World Baseball Classic 15: Everything thread

[Qazox]

QSPN.com/ W B C 15 Coverage

Qazox Baseball Association President Buck Herzog announces that Qazox will most likely bid for 17th World Baseball Classic. If true it would be the 2nd longest stretch that the WBC was not contested in Qazox.

While the complete details are not yet released, rumor has it that the qualifying stages we've had for the better part of the WBC era will not be apart of the bid. According to a source within the QBA, quite possibly teams will be placed into "pods" and there will be inter-podal play.

Just a reminder that these are only rumors and not anything concrete about the bid yet, which might not even be a confrimed bid yet either.

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

BIRD ON SKATES AN EERIE REMINDER

Tundra Falls- The Bird on Skates sits as it has most days, on display for public viewing in Tundra Falls. The prestigious trophy, which is the longest active challenge cup between two nations may have just lost that distinction because it is not likely to be active anymore. The trophy is a football (soccer) cup that the nations of Newmanistan and Dancougar compete for, which has, more often then not, been in the hands of the Rockets despite Dancougar always having a higher rank. Today, as the baseball team practices at the Proving Grounds, it serves as a reminder of the horrific event that occurred in Severence Empty Ego. We’re sure you have heard the news, as it has been all over the airwaves. Dancougar is no more. Those of us who have followed the World Bowl knew that there had been some odd events, terrible events, which seemed to be escalating. Tragedies, but certainly nothing that would ever lead to this. No one really knows how this happened. Our greatest rivals were also our friends, for we shared the same Keystone-style sporting passions as they did. Many Newmanistanians vacationed in Dancougar. Empire Motors even sponsored a football team there, one in which Newmanistan’s greatest player coached and arguably second best player played for. There is no more Sporting Lakeport. Thankfully, J-Mac was not in Dancougar at the time. Rumors have it that no foreigners were in the country at the time of whatever happened. Swirling dark clouds, powerful lightning and the most powerful thunder you will ever hear made the nation vanish.

Jeremy McAllister, the senior, is in Putnam Lake tonight. He, along with his family, had returned to Newmanistan for what they just thought would be a vacation back home before returning. J-Mac wasn’t planning on leaving Dancougar late last week to spend time in Putnam Lake but says a friend told him, “It would be best if took some time off.” McAllister wasn’t originally sure why he would be told that, but now understands. He is saddened, and while NPL teams are certainly biting at the chomps to acquire the services of him and his son, it is going to take McAllister time to recover from the mental anguish. Casey Berber, the Dancougaran coach of the NPL’s Centralia Cougars was in Centralia at the time of the tragedy. He is obviously at a loss for words as most of his family is gone. He declined to speak with The Rocket Report, and we can understand that, of course. There wasn’t much baseball history between Dancougar and Newmanistan. On the diamond, we were head and shoulders above the Black Wings, and it showed in our meetings. We never lost to them in baseball, but the Black Wings were coming on. They were improving, they were getting there. Recently they showed it with a demolition job of Taeshan. Now who knows what the team will do. How can they even be inspired to play baseball at this point. If they can carry it on, Samseong Stadium at Putnam Lake has offered to be the host stadium for the team.

The mood of the baseball team concerning the events is one of shock and awe. Unlike other sports, there wasn’t the kind of connection between the nations on the diamond, but the players are still very aware of the rivalry that existed. “I can’t put into words what I am feeling,” said third baseman Meghan Butler, “How did that happen? Can it happen here? Everything to just be so suddenly gone like that. It’s like it was out some strange movie about giant robots or some weird anime plot. For anyone who lost a friend or family, I sympathize greatly. I didn’t really know any of them, but they were fun to watch.” Shortstop Rachel Cuyler added, “What a terrible day. I mean first the news about Julie Therrian of Cassadaigua, my heart goes out to her, and now this unreal tragedy.” In the days ahead, we may hear more about what happened. Maybe it will all become a bad dream. This can’t happen.

On this day, when we went to visit the Bird on Skates display, we noticed that it had fallen to its side. It had never been knocked over before. It can be stood back up, if only the terrible events could be just as easily reversed. Stadium officials have said that they will remove the Bird on Skates public display and keep the trophy in storage. Hopefully, we can play for it again.

[Sarzonia]

John Morgan woke up one morning in a holding cell at the Woodstock Federal Courthouse in a grouchy mood.

By now, his anger over his 2 2/3-inning Game 2 disaster had long since subsided. However, he was only now realising the full weight of his actions. He took another look around the cell. The room was three metres by four metres, barely enough room for a bed and a sink.

He knew he should be in uniform and ready to help lead the Stars to an improved result over their third place finish from the previous classic. Instead, his chance to help lead the Stars to glory was gone forever, and literally by his own hand.

Only shortstop Chris Spontanelli tried to pay him a visit in the immediate aftermath of his being put here in this holding cell. "Fuck off, you ugly piece of shit!" ended that.

The trouble with that statement was that it came from the body of John Morgan, but it felt like someone else was saying it. He shook his head and bowed it silently. He then heard a light clunk clunk clunk and looked. It was Spontanelli again.

"Dude," the Sarzonian shortstop said as he approached the holding cell.

Unlike the previous visit, Morgan didn't say anything. He just looked up.

"Carlton's still pissed at you. He's heading to the station to file charges as we speak."

"I thought he already did that."

"We had an away match and he couldn't get to the station in time."

"They could have taken an Internet report," Morgan said, "or he could have called it in."

"The phone lines have been crazy for the past few days," Spontanelli said. "The Internet has been down off and on. Many of us have had to rely on newspapers to give us the information we need about last night's news."

Much to their surprise, Morgan and Spontanelli watched as Fred Carlton, Sarzonia's catcher and the victim of the haymaker launched from an angry Morgan, walked into the area in front of the holding cell.

"I'm willing to let bygones be bygones if you apologise for your actions," Carlton snarled, clearly still upset about what happened. "Otherwise, I'll see your ass in court."

"Fred," Morgan said with a serious tone that Carlton knew wasn't normal for him. The simple act of Morgan calling him by his first name and not Carlie or Carlton also registered. These weren't normal times for the pitcher-catcher relationship.

"I'm really, really sorry." Carlton looked and saw Morgan looking him in the eye. His gaze was direct, but uncertain. Carlton may not have been best buddies with Morgan, but he could tell there was a distinct sadness in those eyes. "I'll regret what happened for the rest of my life."

"Guard!" Carlton shouted. "Get this man out of there."

"But Mr. Carlton, he still has to face the charges."

"I'm dropping them." Carlton grabbed a document from his coat pocket and quickly signed it. "Here's the paperwork."

A few minutes later, Morgan's release was processed, and the three men were in an automobile to return to Fleetwood Park.

"I'll forgive you," Carlton said with a look of intense focus squarely on Morgan, "but I won't ever forget."

Morgan drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I understand," he said. Just then, the radio station they'd been listening to suddenly emitted its breaking news music. The three Sarzonians knew immediately something was wrong.

"This just in, the Kingdom of Dancougar has been annihilated by a massive explosion," the anchor said. "We'll have more on this story from our correspondent who just escaped Yuki City. Staci?"

The information coming in a mile a minute was the last thing on their minds. Nor was the unfortunate incident between a pitcher and his battery mate.

So many lives. All gone.

As the car approached the Dave Wilson Athletic Complex, all flags fluttered in the breeze at half mast. It was the least Sarzonia could do to honour the memory of a well-regarded friend and a deeply respected sporting foe.

[The Babbage Islands]

By Bryndís Óskarsdóttir and Scott Clinton

Scott: Finally, a W on the third try.
Bryn: Six-to-three over a winless JoeDad. Hardly the stuff to impress the fans.
Scott: Better than losing 7-2 and 8-6, though.
Bryn: Sure. From a home whupping to a 14-inning disappointment to a sound win, that's progress. Or maybe that's just baseball.
Scott: Our pitching was back in tune, for one thing. Three scattered runs. Lindsey Roberts was in control.
Bryn: She was. Again, this was a new team that hasn't won a game. Look, I'll take the win. But we need to see more.
Scott: You get up on the wrong side of the bed or something?
Bryn: Maybe I was just up late watching indoor gridball.
Scott: Indoor? Not even a World Bowl rebroadcast? You're not grumpy, you're ill.
Bryn: Back to the subject. The Bumblebees travel to Toiletdonia, then welcome Undeadzombiee to Fresh-Fizz to end the first leg of play.
Scott: Anthony Williams will start against Toiletdonia, in spite of the extra days off. Catherine Delaney should then go against Undeadzombiee.
Bryn: As long as we finish the leg at 3-2 we should still be in this.
Scott: We'll be there.

