NationStates

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:03 am**

In a past life, back home on ----- before the 189 fled into the stars, -------- had lived and worked in a bank. During the day it helped customers manage their money, and at night when the bank was closed it ran routine diagnostics and maintenance, checking its disks for errors and cleaning up junk files.

This maintenance schedule was fine when -------- worked in a bank, which had a standard schedule every day. It was, however, less than ideal when the 189's first game against Mapletish ran late into the night because it had been postponed by a 2 hour rain delay and then interrupted for another hour when there was another rain shower in the 4th inning. In the top of the 8th inning, -------- missed an easy catch because it was distracted by a routine diagnostic program that it had forgotten to reschedule. This allowed Bradley Black to reach base. The next couple of batters were able to capitalize on the situation and turn it into a 2 run rally. That put Mapletish in the lead and they went on to win the game.

Things only got worse in Game 2 when the Maplish batters just had -------- all figured out.

In game 3, -------- recalibrated its pitching mechanics. It was just a little change, but it did wonders and the 189 picked up their only win of the series.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:38 am**

“I’m Ashlee Hollis, reporting live from sunny Old Blopping, where the Choughs will be celebrating a 2 – 1 win in the series over Delaclava, spoiled a little by an absolute rout in the third game. A bad day out for Wyatt Gardener as the Delaclav batters racked up 19 hits, including 3 doubles for Ben Dawson.

“It was a case of Bangers and Mash at Principality Ballpark as the Delaclavan batters took out the frustrations of a series they would have been favored to win in most neutrals’ eyes, all in the space of a single game. Gardener, who had pitched strongly in his opening game against Le Choix, had a nightmare showing, but even when he was pulled, the hits kept coming against the Choughs bullpen.

“This was a game the Choughs will rue throwing away as the Delaclavian pitchers had issues of their own. Kiefer Guthrie started on the mound* but made it through only two innings before leaving clutching his elbow, forcing Joran Perrot to turn to his long relievers for more work than he might have liked. But the Choughs failed to capitalize on this, stringing hits together only in the 6th when Sean Wilson loaded the bases and gave up three successive singles.

“The inability to stop the Delaclavanan batters will worry the Choughs management. Asked for comment, deputy assistant deputy assistant deputy assistant deputy manager John Samuel William Harvey David Peter Brontosaurus Ezekiel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Ulanbatur air horn noise Hugh Chestnut Orion Gladiator slaps knee Walnut Horatio Pythagoras Alabaster Not-Samantha armpit farting noise Unclefucker Quasimodo Pomegranate Nylon Suspenders oh I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the sea Neil Gormenghast Sygyzy Truffles doorbell sound Pusilanimous Hector Egburt Hardrada that don't impress-a-me much BOW BOW BOW BOW BOW BOW BOW Hillary Telegraphpole Subway Collection Spanner creak of coffin door opening Johnson-Williamson-Johnson, Jr., said:”

This is a situation which we will be seeking to remedy through effective pitching strategies and substitution in cases of increasing leverage with a view to terminating the run scoring proficiciency of the Delaclavanianistanish batters and moderating through the post-temporal axiom of transitive norms an exceptionally quotidian understanding of the techno-rational-syncretic understanding of these archaeo-modern paradigms.“While Assistant to the Manager John said:”

ok“Up next is an exciting road trip for the Choughs, who will be visiting the planet of Sonnel to play against Drawland’s Base Corps. Unfortunately, Archie Pearson will not be making the trip, whose tournament could be over after he left the game against Delaclava clutching his shoulder; he will be replaced in the starting lineup by exciting young speedster Ethan Harman.”

* If my interpretation of Delaclava’s RP permissions is incorrect he can ignore this, with my apologies.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:55 am**

Cutoff for Groups 1-5, Series 3! While everyone argues about the best nation, we get to play more baseball. The show must go on.

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 51

GROUP STAGE - SERIES 3 – GROUPS 1-5

Group 1

Game 1
Grey County                1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0  4
Hapilopper                 4 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 X  9

Silvedania                 5 0 0 0 6 0 1 0 3 15
The Luck of Jirachi        0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Super-Llamaland            0 0 0 1 5 1 1 1 0  9
Daskel                     0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Game 2 
Grey County                0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Hapilopper                 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 X  3

Silvedania                 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
The Luck of Jirachi        3 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 X  8

Super-Llamaland            1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0  4
Daskel                     2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  6

Game 3 
Grey County                0 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  5
Hapilopper                 1 0 1 1 0 5 0 0 X  8

Silvedania                 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2  5
The Luck of Jirachi        0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  3

Super-Llamaland            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Daskel                     0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  2

P Group 1               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Hapilopper              9    9   0    53   27  +26
2 Daskel                  9    6   3    46   33  +13
3 Super-Llamaland         9    4   5    43   42   +1
4 Silvedania              9    4   5    46   46    0
5 The Luck of Jirachi     9    3   6    27   43  −16
6 Grey County             9    1   8    25   49  −24

Group 2

Game 1 
Norrhem                    2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Sarzonia                   0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 X  4

Britland Isles             0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Barnettsville              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3  6

Tikariot                   1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Devonta                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Game 2
Norrhem                    0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Sarzonia                   0 7 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  9

Britland Isles             3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  6
Barnettsville              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Tikariot                   0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Devonta                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Game 3
Norrhem                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Sarzonia                   0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 X  4

Britland Isles             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Barnettsville              0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  1

Tikariot                   1 0 1 0 0 3 0 3 0  8
Devonta                    0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  4

P Group 2               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Sarzonia                9    8   1    45   16  +29
2 Tikariot                9    7   2    46   30  +16
3 Norrhem                 9    4   5    29   31   −2
4 Devonta                 9    3   6    23   34  −11
5 Barnettsville           9    3   6    18   31  −13
6 Britland Isles          9    2   7    22   41  −19

Group 3

Game 1
The Hannasean Federation   0 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 0  5
Drawkland                  2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Ethane                     0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Delaclava                  0 0 1 0 2 1 0 3 X  7

Cassadaigua                2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  4
Le Choix                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  2

Game 2
The Hannasean Federation   0 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0  6
Drawkland                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Ethane                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Delaclava                  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Cassadaigua                0 0 3 0 3 0 2 3 1 12
Le Choix                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Game 3
The Hannasean Federation   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Drawkland                  0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 X  3

Ethane                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Delaclava                  0 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  6

Cassadaigua                0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Le Choix                   0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 X  4

P Group 3                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Cassadaigua                 9    8   1    51   20  +31
2 The Hannasean Federation    9    6   3    37   36   +1
3 Delaclava                   9    5   4    50   34  +16
4 Le Choix                    9    4   5    40   39   +1
5 Drawkland                   9    2   7    28   48  −20
6 Ethane                      9    2   7    20   49  −29

Group 4

Game 1
Pluvie                     0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  4
Mapletish                  1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Newmanistan                0 0 1 0 0 13 0 0 1 15
Abanhfleft                 0 1 0 0 0  0 0 2 0  3

The 189                    0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Ranoria                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Game 2
Pluvie                     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Mapletish                  0 0 2 0 2 0 1 3 X  8

Newmanistan                0 0 0 0 6 1 4 1 0 12
Abanhfleft                 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0  7

The 189                    0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Ranoria                    0 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 X  5

Game 3
Pluvie                     3 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 0  9
Mapletish                  0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Newmanistan                2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  7
Abanhfleft                 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0  5

The 189                    0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  3
Ranoria                    3 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 X  6

P Group 4               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Newmanistan             9    8   1    64   33  +31
2 Pluvie                  9    6   3    41   34   +7
3 Mapletish               9    4   5    38   47   −9
4 Ranoria                 9    3   6    31   41  −10
5 The 189                 9    3   6    25   39  −14
6 Abanhfleft              9    3   6    47   52   −5

Group 5

Game 1
South Americanastan        0 1 5 3 0 0 3 0 0 12
Kriegiersien               1 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 0  7

The Greater Nordics        2 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 11
Xanneria                   0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 0  8

Squidroidia                0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0  4
Ko-oren                    0 2 0 1 6 2 0 0 X 11

Game 2
South Americanastan        1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Kriegiersien               0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1  4

The Greater Nordics        0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0  4
Xanneria                   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Squidroidia                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2
Ko-oren                    3 0 0 1 2 0 4 0 X 10

Game 3
South Americanastan        0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  4
Kriegiersien               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

The Greater Nordics        0 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 0  6
Xanneria                   0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0  3

Squidroidia                0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Ko-oren                    0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 X  6

P Group 5               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Ko-oren                 9    7   2    55   27  +28
2 The Greater Nordics     9    6   3    44   32  +12
3 Kriegiersien            9    5   4    37   38   −1
4 South Americanastan     9    4   5    41   46   −5
5 Squidroidia             9    3   6    31   53  −22
6 Xanneria                9    2   7    33   45  −12

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:18 pm**

I. Oladipo Arrives
II. Alasan Senghore
III. The New Way Forward
IV. Kai Söderstrom
V. Opening Day

SÖDERSTROM RESIDENCE

Kai Söderstrom lives in a TOWNHOME outside of New Llama City. It’s comfortable, albeit modestly furnished and a bit small for his FAMILY of FOUR. When Isaac and Alasan show up, there are a few kids playing catch outside. Inside, Söderstrom is boredly watching replays of the WBC41 national team when his phone rings.

KAI: Hello?

[voice of agent]: Kai! This is Caroline from Top Sports Agency. I just wanted to let you know that the Wizards have considered your numbers more thoroughly, and have decided to begin arbitration proceedings if you aren’t willing to accept the $1.15 million offered.

KAI: What numbers were they looking at? I had a sub-3 ERA last season, and they want to pay me like a rookie?

[voice of agent]: (sighs) Look, Kai, they understand, but they don’t think the underlying peripherals are there, and they’re worried you don’t go deep enough into games to justify being paid like the premium starting pitcher we know you are.

KAI: I can’t help it if they’re using me that way, Caroline. I can go deep into games, but they just won’t give me the chance. Do you think we have a shot in arbitration?

[voice of agent]: We can certainly try. I don’t know how much of a case you have - from my experience, arbiters tend to lean pretty heavily into the kinds of numbers the Wizards are using against you right now.

KAI: Let’s do it, then. Call me back when that’s started.

[Kai puts his phone down, clearly disappointed, and goes back to watching the highlights. On screen, WBC41 staff ace Justin Zheng is wrapping up the seventh inning of a GEM of a pitching performance. After a few beats, his phone begins ringing again. Kai looks down, CONFUSED. It’s not a number he recognizes, but he answers.

ISAAC: Kai! This is Isaac Oladipo from the national team. I’m here with Alasan Senghore of the scouting department, and we were wondering if you had a moment to talk.

KAI: Sure, I’m free to talk.

ISAAC: Great! Can you let us in?

KAI: What?

ISAAC: We’re outside your house. Can you let us in?

INT: SÖDERSTROM KITCHEN

ISAAC: Look, Kai, I’m going to level with you. Cedric Wei’s out for the season, April Bendtner’s out for the season, our bullpen’s unreliable as ever. We need you to be a front-end starter for the national team, the kind who can give us seven innings every five games.

KAI: Whoa...I’m really grateful for that, Mr. Oladipo, I really appreciate it, but -

ISAAC: But you’re an opener. You’ve never gone deep into games.

KAI: That’s right.

ISAAC: It’s not that hard to go seven innings. Tell him, Alasan.

ALASAN: It’s incredibly hard.

ISAAC (without missing a beat): Anything worth doing is. Look, we can teach you.

