 Super-Llamaland
at Baltimare Harbor Grounds (cap. 31,850) in Baltimare

#4 Vaugania vs. #12 Cassadaigua
at Forest Stadium (cap. 25,000) in Everfree

#7 Gregoryisgodistan vs. #15 Nova Anglicana
at Mountainside Field (cap. 34,750) in Stalliongrad

#6 New Wolfopolis vs. #14 The Royal Barangay
at Ponyville Park (cap. 32,000) in Ponyville

[Ko-oren]

Previous

"It's just that the message is so short, we can hardly do much with it. But here it is, this is what was on the note."

Ko-oren in 2
Super-Llamaland in 2
Vaugania in 3
Cassadaigua in 2
Gregoryisgodistan in 3
Nova Anglicana in 2
New Wolfopolis in 3
The Royal Barangay in 3

"That's exactly what happened! Quickly, go through his stuff to find what else is in there!"

"With your knowledge of the previous note, how long does it take to decipher this one?"

"Depends, if it's structured like the last one, only a few minutes."

---

"We couldn't really find out much. He probably used a different system for this. Here is what we found based on the previous code."

KS 0-10 / 2
VC 0-10 / 3
GN 20-30 / 3
NR 0-10 / 3

"Provided that it has something to do with the WBC..."

"Regardless of that, Edwards was guilty as hell of buying the WBC just based on the previous note. If we can find out what it says on this one in time, we can see if the WBC still behaves exactly as he fixed it. I think we can safely say he was one of the big guys in the gambling world. He had the correct scores and all. So that also casts some suspicion on his network. The agents abroad... did they work for him or for the CIB?"

"Maybe we can find out more about them with what was written on this note. If they were as corrupt as Edwards, they should probably win some money this round, right? Or last round, or the coming ones. Those that come to collect their wins on a completely flawless round should be suspicious. Can we find anything about those guys in his office? And in which countries are they located?"

"How about in all the countries he mentioned to us? He said something about where his agents are. If I recall correctly... ehm, shouldn't all of it be registered somewhere?"

---

"Here it is. Wow, that's a list. Nassau-Hessen, Imota, Maklohi Vai, Rizealand, Strawbee, Equestrian States, Alitaba, Mochria, Estope, Lycrabon, New Koln, Middleton Valley, at least. And then that is just what he mentioned to us. So all of those nations have people that bet money for themselves and for Edwards?"

"We'll have to alert local authorities instantly. Tell them to post people around betting offices, and look for people that got everything right. And if they immediately try to get more money in the quarterfinals."

[Gregoryisgodistan]

#10 The Fair Republic          0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
 #7 Gregoryisgodistan          0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X  2

"Hello, I'm Sportscaster POA918AHZZB with highlights of the Bat Slaves' deciding Game 3 against the Fair Republic. The winner would advance to the quarterfinals to face Nova Anglicana.

"We pick it up in the top of the first, James WIlson on second, Henry Brando at the plate, Spelling Enforcement Officer 01AHH183 on the hill, and two outs. He pitches it and it's grounded up the middle for a base hit. Wilson rounds third, there's a play at the plate, and he is called out. Wilson does not like the call and yells at the umpire, Rufus Burns of New Wolfopolis, and gets ejected. Wilson refuses to leave the field, but Burns said "Get out." Wilson pretends not to hear him, and Burns spells it out, saying "G-E-T O-W-T." Wilson then leaves the field fuming. The situation appeared to be resolved, but then Spelling Enforcement Officer 01AHH183 noticed that Burns spelled "out" wrong. Although the umpire claimed it was an accident, Spelling Enforcement Officer 01AHH183 still needed to punish him.

"Ordinarily, you would go to a spelling reeducation camp for 28 days," said Spelling Enforcement Officer 01AHH183. "But since there isn't one in this country, I sentence you to death by enemy crusher. Go at him, Furgles."

"At that, Enemy Crusher Bobby Furgles came down from first base and crushed Burns to death. He was ejected as a result and went to the clubhouse. Surprisingly, he wasn't arrested, maybe because the pony police were afraid of being crushed too. An alternate umpire was summoned and the game continued, heading to the bottom of the first.

"Top 5 now, Spelling Enforcement Officer 01AHH183 still on the hill facing Brando, and it's deep and gone to right field for a home run. Fair Republic is up 1-0. The Bat Slaves would need to come back or be eliminated in the World Baseball Classic.

"We move along to the bottom of the seventh, Executioner 9D8AH at the dish, runner on third and two outs. It is hit on the ground to Picker, but he bobbles it for an error, everyone is safe and the run comes home. The score is tied at 1. Shirtmaker 9DHUAS struck out to end the inning.

"Top 8, and it's a new pitcher for Gregoryisgodistan. Coming out of the pen was Pantsmaker OA01929. He blew the lead in game 2, and needed to redeem himself to avoid execution. There's one strikeout, there's two, and there's three. He struck out the side. Just an impressive performance, perhaps earning him a reprieve.

"Bottom 8, two out and nobody on for the soft-hitting Grammar Enforcement Officer OOA0010. He came on after the starting catcher was ejected for crushing an umpire. And that ball was hit on a line to left and somehow made it over the wall, barely. Grammar Enforcement Officer OOA0010 can't believe it but he gave the Bat Slaves the lead, 2-1. They needed three more outs to seal the deal.

"And who better to do it than Chef SHSUUAISSADF? He has been brilliant. He gets Julian Brooks to ground out to first, strikes out Harry Liddi on a change up, and then Orville Jaeger is caught looking at a fastball on the inside corner. The Bat Slaves celebrate on the field, since they just advanced to the quarterfinals! A glorious performance.

"We will see you in Stalliongrad tonight. The high air should make things interesting. Surprisingly, nobody was suspended out of the crushing incident, so we're back to our normal starting lineup."

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions Set to Face North American Rivals

Allen Talos, Londinium Courier

After sneaking in to the playoff rounds of WBC 29 via a combination of fortunate circumstances, the Nova Anglicana Lions would face a tough road to the championship. First up was #15 seed and world #17 Darmen, in a one-shot neutral-site game. The Lions passed that test with flying colors, riding eight shutout innings and ten strikeouts from Felix Murphy to a 5-0 win over Darmen. That earned them a spot in the round of 16 against group-mate and #2 seed Alitaba, who finished 9-1 in the group stage, including defeating the Lions twice. Kip Fischer pitched eight innings of one-run ball, inducing three double plays, and a three-run blast by Kareem Al-Aniz in the 7th put the game out of reach at 6-0. The Lions would win 6-1 and need just one more victory to advance to the quarterfinals. They got their 3rd consecutive superb pitching performance, as Justin Garcia bounced back from a tough group stage to allow just one run in seven innings. 2nd baseman Chris Fletcher and pinch-hitter Brooks Merriman hit back-to-back doubles in the 7th, and Roman Jennings led off with a home run in the 8th to provide the final margin of 3-1. Kyle Pauley and Jamey Conroy threw two perfect innings in relief of Garcia to secure the win.

