World Baseball Classic 37 Everything Thread

[Southern Democratic States]

The Southern Bears beats Amazonesta but loses to New Jarwel and Frenline Delpha

The Southern Democratic States Southern Bears crushed Amazonesta 6-1 thanks to a grand slam by Nick Riefenhauser in the 8th inning. The Bears lost 6-1 against New Jarwel the next day. Finally, the Southern Bears lost 4-3 against Frenline Delpha. Justin Loup was the starting pitcher for the Bears and Starklin Greator started for the Anacondas. Frenline Delpha was batting first. Chris Lain was grounded out. Marco Dredge striked out. Caster Haman walked. With two strikes and no balls, Elgret Lutwang hits a two runs homerun and the Anacondas are leading 2-0. In the 4th inning, Nate O'Flaherty hits a double. Travis Layne strikes out. Tyson Lindsey hits a double, O'Flaherty scores and the score is 2-1 Frenline Delpha. In the top 5 inning, Fred Hector is the first batter and he strikes out. Chris Lain hits a single. Chris Lain steals the 2nd base. Marco Dredge is flied out, Chris Lain advances to the 3rd base. Caster Haman is at bat and Justin Loup is really taking his time between throws and Chris Lain steals the home plate! 3-1 Frenline Delpha. In the bottom 5 inning, Pedro Castillo is the first batter and he's flied out. Jared Hanson hits a double. Randall Worth strikes out. Mary Jane Castro hits a single, Hanson advances to the 3rd base. Nate O'Flaherty hits a double, Hanson scores but Castro is out trying to reach the plate. It's 3-2 Frenline Delpha.

The game was interrupted during the top 7th inning when two dozen of milk snakes invaded the field. It took 14 minutes to catch them all and the game finally resumed. During the top 8th inning, Elgret Lutwang hits a solo homerun and the score is 4-2 Frenline Delpha. We're now at the bottom 8th inning, Mary Jane Castro is grounded out. Nate O'Flaherty is flied out. Travis Layne hits a solo home run and the score is 4-3 Frenline Delpha. The score remains the same and Frenline Delpha wins 4-3. The Southern Bears are currently 4th in group A after 24 games.

[West Phoencia]

After a gold win at the Aeropag Summer Olympic Games the West Phoenician Confederates sit in third place in their grouping with the World Baseball Classic 37.

With uncertainty of progressing the Confederates can stand proud that they are in a better position than they were at the Classic 36. They have a medal under their belt and they were able to stay in the top 3 for the last 23 games.


Coach Mary Zomdonia has been praised for her ability to transform her vision into a reality.

"Hardwork and Prayer are at the forefront of the team's transformation. We took more control of the fielding and while batting i encouraged them to take risks and not just play it safe. I believe by Classic 40 we will be the team other teams will need to watch out for."

[Schiltzberg]

SCHILTZBERG CLOSE TO CLINCHING

After a rough start to the second half, Schiltzberg has bounced back with the eighth set, sweeping that set, which brings Schiltzberg's record for the second half up to 6-3, and their overall record up to a group-leading 18-6, which gives Schiltzberg a three-game lead over second-place Ethane, who it at 15-9, with only six games left in the preliminary rounds. Schiltzberg's record is four games ahead of third-place Drawkland, whose record is now 14-10, and so that means that Schiltzberg's magic number sits at three (30+1-18-10=3), which means that Schiltzberg will only need to win half of the last six games in order to clinch a spot in the playoffs, and that is assuming that Drawkland will sweep the last two sets of the round, which would be extremely unlikely. Schiltzberg's magic number to win first in Group E sits at four (30+1-18-9=4), which means that if Schiltzberg's wins plus Ethane's losses over the last two sets is equal to or more than four, then Schiltzberg will clinch first place in the group. Schiltzberg now has a four-game winning streak, which is what helped them bounce back from the little bit of a drought that they had been going through, when they lost three games in a row in sets six and seven. It would be good if Schiltzberg kept on this streak now, but since they are already pretty close to a clinch, it is not quite as important now to get wins as it will be in another week, when Schiltzberg will likely be in the playoffs, and wins are much, much more important in the playoffs. Schiltzberg has a very good record for the playoffs in the WBC though, as their record in playoff games in the World Baseball Classic is 31-15, having participated in the playoffs every time that they have played in the WBC in WBCs 33, 34, 35, and 36, and winning all of those except WBC 34, when they were swept by Super-Llamaland three games to none in the Round of Sixteen. Schiltzberg's record by series in the World Baseball Classic is 12-1, as already mentioned, their only loss came against fellow three-time champion Super-Llamaland in WBC 34. This in mind, Schiltzberg's fans have high expectations going into the playoffs, and Schiltzberg's players have a lot of pressure, as a fourth championship would make Schiltzberg tied with Newmanistan for the most titles all-time.

SET EIGHT

Game One

Drawkland                                1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0  5
Schiltzberg                              0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3  8

Schiltzberg met Drawkland for the fifth time in game one of set eight, having split the season series so far at two games apiece. Schiltzberg was hoping to get this win, so that they will have had a winning record against every team in the group for the season series, and also because that would give them a full game up on Drawkland, who at that point was in second place. As expected, the game was a very close match, as both teams have a similar playing style of scoring a lot of runs so that it is hard for the other team to come back. Drawkland scored first in the first inning with a solo home run, but Schiltzberg bounced back with two runs in the second and two more in the third to make it 4-1 Schiltzberg. Then Drawkland bounced back, as they seemed to be going back and forth with the scoring every couple of innings, scoring two in the fourth and then two more in the fifth to once again give Drawkland the lead at 5-4. Schiltzberg tied it up with a solo home run from the bat of Mark Daly in the next inning, which was the sixth inning. Then both teams' bats seemed to stop after that, and the game was tied after the ninth at a 5-5 deadlock, forcing extra innings. Schiltzberg blanked Drawkland in the top of the tenth, and then with the top of their lineup up for the bottom half led off with a lead-off triple from Daly, and then a walk from Fitzhugh, topped off from a walk-off three-run home run by Chris Vrooman to end the game in Schiltzberg fashion. It was a great game for Schiltzberg, as they were able to get the win, while also pushing the good team of Drawkland down in the standings, giving the Schiltzbergers a little bit of breathing room. This win brought Schiltzberg's season series record against Drawkland up to 3-2, while it brought their overall to 16-6.

Game Two

Schiltzberg                              1 0 0 3 1 0 2 0 0  7
Vangaziland                              1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  3

After suffering a rough loss against Vangaziland the last time the two teams met, Schiltzberg hoped to fight back with a victory, which they did in this game, and Henry Price had another good game, giving up three runs in the complete game with only seven hits allowed. Schiltzberg struck first blood with an RBI double from Ducky Fitzhugh, who knocked in Mark Daly, who had singled to lead off. Vangaziland quickly bounced back with a lead off home run to start their game, and then took the lead briefly in the third inning, when their team hit another solo home run off of Price. Schiltzberg's Manual Villegaus hit a three-run inside the park home run in the fourth inning to take the lead from Vangaziland at 4-2, and Vangaziland did not come back from that lead, even with another run in the fifth, which came off of a triple into the gap, which knocked in a runner that had reached on a double earlier in the inning. Francis Thom hit a home run in the fifth, and Schiltzberg also rallied in the seventh, scoring two runs on four hits, both of the RBIs going to Ducky Fitzhugh, who tripled and then got nabbed at the plate trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run. The final score was 7-3, which brought Schiltzberg's record up to 17-6.

