World Baseball Classic 52 Everything Thread

[Chromatika]

Newly-Labeled Outliers to Play for a Spot Back Home

When the Chromatik Sporting Council announced that it would bid to host the World Baseball Classic with the aid of the Regional Transit Authority of Banija, the news caught the Chromatik Outliers by surprise. This bunch of Amateurs had started to become noticed in the world after reaching the Round of Sixteen last time around; now, they'll be able to say that they played hosts to the World Baseball Classic. Of course, to get there, they will need to place in the Top 32 of this tournament to even get there - and honestly, among the better baseball playing nations in the multiverse, the 30-game Group Stage is a way to see what is working, what isn't, and how to peak at the right time.

They still don't have a Manager, and refuse to. Alisen Moyamoto is the one that leads all discussions, and everyone gets equal representation. They don't have any pitching, batting, or baserunning Coaches either, instead relying on each other to do their jobs. There is a physician on staff - Dr. Li Xia - but Dr. Xia's role on the staff is minimal at best; this team is truly made of its players - all twenty-six of them, playing in South Newlandia, Quebec and Shinogoryeo, and Chromatika itself.

So, who are the players to watch heading into this WBC Group Stage? Who are the new faces? What are the Outliers' prospects? Let's take a look!

1. The Old Reliable Stars
It's no surprise to baseball fans that most of Chromatika's best in the sport of baseball play abroad - namely South Newlandia. SS Alisen Moyamoto is the best player on the side, being a very well-rounded superstar, while C Laure Valle is good with her arm (both throwing and batting), 1B Mattieu Gammond is a sieve at First Base defensively, and CF Kenra Annovar is a more than capable base stealer. Both Hilary Angelou and Miles Savey play abroad as well, Angelou being the ace that throws to draw target, and Savey is just a fastballer. The veterans make up a large part of this roster, and they will have a huge say in how far this team goes; however, there are some neat players coming up.

2. The New Pitchers
Chromatika's 4-5-6 this WBC are all newcomers to the World Stage. Jerome Delapier, Clara Anoyara, and Izze Ramone are all twenty-two or younger; they don't have a lot of experience, but what they have is youthful exuberance, a lot of gusto, and confidence that has come out of long seasons in the Chromatik Baseball League. How that will translate to playing against foreign opposition remains the question for them, especially with the fact that they're being fielded in a row - meaning they'll dictate the way that an entire Series gets played out.

3. MVP Edith Ponce
In the last season of the CBL, Edith Ponce came out of nowhere and led the League in runs batted in and home runs, the big bat for Hanai. Now, she replaces Jason Duster in the #4 spot, looked upon to bat in the runs for the Outliers. The twenty-one year old is another young star in this bunch, and has the chance to be the one to be the offensive powerhouse.

4. A Returning Bullpen
Nobody left the Bullpen, and we have all the usual suspects. Castreaux, Bier, Beux, Savant, Bennett, Edward, Jr., and Salle. Last WBC, Vette Beux was the black hole - sporting a 6.28 ERA. Why is she still here? Did a very good job in the past season. Hine Salle will continue to be the closer behind Joseph Edward, Jr.

Chromatika will start on the road at Nova Anglicana - a difficult prospect.

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

THE KYTLERIAN CONQUERORS WBC52 ROSTER

Home field: EyeEye Field @ Donaldson Olympic Park, Zube (capacity 24,050). The diamond-shaped secondary stadium in the capital city park that hosted part of the Games of the IX Olympiad welcomes back international sports after some renovations. Despite being used for multiple sports - notably lacrosse - the venue still has the L-shaped main stand and outfield bleachers of a real ballpark, plus natural grass. The rectangular shape is asymmetrical for baseball though, running notoriously deep to left at 109.3m (359ft). A more conventional right-field porch, with a foul pole on the left edge of a curved landscaped wall and tunnel, is located at 98.4m (323ft). The deepest part of the field is just left of center at 129m (423ft). Foul territory is compact.

Pitchers bat in games here. (In the Kytlerian domestic league, a compromise rule is used where, once and once only per game, the pitcher can be pulled for a pinch-hitter without being forced out of the game. For international purposes, "pitchers bat" is used mostly because Kytlerian pitchers do at least take some at-bats.)

Projected starting lineup with a DH
CF Thomas Roderick (28, R/R, Icenbrook Foxes)
3B Jonas Svendsen (30, R/R, Alaer Angels)
1B Lit Dings (28, L/L, Vengife Legends)
DH Stijn Dircksens (27, L/L, Alaer Angels)
LF Andrew Sheriff (29, L/R, Charlfield Terriers)
RF Bill Andrews (24, R/R, Zeiven Hawks)
SS Quentin Ripley (25, S/L, Alaer Angels)
2B Charles Cottee (25, R/R, Hurriston Hornets)
C Evert Assenberg (32, R/R, Aardswood A's)

In games where pitchers bat, they will do so at 9, with the players below the DH in the order moved up one.

This is just a projected lineup, and is subject to change. In particular, Dircksens may play RF and bat fourth in home games with a starting RHP (with Andrews sacrificed) for a lefty-heavy power lineup that plays to the dimensions at Donaldson.

Bench bats
C Isaac Thompson (26, R/R, Zeiven Hawks)
2B/SS Harry Murphy (30, R/R, Aardswood A's)
1B/3B William Anderson (25, L/L, Clifford Milliners)
OF Shrifflu Mocks (24, L/R, Zube Nationals)
OF Robert Lingard (22, R/R, Alaer Angels)

Lingard, who has a background as a sprinter and only recently committed full-time to baseball, is mainly used as a pinch-runner and defensive substitute. Anderson might replace Svendsen occasionally in the starting lineup; most likely this will happen at home.

Pitching staff
SP Ryan Graham (27, L/L, Zeiven Hawks)
SP Angufams Cagenil (24, R/R, Aardswood A's)
SP Oscar Hinton (30, L/L, Zube Nationals)
SP/RP Jules Deschamps (26, R/R, Alaer Angels)
SP/RP George Burns (29, R/R, Aardswood A's)
RP Cliff Thorne (30, R/R, Zube Nationals)
RP Zach McGovern (25, L/L, Magstone Rattlers)
RP Clive Barker (25, R/R, Santa Mordana Stars)
RP Sven Paulissen (29, R/R, Icenbrook Foxes)
RP Thierry LeBoeuf (23, L/L, Bay City Falcons)
RP Tuu Wiremu (25, L/L, Edencliff Magicians)
RP Timothy Carr (31, R/R, Aardswood A's)

The Conquerors like to use fairly regular bullpen games, with LeBoeuf and Wiremu both in line to get "starts" as openers before probably tagging to one of Deschamps and Burns. Graham and Cagenil are locked and loaded at the top of the rotation, while the plan is to get as many of Hinton's starts as possible on his home field. Carr is the top high-leverage reliever, but isn't a lock for all save situations as he might be thrown on earlier.

RP permission box
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes (note the details on when it might vary)
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes (ditto)
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes if minor
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: No

[Ranoria]

-Opening Night of the 2025 Federation of Ranorian Baseball Season: Leonardo Harrison's Nashville Maestros @ Ranoria City Sluggers, and the first game to be played in Constance Airlines Field

Constance Airlines field. The new crown jewel of the Federation of Ranorian Baseball. Naturally, it was home to the opening day of a fledgling season, with the Ranoria City Sluggers playing host to Leonardo Harrison’s Nashville Maestros.

“Man, I know they wanted a primetime game,” Leonardo Harrison grabbed a wad of pink, tobacco-textured bubblegum, “But without Nicholas, I don’t see this ending well for them.”

He was practically shouting over the crowd, and Stephen Reichenbach - who played as a reserve on the national team - shrugged. “To be fair, they couldn’t have expected Lux to go and sign over in Quebec, damn mercenary. But no one wants to lose the opener in their new stadium. You know they'll be coming to play.”

The best player in Ranoria snorted, holding his bat over his head as he stretched side to side, “Well, they’ve at least got Behringer at pitcher to give us a challenge. He’s been far from spectacular in the Classic though, I think I can handle him.”

“Yeah, right,” Reichenbach snorted, “You don’t get to pick and choose what nights to break records, Leo.”

Harrison flipped his bat into one hand, and stepped up to lean against the railing, taking in the gorgeous new arena of the Ranoria City Sluggers. The drone of an excited crowd, luxurious booths looming above, nosebleeds filled to the brim, and smirked before turning around.

“Don’t I?”

---

Well, Behringer had struck out Reichenbach and their second batter. That left Leonardo Harrison as the next man up. An array of boos sounded and he couldn’t help but chuckle. It was the loudest applause he’d ever heard in Ranoria, and of course, it was against him.

But he didn’t step up to the plate yet. No, he looked up at the booths, eyes locking on the one where Sluggers owner Jay Heath sat on his throne. He knew Pierre, his Quebecois super-agent, had been working on getting him a trade with a re-negotiated contract, but Heath hadn’t been so cooperative in those talks, as incredible a destination as this would be.

Leo flashed a toothy grin, and tipped his helmet towards that booth, lingering for just a second. And then he crowded the plate. He'd done his due diligence with film study, knew exactly what was coming before it left Behringer’s hand. The bat snapped on impact, and Leo tossed it immediately, taking a light jog. He didn’t need to look, he knew where the ball was going.

That pretty new glass in the owner’s booth? Well, the Sluggers ownership practically fell out of their seats to avoid the ball that smashed into their window. Good luck finding someone to repair the spiderweb cracks the impact had left there. Leo mouthed a “Sorry Pierre,” to himself as he crossed home plate, knowing damn well that those particular negotiations were either over, or a bit spicer than before.

---

“Harrison! Let’s go!” His manager called over the rumble of a disappointed crowd, the rest of the team now far ahead in the tunnel as they left.

“Right behind you!” He replied, pulling a permanent marker out at the foot of the tunnel. It took just a second to scrawl his everlasting message into what would one day be history-filled halls.

"Yep," Leo chuckled, sliding the pen into his back pocket, "That one's going on the twi.ttur."

[South Newlandia]

South Newlandian roster for the 52nd World Baseball Classic

It’s good to be back. After the best tournament yet in World Baseball Classic 51, with the Elephants only falling to a strong Banijan team in the final, South Newlandia is ranked third in the multiverse. After four successful trips to the postseason, and with more than half of all teams getting there this time again, a postseason trip is the absolute minimum for this team. Above that, the team seems all set for another strong run, with another Quarterfinal appearance being the official target. Not much has changed, and parts of this team are only improving as they gain experience.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Please
Choose my lineup: as long as your changes are reasonable
Follow my pitching rotation: I’m going to state one. Please use that. Relievers, you’re way more free there.
Godmod scoring events: Yes!
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: TG or Discord in advance, please.
Eject my players: TG or Discord in advance, please; South Newlandians don’t get ejected a lot.
Godmod other events: TG or Discord in advance, please, but most likely yes
Use DH at home: Yes

Coaching staff

It’s a bunch of new faces on the coaching staff. Following the retirement of Tobias Sansara, many had speculated over who the next South Newlandian head coach would become. Ultimately, the decision fell on Sofia Rasmussen. She brought two old friends from Super-Llamaland and a bunch of new faces to round out the squad.

Manager/Head Coach: Sofia Rasmussen (SLL) (51)
Sofia Rasmussen. Many had suspected that she might be willing to take over the #3 ranked Elephants, and she was clearly the most decorated likely options. The Super-Llamanean has spent her playing days with the Svenssonfjord Dynamo and the New Llama Wizards, appeared in eight World Baseball Classics and won two of them. She later began a career in coaching, again with the Wizards and the Super-Llamanean team in World Baseball Classic 49. She managed to bring the unranked team all the way to the Round of 16. After that, she spent multiple seasons in the South Newlandian Baseball League, coaching the Masmow Dragons, and ultimately winning a championship with them. Rasmussen’s appointment falls in line with the South Newlandian and Super-Llamanean baseball organizations working closer together than ever.

Hitting coach: Margo Jansen (SLL) (47)
In a rare move, Anthony Smith-Miller, former hitting coach of the Elephants, has joined the Tigers, while Jansen, former hitting coach of the Tigers, has joint Rasmussen. The two had previously worked together at the New Llama Wizards.

Pitching coach: Amanda Sjoberg (SLL) (64)
Sjoberg is another coach Rasmussen has worked together with before, namely at the 49th World Baseball Classic. Sjoberg will try her best to keep the South Newlandian pitching, which was the backbone of the success of the recent years, in shape.

Bench Coach: Bastian Scheller (42)
Scheller, long time bench coach of the Elephant Valley Homers, is going to replace Damian Bolton as Bench Coach. Scheller also has family in Super-Llamaland, and is known for his attention to detail.

Bullpen coach: Mohamed Felix (44)
In the very beginning of South Newlandian baseball, bullpens were a foreign concept. Over the years, the Elephants have adapted to playing actual baseball with relievers, at least for the most part. Felix is responsible for the relief pitchers, a crucial weak spot for South Newlandia in pretty much every tournament, so his squad will be important once more. Felix is also the only returning member of the WBC51 coaching squad.

1st Base Coach: Victor Matis (39)
Matis has previously been with the Kinjestad Peacocks.

3rd Base Coach: Karen Ahrmann (41)
Ahrmann has been the third base coach of the Sophie City Girls for years. She’s noted as being cautious on the base-paths; cautious, but save, and efficient. Outs by aggressive base-running are rare when Ahrmann’s signs are listened too.

Starting pitchers [* denotes best (not necessarily most likely) pitch]

(SP1) Jay Kramer (24, R) (Masmow Dragons)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer, Changeup, Slider*)
Kramer, ace of the Masmow Dragons, is heading into his third World Baseball Classic. His career features multiple important run-ins with Super-Llamaland, some good, some bad – but he has played admirably in multiple seasons with Rasmussen coaching. Kramer, as one of three Dragons on the roster, surely has some extra trust from Rasmussen. Kramer usually tries to generate weak contact for the infield with a 2-seamer and a changeup that are similar, although not quite the same in velocity, and a slider that can be borderline unhittable. He’s not the very best at high leverage, but he has been working on that, including winning two games in the South Newlandian Final Series, both with 7 IP and fewer than three runs allowed.