Until our next conversation, remember, we're BS all the time!

[The Babbage Islands]

CHARLESTON (BPA) -- Overnight, an explosion has taken place in the kingdom of Dancougar on the scale usually reserved for atomic weaponry. Babbage scientists cannot confirm the presence of radiation that would accompany such a blast, leaving the exact cause a mystery. Devastation is widespread, near-total in and around Yuki City where the event seemed to be centered.

World Baseball Classic officials expressed shock and dismay at the news. A crisis team immediately set to confirming the locations of the teams from Bloodbath Valley and Dancougar, scheduled to play a fourth-round qualifying game in the affected area.

[The Babbage Islands]

Qualifying Phase: Round 4 Results

The published line scores reflect how the scorinator arrives at final scores. The final scores and number of innings shown are official. No nation's RP will be penalised for using, or for not using, the generated line scores.

Group A

Mantwenic             000 000 000 1 - 1
Silver Beach          000 000 000 0 - 0

Bluth Corporation     001 000 020 - 3
Tsenor                201 200 00X - 5

Sarzonia              200 200 200 - 6
Secristan             102 000 000 - 3

Group B

Barnettsville         000 110 010 - 3
Kalasion              112 010 10X - 6

Zwangzug              000 070 000 - 7
Quintessence of Dust  000 101 030 - 5

Tarrentum             100 010 200 0 - 4
Brewdomia             102 001 000 1 - 5

Group C

Taeshan               100 110 000 - 3
Delaclava             001 100 000 - 2

Bloodbath Valley      100 000 040 - 5
Dancougar             103 200 00X - 6

South Norwega         002 120 100 00 - 6
The Fanboyists        000 001 221 03 - 9

Group D

The Babbage Islands   200 000 101 - 4
Toiletdonia           003 110 00X - 5

Tocrowkia             112 211 000 - 8
Steroga               010 100 010 - 3

JoeDad                000 000 000 - 0
Undeadzombiee         003 002 00X - 5

Group E

Virabia               000 000 300 - 3
Qazox                 010 120 00X - 4

Newmanistan           201 100 100 - 5
Verdriet              000 100 100 - 2

Milchama              001 210 000 - 4
Emothica              100 410 20X - 8

Group F

Cassadaigua           110 210 001 - 6
Yafor 2               103 030 00X - 7

Kazzoria              002 000 020 - 4
Vephrall              070 340 01X - 15

Western cuba          020 001 022 - 7
Albundania            001 001 004 - 6

Tables

Group A                 W    L    PCT.
Bluth Corporation       3    1    .750
Sarzonia                3    1    .750
Mantwenic               2    2    .500
Secristan               2    2    .500
Silver Beach            1    3    .250
Tsenor                  1    3    .250

Group B                 W    L    PCT.
Tarrentum               3    1    .750
Barnettsville           2    2    .500
Kalasion                2    2    .500
Quintessence of Dust    2    2    .500
Zwangzug                2    2    .500
Brewdomia               1    3    .250

Group C                 W    L    PCT.
Dancougar               3    1    .750
Delaclava               3    1    .750
Taeshan                 3    1    .750
Bloodbath Valley        2    2    .500
The Fanboyists          1    3    .250
South Norwega           0    4    .000

Group D                 W    L    PCT.
Tocrowkia               4    0    1.00
Toiletdonia             4    0    1.00
Undeadzombiee           2    2    .500
Steroga                 1    3    .250
The Babbage Islands     1    3    .250
JoeDad                  0    4    .000

Group E                 W    L    PCT.
Emothica                3    1    .750
Newmanistan             3    1    .750
Qazox                   3    1    .750
Virabia                 2    2    .500
Milchama                1    3    .250
Verdriet                0    4    .000

Group F                 W    L    PCT.
Western cuba            4    0    1.00
Albundania              2    2    .500
Cassadaigua             2    2    .500
Yafor 2                 2    2    .500
Kazzoria                1    3    .250
Vephrall                1    3    .250

[Tarrentum]

Tarrentum Falcons Sporting News

Falcons lose first game

UPDATED WITH HITTING AND PITCHING BOXSCORES!!!
Brew Crew Stadium, Brewdomia – So much for the sweep through the Group Stage. Though it was only a matter of time before Tarrentum fell, no one thought it would be against lowly Brewdomia, who was winless up until today’s game. Maybe the two road games got to the Falcons? Let’s hope not because if the Falcons move into the series matches it won’t be all home games or one-day trips out to far flung empires. I think it’s just the sadness of realizing that our players are only human.

The night started off promising. Zappataro was walked in six pitches to lead off the game. With a hit-n-run Rioi struck a great ball through the left side of the infield, advancing Zappa to third. Ianello then struck a great sac fly, scoring Zappa. The Brew Crew’s starter finally settled down and struck out Puloni, gave up a hit to Vallena, then caused Favella to ground out to the second baseman. Marcus Bianconi showed signs of his consistent, efficient pitching right away. He caused two ground ball outs to start the inning but then gave up two singles and a run-scoring double before causing the sixth batter of the inning to pop-out to Rioi at first.

With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the second, Gradoni hit a line drive out to the Crew’s shortstop. Ionian then crushed a double to right field. Bianconi then hit a ground ball out to the second base which advanced Ionian to third. With two outs and one on, Zappa showed uncharacteristic impatient at the plate and hit the first ball he saw to the third baseman, who threw to first to end the inning. Bianconi saw similar success in the bottom half of the inning by causing the Brew Crew’s batters to go 1-2-3, with no strikeouts. The top of the third saw more futile attempts by the Falcons hitters. Rioi grounded out to second, Ianello popped out to the left fielder and Puloni was struck out swinging on a 3-2 curveball away.

The Brew Crew finally jumped ahead in the bottom of the third. Bianconi gave up two hits to lead off the inning. He struck out the next batter but then gave up a triple to a ball hit up the right field gap. Ionian gesticulated in the outfield after the play that it was Puloni’s fault, not his, that the ball got through and wasn’t thrown in quickly. This sort of division and nitpicking is not what the Falcons need during the middle of the Group Stage. Hopefully Wavi will be able to help the players work through any struggles. With a man on third, one out and two runs already scored, Bianconi walked the next Crew batter. Knowing that they would try to steal during the next at bat, Bianconi through a fastball high, the Crew runner broke for second and Favella expertly through the ball to third to catch the runner diving back in for the out. Still facing a run-scoring situation, Bianconi induced a ground ball out to end the inning.

The pitchers then traded scoreless innings, with Vallena getting a double and stealing third; and Favella drawing a walk in the top half of the fourth. Bianconi then gave up two singles in the bottom frame of the inning. The Falcons, with the top of the lineup coming up to bat, had a good fifth inning. Zappa led off with a double. Rioi grounded out to first but Zappa held at second base. Ianello then hit his first extra base hit of the WBC, a double, which scored Zappataro. Puloni was also able to reach base with an infield single before Vallena and Favella were struck out on called strikes to end the inning. Still, the Falcons had pulled one run closer to the Brew Crew and the score was now 2-3 for Brewdomia. Bianconi pitched another great inning. He saw three batters and sat three batters with one strikeout.

The top of the sixth saw the bottom of the lineup come to the plate for the Falcons but there was nothing doing. Gradoni popped out to centerfield. Ionian then scored a line drive right to the Brew Crew’s third baseman. The infielder made the catch but the force of the ball broke his hand and the game was stopped for a half-hour as the Brewdomia Emergency Services team on hand worked with getting the glove off. The Brew Crew brought in an infielder from their bench and play resumed. The Crew’s pitcher was visibly shaken as he gave up a bloop single to Bianconi. He quickly recovered and caused Zappa to hit a deep fly ball out to right field to end the inning.

Bianconi then came back out to the mound and looked visibly distracted. He began to dig his foot into the mound. He continued digging in this fashion for 10 seconds before Favella and the umpire trotted out to see what was going on. The Brew Crew fans started to boo when the discussion became heated. Wavi broke out of the dugout to pull his pitcher away from the umpire after Bianconi picked up some dirt and threw it on the umpire’s chest-protector. Obviously Bianconi was thrown out of the game. More on the apparent reasons for Bianconi’s actions after the in-depth game summary. Wavi called on Pollani Dezzera, the cut fastball wizard of the ASML, to come into the game. He had ample time to warm up as the Brewdomia “Field Wenches” had to take a fair amount of time to fill in and compact the area where Bianconi had been digging on the mound. When the game restarted, the Brew Crew obviously knew that the cut fastball was Dezzera’s “go-to” pitch because he was rung up for four hits, including one solo homerun. Dezzera just left the mound shaking his head as he walked towards the dugout after the last out in the inning.