The Lions' opponent in the quarterfinals will be the #7 seed Gregoryisgodistan, 2-1 series winners over The Fair Republic, and winners by surrender over Hicana in the Seven Days War. Our Prime Minister made a statement against the violence, but I am of the opinion that we must work to liberate the citizens of that nation and topple their tinpot dictator, by force if necessary. Nevertheless, a good whupping in baseball would be a good place to start. The extra day of rest allows manager Graig Lowman to start Murphy in the second game of the series if he wants to. I have a hunch we'll see Chris Keyes no matter what, and Murphy if we lose the first game, but Bryan if we win the first game. Make no mistake, the Bat Slaves are a tough opponent, especially when they can crush people to death with impunity, but we didn't get where we are today by failing in the face of adversity. Here's to a burgeoning rivalry, and some revenge for the IBS III final. Go Lions!

Editor's Note: The views expressed in this column are solely the views of the writer and not necessarily those of the Londinium Courier or the government of Nova Anglicana.

[Sangti]

SPORTS - WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Indios face Wolfpack in quarterfinals showdown
by Rafael Sigua

BALTIMARE, EQUESTRIAN STATES - The road to glory continues for the Indios.

Baltimare Harbor Grounds, Baltimare
#14 The Royal Barangay         0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1  4
 #3 Hicana                     0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

The Royal Barangay wins series 2-1

After being shutted out for the very first time in WBC history, the Indios bounced back to win the series after a 4-1 win. Again, there was no Dale Decolongon, but there were many heavy hitters to save their asses from humiliation and an early exit in Equestrian States. Erick Navarette finally returned to his WBC 27 and 28 form when he hit a triple HR to give the Barangayans a 3-1 lead, after Hicana took the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Franco Lumahan had a stellar game for the Indios, with eleven strikeouts and allowing only one run, while the closer, Winnie Deles saved the match as he threw four stikeouts of his own in the last two innings to set a date with the New Wolfopolis Wolfpack in Ponyville. The Wolfpack ended the hosts' hopes of winning the WBC crown at their own turf after defeating them 3-2 in Game 3.

The Wolfpack and the Indios have not met before in the WBC Stage, but faced each other twice in the recent International Baseball Slam, splitting their games at one apiece.

Player to watch (courtesy of Anutin Tabu)
Katsunori Matsuoka - The center fielder is one of the Wolfpack's gems in this classic. He is capable of scoring homeruns in a game to game basis, so the pitchers should find a way to avoid any home runs from this man.

Benjamin Dimacuha - The third baseman is the Indios' most reliable player in the battery of the team. Although his hits are not as powerful as Decolongon's or Luyaben's, he somehow has the highest batting average of the team in its four cycle run in the WBC.

In the mound, Russel Lauchengco will start for the Indios, with Roochie Gosiengiao as the long relief and Joesal Sagaysay as the short relief or the closer. The game will be live at TiViSangti Sport 1. Join Beethoven as he preview the eight remaining teams in the pregame show,

[Super-Llamaland]

It's the Mooostt Wonderrrful Tiiiiime of the Yearrrr!

<posted by Ryan Simmons on The WBC Project <thesportsproject.com/wbc29>

They're set, they're set!
The matchups are set!
Simmons can't compose poetry!
They're set, they're set!
The matchups are set!
Simmons still can't make poetry!
In Lit Class, this would get a D!

Yeah, terrible poems I wrote in a bus going from White-tail to Baltimare aside, the quarterfinal matchups were published on the official website on the World Baseball Classic today. Of course, we already knew we were playing Ko-oren, but we didn't know where it was because we're lazy like that. Let's go through, matchup by matchup.

#1 Ko-oren vs. #9 Super-Llamaland
at Baltimare Harbor Grounds (cap. 31,850) in Baltimare

There's us! Super-Llamaland facing off against the playoff number-one seed, Ko-oren, who went 9-1 in a tough group while accusing other nations of bribery, like Hicana, who went into a brief war against Gregoryisgodistan and also lost. (The playoffs, not the war, although they did technically surrender. However, 403 Gregory Llama Land citizens and 3 Gregoryisgodistani citizens died to a big fat zero Hicanan citizens, so on the other hand, not really.)

Anyway, Ko-oren swept Milchama while we defeated a bunch of naked feminists, so attempted difficulty doesn't exactly favor us. But seriously, we're number two, they're number twenty-two, and while they've been admittedly playing better than us at WBC 29, small sample size! We're still the better team, but Ko-oren will push us to three.

#4 Vaugania vs. #12 Cassadaigua
at Forest Stadium (cap. 25,000) in Everfree

Vaugania Golden Eagles, meet Team Cassadaigua. The ladys in pink had their momentum slightly stalled by the fearless ponies of Karditan, who probably aren't fearless but I don't care. Vaugania also needed the full three to dispatch the Kingdom of Costa Luna, although none of their players could smash one out of Coughman Stadium, not even Patrick Kendall.

I'll take Vaugania on second thought, setting up a semifinal rematch with the Tigers. They've done better at the classic plus they have a higher ranking, although both news coverages haven't been the loudest. Vaugania in three.

#7 Gregoryisgodistan vs. #15 Nova Anglicana
at Mountainside Field (cap. 34,750) in Stalliongrad

Battle of the North American region-mates. Nova Anglicana denounced violence in the Seven Day's War, although some bloggers said "kill the tin-pot dictator and his tin-pot dictatorship!" What tin pots have to do with this is unclear, but the War is over and Hicana has randomly plunged into civil war due to their idiot Congress doing something only the idiot Congress of Hicana would do. Back to this, Nova Anglicana crawled into the playoffs with a terrible 5-5 record but then beat Darmen and Alitaba to get here, so I'm unsure. Gregoryisgodistan needed three games to put down The Fair Republic, and the Lions are going to do the same thing here.