(SP2) Ryan Hunter (26, L) (Ratzupalfu Rhinos)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Circle Changeup*, Cutter)
Hunter is perhaps most well-known for an incident with Midnight, the bear that used to play for Hampton Island. Since the bear charged the mound there, giving him a good scare before Midnight was shot with a tranquilizer gun. He hasn’t given out a single intentional walk since. He doesn’t really need to, either, having earned his spot as #2 on the South Newlandian team with good fastballs and an excellent changeup that just vanishes, seemingly. He’s also the best hitter among the pitchers, for when the team has to play without designated hitter; which, hopefully, rarely happens. His performance with the Rhinos has been good – it’s not his fault they keep missing the playoffs.

(SP3) Jacob Conroy (28, R) (Intermare Admirals (KOR))
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Curveball, Changeup, Cutter)
Conroy has been the South Newlandian ace for six years. After a frankly ugly couple of seasons with the Admirals, he’s down to the #3 spot. Still, he has a fastball that can rival that of good relievers, and works a couple good pitches off of it. Like all South Newlandian pitchers, he isn’t held to any particular pitch count, but gets pulled whenever he doesn’t have his best stuff. Sometimes, that means he goes the entire game. Even though South Newlandia uses a DH, he occasionally has to hit here or there, and like all South Newlandian pitchers, he’s quite bad at it.

(SP4) Ben Gonzalo (22, R) (Newport Dolphins)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Slider, Curveball)
Gonzalo is going into his second year after a phenomenal rookie campaign. His combination complements itself well; throwing the 4-seamer most of the time with a phenomenal curveball that completely disappears from where it was initially going. If he has to bat, he swings for the fences every single ball thrown to him, which isn’t the ideal strategy, but could go well if he ends up hitting one.

(SP5) Maike Bookmer (24, R) (Sophie City Girls)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Sinker*, Changeup, Slider)
Bookmer will be the first female starting pitcher in South Newlandian World Baseball Classic history. She has previously been playing internationally at the 12th International Baseball Slam five years ago. Bookmer won all her 4 starts, but otherwise lousy performances meant the team didn’t reach the knockout stages at home until three years after that. She’s been the young ace for the Girls since, primarily using her sinker and changeup to disrupt the timing of hitters, with a deadly four-seamer in the mix. She generates lots of weak contact, and thrives off of that.

Bullpen

(Closer) Barnaby Butt (27, L) (Masmow Dragons)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer*, Circle Changeup, Slider)
Real pitching habits only evlved slowly with the Elephants, but they will make another step towards a usual bullpen this Classic. With Butt, the best among the relievers, the team has found a capable left handed pitcher to close out games with. Watch out for that Slider.

(Setup) Brayden Colhusion (27, L) (Newport Owls)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Curveball, Slider, Changeup)
Colhusion, after several great seasons with the owls and a good performance in the pen in WBC51, is getting promoted now, and will be the setup man for South Newlandia. He’s the only pitcher that can reliably approach 100 mph on this team, seemingly finding out how to just this year, and he’s going to show it off. He still lacks experience, so he’ll be stuck here; maybe brought on for the games well in hand already.

(Primary1) Abby Conrad (22, R) (Sophie City Girls)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Cutter, Curveball, Slider)
Conrad was the only female player on the roster last classic, and she made it worth it with excellent perfomances. She definitely deserves this role, featuring a strong fastball and a great Curveball/Slider combination.

(Primary2) Gostaf Sjabard (25, L) (Rüsselsheim Blue Sox)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Changeup, Curveball*, Cutter)
Although Sjabard uses a similar set of pitches as Conrad, the two play very differently. For one, Sjabard is a lefty, and aside from that, he has a changeup he likes to use. His masterpiece, though, is a fantastic curveball that is very deceptive thanks to the amount of movement is creates.

(Lefty specialist) Bert Hoosier (23, L) (Elephant Valley Homers)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Curveball, Circle Changeup*)
Hoosier will be the man to get lefties out. With a great Changeup, he can do just that; but he probably will not be called on a whole lot. South Newlandian coaches still dislike changing pitchers too often.

(Mop-up1) Sally Rivera (21, R) (Sophie City Girls)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Slider, Changeup, Curveball)

Rivera has been great from the pen, having leant a lot from her teammate Emily Innis – just like Bookmer did, clearly – and earnt her spot with a fast 4-seamer and nice breaking pitches.

(Mop-up2) Dhruv Webber (20, L) (Malidridad Mariners)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer, Cutter, Changeup*, Curveball)
Webber has been playing at the IBS previously, but like Rivera, he’s going to make his WBC debut. The young Mariner is a control artist – he doesn’t have blow-you-away stuff, but the location of those pitches is great.

Fielders (starters) (fielding is based on the position here, while everything else is not)

(1B) Adam King (27, R) (Elephant Valley Homers)
(Speed: Average | Power: Very High | Contact: Average | Fielding: Good)
King is definitely the biggest power threat on this team. He is definitely capable of hitting quite a few dingers without warning, but can approach a cold stretch just as quick. He can hit for contact too, if he has too, but is mostly mediocre at fielding or running fast.

(2B) Malika Bains (23, R) (Sophie City Girls)
(Speed: Very High | Power: Average | Contact: High | Fielding: Very Good)
Bains has previously appeared in the International Baseball Slam, and produced admirable results. She’s extremely fast, hits for average with ease, and on top of that, has won multiple fielding awards at second base. She’s the player that can replace Igor White, the player that has started here for 4 Classics.

(3B) Hugo Brock (21, R) (Malidridad Mariners)
(Speed: Average | Power: Low | Contact: Average | Fielding: Good)
Brock is a pretty solid player at third, but nothing spectacular. He can field, he’s hitting decently, but overall, he’s not exactly the best player on this team. South Newlandia just doesn’t have many talents at third, but Brock is looking to gain the experience to become an elite player.

(SS) David Drum (25, R) (Newport Dolphins)
(Speed: High | Power: High | Contact: Average | Fielding: Good)
Drum has established himself as an elite shortstop, being both a scoring threat and an excellent fielder. He does have a tendency to produce trouble in the clubhouse, though, and isnt regarded as the best team player. Despite this, having basically no weaknesses makes him a valuable starter for the Elephants.

(LF) Daryl Dunlop (27, R) (Masmow Dragons)
(Speed: Very High | Power: Average | Contact: High | Fielding: Good)
Dunlop, another player from the Dragons, is the fastest guy on the team, and the only one to go for the steal often. He’s fairly good at getting on base too, and his fielding skills are improving too. Going for steals of course leads to getting thrown out occasionally, too.

(CF) Shawn Zimmerman (23, S) (St. Riecarn Saints)
(Speed: High | Power: High | Contact: Very High | Fielding: Very Good)
Zimmerman is one of the biggest talents playing for the Elephants. The five-tool player excels at everything, and started for this team at just 18 years old. Now, five years later, he is phenomenal at getting contact, and goes for the deep ball less often then he used too. Shawn’s still got that one, too, as he proved in the WBC51 final series, hitting a bomb to walk of a game against Banija. He’ll end up on base a lot, and has the speed to get more. That also allows him to cover lots of ground defensively, making him, coupled with a strong arm, one of the best South Newlandian players.

(RF) Fabio Ventura (29, L) (Elephant Valley Homers)
(Speed: High | Power: High| Contact: Very High | Fielding: Bad)
Ventura has been the offensive star on this team since the beginning. Like most South Newlandian hitters, he goes for contact a lot, and is very good at it. He’s got speed, and although he’s not a great fielder, it’s hard to imagine he’ll ever get replaced on this team.

(C) Brad Moore (24, R) (Newport Dolphins)
(Speed: Low | Power: High | Contact: Low | Fielding: Very Good)
Moore has been with the Dolphins the last few years, allowing him to generate a great connection to his teammate Gonzalo. He’s a solid enough catcher, and with Fred Burn unavailable, he’s up to the task of catching for this team. He’s got a little power, but otherwise, he’s not a great offensive bat; he’s very good at throwing out base-stealers, though.

(DH (RF)) Mike Larsen (24, L) (Newport Dolphins)
(Speed: Very High | Power: Low | Contact: Very High | Fielding: Average)
Larsen, the Designated Hitter for the team, is another Contact hitter, usually not going for power. He’s decently fast, and has among the best plate discipline of the squad. Despite that, he rarely strikes out. He plays in Right Field for the Dolphins, and could be the player to eventually replace Ventura there.


Bench:

(C) Alice Wheeler (21, R) (Sophie City Royals)
(Speed: Low | Power: Low | Contact: Low | Fielding: Very Good)

(IF (1B)) Nicolas Perez (21, R) (Sun City Flames)
(Speed: High | Power: Very High | Contact: High | Fielding: Average)
Perez is one of the biggest talents for South Newlandia, a true five tool player, who’ll break into the roster sooner than later. He’s also the most likely pinch hitter.

(IF (SS)) Jack Goodson (20, R) (Malidridad Mariners)
(Speed: High | Power: Average | Contact: Very High | Fielding: Good)
Goodson, the first-overall pick from a few years ago, is finally braking into the WBC roster. Getting past Drum will be difficult.

(OF (CF)) Emil Hurley (19, L) (Lexen City Rebels)
(Speed: Very High | Power: Average | Contact: High | Fielding: Average)
Hurley is decently fast, and the most likely option to be pinch running.

(OF (RF)) Gary Promises (20, R) (Newport Owls)
(Speed: Low | Power: Very High | Contact: Low | Fielding: Good)
Promises is a really, really strong guy. He goes for the deep ball, and that’s about all he does. He’s the other good option for pinch hitting.

Lineups:

With DH:
1. Shawn Zimmerman
2. Daryl Dunlop
3. Mike Larsen
4. Adam King
5. David Drum
6. Fabio Ventura
7. Malika Bains
8. Hugo Brock
9. Brad Moore

Without DH:
1. Shawn Zimmerman
2. Daryl Dunlop
3. David Drum
4. Adam King
5. Fabio Ventura
6. Malika Bains
7. Hugo Brock
8. Brad Moore
9. Pitcher

Stadium

Elephant Stadium (15,000)
The biggest South Newlandian baseball stadium is located in the relative South of the capital city Elephant Valley. The stadium was upgraded after the 48th WBC, and is now able to host 15000 people. All fifteen home games of WBC48 were played here, and the unranked South Newlandia won twelve of them, including all of the first ten home games. The upgraded stadium also featured one match series in the IBS11 and the WBC49, and knockout games in IBS12, including a semi-final; and of course, multiple play-off series at WBC52, including the South Newlandian semi-final win over Sarzonia. Domestically, this is the home of the Elephant Valley Homers.

[Quintessence of Dust]

WBC 50 roster has vast amounts of unnecessary information which is mostly still applicable, so just the barest essentials have been included here.

Nation name: Quintessence of Dust (QoD or Quod)
Demonym: Quodite
Adjective: Quodite or Quintessential (formal, rarely used)
Team nickname: The Things
Kit: All grey, but players wear the caps of their domestic baseball teams

Home stadiums:

MD1 of every home series will be at Raptor Park, Nowy Orpington, a large pitchers’ park; when Quodite batters hit a home run, a giant mechanical orange will rise from the stands.

MD2 of every home series will be at Dodger (Not That One) Stadium, Highmark, an average park, which slightly favours left-handed batters.

MD3 of every home series will be at the Frosty Dome, New Cleethorpes, a hitters’ park with a small outfield and very short left field, which favours right-handed batters.

If you wish to RP a rain-out and consequent double-header, you may RP the games as moving as needed.

Minimal League Baseball games use robo-umps incorporating holographic strike zones. As such, the art of pitch framing has gone basically extinct among Quodite catchers. For home games electronic strike zones will be used, so please do not RP incorrectly called strikes (contact me if you consider this permission unfair); in road games you are free to RP my catchers being exceptionally poor at pitch framing.

Cheerleaders: The official cheerleaders of the Things are “the Riot Squad”, so named for their raucous and lewd behaviour. They consist of two men, two women, and one gender-non-conforming individual, all dressed in shapeless grey outfits collar-to-toe. Their sole dance move consists of standing squarely in place in an exact line, unsmiling. In the event of a particularly brilliant play one member may hold up a sheet of A4 paper printed with a smilie :) in Arial, 10 pt., but this sort of extravagance is usually reserved for something truly special like back-to-back grand slams or unassisted triple plays to cap perfect games.

Names: All Quodite names use the forename-surname format, including for players of Japanese or Chinese descent.

Coach: Jun Jiang. Last WBC, the Things resurrected a 120 year dormant tradition of appointing former players as coaches, and a Quintessential-Chinese one at that. Jun lost his starting place at WBC 50 but enjoyed a couple solid domestic years before succumbing to injuries. Rather than endure a long slow decline, he sensibly hopped straight into coaching. A pretty traditional guy (in Quodite terms, meaning he favors splits, aggressive use of relievers, being willing to use his high-leverage closers before the 9th inning, aggressive base running, and conservative base stealing).

Starting pitchers: Pitchers can be expected to be kept on fairly tight pitch counts owing to concerns by HBL clubs about workload management, usually in the 70 – 90 range. Mayumi is the only pitcher who’ll be allowed a longer leash. Regardless of pitch count, relief pitchers will be used aggressively, especially to give splits. The team will revert to an orthodox 1 – 5 starting rotation, though changes may be announced prior to games.

1. #10 Jack Martin (R/R)
Jack remains the hardest throwing starter Quintessence of Dust has produced in over a century. Now mixes in some side-arm curves to go with the overpowering 98mph+ stuff.

NEW! 2. #53 Haakon Kalberg (R/R)
Big unit power pitcher with fairly mediocre control. On his day he's unhittable, off it he's uncatchable. Good for a massive home run every 150 at bats or so.

NEW! 3. #41 Kojuro Takayama (L/L)
Fireballing lefty with a nasty slider and plenty of action on his changeup. Perennially unafraid to throw inside. Lousy hitter even by pitcher standards.

4. #71 Mayumi Kawakami (L/L)
Southpaw knuckleballer with a very low delivery point.

