World Baseball Classic 51 – Everything Thread (IC)

by **Chromatika** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 2:50 pm

Chromatik Baseball: Narrow Victories
By: Liana Odonis, Baseball Correspondent

Ah. Quintessence of Dust. Always plays Chromatika tough. Let's take a look.

Quintessence of Dust       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Chromatika                 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 X  5
Pitching: O. de Witt 8.1 IP, W (1-1); H. Salle 0.2 IP

Quintessence of Dust       0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 1 10
Chromatika                 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  7
Pitching: H. Angelou 4.1 IP, 7 ER, L (1-1); V. Beux 1.2 IP, 2 ER; T. Savant 2 IP; O. Bier 1 IP, 1 ER

Quintessence of Dust       4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  6
Chromatika                 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3
Pitching: J. St. Augustine 6 IP, 4 ER, L (1-1); T. Savant 2 IP; V. Beux 1 IP, 2 ER

Game 1: Oscar de Witt came to play. He pitched 8.1 strong innings, the Chromatik bats did just enough, and Salle was perfect.

Game 2: Though Duster hit for the cycle, Hilary Angelou getting battered around was not something that the Amateurs counted on. Beux couldn't hold on afterwards either, and though the Amateurs kept things close, it wasn't enough as the Quodites prevailed.

Game 3: Luke Phelps was the player of the day and St. Augustine's pitches were off the mark as Valle had a hard time getting the pitcher's breaking balls. After taking two out of three against The Sherpa Empire, it was a disappointing result for the Amateurs.

The last series of the first half will be at Hicaña. The pitchers will be Savey, Han, and de Witt.

Pitching Staff:
Starters:
H. Angelou: 3 Starts, 20.1 IP, 11 ER, (1-1), 1 ND
J. St. Augustine: 3 Starts, 16.1 IP, 13 ER, (1-1), 1ND
M. Savey: 2 Starts, 18 IP, 8 ER, (1-0), 1ND
S. Han: 2 Starts, 10.1 IP, 9 ER, (1-1)
O. de Witt: 2 Start, 13 IP, 5 ER, (1-1)

Bullpen:
B. Castreaux: 4.1 IP, 0 ER
O. Bier: 7.2 IP, 1 ER, (2-0)
V. Beux: 4.2 IP, 6 ER
T. Savant: 9 IP, 1 ER
C. Bennett: 0.2 IP, 0 ER
J. Edward, Jr.: 2 IP, 2 ER, (0-1)
H. Salle: 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Saves

by **Kriegiersien** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 4:03 pm

From AngryRandyRant.com

Kriegiersien is not the best nation of the World. Not even in the best 10k. But that is ok. So we prevail in sport. That is it. Right?

Well, then look at the World Baseball Classic. Three games against The Greater Nordics and all lost. Totally disaster. Sure, the Nordics did well at the last classics, but that is it? We lose against teams who are doing well, not Great as their name says?

Where are Strongarm and Prince, our great duo that should win the games alone? Where were the teammates Easton or Mordbruck who played so well in the KBL and in the last Classics against Cassadaigua?
You could think they vanished.

In the second game the Nordics hit left and right, it was a slugfest, as if a team of children or seniors played for Kriegiersien.

But what is the real problem here?

Tactics!

Baseball is a mind game, a numbers game, a strategy and IQ-Game.

But there is no brain behind that in the Kriegiersien game. Instead of using clever Batting orders and analysing the opponent the coaches just try to use raw power to hammer through. And that doesn’t work. Not understanding and playing the long game. Teams like Banija, Liventia or Ko-oren have understood that and are trying to outsmart their opponents. Kriegiersien doesn’t do that. And so they won’t become best in the World. Never. In none of the big games and surely not in Baseball. The smart game.

So fire the staff and get some clever guys to the front. I volunteer.

with a sincere rant

your Randy

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 4:34 pm

In a non-descript building in Khumjung, a couple of lab technicians were analyzing a sample of Shen Nong's Miracle Powder. The lab had boring white tile floors, simply-made tables and cabinets, and a wide variety of equipment, none of which was particularly cutting edge. The lab techs had bland brownish faces and they chatted about this and that while they worked, sometimes about nerdy things, sometimes about their families. After puttering around the lab running several different tests, they determined that Shen Nong's Miracle Powder contained, among other things, ginseng, green tea, amaranth, rice flour, whey powder, cellulose (wood pulp), caffeine, anabolic steroids, amphetamines, HGH, and a bunch of preservatives with confusing polysyllabic names.

A young man at the lab wrote up their findings and emailed them to the Sports Department, at the Sherpa Ministry of Culture. He also prepared a hard copy for official records.

Meanwhile, the Sherpa national baseball team was on the road, visiting Bardney. Their first impression of the place was that it was quaint and charming. They liked the old-style buildings and the relaxed feel of the ballpark with its long grass and the crowds of spectators lounging around with their beer, even if they didn't have a seat. Over the course of the next few days, that idyllic first impression was tarnished slightly by a few people's rude or racist behavior. When the Sherpalanders went out to eat before or after games, some people were hospitable enough -- in fact some were quite chatty and curious -- but others gawked like they'd never seen a foreigner before and never wanted to.

Daki Chuan had a rough start in game 1, maybe because Bardneyans had a lot of experience with unconventional pitching, which made it easier to adapt when they came up against Chuan's knuckleballs. On the other side, Kermit Connelly had the Sherpa batters totally stumped -- until he started getting tired. Bardney was up 7-0 after 7 innings, but then the momentum shifted. Ongchu Xiang pinch hit for a single to lead off the 8th, Liao hit another single putting men at the corners, Ojha drew a walk, Qu launched a sac fly deep into the outfield scoring Liao and Xiang, Ojha scored on a double by Qiao, and Bardney's lead had been cut from 7 runs to 4. Kumari hit into a double play to end the inning. Zhiku got things moving again with a lead-off home run in the top of the 9th, and some of the fans watching at home got their hopes up thinking the Sherpas might actually pull off a comeback win. In living rooms and sports bars across the Empire, people were cheering and hollering at their TVs. The Sherpas managed to put together one more run, but it wasn't enough and they lost 5-7. The cheers in the bar rooms faded away, replaced with disappointed quiet or angry shouts of, "Fuck you, Ojha!" because Ojha had struck out to end the game.

Game 2, the Sherpas were back to the top of their pitching rotation and Weiyun Gan was very well-prepared. He didn't throw that much harder than the Barneyans were used to, but knew exactly who he was pitching to and he'd put a lot of thought into how to get them out. Gan pitched a complete game shut out, giving the Sherpas their only win of the series.

Game 3 was tied at 2 after 5 innings, but then Akunjee started losing it. He gave up a double, a walk, and an RBI single, and he was obviously struggling to control his pitches. Each of the at bats was a long standoff where Akunjee had missed the strike zone multiple times -- and he was not just doing it intentionally to try to get the batters chasing crap. Lee pulled Akunjee and sent Sitharaman out to the mound, planning to have him finish the 6th and Temba Karsang to pitch the 7th. But then Sitharaman allowed both inherited runners to score, plus Monaghan and Zeidler. Lee was annoyed and he decided to go ahead and swap out Sitharaman for Temba even though it was still the 6th inning. Temba allowed another run to score before finally bringing the inning to a close.

After that, the Sherpas got their shit together again, but the damage was already done.

Akunjee was very pissed off, but he tried to avoid laying into Sitharaman too hard because he didn't want to get in a pissing match that would draw attention to his own screw ups. Instead, he beat the crap out of an unfortunate water cooler, which happened to be in the dugout.

by **South Americanastan** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 4:47 pm

SABaseball: Bush League

The Hotshots had just won their series against Squidroidia, 2-1, and the team was feeling upbeat after their recent victories. So much so, that some players had been smoking and drinking in the dugout, while the game was being played, out of Micheal Kelly's view. Despite being out of Kelly's view (and the game broadcast's), the player's had forgotten to clean up after themselves, resulting in stadium staff finding the discarded cigarette butts and a few half-finished bottles of Hinto Brew Beer in the dugout. The players didn't think much about it, they had won, after all. But Tony Harris, who had been looking for a reason to cut the teams funding, did.

Micheal Kelly was sitting in his office the next day, when Harris burst into his office, waving the english edition of Le Journal de Montréal in his hand. Micheal Kelly turned around to face him, as he had been watching film on the team's next opponent. "What the HELL is this?" Harris yelled. Kelly looked at the back page headline that Harris was pointing to.

NATIONAL TEAM SMOKING AND DRINKING DURING GAME?
Cigarrette butts and beer bottles found in dugout

Micheal Kelly rubbed his forehead. "Look, Tony, I don't know what to tell you, boys will be boys. I didn't see them doing anything during the game, and frankly, we won. So I don't know what you have to be mad about?"

"Boys? BOYS? these MEN are representing our nation on the international stage for the first time ever! This is Bush League! Why the hell is a top-tier athlete even smoking at all, let alone doing it during a game! Y'know what? If you're team is going to act bush league, you'll be funded like it. I'm redirecting half your funding to South Americanastan's first ever BoF and World Cup team." Harris responded, still yelling, before storming out of the office.

by **South Newlandia** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:56 pm

South Newlandia keeps performing, leads group at 10-2 heading into the break

The series between Kohnhead and South Newlandia promised to be an exciting one; with both teams at 5-1 going in. The Pandas had already taken two games off Banija, and were now coming into Elephant Stadium hoping to take some more. Meanwhile, the Elephants didn’t have to face the strongest opposition yet. They had, however, been scoring on the teams they did face with ease, and were certainly hoping to continue that.

Game 1:

Kohnhead                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
South Newlandia            0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  2

Pitching stats:
W: Jacob Conroy, 8 IP, 1 ER (2-0)
Save: Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 0 ER (3)

Memorable moments:
Top 4th: Pitching: Jacob Conroy | Batting: Artur Wagstaff
“Conroy now in trouble, with the bases loaded and just one out. The 1-1, Wagstaff swings over the curveball, strike two. Next pitch, swung on and hit high, very high into shallow center. Still up, Zimmerman will grab it. Routine catch, Dudley tries to make it home from third, a beautiful throw by Zimmerman and he’s got her! Burn with the tag on the throw by Zimmerman, right on the money for the double play!”
Top 6th: Pitching: Jacob Conroy | Batting: Cecilia Dickerson
“Still a scoreless game heading into the 6th here, but Conroy was in some trouble more than once earlier. The 1-0, Dickerson just looks at the Curveball. 2-0, that is swung on, hit high, hit deep, to the wall and gone. Kohnhead leads, 1-0.”
Bot 6th: Pitching: Fletcher Crouch | Batting: Ian Pearce
“Still tied here at 1-1, two outs, White on third after tripling earlier. Pearce will try get him home to take the lead. First pitch on the way, swung on, and that’s gonna be a groundout, no! It gets under Dickerson’s glove, and White gets home on the error. Elephants lead, 2-1!”
Top 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt | Batting: Lucca Hahn
“Elephants still nursing that one-run lead, Two outs in the 9th. Hahn with a chance to be the tying run, but Butt gets ahead in the count, 0-1. That slider is swung on and hit to third base, Pearce makes the grab, throw to King, and this game is over! Elephants win, 2-1, in a nail biter against the Pandas!”

