World Baseball Classic 40- IC Thread (Finals G6 Posted)

[Super-Llamaland]

ZHENG DOMINANT IN GAME THREE WIN

Douglas Stone - LBC Sports

It’s a testament to Justin Zheng’s complete dominance during this WBC that nobody was even surprised by his performance last night against Schiltzberg. The Nandaozhou ace dominated the four-time champions’ lineup from start to finish, scattering four hits and a run across a full nine innings of work. And he wouldn’t require much help from the Tigers’ impressive defense, either. Zheng stayed in control of the game the entire time, striking out fifteen batters in his complete game masterpiece and walking just one.

Laurent Mårtensson had made a change in the team’s starting lineup for the first time since the Quarterfinals, bringing in the switch-hitting Carsten Riviera to replace left-handed first baseman Nicolas Rousseau as southpaw Henry Price was to start the night’s game. But it would be a different catcher, Sofia Rasmussen, to put the Tigers’ first run on the board, smashing a poorly-placed fastball into the left-field seats to give the Llamaneans the early lead.

And Zheng began shutting down his opposition almost immediately, sending the first ten batters of the night back to the dugout empty-handed. Unfortunately, number eleven wasn’t going to go down so easily. Jeff “Ducky” Fitzhugh, the only man immune to the slump Schiltzberg’s lineup has been going through, worked a seven-pitch at-bat against the Tigers’ ace, and on the seventh pitch of the night, Zheng made a mistake. You can’t do that against any part of a lineup this good without getting punished, even if Fitzhugh’s punishment - a game-tying home run - felt a little extreme.

But afterwards, it was back to complete domination for Zheng. He didn’t throw a perfect inning after the fifth, but Schiltzberg never seriously challenged him, mustering only a runner on first (three singles, one walk) for the final four innings. The game remained close, however, until the seventh. Henry Price is a fantastic pitcher, but he hasn’t been able to carry the team on his back the way Zheng or Courtney Duvall had. And it was clear that in the seventh inning, he had simply run out of gas, leading many to criticize manager Robert Evans for not going to his bullpen earlier.

Things began ominously when Price walked the leadoff man on four pitches - never a good start to the inning, although Carsten Riviera was more than happy to take it. His next pitch was a fastball in Hector Rinaldi’s wheelhouse - unfortunately, Rinaldi’s hard-hit fly ball died in Fitzhugh’s outstretched glove on the warning track, and the slow-footed Riviera was unable to advance to second. And, for a second, it looked like a serious regret for the Tigers, as Gudjon Frandsen’s sliced single down the right-field line would have scored Riviera from second base. As it was, though, the Tigers had runners on the corners with two outs after Justin Zheng struck out.

Unfortunately for Henry Price, he still had one out to go before he could escape the inning unscathed. And the trio of Markus Wright, Sofia Rasmussen, and Isak Gunnlaugsson was an absolute nightmare for the pitcher. Price lost his grip on the inning, Wright hitting a clean single up the middle to score the go-ahead run before Rasmussen walked on five pitches and Isak Gunnlaugsson took an RBI fastball off the thigh. The Tigers could have scored more if not for a outstanding play from second baseman Rutledge, but everyone knew the game was over at 3-1.

And indeed, it was, with Justin Zheng never seriously at risk of giving up another run. That’s what Justin Zheng’s magic can get you - a 2-1 lead in the series (and we’d like to note that the Tigers have yet to lose a Justin Zheng playoff start). And when Natalie Wu takes the mound tonight, the Llamaneans will have a chance to make it a 3-1 lead. As we’ve seen last night, the Tigers do not lose 3-1 leads.

[Super-Llamaland]

LSN BREAKING: NITTLEDEEN TAKES HIS TALENTS TO SUMMERCLIFF

Alyssa Zhao - LSN Baseball

In a move that absolutely nobody expected, Colin Nittledeen has announced that he has signed a three-Classic contract to manage the national baseball team of -Anthor-. Now that we know Nittledeen wanted a second shot at international baseball after failing to live up to the hype with the Tigers, -Anthor- is definitely a sensible move. And from the perspective of the Anthoran Ministry of Sports, Nittledeen may be the perfect appointment to get them over the hump and into the promised land of constant playoff appearances.

For those of our readers who are unaware with Colin Nittledeen, he was originally Alex Cameron’s right-hand man on the WBC34-36 teams as bench coach. When Cameron was fired midway through WBC37, Nittledeen took over, inspiring the Tigers to their first finals appearance in twelve years. Unfortunately, he couldn’t repeat the feat, and when his contract expired, the LBA never even thought about offering him a new one.

Since he was fired from his job running the Llamanean national team after consecutive upsets in the quarterfinals, Nittledeen had gone back to managing in the Llamanean Baseball League with the Rogers City Whitecaps. And he had impressed, taking a team that had spent the last three years below .500 and bringing them all the way to the LBL quarterfinals. Unfortunately, in the two years since leaving the Tigers, he’s been unable to get the Whitecaps past the quarterfinals, indicating that a change of scenery may have been the best option for Rogers City.

And Nittledeen had been looking for a change of scenery, too. -Anthor- - the eighteenth-best team in the world, but a nation that has never managed to consistently advance out of the group stage - might be the perfect project for him. Because for all of Colin Nittledeen’s faults, there’s one thing that can’t be ignored. Nittledeen is incredibly good at taking middling teams and elevating them to the next level. And although he might not be the most effective of man-managers, he’s still a brilliant tactician. While he may not be the sort of manager to win championships, -Anthor- would do well to have him for a few years before beginning to mount serious championship runs.

And -Anthor- is definitely a nation capable of doing so. They may be inconsistent, but the Thunderheads have serious talent. Although they’re better known for their impressive media coverage than their performances on the field, there’s little doubt that this is a roster Nittledeen can work his magic on. The question is, will he?