Now down 4-2, the Falcons responded with power of their own. Facing Brewdomia’s reliever, Rioi started the inning by lining a single to left field. Ianello then brought the bat to bear on the ball and swung for the fences. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a lot of the ball and only popped it up to right fielder, who didn’t even have to move to catch the ball. Puloni came to bat and hit a fly ball out to the new third baseman. With Vallena up and facing two outs, the Falcons second basewoman knocked a dinger deep into the outfield of left-center. The ball hit at a perfect angle and skipped over the centerfielders glove and towards the vacant outfield heading for the right fielder. Rioi scored and Vallena motored around third, with the throw finally coming in she barrelled into the Crew’s catcher to score an inside-the-park homerun and to pull the Falcons even with the Brew Crew. Favella reached first for his first hit of the ball game but Gradoni grounded to second for the force out at first.

Dezzera finally found control and success with his cut fastball leading to two scoreless innings of two-hit ball for Brew Crew. Dezzera also gave up a walk in the bottom of the ninth. Dezzera’s pitching was spot on just what the Falcons needed, unfortunately, the bats did not respond in the same innings. Gradoni reached on a double but that was the only Falcons hit during those the eighth and ninth.

The top of the tenth, the second tenth inning seen by the Falcons in as many games, saw Vallena reach base for the fourth time with a single to lead off. With Favella up, he hit into the 6-4-3 double play. The young catcher was visibly frustrated and he took out that frustration on a Imperiade container in the dugout. Gradoni was then struck out to end the inning. Dezzera was left in for the bottom of the tenth, but it was a fateful move. Ahhh, hindsight. Dezzera struck out the first batter but then gave up a double and a walk to the next two hitters faced. With men on first and second, Wavi came out for a conference with his pitcher and catcher. Knowing that power was due up, the Brew Crew sacrifice bunted to move the runners into scoring position. Dezzera then gave up a single to end the game as the Brew Crew stormed the plate, welcoming their baserunner home.

The loss was tough for the Falcons. Thankfully they make their way home to Imperium Stadium for tomorrow’s tough game against QoD. What of Bianconi’s blow-up on the mound? Sources close to the team told us that a Banderi Police Officer was allowed into the dugout and told Bianconi that he was a [censored by the Tarrentum Press Committee]. It seems implausible but that was what I heard.

Let’s hope all distractions disappear for the tough, baseball-focused country of Quintessence of Dust. The Dusters also lost their fourth game, losing to the Zebras at home 7-5. With both teams looking to rebound, be sure to set your televisions to TSPNN.
-Michealan Gardini

[OOC:If you noticed on my KuB.ast thread, I do know how to put rows in like a true table now but it just takes too damn long, so I won't do it anymore.]

Hitting Boxscore

Pos SS 1B LF RF 2B C 3B CF P P

Name Ferdini Zappataro Nicolai Rioi Jax Ianello Cesare Puloni Dessea Vallena Antoni Favella Xavier Gradoni Norian Ionian Marcus Bianconi Pollani Dezzera

AB 4 5 4 5 5 4 5 4 3 1

H 1 2 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 0

R 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

BB 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

AVG .250 .400 .250 .200 .800 .250 .200 .250 .333 .000

SB 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

CS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

HR 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

RBI 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

Pitching Boxscore

Name Marcus Bianconi Pollani Dezzera

IP 5 5

W 0 0

L 0 1

ERA 5.40 3.60

ER 3 2

H 8 8

BB 1 2

K 2 3

WHIP 1.80 2.00

[Cassadaigua]

Jennifer’s Space

What is going on in the world? First, we actually don’t win a championship in something as our football team loses in the semifinal to the Bluth Corporation, who went on to win the title. Then we get the injury to Stacey (Franklin), and then the terrible news of the tumor that was discovered on Julie Therrian’s brain. I want to thank everyone for their good words and encouragement and I have passed all of the positive messages on to Julie. Quintessence of Dust will be wearing grey caps in her honor, and in the honor of all brain cancer sufferers worldwide. We always knew the Quodites were a classy people, and that really shows it right there. Thank you, we really do appreciate it. And then, just as we are trying to get a hold of this news, some weird cloud just wiped Dancougar off of the planet? I have never heard anything like that in my life. We knew that there had been a rash of disasters there but for the whole country to be wiped off the map? Everyone’s dead? I just can’t comprehend that. I can’t put it into words what I feel because it is just so hard to understand. I am greatly saddened. And confused. Very, very confused. Maybe a new Dancougar will rise up but still, how can everything just be replaced? How can their baseball team continue to compete? Surely, they had the most gritty effort ever in their win over Bloodbath Valley. Yeah, what a name for an opponent to be played after that kind of event, huh? All this terror and tragedy, I can only imagine what someone say, out all day for their anniversary or something thought when they had to read about all this stuff when they probably just wanted to read about baseball. They will never think a game recap is boring again! Oi vey, just so many different emotions.

After saying that, it’s really hard to talk about what happened against Yafor 2. I’m sure most of you watched the game and saw the 7-6 loss. It was Brianna Bates first start in the Classic, and she had to eat up innings. Yafor 2 got to her a little bit, but with the bullpen having been used more then we would have liked and with the probability that we are now out two starting pitchers, as Franklin has now been downgraded to doubtful for her next start, Brianna just had to tough it out. It was a tough debut for a young 23-year old pitcher, and she gave us a gritty performance, tossing seven innings, even if the final statline doesn’t show it. It just wasn’t our day. Things are tough right now, and I am going to go hope that there will be good news to read in the paper.

[Virabia]

The Vonghurst Star
Virabia Loses 3-4 in tough match against Qazox


Box Score

VRB 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0                3 13 1
QZX 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 X                4 10 0

QAZOX CITY - Coming off a home loss and going into an away game against a superior team is never easy (and coming off a rest day didn't help much either). Yet for all this the Virabi team thought that they'd at least a strong fight against the Qazox team, if not beat them. This type of confidence can boost morale and performance but, it's not without it's downsides as many mocked the Virabi teams over confidence. One Qazoxian announcer even went as far as to say that the team "is grossly over estimating their skill. Simply put... they're not that good" (and he was on the relatively nice end of the spectrum). Needless to say this didn't put a dent in the teams confidence and they continued their march (on a very high horse) into Qazox City today. However, for all their work they couldn't make it past a tough Qazox team as they lost 3-4.

However, the game almost didn't happen as Qazox City was in the midst of being pelted by a major rainstorm. There were legitimate fears that the game would be cancelled. Luckily it was only delayed (3 hours) from it's planned start time of around 13:00 to 16:06, when it was deemed ok to play. Once the game got underway though the fans were treated to a rather slow first inning, as both teams went three up and three down. The top of the second was the same as only Zygmunt Chychla would get on base (he'd later be thrown out in a double play). Then the bottom of the inning came around and just when it was looking like this game would be a defensive struggle (which is more Virabia's element) Qazox got a couple of men on base and drove three of them home. Savoy and Riggles off a double to left-centre and later Calvin was driven in on a throwing error by Ezra Morejon. This early lead delighted home fans and gave them a nice security blanket as Virabia would get the bases loaded in both the third and fourth inning. However, Virabia wasn't able to capitalise on either of these two opportunities and thus they'd end up going scoreless until the fifth, when with one man out and two in scoring position Morejon would score off a Franciscovich sac fly. However, Cartier (as the next man up) would end up striking out. Still, Virabia had gotten them selves on the board, and started to chip away at what was a 3-0 lead.

Still, any damage done by Virabia in their side of the fifth inning would be negated by Qazox as they answered back with a run of their own, this time with Stiller getting the run off a Garski fly. Then immediately after that Hawkes and Chychla scored off a Orlando Madrid double to centre. Bringing the game to 3-4. Going into the bottom of the sixth and down by one, the defense was tasked with not letting Qazox score, yet they almost failed to accomplish this one goal letting both Riggles and Sibinski in scoring position with only one out. It seemed for certain that anything but a strike out would result in a score for Qazox. This led Virabi Manager Joe Macguyver into a predicament as it was clear Fransisco was showing his fatigue, but he didn't have anyone in the bullpen. Thus after a minute of thinking it over he finally called in Jack Lenon into pitch, which was an unpopular move with the team who tried to convince him otherwise, but Macguyver was set in stone. He was putting in Lenon. Who ended up doing quite well earning 4 strikeouts throughout the rest of the game. After this the game cooled down, Virabia got the bases loaded 2 more times, but in the end could never bring some one home. Eventually having to face the reality that you cant win them all. Virabia would lose 4-3. Which still isn't that bad against a team like Qazox. Virabia is now 2 and 2 in the cup.