Game 2:

Kohnhead                   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
South Newlandia            0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 X  5

Pitching stats:
W: Jay Kramer, 7 IP, 2 ER (2-0)
Hold: Patrik Bryant, 1 IP, 0 ER
Save: Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 0 ER (4)

Memorable moments:
Top 3rd: Pitching: Jay Kramer | Batting: Monica Ratliff
“Two outs, one on, Kramer looks to avoid trouble this inning. 2-2, Changeup is fouled off. Still 2-2, pitch on the way, swung on and that one is way gone! That 2-seamer wasn’t well-placed, and Ratliff crushes it, a no-doubt home run puts the Pandas up.”
Bot 4th: Pitching: Allan Fox | Batting: Igor White
“Lead-off walk for Drum, next up is Igor White. The player from United has been performing well in the stadium of his rival, and he takes that pitch for ball one. Second pitch, swung on, that one could be, right at the Left Field wall, and it’s gone! White puts the Elephants up, it’s 3-2!”
Bot 6th: Pitching: Allan Fox | Batting: Fabio Ventura
“Two outs, Elephants lead by two with a man on second. Ventura is next up, can Fox get out of the inning yet? The 2-1 on the way, Ventura hits it into center-left, Burn’s being waved home, Clayton with throw, but not in time, and Ventura has himself an RBI-single. Elephants lead it 5-2!”
Top 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt | Batting: Jessie Cherry
“One on, one out in the top of the ninth, Elephants still leading by three. Butt, who enjoyed the lefty-on-lefty action so far, already up in the count again. The 0-1 on the way, put in play to White, he steps on the bag, throw to King is in time and the game is over! Butt collects his second save of the series.”

Game 3:

Kohnhead                   0 0 9 1 0 3 0 1 0 14
South Newlandia            0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2

Pitching stats:
L: Blake Robbins, 2.2 IP, 5 ER (0-1)
Gostaf Sjabard, 0.0 IP, 3 ER
Abby Conrad, 2.1 IP, 2 ER
Marcel Adams, 1 IP, 3 ER
Brayden Colhusion, 3 IP, 1 ER

Memorable moments:
Top 3rd: Pitching: Blake Robbins | Batting: Stuart Dorsey
“A walk and the bases are now loaded, still two outs for Robbins. Pandas up by one, can Robbins stop the bleeding after 3 hits and a walk this inning? First pitch, Dorsey swings and drives it deep into Left Field, to the wall, and gone. Grand Slam Pandas, it’s 5-0, and Robbins is getting hooked.”
Top 3rd: Pitching: Gostaf Sjabard | Batting: Alvin Clayton
“Two in scoring position now, Sjabard can’t get that final out either. The 3-1 pitch on the way to Clayton, swung on, hit high and deep, and that one is over the wall too. 8-0, the Pandas are not slowing down.”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Maddy Lane | Batting: Ian Pearce
“And Pearce strikes out on three pitches to end the game. 2-14, a routing for the Elephants, certainly not what they’d hoped for; but they can still be happy with the series overall; taking two from Kohnhead now puts them in the lead of group 8 at 7-2.”

Next, the Elephants would travel to Pratapgadh, an Indian nation returning to the competition after most recently competing a decade ago at WBC46. Apparently, they are commonly referred to as “The Clueless Ones”. We will not do that, because the Pratapgadhi team is far from clueless. Sure, they have some of the problems that teams from countries without much interest in baseball often have; like a lack of a bullpen or a young, inexperienced team. The Elephants, just six years ago, had these problems too, and we turned out mostly fine. Anyway, on to baseball.

Game 1:

South Newlandia            0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Pratapgadh                 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Pitching stats:
W: Ben Gonzalo, 7 IP, 2 ER (1-0)
Hold: Patrik Bryant, 1 IP, 0 ER
Save: Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 0 ER (5)

Memorable moments:
Top 2nd: Pitching: Tariq Chhotarmal | Batting: Igor White
“One out and runners on the corners for the Elephants, good chance for them to go ahead. White takes the first pitch for ball one. Fastball is inside for ball two. Next one, swung on and hit into shallow right, Dunlop will score, Drum heading to third; throw is not in time. White with an RBI single, and the Elephants lead 1-0.”
Bot 4th: Pitching: Ben Gonzalo | Batting: Hameem Murjani
“Elephants still up just by one run, with two outs and none on here, bottom of the fourth. Murjani is next, he hit a nice double earlier, can he get on base again? Murjani chases the Slider, and the count is even again at 2-2. Next one, swung on and hit high, that one’s got a chance, and it’s gone. Pratapgadh ties the game up, 2-2, and the fans in Rajendragadh University Park certainly like that!”
Top 6th: Pitching: Tariq Chhotarmal | Batting: Daryl Dunlop
“One on with one out for Dunlop here as the game is still tied. Dunlop working the count, already ahead 2-0, here comes the next, swung on and lined down the 3rd-base line, Can Zimmerman score on this? Fakir Sachdev collects and throws it, Zimmerman rounds third, and he beats the throw from Jivatram Khuturia at home. Elephants lead, 3-2, thanks to a Dunlop RBI double.”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt | Batting: Dahmura Chhabaria
“Two out with a man on second, can Butt hold on here? Elephants still lead by just one run, as Chhotormal delivered an excellent game today. The 1-2 on the way, swing and a miss and the Elephants survive to win the first game of the series!”

Game 2:

South Newlandia            0 0 0 1 2 1 2 3 0  9
Pratapgadh                 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  4

Pitching stats:
W: Ryan Hunter, 7.1 IP, 4 ER (3-0)
Gostaf Sjabard, 1.2 IP, 0 ER

Bot 1st: Pitching: Ryan Hunter | Batting: Fakir Sachdev
“Hunter in trouble, with runners on the corners now, still two outs. The 2-1 on the way, swung on, hit high, and that ball is gone! Crushing home run, dead center, and Pratapgadh leads it 3-0! Looks like Hunter will stay in the game, but this doesn’t look good.”
Top 5th: Pitching: Aabid Jethmalani | Batting: Fabio Ventura
“Two on with just one out for Ventura. Elephants still trailing by two, this is a chance to get back in there. Ventura swings on the first pitch, lined towards the gap, Chakor Adhvaryu can’t quite reach it as it rolls into deep Left Field. White and Burn on the move, finally Divit Gajjar there to pick it up, Burn rounds third, Ventura thinks about three, throw from Jivatram Khuturia on the way as Ventura is held at second, and the play at the plate is not in time, Burn scores, we’re all tied up at three!”
Top 8th: Pitching: Aabid Jethmalani | Batting: David Drum
“Two on, none out for Drum as the Elephants lead by three now. Jethmalani clearly is in trouble, a campaign like this would be brutal for any teenager, but he’s fighting. The 0-1, Drum swings, high and deep, that one has a chance, long and deep, and it’s gone! Three-run blast for Drum, Elephants lead it nine to three.”

Game 3:

South Newlandia            1 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 0  7
Pratapgadh                 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Pitching stats:
W: Jay Kramer, 8 IP, 1 ER (3-0)
Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 0 ER

Top 4th: Pitching: Hamdev Thanki | Batting: Mike Larsen
“Two outs and the bases loaded for Larsen, Thanki clearly in a bit of trouble early on. That’s another ball, 2-0. Next pitch, Larsen hits a bouncer up the middle, it gets through. Drum will score, White rounding third, Divit Gajjar with a good throw home, is in time, and White is out at the plate. Still, an RBI single by Larsen makes it 3-1 Elephants.”
Top 8th: Pitching: Hamdey Thanki | Batting: Adam King
“Thanki, after a good performance, is now in trouble again. Runners on the corners, just one out, and the Elephants are up 4-1. First pitch is a ball. Next one on the way, swung on, hit high, hit deep, and.. it’s gone! King with a homer to remove all doubt, Elephants lead it 7-1!”
Bot 8th: Pitching: Jay Kramer | Batting: Saad Kamlani
“And that will be strikeout number eight for Kramer today, impressive performance by him, great Classic so far for the 23-year-old. Eight innings, just one earned run on four hits, two walks, with 8 K’s.”

With the sweep against a very solid team from Pratapgadh, the Elephants remain on top of the standings at 10-2, already seven games ahead of 4th place. Next, the Elephants will play nine games straight at home, with the first three being the ones the fans are waiting for – against the champions of WBC47, Banija. The 4th-ranked team is currently 8-4, but they remain the best team on paper. It will certainly be a tough fight.

by **Kohnhead** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:06 pm

Kohnhead sweeps St. Saratoga to stay in second of the Group

The Brooms were out like it was Curling for this one

After a series in South Newlandia where Kohnhead knew we could have gotten more than the one win we did however were still satisfied we returned home to the confines of Real Kohnhead Dressing Park and our own fans. Up next we were taking on a 3-6 St. Saratoga team whose biggest claim to fame in this cycle was taking a game off of Banija when they met early on in the season. However Kohnhead would beat St. Saratoga pretty convincingly in all of the matches to get to a very good 9-3 record that puts us definitely on pace to beat last Classic's 20-10 record.

St. Saratoga               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Kohnhead                   0 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 X  7

Game 1 of the series saw Park take the mound again following a very good first performance against Banija that was unfortunately screwed up by the bullpen. This was too big of a lead to be screwed by the bullpen as followed by a two RBI double from Craft we took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. The third inning saw us score five runs, three of which were off of a shot from Dudley who has played amazing in the role as our starting DH after being a bench player at the last Classic. The youth on our team is really playing a big part in our success and it gives me hope that Kohnhead can continue to impress and improve.

Park would be allowed to finish the 6th inning despite giving up a solo homerun to St. Saratoga to ruin his shutout but with a 7-1 lead our bullpen went to work for the next three innings and easily got out of the first game in the series with a victory. Wins against the bottom three pots are what is going to give us a really good record and this game improved us to 4-0 against the bottom three pots as we swept Pratapgadh back in the opening series although two games were quite tight.

St. Saratoga               2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0  5
Kohnhead                   0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 5  8

What a game this ended up being, Bloggs was on the mound and it wasn't awful but it wasn't what we were looking for from our ace against a poor St. Saratoga side. Bloggs allowed two runs in the first inning and it wasn't until the fourth inning that we managed to get on the board with Dickerson hitting a single through the middle that scored Ratliff. In the next inning we'd add another two runs with Hahn hitting Clayton home with a homerun to give us a 3-2 lead.

Alas Bloggs had other plans and in the top of the sixth after settling down from his rough start he had faired well from the 2nd to the 5th inning and so we kept him in as we entered the 6th, that proved to be a mistake as he let in another two runs. When St. Saratoga scored another in the top of the eighth inning on Fowler to take an 5-3 lead that left us in a difficult spot especially when we couldn't score in the bottom of the eighth. Heading into the bottom of the ninth we were down by two and needed something big to happen, and it did.

To lead off the inning it was Callie Dudley but she unfortunately sent one to the warning track only to have it caught bringing up Dickerson who walked. Dorsey walked as well before Craft singled and Dickerson raced around the bases and slid in to home safely while Dorsey advanced to third to make it a one run game. Wagstaff singled bringing home Dorsey although Craft stayed at second to bring up Alvin Clayton or so we thought. While Clayton has played well, he still is not the best at the plate and so Glass made the no brainer decision to bring up Burch with the game tied in this situation. Two pitches later Burch slammed one over the fence and Kohnhead took the win 8-5 in walk off fashion.