NEW! 5. #32 Juzo Sakaguchi (R/R)
Throws a four-seam fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a changeup, but he mainly relies on the fastball, which can clip high 90s. His stamina is an issue and he has a hard pitch count of 75.

Gender-non-specific-bovine-pen: Listed in approximately ascending order of leverage. Splits favored. Right-handed unless otherwise stated.

NEW! #60 Jan Scherer
#29 Justin Isaacson (L)
NEW! #74 Kaspar Wahl
#25 Cody Young
NEW! #79 Benoît Beaufils
#43 Jean-Noël Boudreaux (L)
#37 Michael Ryan
NEW! #98 Hong Liang (L)

Position players: Batters tend to try to take a lot of pitches. Splits at first and third. There is no fixed batting order: Naoko generally bats second but everything else can be reasonably fluid.

C: #89 Joakim Stensrud (R/R)
Superb hitting catcher who takes over from Luke Phelps behind the plate. He's no defensive wizard but he has a powerful throwing arm.
NEW! C: #50 Yazhu Long (R/R)
Energetic defence-first catcher. Excellent with the glove; makes solid contact but without much power or drawing many walks with the bat.
1B: #4 Sigurkarl Borgþórsson (L/L)
Physically the strongest man to play for the Things since the likes of Barry Pullman. Acceptable on the basepaths and less so with the glove. Awful lefty splits.
NEW! 1B/3B: #47 Lingxin Dai (R/R)
Hustling defender, bat is good for decent pop but a lot of K's.
NEW!2B: #77 Kaori Yutani (S/R)
Great speed, great glove. OK bat. Served as the batgirl at the last WBC.
3B/1B: #92 Stig Akerström (L/R)
Lots of power and an outstanding eye. Unless there's a lefty on the mound.
NEW! 3B/SS: #35 Jiro Tsukamoto (S/R)
Good power from both sides. Terrific arm which makes up for average footwork. Starts as the platoon to left but could feature more regularly if his bat starts firing.
#7 Naoko Hisakawa (S/R)
Smooth hitter, with a drop-off in power but not average to lefties. Quick on the basepaths. Messy but effective fielder. The team's offensive star.
NEW! UT: #86 Teijo Watanabe (S/R)
Versatile fielder who can cover 4 through 7. Line drive hitter with the bat.
LF/RF: #62 Ben Wilson (R/R)
Throws himself about in the field. Powerful throwing arm. At the plate he hits massive home runs in between accruing hundreds of strikeouts.
CF: #2 Isabella Gennarelli (S/R)
Speed demon whose pace on the basepaths doesn't always translate in the field. Surprising pop given her size.
NEW! OF: #78 Luka Chevalier (R/R)
Pure slugger. Not an embarrassment in the field but wouldn't want him out there in a clutch inning.
RF: #73 Tom Brøndum (R/R)
Rounded hitter with a good eye and solid power. Spectacular fielder. Very whole-hearted player.

RP permissions:

You may choose run-scorers and otherwise assign statistics for my players. You may RP baseball events. You may choose my lineup and RP substitutions, in line with my roster. You may assign injuries. You may RP ejections. You may RP any story elements you like. We will waive our right to determine DH preference at home and will use at home whatever the DH preference of the visiting team (unless the team has no stated preference or has a similar permission, in which case to avoid getting stuck in a causality loop we will not use DH). If you consider any of my RP lore wank you may ignore it. Please ask before RPing unusual statistical events such as no-hitters or immaculate innings. Please do not RRP any of my players or fans being involved in violence, or use RL photographs and say they represent my players, fans, ballparks, or nation.

[South Newlandia]

Lookout – an Elephant!

It’s World Baseball Classic season once again, and we’re ready for it. This is the place where we think about whether the Elephants can make the playoffs.

With Sofia Rasmussen at the helm, can the South Newlandian team add to their so far unbroken streak of postseason qualifications?
Almost certainly. Let’s have a look at our opponents to see why. First, the team welcomes Marigred, currently ranked 34th-ranked pot three team of this group. Make no mistake, that team got there by showing up and playing average baseball the last three Classics. They never even made it above .500. They use the DH, which is good for us, and – and this is a real rarity for us – have a smaller ballpark than we do! Greywolf has space for about 12,000, which is less than Elephant Stadium has. We’re not used to that. Marigred has a young squad, with no player any older than 23, so the experience should be on our side.
After that, it’s a trip to unranked Martune. They’re from Esportiva, which is awesome, and although they have never played baseball internationally before, they had some success at cricket, and are also signed up for the upcoming World Cup. Other than that, not much info is available on them.
Next up is a home series against similarly unranked Bahia Roja. We don’t know much about the Rushmori squad, but they have been seen in some football tournaments, too.
After that, we take a trip to Qzvarkian Qaz, ranked 86th thanks to their impressive 5-25 performance last Classic. That’s about all we have on those guys.
After all that fun, we’ll finally welcome Quebec and Shingoryeo, ranked 16th, and the toughest challenger in that group. The Elephants have played the Grim Reapers before – at WBC48, our debut tournament. Ultimately, the games were split 3-3 there, including the Quebecois ending our streak of home games won, when the Elephants won their first ten out of the gate. They have the DH, too, and also feature multiple players from the South Newlandian Baseball League, that’s awesome.

Anything other than winning this group would be a massive surprise. Sure, Quebec may trip us up, but even then, second is an absolute necessity in this group. Even if we get beaten by one other team on top of that, finishing with a worst-ever place of 3rd – that’s still enough for the playoffs. If the Elephants manage to miss the playoffs, probably the entire team will be fired.

[Le Choix]

Mattieu Geade's Notes - vs. HUElavia
01. Opening the group stage at home is a fun experience, and HUElavia are definitely an opponent that La Lumière of the baseball field can have a shot against.
02. Josée Lahaye is the only returning pitcher for the series, with Gwenaëlle Azéma and Maxence Nicollier making their first starts representing Le Choix in the international stage. For the Pitchers of Le Répondu and Les Saints, it's a tremendous opportunity.
03. We get to actually have a home stadium this season! No fans from out of the country, but a chosen few (10,500) of The Chosen will attend. It should be a spectacular showcase for our home fans!
04. The 1-4 of the order must go big in this series in order to take any wins at all.
05. We know we overperformed last season. It's time to show that it wasn't just beginner's luck of other nations never having played Le Choix before.
06. I really hope that Game 1 ends rather quickly - I have a lot to do that evening with my family.
07. Our goal this season? Return to the playoffs and show that it wasn't just one fluke season.
08. Marigred will be the direct competition for fourth place, with HUElavia and Kohnhead seeded above us. As we've shown last season, seeding isn't everything.
09. I believe in our combined mindset. I really do.
10. Let's get a good start to the Group Stage, shall we?

[Hannasea]

Nation name: The Hannasean Federation (Hannasea)
Demonym/adjective: Hannasean
Team nickname: Choughs

Information for visitors, minus the bits about soccer, can be found in the CE info-pack. Baseball is much more popular than soccer. It is currently spring in Hannasea, just before the domestic baseball season (thus freeing up players) so the weather will be cool and cloudy, but there shouldn't be much rain about.

All three games within a series will be played at the same ballpark, as follows:

Hebitaka series: Questionable Ballpark
Home of the New Blopping Mountaineers, but the first part of the name is misleading, the ballpark is well outside the city limits. The second part is accurate and this is an extreme hitters' park because of the altitude. Fences are pulled back to compensate but that adds doubles and triples.
Cassadaigua series: The Lightning Dome
In Pintook, on the shores of the massive Lake Took. Home of the Pintook Saracens. Newly rebuilt dome with astroturf. Extreme pitchers' park because of the low altitude and deep outfield.
Super-Llamaland series: Principality Ballpark
In the historic city of Old Blopping, home of the Old Blopping Warlocks. Old fashioned traditional ballpark. Pitchers' park with a slight favor to righties because of a shorter left porch.
Murderbum series: HB&B Stadium
In the town of West Chestnut, just outside Butterfly City. Home of the West Chestnut Dragons. Newly refurbished inside a dome with astroturf. Hitters' park, but short outfield walls mean not many triples.
The 189: The Orange Bowl
In the coastal city of Kent. Home of the Kent Oranges. Built on the cliffs, meaning the ground has strong crosswinds that make it extremely hard for leftie hitters to find the stands. The walls are pulled in to compensate and there's a deep left field.

Coaching staff

Manager: John Davidson
Assistant Manager: Harvey Johnson
Deputy Manager: David Harvey
Assistant Deputy Manager: David John Harvey
Assistant Deputy Assistant Manager: John Harvey Davidson
Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant Manager: John Samuel Harvey-Davidson
Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant Deputy Manager: David Harvey Samuel Johnson-Williams
Assistant Deputy Assistant Deputy Assistant Deputy Manager: William Peter David Harvey-Johnson-Samuels
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.
Assistant to the Manager: John

Starting rotation
1. Will Matthews (S/R)
Four-seam fastball (96-98 mph), slider, two-seam fastball, changeup. Pure power pitcher.
2. Zac Parker (R/R)
Sinking fastball (94-96mph), two-seam fastball, curveball, changeup, forkball. Groundball pitcher with good control and a decent hitter.
3. Jimmy Morris (L/L)
Four-seam fastball (97-99mph, curveball, changeup. Pure power pitcher.
4. Jay Gould (L/L)
Four-seam fastball (96-98 mph), changeup, forkball, knuckle curve. Savage power pitcher, radar all over the place.
5. Noah Harris (R/R)
Four-seam fastball (95-97mph), curveball, two-seam fastball, knuckle curve. Groundball pitcher with good stuff and control.

Bullpen

Listed in ascending order of leverage. Right handed unless otherwise stated.

Scott Ross (long relief/spot starter)
Jack Gibson (L)
Justin Nevin
William Whitworth
Kody Terrell (L)
Zander Skinner
Chase Allen (L)
Benjamin Palmer
Tom DiVicenzo

Lineup

RF Ethan Harman
LF Jason Mathis
3B Aaron Green
C Zach Walker
SS Joe Mills
2B Jay Wagner
DH/1B Jesse Lowe
CF Jake Walsh
1B/- Chase Lee

Reserves

C Dominik Fox
IF Bryan Taylor
IF Alex Hamilton
OF Chris Johnson
OF Joel Holt

Permissions

No photos, no violence, go nuts.

[Chromatika]

This is your Series 1 Cutoff. Reminder: It may take a while to get the tables up.

---

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 52

GROUP STAGE - SERIES 1
Chromatika and Le Choix Games were scored by Tumbra

Group A

Game 1
Barnettsville           0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0  4
Atheara                 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 2 X  6

South Americanastan     0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 0  5
Arjunnagar              4 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 X 10

Chromatika             0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Game 2 
Barnettsville           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Atheara                 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 X  3

South Americanastan     0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Arjunnagar              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0 

Chromatika             0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 X  4

Game 3 
Barnettsville           0 4 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 11
Atheara                 1 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0  6

South Americanastan      0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Arjunnagar               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2

Chromatika             1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 X  4

South Newlandia         0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Arjunnagar              0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 X  4

Group A                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Atheara                 3    2   1    15   15    0
  Nova Anglicana          3    2   1     9    9    0
3 South Americanastan     3    2   1    11   12   −1
4 Arjunnagar              3    1   2    12   11   +1
5 Barnettsville           3    1   2    15   15    0
  Chromatika              3    1   2     9    9    0

OOC: It's come to my attention that I switched South Americanastan with South Newlandia for Game 3. As the results are manually tabulated, this does not impact any of the other results. I rescored Game 3 between South Americanastan and Arjunnagar.

Group B

Game 1 
Ranoria                 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 0  6
Eshialand               0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Sarzonia                0 1 0 0 1 3 2 1 0  8
Venmere                 0 1 0 1 3 4 0 0 X  9

Equestria               1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  4
Delaclava               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Game 2
Ranoria                 0 0 6 1 0 0 0 0 2  9
Eshialand               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Sarzonia                0 0 7 2 0 0 0 0 0  9
Venmere                 0 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 1  6

Equestria               1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Delaclava               0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 X  4

Game 3
Ranoria                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Eshialand               0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 X  3

Sarzonia                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Venmere                 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 X  4

Equestria               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3
Delaclava               0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Group B                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Ranoria                 3    2   1    15    4  +11
2 Equestria               3    2   1    10    7   +3
3 Venmere                 3    2   1    19   19    0
4 Sarzonia                3    1   2    19   19    0
5 Delaclava               3    1   2     7   10   −3
6 Eshialand               3    1   2     4   15  −11

Group C

Game 1
Drawkland               0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0  4
Quintessence of Dust    2 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 X  6

Vangaziland             0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1  3
Sylestone               0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2

Banija                  5 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0  9
Barhe                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Game 2
Drawkland               0 0 0  1 0 1 1 2 2  7
Quintessence of Dust    0 0 0 10 0 0 0 1 X 11

Vangaziland             2 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0  7
Sylestone               0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6

Banija                  0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0  5
Barhe                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 1  6

Game 3
Drawkland               0 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 0  6
Quintessence of Dust    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Vangaziland             0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0  4
Sylestone               0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1  3

Banija                  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Barhe                   0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  2

Group C                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Vangaziland             3    3   0    14   11   +3
2 Quintessence of Dust    3    2   1    18   17   +1
3 Barhe                   3    2   1     8   15   −7
4 Banija                  3    1   2    15    8   +7
5 Drawkland               3    1   2    17   18   −1
6 Sylestone               3    0   3    11   14   −3

Group D

Game 1
Gim                     0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  3
The Star Enpire         0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1  4

HUElavia               1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Le Choix               0 0 0 5 2 1 1 0 X  9

Kohnhead                0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Hapilopper              0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 X  4

Game 2
Gim                     0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 0  5
The Star Enpire         1 3 0 0 0 0 2 3 X  9

HUElavia               1 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0  5
Le Choix               3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  4

Kohnhead                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Hapilopper              0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 X  5

Game 3
Gim                     0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
The Star Enpire         2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 X  8

HUElavia               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4  5
Le Choix               0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 X  6