Tomorrow, the team will head back home to face Emothica, who have been a surprise this cup jumping off to a 3-1 start in the cup (which is even more amazing since this is their first cup). This match will be in front of a home crowd for Virabia (Portsham), but considering the way Emothica has been playing, this will be no easy match for Virabia and Macguyver + his team will have o pull out all the stops to top this team. Still with the likes of Tex Williams pitching, Virabia should be able to win it ever so narrowly. After that, it will be off to Newmanistan to see if Virabia can repeat their opening day result.

[Tarrentum]

[OOC: Worthless, non-deletable post]

[Steroga]

Balanced Tocrowkia offense does us in

The Nordics show why they are a championship caliber as all eight starting positional players picked up an RBI in their 8-3 victory at Kumar Field. The Nordics managed fifteen hits off of Sterogan pitching, all off of rookie Raja Navalkar, who had a tough debut. Though he did not surrender a home run his six innings of work, the Nordics managed at least two baserunners in all six of the innings. The silver lining for Steroga was the three innings of scoreless and hitless relief that Pritam Karantaka provided but by the time he was in, the damage had been done. We managed six hits in the ballgame, with Prapti Subhudhi having the best line in the box score, going 2-for-4 with a single, double, a run scored, and an RBI. Coach Patel expressed much dissatisfaction over the loss towards his team as he wants to make sure they know that just because they may be playing a higher caliber team like Tocrowkia does not mean that the team should go down without a fight. He knows that each of the first innings had the potential to be a big inning. We are now 1-3, and the first half concludes at Kumar Field against JoeDad. Coach Patel calls it a must win.

[Quintessence of Dust]

The New Cleethorpes Enquirer
An upset of a different kind

In past World Baseball Classics, it has not been the shutout wins or run frenzies against easy opposition teams, the opportunities for Momoko Koumura to pad her batting average or Django Scheinhardt to pick up a few cheap Ks (wait, last we heard, it was Koumura buying up all the cheap K - ed.), that have given Quintessence of Dust's loyal if sometimes loyally misguided followers the biggest cheers: it has been the close run wins against bigger teams, squeezing out go-ahead runs in the ninth or even tenth innings of tense encounters. And so it is perhaps inevitable that, with their newfound status as world #5 ranked team, the fans had to sit and watch as their own players succumbed to an upset for the first time.

Of course, the opposition were wet-eared upstarts themselves: Zwangzug has one of the oldest, most venerable, and most joyously wankless histories of any WBC nation. But Quintessence of Dust's semifinal run in WBC14, which included upsets against Cassadaigua, Secristan, and even the legendary Newmanistan Rockets, saw them catapaulted ahead of the Zebras in the rankings - and giving the visitors all the more to play for in what is turning out to be a bizarrely open Group B. Only three teams (Tocrowkia's Nordics, who won the title in Quintessence of Dust's debut, WBC11, along with relative newcomers Toiletdonia and Western Cuba) have reached matchday four with a perfect record, while Vephrall, Milchama, and hosts The Babbage Islands have toiled to 1-3 starts.

With the Rockets grousing about shrinking strike zones and corked bats, the Pheonix grousing about the kids these days and their perfect games, the Stars grousing about each other, and the Falcons looking round in hapless confusion at all these miserable old fogeys, runs appear to be up, and so do upsets - and there was no better demonstration of both than the Zebras game-winning seven run spurt in the fifth inning at The Frosty Dome. A total of 11 batters clipped six runs from starter Arthur Ek and a seventh from reliever Akihito Chikafuji, winner of the "Coolest Name Award" in the most recent season of Minimal League Baseball.

While Zwangzug and Quintessence of Dust do not have an especially strong baseball rivalry, they have met many times in international sport, including Quintessence of Dust's second ever international sporting match, in the Baptism of Fire. (It's a football tournament, apparently.) There have also been various Olympic dalliances, with more than one Zwangzugian spoiling the show for Quintessence of Dust's perennially subperforming alpine ski team. A number of Zwangzug-born strategies may also be observed when strolling through the Chess Garden in New Cleethorpes.

June Bargmavis and Chris Perragin have achieved considerable acclaim as players for the New Cleethorpes Republicans in the QBL, and it was a return "home" last night for Bargmavis. Both teams played WCB15 rookies as starting pitchers, and 12 runs later it was clear both Ek and Matthew Cieger have a considerable way to go before they'll be rivalling Alexandra Dussow or Stacey Keisler. But Cieger came out the winner, and Ek - who gave up 8 hits and 5 walks in 4.1 innings pitched - was very much the loser.

Ek laboured to get through his third inning, throwing 32 pitches to the Zwangzugians, including 8 consecutive balls, as he loaded the bases on 1 out with 3 straight walks. He got out of a jam thanks to a weak pop fly to short invoking the infield fly rule (and leading to the traditional 10 minute recess while Quodite fans launched a pitch invasion and demanded that the umpires clear up for them one last time what this actually meant) and a swinging strikeout.

Quintessence of Dust grabbed a one run lead in the bottom of the fourth on a double by centre fielder Masami Tamagotchi, but she was caught stealing at 3rd to end the inning, and things began to go badly awry for the home team from there. Ada Throop bunted her way on, beating out the throw from Hannes Huuskonen who hit and threw himself out of contention for the starting catcher's job with an 0-4 showing in which he allowed three stolen bases. His opposite number Jehoshaphat Turner hit a line drive past Amanda Jónsdóttir, and Irene Scircle loaded the bases for the second time in the game with an 8 pitch walk.

With three outs to play with, Gina Croes left Cieger in, and he duly struck out looking, but Jamie Kersten drilled a single between third and short to drive in Throop and Turner. Ida Pratt hit a groundball single, with Scircle showing a rare flash of speed on the basepaths to score from second ahead of Huang Li's throw, and Pratt stole third on the next pitch. The one after that was hooked 409 feet over left centre by third baseman Benjamin Mercer. He hit the ball out of the park, Ek out of the game, and the stuffing out of Quintessence of Dust. Chikafuji gave up a double to Sonia Rustrian, and Throop - who scored the first run of the inning - drove in the last on a single, before Turner hit a groundball to Anna Alaja to end, finally, the onslaught.

Third basewoman Amanda, playing again after being absent from the WBC13 and 14 rosters, hit an RBI single in the sixth, but Quintessence of Dust's best chance of a response was the eighth inning. After giving up back to back singles Cieger was taken out for Stephen Kilbourne, who induced a flyout from Hannes but then had his first pitch to Emily Sanderson hit clear of the 18 foot centre-right fence. It was a significant moment, as she became Quintessence of Dust's all time leader in WBC home runs, but the previous incumbent, Momoko Koumura, struck out, and Tamagotchi ended the rally by grounding into second.

Chikafuji, Olof Bergmann and Mazio Mizokuchi managed to get through the remainder of the game without the Zebras adding to the score, although Rustrian was denied a ninth inning homerun only by a leaping catch at the fence of the centrefield well by Tamagotchi, who continues to impress in the outfield. Mizokuchi struck out the final two batters. But the team, kitted out all in grey in honour of Cassadagan player Julie Therrian and to raise awareness of brain cancer around the world, were left without a final reply at the bottom of the ninth, with pinch hitter Sakiko Wakabayashi striking out and Li and Amanda hitting grounders to Scircle off another WBC rookie pitcher, closer Gordon Chane.

Quintessence of Dust now face the Tarrentum Falcons, who had been rampant up till last night's loss to Brewdomia.

[Sarzonia]

Even though John Morgan was off the Sarzonian national baseball team, his presence in Fleetwood Park barely registered.

On another day, it would have created a hue and cry unlike any Stars manager Khalil Dennis had ever seen since he assumed the managerial job. Security would have been called. Morgan likely would have been sent to the J. Edgar Hoover Correctional Facility, from which only one prisoner ever escaped, and that was with foreign intervention.

This was not another day. This was a day when patches in the shape of grey ribbons were being sewn on Sarzonia's dark blue kits, in an effort to keep them from blending into the grey away kits. The ribbons were being sewn on in honour of Cassadagan pitcher Julie Therrian, who suffered a brain tumour after being relieved in a match.

This was a day when the world was still reeling in shock from the sudden destruction of Dancougar, a nation many people throughout the world were familiar with through sporting combat. The loss of billions of lives in a cataclysmic explosion rendered a simple assault and battery case a minor footnote.