#6 New Wolfopolis vs. #14 The Royal Barangay
at Ponyville Park (cap. 32,000) in Ponyville[

Huh. New Wolfopolis, the Wolfpack; Royal Barangay, the Indios. The Royal Barangay is the number-one team in the world, but they barely made it into the group stage and then needed the maximum four games to get here over Hicana and Britonisea, both teams the Indios should've normally been able to deal with easily. With threats hanging over manager Monico Deligero's head, the Indios will be under pressure to succeed, only they won't. New Wolfopolis has made great improvements, and I'll take them in three.

You'll notice that some of my predictions differ from those of Carlos, and that's because he knows nothing about baseball. My final four, with real ranks, would be:

(2) Super-Llamaland v. (8) Vaugania
(7) Nova Anglicana v. (25) New Wolfopolis

that's a lot more reasonable than:

(2) Super-Llamaland v. (18) Cassadaigua
(28) Gregoryisgodistan v. (25) New Wolfopolis

Which would feature one team in the top sixteen teams. I have to give Carlos some credit for going 7-for-8 in the Ro16, though.

Uh oh. Who's corrupt and accusing others now?

[Cassadaigua]

Baseball Follows Recent Trend,
by Rachel Sharper, Concord Heights Times- Senior Editor

World Baseball Classic 27 was a disaster. We all know what happened, and even though Queen Courtney seems content with the nation’s laws on gambling, and may even soften them further; that Classic tarnished the legacy of many great Cassadagan ballplayers. Included of course was Meghan Corrigan, the coach of the team and an instrumental figure in running the scheme, but had been a hero as a pitcher of two Classic championships. The Cassadagan Association for Baseball brought in two people from the outside, including Erica Lambert, to lead the way. Lambert’s jersey is retired at Concord Heights Stadium, but that is as a soccer player. She worked with the Di Bradini Cup players, and seemed to be in a position to work her way up to the senior team in soccer, as a coach. Before WBC 28, Lambert was shockingly announced as the new President of CAB, and her task would be great.

The last Classic saw Cassadaigua go 6-4 in the group stage, pretty much beating the teams they should, and losing to the teams they were expected to lose too. That saw the team eliminated in the group stage, but CAB was hoping it would be baby steps. The team was a collegiate all-star team, and they did a fair job of representing the country. Now, two years later, CAB elected not to reinstate the nation’s biggest stars, but not to go back to another roster of college stars. Instead, it would be most of the WBC 28 roster brought back. It was what you could call a half-risk. The result for a while didn’t seem like it would be what it has ended up becoming, as Cassadaigua seemed to linger around the top, but just outside a playoff position again. But some results fell in their favor, and Cassadaigua’s 6-4 record, this time, was enough for the playoffs. Now, after two strong games against Karditan, Cassadaigua finds themselves in the quarterfinals, and against one of those nations that was in their group from the last Classic, Vaugania. They couldn't beat them out when it mattered last time, and we're sure the players have themselves a good memory and are looking for a little redemption.

Whether that redemption happens though, is immaterial to the fact that Cassadagan teams are slowly but surely finding themselves back to the top of the sporting world. The brief hiatus caused the team to drop in rankings across the board, and with the WBC 27 debacle, the pink and black fell significantly on the baseball diamond. The recent trend has been very positive: a World Bowl title (and a runner up), an IBC Championship (and a runner up), and most recently riding on the coattails, was the hockey team, who finished 3rd in hostile territory in Saintland, in that tournament. That was a huge accomplishment. The soccer team flirted with advancing to the round of 16 in World Cup 67, showing the world that they were more then just there because they were a co-host. Now, the soccer team is ranked 32nd in the world, and things look up on the pitch. And now, baseball. Only eight teams left, and Cassadaigua is one of them. Can this run continue further? Don't bet it against it. Well, how about just not betting on baseball, at all. That's gotten us in enough trouble already.

[Equestrian States]

World Baseball Classic 29 - Playoff Stage
Quarterfinals - Game 1 Results

Baltimare Harbor Grounds, Baltimare
 #9 Super-Llamaland         2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  4
 #1 Ko-oren                 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  3

Super-Llamaland leads series 1-0

Forest Stadium, Everfree
#12 Cassadaigua             4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
 #4 Vaugania                0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  4

Cassadaigua leads series 1-0

Mountainside Field, Stalliongrad
#15 Nova Anglicana          1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
 #7 Gregoryisgodistan       0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 X  4

Gregoryisgodistan leads series 1-0

Ponyville Park, Ponyville
#14 The Royal Barangay      0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 2  7
 #6 New Wolfopolis          0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

The Royal Barangay leads series 1-0

[Ko-oren]

KS 0-10 / 2
VC 0-10 / 3
GN 20-30 / 3
NR 0-10 / 3

"So... Back to the numbers. The first scores are in. Are they anywhere on this thing? Or is this like the previous note he left us? With just what team would win in how many games?"

"It's probably similar... A few people have been arrested in various nations who had a perfect score on the previous games and there was a lot of money involved in all of them. The problem is that they did not all bet on the same thing for the quarterfinals. Some of them could be innocent, obviously, but overall, there is probably some matchfixing in all of this."

(OOC: letting this rest here for a while, and if my predictions come true, I'll make sure to bore you all with that for a few cycles)

---

BCCC to start after WBC finals

AIBC committee members have confirmed that this year's BCCC will start as soon as the WBC finishes. "That way, we can assure the domestic leagues that they can play continuously without having two separate breaks: one for the WBC and one for the BCCC." With just four leagues finished across the regular BCCC member states, a few more administrative formalities need to be completed by the time the WBC reaches the finals. Out of the eight last remaining nations in the World Baseball Classic, only one is probably submitting its teams to the BCCC, and that would be Ko-oren.

Zwangzug took the BCCC by storm last year, and their teams are said to keep it up for this cycle. They pushed our own league down to second place, while Acedonia is the dark horse of next tournament. Their national team might not have been able to pull off much, their teams are not bad at all. Sicoutimont's and Karditan's time might be over, according to some baseball buffs: their legacy relied on two teams (Ile-Perrot Epee and Fillydelphia Fillies), and with last BCCC going terribly for them and this WBC cut short to both teams as well, they might need a cycle or two to restructure and come back. Lastly, Estope might be a surprise at the next edition of the BCCC as well. They do not have the numbers to back them up, with just one team among the final 16, but the Eldora Tigers might have a successful run next time.

Despite everything, Maklohi Vai's Lowanaki Anchormen won the last edition. Zwangzug stole the show with two teams among the final four, while Ko-oren's good old Charging Hounds completed the four final teams. Still, we think the FTC Mustangs might win the next trophy and put Zwangzug baseball back on the map, while their national team finished fifth out of six in the WBC group. And here it just seems like nations either choose for club baseball or international baseball.