Game Three

Ilyseum                                  0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  3
Schiltzberg                              1 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 X  6

Schiltzberg came into the third game with a three-game winning streak, and they hoped to continue that against the hosts. Schiltzberg was credited as the home team, but of course, they were treated as if they were the away team, other than getting to bat last, because they were playing in Ilyseum. Schiltzberg blanked Ilyseum in the top of the first inning, then Ducky Fitzhugh singled and then scored on Chris Vrooman's double in the bottom half of the inning, much to the dismay of the fans. Ilyseum fought back though, with a solo home run in the second inning, tying up the game. The fans of Ilyseum cheered uncontrollably, believing that their team by the help of God would be able to win its second game in a row against the number one ranked defending champions, but little did they know that Schiltzberg also has God on its side, as Schiltzberg attributes its success to its devotion Roman Catholicism, and Schiltzberg fought back in the bottom of the fourth to break the tie, and Bob Rutledge then hit an inside-the-park home run, followed by a triple from Wayne Knox, who was knocked in on a squeeze play sac bunt from the pitcher, Jorge Matos. Schiltzberg scored two more the next inning on a two-run shot from Thomas Saiz, which was measured to be 501 feet, which is the farthest home run of any player so far in the World Baseball Classic 37 up to this point. The game was just coasting to the end at that point, as Schiltzberg had given up another solo shot in the top of the fifth, which made the score now 5-2, and each team gave up one more run before the end of the game, but neither one really mattered at that point, because the game was not all that close. Ilyseum scored on back-to-back doubles in the seventh, and then Schiltzberg answered with a solo home run from Ducky Fitzhugh in the bottom of the eighth. Schiltzberg won the game 6-3, which now brings their record up to 18-6, which is the highest in their group, and the second-best in the conference behind Maklohi Vai, who played Schiltzberg in the WBC Finals last year, and now has a 19-5 record.

This Is Your New Schiltzbierg Times Sports News!

[Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje]

The Zagrad Gazette

Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje is a relatively new country which is starting to recover from war with the Great Mongolian Empire. Under the Mongol occupation, baseball teams were shut down and baseball players couldn't practice their sport. Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje sent teamless players to the WBC because we still had no teams. The Hrvatska bejzbol liga (HBL) has been created recently and the league asked any interested team to apply to the league. The deadline for submitting a team to the league has passed and last night at the Zagrad Convention Center in Zagrad, it has been announced that the following 14 teams have been approved by the Hrvatska bejzbol liga (HBL):

Team Name                       City
BK Olovo			Olovo
BK Osojnik			Osojnik
BK Vindija			Crikvenika
BK Zagrad			Zagrad
BSK Dobravlje			Dobravlje
Fortitudo Amalfi		Amalfi
Göd Blue Sox			Göd
Jezica			        Dobravlje
Medvednica			Zagrad
Nada Kik SM			Kik
Olimpija '83 Crikvenika		Crikvenika
Royals BK			Banja Vrucica 
Tura Sleepwalkers		Turakerepes
Turakerepes Expos		Turakerepes

Fortitudo Amalfi is a team from Costiera Amalfitana, a small neighbor country ruled by the two co-princes: the prince of Prusy Krolewskie and the bishop of Ullastrell.

The next step for these teams will be to sign players. They can sign players now that they have been approved in the league.

Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje's top baseball players are currently in Ilyseum for the WBC 37. Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje is currently 4th in group G tied with Qasden.

[Ethane]

The Turnbull City, Part Story

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

It was James' son's birthday. He had been preparing for this day for ages. Not only because he wanted to give him an amazing birthday party, valuable time with his father, which James knows he oh so wishes for, but also because of what he had done for him. James could not wait to see the reaction on his son's face when he revealed what he had got for him, remembering back to those searches all those days ago.

James heard steps on the stairs. His son was descending, having woken up not too long ago, and had a shower, and got clothes on, smart attire as he always likes to wear on his birthday - something that stems from his strong involvement in politics. James could hear him yawning as he came down. He hid behind the door, waiting for his son to come in. ''Morning all'' Edward said, quietly, just in case his Dad wasn't awake. It was relatively early in the morning, only half eight, and James never normally got up that early, opting typically to stay in until ten when he wasn't working.

That was why he was in such a state of surprise when it happened. As he walked through the door into the kitchen, his Dad jumped out from behind the door, singing happy birthday, and launching confetti in the air. He gave his son a great hug, leading him to the table.

''I have something for you for breakfast. It's special.'' Edward's Dad said to him, making Edward grin like no other grin. James went to fetch it from the oven, where he had put it to keep it warm. It had already been cooked earlier, while Edward was still in bed, and this was only a method of making sure it remained nice and didn't go cold.

''Ta da!'' James said to his son, while bringing out the dish of breakfast to his son. He placed it down on the table in front of Edward.

''Wow.'' Edward exclaimed. ''Thanks Dad. This is amazing!'' On his plate sat a pile of six pancakes, well cooked, as James knew how to cook them to perfection, and maple syrup generously plastered on top. Edward tucked in, wolfing the delicious breakfast down like a ravenous lion.

''You ate that quick Ed!'' his Dad remarked, looking down at the now empty plate. He took it away from him, putting it in the dishwasher. ''I'll deal with that later.''

Edward stood up, removing himself from the table.

''Edward.'' his father said.

''Yes Dad'' he replied, looking over to his Dad, who stood tall, with the windows behind him, the sun reflecting on his jet black hair.

''Go watch the baseball on TV, if you want to. I'll take you somewhere after it. I promise you'll love it''.

''Ok Dad.''

About 3 hours later, Edward came out the living room, having finished watching the baseball match, which Ethane won.

''Dad. It's finished. Lets go.'' Edward shouted. There was no response.

''C'mon Dad. It finished. We can go now.'' There was still no response. Edward walked out into the kitchen, but there was no one there. He looked in the garden. No one was there either. He walked upstairs. Still he could hear nothing. He scanned the upstairs, expect for his father's room. He wasn't allowed to go in there. That was one of his Dad's ground rules. ''No going in my room''. He could hear that going round and round in his head. Should he go in. Yes he should. What if something bad had happened to his Dad. He opened the door slowly, the door creaking as he pushed on it. He tried to look through a small gap, but it wasn't big enough to see through, so he opened the door further. He saw his Dad laying on the bed, a smile on his face, eyes closed. He looked behind his Dad, and he didn't like what he saw there. Sitting on the bed next to his Dad was a woman, scantily dressed, laying next to his Dad. Edward screamed. She shot up, and looked at the door, seeing Edward standing there, timid, and scared, the complete opposite of what a male 15 year old is supposed to be. She shot up, wrapping something round her, and ran out the house, dropping something on the way out, to her car, which was sat outside. Edward started crying. ''Dad. Why?'' he asked. ''Why on my birthday. I thought I was the focus today, not random women. I thought you actually cared.'' Edwards voice was getting louder and louder, anger brewing inside of him at his Dad. ''DAD! ANSWER ME!'' he shouted. ''WAKE UP''! He shook him trying to get him to wake up. He was limp, more limp then he should be. Edward wrapped himself round his Dad, trying to wake him up, give him a hug. All he could hear was his breathing. But it wasn't normal, it was all erratic. Something was wrong.