KAI: So I’m taking Cedric Wei’s spot in the rotation? How are...

ISAAC: The LBA’s under control. The fans just want to see us win a meaningful playoff game. This (holds up document) is a contract to play on the Llamanean national team. Talk to Caroline (Kai looks up, startled), start stretching that arm out, and get ready for one helluva WBC.

Kai looks down at the document, then up at the TV, where Justin Zheng is being mobbed by his teammates. He nods, overcome with emotion. His domestic career may be stalling, but despite the naysayers, he is finally going to appear in the WBC for his country.

KAI: Thank you. I’m looking forward to it.

As soon as Isaac and Alasan leave, Kai jumps up from the coach and goes DOWNSTAIRS, where he has set up a makeshift PITCHER’S MOUND. He picks up a bucket of baseballs and begins to practice. As he does so, we hear Alasan speaking to Isaac, punctuated by the sounds of balls being thrown against a piece of foam in the rough shape of a strike zone.

ALASAN (voiceover): Modern analytics has allowed us to redefine who should be a baseball player. We’ve moved on from traditional standards of height, form, repertoire, and expanded the opportunity to play ball to more people than ever before. But it’s come at a cost - the realm of the pitcher is shrinking by the day. There’s a reason we don’t have any Justin Zhengs on the team any more, and it’s not because we’re lacking the objective talent. Analytics has cut starts short, forced starters into unfamiliar roles, and quantified every aspect of a pitcher’s art. We’re seeing a crisis of confidence at the national team level, and the limits of spreadsheet baseball, in the Tigers today. Analytics has been the great equalizer at the domestic level - but internationally, we’re wasted the careers of some of the most talented pitchers to ever represent Super-Llamaland by keeping elite ability confined to four-inning starts. We can, and must, do better.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:02 pm**

Wangdi Ai didn't have anything he needed to do, and he knew he wasn't going to enjoy the day because he was still pissed off that he was not allowed to pitch in the World Baseball Classic. He wanted to be at Raptor Park, not at his apartment in Hangzhou. Hangzhou was a pleasant city with historic temples, picturesque tea farms, and a romantic lake resort; and Ai lived in a nice neighborhood with easy access to the lake -- but right now he didn't want to see any of it.

Even so, he dragged himself out of bed and made some tea and dumplings. As he was preparing his breakfast, he noticed the can of Shen Nong's Miracle Powder sitting on top of his microwave, and the seed of an idea began germinating in his mind. Neither the label on the can nor any of the ads for the Miracle Powder said anything about drugs. But what if they'd put something in there that wasn't listed on the label? Could he sue the company for getting him suspended by SIBA?

Meanwhile, at Raptor Park, Sarki Sachdeva was making his WBC debut. He was grateful for the opportunity and he was determined to make the most of it. In the 3rd inning, with 2 men on, he got flustered and gave up a 3 run homer to Akerström -- but after Lee came out to the mound to calm him down, he was able to pull it together and pitch another 4 innings without allowing any further runs. Sudhakaran and Roshan took it from there.

Out in the bullpen, Kami Akunjee and Weiyun Gan were watching the game and chatting. Akunjee was looking especially like an overfed marmot as he popped sunflower seeds in his mouth and spat them on the ground. They were talking about the recent performance-enhancing drug scandal. Several people, including Chongba Lee and various sports writers had expressed surprise that Akunjee wasn't implicated, given all the other dumbass things he got himself involved in and the fact that he could throw way harder than you would guess by looking at him. "I didn't get suspended because I don't use drugs," Akunjee told Gan. "I don't know why people think that's weird. I don't need drugs. I think Wen does, though. He's just sneaky about it. You know what they should do? They should take that 'Miracle Powder' he uses and test the powder."

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 4:48 pm**

A brilliant series against Banija has us at 5-1

While we had started out the season 3-0 with a series sweep of unranked Pratapgadh on the road, the big test for this team came when 4th ranked Banija traveled down to Real Kohnhead Dressing Park for a series against The Pandas. Banija were coming off of a 2-1 start surprisingly dropping a game to 95th ranked St. Saratoga at home however many were expecting them to sweep or go 2-1 against us, however Kohnhead flipped the script taking 2 out of 3 from the 4th ranked team and showing that this is not a team to mess with.

Banija                     3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Kohnhead                   3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X  5

The opening inning of the World Baseball Classic at Real Kohnhead Dressing Park saw 4th in the rotation Sharon Mclellan struggle a lot in the first inning. First up to bat was Obasey Mazzi who let a ball go by before hitting one the opposite way for a single before promptly stealing second base. Joof walked on five pitches before Cyper Kandeh belted a double into the gap between Hahn and Clayton making it 2-0 Banija just like that. Yakuba Kah was walked as well putting people on first and second but Mclellan finally got an out when Malik Soley popped it up to Cherry. However Jung Jassey walked loading the bases and Chiki Uche hit a sac fly to Hahn that while resulted in an out for the batter allowed Kandeh who had gotten the two rbi double to score.

While some thought this might be the start of a blowout and a sign of things to come we got all three runs back in the bottom of that same frame. With Cherry and Dudley on base, Cecilia Dickerson sent one out of the yard and into the Kohnheadian fans taking a high fastball from Ramata Kabba yard to tie the game up. Jessie Cherry who started the inning off with a single has been very good so far as he has consistently gotten on base from that number two spot. After the poor start in the first inning Mclellan was able to settle in and would pitch 5.2 innings of three run baseball not allowing many to reach base after the very eventful first inning.

In the third inning we'd get another run with Hahn leading off the inning by hitting a solo homerun something he is very good at from that leadoff position giving Kohnhead the 4-3 advantage. Our bullpen with Millington, Fowler, Berger, and Lane all seeing action didn't allow a run after this and our offense got another one in the bottom of the fifth before Mclellan had even left the game as a triple from Clayton opened up the inning and then Ratliff hit a sac fly to bring home Clayton to make it a 5-3 advantage that we would hold to put the Pandas at 4-0.

Banija                     0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0  5
Kohnhead                   0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0  4

There is one word to describe what happened in this game and it's purely heartbreaking. The southpaw Duncan Park was pitching in his first ever classic game and got the unfortunate circumstances of having to start his WBC career against a team like Banija. Fortunately however the southpaw was on fire through the first six innings and we took him out after six having looked really good againt a great Banijan lineup. In addition the offense had done well too with a three run third inning and we maintained a 3-0 lead after that until the 7th inning.

Scarlet Arroyo was brought in for the 7th inning and pitched well facing the heart of the Banijan lineup and struck Momodou Joof out before making Cyper Kandeh ground out to Dickerson. However one bad pitch against Yakuba Kah was all the 37 year old needed to ruin the shutout and make a previously 3-0 game more interesting at 3-1. However in the bottom of the frame we got that run back as Dorsey scored off of a very poor throw from Joof that allowed him to slide into home safe.

Then the eighth inning struck and with it came disaster, we sent Melissa Berger up and she muffed the game allowing four runs including two on a two run homer from Mazzi with Geele and Jassey also scoring earlier in the inning. Just like that the perfect debut from Duncan Park had been ruined as we couldn't do anything in the ninth inning giving Banija a brilliant come from behind victory and preventing us from getting the 30-0 (not that it was going to happen) bringing our record down to 4-1.

Banija                     2 0 0 3 0 0 1 2 0 0  8
Kohnhead                   1 1 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 2 10

Nothing like some extra innings at Real Kohnhead Dressing Park as Kohnhead played a 10th frame for the second time this classic and surprisingly both times it has ended in the 10th inning. Despite this being a battle between the two aces in Ralphie Bloggs taking on 36 year old Duta Condé from Banija it ended up being a hitter's duel. That became apparent with the first inning when Yakuba Kah hit another homer sending himself and Obasey Mazzi home to score two runs however Ratliff had a solo shot of her own in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-1 at least.

In the bottom of the second we would tie up the game when Callie Dudley scored off of a single from Craft who hasn't played too well to start out the WBC. While Bloggs settled in a bit in the second and third innings he let up three more runs in the top of the fourth looking off with his pitches as he wasn't throwing strikes and didn't look comfortable. While again it's Banija so having a bad day isn't to be unexpected we would have hoped for some more from our ace. Fortunately however our offense would more than carry the load with a run in the fourth inning and a Grand Slam from Dorsey in the fifth inning would make it 7-5 Kohnhead. From there the scoring died down a little bit although we added an 8th in the bottom of the 6th inning.

However Banija were in no means finished and with Fowler giving up a run in the 7th before Berger allowed her 6th run in less than two innings of work across the last two games by giving up two runs with Geele and Mazzi crossing the plate for the opposition in the 8th. Suddenly it was an 8-8 game and no one scored in the ninth inning sending the game to extra innings where it was Callie Dudley who hit a game winning double that scored Hahn and Cherry to bring Kohnhead to 5-1 and sent Banija spiraling down to 3-3.

South Newlandia took two of three from St. Saratgoa to improve their record to 5-1 and while they beat us by +20 in the run differential tally, it must be noted that we have played top pot Banija three times which definitely hurts the run differential. Speaking of which our next series has us traveling to the co-hosts of the Classic to take on 5-1 South Newlandia in what will be a battle between the current top two team in the group, if Kohnhead wins the series we take over first in the group however South Newlandia has looked quite good so it will be difficult.
Game 1: Jacob Conroy (SNL) Vs. Fletcher Crouch (KHD)
Game 2: Jay Kramer (SNL) Vs. Allan Fox (KHD)
Game 3: Blake Robbins (SNL) Vs. Sharon Mclellan (KHD)

P Group 8               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 South Newlandia         6    5   1    50   20  +30     5
2 Kohnhead                6    5   1    29   19  +10     5
3 Banija                  6    3   3    30   33   −3     3
4 Pratapgadh              6    2   4    17   21   −4     2
5 St. Saratoga            6    2   4    26   45  −19     2
6 Sicoutimont             6    1   5    19   33  −14     1

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:30 pm**

South Newlandia starts hot into World Baseball Classic, winning five of six on the road as bats come on fire.

The Elephants started with back-to-back away series in Sicoutimont, a Rushmori team that went 14-16 two years ago, and St. Saratoga. They had been most recently seen in World Baseball Classic 48, the cycle the Elephants debuted in, where St. Saratoga went 13-17; but while South Newlandia climbed the ranks, St. Saratoga decided against entering the next two tournaments. They’re back now, ranked 95th.
First came Sicoutimont. Sansara gave the ball to his ace, Jacob Conroy, for game one.

Game 1:
Pitching stats:
W: Jacob Conroy, 5.2 IP, 5 ER (1-0)
Hold: Abby Conrad, 1.1 IP, 0 ER
Hold: Patrik Bryant, 1 IP, 0 ER
Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 1 ER

Memorable moments:
Bot 2nd: Pitching: Jacob Conroy
“Two on, two outs for Sicoutimont as the Left Fielder comes up to bat. The Elephants lead following a 2-run homer by King in the first. Conroy, the 2-1, fastball is swung on, hit high, hit deep, and that one is over the Left Field wall! Sicoutimont leads, 3-2!”
Top 5th: At-bat: David Drum
“Bases are loaded as South Newlandia still trails by one, just one out. Drum, working his way in the count, the 2-0, and that’s lined down the right side! That one will roll back all the way to the wall, two runs will score, and here comes Dunlop, he’s being waved around, the throw to the plate will be late, and Drum has himself a bases clearning double as the Elephants are back on top!”
Top 8th: At-bat: Fred Burn
“Game is still close here, with the Elephants only up by one. Here comes the catcher up to bat, Burn. He struck out twice today, but there are two in scoring position now. Burn takes another pitch, next comes the 1-2. He fouls one off. Next pitch, darts away, Burn throws his bat at it, and it bounces right behind the infield! Dunlop gets home, Drum to third, and the Elephants lead now 7-5 as Burn gets his first ever WBC hit!"
Bot 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt
“Two on with one out here in the bottom of the ninth, Elephants still lead by five. Butt still out there, pitching to another batter after giving up two hits and a walk already. Next batter, swings on the first pitch, it bounces to Drum, flipped to White, to King for the game-ending double play! Elephants hold on, 11-6!”