[Ethane]

SHOCK POLL: 90% OF ETHANIAN PUBLIC WANT SUPER-LLAMALAND TO WIN THE WBC 40 FINALS

In a poll looking at who the Ethanian public want to win WBC 40, an overwhelmingly large majority of 87.7% of people wanted Super-Llamaland to win.

Both Super-Llamaland and Schiltzberg are teams the Ethanians have had run-ins with before, the most notable being in the 38th World Baseball Classic where the Red Kites upset both teams to reach the finals against all odds. These games were both tough, and went down to the wire, but the Ethanians managed to pull through.

However, now both teams have reached the finals of the World Baseball Classic, the Ethanians have spoken and overwhelmingly want Super-Llamaland to win. Super-Llamaland has won 3 World Baseball Classics - the last victory being WBC 31 - and is seeking to join Schiltzberg and Newmanistan on the current record of 4 WBC victories. Schiltzberg is currently tied for that record, and in this final is seeking to move to 5 WBC victories, which would arguably make them one of the most successful - if not the most successful - World Baseball Classic teams in the history of this tournament.

The most commonly cited reason for wanting Super-Llamaland to win amongst the 10,000 people polled was that they wanted to ''prevent Schiltzberg reaching 5 World Baseball Classic victories.'' There are a number of reasons why Ethanians could not want this to happen.

1: The Ethanians want to be the first to 5, and looking at the success of Schiltzberg, realise this would be possible if they won a number of WBCs in a row.
2: The Ethanians are jealous of Schiltzberg and therefore don't want them to do well.
3: The Ethanians want Schiltzberg to lose everything.
4: The Ethanians want Schiltzberg to lose because they want the grand finale to occur, where 2 four-time winners face off against each other for the record; ideally Newmanistan and Schiltzberg.
5: They always are and support the underdogs in a match.

[Cassadaigua]

Championship: (1) Schiltzberg vs (3) Super-Llamaland

Schiltzberg            1 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0  6
Super-Llamaland        1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  4

series tied, 2-2

[Schiltzberg]

SCHILTZBERG'S OFFENSE COMES ALIVE IN CRITICAL WIN

After scoring just four runs in the first three games of the finals, Schiltzberg needed to figure out Super-Llamaland's pitching if they wanted to have any chance at winning the finals. Luckily, they seem to have done that now, since they scored six runs in the most recent game, game four, a critical win to tie up the series. Down two games to one after game three, the Schiltzbergers knew they would have to win game four, because a loss would put them up against elimination, but thankfully, they did, and they seem to have turned a corner offensively. If they can continue to hit the way they did in the most recent game, they should have no problem winning the series. Here we will analyze Schiltzberg's position and assess what their strengths and weaknesses will be going forward in the series.


Potential obstacles for the Schiltzbergers in upcoming games:

1. Will the offense hold up?
Finally, and not a moment too soon, Schiltzberg has seemed to have its offense come alive, but will it last? Schiltzberg's offense looked very bad in games one, two, and three, and there is a chance that it could go back into a shaky state in the upcoming games. If this happens, Schiltzberg will likely lose the series.

2. Will they be able to top Zheng?
With three games maximum left in the series, it seems inevitable that Zheng will be looming for the Schiltzbergers in one of the upcoming games, likely either game six or seven. Say in the situation that Schiltzberg loses game five, they will be up against elimination, and they will then have to defeat Zheng just to stay alive in the series, and will have to win yet another game after that if they want to win it, something that would be extremely tough, even for the Schiltzbergers. Say even in the situation that they win tomorrow, which, of course, would be the much more favorable situation, the Tiger will almost certainly play Zheng in game six, since they would be up against elimination, and this game six situation would be a likely loss for the Schiltzbergers, thereby undoing the advantage they would get by winning game five and forcing a game seven. If Schiltzberg is unable to handle Zheng, it will be a lot harder for them to win the tournament. As we stated at the beginning of the finals series, Zheng's performance will likely determine who wins and loses this series.

3. Can Schiltzberg trust Toups?
Game five will be a critical game for Schiltzberg, since it will break the tie for the time being, whether it be for better or worse. It seems like a win is essential, as a loss would put them up against elimination with two games left and Zheng looming. The thing is that David Toups is scheduled for game five, and he has been the least dependable starter for Schiltzberg this far, accumulating four losses, including game one of the finals, which is the most of the Schiltzberg rotation. He started the season in the number one spot, but he easily was the worst starter in the preliminary rounds dropping THREE games to New Danican, yes, the unranked team, in just six starts. For a Schiltzbergian starter, that is unheard of, especially in the preliminary round. He got moved down to the number two spot going into the playoffs, and he did much better there, winning game two of the round of sixteen versus Free Republics, game two of the quarterfinals versus Cassadaigua, and game two of the semifinals versus West Phoencia. Because of this, management decided to put him back in the number one spot for the finals, which turned out not to be a good decision, as Toups got the loss in game one to Super-Llamaland. Now, with a tie series, Schiltzberg's fate will be in this man's hands in game five, and they will need to be able to count on him in this game, which could be the critical game of the series.

Potential advantages for the Schiltzbergers in upcoming games:

1. Fitzhugh has been on fire.
In the midst of Schiltzberg's offensive slump, outfielder Jeff "Ducky" Fitzhugh has been on a tear. He has hit four home runs in the past three games, accumulating seven RBIs, which accounts for all but three of Schiltzberg's runs scored in the series. If he continues at this rate, his offensive blast could lead the team to more victories, as it did in games two and four. His great streak could catch on with the rest of the team and get them out of the slump they have been suffering as of late, and this would greatly improve the chances of a fifth championship for the Schiltzbergers. Without a doubt, Fitzhugh has been the offensive leader of the team throughout this series, and hopefully that will continue and help get the rest of the team over its slump.