Then he felt something warm to the touch by his foot. Edward moved his foot and looked down, to see a lit roll, with prohibited drugs inside. He looked at his father, looked at the drug, looked at his father, looked at the drug again, and concluded something. His father was in trouble. He ran to the phone, throwing whatever he was holding in his hand back on the floor - he was in too much of a panic remember. He dialed in the three numbers, and lifted the phone to his ear.

''Hello, this is the Emergency Services Operator, how can I help you?''

[Ilyseum]

Results for MDs 25-27 in Frenline Delpha

MD25

Group A
-Anthor-                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Amazonesta                         0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X  2

Southern Democratic States         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Ko-oren                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

New Jarwel                         1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Frenline Delpha                    0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3  5


  Group A                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                            25   17   8   138  103  +35    51
2 Frenline Delpha                    25   14  11   115  103  +12    42
3 -Anthor-                           25   14  11   109   92  +17    42
4 Southern Democratic States         25   12  13    90  103  −13    36
5 New Jarwel                         25    9  16    92  113  −21    27
6 Amazonesta                         25    9  16    79  109  −30    27

Group B
Britonisea                         1 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  6
Yuuzhan vong empire                0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 2  7

Cosumar                            1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  3
West Phoenicia                     0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  5

Zyarus                             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
New Cape Land                      0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 X  4


  Group B                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zyarus                             25   21   4   128   77  +51    63
2 Cosumar                            25   15  10   114   84  +30    45
3 West Phoenicia                     25   14  11   101   73  +28    42
4 New Cape Land                      25    9  16    74  120  −46    27
5 Yuuzhan vong empire                25    9  16    86  115  −29    27
6 Britonisea                         25    7  18    83  117  −34    21

Group C
Super-Llamaland                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
The Greater Korean Republic        7 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 X 11

San Llera                          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Confederate Islands of Paputu      0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 X  2

The Fair Republic                  0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2  5
Korizland                          0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  3


  Group C                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland                    25   17   8   119   88  +31    51
2 San Llera                          25   15  10   110   95  +15    45
3 The Fair Republic                  25   15  10   139  113  +26    45
4 Korizland                          25   10  15    84   92   −8    30
5 The Greater Korean Republic        25   10  15   105  116  −11    30
6 Confederate Islands of Paputu      25    8  17    74  127  −53    24

Group D
Platerdam                          1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1  7
Greater Vakolicci Haven            1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  4

Nova Anglicana                     0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 2  7
Flardania                          0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1  4

Jestoria                           0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2
United States of Devonta           0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 X  5


  Group D                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana                     25   19   6   126   81  +45    57
2 United States of Devonta           25   17   8   124   93  +31    51
3 Flardania                          25   11  14    98  114  −16    33
4 Jestoria                           25   11  14   114  118   −4    33
5 Greater Vakolicci Haven            25    9  16   118  146  −28    27
6 Platerdam                          25    8  17    88  116  −28    24

MD26

Group A
Amazonesta                         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Frenline Delpha                    0 2 1 0 1 3 0 0 X  7

New Jarwel                         1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  3
Ko-oren                            0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2

Southern Democratic States         0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
-Anthor-                           0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 X  3


  Group A                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                            26   17   9   140  106  +34    51
2 Frenline Delpha                    26   15  11   122  104  +18    45
3 -Anthor-                           26   15  11   112   93  +19    45
4 Southern Democratic States         26   12  14    91  106  −15    36
5 New Jarwel                         26   10  16    95  115  −20    30
6 Amazonesta                         26    9  17    80  116  −36    27

Group B
Yuuzhan vong empire                0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  4
New Cape Land                      0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 X  6

Zyarus                             0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4  5
West Phoenicia                     0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Cosumar                            0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Britonisea                         0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1


  Group B                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zyarus                             26   22   4   133   78  +55    66
2 Cosumar                            26   16  10   117   85  +32    48
3 West Phoenicia                     26   14  12   102   78  +24    42
4 New Cape Land                      26   10  16    80  124  −44    30
5 Yuuzhan vong empire                26    9  17    90  121  −31    27
6 Britonisea                         26    7  19    84  120  −36    21

Group C
The Greater Korean Republic        0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 3  7
Korizland                          1 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 1  8

The Fair Republic                  0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0  5
Confederate Islands of Paputu      0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

San Llera                          1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Super-Llamaland                    0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3


  Group C                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland                    26   17   9   122   92  +30    51
2 San Llera                          26   16  10   114   98  +16    48
3 The Fair Republic                  26   16  10   144  114  +30    48
4 Korizland                          26   11  15    92   99   −7    33
5 The Greater Korean Republic        26   10  16   112  124  −12    30
6 Confederate Islands of Paputu      26    8  18    75  132  −57    24

Group D
Greater Vakolicci Haven            0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2
United States of Devonta           3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  4

Jestoria                           1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Flardania                          1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  2

Nova Anglicana                     0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 3  9
Platerdam                          0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0  4


  Group D                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana                     26   20   6   135   85  +50    60
2 United States of Devonta           26   18   8   128   95  +33    54
3 Flardania                          26   12  14   100  115  −15    36
4 Jestoria                           26   11  15   115  120   −5    33
5 Greater Vakolicci Haven            26    9  17   120  150  −30    27
6 Platerdam                          26    8  18    92  125  −33    24

MD27

Group A
Southern Democratic States         0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Amazonesta                         0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  3

-Anthor-                           0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1  5
New Jarwel                         0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Ko-oren                            0 0 2 2 3 0 0 1 2 10
Frenline Delpha                    0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0  4


  Group A                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                            27   18   9   150  110  +40    54
2 -Anthor-                           27   16  11   117   95  +22    48
3 Frenline Delpha                    27   15  12   126  114  +12    45
4 Southern Democratic States         27   12  15    93  109  −16    36
5 New Jarwel                         27   10  17    97  120  −23    30
6 Amazonesta                         27   10  17    83  118  −35    30

Group B
Cosumar                            0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Yuuzhan vong empire                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Britonisea                         0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0  3
Zyarus                             0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 2  5

West Phoenicia                     0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 3  8
New Cape Land                      1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3


  Group B                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zyarus                             27   23   4   138   81  +57    69
2 Cosumar                            27   17  10   118   85  +33    51
3 West Phoenicia                     27   15  12   110   81  +29    45
4 New Cape Land                      27   10  17    83  132  −49    30
5 Yuuzhan vong empire                27    9  18    90  122  −32    27
6 Britonisea                         27    7  20    87  125  −38    21

Group C
San Llera                          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
The Greater Korean Republic        0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 X  2

Super-Llamaland                    0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
The Fair Republic                  1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

Confederate Islands of Paputu      0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0  6
Korizland                          0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2


  Group C                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland                    27   17  10   124   95  +29    51
2 The Fair Republic                  27   17  10   147  116  +31    51
3 San Llera                          27   16  11   115  100  +15    48
4 Korizland                          27   11  16    94  105  −11    33
5 The Greater Korean Republic        27   11  16   114  125  −11    33
6 Confederate Islands of Paputu      27    9  18    81  134  −53    27

Group D
Nova Anglicana                     1 0 0 1 1 4 2 0 1 10
Greater Vakolicci Haven            1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Platerdam                          0 2 0 4 0 0 4 2 0 12
Jestoria                           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2

Flardania                          1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  5
United States of Devonta           1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  3


  Group D                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana                     27   21   6   145   87  +58    63
2 United States of Devonta           27   18   9   131  100  +31    54
3 Flardania                          27   13  14   105  118  −13    39
4 Jestoria                           27   11  16   117  132  −15    33
5 Greater Vakolicci Haven            27    9  18   122  160  −38    27
6 Platerdam                          27    9  18   104  127  −23    27

[Frenline Delpha]

World Baseball Classic 37: Frenline Delpha and Ilyseum

In the ninth letter of the Al-phabet, we learn how Al feels about Rocky Road. Hint: He love it.

