World Baseball Classic 49- Everything Thread (IC)

[South Newlandia]

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports -> Youth Baseball
Bear with us

South Newlandia travelled to their region-mate Hampton Island for their third series. Both teams entered with 5-1 records, both two games clear of everyone else in the group. Hampton Island, ranked 8th in the world, went into the game as the natural favourites. Despite that, the South Newlandian team had hope, as they had upset big teams in the past. The pitchers were excited to pitch against a literal bear, even though they would start to annoy him very soon. The pitchers had decided that all of them would intentionally walk Midnight, the bear, over and over again. They knew the bear hated that. They had it coming.

South Newlandia                       0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Hampton Island                        3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  4

The first game, pitched by Blake Robbins, didn’t start as expected, as Robbins gave up three runs in the very first inning, partly influenced by walking Midnight, which let three players advance in total, all of which would later get runs. It took the South Newlandian batters, who were so dominant in the two series before this one, until the fifth inning, and even then they managed just a single run, scored by Fabio Ventura. Hampton Island struck right back, getting the 4-1. After that, no further runs were scored, but at least Fabio Paul, who closed for the last three innings, didn’t record any runs either.

South Newlandia                       0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Hampton Island                        0 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 X  6

The second game, pitched by Larry Cain on shorter rest, started arguably even worse, as the South Newlandian team was down 0-4 after three innings already. Midnight was starting to get really annoyed, getting walked again and again, but a homer by Mario Cortez in the third made Cain pay for that. Once again, South Newlandia struggled to get any runs in for long. Barnaby Butt came in to close for the last three innings, and after Mike Larsen got a honorary run in the 7th, another homer by Cortez in the 8th ended the match 6-1.

South Newlandia                       0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2  5
Hampton Island                        1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  4

Ryan Hunter pitching against a bear was slightly ironic because of his last name, but the 21-year-old was going to go for it anyway. Hunter gave up a triple on the very first pitch to Denny Ramirez, but retired the next two batters. Midnight was at bat now, and Hunter started to intentionally walk him again, like the pitchers before him. After the first ball, the bear suddenly started to charge at Hunter. The stadium gasped nearly in unison, and Hunter, with no way to defend himself, was only saved by the 1st base coach from Hampton Island. He had a tranquilizer gun ready, and shot the bear just in time to save the day, the stadium and most specifically Ryan Hunter. While the bear was carried off of the field, Hunter still had a horrified look on his face. Damian Bolton went onto the field and talked to him, and while we do not know what he told him, Hunter was able to finish the game. The team would later learn that that wasn’t the first such incident, as the bear had apparently done something similar years ago already. Without Midnight batting, South Newlandia suddenly had a chance, and a close and interesting game began.
Hampton Island scored in the first and second inning to get them the lead while Hunter still lacked his usual precision after the shock. In the fourth inning, South Newlandia equalized thanks to runs by Zimmerman and White. The Golden Bears took the lead right back in the 5th after a solo homer by Bryce Mueller. Nothing happened for a while, and after seven innings had passed, Marcel Adams came in to close the game. The Elephants equalized again in the top of the 8th after Adam King scored, but in the bottom of the inning, Hampton Island took the lead once again. With one inning to go, South Newlandia was only trailing by one; and after a homer by Fabio Ventura that also scored Mike Larsen, they were actually ahead, and Hampton Island had to score on demand. Despite allowing a double to Phillip Greene, he managed to retire three batters in time, and the South Newlandians took game three by 5-4.


We are pleased to announce an interview with the South Newlandian batting coach, Anthony Smith-Miller.

Our reporter: Good evening Anthony Smith-Miller, and congratulations for the strong start.
Anthony Smith-Miller: Good evening, and thank you.
OR: What happened there at the start of game three, can you explain your personal view?
ASM: I didn’t think the bear had it in him. He seemed so polite. I mean, he can’t talk, but I think he made a friendly grunt at me. Maybe not, now that I think about it, it might have been something else. Anyways, I was just as surprised as everyone else. We probably shouldn’t have angered him like that.
OR: Are you going to launch official complaints or something like that?
ASM: The story went through the media enough; the authorities should be in the know. We will see if anything comes of that, but I don’t think so. I mean, it’s okay, nobody got eaten or injured, and there even is a decent chance Ryan doesn’t develop a bear-phobia.
OR: On the field, the South Newlandian batters only scored seven runs today after scoring 44 in the six games before that. What happened?
ASM: Hampton Island has great pitchers, and we had some problems. But still, that wasn’t great today. We already know we are kind of weak away from home, but today has been really bad. This can’t go on like that if we want to qualify for Newmanistan.
OR: What do you think about Mr. Kartoffer’s unofficial rankings, is that something the coaches are using?
ASM: With all due respect, doesn’t he have better things to do? This is merely speculation, and not relevant for us right now. It certainly is interesting if you are some kind of numbers geek, but we are here to play baseball.
OR: Can you tell us who pitches in the next series against Torisakia?
ASM: We are trying to get Ryan back on the mount, and make him think about other stuff. Otherwise, Jacob and Jay are on. I can’t say anything about the order yet.
OR: After nine games, the South Newlandian squad is looking strong so far. Do you think they can qualify for the Round of 16 again, even in this tight, competitive group?
ASM: No idea.
OR: Um, okay. I guess we will see. Anyways, thanks for the interview, and good luck!
ASM: Thank you, and good night.

All matches

Hampton Island 2-1 South Newlandia (4-1, 6-1, 4-5)

The Greater Nordics 2-1 Torisakia (4-1, 3-2, 1-10)
The Greater Nordics clinch two close games, but seemingly fall apart in the last one.

Quebecois Acadiana 2-1 Drunk People at the Local Tavern (6-9, 6-3, 5-4)
The Drunk People are the first team to lose wins here, and they dropped two at once. Had they gotten a sweep, they would’ve been tied with the Elephants now.

Current standings

*                                    Pld   W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island                      9    7   0   2    46   27  +19    21
2 South Newlandia                     9    6   0   3    51   47   +4    18
3 Torisakia                           9    4   0   5    36   33   +3    12
4 Drunk People at the Local Tavern    9    4   0   5    47   49   −2    12
5 The Greater Nordics                 9    4   0   5    30   41  −11    12
6 Quebecois Acadiana                  9    2   0   7    40   53  −13     6

Currently, South Newlandia is two games clear of third place, but since that is tied between three teams and South Newlandia still has Torisakia and The Greater Nordics, the 11th best team in the world, to play, things couldn’t be more far from over.

The next series will see the Elephants play on Dragon Island, namely in the Dragon Island Arena of Masmow, northeast of South Newlandias mainland. Their opponent will be Torisakia, a young unranked side that has performed quite well so far. We will see how far they can go in this one, as the series might end up being very important in the final standings.

[Hapilopper]

Archbishop Stadium, Londinium, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Anglicana
World Baseball Classic 49 Series 3: Hapilopper v. Nova Anglicana
For the first time all Classic, the Hapiloppians lost a series. But at least it was to Nova Anglicana, one of the top dogs of international baseball, and at least the Haps appeared competitive in the series. So competitive, in fact, that the first game went 17 innings before the Lions jumped clear with a walk-off home run courtesy of Matthew Gilbert.

That 17-inning game, in fact, was the kind of baseball game that Hapiloppians loved to tell stories about. Many Hapiloppians showed up at work the next morning groggy and out of it, the direct result of having stayed up until 4 in the morning to watch the game. Many of them were disappointed with the result, but they were also pleased with what they had seen. The Haps had more than held their own against the top team in the group, which was always a concern for those in Hapiloppian sports. After all, everyone still remembered the time the Equestrian football team massacred the HAPS, 8-1, in the 59th AOCAF.

For 17 grueling innings, though, the Haps maintained level with the #3 team in the world. Curtis Skinner, probably the oldest player in the World Baseball Classic at 56 years of age, pitched nine innings, giving up three runs. However, he couldn’t answer the bell for the 10th inning, and was replaced with Trevor Ashley, who pitched two solid innings before being replaced with Martin Meadows. Meadows was advised to “keep the velocity down so we don’t behead anyone in the stands,” and pitched for two-thirds of an inning, giving up one hit.

When it became evident that the Haps were in for a long night, members of the relief pitching squad came in for longer stints. Jordan Meadows, typically brought in to serve as the team’s LOOGY (Left-Handed One Out Guy” who pitches against one left-handed batter a game, instead was brought in for an inning of work. Even a position player, Scott Pemberton, was asked to pitch in an effort to save the relief squad some work.

Unfortunately, the strain of 17 innings also had its effect on other players. Mo Beverly had to be replaced by Grady Elliott for the first time since the Haps started sending teams to the World Baseball Classic, as his knees started to give out in the 12th inning. When the team returned to the clubhouse after the game ended, Mo was in agony on a trainer’s table as Hapiloppian trainers worked on his knees. Consequently, Manager Dale Moss gave Mo the next day off and told him to “get a couple of cold beers, get in the cold tub and relax.”

The next day, the Haps felt the effects of the 17-inning game. Hot Sauce Gibbs was roughed up in the second inning of game two, issuing a lead-off walk to Matthew Gilbert, a single to Jerome Duplantier and a smartly-hit dribbler from Marc Dufors. Eventually, Gibbs gave up four runs before the inning was over. When he came back to the dugout at the end of the inning, he was greeted with Manager Dale Moss shaking his head sadly at him. Mill looked over to a monitor to see two pitchers warming up in the bullpen, and he knew his day was over.

Upon seeing the news, Mill stormed off the bench and walked back to the clubhouse, smashing a light fixture along the way. The Haps tried to come back in the fourth, with some shrewd hitting from Dayton Rowe and Jerome Hayden. Rowe fired a base hit to “Triples Alley” and this time, had the good sense to abide by the stop sign given to him by third base coach Chad Walter.

“Thanks for listening this time, fool,” Chad muttered to Dayton.

“Well, Jerome’s gonna hit it out,” Dayton said. “Watch this.”

Unfortunately, Jerome didn’t hit it out. He knocked a ground ball that went right to second baseman Tommy Moran and didn’t make it to first base in time. But Dayton tagged up and ran like hell home, scoring the Haps’ first run.

The Haps plated two more runs in the seventh as Grady Elliott hammered a base hit over the head of right fielder Jerome Duplantier, bringing in Jerome Hayden and Leroy Hunnisett. But that was all the Haps scored, as Jake Bryan and Duplantier blasted two home runs to put the game out of the reach of the Haps.

But it wasn’t a sweep. The Haps came back, with the assistance of the controversial spitball pitcher Vic Foster, to beat the Lions 5-2. Foster pitched seven innings, allowing two runs. Vic’s recipe for success on this day in Nova Anglicana included a cocktail of ketchup and pickle juice, which allowed the ball to spin a little bit downward – the way he wanted it. The win was also a good way for the Haps to end the series on an up note. They had been competitive with the top team in the group, had taken a win away from them, and were it not for one swing in the 17th inning of a very close game, might have won the whole series.

It was that optimism that the Haps rested on as they prepared to head to Zwangzug to take on the unranked, but very strong Zebras. During practice, the Haps appeared to not be downcast at losing the series, but rather optimistic – they had made a great showing in Nova Anglicana, and had nothing to be ashamed of.

[Daskel]

KOHNHEAD
Real Kohnhead Dressing Park - Day three

The first two games of the series were a battle, but the team now was not battling for the points... ok yes, they absolutely were batting for them, but the principal reason was their fans. Their fans, who were sad and angry and everything after Banija's series. For the kids, who were glued to the television screen, no matter what. For the young high school players, who shared tears in the very dirt they lost. They had to win. It was personal.

It was game three, top of the third. DH Eidome Yōichi prepared his bat with care. He didn't have the opportunity to play in the last games. Now it was their time, and he was shining: hits that ended with runs in both game one and game two, versus Bloggs and Crouch, and now he wanted more.

"Yōichi, you know better than anyone how much I wanted to bat for this game. Go there and slam it"

Ten was in high spirits. He was feeling great. After the lost against Banija in his last start, the only thing going through his mind was the words he told Nakamura of C8 Sportwire. "Look, we, as a team, have this oath to never put the guilt on the other. The guilt is personally ours, and ours only". Of course it was one's fault, and with that creed he went out there, on the mound, and was moved to gave the batters a piece of Daskelian Hell.

Now, Eidome just smiled and took his bat. They were bullpen friends. Now he was the avenger. "C'mon Ei, just do your magic"

---

"It's the top of the third and we have a good opportunity to score. Kishimoto in third, Shintaro in second. Cho chocked hi-...
"You cannot say 'Cho chocked' in the same sentence, Mr Maeda" The facepalm was almost audible in Tanaka's voice
"but he did! Thankfully, both runners advanced a base with his productive out. Now everything is in the hands of Eidome, our DH"
"It's so weird to see him on the plate. I know he plays for Daito University and regularly batting, but still, as DH..."
"Yeah I know. In Daskel we do not use the DH, but now this is an interesting opportunity. Let's watch the first pitch"

---

Bottom of the ninth - Two outs - Dorsey in second base

It wasn't custom for Izo to give away runs. He had everyone's confidence to close, and he wanted to deliver. Now, Kohnhead's batters gave him quite the scare, with a couple of stealers and a run. Fortunately, balls were flying after that, and now he had to keep and eye on Stuart Dorsey. Two balls, one strike. He pitched a slider to the inside...