Kohnhead                1 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  6
Hapilopper              0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Group D                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 The Star Enpire         3    3   0    21   10  +11
2 Le Choix                3    2   1    19   12   +7
3 Hapilopper              3    2   1    11    7   +4
4 Kohnhead                3    1   2     7   11   −4
5 HUElavia                3    1   2    12   19   −7
6 Gim                     3    0   3    10   21  −11

Group E

Game 1
Marigred                0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0  4
South Newlandia         0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 X  5

Bahia Roja              0 1 0 0 2 2 0 3 0  8
Qzvarkian Qaz           0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  4

Quebec and Shingoryeo   0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0  6
Martune                 3 0 1 0 0 0 7 0 X 11

Game 2
Marigred                0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
South Newlandia         5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  6

Bahia Roja              0 3 0 0 4 2 0 0 0  9
Qzvarkian Qaz           0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2

Quebec and Shingoryeo   0 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 0  7
Martune                 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0  4

Game 3
Marigred                0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
South Newlandia         0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Bahia Roja              0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Qzvarkian Qaz           0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 X  4

Quebec and Shingoryeo   0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 2  8
Martune                 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Group E                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Bahia Roja               3    2   1    19   10   +9
2 Quebec and Shingoryeo    3    2   1    21   17   +4
  South Newlandia          3    2   1    12    8   +4
4 Marigred                 3    1   2     8   12   −4
  Martune                  3    1   2    17   21   −4
6 Qzvarkian Qaz            3    1   2    10   19   −9

Group F

Game 1
The Kytler Peninsulae   0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Liventia                0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 X  2

Milchama                0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3  6
Xanneria                0 1 0 1 2 3 0 0 X  7

Abanhfleft              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
The Sherpa Empire       0 0 0 3 0 4 2 0 X  9

Game 2 
The Kytler Peninsulae   0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0  4
Liventia                0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5

Milchama                0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  3
Xanneria                1 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 X  7

Abanhfleft              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
The Sherpa Empire       0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

Game 3 
The Kytler Peninsulae   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Liventia                2 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 X  6

Milchama                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Xanneria                1 0 0 1 0 0 5 2 X  9

Abanhfleft              1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
The Sherpa Empire       0 0 1 0 1 4 0 0 X  6

Group F                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 The Sherpa Empire        3    3   0    18    3  +15
2 Xanneria                 3    3   0    23    9  +14
3 Liventia                 3    3   0    13    5   +8
4 The Kytler Peninsulae    3    0   3     5   13   −8
5 Milchama                 3    0   3     9   23  −14
6 Abanhfleft               3    0   3     3   18  −15

Group G

Game 1 
Tikariot                0 0 2 6 1 0 0 0 0  9
West Phoencia           0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  3

Ethane                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  3
Magnecia                2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

TJUN-ia                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Daehae                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Game 2
Tikariot                2 1 3 0 2 1 0 0 0  9
West Phoencia           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2  4

Ethane                  1 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 2  8
Magnecia                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

TJUN-ia                 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2  6
Daehae                  0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0  5

Game 3
Tikariot                0 3 4 0 2 0 1 7 0 17
West Phoencia           2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3

Ethane                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Magnecia                1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 X  5

TJUN-ia                 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 2 0  9
Daehae                  2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Group G                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Tikariot                3    3   0    35   10  +25
2 TJUN-ia                 3    3   0    16    7   +9
3 Ethane                  3    2   1    12    9   +3
4 Magnecia                3    1   2     9   12   −3
5 Daehae                  3    0   3     7   16   −9
6 West Phoencia           3    0   3    10   35  −25

Group H

Game 1
Ko-oren                 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  5
The Jovannic            0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Sevendia                0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Snow and Ice Caps       0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Daskel                  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Kriegiersien            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  3

Game 2
Ko-oren                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
The Jovannic            0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 X  2

Sevendia                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Snow and Ice Caps       0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 X  3

Daskel                  1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  3
Kriegiersien            0 1 0 2 2 2 0 0 X  7

Game 3
Ko-oren                 0 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 0  7
The Jovannic            0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Sevendia                1 2 1 0 2 0 1 0 0  7
Snow and Ice Caps       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Daskel                  0 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0  7
Kriegiersien            0 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 1  8

Group H                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Kriegiersien            3    3   0    18   11   +7
2 Ko-oren                 3    2   1    13    6   +7
  Sevendia                3    2   1    12    5   +7
4 Snow and Ice Caps       3    1   2     5   12   −7
  The Jovannic            3    1   2     6   13   −7
6 Daskel                  3    0   3    11   18   −7

Group I

Game 1
Bardney                 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
The Greater Nordics     0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 X  4

Fondalma                0 0 4 0 0 0 4 0 0  8
Raspotochje             1 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0  5

Norrhem                 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 6 3 0 0 13
Zwangzug                1 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 0 1 14

Game 2
Bardney                 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 4  8
The Greater Nordics     0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Fondalma                0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0  7
Raspotochje             1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0  5

Norrhem                 0 0 1 3 0 1 1 0 0  6
Zwangzug                4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  5

Game 3
Bardney                 0 2 5 2 0 0 0 1 0 10
The Greater Nordics     0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2

Fondalma                0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  3
Raspotochje             0 0 0 3 0 3 0 1 X  7

Norrhem                 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0  5
Zwangzug                0 0 0 0 0 3 2 2 X  7

Group I                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Bardney                 3    2   1    20    7  +13
2 Zwangzug                3    2   1    26   24   +2
3 Fondalma                3    2   1    18   17   +1
4 Raspotochje             3    1   2    17   18   −1
5 Norrhem                 3    1   2    24   26   −2
6 The Greater Nordics     3    1   2     7   20  −13

Group J

Game 1
Hebitaka                1 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 1  6
Murderbum               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  3

Hannasea                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2  5
Super-Llamaland         1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 X  6

The 189                 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  5
Cassadaigua             0 0 3 1 0 1 2 0 X  7

Game 2
Hebitaka                1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Murderbum               0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 X  4

Hannasea                1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1  5
Super-Llamaland         0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

The 189                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Cassadaigua             0 2 0 2 1 0 1 3 X  9

Game 3
Hebitaka                2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Murderbum               0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1  4

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

The 189                 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0  5
Cassadaigua             1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Group J                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Cassadaigua             3    2   1    18   11   +7
2 Hannasea                3    2   1    16   11   +5
3 Murderbum               3    2   1    11   12   −1
4 Hebitaka                3    1   2    12   11   +1
5 Super-Llamaland         3    1   2    11   16   −5
6 The 189                 3    1   2    11   18   −7

[Ranoria]

Nicholas Lux (pictured) sporting a sleeve bearing the Ranorian flag, which he’s worn throughout this Classic and in in his domestic season after signing overseas with Quebec

Hearts were broken around the country when beloved Ranorian baseball star Nicholas Lux signed a bank-breaking deal to play overseas for Quebec’s Montreal Twins. It of course left Leonardo Harrison as the best player in Ranoria by a mile, but Lux was playing against stiffer competition all season long. Many of our Krauts, meanwhile, play against teams lined with players who would never make the major leagues in other countries. Of course, it’s never proved much of a hindrance for guys like Lux or Leonardo Harrison, who always seem more than ready to step up against the best of the best. However, Lux’s year of competition against a much higher quality domestic league meant he never had to step up - and earned him the moniker of “The Mercenary” for leaving the country to take such a lucrative deal.

If you took the worst 14 teams in the QBC, and lined them up against any of the squads in the Federation of Ranorian Baseball, odds are we would go 2-12 at best. Harrison’s Nashville Maestros may be lined with talent, but outside of that the national team’s crew is very much scattered throughout the Federation. Even Ranoria’s top pitchers - Tommy Verona, Erik Schmidt, and Parker Majors - all play abroad. The QBO, meanwhile, is well established with history dating back to 1968, and is a fixture in the rich culture of the Quebecois. As such, it’s a different level of competition, although the very rapid expansion of the Federation may change that soon.

So that could explain why while the rest of the team spent this series getting up to speed (though they played well overall!), Nicholas Lux was on a warpath, batting damn near the .400 mark and knocking out a pair of home runs in the three game span. His fielding from the catcher position was stellar as always, and he looks as sharp as possible as the Krauts hit the ground running for the first time well, ever.

Fans will remember that despite a 19-11 record in WBC 50, Ranoria started 9-10 before a 10-1 run in the late stretch earned them an easy bid for their first knockout stage ever. We also came out of the gate slow in the last edition, and didn’t finish much better at 14-16 in WBC 52. But not this time! Sitting pretty on top of the group at 2-1, Leonardo Harrison made it clear at a press conference that the team had made it a priority to win a lot of games early this year, to make sure we weren’t backed into a corner by the middle of the group stage once again. He didn’t give us a target for wins, although his enthusiasm at the prospect of a 20 win season hasn’t diminished, we’re sure. Harrison has made 20 wins a target in both WBC 50 and WBC 51, coming oh-so-close in WBC 50, where the team also won a 3-2 knockout series against a powerhouse in the Sherpa Empire.

With enough big-name players to make a run and now at least three Classic runs under the belts of most of these players, the Krauts will look to make a run that can put them back in position to establish themselves as elites in the next couple editions if they play their cards right.

[Murderbum]

Chapter 2
22nd June, 1892
A Bar in Landivisiau

“Hey Lúdríck, get another round for us. Today we celebrate!”

“Petrīçk, man, you gotta control your drinking. Remember, we have to stay here for some time.”

As the Resistance forces drank that night in celebration, a plan was brewing in Petrīçk’s head – a bloody, dark, mutinous plan. He knew that should this plan come to fruition, their war effort in the south would possibly come towards its end. His job here would be finished and he could finally do what he was destined to.

That night the Resistance Unit 1 leaders assembled to discuss how to further their war effort and, more importantly, crack open the stalemate in Heicheheim. Meanwhile, Petrīçk had all of this figured out in his head as he arrived with a ready plan that would allow him to do what he did best and also come up with a major win for the Resistance.

Amidst heated discussion, Petrīçk stepped up. ”Gentlemen, please, deliberating whether or not to send troops without a clear motive will not help us as the very nature of the fight in Heichelheim has dissolved into a stalemate. Launching a fresh attack will not help in our efforts. Weakening of Landivisiau is something we cannot afford as our intel suggests Republic troops are waiting near Gluconio to regain Landivisiau and keep hope alive for them.”

“So, what do you suggest?”

“To win this war we need to do one thing. And doing that one thing will be enough. Provoke outrage, bring out the suppressed anger and rage in people from decades of oppression. The forces in Heichelheim have been able to hold back our forces solely due to their support for the Republic unlike other places in the South where support is sparse. What we need to do is convince these people why we are right, to loosen the support for the Republic and result in a possible mutiny. Regardless of a mutiny situation or not we can strategically deploy forces once support weakens to surround the Republic forces in Heichelheim.”
Silence fell upon the room as Petrīçk waited for the reactions of his compatriots.
“Well…”
“When do we start, General?”
All four of them were onboard with the plan and agreed in unison. Petrīçk couldn’t have been more pleased. Walking out of the tent and heading towards his quarters, he looked joyful. He had finally gotten his say in a room full of big, military men.
Petrīçk knew that if he had to convince and bring the people to see the faults of the Republic and promote the communistic ideology of the Resistance he would need to put in his everything, and he was prepared for it.

The Words of the People

~Publius

For the past few months we’ve seen a deadly war rage on in our cities and neighbourhoods. We have seen multiple people lose their lives – relatives and friends. The effects of it have been felt the most here in Heichelheim. We ourselves, however, have felt greatly disconnected from the war as we fight for one side while not understanding why we are fighting.
This is the time to raise difficult questions like, “Are we fighting on the right side?” This is the question I wish to answer today. As the brutal fight continues we have to decide which side of history do we want to be on? Will we support the Republic that rules us? Forces that have done nothing to benefit the poor and needy – as we all are. We, the peasants – the workers – form the majority of the population. However we don’t receive equal rights, we don’t get to choose our government, we don’t get basic facilities necessary for living. The Republic still follows an archaic method of holding elections to purposefully keep us, the common men and women out of important Governmental decisions. The rich and capitalists control our lives as our votes mean nothing with the representative of the state or district completely going against its people’s wishes during the elections.
Having to pay huge taxes we the poor get nothing in return as the rich consume on our labour to reap the benefits and make the vast sums of money that they do. This is what the RESISTANCE is fighting against! They are fighting our Oppressors and now the question we need to ask ourselves is, “Will we support them in this fight?”

[Qzvarkian Qaz]

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes
Use DH at home: No

Qzvarkian Qaz has a very unusual legacy so far in it's young sporting history, IFCF is a more traditional look for many nations as football is super popular. We saw for the last two year a team known as Qariq 1000 make the champions league and other teams from the nation do well in those competitions, but largely they haven't sent out a unified international team. They got to enter Lacrosse, but that wasn't a true team. As with most things in Qzvarkian Qaz it was fueled by outsiders. This team is both different and not so different. While baseball is still full of mercs and all, there's a decent amount fo homegrown players too. Where as most Qazians see Lacrosse as a "A variation of football played with sticks", the populace sees the game fo baseball differently. To some in Qzvarkian Qaz baseball is seen as something different, a thinking mans game and not a pure contest of athletic skill like the sport of football is seen. Because of this, a good part of the team is actually compromised of native Qazians. There is even a league of semi-pro baseball players who even fall under the sport-exemption for the yearly cotton harvests. So it's natural QQZ gets in to the WBC it's one of their more "legit" Sports.

Qzvarkian Qaz Tri-Reds

Pitching Rotation

1.) #39 Ivan Dushednik (6'4'' 167lbs) Native son of Sufa, can throw between 90-95mph fastball
2.) #11 Dae-Soo Pak (5'11'' 200lbs)
3.) #37 Ty Johnson (6'2'' 230lbs)
4.) #25 Keyov Bushibekk (6'2'' 215lbs) watch out for his curveball!
5.) #46 Leonid Hakeem (6'5' 250lbs)

Relief pitches

SU #52 Joao "El Toro" Hernandez (6'0 245lbs)
SU #22 Laquan Morrison (6'1' 222lbs)
SU #60 Boris Jurkovski (6'3' 235lbs) It's sort of apropos the navy officer is the one who throws submarine style
SU #93 Kyle Ackbar (6'1' 212lbs) His Slider is a trap!
SU #40 Bowser Henriksson (6'6' 260lbs)
LRP #35 Trentonius Gastonia (5'10'' 200lbs)
RP #48 Alec Harbors (6'5' 250lbs) A giant of a man, he is a former military boxing champ so don't charge the mound late in the game.