2. William McKey has been unbeatable under the radar.
Schiltzberg's William McKey may throw a 90 miles per hour fastball at its peak, but this man is Schiltzberg's unlikely ace, and he has been putting up phenominal numbers this season, although he hasn't received much press coverage in the wake of the stellar performances from Zheng and Duvall throughout the season. He has been a silent killer though, as he has put up a record of 9-1 to date, his latest win being in game two of the series. With his unassuming pitching style, McKey is often underestimated, but his talent is unmatched in Schiltzberg, and across the world in many cases. McKey will be pitching game six, where he will likely ace Zheng, a game that has already been assumed a Super-Llamaland win. If McKey can win this game for Schiltzberg, it would be a stunner, and could throw Super-Llamaland off so much so that they are unable to recover in the case of a game seven, or else this would be the series winner in the case that Schiltzberg wins game five. McKey is a powerful asset that the team has at its disposal, and he could play a critical role in the series if he does good in game six.

3. Super-Llamaland seems unable to finish off the Schiltzbergers.
In two cases, Super-Llamaland has been ahead in the series and have seemed to have had the slumping Schiltzbergers at their mercy, but in both cases, they have blown their leads and allowed Schiltzberg to tie up the series, rather than extending their lead and putting Schiltzberg in a position where they would really need to scramble in order to win the series. Game two really speaks to this. Super-Llamaland really outplayed the Schiltzbergers in that game, getting much more hits and being in many more scoring opportunities, and yet they failed to win the game. In a seven game series, every game is extremely important, and this could cost Super-Llamaland the series. Any more games like this where Super-Llamaland is unable to finish the job, and they will practically be handing the championship to their rivals.

This Is Your New Schiltzbierg Times Spirts News!

[Super-Llamaland]

New Llama City - The Offices of the New Llama Cyclones

It'd taken his intern two days to get the phone number of Rory Quinlan's agent. But Windhorst had finally gotten it, and he was not going to let this opportunity go to waste. The best pitcher in Tenburg's contract was expiring very soon, and David Windhorst was determined to sign him. He'd had his analytics department confirm what he already knew - Quinlan had the tools to be a very special pitcher, and he'd transition perfectly into the Llamanean leagues. The Cyclones' offense and defense, with stars like Markus Wright, Hector Rinaldi, and Carsten Riviera, were impressive. Quinlan would give his rotation the punch it needed to make the Cyclones a championship team.

"Hey, this is David Windhorst, General Manager of the New Llama Cyclones, defending champions of the Llamanean Baseball League. As we're both aware, your best client, Rory Quinlan, has a contract expiring very soon, and I would love to talk with you more and see if your client would be interested in heading over to one of the greatest leagues in the world. There are certain salary restrictions in the LBL, but we have the cap space to offer Mr. Quinlan a five-year deal worth seventy to eighty million credits. Please call me back if you're interested; I'm looking forwards to talking with you more."

Pleased with how the message had been left, Windhorst hung up the phone. He jotted down some quick notes on a legal pad, then looked up...into the grinning face of Bryant Kennedy.

"I knew it!" the reporter* shouted, quickly shoving a voice recorder into his pocket and turning around to leave. "The Cyclones were in on Rory Quinlan all along! This is gonna make me so rich!"

"Who the f*** even are you?" Windhorst replied, jumping up in pursuit of the fleeing reporter*. It turned out he wouldn't have to - Kennedy turned and ran directly into the still-closed door, crashing up against it before falling backwards long enough for Windhorst to catch up to him. "You're not going to leak that, are you?"

"My name's Bryant Kennedy! And I am the finest reporter* Llama Sports Today! has to offer," Kennedy said proudly, as if he genuinely believed this was something to be proud about. "And as for your second question, uh, I didn't hear what you said."

"You can't leak this, Bryant. I can make you a very rich man. But I need you to stay quiet about what you just heard," Windhorst growled, pinning the five-six reporter* onto the ground. "Ten thousand, in cash, right now to shut up."

"I can't 'shut up!' My dedicated readers love rumors like this! I can make more than ten thousand off the ad revenue just by writing about this!" Kennedy thought briefly. "Fifty thousand."

"Deal. But not all at once. I'll give you ten thousand every week for five weeks. Starting today. If you leak a f***ing word, the money dries up, and I personally get you fired from your job."

"It's a deal! Thank you Mr. Windhorst," the reporter* said, turning and running for the door.

"Don't you want the first ten thousand...ah, whatever," the Cyclones' GM said, picking himself up off the ground and walking back to his desk. He still needed a backup infielder, after all, and the trade deadline was coming up very soon. Mr. Kennedy would have to wait.

[Super-Llamaland]

TIGERS CAN'T GET THE JOB DONE, SERIES TIED

Douglas Stone - LBC Sports

The Tigers went behind early and, although they managed a late comeback, were unable to overcome a five-run deficit to take a 3-1 series lead. A disappointing performance from young starter Natalie Wu had the Tigers down 5-1 by the fourth inning, but the offense wasn't exactly blameless last night, either. Schiltzbergers have noted how the Llamanean baseball team always seems to let them back into the series, alternating strong performances with mediocre ones. And it's true - Laurent Mårtensson's Tigers cannot afford to take their foot off the gas any longer if they want to win their fourth Classic.

The game got off to a poor start, as Natalie Wu's sixth pitch of the night was sent into the stands by none other than Jeff Fitzhugh, Schiltzberg's star center-fielder. But the Tigers got the run right back off fourth starter Jorge Matos, with Wright and Rasmussen both working a walk before Lucien Russo singled in the game-tying run. Unfortunately, the rookie starter Wu just couldn't stop leaking runs. Inning after inning, she would start off well before struggling to finish off Schiltzberg and making mistakes. And against the best offense in the world, nobody could afford to make mistakes like that. Before the fourth inning had even ended, Laurent Mårtensson had had enough. Wu's final line? A disappointing three and two-thirds innings pitched, with Schiltzberg getting five hits, two walks, and five runs off the rookie starter. Interestingly enough, the fact that Wu only threw 73 pitches means that she could pitch a potential game seven - but if she's going to pitch like that again, Mårtensson would be better served giving the ball to someone else.