St. Saratoga               1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Kohnhead                   0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 X  4

Fletcher Crouch continued his smooth play as Kohnhead once again fell behind early and had to rely on a comeback although this time it included no last inning heroics. St. Saratoga once again scored in the first inning but Crouch picked it up with his curve and slider working quite well in this one both of which are pitches he needs to work on. However our bats just couldn't get going and while we were close a few times it wasn't a very inspiring effort and when St. Saratoga hit a solo homer in the 5th inning off of Crouch it got worse.

We got one back in the bottom of the 7th when Dorsey hit a sac fly to bring in Dudley from third to make it a 2-1 game but we couldn't bring in anyone else. However we once again beat up on the relief pitching of St. Saratoga with an amazing 8th inning that culminated in Ratliff hitting a three run homer to give us the 4-2 lead and win with Lane holding them off (like normal at this point) in the top of the ninth to give Kohnhead another sweep.

Overall it's another less than inspiring sweep but hey we are 9-3 having swept the teams we need to sweep even if it was more difficult than it looked. It appears that this team is continuing the precedent established last Classic of just being really good in the clutch hitting wise even when our offense falters early on in games. Unfortuantely for us South Newlandia swept Pratapgadh and Banija swept Sicoutimont meaning there's no change in the top three and we gained no ground. However our two main adversaries in South Newlandia and Banija play each other meaning that we will gain ground/pull away from at least one of them if we can sweep unranked and 3-9 Sicoutimont.

Our group 8 is one of the weirdest in the tournament in that the top three are already so much better than the bottom three teams that it's already pretty much been decided whose going to advance to the Round of 32. Banija who are the team in 3rd are literally five games clear of the three way tie for fourth place. This is probably a good thing for us as it means pretty much automatic entry into the next round but at this point we have our eyes set on a bigger prize which is winning the Group.

P Group 8               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts  
1 South Newlandia        12   10   2    78   44  +34    10
2 Kohnhead               12    9   3    65   36  +29     9
3 Banija                 12    8   4    62   52  +10     8
4 Sicoutimont            12    3   9    39   64  −25     3
5 Pratapgadh             12    3   9    35   52  −17     3
6 St. Saratoga           12    3   9    45   76  −31     3

by **Hapilopper** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:26 pm

Capital Stadium, Hapilopper City
World Baseball Classic 51 Series 5: Hapilopper v. Silvedania
Eventually, Nolan Jefferson was released from a Surrey jail after posting bail, but his driver’s license had been suspended for a period of one year. A judge had ruled that Nolan had to be driven places and was required to check in through an ankle monitor. For the Hap Thrashers, that meant that Nolan would start in the second game of the Silvedania series, something that was very welcome news for the team and for its fans. But when Nolan arrived at Capital Stadium for the start of the series, he was greeted by jokes. Oh, everyone had jokes.

Hot Sauce Gibbs suggested the next thing Nolan would do was steal someone’s garden tractor and crash it into a nearby farmer’s market. Manager Dale Moss and pitching coach Curtis Skinner had the idea that if they ever had trouble convincing Nolan to get out of the game, all they’d need to do would be grab the team’s bullpen cart, set it on fire and drive it towards the mound. Robert Skippers, sideline reporter for Venerable’s soccer coverage, joked over twii.tur that they could rig his car with explosives every time Nolan did something stupid on the highway, to which Jerome Hayden replied that he didn’t think Nolan wanted to get blown up every single time he hit the road.

But all of that became background noise by the time 66,000 plus fans filled Capital Stadium to start the fifth series of the World Baseball Classic, the series against Silvedania. And it got off to a fantastic start in the bottom of the first with two outs, when Dayton Rowe fired a deep shot into right field. The ball was short of clearing the fence, but bounced towards the corner. As he was wont to do, Dayton ran like hell, his helmet – and ballcap – flying off as he rounded second and headed for third. Dayton looked back, never broke stride, and blew past Charlton Forest’s stop sign at third base.

“STOP, YOU IDIOT!” Charlton shouted at Dayton.

Dayton never heard him. Nobody heard him. The crowd at Capital Stadium was deafening as they willed Dayton home. Dayton threw himself forward, launched his arms out, and slammed his body against home plate. The throw arrived just seconds later. Safe. The first run of the series was an inside-the-park home run, an extreme rarity in Hapiloppian baseball. Dayton got up and started gesturing to the fans excitedly, who were roaring their approval back. He looked over and saw Anthony Pirkle, an ex-outfielder who played in West Hampton, trotting over to pick up his batting helmet and ballcap. Dayton smiled. This was going to be a fun series.

But it set the tone. Melvin Pemberton launched a two-run blast bringing him and Leroy Hunnisett home and launching a minor controversy as he carried the bat with him around the bases. He didn’t take a peek at the home run, nor did he outwardly act like an asshole as he trotted around the bases. He just carried the bat with him and held it tightly, almost embracing it like a small child as he did his trot. It had to have annoyed some of Silvedania’s players, but Mel didn’t care. When he stopped at home plate, he kissed the bat and ran back to the dugout.

In game two, the story wasn’t hair-raising baserunning or strange home run trots. It was a power pitcher doing power pitcher things. Nolan Jefferson, the starting pitcher for the Hap Thrashers, came out and spotted a fan-made sign in the second deck of center field that resembled a parking ticket. The ticket read “SPEEDING – 100+ MPH – UNHITTABLE.”

Nolan smiled and shook his head. The one thing he wanted to do was put on a performance that would make people shut the hell up about his bad driving. And that’s exactly what he did. It was one of the finest performances by a pitcher in a World Baseball Classic. One hit allowed. No walks. A complete game. Twenty strikeouts, including the first seven Silvedania batters. A complete game shutout in 107 pitches. It was, by any definition, a gem if there ever was one, and any talk about Nolan Jefferson was less about “running like a dipshit from a flaming gas station” and “sending an old lady into a reservoir because he was impatient,” but more “holy shit, this guy’s dealing!”

The next night, Lucky Spalding took the hill and had a great game, even if his uniform was stained with some of his chili dog lunch he had just before the game. One run on six hits and two walks and ten strikeouts in eight innings of work for Lucky, and by the time Dwayne Pocock came in to wrap things up for the Hap Thrashers, Lucky had more than kept the team from Silvedania away from scoring, with the exception of that one time in the fourth inning when he misplaced a curveball right where a Silvedanian hitter wanted it for a home run.

The three-game sweep – Hapilopper’s fourth sweep – was a sign that the Hap Thrashers were all on the same page. They were operating as the most cohesive unit they had ever operated on. If they kept this sort of play up, victory in the group seemed certain, and they seemed poised to go on a deep run in the WBC Playoffs. And all of Hapilopper would be watching their every move with interest.

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:36 pm

1. 10->52. 18->9->10. 25.....7->5->7.

2. Entering the Scene

Diane Salah Bergeron: I remember that feeling the night before, after pulling off a couple of big upsets from Westlake, Western Quebec and I think it was Gyeongnam Collegiate on semifinals. The next thing, you knew you were going to play Erskine for what's going to be do-or-die...that's when the nerves hit. I remember the coaches, on our bus back to the hotel, telling us not to think too much and go to bed once we were back there. Obviously, that was because a lot of us were feeling that nervous- though I'm sure enough of our guys wanted to kick their asses and keep the pursuit for trio going.

Samuel Carlini-Mwambutsya: To make it worse, it was a seven-p.m. start, and the Bears and Wyverns both had away series, so everybody in Quebec City was watching it happen. So the heat continued well into both our hotels, so nobody could really sleep the night before.

Asher Lundrigan: I agree with you there. It was probably the most nervous twenty-four hours I've ever had in what ended up being a very short career for me. (*chuckles*) It was the matchup everybody wanted- Erskine versus Sangwon, Pinson versus Heo, Northeast versus Southwest- the storyline was written the night they beat us right off the bat. Funnily enough, my family's actually from the Northeast, though Anticosti is mostly Welsh-speaking and baseball wasn't so much a thing there, and most of my family members came to watch us with that in mind.

Theo-Alexandre Pinson: I remember Myeong-Shin and I couldn't really sleep the night before. Our mothers were close college friends, all the way back to their freshmen year at Queen's College, and we all thought both of us would play together. Of course, that's not how it worked out and now we were bound to face each other at the last high school game of our careers- like bloody hell. After Myeong-Shin losing his mother and us really going to rival schools...man, it was a tough year because of conflicting emotions and all that. Being eighteen, it was a lot to handle.

Heo Myeong-Shin: Yeah, the cottage crew really had a tough time because you know my mum. My mum, your mum, aunties Michelle, Mara and Alexanne. She would have really loved watching us face off in Quebec City of all places, and into the pros because we knew he's going to Lions and me Tigers.

Dianne Salah Bergeron: I think the toughest part about that evening match was how we had all day to wait. I don't know about Erskine, but we decided not to practice all day long either. We didn't want the pressure to get to us by being at the park earlier. Some of us napped, others started preparing for the final exams, etc. Not much else to do, because going to the city would have been a bad idea. Coach didn't let us right?

Theo-Alexandre Pinson: Not that I recall. I remember Kendrick Ayisi, Andrew Weintraub and Kelsey Kim going to the game lounge and playing some pool, and us going to the convenience store at the main floor. That was probably the best way for us to keep our minds off and destress.

Asher Lundrigan: And I don't disagree with you on that. With me, Eileen came over from Montreal and we were having lunch at the restaurant just next to the Hotel R. I think the name was 'Le Vaisseau d'Or' - that place was still around last time I was in the area. I remember her not telling me to worry so much about it, but to see it as a day in life. Oh, how naive we were of life in those days!

Heo Myeong-Shin: And now, you and her are future parents. Who would have thought? (A round of applause) Seriously though, the tension in the stadium...the way the cars honked and the fanfares ran all match was a surreal experience. You know, the kind you could only expect so much from college football- and even majority of college stadiums didn't have that much fanfare as the final match did that day. Just by looking at everybody's eyes, we were feeling something special. Something different for sure.

Diane Salah Bergeron: God, I remember warming up for an hour ahead of the game. All thirty of us were just thinking, being like 'alright, here we go, let's do this'...I think the good part about having a night game was that we could have gone back to hotel right after it ends if we lose, and if we win....I guess we would have partied all night. But the hours leading up to it, soaking up the vibes and whatnot...not fun.

Asher Lundrigan: I remember having a good feeling about the day, because Myeong-Shin's pitches were really on point. His sinkers and fourseam (fastball) all hitting 93, 95, 97 miles...and with good control and command on own too! It was of course weird for sure, but the summer heat certainly had us anticipate.

Theo-Alexandre Pinson: I think the buzz in the air was really palpable. Almost unbearable when we all entered into the middle of the turf, sang the national anthem, and went back into the dugout. Like...jesus fuck.

by **Newmanistan** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:44 pm

THE ROCKET REPORT

BROOMS OUT IN MAPLETISH

Game 13: Newmanistan 8, Mapletish 3
(In this game, manager Jessica Hedstrom game Nicole Larkin and Chelsea Harlow the day off. Hannah Mitchell was moved into the #5 slot. Amber Stephens would bat 6th, at 1B; and Stephanie Vickers would hit 7th, in RF. Shannon Jackson served as the DH, batting 9th).