---

Hitting coach Gotoba resigns over bribery allegations

Shocking developments in the CIB cases reveal that Gotoba might have been involved in matchfixing in the WBC. While nothing has been proven yet, the former central fielder quit the national team just before his team would play Super-Llamaland in the quarterfinals. It is unclear who will do his job for the remainder of the World Baseball Classic, though Hidenobu or Minamoto could both fit the bill for now. Depending on the outcome of the investigations by the CIB, head coach Yoritomo said he "considers resigning" depending on how many members of his staff turn out involved in the scandals.

[Sangti]

SPORTS - BARANGAYAN BASEBALL
KPMB rumored to be adamant in supporting new baseball league
by Rafael Sigua

PONYVILLE, EQUESTRIAN STATES - While the national baseball team enjoying their 1-0 series lead against New Wolfopolis (which were incorrectly announced as a 1-0 lead for the Wolfpack by the local media), domestic baseball in The Royal Barangay is looking to be a bleak case.

After the Baseball Unified League of Sangti and Alitaba (BULSA) folded due to lack of government support, talks on a revived or an entirely new baseball league surfaced amid the Indios' fairly good performance in this year's classic, leveraged by their runners-up finish. However, an unnamed KPMB insider told the news agencies that Pedrito Mariano, the KPMB chief, is against the supporting of the proposal.

The insider, who refuses to be named amid security fears, told that Mariano is against the idea of reviving a 'league that failed miserably after a couple of seasons' and ensured the rest of the KPMB that no baseball league will be approved during his reign as the KPMB chairman. The insider also revealed that Mariano is against the possibility of manager Monico Deligero keeping his post at the conclusion of the Classic.

With the news breaking out around the nation, some people were concerned about the developing issue. "We are fearing for the demise of baseball here in the Royal Barangay. With Pedrito's stand like that, it's hard to imagine that baseball would survive in this nation despite Deligero's efforts." A concerned citizen said, who was interviewed in Cencioino, which is Monico's hometown.

Both parties refused to comment on the issue. The KPMB will release a statement regarding the issue.

Meanwhile, at the postgame conference, I asked Deligero about the issue around the KPMB. "I would rather focus on our next game rather than tackling that issue." He said. Leevhan Mumar will start on the mound for the next game of the Indios, who will look to sweep the Wolfpack for a place in the semifinals.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People:

"About 24 hours ago, I received notice of unconditional surrender by the Hicanan government. The Seven Day War is over and our people can live in peace and security. So can the good people of Gregory Llama Land. I regret that so many lives have been lost in this bloody war. Therefore, in conjunction with the Gregllamese government, we will be putting up a war memorial on the international border that will be jointly administered by both countries. Three Gregoryisgodistanis were killed and 11 wounded, while 403 Gregllamese were killed and 1,502 wounded. However, Hicana has heeded our warnings and surrendered before we obliterated their country with solar-powered bombs.

"As it turns out, this war was due to a rogue general, Alexander Sanchez IV, who authorized attacks on our glorious nation and our neighbors without government authorization, all because we killed a hockey player with a blasphemous name. Ordinarily, I would ask for his extradition so we could execute him, but I am happy to report that won't be necessary. Spy P0129UAZ, known to the Hicanans as Nelson Ogilvy, killed Sanchez while working undercover in the Hicanan military. Unfortunately, this brave agent was killed as a result. So was his brother, Spy 23XI06O (OOC: "Mechanic" was his code name), who posed as Ryan Ogilvy, allegedly the brother of "Nelson." Both of these brave, noble heroes will be honored on Martyr's Day next year. Let us pause now for a moment of silence to remember the lives lost in this war and the heroics of these two spies, who sacrificed themsleves to save the country.

"Thank you. An additional 36 soldiers and other assorted agents (OOC: including the slavemasters and guards at the camp) were killed defending the country from a land invasion in the first battle of the war. 91 were wounded. This makes a total of 41 Gregoryisgodistanis killed and 102 wounded. I will be creating a new holiday to establish these soldiers and others who have been killed in action, to be called Remembrance Day. It will be observed on March 7 of every year, beginning tomorrow. It will be a day of ceremonies and solemn remembering of those who lost their lives in wars defending Gregoryisgodistan's borders.

"To clarify the difference between this and Martyr's Day, the latter will be to honor specific individuals for exceptional service to the nation, while the former is for all military and other agents who gave their lives defending the national borders. Furthermore, Martyr's Day will not be limited to acts committed during war, or to military personnel. For instance, a worship leader executed in Saintland for preaching the Church of Gregoryisgodistan would be eligible to be honored on Martyr's Day, as would an enemy crusher executed for doing his job. Remembrance Day is a general observance for all military and other national service members killed during war. Remembrance Day will not be a day for parades, music, and barbecues like similar holidays in other nations. It will be a day of mourning to remember our troops who perished in wars. This is how it should be done everywhere. We do not celebrate dead soldiers. We are not that internationally-reviled hatemongering organization called the Southbury Methodist Church. (OOC: This is a Gregllamese organization that used to protest at funerals of dead soldiers thanking God for killing them to punish the nation for its sins. When Gregory Llama Land abolished its military in 2003, it started having similar protests at funerals of other people who died tragically, including the victims of the Seven Day War. It is the Gregllamese equivalent of the Westboro Baptist Church. They are as Methodist as the WBC is Baptist, so please don't take offense.) So remember the troops tomorrow. I will be giving a speech at noon, which will be broadcast nationally. You must watch it on TV unless you are selected by lottery to attend in person, in which case you must do that.

"Thank you, and Me Bless Gregoryisgodistan."

[Cassadaigua]

How they have got here,
by Rachel Sharper, Concord Heights Times- Senior Editor

After defeating Vaugania last night in Everfree, 5-4, in entertaining fashion, the Dagans find themselves one win away from the semifinals. Truly, such a run was not expected but as I alluded to yesterday, the nation seems to be getting some bounces at the present time. Some will probably not consider Cassadaigua a longshot, based on their past history in this tournament, but let’s face it: did you think Cassadaigua was going to be one win away from a semifinal berth at this point in time? It didn’t even look like we were going to go this far as recently as MD3, when Cassadaigua was 1-2, and in the cellar of Group 6. So let’s take a moment to recap how things began to turn around.