With Wu's early exit, Mårtensson was forced to go to his bullpen. But, although the bullpen had been stunningly mediocre throughout the Classic, they managed to step up to the plate. Aurelio Gomes gave up a run in his inning of work (Fitzhugh - again), but Marcus Hong, Brittany Zhen, and Kevin Matheus all performed very well, completely shutting down Schiltzberg's offense.

Unfortunately, the Tigers' lineup just couldn't get another run off Matos - although not for lack of trying. Three times, they had the fourth starter pinned against the wall. But every single time, Jorge Matos was able to shut down the offense. Schiltzberg is a battle-hardened team that can perform in the clutch, as we saw tonight, but that doesn't excuse the Tigers' poor execution. If the lineup can't get runs off the fourth starter, they'll have a really hard next three games against the top of Schiltzberg's rotation. The middle of the order was especially disappointing, at one point failing to score with the bases loaded and just one out.

But, with the bullpen cruising, they managed to work their way back into the game! In the sixth inning, it was Nicolas Rousseau who doubled a run in, narrowing the gap to four runs. After a quiet seventh inning, though, the Tigers managed to halve that, bringing some excitement back into the game. Pinch-hitter Emily Bengtsson started things off with a double off the left-field wall. Matos was pulled with the top of the Llamanean order coming up, but Richard Wilson just couldn't get the job done. Wright went down swinging, but Rasmussen drew her third walk of the night, and Isak Gunnlaugsson sliced a perfect double down the right-field line to score both of them, making the score 6-4. But, with first Todd Barras and then Doug Miller on for Wilson, the Tigers lineup found themselves shut down once again, as no Llamaneans even reached base for the rest of the game.

With the series still tied 2-2, it almost feels like we've wasted exceptional starts from Maddie Wagner and Justin Zheng. But there are still three more games to play. If the Tigers want to win this Classic, the offense needs to step things up - it almost feels like we've been relying on our starters to get wins, and as we saw today, that's not a viable strategy. Luckily for Llamanean fans, this is a very talented roster capable of performing better than they did today. If any Tigers team is going to win the Classic, it's this one.

[Cassadaigua]

Championship: (1) Schiltzberg vs (3) Super-Llamaland

Game 5:

Schiltzberg            0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Super-Llamaland        1 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 X  7

Super-Llamaland leads series, 3 games to 2

[Schiltzberg]

SCHILTZBERGIAN REJECT PLAYER SIGNS WITH RIVALING CLUB

The nation of Tenburg, a nation new to the international sports community, made its first appearance in the World Baseball Classic in WBC 40, and they did very well for a newcomer, making it all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Newmanistan. Following their elimination, they looked to improve their team by hiring even better players, and without much of a base of baseball in their own nation, they looked reached out to foreign players to sign their team. They signed several players from multiple different nations around the world, but most controversially, they signed Schiltzbergian pitcher Leo Kaiser to a four-Classic contract, where he will likely be used as their ace starter. Following his signing, which was controversial enough to begin with, Kaiser has spoken out against his homeland, and this has stirred up a lot of unrest back home.

Leo Kaiser is Schiltzberger, but he is of German ancestry, and although Germany has been a part of Schiltzberg since the late 1940s, the Germans have been blamed for starting all three world wars, and they are often discriminated against by the "Greater Schiltzbergers," basically non-Germans. Growing up with a German background and a very German name in western Schiltzberg (where the prejudice is the worst), Kaiser has expressed that he experienced a lot of discrimination as a child, being bullied at school, and even as an adult, being refused for jobs because of his background. He blamed the Schiltzbergian government for allowing this to happen to his people, and he was quoted saying that he will never return to Schiltzberg "unless it is to beat those bastards in international competition."

A lot of Kaiser's hatred toward Schiltzberg as a nation and as a baseball team goes deeper than his experiences with discrimination. Kaiser is a great starting pitcher, and he could easily make a spot on Schiltzberg's starting rotation, which is the best in the world, but he was always rejected when he asked to join the team. He blamed this on ethnic discrimination, but in reality, it was simply because Schiltzberg's management saw no reason to change their rotation, since it was already seeing so much success. Kaiser participated in Schiltzbergian tryouts starting in WBC 35, but was rejected every time, and the tryouts ended up being a big joke anyway, because no new players have been accepted to the team since the team originally entered international play in WBC 33.

The hiring of foreign players is a practice that is foreign in itself to Schiltzbergers, since it is banned by the Schiltzbergian baseball committee on the grounds that it is seen as unethical. Schiltzberg is also a good enough baseball nation that they have no need to go to foreign players to have success, which they have proven over eight seasons in the World Baseball Classic. It is a widespread practice though, and it is used by many nations that participate in the World Baseball Classic, particularly nations that don't have much influence in the international or sporting community. This newspaper wishes Tenburg the best of luck in all games, except when they are facing the Schiltzbergers, but it is still a bit unsettling to see what their new pitcher is saying about our great nation.

This Is Your New Schiltzbierg Times Sports News!

[Schiltzberg]

TOUPS TOPPED, SCHILTZBERG UP AGAINST ELIMINATION

With a tie series after game four, game five was critical. The winner would be one game away from the title, and the loser would be up against elimination with two games left. Unfortunately, everything was off for the Schiltzbergers in game five, as their offense was shut down and their starter, David Toups, failed to contain the Tigers in a losing effort. By losing this game, Schiltzberg blew its opportunity to take a lead in the series for the what would have been first time. Now, they will have to win two games in a row in order to be the champions once again. They could do it, but it will be tough.

Justin Zheng will be pitching game six, and he has been literally unbeatable throughout this season. Chances of a Schiltzbergian victory are slim, but with all the pressure put on Zheng could maybe... maybe... cause him to lose this one. A win in game six would be legendary, as truly, only a four-time champion would be able to defeat Zheng in this Classic. This unlikely win would not win them the series though, and they would still have to win another game after that in order to get a fifth championship. At this point, Schiltzberg's odds of winning this Classic do not look good.