Morgan watched people walking around the park in a daze. Dennis's eyes were red as the manager emerged from his office in the stadium. Morgan looked for Dennis's partner, but couldn't find him. Hesitatingly, he walked up to Dennis.

"Skip, I heard," Morgan said. He inhaled and exhaled. "I'm really sorry about what happened the other day."

Dennis gave a quick glance in Morgan's direction and sped up his walking pace toward the team bus. He was in no condition to deal with Morgan. The former star pitcher started a couple of steps toward Dennis, but saw bench coach Geoff Yancey. He knew Yancey would have to be the man he'd talk to since Dennis was clearly not going to talk to him in a state of grief.

"Coach," Morgan called out, barely choking the word out over the lump in his throat. "I, uh, we need to talk." Yancey walked over to him and gave him a withering glance.

"There's nothing to talk about, Morgan. You're off the team and that's that."

"Wait," came a voice. This was catcher Fred Carlton.

"Coach, we talked. I'm dropping the charges. I'm ready to move on. We're ready to move on with John on the team."

"A decision's a decision," Yancey said. "John's already decided for all of us. He's not on the team. Period."

"But coach, we voted. It was 22-2 in favour of Morgan returning to the team."

Yancey shook his head, trying desperately to contain his contempt for Morgan, or what passed for Morgan.

"He's off the team. End of discussion."

"What does Khalil say?"

Yancey now glared at Carlton.

"I say he's off the team. I haven't heard anything different from Khalil."

"Geoff," Carlton said, now getting angry himself, but containing it far better than he did after being the victim of a Morgan right hand to the jaw, "if you don't at least broach the subject with Khalil, you run the risk of losing the team. For you and for him. Believe me, there are going to be consequences for what John did. This team is not going to let him get off scot free. But if the law is willing to let things drop because I am, you should at least discuss the issue with Khalil.

"If he thinks about it and decides Morgan's still off the team, that what he did was too great a crime to allow him to ever return, we'll respect his decision. But you're overstepping your bounds by making that decision without consulting him."

Carlton turned and walked toward the team bus with his bag slung over his right shoulder. Yancey glowered out toward Carlton, then quickly glanced at Morgan.

"I'd better get going," Yancey said. "See you when we get back."

[Sarzonia]

[OOC: If Dancougar is not going to RP his team being destroyed along with his country, consider this a valid RP. If he RPs his team going down with the rest of the country, I can delete this post myself or have it deleted by the moderators.]

First of all, the Incorporated Baseball Federation wishes to extend its condolences to all affected by the loss of the Kingdom of Dancougar. It is a horrific loss and we share our grief with the world.

That said, the Incorporated Baseball Federation offers the use of Walter Cronkite Memorial Park as an interim home venue for the Dancougaran national baseball team in light of the devastation of the country.

We know we can not replace the true home of Dancougar, but we hope to be able to offer a modicum of comfort during a time of horrific loss.

Louis Coletti
Chairman
Board of Governors
Incorporated Baseball Federation.

[Tarrentum]

KrozileBaseballUnderground.ast

Oh the humanity!!! A loss to the Brew Crew! They don't even have a roster out, they don't even have names on their jerseys, they don't even drink wine! It's a sad day in Tarrentum when one can go around telling old women that the Falcons lost to Brewdomia. I say, if we build a giant badger, we might be able to win against them the next go-around.

But enough about our team unfortunate upset. In the manner of Obscure Sabremetrics to Make Your Eyes Bleed, I offer up four new stats that I have divined for your consumption. Four you say? Oh yes. Well, more like 3.5. So, without further ado:

ISO: It's not chemical, it's a gauge on a players power. Found by this nifty little (PECOTA-modified) formula:

ISO = (2B+3B+(HR*3))/AB

As you can see, it only takes into account a players extra-base hits. For true sabremetrics, you would multiply triples by 2 while adding up extra-base hits (but I like the theory behind this modified formula better). Basically, a higher ISO means that the player is hitting for more power than contact (which would be a lower ISO).

The Falcons shape up this way:

Pos SS 1B LF RF 2B C 3B CF C

Name Ferdini Zappataro Nicolai Rioi Jax Ianello Cesare Puloni Dessea Vallena Antoni Favella Xavier Gradoni Norian Ionian Valerio Utteroni

BA (AVG) .500 .421 .444 .368 .600 .500 .278 .316 .333

SLG .900 .895 .500 .526 .800 .700 .500 .474 .778

ISO .350 .474 .056 .158 .350 .200 .222 .105 .333

So we see that Zappataro, unsurprisingly, holds the second highest BA on the team and the highest Slugging Percentage, also has the second-highest Isolated BA on the team at .350. Translated into percentage, Zappa is crushing 35% of his hits for doubles, triples or home runs. Meanwhile, also unsurprisingly, Jax Ianello has the lowest ISO on the team with a measly .056. Maybe Wavi is going to move Ianello down in the lineup? Probably not seeing that he got his first double yesterday and drove in two runs. I think that Ianello may finally be turning things around.

Well now that we covered hitting, let's look at a defensive stat: Defensive Efficiency. Really, quite a fun little formula that seeks to answer the question of: How many balls put into play become outs?

DefEff = 1 - ((H + ROE - HR) / (PA - BB - SO - HBP - HR))
*ROE is Runs Scored on Errors

If that was too complicated you can do an approximate (I must stress this) DefEff by taking 1 - BAbip. I'll show you the difference though.

The Falcons are doing poor defensively using this sabremetric. Their DefEff is at .608 meaning that 60.8% of balls put into play are being turned into outs! When the average is around .670 you can see that the Falcons are missing a lot of defensive opportunities. What did the DefEff come out to with the abbreviated formula: .624. So you can see the noticeable difference between the two formulae where the approx DefEff gives the team 20 more basis points than they should have! Wavi should definately read my blog and do something about this, maybe a pep talk, maybe more defensive drills? These are the Qodite Endawind's we're talking about!

More fun PECOTA stats to look at are Runs Scored per Game, Runs Against per Game and Differential per Game. They are all combined so let's just take a gander, shall we? The Falcons are scoring 7.5 RS/G, while carrying a 6.5 RA/G. Obviously, the differential would be 1.00. This is good though, as all positive numbers mean that the Falcons are outscoring their opponents (except for Brewdomia of course).

Well, it wasn't much to look at but new stats are fun and can tell you a lot. I will be posting next after the Qodites come to town and you can be sure for full WBC total stats for that entry. This is the half-way point for the tournament but Group B is wide open. If anyone BUT Brewdomia wins, and Tarrentum loses, there will be a tie for first place. It will be a nail bitter, so be sure to watch Vasparian face off against the Outrageous Okamoto, who's SO/BB was among Qodite League tops!
-Judge-n-Jurri

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS KEEP VERDRIET WINLESS

Verdriet- The music was blasting. Verdriet, as we have come to learn sits here in the Lovers of Heavy Metal region, and if nothing else the locals sought to make sure that we knew that they did indeed live up to the name of their nation. You didn’t hear much about the Dancougar tragedy here as the only Armageddon and mass destruction that you could hear mentioned was in many of the songs that blasted between innings. One local told us, and we don’t know how true this actually is, but that the loud heavy metal is not turned off during the nation’s baseball games, and that the teams play through it. Verdriet was simply being respectful of Newmanistan, and all of the other opponents that came here by only playing the music when the ball was not in play. Many of the Rockets seem to enjoy the music, given that it is one of the main genres of choice here in the Empire as well, but not loved enough to make our citizens want to move here.

For the visitors, Kaitlyn Ahearn took to the mound, and she looked to have better success then the previous Rockets pitchers have had during the World Baseball Classic. But even Kaitlyn admits that a pitcher can only be as good as the calls she gets, and perhaps all of the arguing that manager Christina Sanders and Jessica Brasfield did in the last game, each of them getting ejected, couple with the very public berating of the calls afterwards, prompted the umpires to realize that they might way to start giving the Rockets pitchers the corner after all. Whatever it was, they were a lot more friendly to Ahearn. Sanders returns to the bench following her first ejection of the Classic, and told reporters that, “It was good to be back where I belong. I do not regret anything that happened in the last game.” Newmanistan wasted no time getting started as leadoff batter Stacie Meadows laid down a beautiful drag bunt down the third baseline, and then stole second. Steals of third haven’t been as common in the post-Brittany Wright era for Newmanistan, so when Stacie took off towards third it did bring back some memories. She was safe, and when Danielle Scott lifted a fly ball into shallow right field, Meadows was able to tag up score. There, thought coach Sanders, is why you steal third if you have a runner capable of doing so. Though Meadows would have scored had it not been for the stolen base when the next batter, Meghan Butler lined a double to left. Kristen Wheeler, with two away, brought in Butler with a single to make it 2-0 in favor of the One Big Island nation. Meadows, who may have been inspired by our last article that chronicled Brittany Wright, was responsible for the third inning run as well as she hit a two-out triple into left field. Danielle Scott was again ready to pick herself up a ribbie, and did so with a ground ball that somehow found it’s way out of the infield for a single. The fourth inning run was a lot more loud, as Kristen Wheeler drilled a 422-foot bomb over the right field fence to make it 4-0. Everything was going smoothly here, and the bottom of the inning run picked up by the home team didn’t seem to phase anyone. Ahearn was still in control, sitting down Verdriet batters one after the other. In the 7th, the four-run lead was restored on an RBI-double by Natalie “The Better” Monroe that drive in Meghan Butler, who had been walked earlier in the inning. As was the case in the 4th, the Verdriet lone run was never an issue. For the first time in the World Baseball Classic, a Newmanistanian pitcher was able to toss a complete game. Kaitlyn Ahearn does it, allowing the two runs on six hits, walking one and fanning eleven.