Ping!

"mine!" The Plop! of Go's glove. He took the ball and lifted it. Game set!

They ran to the rival team to share a bow and a couple of handshakes, as was custom in Daskel. While they arranged their bags in the dugout, Ten took a little piece of plastic from his own bag; a tiny container with rich, dark brown dirt. He thought back to that third inning, At the end, Eidome did slam the ball, bringing Shintaro and Kishimoto back home. After that, Somel didn't reach the base, but put him on third, and scored with Gō. who then got caught out by a stupid mistake trying to fake steal. What a game.

"Here you have, Daskel. Now it's the moment to bring joy back home"

[Torisakia]

By Jed Merrill

Colt Castilla to miss South Newlandia series due to massive car crash

13th August 2020

Starting pitcher Colt Castilla will not be playing in the three game series against South Newlandia this weekend due to being involved in a 20 car pileup. The incident occurred on 25th Lane in West Tokai yesterday evening. Castilla was driving in his 2019 Bercedes B-Class down 25th Lane parallel to Highway 1 when he became aware of a massive pileup of cars ahead of him. Despite his best attempts, Castilla could not stop in time and slammed into the back of a Tord Tiesta, causing his Bercedes to become airborne and fly over on top of the pile. While trying to process what happened, an 18 wheel semi-truck came barrelling down 25th Lane going an estimated 90 miles per hour, and slammed through the pile of cars, causing cars and bodies to go flying everywhere. At the end of it all, Castilla and his Bercedes were situated at the very bottom of the pile. Castilla, somehow still alive, was trapped in his car for hours until rescue works were able to get the jaws of life to get him out. He was taken to West Tokai Regional Medical Center where it was determined that he only sustained a few cuts, bruises, and a broken duodenum. He is expected to make a full recovery within a week.

What exactly caused the 20 car pileup is unknown. The National Office of Traffic & Safety (NOTS) stated that an initial investigation shows that it may have been caused by a few drivers who had fallen asleep behind the wheel. 25th Lane is a 4 lane highway that runs parallel to Highway 1 on the west side of Tokai, and is one of the busiest roads during rush hour. The recent stress on workers due to the Soto Act likely caused some to feel tired, and thus fall asleep while driving. It's likely the cars hit into each other, forming the initial pile, and distracted drivers continuously hit into the pile at high rates of speed and making the situation worse. In total, 14 people were injured and at least two were inflicted with such heavy mental anguish that they will have to live the rest of their lives needing a service dog to help them cope. The entire accident took almost 12 hours to fully clean up, and 25th Lane has remained closed throughout the entire day. It took nearly 250 rescue workers from 6 different cities to help with the recovery efforts. Search dogs from the TCTF K9 Division even had to be brought in to locate people.

Castilla had a dashcam mounted in his 2019 Bercedes B-Class, but due to some technical issues caused by the crash only the audio remains. Only the music from the radio is heard until about 2 minutes in when Castilla screams "OH GOD OH FUCK" followed by screeching tires, busting glass, and painful screams. The recording cuts off afterwards. Thankfully for Castilla, he was wearing his seatbelt and all airbags deployed properly, saving him from further harm. News crews were on scene as Castilla was being loaded into an ambulance, including GBN Torisakia. When our correspondent asked Castilla what had happened, he stated "I never filed my car insurance policy. Please help". GBN Torisakia was not able to reach Castilla for comment afterwards.

With Castilla out, it will be up to Dillan Warwick to have a good series for the Ice Birds. Warwick, a 23 year old right handed pitcher, has spent his young 3 year career with the Berchem Linx, earning First Team All-TMLB honors in his first two seasons and All-Star for all three. Warwick has come in as a relief for Castilla in a few games during the World Baseball Classic, with an ERA of 0.35. When asked about how he would approach his first international start, Warwick stated "[I] just have to do what I can. Throw some curves, some change-ups, maybe a few splitters. Just try to not allow anything big. I'll throw Eephus pitches all day if I have to". Warwick was in a battle with Castilla in the weeks prior to the start of World Baseball Classic 49 for the role of starting pitcher. Due to Castilla's experience in big games, Kermit Woods chose him to be the start over Warwick, but gave Warwick the role of relief pitcher. Woods has been known to utilize relief pitchers in the TMLB, and is habitual about constantly rotating pitchers game-by-game to keep the opponent guessing. But with the rumors of a bad relationship between Woods and the rest of the players, and with how Woods does not seem to stick with one game plan, it is doubtful we will see much in the way of this.

[Delaclava]

DSGN.com Baseball

Player Profile: Bedin Egozhevy

Nine games into their return appearance at the World Baseball Classic, the Delaclava team is in fine form. They played close against two top-10 teams - Abanhfleft and Free Republics - earning one win apiece. They came within two innings of a sweep at Ranoria, before squandering a 2-0 lead after seven innings and settled for two wins. They sit 4-5, well in the chase for the WBC playoffs.

While the team is composed only of residents of small town Dillobourne on the island of Hess, undoubtedly some of them are playing well enough to earn their stripes even when a full baseball program is launched. Today, we're giving you a closer look at one of those players: 20-year-old long reliever and starter Bedin Egozhevy, who gave the Phoenixes the 2-1 lead through eight innings in the final Ranoria game before exiting. With his versatility for various situations and a toolbox full of tricks, Egozhevy is gaining valuable experience and promises to be playing in many further editions of the WBC.

What it's like growing up in Dillobourne: "Honestly, I have nothing to compare it to, as far as actually living here - it's where I've been born and raised. I like it though. It's tight-knit enough, I don't know quite everyone, but definitely everyone on this team, I've seen around for years. I think that's a big part of why they picked us. Our island's always felt a bit isolated, so except for traveling for baseball, the biggest city I've really spent time in is Brunswick. It's pretty much one middle school, one high school, one baseball league for each age group - you keep the same friends, you grow together.

His start in baseball: "It's the biggest sport in our town, one of the more popular sports on the island of Hess. And more importantly, it was a family sport for me. No one ever asked me if I wanted to play baseball - I just had a bat and glove in hand from the very beginning. But I think my parents and coaches knew they were looking at a real player since I was always pushing to do more - I'd be seven, eight years old and asking to pitch instead of the coaches. They kept saying no, and I kept working on my pitches in the yard until they finally let me. I've always been looking to learn more and do more. It's worked out well so far.

What makes the Dillobourne team special: "I think we think separately from the mainstream, differently. There are things that are supposed to work and not work when you get to college, pro, international baseball. But we think up ways to hit and pitch, different strategies, and no one's telling us 'no, don't do it like that', so we're willing to try anything. We're all close to each other, we've all bought in, we trust each other to get the job done. And finally, we have nothing to lose, no expectations, so we're going for broke. We came into this thinking we could lose every single game, but planning to win them all."

On representing Delaclava: "It's kind of weird, to be honest. Since we're used to being isolated from the mainland and the bigger islands, we don't necessarily have a lot of national pride. We're part of the culture but also have our own thing going on. I'm told by some of the older coaches, when the nation started isolation policies, not much really changed for Hessians. They've tried to bring in islanders like us more often though, and it's a huge honor and an opportunity that they picked our community for this.

On playing at the National Athletic Complex in Catherina: "It was crazy, honestly. We were kind of told, they were going to put us in this big stadium, as a way to make the team legit and give big city fans an opportunity to watch, but don't expect many people to show up. I don't know what the numbers were, but it was more every day. (The final game at Khalil Dennis Stadium, a 4-3 loss to Free Republics, sold 92,182 out of 97,054.) After we won that second game against the Republicans, it was a huge jump. There are a lot of people there who still love their baseball - we just have to give them something good.

His role with the team, now and in the future: "I've just naturally always had a lot of pitches to work with. You're a kid and you start trying them out, trying to emulate the pros. A lot of them just seemed to work for me. Different spins, banana spins, but enough speed to be viable for that kind of situation. For this tournament, I'm going to use that as much as I can, and I think it's going to be a different look. Then hopefully I can take that experience into future tournaments, show teammates who are nervous about the big stage that it's not so bad, we're playing the same sport, they have the same tools as you.

Quick hitters:
Favorite pitch: Screwball
Favorite bird: Jasmine hawk
Favorite ice cream: Butter pecan
Favorite Delaclav city he's visited: Quinniville
Favorite coffee brew: Lisquean

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

OOC : Imagine Players' Tribune but in Quebec. Will finish the whole thing later tonight.

MEMOIRES D'ATHLETES

Hometown Hero

HEO MYEONG-SHIN (허명신) / 3RD BASEMAN, KINGSTON TIGERS

Dear fans, it has been my honour to represent Royal Kingdom of Quebec, on the home and away colours that all would dream of, but only few are privileged enough to its honour. It has not been exactly what I had dreamed of, and life hasn't been easy. From leaving homely Cornwall to the big city, and then to South Bend on the other side of the country, it's not easy. Of course, many questions and breaks were raised, from losing mum in middle of college to having to deal with injuries while playing football.

It's not exactly how we'd want our storylines to go, whether it be successful or not, and that does affect how you view your life and where you stand. Of course, that's something that I have always come into my head, whether it be over deciding between QFL and QBO, Queen's or Saguenay for college, or even many other choices that we make in our lives. That's how life sometimes turns out, and I have come to appreciate those who stand by me even as the worst appears yet to have ended.

That's why I always have to thank all the fans I have met along the way. Of course, thank you for being there for me from the beginning, whether it be Sydenham Central PS in Cornwall, where I started playing baseball at grade 2, or Songjeong MS, where you have welcomed the young Cornwallian boy into particular attention. I know you guys' support, both in Cornwall and 'Sauga, that have propelled me the long way. The likewise to all those who I had come to face when I was little and still learning. Without your support, drive and encouragement for your kids, I would not have found myself any greater of a drive as well. We have all learned to grow well on the diamond and also on football turf, and that's what we should remember.

And another thanks should go to my lifelong pals as well. My high school friends, whom I have spent great deal of time with on Erskine, are those I cherish dearly, whether we are winning or losing. They have seen me when we were winning three national championships in baseball and two state championships in football, and we still see each other whenever we're all back home. They have also visited me whenever Saguenay came to Queen's or St. Croix for rivalry games, and of course, do Xoomer Calls and Messenger chats whenever possible. Through good and bad, and all forms of rivalries and memories, we have bonded together and no matter where we are, we have achieved something beautiful.

They have also visited me whenever Saguenay came to Queen's or St. Croix for rivalry games, and of course, do Xoomer Calls and Messenger chats whenever possible. Through good and bad, and all forms of rivalries and memories, we have bonded together and no matter where we are, we have achieved something beautiful. Who can forget how many family trips done on individual accounts and of course, the winter training camps? That's where we also owe our coaches a thanks as well, because they didn't give into BS or anything like that. Coming from an academic school...we were expected to be tougher on ourselves. School grades, doing well on exams, and all that, really mattered to them. And sometimes, they would lit fire just to surprise or spite us. I remember every training camp, when our head coach, good ole Jock Yim-Cordero, poured gasoline on our local park's snow-filled baseball field. Then he set it all on fire, and everybody remembers how lovely the flames developed as the field quickly got melted and that we had to play on it....that was something I remember too well. Every four years.