MD 4: Cassadaigua 7, Rizealand 4

Rizealand pitching proved to be very vulnerable to surrendering the long ball during this competition, but it took them a while to get going. With the score still tied at one, the Dagans broke it open with a five-run seventh inning highlighted by back-to-back-to-back home runs by the middle of the lineup (Amber Tillman, Rachel Davies, and Brittany Patterson). Davies would homer for the second time in the ninth inning at the team built up a 7-1 lead. Allison Spencer pitched very well, going 8 innings, allowing just one run on five hits, but 18-year old Rachel Maris struggled a bit in the 9th inning, allowing Rizealand to get a little closer.

MD5: Cassadaigua 3, Maklohi Vai 1

It proved to be a difficult tournament for the 4th-ranked Lumai, a team that was also in Cassadaigua’s group during WBC 28, and knocked us off twice. This time, the team stepped up, particularly SP Cassidy Brennan, who went eight innings, allowing just one run on six hits, and striking out 9, including feared hitter Mae’ao with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning. It was still 1-0 at the time, and Maklohi Vai could have pulled further ahead, but the strike out was huge. Feeding off the momentum, Cassadaigua took the lead in the bottom of the inning, and never looked back.

MD6: Imota 3, Cassadaigua 2

It would have been nice if the Dagans could have fed off the momentum from the big home win over Maklohi Vai with Imota in town, but the pesky Sunwings were able to leave with a 3-2 victory in a game that could have gone either way. After going up 2-0 early, Imota was able to chip away, and win the game in the 9th off closer Brittany Colfer. Kelsey Young pitched seven innings, and gave up two runs, but she would love to have that 7th inning tally back as an uncharacteristic leadoff walk started the inning.

MD7: Nassau Hessen 7, Cassadaigua 5

The game that seemed like it was going to seal our fate. Nothing went right for the pink and black in this home contest as Nassau Hessen scored at least one run in six of the nine innings. It didn’t seem like the team would be able to cover for this. Somehow, they needed to come up with a big win. Somewhere.

MD8: Cassadaigua 7, Saintland 2

And what better way to come up with that big win, then defeating Saintland. Of course, this was not actually Saintland, and instead the heroines of Feministvs Sanctvsterra, but that didn’t matter. The Dagans scored early, getting three in the first thanks to a 3-run blast by Rachel Davies, and Jennifer Crawford was able to prevent the Heroines from getting any kind of comeback going. They got “Saintland” at a good time, as they were struggling going into the game, and fell to 4-4. It’s the same record that Cassadaigua improved too, and suddenly things were not looking all that impossible to recover.

MD9: Cassadaigua 5, Rizealand 4

The Dagans fell behind early, as Allison Spencer was not her best, surrendering four runs in the first two innings. Despite that, she dug in, and did not allow another baserunner until the end of the 6th inning, when she was taken out for Emily Watson. The Dagans were able to close to within 4-3, but the comeback seemed to stall out. Then the dreaded longball came back to doom Rizealand again, with Shannon Varela hitting one out in the 7th, then Courtney Leblanc, an unlikely home run source, hitting the game winning long ball in the 8th.

MD10: Cassadaigua 8, Maklohi Vai 5

In a similar story as last Classic, Cassadaigua was in a must-win game in the final matchday against a top-10 ranked team. Last time it was Vaugania, and that didn’t end up going well, but this time Cassadaigua had the confidence in knowing they had already beaten Maklohi Vai once during qualifying. Down 1-0 in the 5th, Cassadaigua put up a 4-spot in the inning, highlighted by a three-run double by Rachel Davies; but a 3-run homer by Mae’ao in the bottom of the same inning, tied the game right back up at 4, and we had ourselves a battle on our hands. Resiliently, Cassadaigua got two back in the top of the 6th, with Courtney Leblanc getting a triple to drive in a run, and then scoring herself on a wild pitch to make it 6-4. The bullpen had a brilliant collective effort, and shut down the Lumai going into the 9th. There, a Brittany Patterson 2-run double gave the team a pair of big insurance runs, which would come in handy when the Lumai tried to comeback in the 9th. The victory made Cassadaigua 6-4, second in the group on tiebreakers, and the 12th seed overall. Looming next, with be Karditan.


1RG1: Cassadaigua 11, Karditan 3

Whoa, wasn’t this a thing a beauty. Cassadaigua put six runs in the top of the first, all without even getting an out, as the first eight batters picked up at least a single or a double, to account for all of these runs, making it a very difficult and short day for Casey Brant. Not to be outdone, Cassadaigua added runs in the second in the fourth, and by that time Courtney Leblanc was 3-for-3 doing everything for the cycle other then the HR. (Which she would not get). Rachel Davies would have the only home run of the game, for Cassadaigua, a 2-run shot in 7th as Cassadaigua routed the Wild Kards.

1RG2: Cassadaigua 9, Karditan 4

This time, Cassadaigua waited until late to have their six-run inning, coming in the bottom of the 8th. It would break open what was already a 3-1 advantage, and it was done in very similar fashion as a total of 11 batters were sent to the plate, and it was done by singling and doubling the Wild Kards to death. The runs would prove to be important as Karditan attempted a 9th inning rally and closed to 9-4, but the win would put Cassadaigua into the quarterfinals!


QFG1: Cassadaigua 5, Vaugania 4

The quarterfinals start off the same way the first round series did, with the pink and black having a big first inning, scoring four times. This time, it was a home run that did the damage, as Rachel Davies connected once again, this a three-run shot, to highlight the Dagan scoring. Unfortunately, Vaugania was able to get to Allison Spencer a little bit and quickly closed to 4-3, before ultimately drawing level at 4 in the fifth. The game was 4-4 for quite some time, and the Dagans would get the big hit again, coming in the 9th, with Courtney Leblanc leading it off with a double. With a little bit of small ball, Jessica Halliday sacrifice bunted her over to 3rd, and then a sacrifice fly by Amber Tillman bringing in the Dagan leadoff hitter for what proved to be the game winning run.


So, here we are. Will they keep rolling?

[Super-Llamaland]

(had an RP, but it got deleted)

ROUNDTABLE: WHO WINS THE WBC?

We brought in a few experts to just talk for a really long time on the subject. For the sake of anonymity, we made them pseudonyms.