Top 2nd- Lexi Burrows singled. Hannah Mitchell doubled, scoring Burrows. Amber Stephens singled, scoring Mitchell. Stephane Vickers lined out to third. Nicole Hoskins struck out. Shannon Jackson singled; Stephens to third. Brooke Sauter doubled, scoring Stephens and Jackson. Jenna Schuster singled, scoring Sauter. (NEW 5, MAP 0)

Top 3rd- Hannah Mitchell, RBI single, scoring Lexi Burrows who doubled. (NEW 6, MAP 0)

Bottom 3rd- Sheldon Palmer, RBI double, scoring Tim Burgess, who singled. (NEW 6, MAP 1)

Bottom 5th- Sheldon Palmer, RBI triple, scoring Daryl Bowen, who singled. (NEW 6, MAP 2)

Bottom 6th- Bradley Black, solo HOME RUN to center. (NEW 6, MAP 3)

Top 7th- Brooke Sauter singled, and stole second and third. Jenna Schuster singled, scoring Sauter. Schuster stole second and third. Sierra McKinley flew out to left, scoring Schuster. (NEW 8, MAP 3)

Pitching:
Megan Reardon (6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) (W, 3-0)
Paige Bell (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K)
Kristen Phillips (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K)

Game 14: Newmanistan 11, Mapletish 1
(In this game, Sierra McKinley and Nicole Hoskins would get the game off. Mitchell is moved up to 3rd. Brittany Lester plays 2B and bats 7th, and Samantha Murphy is behind the plate, batting 8th. Chelsea Corbin serves as the DH, batting 9th).

Top 2nd- Lexi Burrows flew out to left. Nicole Larkin, solo HOME RUN to left. Chelsea Harlow singled. Brittany Lester singled. Samantha Murphy reached on fielders choice, Lester out at second. Chelsea Corbin tripled to right, scoring Harlow and Murphy. Brooke Sauter singled, scoring Corbin, then stole second and third, and scored on Daryl Bowen’s throwing error. Jenna Schuster singled. Lexi Burrows doubled, scoring Schuster. (NEW 6, MAP 0)

Top 5th- Chelsea Corbin, RBI single, scoring Brittany Lester, who singled. (NEW 7, MAP 0)

Top 6th- Sierra McKinley singled. Lexi Burrows hit two run HOME RUN to left. Nicole Larkin struck out. Chelsea Harlow hit solo HOME RUN to center. (NEW 10, MAP 0)

Bottom 6th- Ronnie Weaver, RBI double, scoring Sheldon Palmer, who singled. (NEW 10, MAP 1)

Top 7th- Chelsea Corbin, RBI double, scoring Brittany Lester, who singled. (NEW 11, MAP 1)

Pitching:
Julia Donaldson (9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K) (W, 1-0)

Game 15- Newmanistan 5, Mapletish 4 (10 inn)
(In this game, Brooke Sauter, Jenna Schuster, and Lexi Burrows were given the game off. Chelsea Corbin would lead off, at CF; and Amy Coyle would hit second, in LF. Larkin, Harlow, and Mitchell all moved up a spot in batting order. Jessica McEwing would bat 7th, at 3B. Kelsie Soto serves as the DH)

Bottom 2nd- Abel Waters, solo HOME RUN to left. (MAP 1, NEW 0)

Top 4th- Sierra McKinley, RBI single, scoring Chelsea Corbin who singled and advanced on sacrifice fly. (MAP 1, NEW 1)

Bottom 5th- Alfonso Nash, RBI double, scoring Erick Blake, who singled. Tim Burgess, RBI single, scoring Nash. Daryl Bowen RBI double, scoring Burgess (MAP 4, NEW 1)

Top 6th- Chelsea Harlow, RBI single, scoring Sierra McKinley, who doubled. (MAP 4, NEW 2)

Top 8th- Amy Coyle, RBI double, scoring Kelsie Soto, who singled. (MAP 4, NEW 3)

Top 9th- Nicole Larkin struck out. Chelsea Harlow popped out. Hannah Mitchell singled up the middle. Nicole Hoskins, RBI double, scoring Mitchell. (MAP 4, NEW 4)

Top 10th- Kelsie Soto struck out. Chelsea Corbin singled, and stole second and third. Amy Coyle flew out to left, scoring Corbin. (NEW 5, MAP 4)

Pitching:
Allie Macek (5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
Lauren Allen (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
Crystal Madden (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K)
Tori Fuller (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) (W, 1-0)

by **Tikariot** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:59 pm

Tikariot is cutting off and what are looking for? Exactly, a "Hero of Ages!"

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 51

GROUP STAGE - SERIES 5 – GROUPS 6-10

Group 6

Game 1
Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 1  7
Sannyamathland             0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3  5

The Fortem                 0 2 1 1 0 3 1 0 1  9
Srednjaci                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2

Nova Anglicana             2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3  6
Marigred                   0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 2  8

Game 2 
Quebec and Shingoryeo      1 5 1 0 2 5 0 0 0 14
Sannyamathland             0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

The Fortem                 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1  4
Srednjaci                  0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0  3

Nova Anglicana             0 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0  6
Marigred                   0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Game 3 
Quebec and Shingoryeo      5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2  8
Sannyamathland             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

The Fortem                 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0  7
Srednjaci                  3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  4

Nova Anglicana             0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1  3
Marigred                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

P Group 6                Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana          15   13   2    86   63  +23    13
2 The Fortem              15   11   4    92   63  +29    11
3 Quebec and Shingoryeo   15    8   7    83   57  +26     8
4 Marigred                15    5  10    60   72  −12     5
5 Sannyamathland          15    4  11    65   94  −29     4
6 Srednjaci               15    4  11    64  101  −37     4

Group 7

Game 1 
HUElavia                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Karditan                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2

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

Tierra de Castro           0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1  3
BohemiaIV                  0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2  4

Game 2
HUElavia                   0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 3  8
Karditan                   0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  3

TJUN-ia                    0 0 1 0 4 3 1 0 1 10
Zwangzug                   0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0  5

Tierra de Castro           0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
BohemiaIV                  0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 X  4

Game 3
HUElavia                   0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Karditan                   0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  4

TJUN-ia                    2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  4
Zwangzug                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Tierra de Castro           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
BohemiaIV                  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  2

P Group 7               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts  
1 TJUN-ia                15   12   3    94   52  +42    12
2 HUElavia               15    8   7    58   51   +7     8
3 BohemiaIV              15    8   7    47   60  −13     8
4 Zwangzug               15    7   8    70   70    0     7
5 Karditan               15    7   8    57   60   −3     7
6 Tierra de Castro       15    3  12    45   78  −33     3

Group 8

Game 1
Kohnhead                   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4  6
Sicoutimont                4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  7

Pratapgadh                 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  4
St. Saratoga               0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0  3

Banija                     1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4  7
South Newlandia            0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  4

Game 2
Kohnhead                   0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Sicoutimont                0 3 0 1 2 0 1 0 X  7

Pratapgadh                 0 2 0 1 1 3 0 0 0  7
St. Saratoga               0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Banija                     0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0  4
South Newlandia            0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3

Game 3
Kohnhead                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2
Sicoutimont                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Pratapgadh                 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1  4
St. Saratoga               0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0  3

Banija                     2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
South Newlandia            3 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 X  8

P Group 8               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts  
1 South Newlandia        15   11   4    93   59  +34    11
2 Kohnhead               15   10   5    75   50  +25    10
3 Banija                 15   10   5    77   67  +10    10
4 Pratapgadh             15    6   9    50   60  −10     6
5 Sicoutimont            15    5  10    53   74  −21     5
6 St. Saratoga           15    3  12    53   91  −38     3

Group 9

Game 1
Chromatika                 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 1  6
Hicaña                     0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Bardney                    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Quintessence of Dust       9 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X 11

Qzvarkian Qaz              0 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
The Sherpa Empire          1 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 X  6

Game 2
Chromatika                 0 1 1 0 1 4 2 0 0  9
Hicaña                     0 0 3 0 0 3 2 0 0  8

Bardney                    1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1  7
Quintessence of Dust       2 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0  6

Qzvarkian Qaz              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
The Sherpa Empire          0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 X  2

Game 3
Chromatika                 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  4
Hicaña                     0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3

Bardney                    4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  5
Quintessence of Dust       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Qzvarkian Qaz              0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0  4
The Sherpa Empire          0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2

P Group 9               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Bardney                15   11   4    80   63  +17    11
2 Chromatika             15   10   5    77   70   +7    10
3 The Sherpa Empire      15    9   6    75   66   +9     9
4 Quintessence of Dust   15    7   8    78   73   +5     7
5 Hicaña                 15    5  10    54   67  −13     5
6 Qzvarkian Qaz          15    3  12    61   86  −25     3

Group 10

Game 1
Aji No Moto                0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Liventia                   0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5  7

Equestrian States          0 1 2 0 0 2 1 1 0  7
Crilland                   0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1  3

Anthor                     0 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 1  6
Hampton Island             1 0 0 1 4 2 0 4 X 12

Game 2
Aji No Moto                1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 5  9
Liventia                   1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Equestrian States          0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0  7
Crilland                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2

Anthor                     1 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0  7
Hampton Island             0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0  4

Game 3
Aji No Moto                0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Liventia                   1 0 0 5 1 0 0 1 X  8

Equestrian States          1 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0  5
Crilland                   3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Anthor                     2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Hampton Island             0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2

P Group 10		Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island         15   11   4    88   49  +39    11
2 Liventia               15   11   4    77   52  +25    11
3 Equestrian States      15    9   6    65   68   −3     9
4 Anthor                 15    5  10    63   76  −13     5
5 Aji No Moto            15    5  10    71   99  −28     5
6 Crilland               15    4  11    56   76  −20     4

by **Le Choix** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:48 pm

Le Choix vs. Delaclava

Game 1: The Chosen bats greatly came alive, Valentine Raynaud batting in six of the twelve runs. Lahaye did just enough to keep Delaclava at bay.

Game 2: A pitcher's duel with Boutrox coming on top, Tom Pinto drove in two of the runs.

Game 3: The first sweep for The Chosen came after twelve innings, with Oscar Guillon driving in the winning run.

Pitchers @ The Hannasean Federation: RHP Timothé Saint-Yves, LHP Roseline Gide, RHP William Arceneaux

Partie 1
Partie 2
Prologue 1
Synopsis 1
Synopsis 2
Synopsis 3

True (Blue) Version

As they plodded along, the being in the tactical suit kept a sharp eye, eliminating any and all dangers that came their way - twelve more grunts and a much larger creature the size of a winter wolf that the soldier (for lack of better terms) called a "warrior dog". Dannielle Thoreau couldn't help but realize just how easily the soldier put away these enemies, culling them as easily as if he was using a scythe. Was this because of the qualify of weaponry? Did the being possess weaponry that was designed for such? Or were they supposed to be destroyed?