[Newmanistan]

Series 4, Game 1

Group 1
Chromatika                            0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  3
Se Vende Skooma                       2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  4

South Covello                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Marigred                              0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 X  3

TJUN-ia                               0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1  3
Newmanistan                           0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2

Series 4, Game 2

Group 1
Chromatika                            0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 X  5

South Covello                         0 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0  5
Marigred                              2 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 X  8

TJUN-ia                               6 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 10
Newmanistan                           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4  5

Series 4, Game 3

Group 1
Chromatika                            0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2
Se Vende Skooma                       1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 X  5

South Covello                         3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1  7
Marigred                              1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  4

TJUN-ia                               0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1  5
Newmanistan                           0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 2  7

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan            12    9   0   3    69   40  +29    27
2 TJUN-ia                12    6   0   6    51   42   +9    18
3 South Covello          12    6   0   6    43   52   −9    18
4 Se Vende Skooma        12    6   0   6    36   41   −5    18
5 Chromatika             12    6   0   6    41   46   −5    18
6 Marigred               12    3   0   9    52   71  −19     9

Series 4, Game 1

Group 2
Liventia                              1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Banija                                0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Kohnhead                              0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  4
The Jovannic                          2 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 X  7

Sarzonia                              0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Daskel                                0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  5

Series 4, Game 2

Group 2
Liventia                              7 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  9
Banija                                3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  5

Kohnhead                              0 0 0 7 3 2 0 0 0 12
The Jovannic                          1 0 3 2 0 3 0 0 1 10

Sarzonia                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Daskel                                2 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 X  7

Series 4, Game 3

Group 2
Liventia                              2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
Banija                                0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 X  8

Kohnhead                              0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0  4
The Jovannic                          0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  3

Sarzonia                              0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 5  8
Daskel                                0 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 1  6

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Liventia               12    8   0   4    53   43  +10    24
2 Banija                 12    8   0   4    71   49  +22    24
3 Daskel                 12    6   0   6    65   68   −3    18
4 Sarzonia               12    6   0   6    58   57   +1    18
5 Kohnhead               12    5   0   7    49   61  −12    15
6 The Jovannic           12    3   0   9    56   74  −18     9

Series 4, Game 1

Group 3
The Greater Nordics                   0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
Quebecois Acadiana                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 X  6

Hampton Island                        0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1  4
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1  5

Torisakia                             0 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0  6
South Newlandia                       0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4  7

Series 4, Game 2

Group 3
The Greater Nordics                   1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  5

Hampton Island                        0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Torisakia                             0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 0  6
South Newlandia                       0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Series 4, Game 3

Group 3
The Greater Nordics                   3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  6
Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1  5

Hampton Island                        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4  8
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0  7

Torisakia                             0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
South Newlandia                       1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 X  4

*                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island                     12    9   0   3    61   39  +22    27
2 South Newlandia                    12    8   0   4    64   61   +3    24
3 The Greater Nordics                12    5   0   7    41   57  −16    15
4 Drunk People at the Local Tavern   12    5   0   7    59   64   −5    15
5 Torisakia                          12    5   0   7    50   46   +4    15
6 Quebecois Acadiana                 12    4   0   8    56   64   −8    12

Series 4, Game 1

Group 4
Cassadaigua                           0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  4
The Fair Republic                     1 0 1 0 0 1 5 0 X  8

Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  4
Drawkland                             1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  3

Lovisa                                0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 2  6
Ethane                                0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3  4

Series 4, Game 2

Group 4
Cassadaigua                           0 1 0 2 0 0 3 0 2  8
The Fair Republic                     0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Northwest Kalactin                    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  3
Drawkland                             0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2

Lovisa                                0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Ethane                                0 0 1 0 1 0 3 1 X  6

Series 4, Game 3

Group 4
Cassadaigua                           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
The Fair Republic                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1  5
Drawkland                             1 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 X  6

Lovisa                                1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0  5
Ethane                                0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua            12   11   0   1    74   41  +33    33
2 Northwest Kalactin     12    7   0   5    58   54   +4    21
3 Ethane                 12    6   0   6    59   51   +8    18
4 Drawkland              12    5   0   7    59   62   −3    15
5 Lovisa                 12    5   0   7    54   64  −10    15
6 The Fair Republic      12    2   0  10    47   79  −32     6

Series 4, Game 1

Group 5
Nova Anglicana                        0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Jeckland                              0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3  6

Ihilthracna                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Equestrian States                     0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  1

Hapilopper                            1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2  6
Zwangzug                              0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3  7

Series 4, Game 2

Group 5
Nova Anglicana                        0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0  6
Jeckland                              0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0  3

Ihilthracna                           0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Equestrian States                     2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Hapilopper                            0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0  3
Zwangzug                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Series 4, Game 3

Group 5
Nova Anglicana                        2 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0  7
Jeckland                              0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2

Ihilthracna                           0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  4
Equestrian States                     0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1  5

Hapilopper                            0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0  5
Zwangzug                              0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  3

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana         12    9   0   3    52   38  +14    27
2 Hapilopper             12    8   0   4    49   42   +7    24
3 Equestrian States      12    7   0   5    46   46    0    21
4 Zwangzug               12    6   0   6    53   50   +3    18
5 Jeckland               12    5   0   7    45   55  −10    15
6 Ihilthracna            12    1   0  11    35   49  −14     3

Series 4, Game 1

Group 6
Ranoria                               0 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 0  6
Abanhfleft                            0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 1  5

Free Republics                        0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0  4
Nagore                                0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Delaclava                             1 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 0  6
HUElavia                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2  5

Series 4, Game 2

Group 6
Ranoria                               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Abanhfleft                            0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 X  5

Free Republics                        0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1  5
Nagore                                1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0  4

Delaclava                             0 2 0 3 0 0 0 1 2  8
HUElavia                              0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Series 4, Game 3

Group 6
Ranoria                               1 1 0 0 1 5 4 1 0 13
Abanhfleft                            1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Free Republics                        1 2 2 0 3 3 0 0 0 11
Nagore                                2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  3

Delaclava                             0 4 0 1 2 1 1 0 1 10
HUElavia                              1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0  4

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Free Republics         12    8   0   4    60   54   +6    24
2 Delaclava              12    7   0   5    61   44  +17    21
3 Abanhfleft             12    6   0   6    53   53    0    18
4 Ranoria                12    5   0   7    51   54   −3    15
5 HUElavia               12    5   0   7    49   53   −4    15
6 Nagore                 12    5   0   7    40   56  −16    15

Series 4, Game 1

Group 7
The Sarian                            2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Mathuvan Union                        0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0  4
Falisiand                             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Tikariot                              0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0  5
Ko-oren                               0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 X  6

Series 4, Game 2

Group 7
The Sarian                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Mathuvan Union                        0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 1 1 3 0 1 1 0  7
Falisiand                             0 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0  6

Tikariot                              0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Ko-oren                               0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Series 4, Game 3

Group 7
The Sarian                            0 4 0 3 0 7 2 0 0 16
Mathuvan Union                        2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 2  6
Falisiand                             0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

Tikariot                              0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Ko-oren                               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

*                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                   12    8   0   4    74   43  +31    24
2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec   12    8   0   4    70   64   +6    24
3 Tikariot                  12    7   0   5    43   47   −4    21
4 Falisiand                 12    6   0   6    48   47   +1    18
5 The Sarian                12    5   0   7    52   47   +5    15
6 Mathuvan Union            12    2   0  10    36   75  −39     6

Series 4, Game 1

Group 8
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Megistos                              0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  2

Terre Septentrionale                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Devonta                               1 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 X  6

The Sherpa Empire                     0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0  6
Super-Llamaland                       0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  5

Series 4, Game 2

Group 8
Pripet Socialist Republic             1 0 0 8 0 0 0 1 0 10
Megistos                              3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  4

Terre Septentrionale                  0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 1  7
Devonta                               3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  6

The Sherpa Empire                     4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0  4

Series 4, Game 3

Group 8
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  4
Megistos                              0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  5

Terre Septentrionale                  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Devonta                               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

The Sherpa Empire                     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 X  3

*                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire           12    9   0   3    66   48  +18    27
2 Terre Septentrionale        12    8   0   4    47   41   +6    24
3 Super-Llamaland             12    6   0   6    54   49   +5    18
4 Devonta                     12    5   0   7    62   58   +4    15
5 Megistos                    12    5   0   7    59   69  −10    15
6 Pripet Socialist Republic   12    3   0   9    40   63  −23     9

[Tikariot]

Instead of the studio or the park, the picture opens to a dark room with one spotlight on a middle-aged man, long black hair with some white streaks and a goatee.

Clayton Forsythe: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am sure you had expected, well, not me. But I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you a story. Oh, I apologize, I have not yet introduced myself. My name is Clayton Forsythe and I am the founder of the Tikariot Baseball League and the team that you now know as the Devil's Rejects.

A year and a half ago I got together with a group of other investors interested in furthering the sport of baseball in Tikariot. We established a league of 14 teams and I will agree, there were some birthing pains, but I think that for a first year we did a pretty good job, even though the quality was, let's just say, not very consistent. Still we had some very profitable teams, like the Tikariot City Thunderforge, the Port Rhovanyon Paladins or the Avanaroch Nightwatch, while others struggled. We had some exciting playoffs, especially the final series between the Paladins and the Morannon Militia, which took the full seven games and some edge-of-your-seat plays that showed that we're on the right track.

So then the decision was made to take this international and measure ourselves against the world. The International Baseball Slam IX was the first international event that was open, so we signed up, fully knowing that we were completely unproven, with the players young and inexperienced or just inexperienced on a professional level. It took us a long time before we could agree on a coach, because we had to prepare for the worst. The public, or however many people actually showed any interest in baseball, pretty much had marked us as cannonfodder on the international stage. Sure, some of the teams signed up for the Slam were youth teams, but still, almost all of these teams and nations have had experience one way or the other, be it the IBS or the World Baseball Classic. But we knew that we'd never know or get better at it, if we didn't try. So one of the other people that pushed for our first international venture, the resolute Mary Verglas, brought up the name Graham McCrory, who had been a journeyman during his active career and has coached all over the place. She invited him to our headquarters and our first meeting was a little, uh, rough around the edges.

You've seem Coach McCrory in interviews and down in the dugout, he can be grouchy, direct, brutally honest and at times bordering on rude, but - he has one thing that was so important to all of us: Passion. He didn't care that we potentially faced 18 straight heavy losses, he didn't care that people might hold him responsible for it. He just wanted to get the best out of our team of perceived misfits and nothing showed that more than him refusing to accept any salary. When he signed his contract, he waived any regular pay, but put down a clause for a big bonus for winning the tournament. To be very honest, we did think him a little off his rocker for that, but what did we have to lose? We were about to get a free coach!

Officially named the Tikariot Thunderforge, the players began to use the nickname Devil's Rejects, because nobody believed in them. Frankly I was not a fan of the name, because too many people are going to take the "devil" part as a very negative connotation and I was afraid that this would erode the small fanbase we had to begin with even more, but boy, did they ever prove me wrong! We traveled into the United Civil Republic and we swept the Bears. Swept them! It was an incredible feeling to see these men come together and just play ball. And suddenly Tweeter exploded with hashtags like #wearetherejects or #devilmaycare and we got a lot of emails and messages on Tweeter and Headbook and I felt this energy coming off people. When we arrived in Kalactin we had people start to chant in front of our hotel and in the stadium we had whole sections in black and purple and we won that series, too. All of a sudden we were front page in all the news outlets. And you should have seen the airport in Port Rhovanyon when we came back, it was absolutely crazy! I had never seen anything like it other than when our football teams traveled.

I'm not sure, if we got overconfident or if the sudden pressure got to the guys but we were swept by The Jovannic Emperors and as painful as it was to watch, I think that this was exactly what we needed to get grounded again. It was reality calling and boy, was that call ever loud! When we hosted the Bears in the second half of the group stage, there was focus, there was power and we swept them for a second time. And then another 2-1 win over Kalactin and we had it in our own hands to advance to the knock-out stage, something that nobody had even dreamed of. But given how tight the group was, we could just as well have been knocked out as well, especially since our first meeting with the Emperors was not exactly an exhilarating affair. And I still don't know what Graham managed to get through to the guys, but we swept them and with that even ended up fourth seed for the playoffs, giving us a bye in the first round. At this point everybody was on board with the team and even the Devil's Rejects name and there was this kind of weird feeling of what actually could be possible in this tournament.

So then we got Newmanistan, yes I know, only the U16s, but by now we did not care. I think that at this point we had this momentum going, this adrenaline high and the group stage really had given us this confidence, this feeling that we could beat anybody. And so we did. We won the series in two games and suddenly were in the semi finals. South Newlandia gave us a good fight, even shutting us out in the second game and the confidence took a bit of a hit there, but we managed to advance, but holy cow, that game was nothing for the faint of heart, 9-8 with five runs between the two teams in the ninth, this really could have gone either way. And then we had to come to terms with the fact that we were - in - the - finals! This was like a dream that I expected to end at any point, that I'd wake up from and look at the news and see us having crashed out in the group stage, but no, it was true! And then we won the first two games against the Terre Septentrionale Nordiques and I was like "we could win this, we really could win this!" Some people asked me, if I was going to talk to the team, but I told them that I was sure that the last thing this team needed was me waltzing in and try to motivate them.

Then they shut us out in game three and my hopes were faltering a bit, what if we had been riding that adrenaline wave too much and were hoping that it would sustain us? But then that 10-4 in the fourth game was just stunning. It took me a while to realize that we actually had won this thing and it brought me to tears, not going to lie. We had gone against virtually all odds and won the Slam. At that time someone came up to me and asked me, if I wanted to register our team for the World Baseball Classic and I did not even realize I had signed the form until I saw in the news the day after that we were going to go there, too. I panicked when I saw how soon the Classic would start and I was afraid that there was not enough time for our team to recuperate from the Slam and that we'd crash and burn.

So we traveled to the Mathuvian Union and got a split win, which was not what we expected. Don't get me wrong, we weren't just arrogantly expecting a sweep, we just didn't think we'd win after just having come off the Slam. Then we had our first home stand against the Royal Kingdom of Quebec and just like at the Slam it didn't go well. We lost the series 1-2 and that was kind of a point, where it became clear to us that the Classic was the real deal. Not to try to put down the Slam, but this is THE baseball tournament out there, the creme de la creme and it felt like we were just here trying to crash the party. So we traveled to The Sarian for our third series and I was really starting to wonder, if we had a home complex, because it seemed like we played more successfully abroad, because we won that series 2-1, too! However seeing that we would meet Ko-oren next, quite frankly we felt like the gladiators standing in front of Caesar and telling him "morituri te salutant", because they are ranked 4th in the world! So this is the real deal!