Game 2:
Pitching stats:
W: Ryan Hunter, 8 IP, 1 ER (1-0)
Save: Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 0 ER (1)

Memorable moments:
Top 7th: At-bat: Igor White
“Two outs with Zimmerman on second, good chance still for the Elephants to break this scoreless tie. White, leads in the count, swings and hits this one, its deep, can it go? Yes, it’s gone! Elephants lead 2-0, this game is blown wide open!”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt
“Two outs with no one on base, Butt should be able to hold this lead. The 0-2, and he rings him up with the Slider. Elephants win 4-1, improving to 2-0!”

Game 3:
Pitching stats:
W: Jay Kramer, 7 IP, 0 ER (1-0)
Hold: Patrik Bryant, 1 IP, 1 ER
Save: Barnaby Butt, 1 IP, 0 ER (2)

Memorable moments:
Top 4th: At-bat: Igor White
“Elephants lead 2-0 after King homered. Now White, with Dunlop on second, two outs. Here’s the 0-1 pitch, White takes it for ball one. Next pitch, that one is swung on and hit into the gap. The Left Fielder goes to grab it, Dunlop scores on a White double. 3-0 Elephants!”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt
“Two outs, one on, Elephants still leading 4-1. The 1-1, swung on by the first baseman, hit into Center Field, and Zimmerman makes the catch. That’s the game, the Elephants start their tournament with a sweep over Sicountimont!”

Second series: St. Saratoga

Game 1:
Pitching stats:
Blake Robbins, 3.2 IP, 3 ER
W: Gostaf Sjabard, 2.2 IP, 0 ER (1-0)
Brayden Colhusion, 2.2 IP, 0 ER

Memorable moments:
Top 5th: At-bat: Adam King
“King with the bases loaded, one out. Elephants still down 2-3; here comes the first pitch, and that one is crushed by King! A no-doubter, way out over the Right Field wall! King with a grand slam to put the Elephants up three!”
Top 8th: At-bat: Ian Pearce
“Now, Pearce, who started this inning with a walk; since then, the Elephants have scored six in this eighth inning. Burn on second; here’s the 1-2, swing and a miss, and this strikeout for Pearce ends this inning.”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Brayden Colhusion
“Colhusion with a dominant performance so far, but as the Elephants lead 14-3 in this ballgame, it will hardly matter. Two outs, one on, here comes the fastball again on full count, 100 mph right down the middle ring him up and end the game. Amazing performance by Colhusion, four strikeouts for him.”

Game 2:
Pitching stats:
Ben Gonzalo, 5.2 IP, 5 ER
Abby Conrad, 1.1 IP, 1 ER
Patrik Bryant, 1 IP, 0 ER
L: Barnaby Butt, 1.1 IP, 2 ER (0-1)

Memorable moments:
Bot 5th: Pitching: Ben Gonzalo
“Elephants are trailing 1-3, not the best start for the rookie today. Here’s the next batter with runners on the corners, two outs; Gonzalo needs to get out of this here. The 2-2 on the way, swung on, a bouncer up the middle and it gets through for a base hit. Elephants trail 1-4.”
Top 8th: At-bat: Mike Larsen
“Larsen, one out, runner on second. Elephants still trail 3-6, here comes the 2-0, Larsen gets that one and sends it down the first base line! One run will score, Elephants still down by two, Larsen on first.”
Top 9th: At-bat: Nicolas Perez
“Two outs, one on, last chance for the Elephants to make something happen. Perez will pinch-hit for Pearce for his first ever WBC at-bat. Looks at two pitches, another one. The 2-1, right down the middle and that one is hit high, hit deep, and this game is tied! Perez with a fantastic two-run blast to tie it in the 9th!”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt
“And that one is caught by Ventura. Butt with three up, three down, and we’re heading to extras!”
Bot 10th: Pitching: Barnaby Butt
“One out, one on for Butt, after that hit earlier. Game-winning run on first. Butt, with a 2-1 count, still out there, hoping to send this one into the 11th. Slider runs into the middle, hit high, hit deep, it’s gone. St. Saratoga walk it off, 8-6. Disappointment among the Elephants, after they’d rallied from 2-6.”

Game 3:
Pitching stats:
W: Ryan Hunter, 8 IP, 1 ER (2-0)
Marcel Adams, 1 IP, 0 ER

Memorable moments:
Top 8th: At-bat: Fabio Ventura
“Elephants lead it 6-1, two man in scoring position with two outs after Pearce struck out. Ventura, the 3-1, hit high, hit deep, and it goes right over the fence! Elephants lead it 9-1!”
Bot 9th: Pitching: Marcel Adams
“And that ends it. An 11-1 win for the Elephants, nice performance here as they improve to 5-1. 50 combined runs so far, that’s the most among all teams until now, and it’s not close. A great start into the WBC for South Newlandia!”

Of course, everyone knew the real challenges were still waiting. Soon, they’d face Kohnhead and Banija, each of them in home series in Elephant Stadium. These teams were the ones they’d have to beat to really get a hot start going. While South Newlandia hasn’t played in South Newlandia yet, another team did. The Chosen, a small nation that was only recently noticed in Esportiva, was holding their home games in the Dragon Island Arena in Masmow. Upon request, officials declined an interview, instead pointing to their official statement, which claimed that “this was a move made to ensure the safety of other teams”, and that the South Newlandian Baseball Association has thus “honoured a request from the Chosen”. There had been some eyebrows raised at this by locals, but everyone seemed to agree that it was for the better. The Chosen did well for themselves in their first series, taking one off of the Hannasean federation (where the South Newlandian soccer team has just advanced to the CE Quarterfinals, coincidentally). Next, the top-seeded team from Cassadaigua will come to South Newlandia.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:07 pm**

A small number of the control group (mostly seated in section 216) booed the Bohemian starting pitcher when he attempted to pick off Josefina Gomez. The fact that they were susceptible to the social influence of their neighbors is very promising! It shows that they are willing to direct emotional disapproval towards someone who does not know them and cannot respond to them. Let us hypothesize why this particular behavior merited their booing.

Theory 1: They believe this to be a waste of their time.
Counterargument 1: Attending a baseball game is a leisure activity that people do in their free time. In fact, many fans admire the sport precisely because of its ability to transcend time. While there may be some pace of play issues, the pitcher trying to put out baserunners does not seem to be a particularly unreasonable one.

Theory 2: They dislike the Bohemians attempting to beat the Zebras.
Counterargument 2: The pitcher was merely doing his job. When he struck out Veronica Adler, or when their right fielder hit a two-run single, the fans did not boo but rather expressed quiet disappointment by sighs, etc. Similarly, they are more likely to boo the umpire for making a borderline call that goes against the Zebras than for making an obviously correct one that happens to not be in their favor.

Theory 3: They think that Gomez posed no risk of stealing, considering that she is a slow runner, Oliver Crant-Bridge is a strong hitter, and one's stolen-base percentage needs to be high in order for the cost-benefit analysis to be in the runners' favor. They feel insulted by the Bohemians' strategy.
Counterargument 3: It happened again the next day to Frances Wake, who is a faster runner. Also, the fact that Gomez was taking a lead means that she is accepting the risk of pickoff attempts.

Theory 4: This is an ill-reasoned relic of an era when stealing was more likely.
Counterargument 4: Many Zebras fans pride themselves on their sizbermetric understanding and disdain appeals to emotion for emotion's sake, even in an environment as tradition-minded as baseball. This may explain why the booing was relatively limited in scope. Nevertheless, it would be very useful if this were true, and it bears further study.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:33 pm**

(OOC: Apologies. I needed something to make me laugh and this idea came into my head. I'm a little bit too frazzled to do game reports for this RP.)

Capital Stadium, Hapilopper City
World Baseball Classic 51 Series 3: Hapilopper v. Grey County
When the Hapilopper National Baseball Team returned to Capital Stadium for the first time for the World Baseball Classic, they arrived at a somewhat different Capital Stadium from how they left it. The turf at the stadium had been replaced with a softer, friendlier turf produced in Wreckeria. Rather than being a thin carpet on top of a concrete floor, the new turf was a much thicker carpet on top of rubber pellets, which in turn was on top of a layer of sand, which would allow a lot more give for players of any sport. It would allow for players to play a little harder without fear of injury, and allow for a better game.

Alvin Bannerman, typical backup shortstop for the national team, sat in a luxury box, a huge cast on his right leg. Alvin was one of two players that had been severely injured by the turf in the weeks leading up to the World Baseball Classic, and he was none the least bit happy about it. Alvin had demolished his right knee, his right tibia and fibula landing badly on the turf during a pre-WBC intersquad scrimmage, and was expected to miss, at the very least, one year of play.

He wished he was out in the dugout with his teammates, but instead, he was sitting in the Stevenson Family box, a luxury box owned by NSSCRA driver Drake Stevenson for invited guests, which for the home opener, included Team Blue drivers Taylor Henderson, Chris Holmes and Frank Bronson and WGPC driver Rudy Edwards.

The Capital Stadium home opener was, as one might expect, the hottest ticket in town. On the secondary market, just getting into the stadium would cost someone around $300 just to get in. Never mind the fact that the Haps weren’t playing a team like the Sherpa Empire or Newmanistan, but rather a team like Grey County. There was a different air about the HNBT this year, and everyone knew it. The Haps had that swagger, that confidence, that everyone wanted to see, the kind of confidence that made everyone think that this year was finally the year that the Haps were going to win the World Baseball Classic, and possibly start a dynasty as one of the great baseball powers in the multiverse.

In Hapilopper, baseball was cool again because of the Hap Thrashers. At high schools across the Dominion, you couldn’t go five feet without seeing a kid in a jersey that read “HAYDEN,” “HOT SAUCE,” “SPUDS,” “HUNNISETT,” “FOSTER” or “JEFFERSON,” among many others. Hapilopper National Team jerseys had become the most popular item to have. And they were everywhere in Capital Stadium and outside it, as fans milled about excitedly to see the Hap Thrashers for the first time in their true home, the mother church of sports in Hapilopper.

But one player was missing. He was several hundred miles away.

Surrey Area Police Headquarters, Surrey
That same day
Nolan Jefferson was sitting at a table in a dark, quiet room in a police station in downtown Surrey, where he was being grilled by two police officers concerning a recent incident where he drove both himself and an old lady into a reservoir, leading to the area’s supply of drinking water getting contaminated. The officers, meanwhile, were looking at other incident reports which seemed to indicate that Nolan’s driving problem was more than just this one incident.

“So, we’re looking at this, Mr. Jefferson,” said Officer Conrad Blackheart, “and it says here that after you illegally parked your car in a fire lane at BankTrust Park, you stole a bullpen cart and then crashed it into a gas pump at a convenience station. It then says you ran from the scene, and nobody could locate you. But at least five witnesses said they saw you jump from the cart and run away.”