Following the game, Kaitlyn did not want much of the attention focused on her, “I just did what I had to do. It’s what I do for a living, and things went well. I got some calls that Sarah (Brayton), Courtney (Ratigan), and Jessica (Brasfield) didn’t get. That helped. Everyone in this locker room is still in awe over what happened to Dancougar. Sure, the reports that no foreigners were affected seem to be true, but people have lost friends, if not extended family. I can’t stop thinking about it.” That is something, of course, very difficult to not think about. We don’t know what the Dancougar baseball team is going to do, but a stadium in Sarzonia has also offered to host their home games, something in which Samseong Stadium at Putnam Lake was the first to offer. Putnam Lake, of course, has much in common in Lakeport with the Jeremy McAllister effect and all. Here at the Rocket Report, our focus is sports. We are not scientists and cannot explain what may have happened, but the scientists can’t seem to be able to do so either. We know that in this world nations can just cease to exist after some point, and perhaps this time we got a first hand look on how it happens. Christina Sanders though says the team cannot worry about it, “It is a tragedy, my heart goes out to them. But we must move on. We have an important game against Qazox coming up, and we know how they want to rise out of the grasp of mediocrity. We’d love to keep them there.” A reminder that it will be Sarah Brayton on the mound for the Rockets against Qazox.

[Toiletdonia]

The Babbage Islands 200 000 101 - 4
Toiletdonia 003 110 00X - 5

Moss: hey everyone!

Spurone: What?

Moss: I've smuggled some beer!

Jancotta: Wahoo!

Spurone: What kind?

Moss: IPA

Jancotta: Lets drink!

Spurone: Yeah throw me one!

Jancotta: but your driving!

Spurone: So I can multi-task!

Spurone takes the beer but drops. He then goes to pick it up.

Spurone: Just a sec Chicken you take the wheel.

Chicken: Pu-cuk!

Spurone fumbles for the beer in time to sit up and drive but...

Spurone: oh dear we seem to have crashed and our team president is dead.

Jancotta: No biggy just grab the beer and lets stand by the side of the road.

For the next few hours despite being offered to be pulled out of the bush 8 times by breakdown services the stand by the roadside and get drunk.

Burtan: Hey you guys! *HICK.* I might seem mild mannered but I hate you all.

Jancotta: So yo fat idiot!

Moss: *burp* I've never been so drunk! *Vomits.*

Spurone: We *hick* should really go on our way to the next *Hick* game. And phone the funeral directors.

Later everyone wakes up with headaches and weirdly in a police station.

Police: Ah you've woken up well I afraid your all under arrest

To Be continued.

[Undeadzombiee]

Well, a great win over JoeDad, and amazing pitching by Arnold Thornley (OOC: No, I will not make him throw a no-hitter) the Zombiee’s move to two and two.

The game started with a one out bases loaded situation for Thornley, but he preserved the Goose Egg, first striking out nameless hitter five, and then causing nameless six to pop up. Nameless pitcher twelve pitched out of a runners on the corners jam, and it was looking to be something around a 1-0 win, and was a tossup.

The second inning had no hits, and only one walk, by nameless twelve. Then, in the third, the Zombiee’s struck. They started with a walk for Thornley, and then Hadfield reached base on an error. A popup from Soltis was the first out, and then Turek blasted Thornley home with a long double, almost caught by nameless seven, after he dived.

Then, Prochaska sacrificed for Hadfield to reach home, and Turek to third. Ted Stiller had an infield single, and Turek jumped right over nameless ninety two, who was the catcher. Nameless twelve then got a strikeout of Beem.

This got the fans quite excited, but they quieted down when the next two inning went hitless. But then the Zombiee’s struck again, this time when Stiller got a one-out double, Beem struck out, and Jamie Janas hit him home, for the first homer in a Zombiee’s game. Janas got a standing ovation. But, unfortunately, it didn’t last, as Jamie Pickles struck out.

The game ended with only two more singles, one by each pitcher. Thornley pitched a complete game.

JoeDad           000 000 000 – 0 4 2
Undeadzombiee    003 002 00X – 5 7 1

[Zwangzug]

You're listening to Oliver speak in your voice, blurry Rs and not that fast, the Northeast style, and it's halfway hopeful...

"...and when you think about how these are the top two seeds, and the history the two countries have, each other's third-ever international sports opponents in the Baptism of Fire, Quintessence of Dust eliminating Zwangzug down the line, Bargmavis and Perragin the first Zwangzugians to play baseball abroad here in the Frosty Dome--"

"They do play in the other stadiums here, too."

"Only half of them. But the names of the cities with the national stadia, the...we've faced Quintessence of Dust at the Olympics..."

"It was right before facing them that the men's hockey team decided to become the Zebras, too."

"Yeah, maybe let's not talk about the hockey team. The point is, you look around the stadium, a clear sky, they're about to face each other for the first time, and I can't see an empty seat."

"Yes, that makes a lot of sense..."

"...having a lot of trouble finding the zone."

"This one will be skied to Huang Li, infield fly. Runners hold."

"Rustrian approaching from the on-deck circle--oh, my, it appears there's a fan storming onto the field!"

"Yes, they're running towards the...the second base umpire."

"Is anyone going to stop them?"

"No, I think...there's a lot more fans pouring onto the field! And they're huddling in the infield."

"And now the right field fence has gone dark, they seem to be looking for some other graphic."

"Ek stepping off the mound, he knows we can't play like this, so hold tight everyone."

"Send us an e-mail if you want, we need something to read."

"Yes."

"It says here that New Cleethorpes is the center of the Quintessential-Icelandic minority...aren't they sort of like the Jorvelki?"

"If the Jorvelki used patro- and matronymics consistently, had better cuisine, and knew how to play handball, then maybe sort of."

"Right. Um. If anybody knows anything about Jorvelki baseball players, send us an e-mail..."

"...Roderick, I've got an e-mail here from Mason in Shorn."

"Scircle sends another one back to the screen, still three and two."

"Mason says that...hold on, what does this say?"

"I'm not sure, you're the one with the e-mail. Ek's splitter off the mark, that'll walk Scircle and load up the bases."

"Well, apparently this Isaac Corrigan who used to play for the Worms--"

"Matthew Cieger stepping in for the Zebras, trying to help his own cause."

"Down by one here in the fourth, trying not to squander another scoring chance like last inning..."

"...this one's hit just beyond Li. She chases after it, the throw is--to the plate, they're sending Scircle! And she somehow beats the throw."

"She really should be able to do that more often, if her fielding is any indication."

"Well, I suppose it's a little easier to see the ball and track it rather than hope to get somewhere before it does."

"Not really, I mean, when you try to cut it off."

"I mean, you can see where the ball's coming when it's coming at you, better than when it's being thrown from behind you."

"Well, it's still coming at you. It's supposed to be coming to the place where you're trying to be. Just like in the field."

"No, in the field, it's supposed to be going hopefully somewhere where you're not."

"But you have all the freedom to move, but on the basepaths, you have a limit."

"Slider to Mercer--Pratt goes for third! Huuskonen's throw is too late, that'll be a stolen base for Ida Pratt."

"Quintessence of Dust don't seem too rattled, if Mercer gets a big hit it won't matter where she is I guess."

"Well, Oliver, they're trying to prevent him from getting a big hit."

"Or a small one, I mean, she could score from second on a double if Scircle could."

"This one is--crushed towards left center, it's out of here! Another home run for Benjamin Mercer, and the Zebras lead six to nothing!"

"That'll be all for Arthur Ek..."