So we lost the first game, just 5-6, but still, was not a good start, but then we got the second one 2-1 in 11 innings, which was an awesome feeling. When we went into game three, it was another one of those nailbiters and then in the ninth inning we scored and we were up 2-1 and there came this realization that we could do this! And I cannot congratulate our team enough for that last inning, they really pulled together and were laser-focused and managed to secure that win! So now we're sitting in third, just one win off the top and again.

To say that these two tournaments have been an emotional rollercoaster is an absolute understatement. That whole thing still feels surreal to me, because we went from an absolute nobody to an almost hot commodity in international baseball and I don't think any drugs could give such an emotional high! We could lose every single game from hereon out and still consider this a success beyond anybody's wildest dreams! Suddenly baseball is the number two sport in Tikariot and I see people all over the nation in Thunderforge and Devil's Rejects jerseys and shirts, caps and flags everywhere. If you think about it, just a few weeks ago baseball was just barely more than a side note and now we are front page news, we have TV crews and journalists follow us everywhere, I'm still waiting to wake up and realize that I just dreamed it all and that we haven't even left for the Slam yet.

I wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our fans and supporters out there. It's been an incredible ride so far and I think I'm speaking for all of us that I don't want to get off! I feel that this team has it in itself to beat anybody, if things work well and I cannot stress enough the impact that Coach McCrory has had on this team, which is as tight of a unit as I've seen it! Please continue to show the Rejects that you stand behind them as one and keep these wonderful football chants coming, because they really set you, the fans, apart from all the others. You bring this unique atmosphere to the stadiums and this is us. We are the Rejects!

With this the picture slowly fades to black.

[Se Vende Skooma]

Normal Day laid back in his Camden Town hotel. The Cool Dudes had just vanquished Chromatika to shock the world by sweeping the world's 26th-best set of Little Leaguers. Day had gone 4 for 4 with a decisive Four (a Grand Slam, they called it, some cheap-ass diner bullshit you buy your kid to celebrate his promotion to the varsity) in the 4th. A couple of local dive bars were replaying choppy cell-phone highlights of the triumph at SublimeBurger Park.

It would be great if Day's career hadn't ended earlier that day.

It wasn't official or anything. He was still a member, on paper, in good standing of the Ferme-d'Andre Vaches Rouges, batting .349 in the Quiz League season - a handsome 27 hits per 80-inning match, the last rung on the minor league ladder beneath the storied Fightin' Unitarians of Old Kaskaskia. Until he'd accepted this gig playing little league ball in exchange for frequent flier miles and heartbreak.

Everyone had been in the shitter after the Newmanistan series. You had the tables ran on you and there was no turning them. At least the pitching had held together. Then Manigred had come to town and everything melted down.

People had started texting their agents, their managers, whoever, trying to get their asses off the sinking ship. Then Bum Skanderbeg had smashed up the router in the disused forsaken bomb shelter of a clubhouse at SublimeBurger Park and kept the team from disintegrating by condemning their texts to some weird form of outbox purgatory he'd never seen before.

He pulled everyone together around one of the three benches in the locker room and gave some extended speech that Normal could barely understand through the two wads of chewing tobacco circulating through each half of his mouth. He topped it off by dousing the bench in kerosene and flinging a lighter onto it. Everyone ran for dear life when the sprinklers blasted the room with water and spread the fire across the room.

The team responded by winning five straight while changing into the port-a-shitters by the ticket stand. Day was 15-of-25 over those games. It would have been great, except of course that his career was over.

Martin Womb, the 2nd baseman of the Fightin' Unitarians of Old Kaskaskia, had gone down in the 73rd inning of the test against St-Zotique. Womb was batting .280, which was fine for a second baseball if you hung up your glove after 9 innings. His knees were battered, his hamstrings hamstrung, his potential sapped, his health meter blinking red.

Day had spent the first three weeks of spring camp with the Test squad. Womb had been a dead man walking; laughing too loud, showing up too early, voice creaking, breaking after a bad at bat that anyone with their position locked down would shake off.

Womb would come off the field into the lockers with the exact same expression that Day had seen in his face in the mirror when he'd washed his hands after hitting the john when he got back to the hotel.

Day hadn't really had the option to say no when management had told him he would be onside for the WBC. It had seemed genuinely interesting at the start. Until his promotion had come up and gone to Dee Runnels. Runnels was the shortstop, the spaghetti to his bolognese as a double-play combo, the two of them eyeing the same spots on the big league squad that seemed likely to open up. Runnels had everything he had, plus brains and charisma. He was taking part-time college classes on his way up through the minors; not just some communications bullshit but real math. He would crack jokes about hitting balls on non-Euclidean trajectories during BP with men who hadn't passed a math course since 10th grade laughing at something they didn't understood but got, at least when Dee explained it.

Now Dee was the starting 2nd baseman for the Fightin' Unitarians, simply because Day was out of the office when opportunity knocked. Why couldn't he have just slept with Normal's girlfriend like a real man? Angie would be easier to replace than a starting gig.

Normal's phone buzzed. Sixtus McGruff and the infielders were out drinking at the college bars around one of the six or seven campuses in Camden Town. Normal was torn between the urge to go black out with then, to fling his phone through the window in despair, or to hide under the bed and wake up when the nightmare was over.

He did none of those things, staring into the ceiling through the night in sweat-caked jeans, having lost the will to shower when he saw the news on his phone on the bus back to the hotel. He fell asleep and woke up the next day without having noticed or feeling any more rested.

[Ranoria]

Don't Call it a Comeback!
Leonardo Harrison Leads First Winning Series for Newly Named Krauts!

Having gone 1-2 in every single series so far this season, Ranoria has finally broken through. Against Abanhfleft, a tight game was tied until the 8th inning, when Tim von Kuhn railed a two-score home run to take the lead, one which would be just enough to fend off the other squad.

Now, the success didn't last. Frankly, our pitching just collapsed in the second game of the series. After a mutual shutout through most of the game, John Stallone seemed to falter. He allowed for two home runs in a single inning, but wasn't pulled, and by the end of the eight, when he let up another run, it was practically over anyway.

The team being in this situation had them thinking that this was routine. Win one game, just enough to keep people watching, in each series, but that didn't happen. Leonardo Harrison is the best player on this team, at least according to him, and he showed it in that last game. He scored an RBI to open the day, and the game slowly turned in our favor throughout, with another run in the second inning and a third in the fifth inning.

At 3-1, things were looking good, but the floodgates opened once the next period came around. Abanhfleft's bullpen was forced into the game, and Ranoria's squad had the best inning of their WBC run thus far, notching five runs before conceding their bats. Abanhfleft would manage to run up the score a bit further, but it was all downhill from there. Five more runs came in for Ranoria in the last two innings for a 13-2 blowout that no one could have dared to expect.

Krauts Chosen as the Mascot Name for Ranorian National Baseball Team

We were all waiting in anticipation! While the World Bowl team, which is seperate from but cooperative with the Ranorian Football League, has not yet announced a name, the national baseball team is sponsored completely by the Federation of Ranorian Baseball. The Federation decided that it would be better to have a name, a mascot, with which to identify the team. Krauts, generally a slang term for the those of germanic origins, was chosen. Ranoria was a German colony to begin with, and its predominantly Germanic populace should find the name appealing. Even those not of German descent have felt the culture of tough, gritty lifestyles and will be able to take pride in the name.

The Ranorian National Football Team was unable to be reacked for comment. If we had to guess, however, they will be following suit and adopting a name for themselves.

[Northwest Kalactin]

Kalactin Wins Series Over Drawkland, What Next?
The Kalactanians, now fresh off of a 2-1 series win against Drawkland, along with a current second place seed in the group, are on a roll. They started out horribly, with a 3-0 series loss, against the current best team in the world, Cassadaigua, they would then go on to win 2 straight series wins against Lovisa the Fair Republic, to tie with Ethane for the number 2 spot in the group. Being a pot 4 team, they need to look at trying to pull some Series wins against teams that they usually wouldn’t win against, and they showed that during this series, against Drawkland, which they went in to win 2-1. Bobby Williams has been playing like the best player on the team so far, putting up a .458 average, while leading off for the Kalactanians. Michael Wright has been mowing down hitters lately, with a 4-0 record so far during the WBC.

Game 1

Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  4
Drawkland                             1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  3

A large 4-run inning for the Kalactanians puts them in a good enough position to end up winning by 1 run in the end, it would be a very tight game that went down to the wire though, with Drawkland having runners in scoring position in the bottom of the 9th inning. A 3 run home run by Adam Torres in the 8th inning would be enough to pull the team over in the end though, and the Kalactanians would go on to win in the nail biter, 4-3.

Game 2

Northwest Kalactin                    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  3
Drawkland                             0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2

In the second game of the series, the Kalactanians were able to go out another time and beat the number 12 team in the world, Drawkland. Bobby Williams went 3-3 in another great game for him, and continued on a 6 game hit streak that he hopes to keep going for a long time this WBC. Again, the Kalactanians put up a very large 8th inning and were able to pull out the game in the end against the Drawkland team. Marcus Hamilton threw 2 perfect innings at the end of the game to win it for the Kalactanians.

Game 3

Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1  5
Drawkland                             1 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 X  6

Despite putting up another decent performance in this game, the Kalactanians were not able to pull out the game at the end of the game, and fell short by 1 run 6-5. The Drawkland team gave up 2 errors in the 6th inning, and also gave 3 runs that inning. The Northwest Kalactin team had a runner in scoring position in the eight inning, however they gave up 2 strikeouts, and were not able to pull out the win at the end of the game.

The series was a good one for the team, and they should be able to use this momentum from this series to bring it into the series against the current Unranked, Fair Republic.

[Ko-oren]

No World Baseball Classic without controversy: Yoshiman players get it underway early. Whereas the previous few Classics saw some disobedience by Yoshiman players versus Ko-orenite symbols: the green and blue, the dragonfly, at least those Classics had their controversies start well into the tournament.

Just a few games into the 49th edition, with the Ko-orenite national team yet again in contention for a title, the eastern players took a little to get onto the field, waiting for their Finisterran and other mainlander colleagues to show up in the blue-yellow away jersey, featuring the 'handwritten' Dragonflies on the front. The Yoshimans showed up with tape over the nickname, and would not remove it despite protests from WBC officials, coaches, and teammates. As a coordinated operation, about half the team played the nine innings in a slightly modified jersey - we were lucky that this was even allowed by the officials.

Resistance against typically Ko-orenite symbols coming from Yoshima isn't new, and it's been part of the real Classic experience for a few years now. In the past, this was limited to taking to the field later, or some inflammatory remarks in post-game interviews, and playing a game in plain yellow t-shirts once.

"We resist the idea that national teams should all be called Dragonflies with the same, boring, colours," unofficial captain of the Yoshiman side of the team, Kiro Ogasawara, said. "National teams are for representing all of us, and right now, it's failing that task. As we've seen in the recent Aussie Rules World Cup, it's very much possible for our national teams to play in different colours and under a different name. The precedent is here, and still it's not granted to us, but it is granted to other teams. This has to stop. The moniker 'Dragonfly' no longer represents us."

Unofficial captain for the mainlander side of the team, the Finisterran Juan Berganza, tried his best to keep his language clean, and after a few attempts not to denounce his teammate, cut the interview short.

The chairwoman of the KBA, Inez Ishikawa, was picked specifically because of her double alliance: her parents, a Yoshiman father, a Finisterran mother, keeps her neutral in the country's most divided sport, and allows her to navigate the minefield with relative ease. "I wasn't told about the actions beforehand," she commented, "and I will be working with both sides in order to resolve the issue". Asked about her opinion on the protest, she said that she wasn't impressed. "These divisive actions only make a solution less attainable. The sentiments were clear ahead of this game. It wasn't necessary. We're a proud sport, with a proud national team, that is above renegade actions like these."

Further actions haven't been announced yet, but Ogasawara said he wouldn't accept another cycle of stagnation in the inclusivity department. "Also, let this be clear, we're winners, first and foremost. We're not giving up wins for this. We're making the final again."

[Banija]

New look pitching rotation takes on World Baseball Classic 49


National team players after an early WBC group stage win

ISTRIA, MORAVICA- World Baseball Classic 49 is upon us, and the Banijans are ready to take this tournament by storm. Ranked #2 in the world, coming off of a three tournament run where they got bronze, then gold, then a tough, 5th game, extra inning, quarterfinal loss to the Sherpa Empire, they are motivated to try and add to the trophy cabinet in this tournament. They face a challenging group, highlighted by Olympic co-hosts LIventia, who are ranked 10th in the multiverse, and seemingly perennial rivals Sarzonia, who seem to have played the Banijans, at this point, in every major tournament besides the World Bowl. Frequent opponents in both soccer and lacrosse, why not in baseball as well?