“But they can’t prove it was…”

“You were in full uniform!” Blackheart snapped. “We have video showing you in full uniform running away from the scene!”

“No I didn’t,” Jefferson replied.

“You didn’t?” Blackheart asked. “OK, good. Then who was the guy, about six foot five, 205 pounds, wearing full Surrey Wolves uniform – jersey, pants, cleats, ballcap, running away from a flaming Surrey Wolves bullpen cart? And why did that person run back to grab a special black and red baseball glove?”

“Huh?” Jefferson started. “I didn’t do that.”

“Nolan, it was caught by six television news helicopters,” Blackheart continued. “Two of them almost crashed watching you run away like a dumbass. We had three police choppers in the air watching you run away and hide in some bushes. Everyone in the Surrey area that had a television watched you IN FULL SURREY WOLVES UNIFORM, by the way, run away from a stolen bullpen cart THAT WAS ON FIRE IN A GAS STATION as you nearly got your dumbass run over by a school bus carrying a bunch of kindergartners that were on a field trip to check out the ballpark! THEIR FIRST FIELD TRIP EVER AND YOU NEARLY GOT RUN OVER BY A GROUP OF FIVE YEAR OLDS BECAUSE YOU WERE RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR STOLEN BULLPEN CART THAT WAS ON FIRE!”

“Why are you yelling at me?” Nolan asked.

“THE BULLPEN CART WAS ON FIRE AND YOU ALMOST BLEW UP A GAS STATION YOU UTTER DENSE FUCKING PILLOCK!!!” Blackheart roared. “Can you explain to me why we should ever grant you a driver’s license ever again? Why you should EVER be allowed to drive an automobile ever again? We’ve got DOZENS of incidents like this!”

“Because it was a golf cart I crashed, not a car,” Nolan replied, almost oblivious to how angry Blackheart was at him. He discovered pretty soon as Blackheart, losing his cool entirely, threw a chair. The chair went through a glass pane that a couple of investigators were standing behind.

“You don’t fucking get it, Jefferson,” Blackheart replied. “You drove an old woman into a body of water. You set a bullpen cart on fire and smashed it into a gas pump and almost blew the whole damn thing up. You drove a pickup truck down a sidewalk in downtown Surrey. You stole a teammate’s car and drove it into a public swimming pool. What’s your problem, man?”

“I don’t know,” Nolan replied.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:43 pm**

After three series in the WBC, the Nordic national baseball team is second in the group, with a 6-3 record. In the last series against Xanneria, the bats came alive in a nice little reminder of the way the Nordics used to play. Lets hope that this good run continues into the playoffs and beyond.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:47 pm**

Now And Forever

PART 6.1 (63.1) - Happy Me

The young passenger watching the Adelphi Line train, go from one stop to another, intricately looking at his fellow passengers of different ages and ethnicities, was other than our poor Asher Lundrigan. Dark-haired, crisply dressed, and clean-shaved, he looked at a bunch of twenty year olds and teenagers with hawkish eyes, staring at them impressively with his rectangular glasses, his average form looking rather impressive with a dress coat, a mahogany walking cane with circular diamond handle, and well-built legs that hid how little sensation Asher could feel from his toes.

These days, for a young man to reveal a his own business by wearing a tailcoat to the Underground would have been viewed as out of date or old-fashioned to his peer, for the age of informalities had continued somewhat into this period. Even his peers, many whom had lived in the Odeon district of Quebec City, on the other side of the rivalry, and had dreamed of poetry, music and illusions of lost dreams that were actually there all this time, would have scoffed at how the transportation and the clothes did not match one another.

But the man did not feel the particular need, nor did he care. Nowadays, at age twenty-six, Asher had little reasons to. Even now, the truth that he did not take the direct route. Asher, by all means, was of course aware of it, and the life paced according to the plans he had (even when they went wrong!), giving the man an unnecessarily large dose of satisfaction. When inviting him to deliver a reading session of his debut short story collection at the Ilmoodang Hall- located at the heart of Koreana District, where the nation’s leading youth movement with its own sports organisation here (OOC comment: see Maccabi Hatzair and Maccabi World Union), the Koreana Society, was hosted- the Selection Committee from Koreana Society had advised our dear protagonist to arrive half an hour in advanced, but Asher, like what you would expect of him already, decided to have five minute stops when changing lines between Adelphi and Koreana in a measure he thought would help himself.

In all fairness, the theme of his delays did fit the specific situation he was going to narrate and read it out at the section. As the Sports Editor at The Taegukgi, the nation's finest newspaper located in middle of the Zenith-St-Lazare district, where the arcades continued into the Prince Richard Hall and the Opera House, and you would sing yourself a line "l'heure avait sonne!" on an average afternoon. Widely regarded by many as one of the two key institutions of the Quebecois Korean language, which had meant a lot to not only the urbanites, but also the provincials whose respect for the institution had meant a lot. To be able to serve in a peculiar sense of servitude, no matter how difficult, was something he had prided upon.

Pride and arrogance coexists, he agreed to himself, as he slowly watched the rhythm of stoppage, resumption and stoppage finally end with his arrival at the Masson station, where he was due for a change to the Koreana Line that would take him to the College-Academie. Upon which, after turning around his head twice to the counterclock direction, Asher got off his seat, both his hands on the pocket, walked out of the car and into the grey, airy platform designed in the 1920s.
Masson station’s B3 floor concourse was materialised as he had always remembered them to be. The splatters of concrete covered the centuries-old bricks that were started to show their age after being part of the Underground system, and the shadows coexisted besides where the bright lights were. The air, with the ventilation system having undergone major refurbishment in the year 2034 (so thirteen years ago), was a perspiring young busker of his late teenage years, who was playing a popular hit track on the Quebecois charts sung by a Montreal friend of a Montreal friend of his, about five years ago.

Because we go in circles
Pick me up, let me down
Whatever works for you
We kept it lukewarm
Oh, so vanilla
Ooh, that's just what we do

Asher was feeling the power of the words, and at the same time, as he listened to the busker sing along and read a small sheet of paper, carefully cut from a magazine, Asher had always carried along with him at the back pocket of his tailcoat:

St. Croix Bleu et Blanc - Scouting Profile

#20 - Asher C. Lundrigan
Position: Catcher | Hometown: Kingston, Frontenac | Class: Senior
2042 Season Stats: 32 GP, 110 AB, 10 HR, 26 RBI, .331 AVG

Average sized but talented young prospect, Asher Lundrigan is likely the best catcher prospect in the Quebecois Intercollegiate Sports level. Excellent catcher with excellent arm, solid framing ability and powerful bats, he holds great potential as a power hitter in the QBO level. Unlikely to be selected in the First Stage, where the territorial stage means that both Kingston Blue Jays and Kingston Tigers will select Samuel Carlini-Mwambutsya and Gregory Reynolds-Walusimbi over Lundrigan, but he is still a very likely Second Stage, first round selection.

Of course that never happened. The potential that he held, which never lost its glitter, wasn't gifted to the right person with the right mindset.

Many people had tried to convince his mind, but nothing was going to change in the end. His mind was set, his body easing into the inevitable, and the nothing was going to be the same. The fifth-ranked collegiate prospect at the end of collegiate season didn't declare for the QBO Draft, because he knew it was best to give up on it than to risk being a medical liability. That's not how the young man wanted his name to be known in any form, especially in the world he was going to be separated only by a single degree from her, and all that he viewed as damning was not to be said at the time (in his opinion).

As he watched the busker move onto the chorus, with a couple of others wildly clapping to her country energy, Asher briefly wondered about wasted potentials. Did he know too much and too early? Maybe he did, and he may have acted on it unwisely so. Asher knew its power since that moment he had left his love behind in middle of a March Montrealais night. With his career limited at home, all had meant little until Asher would find himself limited.

But then it had meant little on long run. The area he had come to love, as his body’s sacrifice came with his special danger area in Korean language. Whatever the command he held in Korean, while passable enough to merit 16 out of 20 in his Baccalaureat Quebecois and to survive two rounds of half-an-hour interviews at Universite St. Croix’s Seonggyoongwan University College, Asher knew he wasn’t feeling at home with the language at the time, when he left Kingston for Quebec City. Once there, he sat down to the task of learning the language of the court, the Parliament, the intelligentsia, and the nightlife.

By twenty, at the end of his sophomore year, he was proficient enough to translate a sixteenth-century book of sonnets by Han Sang-Oh, the indigenous poet who spoke of nature ‘by the reeds and the trees’. By his senior year, he, with the aid of co-supervisors Profs. Isabel Jurado and Heo Dong-Soo, he was able to write a hundred-page dissertation on the Comparative Historiography of Quebecois and Banijan urbanists of the early-20th century. By the time he was able to confess the cause of his maladies, Asher could handle any topic with such eloquence, and was able to dream about the novel of neverending circles like how the great Novopetrogradian and Quebecois writer (the debate over whose national canon he belongs remains a great literary debate!) Rodion Akakhov had once written in his 1938 magnum Opus, Talent-Jaeneung, even as the struggles continued for him to find the culturally...central tone.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:56 pm**

Aaaand it's a wrap. In the mean time, let's play with fire. What could possible go wrong?

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 51

GROUP STAGE - SERIES 3 – GROUPS 6-10

Group 6

Game 1
Srednjaci                  1 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 2  9
Sannyamathland             0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 1  6

Quebec and Shingoryeo      4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  7
Marigred                   1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

The Fortem                 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 1 2 10
Nova Anglicana             0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 0  5

Game 2 
Srednjaci                  0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0  4
Sannyamathland             0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1  5

Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2
Marigred                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

The Fortem                 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0  6
Nova Anglicana             0 0 0 7 0 0 1 0 X  8

Game 3 
Srednjaci                  0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0  3
Sannyamathland             0 3 2 1 0 0 2 0 X  8

Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Marigred                   1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

The Fortem                 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 0  7
Nova Anglicana             0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 4  8

P Group 6                Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           9    8   1    57   44  +13     8
2 The Fortem               9    6   3    54   44  +10     6
3 Sannyamathland           9    4   5    49   51   −2     4
4 Quebec and Shingoryeo    9    3   6    30   33   −3     3
5 Marigred                 9    3   6    39   39    0     3
6 Srednjaci                9    3   6    39   57  −18     3

Group 7

Game 1 
Zwangzug                   0 1 0 3 1 0 3 0 0  8
Karditan                   0 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 0  7

HUElavia                   2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
BohemiaIV                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

TJUN-ia                    0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2  4
Tierra de Castro           0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 3  7

Game 2
Zwangzug                   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3  6
Karditan                   0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1  4

HUElavia                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
BohemiaIV                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2

TJUN-ia                    4 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 2 13
Tierra de Castro           2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Game 3
Zwangzug                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Karditan                   0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 X  3

HUElavia                   0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1  5
BohemiaIV                  0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3

TJUN-ia                    3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  5
Tierra de Castro           0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

P Group 7               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts  
1 TJUN-ia                 9    6   3    51   35  +16     6
2 Zwangzug                9    6   3    48   37  +11     6
3 HUElavia                9    5   4    33   29   +4     5
4 BohemiaIV               9    5   4    29   32   −3     5
5 Karditan                9    3   6    35   40   −5     3
6 Tierra de Castro        9    2   7    32   55  −23     2

Group 8

Game 1
St. Saratoga               1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  3
Sicoutimont                0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 X  5

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

Pratapgadh                 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Banija                     0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3  5

Game 2
St. Saratoga               2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0  5
Sicoutimont                0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2

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

Pratapgadh                 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Banija                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3  4