The Super-Llamaland problem has plagued Schiltzberg since WBC 34. Super-Llamaland is the only team to ever sweep Schiltzberg in the playoffs, and they are also the only team to ever eliminate them before the semifinals, as they swept them in the round of sixteen in a huge upset in WBC 34. They played them again in the finals in WBC 37, and they won that finals four games to two, but here they are struggling against them again in WBC 40, losing the finals series three games to two and up against elimination. The two teams squared of for the fourteenth time last night, making Super-Llamaland the team Schiltzberg has played in the most games, tied with Nassau-Hessen, but the game tonight will be the fifteenth, breaking that tie, and hopefully they will get one more game in as well. Super-Llamaland is the only team that Schiltzberg has never had a winning record in the overall head to head series, and it is one of only two teams that Schiltzberg currently has a losing record against in their head to head overall series, the other being Nova Anglicana. Their overall head to head series is 6-8 against Super-Llamaland, and that means that Schiltzberg will only be able to even out the overall series if they win this finals, and they will not be able to turn it into a winning series regardless of what happens in this Classic.

Schiltzberg has never lost a Classic, and they do not want to make any firsts in that department this time around. Some firsts that they do want to make though in this series would be the first to win five Classics and the first to win a Classic as WBC president. Probably no one would have thought after Schiltzberg won three titles in a row that they would not win a Classic during their presidency, but if they fail in this Classic, it will really reinforce the idea of the Curse of the Presidency, which is the idea that no WBC president will ever win the WBC as president. Schiltzberg hopes to disclaim these rumors with a championship here.

In game five, Schiltzberg's offense was horrible... again. They only got six hits all game, and they only scored one run. If they are still doing this poorly offensively, imagine how they will do against Zheng tonight. They really looked bad. The only run came in the second when Manual Villegaus doubled and knocked in Francis Thom, who had singled in the previous at bat. Other than that, no inning had more than one hit allowed and no other case was there a runner in scoring position for the four-time champions. Speaking of four-time champions, we may have to get used to calling Super-Llamaland four-time champs if this keeps up. Schiltzberg will need to recover offensively in game six against the pitcher that has been the best and shutting down teams offensively all season... Yeah.

From a pitching perspective, things weren't much better. David Toups, who has struggled all season, gave up a solo home run in the first inning, and although he was strong during the early innings, he absolutely collapsed in the fifth. The Tigers got eight hits and five runs in that inning, and although Toups was removed with two outs and the bases loaded, the score 3-1, three more runs scored after his exit, all of which were charged to him. It was a poor performance and a truly disappointing outing in a game that Schiltzberg really would have benefitted out of winning. The team looked really bad overall in this game, and chances are that they will not win this Classic, but there is still hope.

This Is Your New Schiltzbierg Times Sports News!

Update to the history factbook:

WBC 25 (Hosted by Equestrian States)
1st: Darmen (3-2)
2nd: Zwangzug
3rd: Milchama (2-1)
4th: Equestrian States
World Baseball Classic 25 was hosted by the new nation Equestrian States, and they surprised the WBC world by being one of the better hosts of WBC history. Equestrian States, which had not had hardly any success in the tournament prior to this point, also surprised the WBC world by making a semifinals run, before being shut down by Zwangzug and then Milchama, ultimately becoming a fourth place finisher. The defending champions Western Cuba returned with high hopes, having made it to the finals in the past three consecutive seasons, including two championship titles, but they were stunned when they were swept by Taeshan in the round of sixteen, a major upset at the beginning of the playoff round. This represented a sort of death to Western Cuba's dynasty, as they would never truly recover to their previous level of dominance, although they did finish third place several seasons later in WBC 30. Meanwhile, Darmen, who had failed to make the semifinals in the previous season, looked to redeem themselves this time around, but after a mediocre preliminary round, they got put on a low seed and had an uphill battle ahead of them. They ended up passing through the preliminary round by the skin of their teeth, defeating Strawbee by just one run after a major comeback where they walked off, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth. After this, they played Yesopalitha, who had been the runners up the previous season, in the round of sixteen, and they advanced just barely again, pushing it to the maximum games. Darmen eventually made it to the semifinals, and the semifinals were interesting that year, as the newer team Equestrian States faced off against the ancient veteran and WBC giant Zwangzug, and then the relatively new team, Darmen, that had made several semifinals appearances but had never won was up against another ancient veteran, Milchama, which had been around forever and was a three-time champion. Zwangzug swept Equestrian States and Darmen barely defeated Milchama, and both of those teams advanced to the finals then. It was a very close finals series indeed, as it went to the maximum five games, but Darmen, who had always choked at the end of every season, was finally able to pull off a championship victory, as they defeated Zwangzug three games to two, finishing the season with a 16-8 record. This would be Darmen's only championship, but it was well earned. Milchama ultimately defeated Equestrian States in the third place series, and they finished the season with third place.