D: Super-Llamaland is a competitor, and frankly the best one. I say they'll win.
E: Yeah, but there's no guarantee they'll even make it. You look at other nations, beating some of the top teams in the world, and you look that the Tigers have gone 7-5 against some frankly really easy teams, and I don't think they'll get in.
F: No points for attempted difficulty.
E: Ko-oren is going in the final four.
D: No Tigers in the final four? Wow!
A: Tigers are just better than Ko-oren.
E: Not necessarily.
B: Come on, they're better at almost every aspect of the game.
E: I have a feeling...
F: That you're insane?
D: Tigers move on by consensus. Next, Cassadaigua-Vaugania.
A: Vaugs.
D: Yeah.
E: Yeah.
B: Uh huh.
A: Wow, no argument. Anybody, anybody?
C: I'll play Devil's Advocate.
A: Go ahead.
C: How do the Golden Eagles compete with the immense experience and improved news service of the women in pink and black?
B: By being a better team?
C: Are they?
B: The rankings say so!
C: AH HA HA!
D: BWA HA HA!
All: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
B: But seriously, they're a proven team.
C: And Cassadaigua isn't?
B: A recently proven team? No. They've really slumped as of late.
A: A terrible record in WBC 27 and WBC 28. He may be right.
F: So yeah, interesting.
C: I'll take Cassadaigua. Do you know how they're recently proven? They're recently proven right now, that's how they're recently proven.
B: Fine.
F: I don't care.
E: Sure.
A: Meh.
D: And Cassadaigua wins thanks to the potent devil's advocate-ness of C!
A: Cassadaigua v. Super-Llamaland?
All: Super-Llamaland.
D: Easy. Moving on, Nova Anglicana losing to Gregoryisgodistan and The Royal Barangay barely over New Wolfopolis.
A: Call them Sangti, for goodness sake.
D: Nope, that's their real name.
F: It's like calling the Sears' Tower "Willis"!
D: So?
F: (mutters)
A: Anyway, the seven day war victors have the 1-0 lead. I'd call it even, but that swings it.
B: You're right. Nova Anglicana is the better team, but they need two straight wins and Gregoryisgodistan only one.
F: Let's say the Lions have a 60% chance of winning every game. Square that and there's only a 36% chance they'll move on.
D: That's right. Lions moving on.
A: What if they're SEVENTY percent better, though?
F: Forty-nine percent. Still not good enough.
A: Well, what if-
E: Do your own math.
A: Okay.
D: Lions. Moving on...Royal Barangay, New Wolfopolis.
A: I gotta say, the WBC Project is loving New Wolfopolis. But I just don't see how they can take down the world number one.
E: Rankings mean something? Wow! I never knew that-
D: Watch me belch my A-B-Cs! A B C R Q whoops, uh,
F: Oh yeah? Watch this! < | } \ * &
D: What the heck?
A: Uh...moving on?
D: Royal Barangay wins. New Wolfopolis could be a better team, but the same thing goes here as for the Nova Anglicana thing.
E: Okay, Royal Barangay and Gregoryisgodistan?
A: I'll be a rebel and take Gregoryisgodistan. Moving on to the finals, where we win. The end!
D: Nowaitwearentdone-

[Equestrian States]

World Baseball Classic 29 - Playoff Stage
Quarterfinals - Game 2 Results

Baltimare Harbor Grounds, Baltimare
 #1 Ko-oren                 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 2  7
 #9 Super-Llamaland         1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  5

Series tied 1-1

Forest Stadium, Everfree
 #4 Vaugania                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1  4
#12 Cassadaigua             2 0 1 0 0 4 0 1 X  8

Cassadaigua wins series 2-0

Mountainside Field, Stalliongrad
 #7 Gregoryisgodistan       0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
#15 Nova Anglicana          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3

Series tied 1-1

Ponyville Park, Ponyville
 #6 New Wolfopolis          1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
#14 The Royal Barangay      0 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 X  9

The Royal Barangay wins series 2-0

[Ko-oren]

Previous bit - The thing before that - The part even earlier

At that moment, Yamada came into the room. He looked agitated, and he was a bit pale, but once he spoke, he seemed to calm down enough to get his points across.

"Mayfield, Maartens, there is something you should know."

"What, you know more about this?"

"Yes. In fact, apart from Edwards, I think I know most about all this. You're right, Edwards was in the middle of all the match fixing. He both controlled pretty much the only CIB that gave a damn about the WBC being bought, and he also had a vast network of people to bet for him. In pretty much all the countries you've mentioned so far."

"How do you know what countries we talked about?"

"You've forgotten I work at the CCTV department? We're kind of responsible for keeping an eye on whatever happens in here. So yeah, I deleted footage when that was needed, I kept track of what people said about the syndicates. All for-"

"for Edwards, right. You're in this as well?"

"Eh, yes, I am. I didn't see much of the money that Edwards got out of this, and I think he is the big brain behind all this, but I'm just not sure. I don't know how big the operation is, and if it's missing its boss now, but I think we can assume he committed suicide. To prevent everything from being found out and coming back for him."

"Right. So why are you talking now?"

"I think all of our lives might be in danger."

"I think that was the point the entire time. People are making money, illegally, and we are trying to put a stop to that, which obviously pisses off a lot of people. So yeah, I think we weren't safe from the beginning."

"Right, and you have little to fear within Ko-oren with its bans on betting and weapons and everything. But outside... I think that is why you were sent abroad. It was easier to keep track of you there... and to, well, get rid of you when time came. Sorry."

"Ok. Well, at least we know to stay here. Otherwise, why are you telling all this?"

"Because Edwards would never have committed suicide if everything went well. In fact, the notes you found were exactly the scores that Edwards fixed. So the round of 16 scores. But he also put down a lot of money for the Quarterfinal scores. Super-Llamaland winning in two, Vaugania in three, Gregoryisgodistan in three, the Royal Barangay in three."

"So the Greenblues would lose in two? Wow. I think I'm glad his plan didn't work now. But is that what it says on this note?"

KS 0-10 / 2
VC 0-10 / 3
GN 20-30 / 3
NR 0-10 / 3

"Yes, that's what it says. The letters are the teams involved in the game. KS = Ko-oren/Super-Llamaland, VC = Vaugania/Cassadaigua, and so on. The numbers refer to the ranking those teams have. I don't know if you found out about it, but every game involves one top 10 nation and one nation ranked 20-30th. All below that are knocked out, all between 10 and 20 are eliminated as well."

"Could you not say 'eliminated' please? I'm still a bit flustered that we would've been killed if we left the country."

"Sure. So every single quarterfinal is a game between very specifically ranked teams. One top 10, one between 20 and 30, for each single game. And the number refers to which team wins. So in the case of Ko-oren and Super-Llamaland, the 0-10 means that the team ranked somewhere between 1 and 10 would win. So only one 20-30th nation would win: Gregoryisgodistan, against Nova Anglicana. And the last number is the number of games it should have taken the winning team. So Super-Llamaland in 2, Vaugania in 3, Gregoryisgodistan in 3, and the Royal Barangay in 3."