Game 25

Group E
Skeckoa                                  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Drawkland                                0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 X  4

Schiltzberg                              0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 2  9
Ethane                                   2 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  7

Vangaziland                              0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1  3
Ilyseum                                  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Group F
West Saintland                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  4
Anglatia                                 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 X  5

Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  3
Sandberg                                 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 X  8

Gregoryisgodistan                        0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3
Islanda Lunigo                           1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Group G
Abanhfleft                               3 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2  8
Kaboomlandia                             0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Maklohi Vai                              0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0  4
Qasden                                   0 1 0 4 1 0 0 4 X 10

Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 1 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0  6
Cheongji                                 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Group H
Elykyellek                               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3
Jeckland                                 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 X  5

Hannasea                                 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0  4
Nuevo Caracas                            0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3

The Serbian Empire                       0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  3
Nassau-Hessen                            1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 X  4

Game 26

Group E
Drawkland                                1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2  4
Ilyseum                                  1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 X  5

Vangaziland                              0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Ethane                                   0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2  4

Schiltzberg                              1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0  4
Skeckoa                                  0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 X  5

Group F
Anglatia                                 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 2  7
Islanda Lunigo                           0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2

Gregoryisgodistan                        0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Sandberg                                 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  4

Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
West Saintland                           2 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 X  6

Group G
Kaboomlandia                             0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0  4
Cheongji                                 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 2  7
Qasden                                   0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  3

Maklohi Vai                              0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Abanhfleft                               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Group H
Jeckland                                 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  5
Nassau-Hessen                            1 4 0 2 2 3 0 0 X 12

The Serbian Empire                       0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Nuevo Caracas                            0 1 0 0 1 0 0 7 X  9

Hannasea                                 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  5
Elykyellek                               1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 2  7

Game 27

Group E
Schiltzberg                              0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0  3
Drawkland                                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Skeckoa                                  1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 3  7
Vangaziland                              0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2  6

Ethane                                   1 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0  6
Ilyseum                                  0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  3

Group F
Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0  4
Anglatia                                 0 1 1 2 0 0 4 0 X  8

West Saintland                           2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  5
Gregoryisgodistan                        0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1  3

Sandberg                                 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2
Islanda Lunigo                           2 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 X  7

Group G
Maklohi Vai                              0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  3
Kaboomlandia                             1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 X  4

Abanhfleft                               0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0  5
Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 1  6

Qasden                                   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Cheongji                                 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 X  5

Group H
Hannasea                                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Jeckland                                 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 X  6

Elykyellek                               0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
The Serbian Empire                       1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Nuevo Caracas                            2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1  5
Nassau-Hessen                            0 1 1 2 0 0 2 2 X  8

Standings

Group E                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Schiltzberg                              27   20   7   149  109  +40    60
2 Ethane                                   27   17  10   148  119  +29    51
3 Drawkland                                27   15  12   124  128   −4    45
4 Skeckoa                                  27   11  16   116  130  −14    33
5 Ilyseum                                  27   10  17   106  141  −35    30
6 Vangaziland                              27    8  19   121  137  −16    24

Group F                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan                        27   18   9   143  102  +41    54
2 Anglatia                                 27   15  12   138  107  +31    45
3 West Saintland                           27   13  14   123  127   −4    39
4 Sandberg                                 27   12  15   113  134  −21    36
5 Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      27   12  15   129  150  −21    36
6 Islanda Lunigo                           27   11  16   102  128  −26    33

Group G                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Maklohi Vai                              27   20   7   148   88  +60    60
2 Kaboomlandia                             27   15  12   102  114  −12    45
3 Abanhfleft                               27   13  14   112  115   −3    39
4 Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 27   13  14   125  123   +2    39
5 Qasden                                   27   11  16    94   98   −4    33
6 Cheongji                                 27    9  18    97  140  −43    27

Group H                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Serbian Empire                       27   16  11   101   88  +13    48
2 Nassau-Hessen                            27   16  11   136  121  +15    48
3 Elykyellek                               27   13  14   126  125   +1    39
4 Jeckland                                 27   13  14    98   98    0    39
5 Hannasea                                 27   12  15   110  131  −21    36
6 Nuevo Caracas                            27   11  16   105  113   −8    33

Clinched Group
Clinched Play-Offs

[The Serbian Empire]

"Where's the corked bat? Must be in the umpire's room..." the burglar whispered to himself as he tried to free the bat for a Serbian slugger.

Noises echoing as the burglar crawls through the false ceiling to sneak into the umpire's room.

"I've got this bat that isn't corked with the same player name etching in there, so better deposit it in the ump's room," the burglar thought out aloud in a whisper.

The burglar sees a cable entry port is labeled: Ump's dress room

"Now just need to climb over the cinder blocks and squeeze below the concrete ceiling above. Then I can put the new bat in there and get my friend's corked bat back," the burglar whispered again.

[Super-Llamaland]

STREAKY TIGERS' FATE UNCERTAIN

You win some, you lose some, as the saying goes. More specifically for the Llamanean national baseball team, you win some in a row, you lose some in a row. The Tigers have dropped their last three games after rattling off a nine-game winning streak put them firmly in command of the group - that winning streak itself preceded by a prolonged skid. While the Tigers did well to bounce back after an inexplicable eleven-one loss to the group's fifth-placed team, one-run losses to group rivals San Llera and The Fair Republic - setting up the team's current predicament - have to hurt, especially after the bullpen's eighth-inning meltdown that cost them sole possession of the group lead.

With just three games to play, the Tigers are tied for the group lead with The Fair Republic, both teams with 17 wins and 10 losses. Just behind them is 16-11 San Llera. Fortunately for the Tigers, they're slated to play the three worst teams in the group, while TFR and San Llera must play each other - something that should prove an advantage, especially since two wins guarantees them a playoff spot.

But what about once they get there? If the playoffs began today, the Tigers would be seeded tenth of sixteen teams - not exactly the best standing. Tenth is hardly insurmountable - they were seeded eleventh at WBC28, which they won, and second at WBC35 in Nova Anglicana, which...let's not talk about that one. Still, a higher seed would be nice - the top four seeds this tournament are likely to be some combination of surprising Zyarus, who have gone 23-4 this Classic, and familiar foes Schiltzberg, Maklohi Vai, and Nova Anglicana, and the longer the Tigers can avoid the top teams, the better.