Catchers (Starters in Bold)

#15 Bakir Havilchuk (6'0 239lbs) Horrifyingly bad hitter, but his framing is impeccible and has seen his team's average ERA lower by a full run when behind the stop
#27 Taqib Baas-Alif (5'10' 225'') Also DH if needed
#40 Kyler Weatherspoon (6'0' 218lbs)

Infielders

#2 Shazeer Burnett (1B) (5'8'' 190lbs)
#5 TyJuan Grant (2B) (5'11'' 190lbs)
#16 Kevin Vladimir (SS) (6'0'' 200lbs)
#28 Nikita Szepolin (3B/SS) (5'9' 215lbs)
#29 Anton Yasikowa (2B) (6'0 200lbs)
#34 Uri Uli-Ali (3B) (6'1' 195lbs) arguably the best natural born player in Qzvarkian Qaz.
#59 Hashaun Yurvinova (1B/2B) 6('0' 260lbs)

Outfielders

#7 Dieter Schleiber (RF) (6'4'' 250lbs)
#18 Maximillian Proveznov (CF/LF/RF) (6'2' 222lbs)
#19 Akir Beruit (CF) (6'3'' 217)
#25 George Turner Jr (RF/LF) (6'0' 201lbs)
#38 Yvon Francois-DuBois (CF) (6'0'' 200lbs)
#55 Leopald Brandon (LF/RF) (5'11'' 190lbs)
#62 Nakeer Byvogorov (LF) (6'1'' 205lbs)

STADIUM INFO

Cotton Workers Exhibition field (1,000)



The first half of the WBC qualifiers will take place during the cotton season. Usually the farms are tended to by a collection of workers from the general populace who have been entered into a lottery. The government being that this is actually sanctioned by the department of sport, they decided to give a lucky 1,000 workers tickets to home games, through of course, another lotto.

Qariq Outer Ring Stadium (1,900)



The second half of the qualifiers will take place in Qariq, the capital. The Outer Ring is the name of the suburban regions of the capital, Outer Ring is home to two of the four Qairq based clubs with the Capital Falcontamers and the Qariq Thousands playing games here. Qariq Thousands are of course the baseball arm of the Qariq 1000 football club.

[Quintessence of Dust]

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

                        AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF         5   1   2   0   0   1   2  .400   0   0
N. Hisakawa SS           3   1   1   1   1   0   0  .333   0   1
B. Wilson LF             5   1   2   1   0   1   2  .400   0   1
S. Akerström 3B          3   1   3   0   0   0   0 1.000   0   0
  a–J. Tsukamoto 3B      2   0   0   0   0   0   1  .000   0   0
L. Chevalier DH          4   0   1   2   0   0   2  .250   0   2
S. Borgþórsson 1B        3   0   2   1   0   0   1  .667   0   1
  b–Y. Dai 1B            1   0   1   0   0   0   0 1.000   0   0
J. Stensrud C            4   0   0   0   0   0   4  .000   0   0
K. Yutani 2B             4   1   2   0   0   0   0  .500   0   0
T. Brøndum RF            3   1   0   0   1   0   1  .000   0   0

a–J. Tsukamoto pinch-hit for S. Akerström in the 7th
b–Y. Dai pinch-hit for S. Borgþórsson in the 7th

Doubles: S. Akerström (1, 5th inning, 1 on, 1 out), B. Wilson (1, 8th inning, 1 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: S. Akerström 4, B. Wilson 3, K. Yutani 2, S. Borgþórsson 2, I. Gennarelli 2, L. Chevalier, N. Hisakawa, Y. Dai
2-out RBI: L. Chevalier, S. Borgþórsson, B. Wilson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: J. Stensrud 2, J. Tsukamoto
Sac Fly: N. Hisakawa
Team LOB: 8

FIELDING
Double plays: 2 (Hisakawa – Yutani – Borgþórsson, Hisakawa – Yutani – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Martin                  4.0  6   3   3   1   4   0  68  38  6.75
C. Young                   1.0  1   0   0   1   0   0  20  12  0.00
J-N. Boudreaux             2.0  0   0   0   0   3   0  26  16  0.00
M. Ryan BS (1) W (1 – 0)   1.0  1   1   1   0   0   1  17  10  9.00
H. Liang SV (1)            1.0  0   0   0   0   2   0  11   8  0.00

Game score: J. Martin 41
Batters faced: J. Martin 19, C. Young 4, J-N. Boudreaux 6, M. Ryan 4, H. Liang 3
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Martin 4 – 3, C. Young 1 – 1, J-N. Boudreaux 3 – 0, M. Ryan 2 – 1, H. Liang 1 – 0

Scoring plays:

1.2: Luka Chevalier singles on a groundball to left. Naoko Hisakawa scores.

1.2: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson singles on a groundball to right. Stig Akerström scores.

5.1: Luka Chevalier grounds out on a groundball to 3rd. Ben Wilson scores.

6.2: Wild pitch. Tom Brøndum scores.

8.1: Naoko Hisakawa flies out to right. Kaori Yutani scores.

8.2: Ben Wilson doubles on a line drive to left. Isabella Gennarelli scores.

                        AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF         4   1   1   1   1   0   0  .333   0   1
N. Hisakawa SS           3   0   1   1   1   0   2  .333   0   2
B. Wilson LF             4   1   0   0   1   1   3  .222   0   1
S. Akerström 3B          5   1   2   2   0   1   2  .625   0   2
L. Chevalier DH          3   2   1   0   2   1   0  .286   0   2
S. Borgþórsson 1B        4   3   3   3   1   0   2  .714   0   4
K. Yutani 2B             2   2   0   0   3   0   3  .333   0   0
J. Stensrud C            3   0   2   4   1   0   3  .286   0   4
T. Brøndum RF            4   1   0   0   1   1   5  .000   0   0

Doubles: S. Borgþórsson 2 (2, 4th inning, 3 on, 2 outs; 8th inning, 0 on, 2 outs), J. Stensrud 2 (2, 4th inning, 2 on, 2 outs; 8th inning, 2 on, 2 outs), N. Hisakawa (1, 3rd inning, 0 on, 1 out)
Total bases: S. Borgþórsson 5, J. Stensrud 4, N. Hisakawa 2, S. Akerström 2, I. Gennarelli, L. Chevalier
2-out RBI: S. Borgþórsson 3, J. Stensrud 3, S. Akerström 2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: T. Brøndum 4, S. Akerström 2, J. Stensrud
Sac Fly: J. Stensrud, N. Hisakawa
Team LOB: 9

BASERUNNING
SB: I. Gennarelli (1), N. Hisakawa (1)

FIELDING
Errors: S. Borgþórsson (1), J. Stensrud (1)
Double plays: 2 (Borgþórsson – Hisakawa – Borgþórsson, Akerström – Yutani – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
H. Kalberg W (1 – 0)       6.0  4   2   1   0   8   1  73  46  1.50
K. Wahl                    1.0  1   1   1   1   1   1  22  12  9.00
C. Young                   0.2  2   2   2   1   1   0  22  13 10.78
B. Beaufils                0.1  1   2   2   1   1   1  18  11 54.55
H. Liang                   1.0  0   0   0   0   2   0  12   9  0.00

Game score: H. Kalberg 66
Batters faced: H. Kalberg 23, K. Wahl 4, C. Young 5, B. Beaufils 4, H. Liang 3
Ground outs – fly outs: H. Kalberg 4 – 5, K. Wahl 1 – 0, C. Young 1 – 0, B. Beaufils 0 – 0, H. Liang 0 – 1
Inherited runners – scored: B. Beaufils 1 – 0
Hit batspersons: H. Kalberg

Scoring plays:

4.1: Joakim Stensrud flies out to right. Luka Chevalier scores.

4.1: Isabella Gennarelli singles on a line drive to right. Sigurkarl Borgþórsson scores.

4.1: Naoko Hisakawa flies out to center-right. Kaori Yutani scores.

4.2: Stig Akerström singles on a flyball to left. Tom Brøndum scores, Isabella Gennarelli.

4.2: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson doubles on a line drive to right-center. Ben Wilson scores, Stig Akerström scores, Luka Chevalier scores.

4.2: Joakim Stensrud doubles on a line drive to left. Sigurkarl Borgþórsson scores, Kaori Yutani scores.

8.2: Joakim Stensred doubles on a line drive to right. Sigurkarl Borgþórsson scores.

                        AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF         4   0   2   0   0   0   0  .556   0   1
N. Hisakawa SS           3   0   0   0   1   0   0  .222   0   2
J. Stensrud C            4   0   1   0   0   1   3  .273   0   4
S. Borgþórsson 1B        2   0   1   0   0   0   1  .667   0   4
  a–Y. Dai 1B            2   0   0   0   0   0   0  .333   0   0
L. Chevalier DH          4   0   0   0   0   0   2  .182   0   2
S. Akerström 3B          3   0   0   0   0   0   1  .455   0   2
  b–J. Tsukamoto PH      1   0   0   0   0   1   0  .000   0   0
K. Yutani 2B             2   1   1   0   1   1   1  .375   0   0
T. Brøndum RF            3   0   0   0   0   1   2  .000   0   0
B. Wilson LF             2   0   0   1   0   0   0  .182   0   2

a–Y. Dai pinch-hit for S. Borgþórsson in the 7th
b–J. Tsukamoto pinch-hit for S. Akerström in the 9th

Doubles: S. Borgþórsson (3, 2nd inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: S. Borgþórsson 2, I. Gennarelli 2, J. Stensrud, K. Yutani
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: K. Yutani, J. Stensrud
Sac Fly: B. Wilson
Team LOB: 5

BASERUNNING
SB: K. Yutani (1)
CS: K. Yutani (1)

FIELDING
Errors: N. Hisakawa (1)
Double plays: 2 (Akerström – Yutani – Borgþórsson, Hisakawa – Yutani – Dai)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
K. Takayama L (0 – 1)      4.1  8   4   3   3   5   0  74  53  6.24
M. Ryan                    0.2  2   2   2   0   1   1  16   9 16.17
J. Isaacson                2.0  1   0   0   2   3   0  38  22  0.00
J-N. Boudreaux             1.0  0   0   0   1   2   0  19  10  0.00
C. Young                   1.0  1   0   0   1   0   0  15   8  6.74

Game score: K. Takayama 38
Batters faced: K. Takayama 23, M. Ryan 4, J. Isaacson 8, J-N. Boudreaux 4, C. Young 3
Ground outs – fly outs: K. Takayama 3 – 3, M. Ryan 0 – 1, J. Isaacson 1 – 1, J-N. Boudreaux 0 – 1, C. Young 1 – 0
Inherited runners – scored: M. Ryan 2 – 0
WP: K. Takayama

Scoring plays:

8.1: Ben Wilson flies out to right. Kaori Yutani scores.

[Xanneria]

Xanneria Maroons Roster

permissions: Go wild on anything that isn't injury related.
DH: no, unless opponent uses DH at home

Starting Pitching

Order is top to bottom

#45 Bryan Benson
#17 Alec Ogletree
#29 KeRoy Means
#19 Steven Reed
#30 Trenton Bowen

Relief Pitching

#54 SU Josh Richardson
#32 SU Leon Morgan
#88 SU Kyle Warrington
#64 SU B.C Barclay
#44 LRP Prince Judsaleef
#30 RP Max Fallwren

Catchers starters on bold

#51 C Jan Van Der Bach
#39 Owen Green

Infield starters in bold

#21 1B Adrian B Moore
#3 2B Alex Horn
#11 SS Paul Johnstone
#44 3B Yvan Trop
#1 INF Terrence Mitchell
#13 INF/DH Fox Francois
#3 INF Bernie Powers

Outfield Starters in bold

#20 LF Kelly De Brock
#5 CF Ortega Sanchez
#49 RF Kit Boston
#17 OF Boaz Lucasson
#40 Brent Powders
#24 Gordon Jeffers

Manager: Ned Counsell

[Tikariot]

Walking with Shadows
--- Chapter XXIII ---

Chapter I - Chapter II - Chapter III - Chapter IV - Chapter V - Chapter VI - Chapter VII – Chapter VIII – Chapter IX – Chapter X – Chapter XI – Chapter XII – Chapter XIII – Chapter XIV – Chapter XV – Chapter XVI – Chapter XVII – Chapter XVIII – Chapter XIX – Chapter XX – Chapter XXI – Chapter XXII

They are grateful for the extra space in the van to fit everything they bought, but given the weather and where they are going, they had all agreed not to take any chances. Crowe’s suggestion to get lumber to build an ark was voted down, but they feel more at ease, knowing that they are equipped better than they had originally planned to be. By the time they are done with all of their shopping, the library is long open, even though it is as deserted as the last time with the only attendant as disinterested as they come. As James hits print on document after document, he is literally just waiting for her to complain about them having gone far beyond the allotted maximum of pages, but given that there is nobody else printing anything, they assume that she’s just letting them be and not having to bother getting into an argument for nothing. The fact that Nurisema has come in with them to wait in the entrance hall may also be playing a role as she instantly falls in love with the big dog, who also clearly enjoys the extra attention he is getting.

Sanford is looking at the growing pile of paper with more and more suspicion. “I know that I had said we had space, but what is all of this?”

Sophia doesn’t even look up from where she is dividing up the print-outs. “Map to get there, maps of the city, of the library, info on the Order, on the city, on the ruins, want me to continue?”

“Oh, no, no, I’m good, I trust that you guys know what you’re doing there.”

Finally with a new oilskin bag full of documents in hand they all file out of the library again, leaving behind a sad, because dogless, attendant behind.