The headphones mean you feel alone hearing Amanda drive in a run for Quintessence of Dust, no matter where you are or what you're doing or who all's around you. The broadcast hardly seems to be a thing in itself; someone's backing it up, probably, so people can listen later, but that's not what matters. You're right there in the moment and so is the game...

"...Stephen Kilbourne replacing Cieger."

"Went seven-plus innings. Gave up two runs, but he put both these runners on base."

"And it's number 198, Huuskonen, stepping into the box."

"Batting lefty against the righty Kilbourne--wait, 198?"

"Yes. See?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"Kilbourne delivers inside, ball one."

"Huuskonen hitless so far today."

"This one's swung on and missed, one and one the count."

"Late-breaking curve there from Kilbourne."

"The sign from Turner, fouled into the stands."

"Caught on the fly by an appreciative Republican fan, probably, nice snag."

"And this one's skied back to the mound, Kilbourne's got it, one away. Emily Sanderson up to bat."

"The Olympian for the Dodgers--"

"Before you ask, Oliver, the only Zebras to have competed at the Olympics were the ones on the baseball teams of the relevant eras."

"I knew that."

"Good. This one is--hit hard to the outfield, over the high fence in right field."

"Quintessence of Dust makes it 7-5 as the Blue Chicken comes out to celebrate..."

...Ada Throop stands on deck, a little bit frustrated is Ada. She doesn't mind batting behind Sonia as a strategic decision; she knows perfectly well that she isn't as consistent as the infielder. No, what she can't stand about the batting order is always having to be out on the field for Sonia's walk-up music. It's stuck in her head, and it's really annoying.

Mizokuchi throws. Fly ball. Tamagotchi at the wall. Then she's jumping up, and coming up with it. One away...

"...hit softly on the ground, this should do it. Scircle comes up with it, the toss to first, that's it! Chane picks up his first save of the tournament, and the Zebras beat Quintessence of Dust, 7-5."

The right-field fence goes dark shortly after, but that's okay. The pixels may flicker, but everything they counted has still been counted. Already there are fans crunching the numbers, trying to understand more. The game is fading into the past but it has left its mark, deeper than any ink.

(OOC: For fair RP-bonus attribution, and--hopefully--as part of the target audience has caught on by now, sections of this were adapted from "Pafko at the Wall"/"The Triumph of Death", the prologue to "Underworld" by Don DeLillo.)

[Vephrall]

Main gate, Capitals Ballpark, Meice — 4:33 PM

A Meice City School District bus pulled up at the main gate of Capitals Ballpark. Shortly after it came to a stop, about two dozen girls dressed in baseball uniforms exited the bus. They all appeared to be roughly sixteen to eighteen years old. An older man, perhaps in his early forties, followed the girls into the stadium.

On the field near the home dugout — 4:37 PM

The girls shook hands with the members of the Vephrall national team, including manager Netgorin Sarashe. All fifty or so people present had somber expressions on their faces. The older man, who by now had taken off his jacket to reveal that he was wearing the same uniform as the girls, said to Sarashe, "It is an immense honor for my team to be chosen today."

5:52 PM

As the first few fans started to make their way into the stadium, they couldn't help but feel that something was out of the ordinary. The players that were on the field taking BP looked unfamiliar. They had no names on their uniforms and wore unfamiliar numbers (15? 27? 31?).

6:46 PM

About 25 minutes before the scheduled first pitch against Kazzoria, the public-address system suddenly came to life. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Capitals Ballpark, home of the Meice Capitals and the Vephrall national baseball team. Tonight's game will feature the national teams of Vephrall and Kazzoria." Nothing out of the ordinary yet, but after a short pause, the announcer continued with a more somber tone. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is with deep sadness in our hearts that we remember the recent tragedy in Dancougar that resulted in the total destruction of that nation and millions upon millions of its residents. All of us in the international baseball community mourn this loss. Let us please observe a moment of silence in honor of the lives lost." As the stadium went silent, the large Vephrese flag high above left field was slowly lowered to half-mast.

6:48 PM

The moment of silence came to an end. "In honor of the contributions Dancougar has made to the international baseball community, tonight Vephrall will be represented by the girls' baseball team from Surfside High School here in Meice. Ladies and gentlemen, please give these girls a warm welcome to the ballpark!" An estimated 500 fans immediately left the stadium in disgust — this team was already 0-3, for Margaret's sake, were they just giving up now? The remaining 52,300 cheered as though one of the players had just hit a walkoff home run.

"And now, here's your starting lineup for the Vephrall Auric Wolves! Batting first, the second baseman, number 9, Juijis Speocacks! Batting second, the shortstop, number 27, Jodres Apyrphung! Batting third, the left fielder, number 15, Katie Morrison! Batting fourth, the center fielder, number 25, Alardi Diors! Batting fifth, the third baseman, number 4, Fis Tyssits! Batting sixth, the first baseman, number 30, Cintirs Vaphiris! Batting seventh, the right fielder, number 21, Niunti Smait! Batting eighth, the catcher, number 31, Anna Moody! And finally, batting ninth, the starting pitcher for the Auric Wolves, number 37, Syry Pochue!"

The girls took the field and played their hearts out. They carried in their hearts not only their own dreams of being famous, however briefly, but also the pride of the Commonwealth of Vephrall, and more importantly, the memories of the people of Dancougar. The game ended up being an absolute rout, with Vephrall winning 15-4, prompting more than a few Vephrese pundits to wonder whether these girls should permanently take over for the professionals. It was truly a glorious day for all involved.

[Tarrentum]

Tarrentum Falcons Sporting News

Imperium Stadium, Napoliroma, Tarrentum, Tarrentum - After that long flight back, it's wonderful to be back among the friendly confines of your own apartment, and in your own ballpark. In an attempt to "loosen things up" for the next game against the Qodite's, the Supreme President Cesare Italiana has subsidied alcohol sales throughout the nation. Right now, I'm even sipping on a nice Apollonian Mindbender. Little bit good drink...

Anyways...the team looked good on the field during practice today back in the friendly confines of Imperium Stadium, in wonderful Tarrentum. Or did I already write that? Anyways, the fall out from Marcus Bianconi's ejection seems to have subsided. He was barred from practicing with the team or appearing at the stadium today. It appears that the Branderi Corporate Police have [censored by Tarrentum National Press Committee]. We are told that it is nothing to worry about as Bianconi will be back with the team after the game against Quintessence of Dust.

Speaking of the Northern Mildly-Annoyed, Manager Tiberius Wavi was guarded in his outlook for the game. "I just don't know. I don't know. We can practice but it's all about how the ballplayers feel during the game. I'm confident in Vasparian giving us a strong outing...but a win?" Maybe it's all good though, becuase Wavi added this little tidbit: "Well, enough of the doom and gloom. I also thought that we wouldn't beat the Zebras either."

Tarrentum, you should be here for the game. With the alochol subsidied all across the nation, please drink here and then cool off during the final innings before driving home. You could always just get hammered at home though too. I'd drink some Kroz-Lite...Kroz-Lite 10²-Hops Taste.
-Giani Boco

[Qazox]

QSPN.com/ W B C 15 Coverage

LINE SCORE

Virabia 000 012 000- 3 13 1
Qazox   030 010 00x- 4 10 0

SCORING SUMMARY:

Qazox 2nd- Savoy singled to left; Rabbinski struck out; Riggles singled to left, Savoy to 3rd; Calvin doubled to left-center, Savoy and Riggles scored; Grahame grounded out to 2nd, Calvin to 3rd; Waskica reached on Morejon throwing error, Calvin scored, Waskica to 2nd on error; Stiller flied out to left. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 3-0 QAZOX.

Virabia 5th- Morejon doubled to right; Axelton walked; Francisco sac bunt to 1st; Morejon to 3rd, Axelton to 2nd; Fransiscovich sac fly to right, Morejon scored; Cartier struck out. 1 run, 1 hit, 3-1 QAZOX.

Qazox 5th- Waskica struck out; Stiller singled to right; Tyson doubled to left, Stiller to 3rd; Garski sac fly to left, Stiller scored; Savoy singled to right, Tyson to 3rd; Rabbinski struck out. 1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 4-1 QAZOX.

Virabia 6th- Hawkes doubled to center; Chychla singled to left, Hawkes to 3rd; Madrid doubled to center, Hawkes and Chychla scored; Kaiser struck out; Morejon walked; Axelton grounded into 4-6-3 DP, Morejon out at second. 2 runs, 3 hits, 4-3 QAZOX.