It's undeniable that the Tigers are streaky. If their current run of poor form continues, they might not even make the playoffs - a huge disappointment for a team that has worked its way back up to the top tier of world baseball after a brief hiatus. But even making the playoffs wouldn't be enough - while the Tigers are ranked third, they still haven't found their way onto the podium yet, much less won a fourth Classic, during their current Renaissance.

But, ironically, if any of the past few editions of the Tigers can made it, it's this current 17-10 team that has underwhelmed most supporters. At WBC35, the team went 12-3 before running out of gas in the Ro16. At WBC36, they were a consistently slightly-above-average team that shone brightly in the Ro16, sweeping hosts Chromatika, before crashing out in five to Nova Anglicana.

At WBC34, though, the team was almost as inconsistent as they are now, finishing 18-12 and third place in their group. All they did was roll into the semifinals before being eliminated and ultimately placing fourth. Consistently good gets a team ranking points, but rarely does it win silverware - the Tigers, good as they are, still aren't up to the biggest teams like Schiltzberg and the revamped Maklohi Vai. However, if the Tigers can get hot at the right time, they have a very good shot at a return to the semifinals - at least. Of course, they could also find themselves eliminated by the Round of 16.

With a one-game lead, tiebreak advantage, and a softer schedule, there's a very good chance the Tigers can make the playoffs. After that? Who knows. But the WBC37 team could have a very good shot at winning it all.

[Schiltzberg]

SCHILTZBERG REJECTS OFFICIAL SPONSORSHIP

In the light of recently clinching the playoffs for its fifth straight year, an issue has resurfaced concerning the Schiltzbergian baseball team's official name. Schiltzberg has refused to have a clever nickname for its team in international competition, as such nicknames are against tradition in Schiltzbergian sports. When forced to provide a nickname, Schiltzberg has named themselves simply the Schiltzberg Schiltzbergers... which set off a spark from an unlikely crowd - fast food buyers.

As it turns out, there is a fast food restaurant chain in Schiltzberg and throughout Europe called Schiltz Burgers, and thier main product is called the Schiltz Burger. Owner Dave Schiltz, who is indeed a member of the Schiltz Dynasty, though he holds a very distant chance at receiving the crown of Grand Duke, said in an interview when he was suspected to be slightly drunk, "What? Are they knocking off my name? They can't do that! This is bullshit!" But then after about ten minutes, Schiltz realized how much of a great advertising campaign he could launch by saying that he owned the number one seeded team in all of baseball in the world and he changed his mind, saying, "Oh yeah, my boys are the best. They gonna get ya. Yep. Buy Schiltz Burgers, and enjoy our limited time offer of two for five Schiltz Dollars."

The official Schiltzbergian squad ignored the false claim of Dave Schiltz to be the owner of the team for a long time, but this just led to more misled belief that he actually owned the team. It was made worse when Schiltz legally bought ad space in the home of the Grand Dukes, Royal Dome, and the ad read "Buy Schiltz Burgers, and you are supporting the WBC champion Schiltzberg Schiltz Burgers." Most thought that it was a joke, but many believed that it was true, sparking much debate. The truth was that the Schiltzbergers never officially had received any sponsorship, nor did they wish to advertise any fast food chain. The Schiltzbergian Baseball Committee, which is the true operator of the Schiltz squad paid off the Grand Dukes to remove the ad, and the issue was pushed under the rug, until at the time when Schiltzberg clinched, when a very high status newspaper made their headline "Schiltz Burgers Clinch!" much to the dismay of the committee.

This morning, the Schiltzbergian Baseball Committee released a statement saying, "To clear up any confusion, the Schiltzbergian baseball team, which has appeared in five World Baseball Classics and two International Baseball Slams over the course of the past five years has no involvement or affiliation with the restaurant fast food chain Schiltz Burgers, despite their official name being the Schiltzbergers, nor have they ever been affiliated as such." The release seems to have just made things worse for the committee, as now fans support Dave Schiltz's Schiltz Burger campaign as an entertaining joke, just waiting to see what his newest commercial will say or claim that he owns.

This morning after being informed of the statement by New Schiltzbierg Times Sports News reporter Eric Pants, Dave Schiltz said, and mind you, he was a little bit drunk, "I still own 'em. I own every last one of 'em. I don't care what nobody says," and he threw a cigarette to the floor. Schiltz made a claim in an interview that Ducky Fitzhugh is going to be in his next commercial, and that Ducky will say that the Schiltzbergers are owned by Dave Schiltz. Fitzhugh has denied that this claim is true. When Schiltz was informed of Fitzhugh's denial that he was involved with such an interview, he said in a very agitated voice, "He done said that! He done said what? God damned. Shit!" and he took a minute to spit before looking up with fire in his eyes, "I'm gonna damned right fire his ass! He'd better be in my ad or I'll kick him off my team."

The New Schiltzbierg Times has been informed that Schiltz will be attending a therapist regularly, as he apparently truly believes that he owns the team, much to the delight of Schiltzberg's fans, who love the drama of it all. As far as the team is concerned, another good set, as the playoffs get closer and closer.

This Is Your New Schiltzbierg Times Sports News!

[Skeckoa]

Eternal City, ILYESUM - After dropping six straight games and getting manager Gerónimo Cruz a termination slip, ending his fateful career as head of the national selection, the Esquequis have decided to perform in the darkness. Sitting at 6GB of second-place Ethane with only three games left of group play, the Esquequis are well beyond eliminated from advancing to the next group stage. However, in their path of failures, they revealed a number of bright spots that may be the precursor to more success in the near future.

One bright spot was their performance against #1 ranked Schlitzberg. The Esquequis finished 2-4 against Sclitzberg and of those four losses, 2 were lost by a margin of 2 runs or less. The other remarkable fact that the Esquequis came across was the fact that on games where they scored at least five runs, Skeckoa was undefeated against Schiltzberg.

That was always the folly of the Esquequis: scoring runs. Where they didn't score runs, they were close to victory, and when the offense was present, they went toe-to-toe against some of the world's best proving the vitality of Caribbean Beisból

With a 5-1 run for the Esquequis, people have asked about whether or not the job of Gerónimo Cruz was still viable to which the Federación Nacional de Beisbol Esquequi refused to respond in favor of the soon-to-be unemployed manager.

"It just isn't happening. We are enjoying watching our nation's team come across some successes, but our decision is final" said boardmember Rogelio Durham today outside of the offices for the Federation.