Dannielle could tell that this experience was making her far more paranoid than she was before. She couldn't trust her senses - not her eyes, not her ears, not even her own memory. What was real? How could she know it was real when everything else also demanded to be known that it was real?

She had so many questions for the solider when they got to their destination. Which brought up the next question - where were they going, actually?

Every time that she tried to ask about what they were doing, the being shushed her. Apparently, there were demons that really preyed on sound?

They walked on for four hours until she felt her feet go numb. She raised a hand up to the soldier.

"I need to rest," she said, "This place is unforgiving."

The soldier turned and nodded, pointing up a nearby hill.

"We can find refuge there, and maybe I can explain a few things while you rest," the soldier replied.

So, she willed her tired feet to trudge up the hill, where there was an alcove to rest.

As she sat down, the being removed their helmet, revealing a tan-skinned man with white hair flowing to his shoulders. He looked to be about forty or so and was fair in countenance; if it wasn't for the look of worry on his face, he'd be considered handsome.

"Hello," he said, reaching out his hand, his deep voice resonating, "My name is Evan Valers. Welcome to Hell."

Chosen (Black) Version

As they walked along, the being in light cast aside any that tried to harm Dannielle Thoreau. A dozen grunts and a warrior dog demon was cast aside by her companion as her faith granted the being existence to come and protect her from all these dangers. She was mystified and comforted by the presence, for how could she even accept such a gift? Apparently, though, it was her destiny to accept, and to follow, and now, given another chance, she fully intended to.

What was real now as absolutely different than what had been real previously, but she now had irreversible proof that the way of thought she had had previously was wrong. That made her feel safe.

Where were they going, exactly, though?

Every time that she tried to ask about what they were doing, the being of light stopped her, saying that that would attract even more attention.

They walked on for four hours until she felt her feet go numb. She raised a hand up to the being of light.

"I need to rest," she said, "I'm exhausting."

The being of light turned and nodded, pointing up a nearby hill.

"We will find refuge there, and I will explain a few things while you rest," the being of light stated.

So, she willed her tired feet to trudge up the hill, where there was an alcove to rest.

As she sat down, the being's radiance subsided, revealing a tan-skinned man with white hair flowing to his shoulders. He looked to be about forty or so and was fair in countenance; if it wasn't for the look of worry on his face, he'd be considered handsome.

"Hello," he said, reaching out his hand, his deep voice resonating, "My name is Evan Valers, and I've been sent to protect you. Welcome to Hell."

by **The 189** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 2:15 am

The 189 didn't know anything about Pluvie except the location of the ballpark where they would be playing their series against the Pluvian national baseball team. They had never seen a Pluvian book, newspaper, website, or TV broadcast. As far as they knew, none of the trash the 189 had studied when they first arrived on Earth, before making contact with humans, had come from Pluvie. They weren't even 100% sure if the Pluvians were humans or some other race such as ponies, cocoabos, or machines. The lack of information made the 189 a little uneasy, so some who had made the trip to Ranoria decided to stay home on their familiar ground around Reclamation Stadium. Only --------, the players and manager of the -------- baseball team, and an industrial sewing machine who was fitting them with pads took the trip to Pluvie.

They needn't have worried, though. The trip went smoothly and they won two out of three games. In the first game, the Pluvian starting pitcher had a no hitter going through seven innings, but then blew it spectacularly in the 8th and stubbornly tried to finish the game anyway. The 189 batted around and drove in 8 runs before the Pluvians accepted reality and went to the bullpen. The second game the 189 were shut out in a tight 1-0 loss. And the last game of the series saw Pluvie take a 5-0 lead, only to have another spectacular pitching meltdown in the later innings. The 189 had come back to make it 5-4 going into the 9th inning, and a towering 2-run homer from ------- put them ahead.

Since there was nothing they wanted to see or do in Pluvie apart from the games, they had plenty of time to design and sew pads for the machines whose hard metal and plastic bodies posed a danger to opposing players. --------, ----------, and ---------- were all fitted out with sleek brightly-colored pads by the time they departed for Newmanistian. The sewing machine was quite proud of its handiwork, and rightfully so.

by **Ethane** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:51 am

"We've lost ourselves"

Ethane find themselves bottom of the group after 15 matches, marking what has been one of the Red Kite's most disappointing World Baseball Classic group stage campaigns in a long time. With only 5 wins to their name, the team have really struggled to find any momentum in this edition's group stage campaign, which is set to see them go out at an earlier point than they really have at any point in their World Baseball Classic history.

This marks a disappointing run of World Baseball Classics for the men in red, who are yet to make a dent in the playoffs really since the few cycles around their victory. But the glory days are over, and Ethane are struggling at the bottom of the pack. Teams have scored 81 runs against this team - which is one of the worst in the tournament, while only scoring 55 runs.

As the captain of the Ethanian baseball team says, "we've lost ourselves." This team has not been up to the standard we expect of them for a rather long time now, and to fix it requires a complete systemic overhaul, not just in the international team but also at the domestic level, in the way we organise and run domestic baseball. Without these changes, we won't be competitive ever again in the World Baseball Classic. It's time for action.

by **Quintessence of Dust** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:45 am

(Provisional) box scores as posted on the TalkBaseball.qd website.

                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       5   1   1   1   0   1   0  .220   2   8
B. Wilson RF           5   1   2   3   0   2   0  .306   3   9
S. Borgþórsson 1B      3   1   2   2   0   0   0  .270   2   9
  a–T. Kaufer PH, 1B   2   1   1   0   0   1   0  .130   0   0
J. Stensrud C          3   1   0   0   1   1   2  .167   0   0
S. Akerström 3B        2   1   1   0   1   0   0  .412   4  10
  b–K. Lin PH, 3B      1   1   1   2   0   0   0  .500   2   9
R. Harris LF           4   1   2   1   0   0   0  .231   0   3
  J-N. Boudreaux P     0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  C. Mao P             0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
Y. Hanazawa 2B         4   1   1   2   0   1   2  .220   1   6
H. Fujimori P          2   0   1   0   0   0   1  .250   0   0
  J. Isaacson P        0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  M. Ryan P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  c–T. Brøndum PH, LF  0   0   0   0   1   0   0  .235   1   3
A. Lacroix SS          3   1   0   0   1   1   0  .286   0   1

a–T. Kaufer pinch-hit for S. Borgþórsson in the 6th
b–K. Lin pinch-hit for S. Akerström in the 6th
c–T. Brøndum pinch-hit for M. Ryan in the 7th

Doubles: Y. Hanazawa (1, 1st inning, 2 on, 1 out)
Home runs: S. Borgþórsson (2, 1st inning, 1 on, 1 out), B. Wilson (3, 1st inning, 2 on, 2 outs), K. Lin (2, 6th inning, 1 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: B. Wilson 5, S. Borgþórsson 5, K. Lin 4, Y. Hanazawa 2, R. Harris 2, S. Akerström, I. Gennarelli, H. Fujimori, T. Kaufer
2-out RBI: B. Wilson 3, K. Lin 2, I. Gennarelli
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: Y. Hanazawa
GIDP: A. Lacroix 2
Team LOB: 3

FIELDING
Double plays: 4 (Lacroix – Hanazawa – Borgþórsson, Akerström – Hanazawa – Borgþórsson, Akerström – Hanazawa – Kaufer, Ryan – Lacroix – Kaufer)

                           IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
H. Fujimori W (1 – 1)     5.0  5   1   1   2   4   0  72  43 1.80
J. Isaacson H (1)         1.0  1   0   0   1   2   0  21  13 0.00
M. Ryan H (2)             1.0  1   0   0   0   1   0   8   5 0.00
J-N. Boudreaux H (2)      1.0  2   1   1   1   1   0  20  12 9.00
C. Mao SV (3)             1.0  0   0   0   0   3   0  15   9 0.00

Game score: H. Fujimori 55
Batters faced: H. Fujimori 20, J. Isaacson 5, M. Ryan 3, J-N. Boudreaux 6, C. Mao 3
Ground outs – fly outs: H. Fujimori 6 – 3, J. Isaacson 1 – 0, M. Ryan 1 – 0, J-N. Boudreaux 2 – 0, C. Mao 0 – 0
Inherited runners – scored: J. Isaacson 2 – 0, M. Ryan 1 – 0
WP: H. Fujimori


                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       4   1   1   0   2   0   2  .222   2   8
N. Hisakawa SS         4   0   0   0   0   3   3  .211   2   6
  M. Ryan P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  c–T. Kaufer PH       1   1   1   1   0   0   0  .167   1   1
  C. Mao P             0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  A. Lacroix P         0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  d–N. Kivimäki PH     1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .250   0   1
R. Harris LF           4   2   2   1   2   0   0  .256   1   4
S. Akerström 3B        4   2   2   2   1   1   3  .421   5  12
B. Wilson RF           4   0   2   1   0   1   1  .321   3  10
S. Borgþórsson 1B      4   0   1   1   0   1   2  .268   2  10
L. Phelps C            5   0   0   0   0   1   3  .400   3   6
W. Lei P               2   0   1   0   0   0   0  .333   0   0
  C. Young P           0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  M. Murphy P          0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–T. Brøndum PH      1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .278   1   3
  J. Béranger P        0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–A. Lacroix PH, SS  1   0   0   0   1   0   0  .250   0   1
Y. Hanazawa 2B         4   0   0   0   0   2   2  .204   1   6

a–T. Brøndum pinch-hit for M. Murphy in the 6th
b–A. Lacroix pinch-hit for J. Béranger in the 7th
c–T. Kaufer pinch-hit for M. Murphy in the 8th
d–N. Kivimäki pinch-hit for A. Lacroix in the 10th

Home runs: R. Harris (1, 3rd inning, 0 on, 0 outs), S. Akerström (5, 5th inning, 1 on, 1 out), T. Kaufer (1, 8th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: R. Harris 5, S. Akerström 5, T. Kaufer 4, B. Wilson 2, I. Gennarelli, S. Borgþórsson, W. Lei, T. Brøndum
2-out RBI: S. Borgþórsson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: L. Phelps 2, S. Akerström 2, N. Hisakawa, I. Gennarelli
Sac Fly: B. Wilson
Hit by Pitch: Y. Hanazawa, S. Borgþórsson
Team LOB: 10
GIDP: N. Hisakawa, L. Phelps

FIELDING
Errors: Y. Hanazawa (4), S. Akerström (2)
Double plays: 1 (Lei – Hisakawa – Borgþórsson)

                        IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
W. Lei                 5.1  6   3   3   2   5   0  83  48  5.06
C. Young               0.1  3   3   3   0   0   0  21  13 27.00
M. Murphy              0.1  0   0   0   0   1   0   4   3  0.00
J. Béranger            1.0  0   0   0   1   0   0  19  13  0.00
M. Ryan                1.0  2   0   0   0   0   0  19  13  0.00
C. Mao L (0 – 1)       1.2  2   1   0   1   1   0  32  21  0.00
A. Lacroix             0.1  0   0   0   0   0   0   2   1  0.00

Game score: W. Lei 45
Batters faced: W. Lei 23, C. Young 5, M. Murphy 1, J. Béranger 5, M. Ryan 5, C. Mao 9, A. Lacroix 1
Ground outs – fly outs: W. Lei 6 – 3, C. Young 0 – 1, M. Murphy 0 – 0, J. Béranger 1 – 2, M. Ryan 1 – 2, C. Mao 1 – 3, A. Lacroix 1 – 0
Inherited runners – scored: M. Murphy 2 – 0, A. Lacroix 2 – 0
WP: C. Mao
Hit batspersons: W. Lei, J. Fujioka