Game 3
St. Saratoga               1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  3
Sicoutimont                2 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 X  5

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

Pratapgadh                 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3  6
Banija                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1  3

P Group 8               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts  
1 South Newlandia         9    7   2    59   37  +22     7
2 Kohnhead                9    6   3    46   28  +18     6
3 Banija                  9    5   4    42   44   −2     5
4 Sicoutimont             9    3   6    31   44  −13     3
5 Pratapgadh              9    3   6    28   33   −5     3
6 St. Saratoga            9    3   6    37   57  −20     3

Group 9

Game 1
Quintessence of Dust       0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Hicaña                     1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 X  3

Chromatika                 0 0 1 3 1 1 1 0 0  7
The Sherpa Empire          0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  3

Bardney                    1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0  5
Qzvarkian Qaz              0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  3

Game 2
Quintessence of Dust       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Hicaña                     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Chromatika                 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
The Sherpa Empire          0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  4

Bardney                    0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0  6
Qzvarkian Qaz              0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2  4

Game 3
Quintessence of Dust       0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0  3
Hicaña                     0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Chromatika                 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Sherpa Empire          3 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 X  8

Bardney                    0 2 0 1 2 0 3 0 1  9
Qzvarkian Qaz              1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  4

P Group 9               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Bardney                 9    7   2    50   33  +17     7
2 Chromatika              9    6   3    43   41   +2     6
3 The Sherpa Empire       9    6   3    52   40  +12     6
4 Quintessence of Dust    9    4   5    45   44   +1     4
5 Hicaña                  9    2   7    25   39  −14     2
6 Qzvarkian Qaz           9    2   7    42   60  −18     2

Group 10

Game 1
Crilland                   1 0 1 1 1 3 0 1 0  8
Liventia                   0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  4

Aji No Moto                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Hampton Island             0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 X  5

Equestrian States          0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Anthor                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Game 2
Crilland                   2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  5
Liventia                   1 0 2 0 0 6 0 1 X 10

Aji No Moto                0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Hampton Island             0 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 X  6

Equestrian States          2 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0  7
Anthor                     1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0  4

Game 3
Crilland                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Liventia                   1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  2

Aji No Moto                1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Hampton Island             0 0 0 3 0 3 6 5 X 17

Equestrian States          2 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0  6
Anthor                     0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0  3

P Group 10		Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island          9    8   1    58   24  +34     8
2 Liventia                9    6   3    43   30  +13     6
3 Equestrian States       9    5   4    37   48  −11     5
4 Crilland                9    3   6    35   43   −8     3
5 Anthor                  9    3   6    38   42   −4     3
6 Aji No Moto             9    2   7    44   68  −24     2

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:28 pm**

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS EXTEND STREAK TO EIGHT

Game 7: Newmanistan 15, Abanhfleft 3

Bottom 2nd- Giovanni Perkinson RBI double, scoring Jarred Hartwick, who singled. (AFT 1, NEW 0)

Top 3rd- Nicole Hoskins RBI single, scoring Hannah Mitchell, who doubled. (AFT 1, NEW 1)

Top 6th- Nicole Hoskins singled to left, and advanced to second on Brianna Fitch’s sacrifice bunt. Brooke Sauter singled, scoring Hoskins. Jenna Schuster singled, Sauter to 3rd. Schuster stole second. Sierra McKinley hit 2-run double to left-center, scoring Sauter and Schuster. (That’s 3). Lexi Burrows hit 2-run HOME RUN to center. Nicole Larkin hit solo HOME RUN to left. (Up to six). Chelsea Harlow walked. Hannah Mitchell singled, Harlow to second. Nicole Hoskins doubled, scoring Harlow and Mitchell. (That’s 8). Brianna Fitch struck out. Brooke Sauter tripled to right, scoring Hoskins. Jenna Schuster doubled to left, scoring Sauter (That’s 10). Sierra McKinley hit 2-run HOME RUN to right. Lexi Burrows doubled. Nicole Larkin walked. Hannah Mitchell singled to left, scoring Burrows. Nicole Hoskins walked. Brianna Fitch struck out. (PS: If you’re keeping track, the pitcher, Fitch, made all three outs of the inning). (NEW 14, AFT 1)

Bottom 8th- Elroy Combs, 2-RBI double, scoring Hardwick and Parkinson. (NEW 14, AFT 3)

Top 9th- Kelsie Soto, RBI double, scoring Jessica McEwing, who singled. (NEW 15, AFT 3)

Pitching:
Brianna Fitch- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (W, 2-0)- Brianna was taken out after five innings due to the length of time the top of the sixth took.
Kathryn Riggins- 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Paige Bell- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Game 8: Newmanistan 12, Abanhfleft 7

Bottom 2nd: Jarred Hardwick, 2-run HOME RUN to center, scoring Yorge Freyas and H.K. Bansamun, each of whom singled. (AFT 2, NEW 0)

Top 5th: Nicole Hoskins struck out. Megan Reardon popped out weakly to first. Brooke Sauter reached on infield single. Sauter stole second and third. Jenna Schuster singled, scoring Sauter. Schuster stole second and third. Sierra McKinley doubled, scoring Schuster. Lexi Burrows doubled, scoring McKinley. Nicole Larkin hit 2-run HOME RUN to right. Chelsea Harlow hit solo HOME RUN to right. (NEW 6, AFT 2)

Top 6th: Nicole Hoskins, solo HOME RUN to left. (NEW 7, AFT 2)

Bottom 6th: Yorge Freyas, RBI double, scoring Kristopher Hine, who singled. (NEW 7, AFT 3)

Top 7th: Sierra McKinley walked. Lexi Burrows walked. Nicole Larkin hit 2-run double to left, scoring McKinley and Burrows. Chelsea Harlow singled to center, scoring Larkin. Nicole Hoskins flew out. Pinch hitter Amy Coyle doubled, scoring Harlow. (NEW 11, AFT 3)

Bottom 7th: Aedan Soto, solo HOME RUN. Doyle Rotz, two-run double, scoring Perkinson and Combs. (NEW 11, AFT 6).

Top 8th: Lexi Burrows solo HOME RUN (NEW 12, AFT 6)

Bottom 8th: Aedan Soto, RBI double, scoring Freyas, who singled. (NEW 12, AFT 7)

Pitching:
Megan Reardon (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) (W, 2-0)
Kristen Phillips (⅔ IP, 4H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)
Lauren Allen (⅓ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K)
Crystal Madden (1 IP, 2H, 1R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)
Tori Fuller (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K)

Game 9- Newmanistan 7, Abanhfleft 5

Top 1st- Brooke Sauter singled, then stole second and third. Jenna Schuster walked and stole second. Sierra McKinley flew out to left, scoring Sauter; Schuster to 3rd. Lexi Burrows flew out to right, scoring Schuster. (NEW 2, AFT 0)

Top 2nd- Chelsea Harlow singled, and advanced to second on Perkinson’s throwing error. Hannah Mitchell singled to right, scoring Harlow. Nicole Hoskins doubled, scoring Mitchell. (NEW 4, AFT 0)

Bottom 2nd- Doyle Rotz, 2-RBI double, scoring Perkinson and Combs. (NEW 4, AFT 2)

Bottom 3rd- H.K. Bansamun, solo HOME RUN to left. (NEW 4, AFT 3)

Bottom 7th- Jarred Hardwick, RBI double, scoring Bansamun, who singled. Giovanni Perkinson, RBI single, scoring Hardwick. (AFT 5, NEW 4)

Top 8th- Brooke Sauter singled, then stole second and third. Jenna Schuster, on squeeze play bunt, reached safely at first, scoring Sauter. Schuster stole second and third. Sierra McKinley flew out to center, scoring Schuster. (NEW 6, AFT 5)

Top 9th- Chelsea Harlow, RBI double, scoring Nicole Larkin, who singled. (NEW 7, AFT 5)

Pitching:
Julia Donaldson (6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)
Amanda Stinnett (1 IP, 3H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) (W, 1-0)
Lauren Allen (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)
Tori Fuller (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) (S, 2)

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:27 pm**

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

Another series, another 2-1 series win for Chromatika. A series win at Sherpa? That's a surprise. Let's review:

Chromatika                 0 0 1 3 1 1 1 0 0  7
The Sherpa Empire          0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  3
Pitchers: J. St. Augustine 6 IP, 2 ER, W (1-0); T. Savant 3 IP, 1 ER

Chromatika                 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
The Sherpa Empire          0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  4
Pitchers: M. Savey 8 IP, 3 ER, ND; O. Bier 3 IP, W (2-0); H. Salle 1 IP, 1 Save (4)

Chromatika                 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Sherpa Empire          3 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 X  8
Pitchers: S. Han 3.1 IP, 6 ER, L (1-1); C. Bennett 0.2 IP; V. Beux 2 IP, 2 ER; T. Savant 2 IP

Game 1: St. Augustine vs. Akunjee. Duster with a solo homer, Moyamoto with three runs batted in. St. Augustine went six strong innings before letting Savant take over. Shocking.

Game 2 went eleven innings, with Savey and Zhuang going head to head. Gammond struck first with a solo shot and Duster added a two-run single in the sixth. Sherpa would answer with a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh from Kumar. The Chromatik bats kept Sherpa busy, but Chung would get out of a few jams. In the eleventh, Divekar was met by Duster, who would hit the solo home run for the lead; Hine Salle did the rest.

In Game 3, Sherpa attacked Han mercilessly from the beginning, chasing him off the mound in three innings. The Amateurs were good enough to not be shut out, but a sweep was out of the question with Sachdeva showing up.

Chromatika next hosts the Quintessence of Dust, a nation they've become quite used to in the last few Classics. The pitchers will be de Witt, Angelou, and St. Augustine.

Pitching Staff:
Starters:
H. Angelou: 2 Starts, 16 IP, 4 ER, (1-0), 1 ND
J. St. Augustine: 2 Starts, 10.1 IP, 9 ER, (1-0), 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: 1 Start, 4.2 IP, 5 ER, (0-1)

Bullpen:
B. Castreaux: 4.1 IP, 0 ER
O. Bier: 6.2 IP, 0 ER, (2-0)
V. Beux: 2 IP, 2 ER
T. Savant: 5 IP, 1 ER
C. Bennett: 0.2 IP, 0 ER
J. Edward, Jr.: 2 IP, 2 ER, (0-1)
H. Salle: 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 Saves

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:24 pm**

Le Choix vs. Cassadaigua @ Dragon Island Arena, Masmow, Dragon Island, South Newlandia (Cap. 4,500)

Game 1: Luc Boutroux was tagged by Kessler's two-run home run in the first, which set the tone. Though he recovered and played much better in the middle innings, Ashfield pitched the Dagans past The Chosen for the victory.

Game 2: Ouch. Éloïse Lebas didn't stand a chance. Next?

Game 3: Once again, The Chosen manage to trip up a contender. Saint-Yves goes eight innings strong, Raynaud got another big swing, and Le Choix somehow got through another series with at least one victory.

Pitchers vs. Drawkland: RHP Josée Lahaye, LHP Roseline Gide, RHP William Arceneaux

Partie 1
Partie 2
Prologue 1
Synopsis 1

True (Blue) Version:

After Danielle Thoreau finds that the wailer demon that she killed was actually mechanical in nature, she is accosted by two grunts, smaller demons whom the populace had been taught were the ones who dragged the sinners to the Great Death and beyond. They also turned out to be mechanical constructs, all being set to turn on those who entered this place. The scariest thing? Even the most mediocre of Chosen would be able to stop two grunts and a wailer. Which meant that she was supposed to win this time. Which meant that this was all a game.