[Ilyseum]

Results for MDs 28-30 in Frenline Delpha

MD28

Group A
Amazonesta                         0 0 3 0 1 0 3 0 2  9
Ko-oren                            0 2 0 3 0 1 1 1 0  8

Frenline Delpha                    0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0  3
-Anthor-                           0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  4

New Jarwel                         0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Southern Democratic States         1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 X  2


  Group A                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                            28   18  10   158  119  +39    54
2 -Anthor-                           28   17  11   121   98  +23    51
3 Frenline Delpha                    28   15  13   129  118  +11    45
4 Southern Democratic States         28   13  15    95  110  −15    39
5 Amazonesta                         28   11  17    92  126  −34    33
6 New Jarwel                         28   10  18    98  122  −24    30

Group B
Yuuzhan vong empire                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
West Phoenicia                     0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  2

New Cape Land                      0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2  6
Britonisea                         1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  4

Zyarus                             0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0  5
Cosumar                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  4


  Group B                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zyarus                             28   24   4   143   85  +58    72
2 Cosumar                            28   17  11   122   90  +32    51
3 West Phoenicia                     28   16  12   112   81  +31    48
4 New Cape Land                      28   11  17    89  136  −47    33
5 Yuuzhan vong empire                28    9  19    90  124  −34    27
6 Britonisea                         28    7  21    91  131  −40    21

Group C
The Greater Korean Republic        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  2
Confederate Islands of Paputu      0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 X  3

Korizland                          1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  3
Super-Llamaland                    0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 X  4

The Fair Republic                  0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0  4
San Llera                          0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3


  Group C                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland                    28   18  10   128   98  +30    54
2 The Fair Republic                  28   18  10   151  119  +32    54
3 San Llera                          28   16  12   118  104  +14    48
4 Korizland                          28   11  17    97  109  −12    33
5 The Greater Korean Republic        28   11  17   116  128  −12    33
6 Confederate Islands of Paputu      28   10  18    84  136  −52    30

Group D
Greater Vakolicci Haven            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Flardania                          0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 X  3

United States of Devonta           4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  6
Platerdam                          0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2  4

Jestoria                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Nova Anglicana                     2 3 3 0 0 3 0 0 X 11


  Group D                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana                     28   22   6   156   87  +69    66
2 United States of Devonta           28   19   9   137  104  +33    57
3 Flardania                          28   14  14   108  118  −10    42
4 Jestoria                           28   11  17   117  143  −26    33
5 Greater Vakolicci Haven            28    9  19   122  163  −41    27
6 Platerdam                          28    9  19   108  133  −25    27

MD29

Group A
New Jarwel                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Amazonesta                         0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 X  5

Southern Democratic States         1 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Frenline Delpha                    3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2  7

-Anthor-                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Ko-oren                            0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  1


  Group A                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                            29   19  10   159  119  +40    57
2 -Anthor-                           29   17  12   121   99  +22    51
3 Frenline Delpha                    29   16  13   136  123  +13    48
4 Southern Democratic States         29   13  16   100  117  −17    39
5 Amazonesta                         29   12  17    97  126  −29    36
6 New Jarwel                         29   10  19    98  127  −29    30

Group B
Zyarus                             1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4  8
Yuuzhan vong empire                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  3

Cosumar                            0 0 1 0 3 2 2 0 0  8
New Cape Land                      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Britonisea                         0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0  4
West Phoenicia                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1


  Group B                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zyarus                             29   25   4   151   88  +63    75
2 Cosumar                            29   18  11   130   91  +39    54
3 West Phoenicia                     29   16  13   113   85  +28    48
4 New Cape Land                      29   11  18    90  144  −54    33
5 Yuuzhan vong empire                29    9  20    93  132  −39    27
6 Britonisea                         29    8  21    95  132  −37    24

Group C
The Fair Republic                  3 0 1 0 0 5 2 0 1 12
The Greater Korean Republic        0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1  5

San Llera                          0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0  6
Korizland                          0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0  3

Super-Llamaland                    0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0  5
Confederate Islands of Paputu      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0


  Group C                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland                    29   19  10   133   98  +35    57
2 The Fair Republic                  29   19  10   163  124  +39    57
3 San Llera                          29   17  12   124  107  +17    51
4 Korizland                          29   11  18   100  115  −15    33
5 The Greater Korean Republic        29   11  18   121  140  −19    33
6 Confederate Islands of Paputu      29   10  19    84  141  −57    30

Group D
Jestoria                           0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0  4
Greater Vakolicci Haven            1 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 X  7

Nova Anglicana                     0 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 1  7
United States of Devonta           0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Platerdam                          0 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 1  7
Flardania                          0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0  6


  Group D                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana                     29   23   6   163   89  +74    69
2 United States of Devonta           29   19  10   139  111  +28    57
3 Flardania                          29   14  15   114  125  −11    42
4 Jestoria                           29   11  18   121  150  −29    33
5 Greater Vakolicci Haven            29   10  19   129  167  −38    30
6 Platerdam                          29   10  19   115  139  −24    30

MD30

Group A
Amazonesta                         0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1  4
-Anthor-                           1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Ko-oren                            0 3 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 12
Southern Democratic States         0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2

Frenline Delpha                    1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2  6
New Jarwel                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2


  Group A                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                            30   20  10   171  121  +50    60
2 Frenline Delpha                    30   17  13   142  125  +17    51*
3 -Anthor-                           30   17  13   124  103  +21    51*
4 Southern Democratic States         30   13  17   102  129  −27    39
5 Amazonesta                         30   13  17   101  129  −28    39
6 New Jarwel                         30   10  20   100  133  −33    30

Group B
Yuuzhan vong empire                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2  3
Britonisea                         1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 X  4

West Phoenicia                     0 0 0 1 3 0 2 1 0  7
Cosumar                            1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  3

New Cape Land                      2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  4
Zyarus                             0 2 0 1 0 0 5 0 X  8


  Group B                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zyarus                             30   26   4   159   92  +67    78
2 Cosumar                            30   18  12   133   98  +35    54
3 West Phoenicia                     30   17  13   120   88  +32    51
4 New Cape Land                      30   11  19    94  152  −58    33
5 Yuuzhan vong empire                30    9  21    96  136  −40    27
6 Britonisea                         30    9  21    99  135  −36    27

Group C
The Greater Korean Republic        0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Super-Llamaland                    0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 X  7

Confederate Islands of Paputu      0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0  3
San Llera                          0 0 1 3 0 0 2 0 X  6

Korizland                          0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 0  5
The Fair Republic                  0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  3


  Group C                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Super-Llamaland                    30   20  10   140  100  +40    60
2 The Fair Republic                  30   19  11   166  129  +37    57
3 San Llera                          30   18  12   130  110  +20    54
4 Korizland                          30   12  18   105  118  −13    36
5 The Greater Korean Republic        30   11  19   123  147  −24    33
6 Confederate Islands of Paputu      30   10  20    87  147  −60    30

Group D
Greater Vakolicci Haven            0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 5  9
Platerdam                          0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

Flardania                          0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana                     3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 X  5

United States of Devonta           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Jestoria                           0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 X  4


  Group D                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana                     30   24   6   168   92  +76    72
2 United States of Devonta           30   19  11   141  115  +26    57
3 Flardania                          30   14  16   117  130  −13    42
4 Jestoria                           30   12  18   125  152  −27    36
5 Greater Vakolicci Haven            30   11  19   138  172  −34    33
6 Platerdam                          30   10  20   120  148  −28    30

*Frenline Delpha and -Anthor- split their 6 head to head games. Frenline Delpha finishes second and advances to the Round of 16 due to a +3 HTH run differential.

---

Round of 16

Ko-oren vs Cosumar
Super-Llamaland vs United States of Devonta
Zyarus vs Frenline Delpha
Nova Anglicana vs The Fair Republic

Tomorrow is a scheduled off day. The Round of 16 will begin in roughly 48 hours.

[Frenline Delpha]

World Baseball Classic 37: Frenline Delpha and Ilyseum

In the letter letter of the Al-phabet, we get the cinema classic Jurassic Park told in song.