Through 12 games, the Banijans are not performing poorly. They are performing well- they are joint tied for first place in the group, alongside 10th ranked LIventia, where both teams are 8-4. Just behind them, however, is a 6-6 Daskel, who the Banijans had swept earlier on, and the 6-6 Sarzonians, who had taken 2 out of 3 from Banija in the opening series of the World Baseball Classic. 8-4 is a solid record, and of course, they find themselves with a small gap in front of the teams who wouldn't qualify for the next stage.

This team looks different than the recent teams of old though. One of the main reasons of Banijan success between WBC 46 and 48? Continuity. They, specifically, had the same 5 in the starting rotation for three straight tournaments. A rarity at this level. But their ability to do that created team unity, saw pitchers that had a lot of big game veterans, and saw a team with youngsters grow together into a team of grizzled veterans. That unity in the team saw their great run in the WBC 47 knockout stages to bring that trophy to Banija, and it's a team that will go down in history.

The rotation is finally different now, however. The former top two, Assan Conde and Banta Jawara, have now retired from national team duty. The former back end rotation guys are stepping up to be front end rotation guys. Duta Condé, who has always had the ability to step up in big games, both elimination and closeout games, takes over as the team's ace. Can he be that workhorse? Another back end rotation guy, Suntukung Kandeh, is now a front end rotation guy, holding the #2 spot.

It's much different being a front end rotation pitcher, versus a back end rotation pitcher. Of course, you gotta be a leader in a much different way. But more responsibility is given to you on the field. You are more likely to be asked to work your way out of jams. YOu will be asked to log longer outings, have higher pitch count, to give the bullpen a day off. How are they reacting to the new responsibility? Duta Condé seems to be a fan of it. "I'm blessed to be out here as the #1 starter for this team." He told us. "That's every boy's dream, isn't it? Go out and be the ace. I have this role."

It's harder for him, however. He's had an up and down beginning to this classic. He had a decent start in Game 1 against Sarzonia, although he got rocked against Liventia, allowing 7 runs in the first inning and getting pulled so early. Sandwiched between those was a dominating, complete game effort in a 9-1 victory over Daskel. Suntukung Kandeh has a win to his name as well, defeating the Jovannic, sandwiched in between a no decision against Liventia, where he was pulled after just a couple of innings, and a losing effort against Sarzonia.

It's a tough adjustment to make. These last two games against Liventia even were eye-opening themselves- pulling your #1 starter in the 1st inning, and then one night later, pulling your #2 starter in the third? That's worrying. A rotation is set by their front end guys. The Banijans are going to be asking their back end rotation guys to pick up the slack against Kohnhead, to give their bullpen a rest. In the last two games, their bullpen has thrown a combined 14.1 innings- a number that is far too high. It's a hallmark of Ousman Kakay- a strong rotation leaves an easier task for the pen, and an easier task for the pen leads to a dominant bullpen.

No need to hit the panic button yet, of course. Banija is still very capable of winning our group. And besides- we don't need to necessarily hit our stride now, as long as we get ourselves a good enough seed to be in a position for success in the knockouts. But the key for this team will be the rotation. If we can strengthen our rotation, we can put ourselves in a position for long-term success in this tournament. We'll see what the possibilities are as the World Baseball Classic continues on.

[TJUN-ia]

It certainly wasn't going to be easy. That what many baseball fans in TJUN-ia were feeling as their Battin' Jags prepared to duel in a Jungle familiar in name but foreign in everything else. The Jungle in Loudon was the setting for this series against the Newmanistan Rockets, the 5th ranked team in the multiverse and the hosts of this WBC. After back-to-back series losses against ranked opponents, the Jaguars needed something but could they possibly get it from the 5th ranked team? Unlikely but if anyone likes to make a statement, it's Phillip Hellas-Verona.

---

Game 1
TJUN-ia 3-2 Newmanistan, TJU leads series 1-0
Kyle McNash was starting for this game and it looked like a tight challenge to try and keep the six-time champs as low-scoring as he could but he answered the call. He played brilliantly from the mound until the Rockets finally scored in the 5th. TJUN-is responded in the 7th, a 2-run home run by Ki Yung-son giving the Jaguars an unlikely lead. Sierra McKinley tied the game when the Rockets got the bats back, but the game was still tight as we headed to the 9th. Tori Fuller was tasked with keeping the game tied but McNash had other ideas, as he hit a homer on the first ball he received. The pitcher had scored off the closer to give the Jags a late lead. Carlos Buena came in to try and keep the lead for TJUN-ia and he did so...somehow. TJUN-ia had taken a game from the hosts. A shock to many back home, but now they were happy. "Who cares if we get reverse swept now?! We took a game for a Top 5 team, that's all we can ask for!" Oh, if only they knew what was about to come.

Game 2
TJUN-ia 10-5 Newmanistan, TJU wins series 2-0
I will now describe to you what happened at the Top of the 1st in Game 2. Madison Sullivan was pitching to Pedro Moires to start. At 2-1, he manages to get a single to make it to first base. Next was Ki, who was struck out. 1 Out. Next was Steven Fulmer. At 2-2, he hits the ball towards left field and it ends up in the stands. A 2-run homer for Fulmer and TJUN-ia started right. Then came a bit of chaos. Bryce Calhoun comes in and gets a single for himself. Angel Enrique does the same. As does Rafael Llorente. By the time Matoko Kagawa steps up to the plate, the bases are loaded. He knows what to do. Sullivan sends in the perfect shot and Kagawa slams the ball towards and over the wall. A Grand Slam. TJUN-ia 6, Newmanistan 0.

The rest of the game would be the Rockets playing catch-up, but TJUN-ia couldn't stop scoring. By the time Buena came in to close the game, the Jags had scored 4 more runs - 3 of them in the last 3 innings. He nearly able the game by himself as Jenna Schuster hit a Grand Slam of her own but in the end, it didn't matter. TJUN-ia claimed the series in spectacular fashion and The Jungle was stunned. TJUN-ia had only won 1 game out of 6 against the top-ranked team in the group at the last WBC but here, they already beat that after 2. There was still one more game yet to play, but the series would be theirs.

Game 3
TJUN-ia 5-7 Newmanistan, TJU wins series 2-1
This game wouldn't decide the series but it would lessen the pain of defeat for the Rockets. They managed to pull off the victory via a 2-run Walk-Off Home Run. But no one in TJUN-ia minded: the series was already theirs...

No one knew quite how, but the Jaguars had come out of Loudon with 2 wins and the series. It is the biggest series win in the history of TJUN-ian baseball for sure and Phillio Hellas-Verona was pleased. So was his countrymen and women. They now were up to 2nd in the group, the leaders of a 4-way tie on run differencial. But now comes a special occasion. The final series before the break takes us back home, to a new home. The Diamond in the Gardens of New Washington will welcome the team back with open arms as they take on bottom-side Marigred. Let's hope they can mark the occasion with another series win. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group 1)
S1 (G1/G2/G3): @Se Vende Skooma (UR) - SublimeBurger Park W 2-1 (3rd)
S2 (G4/G5/G6): vs South Covello (22) - Rounders Field, Portside L 1-2 (4th)
S3 (G7/G8/G9): @Chromatika (26) - National Stadium, Chromatik City L 1-2 (4th)
S4 (G10/G11/G12): @Newmanistan (5) - The Jungle, Loudon W 2-1 (2nd)
S5 (G13/G14/G15): vs Marigred (UR) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
---------------------------MIDWAY BREAK---------------------------
S6 (G16/G17/G18): vs Se Vende Skooma (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside
S7 (G19/G20/G21):@South Covello (22)
S8 (G22/G23/G24): vs Chromatika (26) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S9 (G25/G26/G27): vs Newmanistan (5) - Rounders Field, Portside
S10 (G28/G29/G30): @Marigred (UR)

[Delaclava]

DSGN.com Baseball

Olympic Committee relaunches national baseball program

The Delaclava Olympic Committee announced earlier today in a press conference that they would once again establish the Delaclava Baseball Association, for the purpose of fully funding and supporting a team for international competitions as well as youth and development programs to cultivate the national talent pool for selection.

"We are excited to re-open the book on our national baseball program and start writing this new chapter," said DOC president Ted McQueen at a press conference. "We will hold this program to the typical high standards of Delaclav sports and we believe there is the talent and interest available to justify our financial and structural support."

The announcement comes on the back of the surprising success of the baseball team currently representing Delaclava in the 49th World Baseball Classic. The Hess-based squad currently holds second place in Group 6 with a 7-5 record, following an away sweep of HUElavia.

McQueen explained in the press conference that the decision to re-found the DBA was directly related to the success of this iteration of the Phoenixes, who have now won 5 of their last six, all on the road: "We've been carefully monitoring the performance of this team to determine the viability of a national baseball program, and we've been greatly encouraged by what we've seen. There's been a lot of enthusiasm and following of the team here and they did great attendance numbers at Dennis Stadium. After the past two series, the way they learned from their mistakes and completed the sweep against HUElavia, it was a done deal for us.

"If a baseball team from the one small town of Dillobourne can play well enough to potentially make it to Newmanistan, then there's a lot of promise waiting if we put our best efforts into a nationwide development and selection process."

McQueen clarified that such efforts would not take place immediately, declaring, "We have no intent of replacing or altering the current WBC team. They have earned their chance to complete the tournament to the best of their ability, and we are going to provide them the backing they need to do that."

This story will be updated with reactions from the Delaclava team, who are currently traveling from HUElavia to Balrick, Firinsymnia for their series against Nagore.

[Cassadaigua]

Baseball Numbers to be Retired?
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

With a comfortable lead, everything is going so great for the World Baseball Classic team at the moment, and in a tournament where the group stage isn’t going to prove anything for us in any way, the mind starts to travel a little bit. So, here is a little something I wonder about. Why doesn’t CAB (Cassadagan Association for Baseball) retire numbers in the same way that the soccer team does. We have monument wall in Concord Heights for our great soccer legends, but we don’t have anything similar for baseball. Why don’t we? Could we start?

Julia Schaffer, VP of Public Relations for CAB told me that there was initially not an interest or a strong attachment to player numbers in baseball in the same way that we saw in soccer. Right now, there does not seem to be a push for it, so there is not a plan for CAB to begin with it. But I have to wonder why we can’t do this, because what the retired numbers in soccer have done, is allow us to immediately remember players that played long ago for us, and the roles that they had with the team. In baseball, our former greats are not as recognizable to the present Cassadagan fan, so they definitely will not be as known to fans of international baseball. Even in soccer, fans from other teams might not be able to tell you anything about the Cassadagan players who have their kit numbers retired, but all we have to say is that we honored one of these players with the distinction when we reference them, and they will nod their head and realize what we do. With the World Baseball Classic closing in on its 50th edition, we should know who are great players have been a little more, and we should be able to proclaim them to the whole world. Perhaps, maybe then we can start a little campaign to start giving them the same honor.

Oh yeah, the Fillies are still in first place in the group, but they actually lost a game. 9-0 Cassadaigua dropped an 8-4 decision to 1-8 The Fair Republic in the first game of the series, probably because they were feeling sorry for them. The Fillies easily won the next two, by the scored 8-1 and 1-0. At 11-1, there is no one better right now. Four teams, Newmanistan, Hampton Island, The Sherpa Empire, and Nova Anglicana are also 9-3. Speaking of Hampton Island, that was pretty crazy what Midnight did against South Newlandia. Maddie Polanco, our manager, said of the intentional walk strategy on Midnight, “Playing scared. We would definitely pitch to him.”

[The Sherpa Empire]

Even though they were playing in Super-Llamaland, where the pitchers didn't need to worry about batting, the Sherpas were in the habit of everyone taking batting practice. Kami Akunjee was making a fool of himself worse than usual because he was busy staring at Daki Chuan instead of focusing on his work. Akunjee wasn't a great hitter even on the best of days, but ordinarily he was at least mediocre. Today, though, he was handling the bat as if he had pitched his whole career in a country with designated hitters. The batting coach buried his face in his hands and shook his head. Akunjee saw the gesture and said, "I know, I know. Sorry."

"It's because he's staring at that Chinese bitch instead of watching the ball!" Rita Katiyar blurted before the batting coach could respond. "He's been staring at her ever since they put her on the team."

"At least I don't call her a bitch behind her back," said Akunjee.

"It's not fair that we all have to put up with her distracting us just because some feminists want to have a woman on the team," said Katiyar.

Akunjee looked more distracted than ever. "What? I'm just having a bad day with the bat. On a day when I don't even need to bat because of some weird rule they have here. Why are you making it a big deal?"

"Because it's not just you," said Katiyar. "She's distracting everyone."

"Okay, but why are you complaining?" said Akunjee. "I like having something to look at besides your hairy ass."

"Akunjee, you're not here to ogle your teammates," the batting coach chimed in.