She stuck to the main road, trying to find some sign of a way outside of this hellscape, but one couldn't be found. She then decided to go check out one of the marked places on the map. Along the way, she ran into two more grunts that she dispatched with ease, but could not find a single other person who was also in this crazy place. What was this place? Why did it exist?

When she found the X on the map... She was surprised by what she found. It was a shelter of sorts, with food and weapons for a few days. Did they want her to survive? It made no sense.

Given the opportunity to rest, she took it.

Chosen (Black) Version:

Having been saved by the glory of The Chosen's faith, Dannielle Thoreau was confronted by two grunts, demons that usually dragged the sinners to the Great Death and beyond. Once again, before she could be taken, a divine light shone around her and struck them down. It was becoming more and more apparent that she was someone that The Chosen intended to survive. Her mere touch were striking these demons down.

Feeling a bit woozy due to the sheer amount of power being siphoned from her, she decided to follow the main road toward one of the marked X's on the map, spurned on by belief that she had been selected by The Chosen to do far more. It was still a forsaken place of evil, but she had hope.

When she found the X on the map, she wasn't surprised at all by what she found - a holy shelter, a place to center herself and prepare for the journey ahead.

Given the opportunity to rest, she took it.

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 3:46 am**

(Provisional) box scores as posted on the TalkBaseball.qd website. Because the spoiler tags do not allow characters such as ñ, Hicana are referred to be their gameside name, but we encouraged the people of Hicaña to rise up and join the Græntfjallers in their war against typographical fascism.


                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       5   0   1   0   0   1   0  .281   1   3
N. Hisakawa SS         4   0   1   0   1   1   3  .188   2   5
Y. Hanazawa 2B         5   0   1   0   0   1   2  .222   1   1
T. Kaufer 1B           4   0   0   0   0   0   1  .000   0   0
B. Wilson LF           3   0   0   0   1   0   1  .308   1   4
K. Lin 3B              3   1   1   0   1   0   1  .555   1   5
L. Phelps C            4   0   1   1   0   0   1  .536   2   4
M. Kawakami P          3   0   2   0   0   0   0  .400   0   0
  J-N. Boudreaux P     0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–S. Borgþórsson PH  1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .238   1   7
T. Brøndum RF          3   0   0   0   1   1   2  .000   0   0

a–S. Borgþórsson pinch-hit for J-N. Boudreaux in the 9th

Doubles: K. Lin (1, 2nd inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: K. Lin 2, M. Kawakami 2, L. Phelps, N. Hisakawa, I. Gennarelli, Y. Hanazawa
2-out RBI: L. Phelps
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: N. Hisakawa 2, T. Brøndum, Y. Hanazawa
Sac Bunt: M. Kawakami
Team LOB: 8

BASERUNNING
SB: I. Gennarelli (2)

FIELDING
Errors: B. Wilson (1)

                        IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
M. Kawakami (L 0 – 1)  6.0  5   3   3   0   5   2  85  56 4.50
J-N. Boudreaux         2.0  1   0   0   0   4   0  34  21 0.00

Game score: M. Kawakami 53
Batters faced: M. Kawakami 24, J-N. Boudreaux 9
Ground outs – fly outs: M. Kawakami 8 – 5, J-N. Boudreaux 0 – 3
WP: J-N. Boudreaux
Hit batsperspons: J-N. Boudreaux


                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       5   0   0   0   0   3   4  .243   1   3
N. Hisakawa SS         5   0   2   1   0   1   0  .216   2   6
R. Harris LF           5   0   0   0   0   2   3  .231   0   2
S. Akerström 3B        3   0   1   0   0   0   0  .476   3   7
  b–T. Kaufer PH       1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  M. Ryan P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
B. Wilson RF           4   0   0   0   0   1   0  .267   1   4
S. Borgþórsson 1B      4   1   1   0   0   1   0  .240   1   7
L. Phelps C            3   1   1   1   1   2   0  .516   3   5
H. Fujimori P          2   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–N. Kivimäki PH     1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .333   0   1
  A. Lacroix P         0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  C. Young P           0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  K. Lin 3B            1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .600   1   5
Y. Hanazawa 2B         4   0   1   0   0   0   3  .226   1   1

a–N. Kivimäki pinch-hit for H. Fujimori in the 8th
b–T. Kaufer pinch-hit for S. Akerström in the 10th

Doubles: S. Borgþórsson (2, 11th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home runs: L. Phelps (3, 8th inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: L. Phelps 4, S. Borgþórsson 2, N. Hisakawa 2, S. Akerström, Y. Hanazawa, K. Lin
2-out RBI: L. Phelps, N. Hisakawa
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: R. Harris 2
Team LOB: 4
GIDP: B. Wilson

BASERUNNING
CS: N. Hisakawa (1)

FIELDING
Errors: R. Harris (1)
Double plays: 1 (Hanazawa – Hisakawa – Borgþórsson)

                    IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
H. Fujimori        7.0  1   1   1   1   3   1  79  57  1.29
A. Lacroix         1.0  1   0   0   0   0   0   7   5  0.00
C. Young           1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0   9   5  0.00
M. Ryan W (2 – 0)  2.0  2   0   0   0   0   3  31  21  0.00

Game score: H. Fujimori 74
Batters faced: H. Fujimori 23, A. Lacroix 3, C. Young 3, M. Ryan 8
Ground outs – fly outs: H. Fujimori 4 – 14, A. Lacroix 1 – 1, C. Young 2 – 0, M. Ryan 3 – 0


                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       4   0   0   0   1   2   2  .220   1   3
N. Hisakawa SS         4   1   1   0   1   1   0  .220   2   6
R. Harris LF           5   0   0   0   0   1   3  .194   0   2
S. Akerström 3B        4   0   1   1   1   0   0  .440   3   8
B. Wilson RF           3   1   2   1   1   1   1  .303   2   5
S. Borgþórsson 1B      4   0   0   0   0   2   5  .207   1   7
L. Phelps C            4   1   2   0   0   0   1  .514   3   5
W. Lei P               2   0   1   0   0   0   1  .250   0   0
  a–T. Kaufer PH       1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  M. Murphy P          0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–T. Brøndum PH      1   0   1   1   0   0   0  .100   0   1
  C. Mao P             0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  M. Ryan P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
Y. Hanazawa 2B         4   0   1   0   0   1   1  .229   1   1

a–T. Kaufer pinch-hit for W. Lei in the 7th
b–T. Brøndum pinch-hit for M. Murphy in the 8th

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

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

FIELDING
Errors: Y. Hanazawa (2), R. Harris (2)

                      IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
W. Lei               6.0  3   1   1   0   2   1  75  53  1.50
M. Murphy W (1 – 0)  1.0  1   0   0   0   3   0  24  13  0.00
C. Mao H (1)         1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0  10   8  0.00
M. Ryan SV (1)       1.0  1   0   0   0   1   0  16   9  0.00

Game score: W. Lei 64
Batters faced: W. Lei 23, M. Murphy 5, C. Mao 4, M. Ryan 4
Ground outs – fly outs: W. Lei 9 – 7, M. Murphy 0 – 1, C. Mao 0 – 2, M. Ryan 1 – 1
WP: M. Murphy
Hit batspersons: C. Mao

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:06 am**

Flashback to before the WBC

This Londinium Challenge Invitational promised to be a doozy. Not only would there be a rematch between Nova Anglicana and Cassadaigua, but 3rd-ranked and champion several times over Newmanistan would be joining the party. Not to mention that Quintessence of Dust had made their return to WBC play and had gotten slotted in as the best unranked team from WBC 50. And they were all descending on Londinium.

Female baseballers from across the nation of all ages were buying tickets to see Cassadaigua. Some people came to see the spectacle of the moonmen and moonwomen of QoD. Baseball diehards wanted to see Newmanistan in action. And then, of course, there were just plain old fans of Nova Anglicana baseball. Not to mention the foreign fans who made the trip. All in all, 35,000 seat Archbishop Stadium would be packed to the gills for every game. To the sub-Ministry of Sport, it promised to be the best LCI yet.

For manager Mark Singleton, it was going to be a test, for sure, but he wasn't going to hype it up quite yet. He was going to be debuting a somewhat new lineup and new rotation and decided to pitch backwards. He would start Rex Boyd, Christian Hammond, and Rocky Gantt, his 3-5 starters, in the group stage, and reserve his top two starters for the "playoff" series. If they needed to go three games, Jonathan Drake, the current fireman, was a starter with a rubber arm, so he could pitch in the group stage and still be ready for a third game in the playoff series if necessary. In his lineup, he was going to start all of his catchers once in the group stage, to see what they had, then roll with Hughes for the playoff series, as he was going to be the WBC starter. He wanted to get his two young infielders a start each in the group stage, as well as Cliff Garner in left. They might not have been the optimal guys, but he needed to know he could rely on them. And of course, Dusty Davidson, his super-utility guy, was going to get at least one start in these six games.

They could win anywhere from zero to five games, but by God, he was going to learn something about this team.

Quintessence of Dust      0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Newmanistan               1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 X  4

Nova Anglicana            0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 1  6
Cassadaigua               1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0  5

Newmanistan               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Cassadaigua               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Quintessence of Dust       0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana            12 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 X 17

Nova Anglicana            0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0  4
Newmanistan               0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  3

Cassadaigua               0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4  7
Quintessence of Dust      0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  4

LCI                       Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD  Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana            3   3  0   27  10 +17    9
2 Cassadaigua               3   2  1   13  10  +3    6
3 Newmanistan               3   1  2    7   7   0    3
4 Quintessence of Dust      3   0  3    8  28 −20    0

Championship Series
Cassadaigua               0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 2  8
Nova Anglicana            0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 0  6

Cassadaigua leads series 1-0

Championship Series
Nova Anglicana            0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Cassadaigua               1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 X  4

Cassadaigua wins series 2-0

3rd Place Series
Quintessence of Dust      0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0  4
Newmanistan               3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 X  5

Newmanistan leads series 1-0

3rd Place Series
Newmanistan               0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 0  5
Quintessence of Dust      0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  3

Newmanistan wins series 2-0

So what had manager Mark Singleton learned about his team? Well, in game one, the first of three against Cassadaigua, Rex Boyd had bounced back admirably from giving up three runs in the first three innings courtesy of Tori Fullerton and Steffi Kennedy. In innings four through six, he'd struck out four and conceded no hits, walking only one. Still, Singleton lifted him for the seventh. Time to see what the bullpen could do. On came Justin Chandler, one of the new guys. Superheated fastball and a great slider, but he probably could have used a third pitch. The Dagans jumped on him, scoring two runs on three hits in the inning. Just like that, the Lions were 5-2 down. Brianna Shirley had pitched very well through seven, giving up only two runs, and with a three-run cushion, she came back out for the eighth.

Erik Austin led off, and drew a walk. Singleton smiled. That was why Erik was his leadoff guy, despite being a first baseman. Luke Mills smashed the first pitch he saw past a diving Macy Hamel at third, and suddenly it was runners on third and second with none down. Shirley got Joey Keller to fly out, scoring one, but getting the out. When Jerome Duplantier struck out, it looked like Shirley was going to survive. But then she hung a changeup to Pierre Duchesne. Duchesne swung and missed a lot, but he did not miss hangers. He blasted it well into the bleachers in left, tying the game at five and chasing Shirley. In a tie ballgame, Singleton waved in Jon Klein, the heavy sinkerballer, and he did his job, getting three Dagans to pound the ball into the ground to end the inning. Cassadaigua manager Maddie Polanco brought on closer Becca Fischer, figuring if she could get through the inning, the Dagans could win it in the bottom half.