Game 28

Group E
Drawkland                                3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1  8
Ethane                                   0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  4

Ilyseum                                  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Skeckoa                                  1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  3

Vangaziland                              0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0  6
Schiltzberg                              0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  3

Group F
Anglatia                                 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Sandberg                                 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 X  3

Islanda Lunigo                           0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1  3
West Saintland                           0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 X  5

Gregoryisgodistan                        0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 1  7
Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2

Group G
Kaboomlandia                             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0  4
Qasden                                   2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3

Cheongji                                 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 2  6
Abanhfleft                               0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3  4
Maklohi Vai                              1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  5

Group H
Jeckland                                 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Nuevo Caracas                            0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 X  4

Nassau-Hessen                            0 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0  5
Elykyellek                               2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

The Serbian Empire                       0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Hannasea                                 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 X  3

Game 29

Group E
Vangaziland                              0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Drawkland                                0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 X  4

Schiltzberg                              1 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 0  7
Ilyseum                                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2

Skeckoa                                  0 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 2  8
Ethane                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Group F
Gregoryisgodistan                        0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Anglatia                                 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  8

Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      0 2 2 2 1 1 0 5 0 13
Islanda Lunigo                           0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

West Saintland                           0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2  5
Sandberg                                 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3  4

Group G
Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0  3
Kaboomlandia                             0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2

Maklohi Vai                              0 0 2 2 0 0 3 0 4 11
Cheongji                                 0 0 6 1 0 0 0 0 0  7

Abanhfleft                               2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3  9
Qasden                                   0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Group H
The Serbian Empire                       2 0 3 1 1 0 2 0 0  9
Jeckland                                 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  4

Hannasea                                 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0  5
Nassau-Hessen                            7 2 0 0 3 0 0 5 X 17

Elykyellek                               0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Nuevo Caracas                            0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1  4

Game 30

Group E
Drawkland                                0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 2  7
Skeckoa                                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2

Ethane                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Schiltzberg                              4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  6

Ilyseum                                  0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 3  7
Vangaziland                              1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0  5

Group F
Anglatia                                 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 2  6
West Saintland                           0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Sandberg                                 1 2 2 0 7 2 0 0 0 14
Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Islanda Lunigo                           0 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0  5
Gregoryisgodistan                        0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Group G
Kaboomlandia                             0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Abanhfleft                               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3  5

Qasden                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Maklohi Vai                              4 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 X  8

Cheongji                                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3  4

Group H
Jeckland                                 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 2  7
Elykyellek                               0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

Nuevo Caracas                            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0  5
Hannasea                                 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 1  6

Nassau-Hessen                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
The Serbian Empire                       0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

Standings

Group E                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Schiltzberg                              30   22   8   165  118  +47    66
2 Drawkland                                30   18  12   143  136   +7    54
3 Ethane                                   30   17  13   153  141  +12    51
4 Skeckoa                                  30   13  17   129  138   −9    39
5 Ilyseum                                  30   11  19   116  156  −40    33
6 Vangaziland                              30    9  21   134  151  −17    27

Group F                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan                        30   19  11   153  117  +36    57
2 Anglatia                                 30   17  13   154  113  +41    51
3 West Saintland                           30   15  15   135  140   −5    45
4 Sandberg                                 30   14  16   134  142   −8    42
5 Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic      30   13  17   145  172  −27    39
6 Islanda Lunigo                           30   12  18   111  148  −37    36

Group G                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Maklohi Vai                              30   23   7   172  100  +72    69
2 Kaboomlandia                             30   16  14   110  125  −15    48
3 Abanhfleft                               30   15  15   128  125   +3    45
4 Hrvatska i Prekodunavlje                 30   15  15   136  131   +5    45
5 Qasden                                   30   11  19   100  119  −19    33
6 Cheongji                                 30   10  20   111  157  −46    30

Group H                                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Serbian Empire                       30   18  12   115   96  +19    54
2 Nassau-Hessen                            30   18  12   159  132  +27    54
3 Jeckland                                 30   14  16   110  116   −6    42
4 Hannasea                                 30   14  16   124  155  −31    42
5 Nuevo Caracas                            30   13  17   118  123   −5    39
6 Elykyellek                               30   13  17   137  141   −4    39

Won First in Group
Won First in Group on H-2-H Wins
Won Second in Group
Lost H-2-H Wins, Finished Group in Second

---

Play-Off Match-Ups

Round of 16 (Best-of-5)

Schiltzberg vs Anglatia
Maklohi Vai vs Nassau-Hessen
Gregoryisgodistan vs Drawkland
The Serbian Empire vs Kaboomlandia

[Anglatia]

OOC: We're one part away from finishing this mini series to set up some WC storylines. I know it's confusing at this point, it came out more confusing than I thought it would, but part five will have an explanation of everything that actually happened. Also, this is late but I guess I should post it anyway...

The Tragedy of Isa - Part Four

“You say that you were walking through the hallway when you heard a gunshot and then saw Joanna Danicic with the murder weapon?” the officer asked, almost sounding like he didn’t believe Isa’s story. “Why were you walking around when everyone else was sleeping?”

She didn’t have an answer to that question, and she had to look over her shoulder to see if Cara was going to give her more information. The truth was, she didn’t remember any of it. Or at least, she wasn’t able to access those memories at will. According to Cara, she still had all of her memories. But some of them were buried for her own protection.

“You were out because you couldn’t sleep and you wanted to go talk about your problems with Leonne,” Cara stated.

“I was going through some… Problems, and I wanted to talk to one of my teammates about them.”

The officer wrote down what Isa said. “And you also said you know a possible motive for the murder?”

Isa nodded. “Ajay was Sami Haawk’s teammate in Bathgate, and Joanna is Sami’s girlfriend. It wouldn’t be surprising if she killed Ajay to protect Sami from getting in trouble if Ajay told anyone about his video with the Crows. That’s the only thing I can think of that explains this.”

“How would Ajay know about the video?”

“She was… The kind of person who always heard things they shouldn’t. At least, that’s what I saw from my time with her on the national team. I don’t have any solid evidence. It’s just a theory, based on the time I spent with both Ajay and Sami on the national team,” Isa said.

After asking more questions about minor details, the officers finally left. Their interview had been thorough, because this information would change the case completely. Many had assumed that the Crows had something to do with Ajay’s death. After all, it wasn’t very believable that a great up and coming footballer would commit suicide in the middle of a major tournament, after signing a big contract. After the video of Erin Jensdottir’s drunk encounter with the Crows was released, most believed that Sami was part of the gang along with his teammate Seth Hollis, so it definitely wasn’t a stretch to say that those two had something to do with Ajay winding up dead. Even though that was a popular public opinion, the police had no eyewitness reports to confirm the theory until now.

Things were looking a lot worse for Haawk, who was already out of the country with Joanna to avoid prosecution for a slew of other charges relating to the incident behind the video. Originally, things had been covered up well, but the wild card was the VLRA hacking collective deciding to strike out at Haawk because of his roots in Calovice, a city that they despised for political reasons.

Of course, Isa was taking a risk by bringing herself into this case. The Crows were known to go after people who tried to incriminate them, and as long as Haawk was on the national team, she wouldn’t be able to avoid him completely.