Akunjee still hadn't found his focus when game time rolled around, and he gave up 5 runs. Luckily, the Sherpa offense was able to mount a comeback in the 7th inning, which started with a lead-off double from Qu and included a grand slam by Ananthan.

After the game, the team went out to celebrate with food and drinks. Daki Chuan was sitting off to the side because she didn't want to listen to Ananthan's gloating, she was afraid Akunjee might grope her if she got too close to him, she didn't want Roshan to fall on her if he fell off the table he was drunkenly dancing on, and she didn't want to hear Wen and Qureshi's "locker room talk" comparing notes on who they wanted to bang or who they had banged.

Before long, Luochong Zhuang was talking her ear off about the giant tube worms that lived around volcanic vents in the ocean floor. He had come to sit with her because she was the only one who would listen to him.

After a couple of beers, Ananthan started giving Akunjee a hard time about his pitching, saying things like, "Dude, I saved your ass!"

At first, Akunjee just laughed it off, like, "Whatever, man," but Ananthan wouldn't let it go. There was a shouting match, and they started getting in each other's faces like they were going to fight, but their teammates broke it up before either man threw a punch.

Akunjee decided he wanted to get away from Ananthan. He went over to where Chuan and Zhuang were sitting and said, "What are you lovebirds doing?" -- completely ignoring the fact that Zhuang was still babbling about tube worms.

Chuan and Zhuang both looked mortified and quickly denied that anything was going on between them. "I was just telling Daki how giant tube worms use symbiotic bacteria to help them digest chemicals from volcanic vents," Zhuang said.

"But why?" said Akunjee. He turned to Chuan. "Are you actually interested in that stuff?"

Chuan shrugged. "It's nice to have someone to talk to."

"Oh... Maybe you and me could talk sometime," said Akunjee.

"Maybe," said Chuan, but she had her doubts how much Akunjee would actually talk before he tried to get physical.

[South Newlandia]

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports -> Baseball
Elephants take two more at home

We were surprised that Torisakia went ahead to play the series at all. Following a dangerous car accident with one of their starting pitchers involved, the minds of the players couldn’t have been on baseball only. We are glad that Colt Castilla has, to our knowledge, not suffered serious injuries, and wish a speedy recovery to him and everyone else injured in this horrific accident. The Baseball matches seemed to be unimportant now, while South Newlandia managed to win two of three games at home against Torisakia, with the first game of the three featuring an excellent comeback and the last one a brilliant performance by Jacob Conroy. The fully sold out Dragon Island Arena provided a fantastic atmosphere for the match, and helped most forget the circumstances of the series.

Torisakia                             0 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0  6
South Newlandia                       0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4  7

The first game was pitched by Jay Kramer, and he started by giving up two runs to Greyson Cantrell and Kenny Trevis, and gave up a third one to Lionel Machado in the top of the fifth inning. Throughout the first four innings, the South Newlandian batters failed to show up, managing only one hit. Now, with Daryl Dunlop at bat, the fans started to make some noise. Dunlop hit a double, and Ian Pearce being retired didn’t stop the team. Mike Larsen got a single to give South Newlandia runners on the corners. A home run by Fabio Ventura later, the South Newlandian team had equalized the game. This didn’t last long, as Torisakia managed to get a home run of their own in the sixth inning for three runs in total, after which Kramer was replaced by Fabio Paul to close the match. No more runs were scored during the next innings, and South Newlandia entered the bottom of the ninth three runs behind; a wall nearly impossible to climb. It got even taller after Ian Pearce was struck out as the first batter. With Mike Larsen at bat first, the Elephants were going to try their best anyway. He got a single, and Fabio Ventura managed to get a double. After David Drum scored another single, things were looking much better for South Newlandia: They had scored one run already, and had runners on first and third base with only one out. After Adam King got retired, everything depended on Shawn Zimmerman now. Zimmerman struck for the fences on the first pitch, missing clearly, and got a ball next. The next pitch wasn’t a great one, and Zimmerman managed to hit it far over the left field for a home run, scoring three runs for South Newlandia, and winning them the match, prompting celebrations as if the team had just won the Classic. Zimmerman, being only 18 years old, couldn’t have been happier.

Torisakia                             0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 0  6
South Newlandia                       0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

The second game was pitched by Ryan Hunter. Following the incident with Midnight, he wanted to think about something else as fast as possible. It worked well, for four innings. South Newlandia went ahead first, after Igor White and Daryl Dunlop scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning. The top of the fifth started, and after Hunter hadn’t allowed a hit with 8 K’s in the first four innings, he collapsed. He allowed 5 runs, not even getting one out, with two homers. We don’t know what prompted his collapse, but we have a theory that he saw something bear-related. After that, Dennis Miles came in for relief, and he managed to stop the bleeding. Nevertheless, the Toriksakian pitcher didn’t allow another run, and one given up by Marcel Adams in the eighth, the first inning he pitched, sealed the Elephants’defeat and the only win of the day for the Ice Birds.

Torisakia                             0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
South Newlandia                       1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 X  4

Game three was pitched by Jacob Conroy, the South Newlandian star pitcher. After Adam King scored in the bottom of the first inning, Conroy gave up two runs, but those would remain the last given up by him for the day. The Elephants rebounded in the third inning, when David Drum and Gregor Garner got two more runs. We skip straight to the bottom of the eighth inning. Conroy had pitched without any more big mistakes until then, and one important run by Mike Larsen gave the team a 4-2 lead the Ice Birds couldn’t recover from.

All matches

South Newlandia 2-1 Torisakia (7-6, 2-6, 4-2)

Drunk People at the Local Tavern 1-2 Hampton Island (5-4, 3-1, 8-7)
After dropping the first game, Hampton Island managed to win the other two, including a four run inning in the ninth in game three.

Quebecois Acadiana 2-1 The Greater Nordics (6-2, 5-3, 5-6)
The Greater Nordics lost two games, including one over fourteen innings, and need to get wins soon now.

Current standings

*                                    Pld   W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island                     12    9   0   3    61   39  +22    27
2 South Newlandia                    12    8   0   4    64   61   +3    24
3 The Greater Nordics                12    5   0   7    41   57  −16    15
4 Drunk People at the Local Tavern   12    5   0   7    59   64   −5    15
5 Torisakia                          12    5   0   7    50   46   +4    15
6 Quebecois Acadiana                 12    4   0   8    56   64   −8    12

South Newlandia is now three games clear of third place, but a bad series in The Greater Nordics might change that completely. Blake Robbins, Larry Cain and Jay Kramer will be pitching, and they will need to do their best. The Greater Nordics, currently 5-7, haven’t had the tournament they were expecting so far, while South Newlandia is over performing again at 8-4. This is a crucial series for both teams, as The Greater Nordics really need some wins if they want to make the playoffs at this point.

[Super-Llamaland]

IV. The Road
May 21, 3131
Outside Meridian Field
Vargas, ?

For the next few days, Alex biked across Super-Llamaland, taking utmost care to avoid detection. He’d taken to only cycling at night, while spending his days either sleeping or increasingly engrossed in Max’s carefully curated memory archive. After the 2012 Memory he’d found, there’d been a century-long gap (which Max explained as “due to the geopolitical circumstances at the time”) before the next memory, a brief snapshot of the New Llama Wizards’ 2135 season that ended in a second-place finish. It appeared that if something had happened between 2031 and 2135 that had resulted in Alex ending up where he was, the archive wouldn’t be how he figured it out.

After leaving New Llama City, Alex had pleasantly found that the shelled-out ruins of the former capital had given way to the beautiful rolling meadows that Alex loved about Super-Llamaland. The country that he now found himself passing through was perfectly pastoral, albeit also confusingly devoid of people. He found himself gaining more hope in the Llamanea of the fourth millennium, even if he still knew barely anything about it other than its violent opposition to baseball.

Seeing the sun about to rise, Alex had biked a few feet off of the road, slung his backpack down at the base of a hill, and flipped open Max’s book again. 2132 Rededication of Stadium ceremony, the note read. He pulled the tab out from under the tape, stuck it into his ear, and faded back into the past.

June 8, 2132
Tyler Rocke Kirk Memorial Field
New Llama City, Super-Llamaland

Wizards Owner Dominic D’Alessio’s thoughts raced as he stepped onto what was about to be known as the former Tyler Rocke Memorial Field for an impromptu press conference. The last two weeks had been controversial, to say the least, but he knew that he would be on the right side of history. And what better site to justify the rename than on the field itself?

An aide turned to Dominic to pass a microphone; the eyes of the journalists in attendance followed. “Hello all, and thank you for coming out,” he said, to the flicker of flashbulbs and clicks of recording devices. “As you know, we have recently decided to rename Tyler Rocke Memorial Stadium to Kirk Memorial Field, to honor former Wizards star Alexander Kirk. Now, you may be wondering why this has become our focus over the past months, considering that our team has compiled a composite 6432 - 8968 record over the past century, by far the worst in the LBL. However, this was just part of our decision - we believe that renaming our stadium after the star of our last championship team will represent a return of the old days of Wizards baseball.”

Some journalist interjected. “If you’re calling Alex Kirk a symbol of Wizards success, then wouldn’t naming the stadium Kirk Memorial mean Wizards success is dead?” Dominic smiled while making a mental note not to invite that journalist to his press conferences anymore. “That leads to the second reason. We want to pay homage to the victims of The Event, and Alex Kirk is the most notable person in Llamanean baseball who went missing due to space-time fluctuations shortly after the appearance of an impermeable force-field surrounding our borders. As such, we hope that naming our stadium after such a figure will remind our fans of the importance of The Event to our society, and our hope that its victims will one day be recovered.”

The first journalist tried to butt in again, to which Dominic replied “There will be no further questions,” and walked off. As he did so, he pulled out his phone and texted the team’s manager. Got you the distraction you needed. But if you can’t pull it together you’re gone after this year either way.

He’d only renamed the stadium to attract attention to the Wizards and maybe get some news articles with headlines other than “Wizards Lose Again”, “Are the Wizards Cursed”, and “Wizards Entrench Selves as Worst Team in Baseball History”. As he thought about it, it was really a shame about the Alex Kirk guy, though, blasted somewhere else in space-time without any prior warning. Although maybe it’d been a good thing that he’d disappeared as soon as he did. If he’d stuck around to see the chaos unfurl after the Llamaneans had realized they were trapped within their borders forever, he probably would’ve chosen to head out anyways.

May 21, 3131
Outside Meridian Field
Vargas, ?

Alex awoke with a start, the tab falling out of his ear again (they really needed to come up with a better place to stick these, he thought). His mind raced as what he had just experienced sunk in. Before he could fully process it though, he realized that his backpack was gone. Jumping up, he noticed that his bike was still there. And he noticed a hooded figure, off to the distance, frantically pedalling away on a bike of his own.

Alex shouted after the figure, leapt on his bike, and began to gave chase. As he began to move toward the unknown thief, he quickly realized that the other guy was far worse at bicycling than he was, and was pedalling far clumsily and slowly than Alex was. As such, just three minutes later, Alex’s outstretched foot tipped its way into the other bicycle’s wheel and sent him flying. Alex leapt off his own bike and tackled the thief, the two of them tumbling off the road before landing facedown in the grass.

“Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me, sir, I’m sorry,” came a muffled cry from under Alex, whose adrenaline had worn off enough for him to realize that he had body-slammed a small child.

“Why did you take my bag?” he said, slightly sheepishly.

“I saw that there were Memory Tabs inside and, uh, I’m doing this project where I need them...sorry, I can’t really tell you a lot about it. I’m doing it for my uncle, though, and he’d be really mad if I didn’t find enough of them and bring them to him, I’m really sorry, he lives in Emerald Springs, please don’t tell him, he’d kill me if he knew-” the kid added.

“What’s the project for?” Alex asked, completely uncertain of how to react.

“You know the Wall that surrounds the whole country?”

“...Yes?”

“He’s trying to break open the Wall. He says that if he can break the Wall in a spaceship, then maybe the Event will reverse itself and send us home. He said the government can’t know about it, because they’ve banned all research into it, but since you aren’t monitored, I guess that I can tell you. I’m not monitored either, I swear-”

home, Alex thought, and resolutely cut the boy’s panicked speech off. “...What’s your uncle’s address?”

The Sherpa Empire                     0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0  6
Super-Llamaland                       0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  5

MVP: Tyson Long (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)
The Tigers started their series against their group's toughest opponents with a bang, as Tyson Long's two-run blast in the second inning (hit off of a visibly distracted Kami Akunjee) and run-scoring singles off the bats of Lily Scutaro and Miranda Gray put the Tigers up 5-0 after just four innings. Unfortunately, while fifth starter Savanna Wladecki again showed great promise over six solid innings, the bullpen had a nightmare of a seventh. Eliza Guo and Justin Frazier both struggled mightily against the Sherpas, but it was Calisto Gutierrez who blew the game by serving up a hanging slider to right-fielder Geli Ananthan to turn a three-run lead into a one-run deficit with one swing of the bat. After that, the clearly demoralized Tigers went down limply.