WBC 26 (Hosted by Cassadaigua)
1st: New Montreal States (4-2)
2nd: Sicoutimont
3rd: Zwangzug (2-0)
4th: Ko-oren
World Baseball Classic 26 was hosted by Cassadaigua, which made its return to the Classic after not participating in WBCs 24 and 25. As usual, the three-time champions did an excellent job hosting, but their absence from the tournament for two seasons had brought their rank down all the way to number 86, a steep decline after being the number one rank in the world after their WBC 19 championship not too many seasons earlier. This season came as a surprise to many, not only with the return of Cassadaigua, but also with the success of the ancient New Montreal States nation. New Montreal States had first participated in the World Baseball Classic all the way back in WBC 2, but then they did not return to the Classic until WBC 20, after the tournament had become the most successful baseball tournament out there. New Montreal States had made a name for itself in the baseball world prior to the existence of the World Baseball Classic, having great success in the World Cup of Baseball, a tournament that existed prior to the World Baseball Classic but folded before the Classic was created. The success in this ancient tournament had not carried over for New Montreal States in the World Baseball Classic... until now. In WBC 26, the ancient legends went 7-3 in the preliminary round, winning their group, and they advanced to the playoffs. From there, they went on to sweep Sangti (also known as The Royal Barangay) in the round of twenty-four, then beat Kinzar two games to one in the round of sixteen, then beat three-time champions Milchama in a tight series two games to one in the quarterfinals. Just like that, New Montreal States had shocked the world by making it all the way to the semifinals for the first time in their long history with the World Baseball Classic. The amazing thing was that the success did not stop there. In the semifinals, New Montreal States was faced with the young nation Ko-oren, and they continued winning, taking the series three games to one. Who would have thought that New Montreal States would have made it all the way to the finals in WBC 26? Meanwhile, another underdog nation, Sicoutimont, went on to defeat the great Zwangzug in its semifinal match, so they too advanced to the finals, making for an interesting match up. The finals series stayed close, but New Montreal States seemed to be fighting a winning battle the whole time, going into game six with a three game to two lead. Game six was one of the most exciting games in history, as it was a sixteen inning marathon that resulted in New Montreal States winning the World Baseball Classic on a walkoff 4-3 win. It was a true Cinderella story, as New Montreal States was crowned WBC 26 champions with a record of 20-8. Meanwhile, Zwangzug swept the third place series two games to none, winning them an astounding seventh third place title, which is a record no one has even come close to.

[Super-Llamaland]

TIGERS WIN CRITICAL GAME FIVE
Douglas Stone, LBC Sports

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? This game five win didn't take the Tigers to the WBC finals, but it might be even more important. Thanks to the heroics of starter Maddie Wagner and...basically the entire offense, the Llamanean national team took a 3-2 series lead against Schiltzberg in dominant fashion - and are now twenty-seven outs away from winning it all.

Things got off to a good start for Schiltzberg's underperforming ace, David Toups. Markus Wright went down swinging on five pitches to start the night for Toups, and Sofia Rasmussen weakly grounded out to first. Unfortunately, things only got worse from there. The third batter of the night wouldn't go down so easily - Isak Gunnlaugsson worked a full count before sending Toups' thirteenth pitch of the night over the center-field fence, putting the Tigers on the board in the first inning.

Unfortunately, Schiltzberg got the run right back from Maddie Wagner. Francis Thom managed to get just enough of a tough breaking ball inside to lift it over Emery Novak and into left-field for a single, and third baseman Manuel Villegaus (who seems to always step up against the Tigers) smashed a line-drive into the right-center gap that not even Gudjon Frandsen could stop. Just like that, it was back to square one for a Tigers team that desperately needed a win. The next few innings were tense - neither team could even get a runner in scoring position, much less a run on the board, and by the bottom of the fifth, fans across Super-Llamaland were biting their nails. It looked like both pitchers had really stepped up in such a critical game five, and that it would come down to the very end of the game.

Suffice to say it didn't. Toups had been solid for four innings, but the Tigers just overpowered the team's "ace". Nicolas Rousseau led things off with a beautifully-hit double into left-center on the first pitch he saw. Hector Rinaldi didn't do quite as well - his ground-ball up the middle was so weak that not only did Mark Daly cut it off before it reached the outfield, but Rousseau couldn't even advance from second - but the speedster barely managed to leg out an infield single. But Gudjon Frandsen tapped into a 4-6 fielder's choice, and with pitcher Maddie Wagner up, the rally seemed to be dying.

But the Tigers' starter seriously stepped up, lining a single up the middle to put the Tigers ahead. Toups, by now seriously struggling to get out of the inning, proceeded to concede singles to Markus Wright and Sofia Rasmussen, loading the bases with the Tigers up 3-1. Isak Gunnlaugsson struck out, and combined with Toups' removal for the reliable Bryan Mercado, it looked like the Tigers would be held to three runs. But after Lucien Russo swung and missed at the first two pitches, he took the third and ripped it down the left-field line, scoring two. Emery Novak singled to load the bases before Nick Rousseau - batting for the second time that inning - singled in yet another run, putting the Tigers up 6-1 before Rinaldi was retired to end the inning.

It was an incredible offensive outburst from the Tigers, who managed eight hits and five runs in just one inning. With the game now 6-1, things were as good as over. And indeed, with Maddie Wagner on the mound delivering yet another impeccable performance, Schiltzberg didn't get a runner past first for the rest of the game.

With Justin Zheng on the mound and the Tigers needing just one win out of the next two games to win it all, things are looking up. But Laurent Mårtensson needs to be careful. Game six starter William McKey is easily the best pitcher on Schiltzberg's roster, and neither Game Six nor Game Seven can be taken for granted. Still - our national baseball team is one game away from winning the World Baseball Classic. After consecutive early playoff exits, things are finally lining up for another Tigers dynasty.

[Cassadaigua]

Championship: (1) Schiltzberg vs (3) Super-Llamaland

Game 6:

Super-Llamaland        0 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0  7
Schiltzberg            0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  3

Super-Llamaland has WON World Baseball Classic 40, 4 games to 2!

We would like to congratulate them on their record-tying fourth championship! Thanks to Schiltzberg for the great series!
Thanks to everyone for the great Classic! It was an honor to be your host.

[Super-Llamaland]

Maddie Polanco and Tanya Ericsson shared a lot in common. For example, arriving early, whether it was just another day in the 154-game grind of the LBL or...game six of the WBC finals. And, indeed, in a team of early risers, the two were still the first at the stadium - it would be over half an hour before the rest of the Tigers started trickling in.


“Only two more games in a Tigers uniform,” the bench coach said to her former teammate, “How do you feel?” The usually-outspoken outfielder didn’t respond at first, instead taking a moment to stare out at the empty Concord Heights seats. “It’s insane. Fuck, I started playing in the majors seventeen years ago. I can’t believe I’m hanging it up.”


“Any plans after this? I’m around if you need help getting out of bed after sunrise.”