Sanford hands a walkie-talkie to James. “Here, they’re supposed to work in any weather and in the mountains, too, so we can stay in touch. I’ve attached an extra scrambler in case anyone would want to try to listen in or locate us, I still don’t trust Horcomb and his cronies. It’ll be good to get out of the city as well, if I never have to see any of them ever again, that’ll be to soon.”

James smiles at the big man. “Thank you, I knew I could rely on you for all of this, try to follow us, but there are not many paths that lead there. Sophia gave a copy of the map to Crowe, just in case we get separated.”

“Roger that, now let’s get this thing on the road!”

*****

The start to the drive is a somewhat rocky one, as Nurisema takes a while to settle down, trying to turn this way and that, making the car shake and leading to Sophia to tell him to pick a position and stay in it, which gets her a low whine and grumble, but before they know it, it’s replaced by a deep snore, indicating that the malamute is indeed down for the count.

“So, what are we getting us into this time? I haven’t had time to read up on anything.”

James looks over and grabs some of the papers. “Well, first of all maybe I should make sure to remember what to look out for to get there to begin with. We’ll stick to the I-39 south towards Avanaroch and then take exit, uh, 67 and go east. I am not sure what it’ll say on the sign, because these instructions don’t say squat about it, so we’ll just have to pay attention to the numbers. What was the last one?”

“18.”

“Oh boy, that’ll take us a while.”

“Yep, that’s why now would be a good time to tell me a story.”

“OK, once upon a time—”

“James!”

“OK, ok, let me see.” He rifles through several packs of paper. “What would you like to hear first? What Tallavia once was, an account from one of the survivors?”

“Hm, an account from one of the survivors.”

“OK, coming right up, milady.”

He stuffs most of the paper back into the bag before settling back a bit. “OK, this is from Frater Dequelis of Tallavia, one of the monks from the Tallavia monastery on the day or days after the final battle. I haven’t read it yet either, but the notes on it were that it’s a little grim in some places, you ok with that?”

“I shot someone two days ago, so I think I’ll be fine.”

“Touché. So here goes.

Through the pallor of smoke the crows and ravens circled, their calls a shrill chorus over the screams and moans of the wounded and dying laying scattered among the ruins of the city. The acrid stench of burnt flesh mingled with the smell of destruction, it all creating a disharmonic symphony of devastation that had reduced a formerly proud bastion of the Ordo Draconi Dhaencunori into a smoldering ruin of death and decay.

They came at night, under the cover of the darkness, with catapults and fire charges, indiscriminately firing over, against and finally through the walls. Some were stones to breach the walls, but others contained liquid fire that would spread anywhere the moment it would hit. We would try to put it out with water, but if anything, that made it worse and spread it even further. We never actually saw them coming, neither did they try to storm Tallavia. It was clear they did not come to conquer, no, they came to destroy, once and for all, with no regards if they hit soldiers or monks, men or women…

[Atheara]

Small Chit Chat

Type: Dialogue
Time: After Series 1

---

Three college dudes by the names of Walter, Kraza, and Oghedite were walking back to their three person college villa after having a rough day during an exam, when Kraza suddenly pulls up twii.tur and literally smacks himself in the face. "What's wrong Kraza? Your girlfriend cheating on you again?" Oghedite asked. "Nah, not really. Remember the fact that Atheara signed up for the World Baseball Classic?" Kraza fired back at the two. "Man, who plays baseball here in Northeast Anaia..." Walter wondered off. Kraza immediately said "That's the thing my brother. Atheara won their first series by 2 - 1." "Dammnnn, that is really unusual." Oghedite fires. "Well, scores were 4 - 6, 0 - 3, and 11 - 6." Kraza says.

Walter went with a bit of a "What? won two games and decided to go fulem* on the third? Typical Atheara." "Wait how are the scores determined again?" Oghedite asked. "Really bro? I literally told you yesterday. Anyway, nine innings, certain amount of people run around four bases, one person one point in that inning...? I think that's how it works." Kraza said so. "Not even you can remember. Damn, what a trio we are." Walter said to just lighten the mood. "Anyway, thinking of trying out for the small baseball team our college has, bro?" Walter asked Kraza. "Eh, i don't think i have the atheliticism to be honest." Kraza answers simply. "Oh darn, well, now what?"

"Oghedite, we are literally walking home, and you ask "Now what?" like, what? Of course now we go home, take a shower, play some video games, do some homework, then sleep. You idiot." Kraza just suddenly bursts out. "Sorry, i have my own news to deal with." Oghedite said. "Is this about our new island brothers down all the way in the literal south of the center continent or something?" Walter proned. "Well yes. Pascafia qualifies for the knockouts, but they have some tough opposition. They face Nyowani Kitara. Other Anaians like Ochre are doing well too." "Well damn me, i betted my money on Pascafia winning." Kraza says, smacking himself in the face once again.

"Bro, you gamble on football? That's new." Walter says, in shock. "Let's go back home, shall we?" Oghedite asked. "Okay then. Last to the house has to cook for dinner!" Walter said then ran off, with the other two youngsters chasing after. What they didn't know is that the government was recording anything in the entire country about baseball. Reactions, discussions, anything. This was only the first. The Night Watchers destroyed Barnettsville by winning the series 2 - 1. Most Athearans rejoice a good start, though they should find form in terms of standing tall, as their 11 - 6 Series 1, Game 3 match was a bit of an embarassment. I mean, for real, this tends to happen to Atheara.

Anyway, continue with your day.

* = Fulem means "Full ham" as a slang term in Atheara.

[Banija]

The Regional Transit Corporation
For your city's transportation needs!



Corporate Blog Post- RTC's sports investments are 'greater than ever' as Banija's brand pulls off unprecedented growth

As many of you know, the Regional Transit Corporation has signed onto one of our most ambitious projects yet- becoming the primary sponsor of the 52nd World Baseball Classic, out in Chromatika. The question for many is probably the same- why? It is the natural extension of our own corporate strategy, a great way to market our business, to be a socially conscious company, and to not only use the tournament to communicate our name to potential future customers, but to establish our links and partnerships in a key country like Chromatika.

As many people know, the RTC has always taken a large interest in sports. From being the original sponsor of the former Banijan Soccer League since its creation, we have extended sponsorship to many teams, stadiums, and leagues since our formation. From the top-flight soccer league in Damukuni("Football Champions Series presented by RTC") with the RTC Damukuni Division, to our sponsorship of the RTC Tigersharks in the joint cricket league between Damukuni and Busoga, our links are strong there. There plenty of stadia we sponsor as well, including the Brattleboro Regional Transit Arena, and similarly named stadia across the multiverse.

This has been an engine for economic growth of the company. We have deep links in a country like Damukuni, where RTC Damukuni is one of our best performing local brands. We have a constituency among sporting nations as a result, and it helps us provide maximum value to our shareholders(buy our shares on the Istria Stock Exchange!) But we want to think bigger. As a company, we are always innovating. We the multiverse's leader in public transportation because we are always innovating. Becoming more environmentally conscious. Always ensuring that community stakeholders are involved in decision-making. Etc...

There are two long-term partnerships, in particular, that carry massive priority. The first, of course, is the Summer Olympiad. We were a primary sponsor of the XIV Summer Olympiad, in Orean/Istria. We were glad to re-fill that role as the primary public transportation partner in Bunjil at the XV Summer Olympiad in Electrum. We saw that as a huge victory. It's one thing to sponsor the games in the biggest city in your country- but it's another to do so abroad. It's a testament to our company's sterling reputation, both with our actual work and as a socially conscious corporation. We will continue to apply and work to do that for future Olympiads for a long, long time.

The second, of course, is the U18 World Cup. Sponsored by the Sporting World Magazine out of the Free Republics for many years, when the country returned to isolation, the tournament lacked a sponsor. We were happy to work with footballing authorities in Baker Park to pick up a long-term sponsorship of the tournament, and attach our name to it. It is great to have our own CEO, Biru Abate, present that trophy every couple of years. Youth football is the pipeline, and many great careers have been launched from the U18 World Cup. A number of Banija's AOCAF winners were on their U18 World Cup winning squad over a decade ago. How could you not?.

People may say that we have connections thanks to the makeup of our board. And it is true- Adama Sowe, WCC President, is also the Chairman of our Board of Directors. And that leads us to the World Baseball Classic. Adama Sowe, one of our fearless leaders, has connections in Chromatika due to his ownership of the soccer team in Lhor. The partnership with the Chromatik Sports Commission makes sense. We are growing our business ventures in this country, as cities are understanding rapidly the value that we provide as we strengthen public transit throughout Chromatika.

Even with the AO-Anaia regional split- the bonds of Banijans and Chromatiks cannot, and should not, be broken. That's why you've seen statements of support from across Banija, from Xolile Lubabalo to the Royals themselves. So get ready for one hell of a World Baseball Classic.

P.S. My favorite player's Ramata Kabba. Who's yours?

Written by Lemuel Abesalom, Chief Marketing Officer for the Regional Transit Corporation

[TJUN-ia]

Game 1: TJUN-ia (9) 1-0 Daehae (UR) (TJU lead series 1-0)
After another 2 long years of waiting, your #8 Battin' Jags were back and looking to go on another deep playoff run come what may. In order to do that, they first had to navigate a very interesting group stage which began on the road at debutants Daehae. The first game back would be in their backyard and to be fair to our hosts, they certainly put up a good fight in their first ever game of international baseball. Chris Harris was, of course, the starter for Game 1 of WBC 52 and he was certainly brilliant out on the mound, but so was Daehae's pitcher and our batters had almost no response to the sort of pitching they were producing. This game would be scoreless until the bottom of the 8th, when the deadlock was finally broken by, of course, Angel Enrique, the gunslinger of this team. From there, it was smooth sailing as Harris kept hold of the shutout and the Jags got off to a tight but brilliant start in the end.

Game 2: TJUN-ia (9) 6-5 Daehae (UR) (TJU win series 2-0)
Davis Johnson came in for Game 2 and this would certainly see more action overall with 11 total runs to enjoy. The Jags would get off to the best of starts with a 2-run RBI double by Rafael Llorente in the 2nd and a 2-run bomb by Ki Yung-son in the 3rd to head out to a quick 4-0 start before a dreadful scoreless run began until the 9th. During that time. Johnson allowed 5 runs, including a Grand Slam in the 6th, and that would be enough for Phillip Hellas-Verona and Jack Helstrom-Satanique, paving the way for Harrison Kyle to enter the game and try and salvage the situation. He certainly did that and would not allow a single run in his time on the mound, paving the way for a 2-run bomb by Bryce Calhoun at the top of the 9th to seal the series once and for all. It wasn't pretty for a while, but the stability of Kyle allowed for this team to come back and prevail - a very good sign for the season ahead.

Game 3: TJUN-ia (9) 9-2 Daehae (UR) (TJU won series 3-0)
With the series already claimed, the job that Gene Almac was to try and aim for a starting sweep but that got off to a pretty bad start with 2-runs allowed in the bottom of the 1st. But from there, Almac composed himself and would not allow another run for the rest of the game, which allowed his teammate plenty enough time to do what they did best: running up the score. It all began with Enrique in the 2nd and Calhoun in the 4th both getting homers before Pedro Moires and Calhoun both got homers in the 6th, Moires bring home two and Calhoun 3. At 7-2 up, things were certainly sewn up but that didn't stop Steven Fulmer from making an impact with an inside-the-park 2-run homer that came about due to an unenforced error by the opposing fielding team. That would finally bring this game and series to an end, with the Jags getting an opening series sweep in style. The other debutants will come our way next as Rounders Field and Portside finally welcomes us home as Magnecia come to town. Considering their basketball team upset ours in their court, this nation could spring a surprise once again and we must prepare for all eventualities. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group G)
S1: @Daehae (UR) W 3-0 (2nd)
S2: vs Magnecia (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside
S3: @Tikariot (14) - Oceanview Park, Sports City, Port Rhovanyon
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S4: vs Ethane (26) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S5: @West Phoencia (66) - Emperor Glenton Gryphon-Bush II Stadium, Melbourne-Haven?
S6: vsDaehae (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside
S7: @Magnecia (UR) - Maze Field, Leeland
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S8: vs Tikariot (14) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S9: @Ethane (26)
S10: vs West Phoencia (66) - Rounders Field, Portside

[Hannasea]

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

Pitching: Isaac Colón
Ethan Harman strikes out swinging
Jason Mathis walks
Aaron Green grounds out (fielder’s choice 6–4)
Zach Walker singles, Aaron Green to 3rd
Joe Mills grounds out (5–3)
HAN 0, SLL 0

Pitching: Will Matthews
Lily Scutaro homers, Lily Scutaro scores
Summer Huang grounds out (4–3)
Brünhild Gunnlaugson flies out (9)
Noah Slater walks
Gabriel Acosta strikes out looking
HAN 0, SLL 1

Jay Wagner singles
Jesse Lowe grounds into double play (1–6–3)
Jake Walsh flies out (4)
HAN 0, SLL 1

Miranda Gray grounds out (6–3)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao flies out (7)
Emery Wu strikes out looking
HAN 0, SLL 1

Chase Lee strikes out swinging
Ethan Harman strikes out looking
Jason Mathis flies out (7)
HAN 0, SLL 1

Derrick Armstrong strikes out swinging
Lily Scutaro flies out (9)
Summer Huang grounds out (6–3)
HAN 0, SLL 1

Aaron Green triples
Zach Walker flies out (5)
Joe Mills grounds out (4–3), Aaron Green scores
Jay Wagner strikes out looking
HAN 1, SLL 1

Brünhild Gunnlaugson singles
Noah Slater grounds into double play (6–4–3)
Gabriel Acosta lines out (6)
HAN 1, SLL 1

Jesse Lowe grounds out (5–3)
Jake Walsh flies out (9)
Chase Lee strikes out swinging
HAN 1, SLL 1

Miranda Gray lines out (4)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao flies out (9)
Emery Wu strikes out swinging
HAN 1, SLL 1

Ethan Harman grounds out (4–3)
Jason Mathis singles
Jason Mathis is caught stealing 2nd
Aaron Green flies out (9)
HAN 1, SLL 1

Derrick Armstrong flies out (9)
Lily Scutaro singles
Summer Huang walks
Brünhild Gunnlaugson pops out (2)
Noah Slater strikes out swinging
HAN 1, SLL 1