The Sherpa Empire                     4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0  4

MVP: Simon Chu (4.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 6 K/0 BB)
This time, the Sherpas didn't wait as long to destroy the Tigers, as Genevieve Strauss had an absolute nightmare of a first inning. After Qureshi struck out swinging, the next six batters reached base, and when a furious Strauss was taken out of the game, the score was 4-0 with runners on second and third and just one out. Sofia Rasmussen turned to Simon Chu, and the teenaged reliever seriously impressed, somehow getting out of the jam and giving up just one more run - a solo shot off the bat of Yawei Qu - over his five innings of work. It gave the Tigers a chance to claw their way back in - and off of ace pitcher and SARS enthusiast Luochong Zhuang, they were able to do so, scoring twice off of the Guangzhou ace and plating two more with a Summer Huang double off of the bullpen. But despite multiple opportunities in the eighth and ninth, they were unable to get that fifth run, ultimately losing 5-4.

The Sherpa Empire                     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 X  3

MVP: Cedric Wei (7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 5 K/0 BB)
After going below .500 for just the second time in the WBC group stage, Sofia Rasmussen's Tigers knew they needed a win to keep up with Group 8's top two teams. Luckily for Rasmussen, her starter seriously delivered, as Cedric Wei scattered just five baserunners over his seven innings pitched. While Super-Llamaland trailed early on, Dominic Kastner's seeing-eye single up the middle plated Summer Huang in the fourth to tie things up, and Miranda Gray's RBI double in the sixth put the Tigers ahead for good.

[Falisiand]

Falisiand got swpt by Royal Kingdom of Quebec, lets recap how that happened.

Rufus Hammond was on the mound in the first game where he was on for 6.0 innings, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. Falisiand wasn't able to score a run off Kevin Buchanan and the Grim Reapers won 4-0

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0  4
Falisiand                             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Xander Anscom was on the mound in the second game. Falisiand struck first with a 2 run home run in the 2nd by Junior Brown, but then the Grim Reapers scored 1 run in both the 3rd and 4th, but then Amaan Pruitt hit a home run in the 4th to make it 3-2, then the Grim Reapers hit a 3-run home runs to make it 5-3, but then Richard Mcbride hit a double to make it 5-4, then the Grim Reapers scored another run to make it 6-4, but then Kodey Kenton hit a home run to make it 5-6, then Aidan Singleton scored a run to make it 6-6, but then in the 8th, the Grim Reapers scored a run to seal the game 7-6. Xerxes Anscom pitched 4.2 innings with 2 walks and 5 strikouts.

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 1 1 3 0 1 1 0  7
Falisiand                             0 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0  6

Kyron Burnett was on the mound in the final game. Falisiand struck first with a Richard Mcbride grand slam to make it 4-0, then Kodey Kenton hit a home run to make it 5-0, but then Falisiand collapsed, first it was 2 runs in the 4th to make it 5-2, but then when Kyron Burnett was relieved the bull pen broke down, first Frankie Goodwin allowed 2 runs in the 8th to make it 5-4, but mananged to make it out of the 8th, but then in the 9th, Marvin Gill allowed 2 runs to blow the 5-0 lead and give the Grim Reapers a 6-5 lead. Falisiand couldn't score anymore runs and lost 6-5.

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 2  6
Falisiand                             0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

Falisiands next opponent is IBS reigning champion Tikariot, the Devils Rejects are in 3rd place in Group 7, can Falisiand beat them.

[Sarzonia]

These series are the kind that drive Sarzonia national baseball team manager Geoff Yancey crazy.

The same team that confidently took two of three games against world No. 2 Banija and No. 10 Liventia shat the bed against unranked Kohnhead and No. 42 Daskel. Even though the latter series was played away and that meant the Stars had to leave Luke Brinkley on the bench, the Stars still figured they should have won the series against the team ranked directly below them in the rankings.

The problems started in Game One when the Stars battled back after Daskel drew the match level in the bottom of the fifth inning against Sarzonian fifth starter Brian Lynch, getting a two-run homer off the bat of catcher Shintaro Nobuhiro after the Stars manufactured runs in the tops of the second and the fourth.

Rightfielder Kenny Evans put the Stars back in front in the sixth with a booming two-run shot, but Tyrell Douglass gave up a two-run single to leftfielder Cho Juzou, which ultimately forced extra innings. Sarzonia turned to long reliever Dima Ostrelov and he tossed three scoreless frames before setup man Scott Lassiter pitched the bottom of the 13th. He gave up a homer to the first batter he faced after falling behind 2-0 and the Stars were fuming at their luck.

In Game Two, ace Mark Conroy didn't have his best stuff and had to battle through seven innings despite allowing five runs. Lassiter gave up a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth and left Sarzonia having to win to salvage a single game from this frustrating series.

Uriel Jimenez struggled to get through six innings, but when Yancey turned to Ostrelov again, he allowed a two-run double to Somei Yuu that had the home fans envisioning a sweep. However, Luke Brinkley strolled to the plate as a pinch hitter for reliever Carnie Weston with the bases loaded after Evans walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run.

With Brinkley working the count full after a 13-pitch battle, he finally got a hold of a fastball from closer Izo Kaoru.

"Brinkley swings, there's a LONG DRIVE TO DEEP LEFT FIELD, GOING, GOING GRAND SLAM! GRAND SLAM! GRAND SLAM! THE STARS TAKE THE LEAD EIGHT TO FIVE! LUKE BRINKLEY HAS GIVEN THE STARS LIFE!"

Douglass allowed a solo homer in the bottom of the night to lead things off but struck out the side the rest of the way and the Stars salvaged the last away fixture of a stretch of nine away matches out of 12.

Sarzonia (6-6) will start a stretch of 12 home games out of 15 with a three-game set against unranked Jovannic. They will then host Banija, travel to Kohnhead, then host Liventia and Daskel.

The Stars would return home frustrated with a 6-6 mark, although they hoped to take the momentum from what was all but a walkoff win and build on it to return to the knockout stages.

[Daskel]

DAITO METROPOLIS
Daito Kyujyo

The stands were burning passion right now. Chance theme echoed the stadium, rich brass notes mixed with the drums and the woodwinds. The athmosphere made An Takashi, head coach of Team Daskel, a little bit nostalgic. He was 47 right now, 29 years after his lone win at Daikyu nationals. This feel so close to that.

"Right, we're on the 13th inning! This is revenge time for series 1 and 2!"

The players were striken aback. An Takashi never talked with loud words. The dugout tense air dissipated a bit. With a pitcher change, the inning looked hard already. Will lady luck be ob their side?

---

"Now batting for Daskel is Reizei Seijirō. It looks like Our Daskies dugout is in good spirits. I would love to know what happened in there..."
"Mr Maeda, please come back to the game"
"Sorry. After an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt by Oshimura in the 12th and a strikeout, we're here. Zero balls one strike. It looks like Reizei is trying to trace Lassiter's pitches"
"That's right. Scott Lassiter just entered the game, our batters have yet to sketch the movement of the ball. Giving the circumstances, unless Reizei makes good contact and a miracle happens, we are going to the 14th"
"Lassiter's pitches and now we're one ball, one strike. All eyes on our right fielder Reizei Seijirō, Raion Koukou alumni. Here's the pitch.... foul ball!"

The omnious "oh" rolled through the stands

"There's no room for another strike. Lassiter receives the signal from Lopez, he throws and... Reizei hits, REIZEI HITS AND GOES AND GOES AND... GONE. GONE. SAYONARA HOMERUN. Seiji comes back, the air siren soars!

---

The second game was on many Daskelians will remember, as An Takashi made an unexpected experiment, and gave rookie pitcher Kanao Tōru the opportunity to pitch from the fifth inning. The kid, just out of REI Kuji, displayed his talent starting with his very first pitch, making everyone in the country to revive that Daikyu final over Seinan Gakuin.

And well, the third game was kind of unexpected, to say the least. Daskel started winning by far, fans still envisioning Somei running bases. An sent Izo as always, the reliable closer of the team, but this time he had it rough. After allowing a walk to Evans, and a long, enfuriating battle with Luke Brinkley, the batter made contact for a comeback to remember... If you live in Sarzonia.

"The ball is flying and goes and... It's on the stands! Somehow, Sarzonia managed to save themselves in the Daito Kyujo! Mr Tanaka, can you believe this? Everyone's taking their head with their hands like, you know, how?"

Bottom of the ninth, and even with Eidome senting it to hit the mighty scoreboard, Daskel lost the game 6-8, in another dramatic final for the young team. But it was not the time to dwell on the game. Their next rival was top 10 Liventia on the road, and that promised a very difficult, heated war on Port Cartfort Park.

[Zwangzug]

A selection of posts on Blatter during game one against Hapilopper (chronologically from top down):

Come on, Hapilopper should be exhausted from the marathon against Nova Anglicana, let's grind them down! - @TwineurTraps

tbh I don't watch the other groups, our team is stressful enough - @AltScroll

at least #teamblue has the right attitude about the DH #travesty - @4brijAcademical

I think they're called the thrashers?? - @tildetime

whatever, #blue is my #favorite #color - @4brijAcademical

Double from @hotcornerhunni brings in @levib12, Thrashers lead 3-2 in the 8th - @GnattyGNat

Hey @GnattyGnat your links are broken, they use twii.tur over there. - @tildetime

whatever, I got this account to follow #CMSC #football -@GnattyGNat

wrong decade pal - @tildetime

wrong century more like lol - @AltScroll

u leave #SuperLlamaland out of this - @diggswashere

What are your thoughts on retired numbers? I'm in favor of them, it would make us look back on our history. - @FlashGourds

No one wants us to be that country that doesn't shut up about how much better they were back in the day. - @SecretSuperSquirrelSociety

isn't that kinda inevitable though? i mean we used to be good. now we're sporadic. - @treblebobmajor

no, we can always talk about how our bullpen used to be bad and now our bullpen is still bad. - @SecretSuperSquirrelSociety

What a slide by @pounder80 to beat the throw from Whitsun-Elm! #Thrashers add on in the 9th. - @drurydave

^ case in point @SecretSuperSquirrelSociety

why do our players not have blatter accounts - @prismphyllis

probably because they would be persecuted by the illiberal left for saying anything even slightly politically insensitive - @nautylys

@nautylys go back to bassabook - @voncount

Dwayne Pocock in to try to close it out. #pokerface - @GnattyGNat

Gomez leads off with a walk. - @GnattyGNat

when is Weiss gonna staaaaart #dhisnotterrible - @prismphyllis

okay never mind, *that* is the hottest take, get out of this country - @rachael444

Error by Berry and Lincoln Small reaches first! Come on, Zebras, take advantage. - @TwineurTraps

TIE GAME! A double from Maia Whitsun-Elm and the Zebras have a chance! - @GnattyGNat

It'll be up to Jeremy Burnham to keep it alive. #Rainmakers - @tropetastical

...It'll be up to Nathaniel Skyler to keep it alive next inning! #Rainmakers - @tropetastical

Pretty telling that Wenjie Liu is going with Calliope Green at this juncture, we could be here for a while. - @brontoporous

Bring in Ross-Singh and have Weiss or someone pitch tomorrow. - @prismphyllis

Actually @aarmstrong21 is a two-way player, they're probably used to that. - FlashGourds

@treeman59 a reliever and an ice cream enthusiast. Can't get much better than that. - @SuperSecretSquirrelSociety

too bad our bullpen can't have ice cream named after it because we always choke - @Mustung93

Scotty Pemberton, one of the three brothers on the bench, in to lead it off against Green here in the eleventh. - @GnattyGNat

#cute #glasses #amirite - @4brijAcademical

Well, he certainly has a good eye, draws a walk off Green. Gomez out to talk with her now. - @GnattyGNat

Dalton Sadler with a chance to make a difference. Too bad he doesn't have an account, I want to ping him to find out about his roleplays on a nation-building website. - @TwineurTraps

i keep tyring to think of something offensive to say about car-racers and their families but i'm scared of being censored by the illiberal left - @nautylys

@nautylys go back to guariday - @voncount

@voncount well make up ur mind - @nautylys

6-4 Thrashers after the Sadler blast! Wenjie Liu frustrated and who can blame her, Todd Forneris coming in to put out the fire... - @brontoporous

Callan-Milton in to hit for Crant-Bridge as Wenjie Liu still trying to make the best of it. - @TwineurTraps

why do u call her Wenjie? - @rachael444

because...that is her name??? - @voncount

you have to put "Wenjie Liu" not just "Wenjie" otherwise it looks like you're being too diminutive and disrespectful because she's a woman. and "liu" might make it sound like #19 - @Mustung93

shouldn't it be Liu Wenjie though - @rachael444

plz, individualistic society has no time for this family-name first nonsense - @nautylys

Callan-Milton walks. Schrieber to bat now, we're running out of bench players. - @brontoporous

at least they didn't make forneris hti for himself! - @tildetime

6-4-3 erases Callan-Milton. Zebras down to their last out. - @GnattyGNat

Sharon Lubbock hit by a Martin Meadows fastball, that stings but she'll take it. - @drurydave

way to stay alive iwth those foul balls! #smallball - @hannahbobs

Small makes Meadows work for it, finally sending it to left. Lubbock will hold up at second, playing cautiously, her run doesn't really matter. - @GnattyGNat

yes it does don't be rude - @siggyboogy

u know what i mean - @GnattyGNat

we're getting to that time of night when even the #goodblatters make silly typos #thepartydisapproves - @horsehideseek

Whitsun-Elm back, her clutch double drove in two last time, can she do it again?? - @drurydave

there is no such thing as clutch, just small sample sizes - @SuperSecretSquirrelSociety

"And it's back to the wall, Dayton Rowe giving chase but he has nowhere to go! What a night for Whitsun-Elm! The Zebras take it in eleven innings!" <embedded video> - @TroyDawson_WTB

[Hapilopper]

Somewhere in Zwangzug
World Baseball Classic 49 Series 4: Hapilopper v. Zwangzug
The good thing about the Hapilopper/Zwangzug series is that it showed the world that the confidence of the Haps had not been shaken by the rough series with Nova Anglicana. The Haps took two games, and the series, from the unranked yet strong Zwangzug side, and thus remained second place in the group, behind the all-powerful Nova Anglicana Lions.