“Yeah, I meant to tell you earlier. I had some questions, too. South Falls just made me an offer to be their manager. For somebody who’s never coached before, a five-year deal is pretty good. It looks like I’ll stay there for the next few years.” Ericsson glanced over at Polanco, whose eyes had dropped. “You’re South Falls’ manager. You aren’t leaving the national team too, are you? Where are you even going?”


Like her former teammate, Polanco also paused before speaking. “I meant to tell you. I’m taking a job abroad. Manager of Cassadaigua’s national team.”


“So this is it for you too.” Another pause, longer this time, before Polanco replied. “I guess it is.”


“We’d better win this, then. I’ll miss you.”

***

Justin Zheng watched as the first few fans trickle in. He’d decided to go out and give out autographs in a few minutes. Then, everything would begin. The intense warmup he usually did. A last review of Schiltzberg’s lineup. Watching video of his game three start with Sofia Rasmussen, Laurent Mårtensson, and pitching coach Evan Masorka. Another press conference, followed by a quick bullpen session with Rasmussen (or Carsten Riviera if Sofia wanted to look at more video). And then it’d almost be gametime. He only had a few more minutes to reflect.


Why had he wanted to pitch for a living in the first place? This was a question he’d thought about before, and during the peak of his career, he’d always tied it back to his city - Nandaozhou. Growing up, he’d watched the Sharks go under .400 every season for a decade. He wanted to be the person who brought glory back to Nandaozhou’s baseball teams. He had, to a certain extent - taking them back to the playoffs for the first time in decades, carrying them on his back with monster season after monster season.


It hadn’t been enough to win the LBL. But what he’d done with a similarly-underperforming Tigers team - carrying them to the finals and a 3-2 series lead over Schiltzberg, standing on the mound with the chance to win the WBC for his country - would more than make up for it. And he knew that it was going to happen.


And as for what he would do next, having cemented his legacy, carried his nation on his back, and won baseball’s highest honor? He would call his agent - after all, his contract with Nandaozhou was expiring at the end of the season. And Justin had heard that Loudon was pretty nice this time of year.
***
Jason Van Dijk had been pitching since he was six. He loved the thrill of closing, and even when his coaches had tried to convince him to start and pitch more innings, he would only come in if he knew he’d be finishing the game. There were ways to deal with that - namely, the nine-out save, which many a frustrated high school coach forced him to pitch. Not that he minded nine-out saves.

He’d been Super-Llamaland’s Next Big Reliever - after a successful college career where he closed out game after game for the University of Vargas, the best collegiate baseball team in the nation (no matter what Natalie Wu tried to tell you), he became the first-ever college reliever to be selected in the first ten picks of the draft. And he’d made an immediate impact on Talahita’s bullpen, racking up thirty-eight saves his rookie year out of college. As you might expect with a kid who grew up with the WBC31 Tigers team, he wanted to play for the national team. And Colin Nittledeen, whose bullpen was practically made of glass, eventually decided he wanted Van Dijk to close for him.

And then…nothing. Sure, he’d been one of the top relievers in the league, making All-Star Game after All-Star Game and probably paving the way for acceptance into the nation’s Baseball Hall of Fame. But with regards to his national team? Absolutely nothing. Year after year Van Dijk came in, hopeful that this year would be the year he could show he had what it took to be a Drew Gilson or a Troy Vasquez. Year after year, the Tigers went out early, and he went home disappointed.

But now, the championship was in sight. And he knew that if he could close out Game Six of the World Baseball Classic Finals, he would finally make that next step.
***
Thirty minutes before the biggest match of Laurent Mårtensson’s life, and he had just finished the lineup card that could take him back on top of the world.


1. SS Markus WRIGHT

2. C Sofia RASMUSSEN

3. LF Isak GUNNLAUGSSON

4. RF Lucien RUSSO

5. 1B Nicolas ROUSSEAU

6. 3B Emery NOVAK

7. 2B Hector RINALDI

8. CF Gudjon FRANDSEN

9. SP Justin ZHENG


The last time Laurent had been in the finals, it’d been with the dominant WBC31 Tigers team as deputy to manager Chris Evans. This wasn’t the WBC31 team that literally went undefeated over an entire season. Laurent knew that only one team had done that before, and no team would do it again. But this - taking a WBC40 team coming off consecutive quarterfinals exits past Schiltzberg and Newmanistan to a fourth title - might be even more impressive.


He was so close to his goal. He couldn’t let up now. While the Tigers played the game of their lives, Laurent was going to manage the game of his life. After all, it only made sense that a man that’d helped the team to a 39-0 record would be back on top for a fortieth win.
***
From the moment Justin Zheng’s first pitch smoked into Sofia Rasmussen’s waiting glove, she knew that they were going to win Game Six. It was their destiny, with Zheng pitching the way he had this Classic, Zheng pitching the way he was going to tonight. The 93-mph shuuto sizzled through Mark Daly’s helpless bat and into her glove. Strike one. Two pitches later, he was done. One down, twenty-six to go. And two and three would come very quickly. Zheng was on top of things tonight, taking just eight pitches to finish off the Schiltzberg lineup.


Unfortunately, McKey had gotten off to a hot start as well. It was Rasmussen herself to go down on three pitches in the top of the same inning. The Tigers just needed one more win to be champions. But their opponents were not going to go down easily.

***

After two innings, things were still scoreless. Super-Llamaland had all the momentum after a dominant game five win. But Laurent Mårtensson knew that if they kept Schiltzberg in the game, then things would go to waste. To win the game and the series, he would need to cajole the offense to eke out a run, then let Zheng and his bullpen handle the rest. But against one of the world’s most underrated pitchers, achieving the first half of this was harder than he’d expected. The only baserunner had been Lucien Russo, who’d singled to lead off the second and proceeded to stay on first for the rest of the inning as McKey struck out the side.


Luckily, McKey, who’d looked sharper than ever in the first two innings, had slacked off a bit to lead off the third. Gudjon Frandsen had managed to draw the ever-ominous leadoff walk, and with Mårtensson’s permission, Justin Zheng had bunted him over to second, putting a runner in scoring position with one out...at least, until Thomas Saiz threw the ball away, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Suddenly, Schiltzberg were in serious trouble, and everyone knew it.