                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       5   0   3   0   0   0   1  .250   2   8
B. Wilson LF           5   0   1   0   0   1   3  .310   3  10
K. Lin 3B              3   0   0   0   1   0   1  .429   2   9
T. Kaufer 1B           4   0   0   0   0   1   3  .143   1   1
L. Phelps C            3   0   1   0   1   0   2  .396   3   6
T. Brøndum RF          3   0   0   0   0   0   2  .238   1   3
  c–N. Kivimäki RF     1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .333   0   1
N. Hisakawa SS         4   0   2   0   0   0   1  .230   2   6
J. Fujioka P           1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  A. Lacroix P         0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  A. Lacroix PH        1   0   0   0   0   0   1  .222   0   1
  C. Young P           0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  M. Ryan P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–J. Stensrud PH     1   0   0   0   0   1   0  .143   0   0
  J. Isaacson P        0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  C. Mao P             0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  d–S. Borgþórsson PH  1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .262   2  10
Y. Hanazawa 2B         3   0   2   0   0   1   0  .228   1   6

a–A. Lacroix pinch-hit for A. Lacroix in the 5th [sic]
b–J. Stensrud pinch-hit for M. Ryan in the 7th
c–N. Kivimäki substituted for T. Brøndum in the 8th
d–S. Borgþórsson pinch-hit for C. Mao in the 9th

Doubles: L. Phelps (5, 4th inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: I. Gennarelli 3, N. Hisakawa 2, L. Phelps 2, Y. Hanazawa 2, B. Wilson, N. Kivimäki
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: T. Brøndum 2, T. Kaufer, B. Wilson, N. Hisakawa
Team LOB: 7
Hit by Pitch: Y. Hanazawa

BASERUNNING
SB: I. Gennarelli 2 (5)
CS: N. Hisakawa 2 (3)

FIELDING
Errors: T. Kaufer (1)

                        IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Fujioka L (0 – 1)   3.0  5   4   4   4   4   0  78  44 12.00
A. Lacroix             2.0  0   0   0   0   3   0  31  20  0.00
C. Young               1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0   6   5  0.00
M. Ryan                1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0   7   5  0.00
J. Isaacson            0.2  2   1   1   1   0   0  24  14 13.50
C. Mao                 1.1  0   0   0   0   0   0  29  13  0.00

Game score: J. Fujioka 33
Batters faced: J. Fujioka 17, A. Lacroix 6, C. Young 3, M. Ryan 3, J. Isaacson 5, C. Mao 7
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Fujioka 3 – 1, A. Lacroix 3 – 0, C. Young 1 – 1, M. Ryan 2 – 0, J. Isaacson 2 – 0, C. Mao 2 – 2
Inherited runners – scored: C. Mao 1 – 0
Hit batspersons: C. Mao
Balk: J. Fujioka 2

by **TJUN-ia** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:28 am

Game 1: TJUN-ia (9) 5-4 Zwangzug (12) (TJU lead series 1-0)
The Battin' Jags of TJUN-ia began a triple-header of road series tonight with a series many have been waiting for since the groups were announced. The Worm Hole in Spenson would be electric tonight as the Jags arrived to play the Zebras of Zwangzug, the first meeting between the two sides since that Quarterfinal series 2 years ago, and you better believe that the pressure was certainly on both Gene Almac and Carol Snedar-Berg to start this grudge series just right. Wenjie Liu's Zebras were certainly looking for revenge for missed opportunities and they certainly started the better team here, taking 3 runs in the first 5 innings compared to TJUN-ia's 1. TJUN-ia's single run was scored via a solo bomb from Pedro Moires while a solo bomb by Maia Solloway would see the end of Almac in this game, F. G. Greenwood taking his place on the mound for the rest of the game. Greenwood would do an excellent job in that position, letting only 1 run pass him by in the 9th, while the batting got on to what it does best: changing games in record time. What brought this game home for TJUN-ia was 2-run homers in back-to-back innings, Rafael Llorente in the 8th and Ki Yung-son in the 9th, and with Greenwood keeping his cool in a tight situation, Game 1 was TJUN-ia's 5-4.

Game 2: TJUN-ia (9) 10-5 Zwangzug (12) (TJU wins series 2-0)
If Game 1 was the expected Icebreaker, then Game 2 would see Jose Almas and Kirby Montrose take part in a game that would turn in a set direction in the space of 2 innings. Once again, the Zebras started off as the better side and a 2-run bomb by Veronica Adler in the 2nd would give the hosts the 2-0 lead - but once that inning ended, things would turn around pretty fucking quickly. It began in the 3rd with a solo-bomb by Matoko Kagawa and after a break in the 4th, TJUN-ia would take the contest head on with 7 runs in 2 innings (via a Joe Gregory Grand Slam and a 3-run bomb by Angel Enrique). That would spell an effective end to this one and it was just coasting to another series win (and a big one at that).

Game 3: TJUN-ia (9) 4-0 Zwangzug (12) (TJU won series 3-0)
Another series is in the bag but to end the first half of this long road, Kyle McNash would produce a great performance and an item unexpended in this series: a shutout of the Zebras on the road. Brianna Nguyen was also consistent on the other side of the inning, but TJUN-ia only needed tow opportunities to strike and kill off this one: a 2-run Ki Yung-son bomb in the 1st and a 2-run bomb by Bryce Calhoun in the 7th. Shutting out a great team like the Zebras only boosts the confidence this team already has in its ability (but not to asshole levels, as TJUN-ia isn't Hapilopper) and with the team leading the group by 4 games after halfway, things are certainly looking good so far. We begin the 2nd half in HUElavia, looking to book a spot in the playoffs as quickly as possible. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group 7)
S1: vs HUElavia (29) - Rounders Field, Portside W 2-1 (2nd)
S2: vs Karditan (46) - Rounders Field, Portside W 2-1 (3rd)
S3: @Tierra de Castro (UR) - Centro Nacional de Béisbol, Tierra de Castro W 2-1 (2nd)
S4: vs BohemiaIV (UR) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington W 3-0 (1st)
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S5: @Zwangzug (12) - Worm Hole, Spenson W 3-0 (1st)
S6: @HUElavia (29)
S7: @Karditan (46) - Big Island Field, Ponyburgh
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S8: vs Tierra de Castro (UR) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S9: @BohemiaIV (UR)
S10: vs Zwangzug (12) - Rounders Field, Portside

by **Hannasea** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 10:49 am

(Provisional) game logs as posted on the website literallythemostboringwebsiteintheworld.han.

by **South Newlandia** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 10:50 am

Cutoff for Groups 1-5, Series 6! Who will be the king of shadows today?

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 51

GROUP STAGE - SERIES 6 – GROUPS 1-5

Group 1

Game 1
Hapilopper                 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3
The Luck of Jirachi        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Daskel                     2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
Grey County                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  3

Super-Llamaland            0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
Silvedania                 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 2 X  7

Game 2 
Hapilopper                 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1  5
The Luck of Jirachi        0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0  4

Daskel                     2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1  5
Grey County                0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0  4

Super-Llamaland            1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1  5
Silvedania                 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0  4

Game 3 
Hapilopper                 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  4
The Luck of Jirachi        0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Daskel                     0 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 0  6
Grey County                0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0  4

Super-Llamaland            0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  4
Silvedania                 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2

P Group 1               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Hapilopper             18   17   1    84   50  +34
2 Daskel                 18   13   5    97   59  +38
3 Super-Llamaland        18    9   9    87   83   +4
4 Silvedania             18    8  10    74   72   +2
5 The Luck of Jirachi    18    6  12    60   91  −31
6 Grey County            18    1  17    49   96  −47

Group 2

Game 1 
Sarzonia                   0 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  6
Barnettsville              0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0  4

Devonta                    2 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  7
Norrhem                    0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0  4

Tikariot                   3 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 0  9
Britland Isles             0 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 0  6

Game 2
Sarzonia                   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2  4
Barnettsville              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Devonta                    0 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 0  7
Norrhem                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Tikariot                   0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  5
Britland Isles             0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 X  6

Game 3
Sarzonia                   0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1  4
Barnettsville              0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Devonta                    0 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 1  6
Norrhem                    0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 0  5

Tikariot                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Britland Isles             0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  2

P Group 2               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Sarzonia               18   14   4    84   50  +34
2 Tikariot               18   13   5    94   64  +30
3 Devonta                18   11   7    79   72   +7
4 Britland Isles         18    7  11    60   78  −18
5 Norrhem                18    5  13    57   80  −23
6 Barnettsville          18    4  14    50   80  −30

Group 3

Game 1
Drawkland                  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Delaclava                  0 3 4 0 0 0 0 1 X  8

Le Choix                   0 0 1 0 0 3 1 2 0  7
The Hannasean Federation   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2

Cassadaigua                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Ethane                     0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 X  3

Game 2
Drawkland                  0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3
Delaclava                  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2

Le Choix                   0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0  3
The Hannasean Federation   0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 X  5

Cassadaigua                0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Ethane                     0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Game 3
Drawkland                  0 0 1 0 1 2 2 0 0  6
Delaclava                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  3

Le Choix                   0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1  4
The Hannasean Federation   1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  3

Cassadaigua                1 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0  5
Ethane                     0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1  6

P Group 3                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Cassadaigua                18   15   3   103   39  +64
2 Le Choix                   18   11   7    85   66  +19
3 Drawkland                  18    8  10    65   82  −17
4 Ethane                     18    7  11    65   89  −24
5 The Hannasean Federation   18    7  11    68   97  −29
6 Delaclava                  18    6  12    74   87  −13

Group 4

Game 1
Mapletish                  1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Abanhfleft                 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 X  5

Ranoria                    0 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0  5
Pluvie                     2 2 1 0 3 0 0 1 X  9

The 189                    0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
Newmanistan                3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 X  6

Game 2
Mapletish                  0 0 0 3 0 2 1 0 0  6
Abanhfleft                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Ranoria                    0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1  4
Pluvie                     0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  3

The 189                    0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0  4
Newmanistan                0 0 0 2 3 0 0 1 X  6

Game 3
Mapletish                  0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Abanhfleft                 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3  5

Ranoria                    0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 2  7
Pluvie                     0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3  6

The 189                    0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  4
Newmanistan                0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2

P Group 4               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Newmanistan            18   15   3   115   66  +49
2 The 189                18    9   9    64   63   +1
3 Pluvie                 18    9   9    78   77   +1
4 Abanhfleft             18    7  11    76   87  −11
5 Mapletish              18    7  11    75  106  −31
6 Ranoria                18    7  11    84   93   −9

Group 5

Game 1
Kriegiersien               0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0  6
Xanneria                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

Ko-oren                    0 1 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 0  8
South Americanastan        2 0 1 0 1 0 1 2 1 0 4 12

Squidroidia                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
The Greater Nordics        0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 X  4

Game 2
Kriegiersien               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Xanneria                   1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 X  3

Ko-oren                    0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1  5
South Americanastan        0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0  4

Squidroidia                0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0  5
The Greater Nordics        0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 1  6

Game 3
Kriegiersien               1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Xanneria                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Ko-oren                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
South Americanastan        0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  3

Squidroidia                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2  4
The Greater Nordics        0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

P Group 5               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Ko-oren                18   12   6    96   69  +27
2 South Americanastan    18   11   7    88   78  +10
3 The Greater Nordics    18   11   7    83   65  +18
4 Kriegiersien           18    8  10    67   74   −7
5 Xanneria               18    7  11    63   78  −15
6 Squidroidia            18    5  13    62   95  −33

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 1:01 pm

Wangdi Ai submitted an affidavit to SIBA swearing that he didn't know Shen Nong's Miracle Powder contained banned substances because the product was not properly labeled. But Ai didn't know when to stop writing. His affidavit included an explanation of how Xiao Wen had introduced him to the product -- and now SIBA needed to investigate Xiao Wen.