QSPN Players of the Game:
Qazox: Grant Calvin (2-4, 2 RBI, 1 run)
Virabia: Orlando Madrid (4-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI)

[The Babbage Islands]

By Bryndís Óskarsdóttir and Scott Clinton

Bryn: I think the World Baseball Classic needs a rules change!
Scott: What brings this on?
Bryn: It should be like the World Cup, the hosts automatically advance.
Scott: Good idea. The Bumblebees may not make it.
Bryn: Toiletdonia have been on a roll, sure, but these are games we should win and we're not.
Scott: No, we're not. When's the last time we had three errors in a game?
Bryn: I don't think the national team has ever had three errors in a game. Until yesterday.
Scott: It wasn't pretty. I almost called you for the indoor gridball station listing.
Bryn: Maybe you should have. Our team labours in obscurity in Sarzonia, but they're unbeaten so far.
Scott: Maybe we should pay more attention. It's hard for me to take it seriously.
Bryn: Well, we do have four kinds of professional football here. A fifth would be gilding the lily.
Scott: That's why rugby has never took hold here, I think. With Babbage code and international rules in addition to association and American styles, there's not really room for more.
Bryn: Odd that what is called international rules is barely played internationally.
Scott: There's a history lesson in that. Some places call it compromise rules, because it was a compromise of two sets named for some far-off place called Australia and some other place called Gael.
Bryn: Back to baseball, Professor Clinton. Catherine Delaney starts against Undeadzombiee. I'd call it a must-win.
Scott: So would I. One-and-four at the end of the first leg would just about put us out of it.
Bryn: What needs to happen for us to win?
Scott: Better defence than yesterday's lapse, and more production out of three-four-five. Tori Simpson's been having a great tournament leading off, but the heart of the order isn't bringing her around.
Bryn: Aaron Ford's in a nasty slump.
Scott: He's not hitting with authority. Look at him close, you can see it in his stance.
Bryn: And pitchers are smelling weakness.
Scott: He's not alone, just more visible as a veteran cleanup guy.
Bryn: I still feel like we'll turn it around.
Scott: The talent is there. The incentive is there. But time is ticking away.

Until our next conversation, remember, we're BS all the time!

[The Babbage Islands]

Qualifying Phase: Round 5 Results

The published line scores reflect how the scorinator arrives at final scores. The final scores and number of innings shown are official. No nation's RP will be penalised for using, or for not using, the generated line scores.

Group A

Secristan             120 000 110 - 5
Mantwenic             200 002 12X - 7

Tsenor                200 011 002 - 6
Sarzonia              111 121 03X - 10

Silver Beach          001 011 100 - 4
Bluth Corporation     100 011 000 - 3

Group B

Brewdomia             001 101 000 - 3
Barnettsville         202 111 04X - 11

Quintessence of Dust  100 010 010 - 3
Tarrentum             001 000 000 - 1

Kalasion              000 001 000 - 1
Zwangzug              050 111 00X - 8

Group C

The Fanboyists        000 000 000 - 0
Taeshan               130 102 00X - 7

Dancougar             110 110 000 - 4
South Norwega         002 300 10X - 6

Delaclava             002 310 114 - 12
Bloodbath Valley      001 000 000 - 1

Group D

Undeadzombiee         000 000 000 - 0
The Babbage Islands   001 110 10X - 4

Steroga               100 200 000 - 3
JoeDad                000 000 51X - 6

Toiletdonia           000 610 120 - 10
Tocrowkia             201 100 001 - 5

Group E

Emothica              000 000 000 - 0
Virabia               100 000 00X - 1

Verdriet              000 000 000 - 0
Milchama              201 011 01X - 6

Qazox                 000 600 021 000 0 - 9
Newmanistan           120 231 000 000 1 - 10

Group F

Albundania            000 000 000 - 0
Cassadaigua           112 010 00X - 5

Vephrall              105 300 010 - 10
Western cuba          021 001 000 - 4

Yafor 2               000 500 201 - 8
Kazzoria              100 403 10X - 9

Tables

Group A                 W    L    PCT.
Sarzonia                4    1    .800
Bluth Corporation       3    2    .600
Mantwenic               3    2    .600
Secristan               2    3    .400
Silver Beach            2    3    .400
Tsenor                  1    4    .200

Group B                 W    L    PCT.
Barnettsville           3    2    .600
Quintessence of Dust    3    2    .600
Tarrentum               3    2    .600
Zwangzug                3    2    .600
Kalasion                2    3    .400
Brewdomia               1    4    .200

Group C                 W    L    PCT.
Delaclava               4    1    .800
Taeshan                 4    1    .800
Dancougar               3    2    .600
Bloodbath Valley        2    3    .400
South Norwega           1    4    .200
The Fanboyists          1    4    .200

Group D                 W    L    PCT.
Toiletdonia             5    0    1.00
Tocrowkia               4    1    .800
The Babbage Islands     2    3    .400
Undeadzombiee           2    3    .400
Steroga                 1    4    .200
JoeDad                  1    4    .200

Group E                 W    L    PCT.
Newmanistan             4    1    .800
Emothica                3    2    .600
Qazox                   3    2    .600
Virabia                 3    2    .600
Milchama                2    3    .400
Verdriet                0    5    .000

Group F                 W    L    PCT.
Western cuba            4    1    .800
Cassadaigua             3    2    .600
Albundania              2    3    .400
Kazzoria                2    3    .400
Vephrall                2    3    .400
Yafor 2                 2    3    .400

[Virabia]

The Vonghurst Star
Virabia wins in game cut short by weather

Boxscore:

EM  0 0 0 0 0 0 X X X     0 0 0       F/6 (Snow, Temperature and Visibility cancelled the rest of the game)
VRB 0 0 0 0 0 1 X X X     1 1 0

Player of the game:

Tex Williams SP VIRABIA. 10 SO, .000 OBA, Complete Game, Perfect Game*

Coming off two straight losses and heading home, most were certain the Virabi teams morale would certainly be down. However, it wasn't. What was even more odd was the one line answer Manager Joe Macguyver gave at a press conference on their chances in this game. He simply said "We have Tex.... They haven't seen Tex". After this he took no further questions and then left. A move that drew much criticism from sports commentators who thought he was putting too much confidence in the pitcher.

At game time the sky was overcast and it was below freezing. Portsham had been hit by a surprise snowstorm which dumped 18cm of snow on the area the past day and a half. Which isn't much for the area, but in the month of May it is a rare occurrence. Nevertheless, there were some concerns of a snow delay as it was flurrying heavily on and off. Still this did not stop the game from starting on time and in front of a sellout crowd. The game was highly anticipated in local and national media as it featured Virabia going up against a new face, but not just any new team. It was Emothica who were somewhat of a surprise success at 3-1, which surprised many international commentators. Either way for all that hype the game was rather dull offensively. Both teams traded hitless innings. Tex Williams found himself having a field day with the opposing offence. Who found themselves un-capable of making any contact against Williams' Gyro, Shutto and Eephus pitches. However, the same was true for Emothica. Their pitcher also found ways of over coming Virabia's hitters. Thus both pitchers had perfect games for the first five innings (six for Tex Williams). Now to put this feat into perspective, it's not everyday only one of the pitchers remains perfect through five.

However by the beginning of the bottom of the 6th most fans left. The temperature had taken a large drop and Fog had rolled on to the field. The hitter could barely see the pitchers mound. To make matters worse, the weather was only going to deteriorate as the evening went on. The umpire crew was seriously considering whether or not to at least finish the sixth inning before postponing. But, with some persuading from Joe Macguyver they eventually agreed to finish out the sixth. However they wouldn't need long. Ezra Morejon was up ad on he quickly got ahead in the count 3-1. Then due to the fog the pitcher mis read a sign and instead blazed a fastball down the middle, which at this level is a home-run and in this particular case a 170m game winning homer to centre-field. A Que the fire works and the victory band. After the game the two pitchers instead of going to their respective locker rooms embraced on the mound. A small testament to the sportsmanship thats still out there in the world.

However with the game all wrapped up there still is one question and that is "Did Tex Williams pitch a perfect game?" Many are saying no to this, as to be a perfect game in the VBAML nine innings have to be pitched, but some fans think this should be changed be 6 or more (in case of games being cut short due to weather). You can weigh in your opinion at http://news.vongstar.vr/sport/baseball/ ... erfect.jsp.

As for Virbia's next game that will be against Newmanistan, who are undoubtedly the best team in the world. However, Virabia did beat this team, and thus it's not impossible that they will do it again. Still to win they'd need to take control early ad maintain it throughout. Either way, one team will emerge the victor and who ever that is will (if recent predictions are right) truly deserve it after what is looking to be a hard fought battle.

*Usually Perfect Game refers to the full nine innings but some are giving Tex a perfect game for this one.