"Clever. But-"

"That's right, it didn't happen. Ko-oren won one, Cassadaigua wins in 2 instead of losing in 3, and the Royal Barangay should have dropped one game before winning the series."

"So?"

"That means there is someone else who paid more for the results, overturning, eh, 'our' results."

"Which means that we almost found out about the betting syndicates, and now we have to start all over again?"

"I think so. In fact, Edwards bet all his money on the quarterfinals, only to leave the semifinals and finals to be played 'fairly'. He knew there were other people out to buy those rounds, but he thought he would be the one to control the Round of 16 and the Quarterfinals. Actually, he spent all his money first buying the results and then betting on them. But he lost all of that money. Well, all of it except for the Gregoryisgodistan-Nova Anglicana game, as long as Gregoryisgodistan wins it in the end."

"But the problem with that game is... nobody really seems to have any control over it. Gregoryisgodistan has gone to war over the WBC before."

"Right. That was kind of a gamble, eh, pun not intended. But it worked out so far, even if the other three all didn't go our way."

"So again, why are you saying all this?"

"Because our agents, well, our network, has all lost their money. And everyone is looking for this new syndicate that apparently outbid us. Not just the CIB: Edwards' network also wants its money back."

"So... a world-wide gang war. Every nation will have its own little gambling syndicate conflicts."

"Pretty much. So if you want the names of the agents, I've got most of them. I think. And you should try to get them locked up by the authorities if you want to prevent this from happening. To protect them, to protect those nations and their citizens, even to protect the actual syndicate."

"Let's get on that, then. Protecting a gambling syndicate... Never thought I'd see the day..."

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Mountainside Field, Stalliongrad
 #7 Gregoryisgodistan       0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
#15 Nova Anglicana          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3

Pantsmaker OA01929 blows lead again, executed

Pantsmaker OA01929, who already blew a late lead against the Fair Republic, was on thin ice with the Gregoryisgodistani baseball team heading into the matchup with Nova Anglicana. A win would move the Bat Slaves through to the semifinals, and it looked for much of the game like they would do just that. Enemy Crusher Bobby Furgles and Barber LIEUIUSH hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the second, and Executioner HUD8S pitched seven shutout inning. In came Pantsmaker OA01929 to try to hold the lead for the closer. But Kareem Al-Aniz singled to lead off the inning, and Tony "Flick" Barnes followed it up with a bloop base hit to right, moving Al-Aniz to third. Jarrod Novak hit a sacrifice fly to score Al-Aniz, but it was still only 2-1. Then came Brice Napier, who ripped a double down the right field line. Barnes rounded third and beat the throw home as it was cut off. The Bat Slaves did manage to pick off Napier going for third, since he thought the throw was going home. So there were two outs but it was now 2-2. Pantsmaker OA01929 had blown the lead again. Immediately he was taken out for Toiletmaker LAO9183.

Then, on orders from Lord Almighty Gregory, he was executed in the team clubhouse for shaming the nation. Just to add to the humiliation, his teammate Executioner HUD8S served as executioner. Since the crime was shaming the nation, Pantsmaker OA01929 was executed using the "brownie cutter of death," a super-sharp object vaguely resembling a brownie cutter and used to slice victims into little pieces. After he was slowly sliced, which took 45 minutes, the small pieces were covered in pancake batter and [censored] (OOC: coconut) and fed to Lord Almighty Gregory as a forgiveness offering.

Meanwhile, there was a game to finish while all of this was happening. Toiletmaker LAO9183 struck out Chris Fletcher to end the eighth, so we went to the ninth tied at 2. After a 1-2-3 top of the inning, Phil Carter stepped up to pinch hit for the pitcher. He hit a long fly to left center that one-hopped against the wall. Carter wound up with a double. That brought up Martin Torres, who singled to center, scoring Carter to end the game.

After the game, manager Retiree 913H012S was furious with Pantsmaker OA01929's repeated collapses. "He has twice now shamed this nation in the knockout round of the WBC. He blew a lead against the Fair Republic in the last inning when we tried to give Chef SHSUUAISSADF a day off, and now he blows a lead in the eighth inning here. He deserved to pay for his sins. I am glad Lord Almighty Gregory has ordered it so."

[Super-Llamaland]

#1 Ko-oren 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 2 7
#9 Super-Llamaland 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5

Daniel didn't know who his master was, what he looked like, or even what country he was from, but he knew what his master wanted. He was supposed to do something, a mundane task, but evil in origin. Then again, it payed well and he could eat and live luxuriously after a job, so he juggled the tasks with his boring job as a waiter.

It was the first inning, and he was supposed to mess up the Tigers starting pitcher, Kyle Francis. Francis was a good pitcher, and the easy thing to do would be to break out the sniper rifles and take a few shots at him, but that was too traceable. So before the game, John, the Organization's mole in the stadium who pretended to be a groundskeeper, rigged a bomb in the pitcher's mound. Daniel whistled when he saw it: it was really, really good. You couldn't even tell it was there if you tried.

John had left to get a drink ten minutes ago and hadn't come back. He'd probably been really drunk, but what mattered was that Daniel had the remote to detonate the bomb, and he was supposed to press the button after the first out.

Francis induced an easy ground ball to Aaron Baxter. Daniel sucked in a breath, but the poor-fielding shortstop misplayed it and then threw the ball over Cassini's head. The stadium groaned, and Daniel had to suffer through a bases-loaded, no-out ordeal, which took eighteen pitches to set up.

Finally, Francis got a 4-2 fielder's choice, and Daniel tapped the button. Nothing. Darn. He tapped the button again. Nothing. Daniel pushed again and again and again, and then the person next to him noticed.

"What are you doing?" the man said.

"Oh, erm, nothing," said Daniel.

"We got him, we got him," the man muttered. Daniel noticed that he was wearing headphones, and then the man pulled out a gun from nowhere and clicked it to the back of his neck.

---

Kathryn McKenzie saw the man walk out of the bar, drink in hand.

"Freakin' pony barkeep," she heard him say. Kathryn decided it would be a good time to step out of the alleyway, so she did so. The man cried out.

"Freeze!" Kathryn yelled. "This is the Llamanean government. Do not move."