The news broke at a very inconvenient time, right when the Sherpa national baseball team were having a 9 game homestand in Syangboche, in easy reach of SIBA and the media. The national team had already played and won their first game against Qzvarkian Qaz. Zhuang had a bit of a rough start, leaving the game tied 5-5 when it went to the bullpen, but thankfully Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa knocked one out of the park in the bottom of the 8th and the Sherpas won it 5-6.

The morning before game 2, the team found a pair of SIBA officials and a disturbing number of reporters and cameras waiting for them at the stadium. They mostly wanted to talk to Chongba Lee and Xiao Wen, asking what they had to say about Ai's accusations.

Lee said he hadn't known what was in "Shen Nong's Miracle Powder," but now that the news was out, he would not be using Xiao Wen until the matter was resolved.

Wen tried to deny that he was still using the Miracle Powder, but several other players called bullshit. Tandi Ojha pulled the cannister out of Wen's bag and showed it to the cameras with a sarcastic eyeroll. "He takes this shit everywhere he goes!"

Wen then changed his story and said he didn't know what was in it, but other players called bullshit on this too.

"If he didn't know what was in it, then how come he never got caught?" Kami Akunjee asked, in a rare moment of actually thinking straight. "If he didn't think he was doing anything wrong, then why would he hide it?"

Lee saw that there was a media shitstorm brewing, and he wanted to get it out of his clubhouse so the team could prepare for their game. He told the camera crews they needed to leave and then added, "Wen, you too. You're not playing today."

Wen started to protest, "But..."

"No buts," said Lee. He pointed to the door. "We've got other bats on the bench, and I need this shitshow out of my clubhouse."

by **South Americanastan** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 2:10 pm

SABaseball: The third stage of grief

The Hotshots had upset Ko-Oren, but the series had been brutal due to the budget cuts. The players had to pack themselves into the economy class of a Delta Airlines flight, and they had to stay at a 2-star motel. To make things worse, the team did not have enough replacement bats, leading to the team only having 3 wooden bats left by the end of the series. It was becoming apparent by the end of the series that something had to change, and it had to change fast. The manager of the team, Micheal Kelly, sat down with his coaches to figure out what to do.

"Well, we could just weather the storm for the rest of the tournament, and hope we get our funding back next year." Marvin Hartmann suggested "When I played we were in conditions like this all the time. I don't see why we couldn't weather it out?"

"Well, no offense Marv, but you played in a bush league 30 years ago, times have changed, I say we find a way to expose Tony for the bastard that he is and get our funding back." Nick Morrison replied.

"Nick, I'm all for showing the committee how much of a bastard Harris is, but I don't think it will happen quick enough to get our funding back. Plus, the fucker's got friends in high places. Hey, Harry, you're the most innovative guy here, you got any ideas? We could really use some." Kelly asked.

Harry Dalton poked his head up from the stat sheet he was reading, the coaches could see the gears turning in his head, and then, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke. "Well, it's not very innovative, it's really the exact opposite, in fact. Remember how, in the '70s, minor league teams that were down in the dumps would let sponsors buy naming rights?"

"Yeah, and what does that have to do with a national baseball team?" Kelly replied.

"Well, I was thinking, being a national baseball team, we could make all of our money back, and more, by licensing out our naming rights, it's not a good idea, but it's all we have."

"Y'know what Harry, I like how you think. I'll see what sponsors might be willing to offer."

by **Hannasea** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 3:12 pm

(Provisional) game logs as posted on the website literallythemostboringwebsiteintheworld.han.

by **Kriegiersien** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:43 pm

Are Kriegiersiens in reality descendants of Vikings that can’t play Baseball?

A brand new astonishing study encourages these view that the people of Kriegiersien are, like all citizens of Balder, Vikings and therefore not able to play baseball.

As new archaeological excavations of a team of researchers of the Schoenwetter Acadamey of Art in collaboration with journalists from Roneland showed, Vikings never fought well with spears and clubs and therefore are not suited to play Baseball.
Ice Hockey, Soccer or Lacrosse are more appropriate, as the experts explained in an over 4.000 pages dissertation, analysing Viking life, clothes, weapons, fighting techniques and prose.

Their main understanding of the Viking culture comes from a grave found south of Scorpion City, were the remains of a Jarl called ‘Lol’ was found.

The last results in the World Baseball Classic appear to confirm these theory.

by **Nova Anglicana** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:38 pm

Elizabeth Avenue

Sports, Politics, Pop Culture and a whole lot more

50 at 50: Catchers

Jonathan McGillivray-Smith, Staff Writer

During WBC 51, to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of Nova Anglicana's participation in the WBC, we'll be counting down the best 50 players in Nova Anglican baseball history. We'll begin with position players, catchers to be specific.

First team catchers

Josh Heckman: WBC 27-32

Was there every any doubt? Heckman was the very first catcher the Lions ever had, and an incredible one at that. When he took the reins at 24 in WBC 27, he was known as a shy and reserved player who nevertheless had a reputation for being an excellent game caller. Although veteran Raleigh Hightower was also considered, Graig Lowman gave the nod to Heckman, and the kid rewarded him. Over the years, he became a consummate field general and team leader, as well as a more than capable hitter who built a contact-oriented profile. From WBC 27-32, he appeared in three quarterfinals and three semifinals as part of the early Nova Anglican teams that took the multiverse by storm. He also finished runners-up twice in the IBS, as well as making two semifinals and a quarterfinal. Not a bad career. Not to mention he was the first Jewish athlete to represent Nova Anglicana on the multiversal stage.

Trevor Goodwin: WBC 46-50

No, Goodwin's not one of the longest-tenured catchers in Nova Anglican history. But he was the catcher for one of Nova Anglicana's most successful runs in WBC history. Two finals series with one championship, one semifinal series, and one quarterfinal is not too shabby for only appearing in five WBCs and not starting in his first one. But Goodwin is here because he was an all-around player. He had a good arm and was mobile, so he was a good defender. But at the plate, he always seemed to come up with the ground ball to advance the runner, the opposite-field single, the key hit at the bottom of the lineup, and he got a lot better at hitting lefties, such that he didn't have marked platoon splits. You can't ask for much more than a guy whose tenure included Nova Anglicana's only championship and came up with plenty of clutch plays while also not being one-dimensional. Heckman gets the nod for starter because of his intangibles, but Goodwin's a close second.

Second team catchers

Max Pope: WBC 41-47

Pope had the misfortune to play during the "dark 40s", which is what Nova Anglican sports historians call the era of WBCs 40-47. Three quarterfinals and a humiliating 4-1 loss to West Phoenicia in WBC 44 was all the Lions could muster in that stretch of eight Classics. And there for almost all of it was Pope. He started out as the third catcher behind Gabe Roberson and Chris Floyd, but leapfrogged Floyd for the starters' job in WBC 43 after Roberson retired. Always known as a defensive maven, someone who could pick it and block and frame (even when that was an underappreciated skill) and throw guys out, he worked on his hitting game and eventually became somewhat of a power threat from low down in the lineup, as well as a guy with a discerning eye. In this, he surpassed Roberson, his national team mentor and a similar player, whose offensive game never quite reached the heights it needed to be truly elite. Nevertheless, he was a rock behind the plate for a decade and his switch-hitting ability was nothing to sneeze at.

Bryan Lamb: WBC 33-40

Here's the longest tenured catcher in Nova Anglican WBC history! Lamb was on the roster from WBC 33 to WBC 40, from a snot-nosed 22 year-old third catcher to a 36 year-old veteran backup. Unlike Heckman or Goodwin, he didn't sniff the quarterfinals until his fourth WBC, when the Lions finished 3rd in WBC 36. He wasn't the starter for the debacle of WBC 33, the only time to date the Lions have not made the playoffs; that honor belongs to slugging catcher Lamar Ford. And in, fact, Lamb didn't become the starter until WBC 37, but his tenure as starter led to a quarterfinals appearance, a fourth place showing in WBC 38 that included the Lions' best-ever group stage (23-1), and the Lions' first final, in WBC 39. Regrettably, they flamed out in five games against Ethane, but you can't pin that on Lamb. As a player, Lamb was more of a defense-first catcher, but his switch-hitting ability and patience at the plate were a real treasure. Lamb was a battler, taking walks, fouling off pitches, and generally making life difficult for the opposing side. No, he wasn't a holy terror at the plate, but he was a good defender and a solid hitter, and if that's your fourth catcher, you're in luck.

Honorable Mention

Gabe Roberson: WBC 37-42

Roberson started out as a defense-first third catcher in WBC 37 behind Lamb and Jamie Stephens, known almost exclusively for his preternatural framing ability. He was an incredible defender, but his hitting was nothing to write home about. His big arm and framing moved steadily up the depth chart until he took over behind the dish in WBC 40. He didn't exactly fly off the page at you, but when he was behind the plate, you know that pitchers loved him. If he could have hit a little better or his teams had had more success, perhaps he'd rank higher. But three Classics as a starter means you've got skills, and we can't dismiss that lightly.

Verdict

It's not the strongest position in Nova Anglican history, but it does have some of the most notable players, whether for their leadership skills, clutch ability or time of tenure. A lot of good defenders with weaker offense, as you might expect from the catcher position. We'll follow up with first basemen, a spot that promises to be quite strong.

Series against Marigred

Game 1 losing pitcher: Cody Brock

Game 2 winning pitcher: Christian Hammond, 7 IP, 3 ER

Game 3 winning pitcher: Rocky Gantt, 9 IP, 0 ER

by **Zwangzug** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:49 pm

The Spenson Star

You know that a sports program has been around the block for a while when your opponents can, uh, sweep you while making references to previous important clashes. Wenjie Liu's Zebras may have overachieved by reaching the quarterfinals of the deep WBC50 field, but halfway through the group stage, they're under .500 here.

Perhaps as importantly, they are still Wenjie Liu's Zebras. Old-timers and/or the well-read will recall a time when every WBC was preceded by a domestic season, and the honor or burden of leading the Zebras fell to the league champion. The very well-read can think back to the FTC Mustangs' Reynolds, who had near-total roster control for many cycles. (Maybe the stability in the managerial position is the flip side to the chaos in the broadcast booth.) After all this time, is it the Mustangs' crosstown rivals who've gotten the last laugh?