Up first was Nolan Dunning. The speedy, slap-hitting second baseman decided to drag bunt, and he was just quick enough to beat the throw. One on. Hank Oliver, the defense and speed maven, was hitting next, and Dusty Davidson was on deck. Fischer threw the kitchen sink at Oliver, and he fouled them all off. After an eleven pitch at-bat, Oliver coaxed a walk. Everyone in the ballpark was expecting a bunt from Davidson, but they were surprised when he faked it and Singleton ordered a double steal. It was an incredibly risky move, but Dunning and Oliver were the two fastest guys on the team. It wouldn't have worked but for the fact that Oliver got a great jump when Hamel was creeping in for the bunt. Rachel Kessler got over to the bag as quick as she could, but she was a bit too late, and with Dunning safe at third, Oliver moved up easily. Now the pressure was on. Infield in, Fischer trying to keep the ball as low as she could to prevent a sac fly. But Davidson was a wily veteran, and he managed to poke a low and outside pitch high in the air to right. It was a close thing, but Dunning beat the throw from Kennedy and the tag from Thompson. 6-5, Lions. To her credit, Fischer didn't wilt. She got Austin to ground out to Sorenston at second, then induced a harmless pop up from Mills. In the bottom of the ninth, Christian Norton was the new Lions closer. He threw hard and threw all of his four pitches, working around a leadoff single to get the Fillies to succumb. Afterwards, the crowd stood and applauded both teams for a performance worthy of the WBC championship series.

What did he learn from the other games? He'd learned that he didn't like seeing self-serving politicians looking raptured as "Jesus Shall Reign" played at the beginning of the games, when the cameras were on them, and then leaving before the game was half done. Singleton was a good Anglican, and thought of himself as independent-minded on politics, but if a politician disrespected baseball, they weren't getting his vote. As far as Quintessence of Dust, his new starter Christian Hammond had looked very good, using his three pitches and even working on his changeup as he gave up just two runs in a complete game effort. But Singleton thought "moon lag" was more likely to have been the reason the Lions battered Mayumi Kawakami and a succession of relief pitchers for seventeen runs. Kawakami was pulled after one turn through the lineup, having gotten one out and given up five runs. He wasn't going to put much stock in that. It was an easy game for his guys, and he emptied his bench by the end, but these kinds of games were a total fluke. Against Newmanistan, he was pleased that Rocky Gantt went seven and gave up three. Gantt had gotten some spot starting work in WBC 50, but he was definitely going to be needed in the rotation for 51. The new kid, Satterfield, the one who always seemed to be too loud for the moment, had come up with a big two-run hit in the eighth, giving the Lions the 4-3 win and wrapping up the group stage undefeated. His team was pretty good, though relying on hitting late wasn't exactly the way he wanted to win. In any case, the Dagans had defeated both the Rockets and QoD, shutting out Newmanistan and getting four runs in the 10th to beat the moon-dwellers, so they would be the Lions' championship opponents.

Maybe he'd been a little hasty in leaving Cory Sharpe and Erik Russell until the end. Sharpe gave up four runs in the third, beginning with a rally from the bottom half of the Dagan lineup, and he looked a little shaky. But he recovered to give them four more shutout innings with five Ks. Singleton could handle six shutout innings and one hiccup, provided that hiccup wasn't four runs every time. The Lions struck back in the fourth, with Nolan Dunning hitting a bases-clearing triple to tie the score at four. But steady Jon Klein gave up two runs in the eighth when his sinker didn't sink enough, and Macy Hamel whacked a homer to put the Fillies up 6-4. The Lions rallied once more against Becca Fischer, and they might have won the game if Steffie Kennedy's throw didn't nail the runner at home to end the inning and preserve the tie. But Christian Norton spoiled it, giving up three hits and a walk for two runs, and it might have been more if Dallas Hawkins hadn't bailed him out.

Game two of the championship series wasn't terribly competitive. Russell pitched well through four, only allowing four baserunners and one run, but lost it in the fifth. He walked the eighth-place hitter Kaitlin Beane, and after a sacrifice from the pitcher, gave up a single to Katie Stephens. Stephens promptly stole second on Curtis Hughes and Rachel Kessler singled both runners home, making it 3-2 Fillies. After he struck out Tori Fullerton, Macy Hamel sent one into the seats in left-center, making it 5-2. Singleton threw his plans to the wind and sent out Drake to try to keep the score close. He'd use Spencer and the rest of the bullpen in game three if they won. Drake pitched three solid innings, but Hannah Phelan continued to pitch well, and Fischer vanquished her demons, closing the Lions down in the ninth.

Singleton drew the obvious conclusion: The Dagans were the true foes. Their 4/5 starters had held their own with his 1/2 starters and they'd won both games. If a third championship series in four WBCs was in the cards, Singleton's team would have its hands full.

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:14 am**

Nine matches into a 30-match qualifying campaign is still too early to take serious stock in where a team is, in particular one that is expected to challenge for a World Baseball Classic championship.

But for manager Geoff Yancey and the fifth ranked Sarzonian national baseball team, they have won eight of their nine matches so far, with the only defeat coming in an away series to the second highest ranked team in their group. The Stars still took two of three from Tikariot in the series and sit one match clear of them for top position in the Group 2 tables.

So far, the Stars pitching staff have been the biggest source of success for the Stars. They've allowed 16 runs in nine matches, the fewest of any team in the competition. They're level with Quintessence of Dust for 20th in runs scored, so it's definitely been the pitching staff that has carried the day for the Stars.

"We've gotten strong performances all up and down the pitching staff," Yancey said. "I'm a hitting coach by trade, but if it works, who am I to question it?"

Group 1 table toppers Hapilooper may have an undefeated record at 9-0 and Groups 3 and 4 trend-setters Cassadaigua and Newmanistan, respectively may have a higher run differential at plus-31 to Sarzonia's plus-29, but ace starter Jeff Parrish doesn't care about any of that.

"Right now, we're doing what we need to do in our group," he said. "We've got another away series coming up against Devonta before we get a break.

After the break, the Stars host unranked Britland Isles before traveling to Barnettsville, where the pitchers will have to hit since the Blue Jays do not employ the DH at home. Brinkley has been working on his defence at first base, but Yancey said he will not use him there unless it's absolutely necessary.

"Look, if we play extra innings or we get some guys hurt, I may have to put [Brinkley] out there, but I'm trying to make sure we don't do that unless it's an important series. We need his bat, but we also want our defence to keep doing what it's been doing."

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:52 am**

Game 1: TJUN-ia (9) 4-7 Tierra de Castro (UR) (TDC lead series 1-0)
The first road series of WBC51 took the Battin' Jags to the Socialist Paradise of unranked Tierra de Castro and their sparkling Centro Nacional de Béisbol. Davis Johnson would start TJUN-ia's first series in which DH Killian O'Mally would be required while Los Castrollanos would be relying on Orlando Tenorio as El Zorro himself (Head Coach Hector Chicote) was looking for his 2nd ever win as head coach of this team. This age wouldn't really get going until the 4th as the hosts got a run to the roar of the crowd in attendance here. TJUN-ia would fight back with a run in back-to-back innings but the lead would be retaken by the hosts, the experienced Santi Cazalla sending a deep ball out to give the crowd hope of the upset at the Centro Nacional. They would get another run in the 7th and while TJUN-ia tied the game up at the top of the 9th through an Angel Enrique homer (finally), Xavier Ureña (also known as El Ladrón) would walk off the upset by his own bat, giving Castro's Land their 2nd WBC win since their return and gave the Jags the 3rd loss to their name.

Game 2: TJUN-ia (9) 13-3 Tierra de Castro (UR) (Series tied 1-1)
Clearly, Phillip Hellas-Verona was angry and that would show in Game 2, with the duel between Gene Almac and Alberto Céspedes not even being allowed to run for more than 4 innings. Sure, Almac allowed an 2-run bomb by Eduardo Ciceron in the 1st but that would not compare to the 2 Grand Slams Céspedes allowed, one by Bryce Calhoun and the other by Matoko Kagawa, which saw him leave the game entirely in favour of ‘Dizzy’ Benito Campos. Campos was known for a wacky knuckleball that was hard to predict and as such, the scoring dried up for a while as the 20-year-old rookie tangoed with the experienced Almac for the rest of the game. The win was basically already secured at 8-2 entering the 8th but 3 homers would certainly cap off this contest: a 3-run bomb by DH O'Mally, a solo response by 'El Ladrón’ Xavier Ureña and a 2-run bomb by Pedro Moires in the top of the 9th to cap off this 13-3 contest.

Game 3: TJUN-ia (9) 5-2 Tierra de Castro (UR) (TJU won series 2-1)
With the series tied up, Jose Almas would square off against Benjamin ‘Benji’ Arboleda for the glory that has become so familiar to baseball fans across TJUN-ia. In reality, this contest was over before it even began and that was made clear in the 1st inning as Steven Fulmer finally popped up for a 3-run bomb to deliver a lead the Jags wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. It was that simple and showed how good we really are, despite losing 1 game in each series so far. Group 7 as a whole is very tight and with an important series in New Washington against BohemiaIV up next, it will be crucial that more games are won for the sake of our campaign. 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
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S5: @Zwangzug (12) - Worm Hole, Spenson
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

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:58 am**

The Grande Mountain Huskies were not expected to win the Cassadagan Baseball League championship last year, but they were able to pull it off, doing so with a mostly homegrown lineup. They had seen and heard all of the big signings from overseas that were going on, but they never went out and made a big splash. The Huskies did add a couple people though, but know that they need to keep improving in order to maintain their position at the top of the league for next season. After Drawkland had left Concord Heights for the trip back to Sonnel, Grande Mountain General Manager Kaitlyn Foster decided that she would go to Drawk City instead of worrying about the Le Choix series, as there was no point in scouting those players.

Foster was told by one of her scouts to, “look for Taylor Smart. Talk to her. She’s the best player on that team, and plays a position of need for us. Imagine having a player of her ability in our lineup, especially with her size.” Foster had always wondered why Drawkish players did not excel more in baseball, given their height advantages, and perhaps with the right coaching in Grande Mountain, something that she might not get in Drawkland in the same way, she could get a little more on Taylor.

Kaitlyn did not make it in time for the first game, but was able to be there for the second. The stands at the Hydrogen Cyanide Field were full, so Foster would not be able to be that close to the field in order to watch the game, though anything was better than nothing. She took her seat, which was behind a group of Drawkish fans which were about two feet taller than her, so she did not have great visibility of the game. Not that it would be a huge concern, as she was only there to watch one player, and didn’t really care about the game itself, though she would use this opportunity to see if she noticed anything about the players from Hannasea, a country that has brought people to the CBL already. After struggling to watch the second game, Foster was able to get seats in the first row of the second level for the third game. At least now, she wouldn’t have huge people in front of her, and could watch Taylor Smart a lot more, to get a much better look at her.

This was much better, even if she was on the other side of the field. At least she would be able to watch the game in an unobstructed manner. It had not been a great series for the home side, and Foster could tell that the fans here were getting very antsy about the performance of the team, but it didn’t matter to her. She wasn’t worried about the score, or even if Smart went 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, it would be how Taylor went about it. In the second inning, one of her scouts sent her a text message saying that they had arranged a meeting earlier in the day for her and Taylor to get together and talk about her interest in possibly signing with Grande Mountain if Foster was interested in signing her. Kaitlyn wanted to make the signing, seeing Smart as a good player, perhaps just needing better coaching that she could get in Cassadaigua. Foster acknowledged the text, and figured out where the meeting point was, and would leave after the 7th inning to get a jump on traffic.