The man took a cautious step away. Kathryn decided that the good cop was obsolete for dealing with men like this idiot, so she fired at the ground below him. A bullet shot between his legs and took a chunk out of the sidewalk.

"That's what happens when you move one step. Don't move two."

The man swallowed.

"Okay, let's see if you're willing to be cooperative. What's your name?"

"Uh...Ty! My name is Ty Rockford."

"Nice try, John. We know everything about you. Give up now or you're dead."

Kathryn's radio buzzed twice. She said, "record."

"What?" John asked.

"Not you. Stay where you are."

"I got the suspect. You did a really nice job derigging the wires. The idiot was slamming on a button like he was playing Flappy Bird."

"Yeah, yeah. I got another one."

John tried to take another step, so she raised her gun and shot him in the leg. He screamed and fell over.

"What was that? Were you shot?"

"No, John tried to move away."

"I got Daniel. That leaves three left?"

"And the leader. I got a tip he was watching the game. He has $800,000 in Ko-oren winning the series in three."

"Help meeeeee," John wailed, clutching his shot leg. Blood dripped onto the pavement.

"Okay. First, tell me who you work for."

"I don't know," John said.

She cocked her gun.

"I'm serious I don't know please don't shoot me please please"

She aimed it carefully at the man.

"No no no no ack please don't I'll tell you everything everything everything."

"Okay then. Who do you work for?"

"I don't know! I don't know they never told me please I'm not lying please no no no noooooo noooo please pllleeeassee!"

"Okay. Moving on. Who was working with you? Give me names and descriptions. What did they do?"

"There was this guy named Daniel and I gave him the remote to detonate the bomb and he had brown hair and he's short like maybe five-seven and he has brown eyes and then there's Marcus and he looks like he's from Hicana but I'm not sure and he's a bookie and he's about Daniel's height and he has dark brown hair and brown eyes and the third guy is called Tex I only saw him once but he's tall like six-two and he has a cowboy hat and his real name isn't Tex and then the fourth guy is Martin and he works with Tex and I work with Daniel and Marcus and I never seen Martin so please don't shoot me! We were at section one two four and row G, seat three, that's mine, and row M seat two is Daniel and row A seat six is Marcus!"

Kathryn had been recording. She could barely tell what the man was saying, but she got snips of names and the man was obviously telling the truth.

"Okay, I'll call for help." so she did, made sure they were there, and then left.

The easiest way would be to kill everybody, so she radioed Matt, the stadium contact that had caught Daniel, and told him to shoot the man.

---

Daniel heard the gun click to the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I did it! I tell you everything I know please please!"

The man in the black suit, Matt, clicked the trigger. A bullet slide into place. "That won't be needed, unless you can tell us your motivation, your organization, or your leader. John told us everything else."

"I don't know besides the organization!"

"Tell me the organization, Daniel. You will die if you don't do this truthfully."

"Okay." Daniel took a deep breath. "So there was this man called...Barnaby. And Raymond and Fitzgerald and John and me. So Barnaby..." he spun the tale out of nothing and hoped it wasn't too believable.

There was a loud bang. He fell face-first onto the seats.

"What?" Matt cocked his head to listen to Kathryn's commands. "Row A, seat six? Kill on sight, okay."

---

Marcus didn't get the interrogation. Matt just shot him from Row C, seat twelve, which was vacant. It was a lot easier, and it was just close enough so that he could aim for the head shot, which he did. You didn't do government work if you couldn't shoot head shots from two rows down.

---

"Okay," Kathryn said, "that's one betting crisis averted."

"This thing's ridiculous," Matt said. Kathryn agreed heartily.

"We got three of 'em. Unless the players were involved in this, we covered everything except for Tex and Martin."

The Tigers lost anyway, but they did so cleanly. Ko-oren wasn't the only nation going to stop corruption now, were they?

[Nova Anglicana]

Bacon-Saving Rally Leads to Winner-Take-All Quarterfinal

Allen Talos, Londinium Courier

For those of us watching game 2 of the Nova Anglicana-Gregoryisgodistan quarterfinal, whether in Stalliongrad or at home in Nova Anglicana, the first seven and a half innings were brutal. Not only had the Bat Slaves broken open a 2-2 tie with two runs in the 7th to take game 1, but they held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 8th in game 2, courtesy of back-to-back 2nd-inning home runs and seven shutout innings from Executioner HUD8S. Things were looking bleak for the Lions' attempt at a 2nd straight semifinal appearance, having already put nine baserunners on to no avail. But in came the troubled set-up man, Pantsmaker OA01929. The young hurler had already blown a lead earlier in the tournament, and he got off to a poor start in the 8th yesterday. Kareem Al-Aniz led off with a single, and then made a beautiful read on Tony Barnes' Texas Leaguer into right field. By the time Lumberjack JSUUSI99387 got to the ball, Al-Aniz was diving into third, putting runners on the corners with none out. Pantsmaker OA01929 coaxed a 2-1 fly ball to center from Jarrod Novak, but it was deep enough to score Al-Aniz. He then threw a 1-2 fastball away, and Brice Napier went with the pitch, stroking it down the right field line. It rattled around in the corner, and Barnes slid home safely to tie the game at 2. 1B Chauffeur JJIASDES cut the ball off and made a good throw over to 3rd base, catching Napier trying to sneak over to 3rd. Chris Fletcher struck out to end the inning, but Jamey Conroy set the Bat Slaves down in order in the 9th. It was a gamble, because if the Lions didn't score in the 9th, Conroy would be unavailable for the rest of the game. Fortunately, Phil Carter stepped up as a pinch-hitter and hit a drive that one-hopped to the wall in left-center, putting him on second. Martín Torrés would end it, singling back up the middle, and Carter chugged home, gasping for breath as his teammates mobbed him.

Felix Murphy, on regular rest, did indeed get the call for this game, thanks to the day off prior to the quarterfinals. Kip Fischer is widely expected to start for the Lions, though manager Graig Lowman has not officially announced his starter. One would have to think that with a berth in the semifinals on the line, the solid veteran sinkerballer would get the call over the rookie Bryan. For the winner of this pivotal game, a date with The Royal Barangay/Sangti awaits. The world #1s destroyed New Wolfopolis in 2 games, winning by a total of 16-3. In the other quarterfinals, Cassadaigua has advanced to the semis, while Super-Llamaland and Ko-oren played their second consecutive extra-inning game, with the Greenblues taking it 7-5 in 12 innings to tie the series at 1. It will be an exciting day of games to determine who the best four teams in baseball are this year. Be sure to tune in on StateSports1 for the 19:00 first pitch.