Pitching change: Y.P. Ying
Zach Walker flies out (8)
Joe Mills walks
Jay Wagner strikes out swinging
Jesse Lowe grounds out (fielder’s choice 6–4)
HAN 1, SLL 1

Gabriel Acosta walks
Pitching change: Zander Skinner
Miranda Gray grounds into double play (4–6–3)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao grounds out (5–3)
HAN 1, SLL 1

Jake Walsh strikes out swinging
Chase Lee singles
Joel Holt pinch-runs for Chase Lee
Joel Holt steals 2nd
Ethan Harman singles, Joel Holt out at home (8–2), Ethan Harman to 2nd
Jason Mathis homers, Ethan Harman scores, Jason Mathis scores
Pitching change: Justin Frazier
Pinch-hitter: Dominik Fox
Dominik Fox strikes out swinging, 2–3 at 1st
HAN 3, SLL 1

Emery Wu doubles
Derrick Armstrong singles
Passed ball, Emery Wu scores, Derrick Armstrong to 3rd
Wild pitch, Derrick Armstrong scores
Pitching change: Benjamin Palmer
Lily Scutaro triples
Summer Huang singles, Lily Scutaro scores
Pitching change: Chase Allen
Pinch-hitter: Tyson Long
Summer Huang is caught stealing 2nd
Tyson Long homers, Tyson Long scores
Noah Slater homers, Noah Slater scores
Pitching change: Tom DiVicenzo
Gabriel Acosta strikes out swinging
Miranda Gray triples
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao flies out (9)
HAN 3, SLL 6

Pitching change: Kennedy Schumacher
Zach Walker grounds out (5–3)
Joe Mills singles
Pinch-hitter: Alex Hamilton
Alex Hamilton singles
Jesse Lowe grounds out (6–3), Joe Mills to 3rd, Alex Hamilton to 2nd
Jake Walsh singles, Joe Mills scores, Alex Hamilton scores
Pitching change: Calisto Gutierrez
Joel Holt strikes out swinging
HAN 5, SLL 6

Pitching: Kai Söderstrom
Ethan Harman flies out (9)
Jason Mathis lines out (4)
Aaron Green doubles
Zach Walker singles, Aaron Green scores
Wild pitch, Zach Walker to 2nd
Joe Mills strikes out swinging, 2–3 out at 1st
HAN 1, SLL 0

Pitching: Zac Parker
Lily Scutaro grounds out (6–3)
Summer Huang grounds out (6–3)
Brünhild Gunnlaugson grounds out (U3)
HAN 1, SLL 0

Jay Wagner bunts, safe at 1st
Jesse Lowe singles
Jake Walsh lines out (4)
Chase Lee lines out (7)
Ethan Harman lines out (6)
HAN 1, SLL 0

Noah Slater flies out (8)
Gabriel Acosta singles
Miranda Gray strikes out swinging
Error on pickoff throw to 1st (E1), Gabriel Acosta to 2nd
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao flies out (8)
HAN 1, SLL 0

Jason Mathis hit by pitch
Aaron Green flies out (8)
Zach Walker grounds out (5–3), Aaron Green to 2nd
Joe Mills grounds out (U3)
HAN 1, SLL 0

Emery Wu doubles
Derrick Armstrong lines out (3)
Lily Scutaro flies out (8), Emery Wu to 3rd
Summer Huang grounds out (6–3)
HAN 1, SLL 0

Jay Wagner grounds out (4–3)
Jesse Lowe homers, Jesse Lowe scores
Jake Walsh singles
Chase Lee grounds into double play (6–4–3)
HAN 2, SLL 0

Brünhild Gunnlaugson grounds out (6–3)
Noah Slater grounds out (4–3)
Gabriel Acosta strikes out looking
HAN 2, SLL 0

Ethan Harman grounds out (4–3)
Jason Mathis homers, Jason Mathis scores
Aaron Green singles
Zach Walker singles, Aaron Green to 3rd
Joe Mills flies out (8), Aaron Green scores, Zach Walker to 2nd
Jay Wagner singles, Zach Walker out at home (8–2)
HAN 4, SLL 0

Miranda Gray flies out (9)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao reaches base on error (E4)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao steals 2nd
Emery Wu pops out (2)
Derrick Armstrong lines out (8)
HAN 4, SLL 0

Pitching change: Eliza Guo
Jesse Lowe flies out (9)
Jake Walsh lines out (8)
Chase Lee grounds out (5–3)
HAN 4, SLL 0

Lily Scutaro flies out (8)
Summer Huang walks
Brünhild Gunnlaugson grounds into double play (6–4–3)
HAN 4, SLL 0

Ethan Harman singles
Jason Mathis lines out (4)
Aaron Green grounds into double play (4–6–3)
HAN 4, SLL 0

Noah Slater grounds out (4–3)
Gabriel Acosta homers, Gabriel Acosta scores
Miranda Gray walks
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao grounds out into double play (4–6–3)
HAN 4, SLL 1

Pitching change: Calisto Gutierrez
Zach Walker strikes out swinging
Joe Mills singles
Jay Wagner lines into double play (U3)
HAN 4, SLL 1

Pitching change: Tom DiVicenzo
Emery Wu grounds out (6–3)
Derrick Armstrong lines out (9)
Lily Scutaro lines out (7)
HAN 4, SLL 1

Jesse Lowe flies out (8)
Jake Walsh triples
Chase Lee singles, Jake Walsh scores
Pitching change: Kennedy Schumacher
Ethan Harman singles
Jason Mathis intentionally walks
Aaron Green grounds into double play (6–4–3)
HAN 5, SLL 1

Pinch-hitter: Tyson Long
Tyson Long strikes out swinging
Brünhild Gunnlaugson strikes out swinging
Noah Slater strikes out swinging
HAN 5, SLL 1

Pitching: Savanna Wladecki
Ethan Harman walks
Jason Mathis doubles, Ethan Harman scores
Aaron Green singles, Jason Mathis scores, Aaron Green to 2nd
Zach Walker grounds out (4–3), Aaron Green to 3rd
Joe Mills strikes out swinging
Jay Wagner grounds out (4–3)
HAN 2, SLL 0

Pitching: Jimmy Morris
Lily Scutaro strikes out swinging
Summer Huang walks
Summer Huang steals 2nd
Will Rentería grounds out (5–3), Summer Huang to 3rd
Tyson Long singles, Summer Huang scores
Noah Slater grounds out (5–3)
HAN 2, SLL 1

Jesse Lowe strikes out swinging
Jake Walsh strikes out swinging
Chase Lee singles
Ethan Harman doubles, Chase Lee scores
Jason Mathis grounds out (4–3)
HAN 3, SLL 1

Miranda Gray lines out (8)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao walks
Emery Wu flies out (7)
Derrick Armstrong strikes out swinging
HAN 3, SLL 1

Aaron Green strikes out swinging
Zach Walker flies out (7)
Joe Mills grounds out (4–3)
HAN 3, SLL 1

Lily Scutaro lines out (4)
Summer Huang singles
Will Rentería singles
Tyson Long grounds out (6–3), Summer Huang to 3rd, Will Rentería to 2nd
Noah Slater singles, Summer Huang scores, Will Rentería out at home (7–6–2)
HAN 3, SLL 2

Jay Wagner grounds out (1–3)
Jesse Lowe flies out (8)
Jake Walsh strikes out looking
HAN 3, SLL 2

Miranda Gray grounds out (6–3)
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao grounds out (6–3)
Emery Wu grounds out (5–3)
HAN 3, SLL 2

Chase Lee strikes out looking
Ethan Harman strikes out looking
Jason Mathis reaches base on error (E6)
Aaron Green grounds out (3–1)
HAN 3, SLL 2

Derrick Anderson grounds out (5–3)
Lily Scutaro strikes out swinging
Summer Huang singles
Will Rentería flies out (8)
HAN 3, SLL 2

Zach Walker doubles
Joe Mills strikes out looking
Jay Wagner singles, Zach Walker scores, Jay Wagner to 2nd
Jesse Lowe walks
Pitching change: Courtney Mikkelson
Jake Walsh intentionally walks
Chase Lee grounds into double play (4–6–3)
HAN 4, SLL 2

Tyson Long lines out (5)
Noah Slater strikes out swinging
Miranda Gray grounds out (4–3)
HAN 4, SLL 2

Pitching change: Evangeline Lu
Ethan Harman strikes out swinging
Jason Mathis grounds out (4–3)
Aaron Green doubles
Zach Walker flies out (8)
HAN 4, SLL 2

Trevor Mikkelson-Yao lines out (4)
Emery Wu singles
Derrick Armstrong doubles
Lily Scutaro lines out (7), Emery Wu scores
Pitching change: Benjamin Palmer
Summer Huang singles
Pinch-hitter: Brünhild Gunnlaugson
Brünhild Gunnlaugson flies out (9)
HAN 4, SLL 3

Pitching change: Kris Headley
Joe Mills strikes out swinging
Jay Wagner flies out (8)
Jesse Lowe grounds out (5–3)
HAN 4, SLL 3

Pinch-hitter: Gabriel Acosta
Gabriel Acosta pops out (3)
Noah Slater homers, Noah Slater scores
Pitching change: Chase Allen
Miranda Gray strikes out looking
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao walks
Emery Wu singles, Trevor Mikkelson-Yao to 3rd
Pinch-hitter: Alana Gonzalez
Alana Gonzalez strikes out swinging
HAN 4, SLL 4

Jake Walsh doubles
Pitching change: Y.P. Ying
Pinch-hitter: Joel Holt
Joel Holt walks
Pitching change: Kennedy Schumacher
Ethan Harman strikes out swinging
Jason Mathis intentionally walks
Pinch-hitter: Bryan Taylor
Bryan Taylor strikes out swinging
Zach Walker grounds out (fielder’s choice 4–6)
HAN 4, SLL 4

Pitching change: Tom DiVicenzo
Lily Scutaro singles
Summer Huang grounds out (4–3), Lily Scutaro to 2nd
Brünhild Gunnlaugson grounds out (4–3), Lily Scutaro to 3rd
Gabriel Acosta flies out (9)
HAN 4, SLL 4

Joe Mills strikes out looking
Pinch-hitter: Alex Hamilton
Alex Hamilton strikes out swinging
Jesse Lowe reaches bases on error (E4)
Jake Walsh homers, Jesse Lowe scores, Jake Walsh scores
Pitching change: Justin Frazier
Joel Holt grounds out (5–3)
HAN 6, SLL 4

Noah Slater strikes out swinging
Miranda Gray singles
Trevor Mikkelson-Yao strikes out swinging
Pinch-hitter: Miles Villeneuve
Miles Villeneuve strikes out swinging
HAN 6, SLL 4

[The 189]

A group of refugees from a war-torn nation sat huddled in an abandoned fish packing plant. The building had no power and some minor bomb damage, but it was still obvious what it had been, and it still smelled like fish. The children complained about the smell and their parents shushed them. In the distance, they could hear the whine of engines and the thud of artillery fire. They were not sure whose artillery it was -- the army, the rebels, or a foreign military. There were rumors of foreign troops taking one side or the other, trying to keep the peace, or moving in to evacuate their own citizens from the collapsing nation.

The refugees at the fish packing plant were waiting to be evacuated too. They had heard of a tiny city-state called Port Anaia that was accepting refugees. The local government was said to be hiring bank tellers and electric car salesmen, and there was a bay where people were allowed to go fishing.

Aziz, the man who was supposed to be arranging their transportation, appeared at the door and said, "Sorry about the wait. The boats are here."

The refugees quickly stood up and grabbed their belongings off the floor. They waited behind Aziz while he stuck his head out the door to make sure there were no tanks and no gun fighting in the street outside. There was not much going on, just a stray dog digging through some trash. Aziz led them down to the pier, where some battered old rowboats and an inflatable life raft were tied up. The refugees looked around in confusion.

"Where are the boats?" one of them asked. She gestured at the inflatable raft. "We can't sail that all the way to Anaia!"

"Oh, no, no, no," said Aziz. "We are not sailing these all the way to Anaia." He pointed out into the harbor. "That is our ship."

The others looked where he was pointing and they didn't totally understand what they were looking at. It was shining purple, pink, and gold; and it was not shaped like any boat they had ever seen before. It appeared to be large and far from the shore. "What the hell is THAT???"

"It is the ship of the 189," said Aziz. "Her name is a series of colors, infrared, orange, and pink. The 189 write their language in colors instead of words." On the shore behind them, something exploded in the distance. Aziz motioned for people to board the inflatable raft. "Hurry, we must go!" Some of the people piled into the raft and others on the rowboats. As they made their way across the harbor -- making slow progress in their unmotorized craft -- Aziz confided to the refugees on the boat he was rowing, "I thought we were going to leave yesterday, but the ship could not come. She said she had to take her friends to Cassadaigua, something about baseball." He shook his head. "The 189 are unpredictable sometimes. They like to help people, but you never know exactly what they are going to do."

[Eshialand]

A Weak Start, but a Hopeful Finish
Ranoria 6-1 Eshialand
Ranoria 9-0 Eshialand
Ranoria 0-3 Eshialand

Spirits amongst the new Owls team were pretty low after their 6-1 and 9-0 demolitions at the hands of the Ranorian Krauts, leaving them with a truly abysmal -14 RD after just two games. Some would pass this off as a learning curve, while others would turn to the old myth that Eshian teams simply cannot and will not ever win at home. The team's only run so far came off a single by Wyatt Carew which allowed Harry Brentwood to score from second in the 2^nd inning of the first game... but Ranoria's 5 run blitz in the 6^th inning of that game would put an end to both Grant Porter's start and any hopes of an Eshian win.

Apart from that, it was all bad news... but Rebecca Saunders, the optimist that she is, held out hope that this team's luck would change, and when she came to bat with Connor Young on first in the top of the 4^th with a 1-0 Eshian lead, she knew something would be different. Yes, this game had started almost exactly the same as the first one (except with Wyatt Carew's RBI being a sac fly instead of a single), but something felt off. Well, not off, just different. Like the Owls' luck would change.