Although we at the Star scrupulously follow the rules against sports betting, unsavory fans with foreign internet connections can probably calculate the odds on a domestic championship reassuming, the Zebras slinking back into oblivion, Liu staying in the dugout indefinitely, and/or stranger phenomena. The rest of us will have to content ourselves with the fact that, as mediocre as Zwangzug are, the other fourth-place teams aren't much better; the futuristic Things and Silvedania are also 7-8 with half of the series to go.

In other news, we understand that some fans have been having difficulties accessing international reports about "miracle powder" or the theocratic government of Le Choix. To avoid linkrot, the digital version of this article does not contain outgoing links, but we encourage you to share your experiences in the comments section.

Comments:

1. krenq12: my experience is that the zebras are very bad and so are the snacks at the worm hole

2. jen_jar: does this work?
3. dingdonkle: the question is, who will Liu call upon to blow leads after todd forneris gets old?
4. lyonhart: forneris can't retire, who will be mediocre at chess?
5. [comment removed, disruptive]
6. 7flufo: wtb y u censor me >:(

by **South Newlandia** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:05 pm

NORTHWEST

P Northwest                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD    Win % 
 1 Elephant Valley Homers     72   48  24   360  262  +98    0.667
 2 Elephant Valley United     72   43  29   331  303  +28    0.597
 3 Ruditown Dachshunds        72   41  31   351  318  +33    0.569
 4 Chekar Tigers              72   23  49   258  372 −114    0.319

ELEPHANT VALLEY HOMERS

Last season: 49-23, 1st in NW; lost in Northern Championship (2-4 Dragons)

Notable personnel:
Coach: Jack Kingsman, 59
SP: Darien Rodriguez, 28, Drawkland
RP: Bert Hoosier, 21
C: Horace Choo, 29, Quebec and Shingoryeo (new signing)
1B: Adam King, 25
SS: Alisen Moyamoto, 25, Chromatika
3B: Mitch Sneider, 22
RF: Fabio Ventura, 27

Like the year before, the Homers had the best record in baseball. The team of Kingsman started extremely hot, winning 19 of their first 21 games, and only cooled off a bit in the second half of the season. Regardless, they defended their division and took the top seed in the North again, even though they had to play in one of the toughest divisions. Rodriguez took home the title as best pitcher in the North, beating out a strong competition, and ultimately landing just ahead of Jay Kramer, who had a career year with the Dragons. Choo, the Homers’ new catcher, had a strong season as well, including gunning down more would-be base stealers than everyone else in the league. King slugged, Ventura had one of the highest OBP in the league again, and Moyamoto had a terrific season in the infield and at the plate. It was clear that any team with hopes to win the league this year would have to get past these Homers. They already clashed with the Dachshunds and, of course, their city-rival United; and they might see each other again in the postseason.

Big win: MD71: Elephant Valley Homers 17-7 Ruditown Dachshunds
Big game: MD26: Ruditown Dachshunds 0-5 Elephant Valley Homers
Big loss: MD61: Elephant Valley Homers 4-12 Ruditown Dachshunds

ELEPHANT VALLEY UNITED

Last season: 37-35, 2nd in NW, lost in divisional round (2-3 Homers)

Notable personnel:
Coach: Raymond McFadden, 47, Tikariot
SP: Hillary Angelou, 26, Chromatika
RP: Marcel Adams, 28
RP: Jang Hyo-Seung, 28, Quebec and Shingoryeo (new signing)
1B: Bronson Ghirardello, 25, Tikariot
2B: Igor White, 29
SS: Carlton Baines, 26, Tikariot

After the team of McFadden barely snuck into the playoffs last year, they finally made the turnaround. Angelou pitched a strong season, and Adams and Hyo-Seung were key pieces in one of the best bullpens of the league. Meanwhile, Ghirardello, White and Baines proved to be an extremely powerful infield. Even though the team struggled on defense at times, they won 43 games, good for a new ticket to the postseason. After hovering around .500 for a while, they finally pulled themselves together and finished strong, winning their last five games to lock up a wildcard spot.

Big win: MD3: Ratzupalfu Rhinos 4-9 Elephant Valley United
Big game: MD23: Elephant Valley Homers 3-4 Elephant Valley United
Big loss: MD33: Elephant Valley United 1-8 Newport Dolphins

RUDITOWN DACHSHUNDS

Last season: 29-43, 3rd in NW, missed playoffs

Notable personnel:
Coach: Lee Bradley, 45, Nova Anglicana (new coach)
SP: Blake Robbins, 28
RP: Erik McGuire, 27, Nova Anglicana (new signing)
RP: Mark Robertson, 28, Nova Anglicana (new signing)
2B: Alain Gosselin, 29, Nova Anglicana (new signing)
CF: Rufus Salas, 19
DH: George Webber, 29

The Dachshunds, under the new leadership of Nova Anglican Lee Bradley, were one of the surprises of the year. After winning just 29 games last season, they won 41 just one season later. Robbins and his Splitter were accompanied by an all-new bullpen, with Gostaf Sjabard flipped to the Sox, and two new talents in McGuire and Robertson coming in from Nova Anglicana. Likewise, they traded Ogas to the Flames, replacing him with another man from Nova Anglicana. Additionally, they traded for Salas, and with Webber having one of his best seasons late in his career, this team was definitely capable of competing with the Homers. 41 wins were just enough to secure the second wildcard spot in the North, setting them up for a rematch with the Homers.

Big win: MD21: Masmow Dragons 2-5 Ruditown Dachshunds
Big game: MD68: Ruditown Dachshunds 13-6 Newport Dolphins
Big loss: MD72: Elephant Valley Homers 10-1 Ruditown Dachshunds

CHEKAR TIGERS

Last season: 28-44, 4th in NW, missed playoffs

Notable personnel:
Coach: Mitchell Garoo, 41
RP: Dennis Miles, 28
C: Gregor Garner, 27
2B: Korban Pitts, 26

After an awful year, the Tigers had another one of the same sort. Admittedly, they played in one of the toughest divisions in the league, but Garoo just didn’t have the pieces to work with. No one on this roster could be expected to lead a team, and it showed, with the Tigers quickly dropping to 7-42, a truly embarrassing record. They did pull themselves together somewhat, finishing 16-7 down the stretch including a streak of eight wins in a row. They were miles out of contention at that point, obviously, but it leaves hope for next season.

Big win: MD59: Ruditown Dachshunds 5-10 Chekar Tigers
Big game: MD50: Newport Dolphins 3-5 Chekar Tigers
Big loss: MD27: Chekar Tigers 0-11 Sun City Flames

With that, the North produced an exciting, strong playoff chase. Ultimately, both the Owls and the Dolphins would be staying on their couches for the postseason, narrowly edged out by the Northwestern teams.

P North                      Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD    Win % 
 1 Elephant Valley Homers     72   48  24   360  262  +98    0.667  -> #1 Seed
 1 Masmow Dragons             72   45  27   329  225 +104    0.625  -> #2 Seed

 2 Elephant Valley United     72   43  29   331  303  +28    0.597  -> #3 Seed
 3 Ruditown Dachshunds        72   41  31   351  318  +33    0.569  -> #4 Seed

 2 Newport Owls               72   39  33   336  306  +30    0.542
 3 Newport Dolphins           72   38  34   322  285  +37    0.528
 4 Lexen City Rebels          72   31  41   268  300  −32    0.431
 4 Chekar Tigers              72   23  49   258  372 −114    0.319

Divisional round:
(1) Elephant Valley Homers – (4) Ruditown Dachshunds
(2) Masmow Dragons – (3) Elephant Valley United

by **Daskel** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:51 pm

After an impressive series against the Holy Warriors, and the recent wins against Grey County, Team Daskel was on the crest of the wave. 39 runs in 6 games, 18 against, and only seven of those were from the first series after the break. Everyone was in high spirits.

However, the last three games were a different ballgame, so to speak. Grey County had played a tough, close game, and the second game was decided in the top of the ninth, a sacrifice bunt, a steal and a sac fly later, bringing Genji back for the very much needed run to break the tie. It was, to say the least, an anticlimatic scenario after the last games, where balls were flying and homeruns were scored.

The game came to an end, and the reporters were everywhere, trying to get the insider from the man of the game. Kobayashi Kenji, however, went to an unsung hero. The reliable guy behind the mask.

"Mr Takaoka, Kobayashi from Kuji Sports. Please tell us more from tonight's game"

------

Game three finally gave Kobayashi the best weekly insider, after the really impressive game by Takaoka Kouhei. The West Kujian catcher led Nakamura Jossei in one of the most pressured innings of the series. The first was in the second inning, where Nakamura had bases loaded after allowing a run against. One more run was the price, but Takaoka stopped the runner, catching Genji's quick pass and tagging them seconds before they touched the sacred plate.

The final critical moment was in the eighth inning. Daskel was winning 6-2, and it was almost the end of the game. However, Grey County's bats started to come alive and hunt them, and back to back doubles gloomed the scoreboard. Rokukawa was in trouble. Takaoka called for a timeout, and promptly run to the mound. They talked a minute, then the catcher ran back, signaled to Sakamoto, and didn't wait for an answer from the bench. Quickly, he put his mask back. He had work to do.

Fortunately, whatever he did worked, and after a couple of groundballs, Rokukawa ended the inning. Sakamoto decided to send Izo to close the game. He could not risk anything.

Kobayashi waited and finally found Takaoka in the dugout, cleaning his gear personally, as he used to do after the games. The horde of reporters were gone right now. The player lifted his head and saw Kenji, tipping the brim of his wornout hat. He went everywhere with that old Kozan Diggers Cap.

"Wanna talk?"

"Yeah. The pitchers are truly impressed by you"

"I'm glad to know it" The catcher took his bag, and walked along the young reporter "I'm... I'm that difficult to reach out?

"What?" He was in awe, then noticed what he meant. He was usually alone. Maybe people were intimidated by him?

"I don't know... I mean, If the reporters are not reaching you, their job is being done terribly bad. Back in the game, second inning...what happened?"

They walked and the catcher described him what was in his mind at that time, the desperation to end it and his respect for Genji, who made quite the fine play by throwing the ball back home. They were close to the exit when the catcher stopped in his tracks, looking at both sides and finally meeting Kobayashi's eyes.

"Rokukawa had a problem with his arm... Izo relieved him for that reason, but he's out closer, so everything got under the rug. Gonna get checked soon"

Kenji was... confused. Telling that to a reporter was a huge movement of trust.

"Should... should all of this be released to the public?"

"Seriously, a reporter asking me that...?" He thought about it a couple of seconds, flexing his hands a couple of times "I think it is better to have it hidden for a bit, It may come as a shock if people knows"

Kobayashi just nodded at him.

"And he wanted to go all out! Thankfully he obeyed me when I told him to throw with groundballs in his mind"

"And it worked out well..."

"Absolutely"

There was a brief moment of silence. It felt like an entire life.

"... I'll wait the official report about Rokukawa"

"Thank you" Then he checked for something in his bag. Then he handed him a piece of paper. A business card "Here, my personal number. I know this is kind of unexpected, but I'll gladly give you more information. Have a nice night"

If he was confused, now, he was speechless.

World Baseball Classic 51 – Everything Thread (IC)

Batter Up!: Short-ish Summaries (@Zwangzug)

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