This of course, was in spite of the fact that the Haps dropped the first game of the series to Zwangzug, on the strength of a walk-off three-run home run courtesy of the Zebras’ Frances Wake, sending the Zwangzugians into a frenzy and giving them a well-deserved win, one that was frustrating for the Hapiloppians.

But to show the world that they weren’t fazed, the Hapilopper National Baseball Team got up in the morning and decided, to a man, that they weren’t going to let Zwangzug take the series and fall out of playoff contention. It happened at breakfast at the team hotel when pitcher Curtis Skinner called the rest of the team together.

“First of all, gang, I know this is one talented baseball team,” Curtis said. “I know good ballplayers when I see ‘em, and every last one of you can beat anyone and everyone in the multiverse. I know that all of you are capable of it, and I know all of you have the talent to do it. This is my last year in baseball. I’m 56 years old. I’ve played baseball for 40 years and never won a championship. This is my best shot, and god damn it, you are the best team I’ve ever played with.”

The rest of the team nodded their head. Curtis Skinner was Hapiloppian Baseball’s “Grand Old Man” and was the one man that anyone and everyone worth their salt would listen to.

“I know what good ballplayers are like,” Curtis continued. “All of you aren’t just good ballplayers, but you are great ballplayers. I look at Jerome Hayden and he can hit a home run with will. You do that and you get the job done. I look at Dayton Rowe and see someone that can get one or two extra bases out of one hit. I look at Charlton Forest, Mill Gibbs, Vic Foster and Cole Winthrop and I see four pitchers that can strike out the side with ease. All of you are capable of anything and everything. So we lost to Zwangzug. So what? That doesn’t mean we can’t win the other two games, and can’t beat whoever the hell we’re playing next. Let’s get the god damn job done tomorrow, score some runs and kick their asses! All of them!”

The rest of the team roared their approval, and kept Curtis’s words in mind as they went out there for the second game of the series. The game wasn’t much to write home about – a 3-1 victory, complete with a complete game performance from Charlton Forest – allowing just one run and three walks while registering 15 strikeouts. It was one of the strongest performances of Charlton’s career, and it seemed like he was coming into his own as one of baseball’s elite pitchers.

In game three, the Haps did it again, winning 5-3, with four runs coming from a Jerome Hayden grand slam in the top of the 5th inning. It was another one of those home runs where Jerome knew it was gone. He stared at it, flipped the bat, gave the ball a nice salute, and went on a slow trot, taking in the reaction from the fans on hand in Zwangzug. The grand slam guaranteed a series win for the Hapilopper National Baseball Team, who were about to travel home for their next series.

The next series, though, was against Equestria. Any time the Haps went up against a team from Equestria, there was a sense of dread. Hapiloppian fans remembered the 59th AOCAF a few years before, when the Equestrians beat the Hapiloppians 8-1 in one of the ugliest matches in the history of international football. It was the kind of match that inspired nightmares among Hapiloppian fans anywhere and everywhere.

So if the Hapiloppians could beat out the Equestrians, it would be nothing short of a relief. The team, and the fans, knew that Equestria, regardless of the sport, was going to be a tall order to deal with anywhere and everywhere.

At least they were playing in Capital Stadium in front of their fellow Hapiloppians.

[Newmanistan]

Series 5, Game 1

Group 1
Newmanistan                           0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Chromatika                            1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Marigred                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
TJUN-ia                               3 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 X  7

Se Vende Skooma                       1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  5
South Covello                         0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Series 5, Game 2

Group 1
Newmanistan                           3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Chromatika                            0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Marigred                              0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  4
TJUN-ia                               0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1  5

Se Vende Skooma                       0 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 4 11
South Covello                         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2

Series 5, Game 3

Group 1
Newmanistan                           0 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0  5
Chromatika                            0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Marigred                              0 1 6 0 2 0 0 0 1 10
TJUN-ia                               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

Se Vende Skooma                       2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
South Covello                         0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan            15   12   0   3    84   45  +39    36
2 Se Vende Skooma        15    9   0   6    55   47   +8    27
3 TJUN-ia                15    8   0   7    65   56   +9    24
4 South Covello          15    6   0   9    49   71  −22    18
5 Chromatika             15    6   0   9    46   61  −15    18
6 Marigred               15    4   0  11    66   85  −19    12

Series 5, Game 1

Group 2
Daskel                                0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2  5
Liventia                              1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 X  7

The Jovannic                          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3  4
Sarzonia                              0 0 0 0 2 3 0 1 X  6

Banija                                0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0  5
Kohnhead                              0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Series 5, Game 2

Group 2
Daskel                                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Liventia                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

The Jovannic                          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Sarzonia                              1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 X  4

Banija                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Kohnhead                              0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 X  3

Series 5, Game 3

Group 2
Daskel                                2 0 2 0 3 0 0 1 0  8
Liventia                              0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  5

The Jovannic                          0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2
Sarzonia                              2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Banija                                1 0 1 3 2 0 0 3 0 10
Kohnhead                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Banija                 15   10   0   5    86   55  +31    30
2 Sarzonia               15    9   0   6    71   64   +7    27
3 Liventia               15    9   0   6    65   57   +8    27
4 Daskel                 15    8   0   7    79   80   −1    24
5 Kohnhead               15    6   0   9    55   76  −21    18
6 The Jovannic           15    3   0  12    63   87  −24     9

Series 5, Game 1

Group 3
South Newlandia                       1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  9
The Greater Nordics                   3 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1  8

Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0  4
Torisakia                             0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3  6

Quebecois Acadiana                    0 2 0 0 1 0 6 0 0  9
Hampton Island                        0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0  4

Series 5, Game 2

Group 3
South Newlandia                       1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  3
The Greater Nordics                   0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0  3
Torisakia                             0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  4

Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2
Hampton Island                        2 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 X  5

Series 5, Game 3

Group 3
South Newlandia                       0 0 0 4 2 0 0 1 0  7
The Greater Nordics                   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  3

Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3
Torisakia                             1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 X  4

Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Hampton Island                        0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 X  4

*                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island                     15   11   0   4    74   52  +22    33
2 South Newlandia                    15   11   0   4    83   74   +9    33
3 Torisakia                          15    8   0   7    64   56   +8    24
4 Quebecois Acadiana                 15    5   0  10    69   77   −8    15
5 Drunk People at the Local Tavern   15    5   0  10    69   78   −9    15
6 The Greater Nordics                15    5   0  10    54   76  −22    15

Series 5, Game 1

Group 4
Ethane                                1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  4
Cassadaigua                           1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Drawkland                             1 2 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 10
Lovisa                                0 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0  5

The Fair Republic                     0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
Northwest Kalactin                    1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  3

Series 5, Game 2

Group 4
Ethane                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Cassadaigua                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3  4

Drawkland                             0 2 5 1 0 1 1 2 0 12
Lovisa                                0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 1  5

The Fair Republic                     0 0 2 3 0 2 4 1 1 13
Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2

Series 5, Game 3

Group 4
Ethane                                1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0  5
Cassadaigua                           0 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 X  6

Drawkland                             0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1  6
Lovisa                                0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  5

The Fair Republic                     0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2  7
Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1  6

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua            15   13   0   2    85   51  +34    39
2 Northwest Kalactin     15    8   0   7    69   76   −7    24
3 Drawkland              15    8   0   7    87   77  +10    24
4 Ethane                 15    7   0   8    69   62   +7    21
5 Lovisa                 15    5   0  10    69   92  −23    15
6 The Fair Republic      15    4   0  11    69   90  −21    12

Series 5, Game 1

Group 5
Zwangzug                              0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana                        0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  4

Equestrian States                     0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Hapilopper                            0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 X  5

Jeckland                              0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Ihilthracna                           0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  6

Series 5, Game 2

Group 5
Zwangzug                              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0  6
Nova Anglicana                        0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 2  8

Equestrian States                     3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2  8
Hapilopper                            0 1 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  6

Jeckland                              1 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0  7
Ihilthracna                           0 0 9 1 1 0 1 0 X 12

Series 5, Game 3

Group 5
Zwangzug                              2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 X  4

Equestrian States                     0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0  3
Hapilopper                            3 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 X  8

Jeckland                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Ihilthracna                           0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X  1

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana         15   12   0   3    68   50  +18    36
2 Hapilopper             15   10   0   5    68   56  +12    30
3 Equestrian States      15    8   0   7    60   65   −5    24
4 Zwangzug               15    6   0   9    65   66   −1    18
5 Jeckland               15    5   0  10    56   74  −18    15
6 Ihilthracna            15    4   0  11    54   60   −6    12

Series 5, Game 1

Group 6
HUElavia                              1 0 0 3 1 1 2 0 0  8
Ranoria                               1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1  5

Nagore                                0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0  5
Delaclava                             0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Abanhfleft                            1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Free Republics                        2 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 X  7

Series 5, Game 2

Group 6
HUElavia                              0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
Ranoria                               1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  4

Nagore                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Delaclava                             2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

Abanhfleft                            0 0 0 0 6 0 2 0 1  9
Free Republics                        2 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  6

Series 5, Game 3

Group 6
HUElavia                              0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Ranoria                               0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 X  3

Nagore                                1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  5
Delaclava                             1 0 0 6 0 0 1 3 X 11

Abanhfleft                            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Free Republics                        0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  2

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Free Republics         15   10   0   5    75   66   +9    30
2 Delaclava              15    9   0   6    78   55  +23    27
3 Ranoria                15    7   0   8    63   65   −2    21
4 Abanhfleft             15    7   0   8    65   68   −3    21
5 Nagore                 15    6   0   9    51   73  −22    18
6 HUElavia               15    6   0   9    60   65   −5    18

Series 5, Game 1

Group 7
Ko-oren                               0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Sarian                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3

Falisiand                             4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  6
Tikariot                              0 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 1  7

Mathuvan Union                        0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0  3
Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 X  5

Series 5, Game 2

Group 7
Ko-oren                               1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3  5
The Sarian                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Falisiand                             0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0  5
Tikariot                              0 0 4 0 1 0 0 1 X  6

Mathuvan Union                        1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2  5
Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 2 2 1 1 0 1 X  7

Series 5, Game 3

Group 7
Ko-oren                               0 0 5 0 0 0 3 0 0  8
The Sarian                            0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  3

Falisiand                             0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 0  6
Tikariot                              1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0  5

Mathuvan Union                        0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

*                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                   15   10   0   5    88   49  +39    30
2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec   15   10   0   5    83   74   +9    30
3 Tikariot                  15    9   0   6    61   64   −3    27
4 Falisiand                 15    7   0   8    65   65    0    21
5 The Sarian                15    6   0   9    58   61   −3    18
6 Mathuvan Union            15    3   0  12    46   88  −42     9

Series 5, Game 1

Group 8
Super-Llamaland                       2 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  6
Pripet Socialist Republic             1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Devonta                               0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0  8
The Sherpa Empire                     0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 1  6

Megistos                              1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0  5
Terre Septentrionale                  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Series 5, Game 2

Group 8
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 X  3

Devonta                               0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Sherpa Empire                     0 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 X  5

Megistos                              0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2
Terre Septentrionale                  0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 X  6

Series 5, Game 3

Group 8
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 2 5 0 0 0 1 1  9
Pripet Socialist Republic             1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  4

Devonta                               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
The Sherpa Empire                     0 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 X  7

Megistos                              0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Terre Septentrionale                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 X  4

*                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire           15   11   0   4    84   60  +24    33
2 Terre Septentrionale        15   10   0   5    58   50   +8    30
3 Super-Llamaland             15    8   0   7    71   58  +13    24
4 Megistos                    15    6   0   9    68   80  −12    18
5 Devonta                     15    6   0   9    74   76   −2    18
6 Pripet Socialist Republic   15    4   0  11    49   80  −31    12