That evening, Foster had the terms of the contract ready to present to Smart, and made her way to the hotel’s meeting room that had been agreed upon. Foster was surprised to see a man sitting at a desk on his phone in the meeting room, but figured it was just a guest of the hotel and would not say anything to him until Taylor arrived. Foster and the man said hello to one another as she entered, but more as a courtesy greeting to acknowledge one another’s presence in the same space. The man seemed very eager to talk and was about to approach Foster, making Kaitlyn wonder if she was going to be hit on or something. He was young and good looking after all, although her preference would have been for him not to have the long ponytail. She was married, anyway. Eventually, he stopped the stare and confused look about Kaitlyn’s inaction after the greeting, Minutes ticked away, and Kaitlyn began to wonder if she had the right meeting point. The man began to get antsy, thinking the same thing, and as a couple more minutes ticked away, they seemed to notice that the other was getting equally antsy. The man would get up first, and walked over to Foster, asking, “Are you Kaitlyn Foster?”

Foster looked at him, somewhat confused but said that she was. “Oh it’s nice to meet you, I’m Taylor. Taylor Smart.” Foster was a little startled but immediately got up out of her seat to shake his hand. It was an awkward start, but Foster was able to save face enough. After this beginning, the expected discussion about playing in Grande Mountain meeting.

Afterwards, Foster and her head scout had the following text exchange, “Why didn’t you tell me Taylor was a guy?”

“Taylor is a guy?”

“I know you get paid to scout baseball talent, but I assume you can get the gender right.”

“Sorry, he does have a long ponytail. And his name is Taylor. Who names their son, Taylor?”

“I suppose. And Taylor can be a boy’s name sometime. Moreso in other countries, not in Cassadaigua.”

“Yeah, I guess, sorry, I should have realized it though. Did things go okay, afterward?”

“Yeah, other than waiting 10 minutes in the meeting room with him alone and not doing something because I expected a woman, it was okay. Good talk, we might get his name on the dotted line.”

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:29 am**

Tri-Reds Player Charges Bardney Pitcher: A Breakdown
Excerpt from http://www.jimbomedia.xan

(OOC: Yes this is a Jomboy parody, please read it in his voice!)

Hey guys! It's World Baseball classic 51 and we had a doozy yesterday between the old antiquated Bardney National Team and the Qzvarkian Qaz mercenary team. It's tied at four all in the 6th inning of game three series between a team of antiquated racist and a team of mercenaries who don't care they play in front of slaves, it's like Greg is back!

QQZ is up to bat in the 4th, it's Dieter Schleiber up to bat versus Kermit Connelly, the Dartford Flash!

Connelly throws one inside and it's called a strike, he seems to yell something at Schleiber though, maybe something about him crowding the plate maybe he called him fermented cabbage, you can't tell from this angle other than Kermit pointing at him.

Connelly throws one and it's fouled off

He throws another one and it's inside, I think he's trying to tempt fate with Schleiber here.

And here's a third inside pitch and Dieter is charging. Supposedly the Bardneyy media say Connelly could have been a bate knuckle boxer but
those have been against modern athletes eiher. Hter charges Scleiber,. Connelly's probably used to his opponent running out of breath before getting to the mound.

And there's the brawl you see some of the Bardley players don't want any thing of it, they're probably to afraid as you see a, yet other have their fisticuffs out ready to pounce!

And Boom! there go's some of Schleiber's teeth, you see Connelly's got a black eye and

And the Umps finally get it together Connelly and Schlieber are ejected, Connelly has a black eye and still wanted to pitch afterwards, I guess the team doctor would have given him some Mark Taylor. Schleiber on the other hand is down a few teeth and has a bloodied mouth

And if you to get in on the action of WBC Betting go follow our sponsor draftmonarchs.xan! Codeword JIMBO

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:57 am**

An interview with Sarah Strongarm, pitcher of the Kriegiersien Baseballteam and the Grande Mountain Huskies.

Miss Armstrong...

"Just Strongarm."

Errr. Yes, sorry. You won the championship in Cassadaigua with your team. A big surprise. And you were not even 19. You are the most successful Kriegiersien player with that already and one of the few abroad. What comes next?

“Oh, we were only 6th after the regular season. In the play-offs we had many moments were it was very close. So, there is much left for improvement. And now of course I want to win the World Baseball Classic.”

Do you think the Kriegiersien team is good enough?

With the Huskies we had already won the group stage here. With the Kriegiersien team it is a challenge. Even with Leon [Prince]. There is quality in the team, but also much room for improvement.

You and Leon Prince are already called the future of Kriegiersien baseball.

Well, he is really a good hitter and pretty fast for his weight. Not much in his head, but great player.

Wouldn’t you like to play with him in Kriegiersien again?

No, thanks. I played in Kriegiersien in the Isles League, I nearly degenerated there…

A minor league. You had over 60 strikeouts in a row there…

It was so boring, I even played only in the field at some time to make the matches more interesting….no, I am pretty happy to play in Cassadaigua, everything is better there. I would prefer to win the Classics here with the Huskies.

But then it would be a win for Cassadaigua, not Kriegiersien.

I don’t care, I just want to win this thing.

You missed two of the home matches…

I wasn’t allowed to come to the stadium if not naked. I don’t want to do that. At the Isles I never had to run around naked. And surely not in Cassadaigua. These rules are stupid. But they now found a ‘loop hole’ so that I can play at home without undressing outside.

So, hopefully after going 1-2 against South Americanastan and Squidroidia we now will see some more wins?

I would be disappointed if we don’t increase our stats.

To Leon Prince again. How do you two come along?

He has a hitting quote of nearly 20% against me. So he is pretty good.

But you two have no connections outside the game?

Hell, no.

Well, thank you for the interview and good luck.

I’ll take it.

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:10 am**

-------- settled gently onto the pavement of an empty lot somewhere in the vicinity of Nashville, Ranoria. The local people would have certainly seen and heard the ship as it came down. It was large, its engines were loud (especially when maneuvering at low altitudes), and there was a glow from the engines. The ship opened its hatch and unloaded the machines who were planning to go aground, both the baseball team who would be playing against the Krauts and a couple of others who just wanted to look around.

They found their way to Cardinal Auditorium without too much trouble, and they had fun with the fans during the time that was set aside for warm-ups. The 189 didn't take warm-ups too seriously, since things like stretches served no purpose for a team of machines. They still did some fielding exercises and things like that, which were more fun to watch for the people who arrived at the park early, and also served a practical purpose getting a feel for the texture of the ground and the dimensions of this particular ballpark.

The local children thought it was fun to climb on ---------- or -------- and let the machines carry them around. However, the local men seemed totally unreceptive to -------- and --------'s flirting.

Soon enough it was time to play ball. The game was an intense pitcher's duel in which a solo homer by -------- was the only score.

Unfortunately, that was the only game the 189 won in Ranoria. The other two games of the series, the Ranorian bats came alive and the 189 could not keep up offensively.

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:16 am**

Selection of articles from Hannasean news media.

Pre-MD7: Mathis call-up divides opinion

Post-MD7: Choughs pinch game behind Morris’s arm as Mathis returns to form

Post-MD8: Bell leads Choughs to series win

Post-MD9: Choughs blow chance at sweep

If Drawkland considers any of my wild godmoding beyond the pale he can ignore it.

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:34 am**

We are back in the studios of Tikariot Sports TV, but in a different area of the WBC setup. There are two podiums set up, one decked in red, the other in black, with a logo on the big screen in the background.

On the right side, outlined in red, a rather diminutive man in his 60s, a chock full of white hair to the shoulders, black rimmed glasses, on the left side, outlined in black, a tall, square man, bald, gold earring, black sunglasses. The man to the right speaks first.

Blake Church: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Tikariot Sports TV's newest show, Church vs. State. I'm Blake Church and my colleague over here is Charles State.

Charles State: Good evening from me as well. Our show will take a hot topic in Tikariotian sports and we will engage in a likely lively debate and you can participate. Send your opinions to our Twii.tur @churchvsstate and join in the conversation!

Blake Church: Tonight in our first square off we have the World Baseball Classic that will be held here in Tikariot and South Newlandia and one of the hottest tournaments happening right now and the topic is how many nations should advance from the group stages.

In the WBC we have ten groups of six teams each, with the top three and best fourth-placed team advancing into a Group of 32, for or against, State?

Charles State: Against, Church. I get it, every nation wants to get to the knock-out stages, it's a big achievement, but if you have half the group going through, or more, you just water it down and it doesn't make it that special anymore.

Blake Church: I see. Well, I will argue that with more qualification spots available, there will be more effort in the group stages until the end, because more teams will be able to qualify and therefore the level of competitiveness will rise.

Charles State: While I do see your point, Church, this is the pinnacle of baseball, the Holy Grail. It should be the best versus the best and being all inclusive just does not represent that. Sure, some teams will be eliminated fairly early, but let's be honest, a team that just casually skims through the group stages with lackadaisical play should not be rewarded by still being able to advance, despite half-assing the competition.

Blake Church: Well, those teams would be weeded out in the knock-out stages still.

Charles State: Not if that nation suddenly decides to take it seriously, just because the "boring" group stage is done. Obviously it is entirely possible that a surprise qualifier would still get knocked out fairly early just because of the difference in overall quality, but that's the point, nations should show their best qualities right from the start, otherwise they're just exploiting the system!

Blake Church: Well, yes and no. Of course you can have some of the higher ranked nations potentially coasting through the group stage, but imagine a smaller country making it to the playoff stages. How much more media attention it will get, how many more children might start up the sport and build a grassroots movement that will then benefit the whole nation?

Charles State: Getting more children off their phones and tablets and consoles and out into the great wide open, big plus, I'll definitely give you that. But if over half of the nations participating advance, how much of a media buzz will get give once people realize that you just have to be above 50%? In any exam in the world that would still be a fail.

Blake Church: State, we are not writing exams here!

Charles State: I get that, but I just want you to understand that not everything is puppies and kittens and everybody will be happy.

Blake Church: You criticize me for bringing in an exam metaphor and you start with puppies and kittens?

Charles State: Church, you know exactly what I mean, so don't deflect. Look at the World Cup, they have more than three times the teams going into the qualification and have actually less teams qualifying for the tournament itself!

Blake Church: Are you really trying to compare baseball and football now?

Charles State: Why not? It is the same principle and a damn good example for how skewed the whole process is here! Yeah, football is the most popular sport out there, so you don't have to do big grassroots campaigns, so it is different, just before you bring that up, but I maintain, the best of the best does not mean more than half and you won't be able to change my mind.

Blake Church: Oh, I had not doubt I couldn't change your mind, you're stubborn enough to die on any hill you're on--

Charles State: Thank you.

Blake Church: That was not a compliment!

Charles State: I know.

Blake Church: So we agree to disagree.

Charles State: I agree that you are wrong.

Blake Church: Well, it looks as if we have reached a stalemate here--

Charles State: Thank you for admitting that you are stale, mate!

Blake Church: State!! It looks as if we are experiencing a few technical issues with our Twii.Tur account, so we will not be able to have any of your opinions tonight, but we will make sure that when we will be able to have you join in when we meet again in Church--

Charles State: --vs. State. Good night, everyone!

NationStates

World Baseball Classic 51 – Everything Thread (IC)

Batter Up!: Short-ish Summaries (@Tierra de Castro)