Markus Wright was up. Laurent knew that with Wright, Rasmussen, and Gunnlaugsson all up, the Tigers should - in theory - have no trouble scoring a run. But with Rasmussen not exactly the fleetest of foot, even though she was fast for a catcher, the manager knew that a double play was entirely possible.


While Mårtensson mulled over the benefits of a hit-and-run (and had in-game strategy consultant Wilson Valdez do the same), Markus Wright was laboring in the batter’s box. McKey, now recognizing the dangerous situation he found himself in, had seriously stepped up, and Wright found himself flummoxed, barely managing to fight away an array of well-placed, late-breaking pitches. Still, the Cyclones shortstop was an elite contact hitter, inexplicably managing to work a full count when McKey had had him pinned against the wall three times.


But he was hanging in there. And when McKey finally slipped - putting a fastball a little too outside - Wright turned on the mistake and ripped a hard line drive down the left-field line. Frandsen scored easily, Zheng followed him in, and only the throwing arm of Vrooman, who’d been caught shading over to his left, kept Wright at second. Suddenly it was two to zero, and Schiltzberg’s chances were dropping fast.


He hadn’t planned to hit-and-run with a runner on second and nobody on first - there was virtually no risk of a double play. But Valdez had been all for it, and it did make sense - Schiltzberg’s outfield defense was dominant, Rasmussen was the best contact hitter to ever play in the LBL, and Wright would need all the help he could get. Even a groundout to the right side would get Wright to third with only one out. He waited until McKey had run a 2-1 count on Sofia Rasmussen, then pulled the trigger. McKey delivered and Wright took off.


The pitch itself was a fastball, belt-high and a touch inside. Rasmussen recognized it perfectly and swung, sharply lining it into left-center. Wright scored easily...and so did Rasmussen, the line drive just cutting its way through the air as it sailed over the fence. It was 4-0. With six innings to play, the Tigers had put themselves firmly in the driver’s seat. And they hadn’t even needed to hit-and-run.

***
Top of the seventh. Schiltzberg had managed to revive their title hopes, with Thomas Saiz doubling in two runs to make it 4-2. But the Tigers had clawed back quickly. With one out, a walk and a single had put runners on the corners, and Laurent Mårtensson knew that any more runs here would basically seal the series. There was just one small issue - the pitcher’s spot had been up. But taking his ace out of the game had been more than worth it, both in Laurent’s eyes and in the eyes of his Strategy Consultant, Wilson Valdez. Tanya Ericsson would pinch-hit, and probably go in for Gudjon Frandsen. Tanya Ericsson had a thing for pinch-hitting.

Not this time. To the annoyance of Laurent Mårtensson and Justin Zheng, Ericsson went down swinging on four pitches. Suddenly, with two outs and runners on the corners, nothing was assured. With the inning’s end looming, Mårtensson realized he needed someone up in the pen. He’d had Victor Nyman warm up, but was it a little too early for the closer? He needed somebody to go a little longer - and, preferably, somebody who Schiltzberg wouldn’t expect. He knew they’d prepared extensively for every reliever in the bullpen. And, frankly, he didn’t trust anyone to overcome that and outmatch Schiltzberg’s offense.

It suddenly came to him.

“Get Matthias warming up. He’s throwing the seventh.”

“The starter?”

“…What other Matthias is on this team?”

And so the number one pitcher on the Tigers team would defer to his number two.

Six pitches later, Sofia Rasmussen sent a poorly-placed Todd Barras cutter off the right-center wall, clearing the bases and making the score 7-2 Tigers. Super-Llamaland’s coronation was imminent. And everybody in the stadium knew it.
***
Three outs.

Three.
Outs.

And the Super-Llamaland Tigers would be the champions of the fortieth World Baseball Classic.

Gilson-Engen had completely destroyed Schiltzberg over two innings. And Laurent Mårtensson, seeing how solid he’d been and how…subdued Schiltzberg’s offense had looked for two innings (four strikeouts, two groundouts, a single, twenty-seven pitches), had kept him in for a nine-out save.

But it was never going to be that easy. This wasn’t a high school state championship. This was game six of the finals. And no matter how bad Schiltzberg’s offense had looked, they were still the best offense in the world, from their leadoff man to their ninth hitter. A detail that Matthias Gilson-Engen seemed to have forgotten.

Bob Rutledge had been bluntly described by Schiltzberg’s media as a “poor hitter”, but he wasn’t exactly hitting .000. And he was a notorious Tigers killer, who’d come up clutch in their past meetings. When Matthias Gilson-Engen served up a fastball down the middle of the plate - that was promptly smashed off the wall for a triple - Mårtensson knew it was time to get somebody up. And that somebody could only be Jason Van Dijk.

But Van Dijk needed some more time to warm up. And a single and two walks later, Schiltzberg were down 7-3 with the bases loaded and nobody out. After all, this was the Tigers’ chance at a record-tying fourth championship. It was never going to be that easy.
***
Two outs later, and it suddenly was. There was one obstacle left. Francis Thom. The best power hitter on the team, somebody more than capable of undoing everything the Tigers had worked for with a single grand-slam swing of the bat. Jason Van Dijk had been told to be careful, that a walk was better than giving him a chance at a home run. Jason Van Dijk had been instructed in no uncertain terms by Laurent Mårtensson to work around the edges and give Thom nothing to look at. But Jason Van Dijk was never going to back down. His first pitch was a high, 95-mph fastball down the middle. Thom swung, connected, and flipped his bat, believing himself on the verge of a tie game.

The entire Schiltzberg bench rose at once, straining their necks, asking their teammates if that ball was about to leave the yard.

It was never going out. There was only one way this game could have rightfully ended. And it happened.

On the warning track, the ball fell cleanly into the glove of none other than Tanya Ericsson.

And it was over.

They were all champions.