On an 1-2 count, Parker Majors threw his signature fastball, which Rebecca absolutely drilled into left field. She just stood at the plate, staring at the ball, until the first base coach started screaming "RUN! RUN! RUN!". But she didn't have to. It was the first home run in Eshian history, widening the home team's lead to 3-0.

Of course, this game was far from over. After all, the Owls hadn't played a single game so far without allowing at least 5 runs in one inning. Their defense would absolutely on fire and their pitching absolutely stellar if they were going to put this thing away. Well, not only did they put it away, but they shut out the Ranorian team. The final score stayed just as it was after Rebecca's dinger, 3-0, Owls win.

Sure, they lost the first two games in the series. Sure, they were last in Group B. Sure, they had a truly terrible -11 RD... but none of that mattered. They got a win today, and that was what really mattered. This team would be flying to Delaclava as winners, and spirits would be high going into their second series. At least, spirits among the team. Among the fans back at home, however, there was a different attitude surrounding this game.

After all, Delaclava and Eshialand had a certain history in hockey. It started in the World Junior Hockey Championship, where the Cinderella team from Eshialand shocked the favorites Delaclava by handing them their second-straight silver medal in the finals. Then, in the second game of the World Cup of Hockey, the Owls lost a close, high-scoring grudge match by a score of 7-5. There was certainly a history between the Owls and the Phoenixes, and the fans knew that.

Whether or not that would extend to this baseball team, however, would remain to be seen.

[The Sherpa Empire]

It was a cold day at Syangboche, the kind of weather when the players on the field wore long-sleeved undershirts and blew into their hands to keep their fingers warm. Despite the cold, Empress Yahia had come to the game. She was seated behind the Sherpa dugout, wrapped in exquisite silks and exotic furs and accompanied by several people from the imperial court. They had brought little charcoal burners to keep them warm, and the Empress had a mug of hot tea in her hands.

Daki Chuan was sitting in the Sherpa bullpen. She was leaning against Luochong Zhuang with her head resting on his shoulder, staying close so they could keep each other warm, and they were sharing a blanket draped around both of them. They managed to keep themselves reasonably comfortable, but Chuan was still feeling a little down. She was disappointed that she'd been bumped back to the bullpen instead of being in the rotation.

The World Baseball Classic was off to a good start. The Sherpas had not even given up a run until today in their third game, and they still had a chance in this game too. The Fleftics had scored first, but the Sherpas came back and tied it up 2-2, and now Smanla Kumari was on base. Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa got a pitch that looked like it was meant to break more than it did. Instead it stayed right in the zone where Zhiku could make good solid contact. The ball hit his bat with a nice loud thwack. If you didn't see it, you could almost tell by the sound that it was going to go out of the park.

Daki Chuan lifted her head and turned to watch the ball go over the outfield wall. She cheered along with everyone else as Kumari and Zhiku rounded the bases to give the Sherpas the lead. It was good that team was doing well, but it just wasn't quite the same watching from the bench, not knowing if or when she would have her turn to be part of the action. "I just wish I could be out there," she said and Zhuang settled back together under their blanket.

"You are still helping just by being here," said Zhuang. "It's good knowing you are here if we need you."

[Sarzonia]

Three matches out of a 30-match group stage certainly isn't enough to cause a veteran team panic. After all, a team coming off a third place finish in the previous edition of the World Baseball Classic certainly has aspirations that extend far beyond a simple opening series away to an unranked team.

However, you wouldn't know it from the reaction of manager Geoff Yancey after his Stars sandwiched ugly defeats around a victory that was only marginally less ugly. His Stars were 1-2 after dropping two of three matches to Venmere. They were a game behind Ranoria, whom the Stars host at Fleetwood Park in their home opener in Woodstock. The Stars certainly expect the friendly confines to benefit them against the Krauts, but they may be in for a surprise if they continue to pitch poorly.

Jeff Parrish couldn't get out of the fifth inning, allowing five earned runs in 4 1/3 frames before an impatient Yancey brought out the hook and brought in Dima Ostrelov. He lasted 1 1/3 innings before allowing four runs in the bottom of the sixth. That brought in Alfred Wagner who pitched the rest of the way. Parrish said he had trouble locating his breaking ball for strikes, but catcher Matt Lopez said the Chromatik home plate umpire was "squeezing the shit" out of the plate when Parrish was pitching. He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the bottom of the sixth, forcing Yancey to send in reserve catcher Pat Sakata. With Lopez automatically suspended for Game 2 of the series, it meant utility infielder Desmond St. John was the emergency catcher in the event of an injury or ejection of Sakata for Game 2.

Fortunately for Yancey and company, that contingency didn't come to pass. Mark Conroy was "serviceable" through five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, but the Stars bats came out in force, in particular with 11 batters coming to the plate for Sarzonia in the top of the third. Tape-measure home runs by designated hitter Luke Brinkley (a three-run shot) and Cody Frazier (a two-run blast) led the way and allowed Carnie Weston to pitch three innings to bridge the gap to both Scott Lassiter (who allowed a solo home run) and closer Tyrell Douglass in the ninth.

Third starter Jamie Pearson felt the pressure to pitch well after both Parrish and Conroy were knocked around, and he delivered to the tune of 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said of Myron Daniels, who walked three hitters before Ostrelov entered and gave up a three-run double to put the home team ahead 4-0 en route to their 4-2 victory in the rubber match of the series.

A furious Yancey said his team needed to "be a whole fucking lot better" against Ranoria.

"We can't pitch the way we did against a team that had no business holding our jocks," he said. "We played like shit. We pitched like shit. About the only thing we did well the first two matches was hit, and we didn't do that in Game 3 of this series. If we're going to do anything in this World Baseball Classic, this had better be a fucking wake-up call."

If they don't win at least two of three from Ranoria, they certainly will get a wake-up call from the fans at Fleetwood Park, as they cascaded the Stars with boos after they got swept by Tikariot at home in the previous WBC. Fortunately, that Stars team avenged the sweep with one of their own in the knockout rounds at Tikariot. But Parrish said glumly if the Stars didn't "wake the fuck up," there would be no knockout round appearance.

"We played like we were the unranked team," he said. "I pitched like a No. 5 starter against those guys. We all need to do better and that starts with me."

[Zwangzug]

The Spenson Star

Last tournament, Zwangzug had a fairly standard group stage--extra-inning clashes such as that against Karditan notwithstanding--only to sink to new depths of bullpen ignominy in the Hold My Bear encounter with Hampton Island. This time, the Zebras wasted little time bringing the dramatics, overcoming the Norrhem Drakkar in eleven innings after both teams put up crooked numbers in the eighth and ninth. It's hard to rattle the stoic Frithjof Hammarsson, but even he seemed to be feeling the strain after the 14-13 finale. As for Wenjie Liu, she seems to have transcended normal expressive limitations and just gone straight to the "welp, Zebras gonna Zebra" face.

Entering the top of the eighth, the Zebras led 5-4. Adrian Lestander led off with a double against international rookie Nelson Desai. Andreas Rosenblad drew a walk, and then Zackarias Andreasson pulled one into the left-field stands at the Worm Hole. That was all for Desai; in came Whitney Chavez. She got Jacob Bjarnstad to pop to second, but Samuel Olvegard laced a hard hit into the right-field corner. Eduardo Kansone-Westing, a better hitter than fielder (he's been the DH in away games in previous WBCs) had trouble coming up with it, and Olvegard almost tried for three, but wisely held up. It turned out not to matter, as Kim Saugstad's single scored him anyway. Pontus Johansson, batting for Bo Ravelli, struck out, but a wild pitch from Chavez moved Saugstand to second. That was all for Chavez; Evgeni Junger was next to be thrown into the fire. (The fact that he and Chavez are both nominally "long" relieves suggests that Liu either knew where things were headed, or is just typically genre-savvy.)

Sture Holmgard walked, and then a Birger Huselius double off the center field wall made it 10-5. Lestander, batting for the second time in the inning, at last weakly grounded to Aaron Grant-Mond, who got the unassisted out.

However, Norrhem are not exactly a force of the modern game, and Liu wasn't about to cut her losses and play the backups just yet; it was still opening day. So after Veronica Adler's foulout to left, Kansone-Westing got the chance to show his strength with a ground-rule double. Maia Solloway grounded to Rosenblad at third, but his only play was to first. Abigail Noonan worked the count, fouling off several changeups from southpaw Bertil Axberg, and it paid off with a single that scored Kansone-Westing. Jorgi Sarves walked, and Griffith Puyo-Sachar--husband of Nancy, the Trebuchet Cham/national football team midfielder--made a name for himself with a sharp infield hit that scored Noonan. Even Liu knew that it was time for a replacement bat, but Tyrone Augustus-Vonn skied to Olvegard to thwart the rally.

Hammarsson's men knew to take nothing for granted, and they continued the barrage against nominal closer-type Natalie Chepas-Wood in the ninth. (Trailing by three, Liu going directly to Chepas-Wood may have been rather optimistic...but then, when else are you going to use her?) Rosenblad continued his patient approach, and Chepas-Wood thought she'd snuck strike three past him, but the umpire from Milchama thought otherwise. (Milchama's back! Apparently they play cricket now.) Fuming, Chepas-Wood blazed one down the middle, which Rosenblad connected with for a long single. She may have been pitching carefully around Andreasson after his homer, or maybe the umpire just wasn't inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt; either way, he walked. Bjarnstad grounded softly to Noonan at second, who got the force on Andreasson, but Grant-Mond couldn't field the double play ball and Rosenblad came in on the error while Bjarnstad advanced to second. Chepas-Wood, somehow still in the game because this was probably beyond salvage, got Olvegard to foul back to Sarves, but Sebastian Lindberg came off the bench to score Bjarnstad with a booming double. Holmgard singled to score him, but Huselius lined one back to Chepas-Wood, which she speared in instinctive self-defense. 13-7.

So it was back to Grant-Mond and the top of the order for the bottom of the ninth. He drew a walk off of Christian Björknesjö. A Kirsten Harris single made it first and second for Veronica Adler. Batting from the left against the righty Björknesjö, she laced a fastball into the opposite field and deep...but just foul. A few pitches later, she deposited one in a similar place, just a few rows fair. 13-10.

Kansone-Westing flew out to Lindberg, who had remained in the game in left field. Björknesjö hit Solloway on the elbow, ending his night, while Solloway tried to suppress her wince and keep the rally alive. Facing Hans Arnesson, Noonan hit a grounder to Rosenblad which should have been one out if not two, but he waited too long to decide if he could turn two and wound up throwing it away instead, making it first and third with only one away. Sarves' double made it 13-12, and suddenly the Worm Hole was alive. Puyo-Sachar kept choking up and trying to keep the line moving, but Arnesson fooled him with a sharp curveball. It was Kelly Tallis, one of the two South Newlandia-based players in this Zebras side, who would come off the bench. A soft blooper into shallow center was enough to score Sarves and somehow, impossibly, tie the game. Grant-Mond was swinging for the fences in his return to the plate, and he made it to the fence, only for Andreasson to catch it with his back to the wall. 13-13, and we were just getting started.

The tenth inning was somewhat anticlimactic--how could it not be? Isaac Pafok-Deil induced soft groundouts from Lestander and Rosenblad in turn. Andreasson singled, but Bjarnstad stranded him by popping to Grant-Mond. In turn, the Zebras went down one-two-three; Adler briefly appeared to have pulled a muscle while swinging, but fortunately she was just tired, like everyone else.

Pafok-Deil got to remain in the game for the eleventh, as much due to his comparative prowess as it was the fact that the entire bullpen was being zapped and this was only game one of thirty. Olvegard led off with a single, so he had to pitch carefully around Saugstad, who ultimately flew to right. But a double-play from Olof Skarp negated the threat.

A broken-bat single from Solloway led off the bottom of the eleventh. Noonan struck out with a powerful swing that almost knocked Saugstad into the cricket fan in blue. But Arnar Skogsgard's first pitch to Sarves bounced off the left-field wall. Delirium ensued.

(Perhaps unsurprisingly, game two was a bit of a let-down, with the Drakkar taking it 6-5. Zwangzug won the series by taking game three, and will face The Greater Nordics next. No word on whether they are going to be feuding with Norrhem for actual Norse supremacy.)

[Chromatika]

Joseph Edward, Jr. Struggles with Two Losses and Two Blown Saves as Chromatika Drops Opening Series to Nova Anglicana

After one series of play, the Chromatika Outliers have a problem.

In all three games, the starter went more than six innings, with Hilary Angelou pitching a complete game, one-run gem and Oscar de Witt and Miles Savey providing enough of a cushion for the bullpen.

However, de Witt got into a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, and Vincent Saint-Denis hit Joseph Edward, Jr.'s third pitch to the stands, giving Nova Anglicana the grand slam and the victory in Game 2; the same woes would resurface in Game 3, where Ollie Bier wasn't able to stop the two-run double in the seventh, and Joseph Edward, Jr. suffered his second loss and second blown save of the series with a two-run double that negated 6 1/3 innings of solid work by Miles Savey.

What other options do the Outliers have if Joseph continues to struggle so much? With a 16.20 ERA and two losses (the only two losses so far), it's a far cry from the 4.50 ERA he ended up with the last WBC; with the quality of opposition that Chromatika will face going forward (starting off with the first seeds and getting one win off of them is hardly the worst thing in the world), there is a chance that he'll turn around his campaign.

If not, Chromatika has limited options. Vette Beux is likely the best candidate for the job, as Truman Savant can be read if the situation goes on for too long and they need the expertise of Beatrice Castreaux and Ollier Bier for situations where the starter gets chased off the mound.

Joseph, to his credit, hasn't been shy about owning up to the defeat, stating, "I lost control of the location of my pitches, and they got me. I want to apologize to the fans and the squad for my play, and I'll work on getting them back under control for the next game."

Thankfully, Arjunnagar may be a good bounce back for the squad as they return to the friendly confines of National Stadium in Chromia. Arjunnagar did get one win off of South Americanastan, and Chromatika's trio of new pitchers must have control over their nerves if they are to prevail.

Delapier, Anoyara, and Ramone - at least their first series is against an easier opponent on paper.