“Stop worrying, this will only help you. It’s how we’ll fix your reputation,” Cara said, surprising Isa by knowing what she was thinking. It was still strange, even if she knew Cara was in her head. “Ajay was this nation’s sweetheart after the U-15 World Cup. When you find justice for her, you’re going to get a massive popularity boost. I know it’s risky but… You’ve never shied away from risks.”

And so the stage was finally set for what could turn out to be the trial of the century. Bathgate’s golden boy and his girlfriend would be going against the wayward daughter of Ross. It was a legal battle that had the potential to hurt not just Haawk, but the Crows and their control over the organized crime scene in Anglatia. Isa didn't quite know the magnitude of what she was getting involved in at the time, but she soon would.

=====

“I'm not saying that we’re done! I'm just saying that I need some space until I can sort out my mind! I know I said that I forgave you, but I can't even remember that and I don't know what's real and what's a result of… Me losing my mind,” Isa shouted at Katarina, standing outside her apartment while Cara watched from her peripheral vision. “We’ll talk when I'm feeling better. I'm in no state to make decisions right now.”

“This is how you repay me for sticking with you through this shit? By walking out on me so you can have space to think about if you want to break up with me or not?”

“If you didn't screw one of my best friends, we wouldn't be having this talk!” Isa screamed, drawing the attention of pedestrians on the street. Some people took pictures and others recorded, as Isa’s face grew red with anger. “This is all on you, Kat! This is all on you!”

“Really? Last time I checked, you forgave me. You said that we would move on and pretend it never happened. I tried to apologize more and you just told me to drop it and move on. What happened to that? You can't deny that you did forgive me and move on.”

“Did I? I don't even know what's real. I don't even know which of my memories are real. You're really making it hard for me to not break up with you on the spot.”

“Do it. My other lover will happily take your place,” Katarina snapped, and Isa just stared at her with a defeated expression.

“You don't mean that.”

“I do. I'm tired of being with someone who gives me shit like this no matter how much I put up with them. It's not that I don't like you, Isa, but you take up too much time. If you want to know the real reason why I had a fling… It's because I'm tired of your drama and I needed a break. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you how I was feeling, but it never seemed like the right time, and I didn't want you to do anything stupid like your friend Blaze-”

“Stop. Just stop. You've hurt me enough. I trusted you, and you broke my heart again. You didn't just break it, you shattered it. Tore it in half. I hope you're happy, Katarina. You managed to completely destroy me in one conversation. I hope you're proud of yourself,” Isa sighed, in a calm voice of resignation. She turned and started walking away, and she ignored Kat’s cries for her to come back. Taking out her phone, she sent a text to Thane saying she would be out sick. And as everyone on the street watched, she climbed into her sports car, slammed the door, and pulled off into the street.

Her life was one big mess at this point, and she had to get out of Ross for now if she wanted to have any hope of getting ready for the season in time. She thought that she'd reached rock bottom earlier, but she realized now that this was even worse than before. “Jesus, Isa, I tried to protect you from this!” said Cara, appearing in the passenger seat. “Or more accurately, you played yourself. Only you would hide your memories from yourself and then ruin your relationship by uncovering them and getting angry about it. It's typical. So typical.”

“I thought you were me? Why are you insulting yourself?”

“Why are you?”

“Are you ever going to give me straight answers?”

“Yeah. When you start giving yourself straight answers instead of running from your problems,” Cara said with a roll of her eyes. “Remember-”

“Shut up! I could crash into a tree and get rid of you for good. If you don't want me to do that, and shut both of us up permanently, I suggest you leave me alone and let me focus.”

“I gave you a way to get rid of me… You aren't tough enough to handle it. You still don't want to know what happened on that night, do you?”

Isa stayed silent for a full minute. “If you're asking, then I guess it means I don't.”

[Zyarus]

(yes, it's still called that)
Zyarian National Team Roundup
End of Group Stage - presented by Radio Free Zyarus
ENGLISH LANGUAGE

---

After the 30 games of the group stage, Zyarus currently sits atop the world, having only lost four games - two to Britonisea (7-0 and 3-2), one to West Phoenicia (11-6), and one to New Cape Land (4-1). This makes Britonisea the only winner of a three-game series against the Zyarian side in a group stage, and also makes the Zyarians the only side in Group B to not have been swept by a given side.

The South Yerfilag Ball Sports Association, currently in exile in Ego Exian Savanstistland, has issued a proposal to induct the following person(s) into the first class of a Zyarian National Baseball Hall of Fame, once one can be established after stability is brought to the war-torn nation:

Jacinda van Heel (P)
Van Heel's contribution to Zyarian baseball was felt early. Her pitching skill brought her into the spotlight in secondary schooling and in the university setting. Her invitation to hit the field for the South Yerfilag and later Zyarus national team snowballed into a feverish situation for the other teams she's faced in the Classic, who have felt the impact of her pitching only after the third strike is called by the umpire.


Matt Hicks (RF)
Hicks, also an original member of the team, is a showcase in both hitting and fielding. He holds a WBC career batting of .388, the greatest in South Yerfilag's/Zyarus' history in the Classic. Additionally, he holds the all-field records in balls caught in the air of any Zyarian in the WBC or in the non-SYBSA-sanctioned International Baseball Slam.


Flora Oorschot (LF)
Oorschot may not be as known as Hicks in the outfield, but her batting skills are like no other. Her .350 average is the team record of any woman participant in the national team roster, and she also holds the national record for the most home runs hit by a Zyarian in the Classic (thirteen, six of them in the ongoing edition).


Jaida Sims (2B)
While not a member of the first South Yerfilagi/Zyarian team to take the field for international baseball, Jaida Sims made her presence known as an exceptional player in the group stage of the ongoing World Baseball Classic. In Game 3 of the group stage, regular second basewoman Lily Prudzmol-Jadzt got her foot crushed by an ignorant Cosumarite baserunner, breaking several of the bones in her foot; this prompted manager Gilbert Londisizwe to send Prudzmol-Jadzt to emergency care in a Frenlinian hospital and later at the Hospital of the Savanstists in their nation of exile, Ego Exian Savanstistland. Sims immediately marched out to second base and barely let a baserunner out of her sight since.

---

I Can't Live a Day Without You
Chapter 2

Jacinda van Heel and her boyfriend of four years, Matt Hicks, strolled arm-in-arm down one of the surface streets near the Marden Arena. They had been through so much together - first meeting on this very team, albeit not on the Frenlinian sidewalk they were walking on now; making waves for the South Yerfilag team; seeing their nation torn apart; their friends executed by the new state authorities; getting accepted into a place that didn't want refugees; finally negotiating a plan for the Exians to profit from them by an exhibition baseball series after the end of the WBC...
Matt's smartphone chirped. He answered the call, listened to it, and hung up. He suddenly spun Jacinda around, more abruptly than an unpredictable tsunami, and pushed her toward the stadium.
"What are we doing?" Jacinda shouted as Matt led her through the stadium door.
Matt smiled, but said nothing, as they raced through the empty stadium. They tumbled over the home team dugout and raced straight for the bullpen.
"I nearly forgot I had a special baseball for you. I wouldn't suggest you throw it around, though." He gave it to her, and smiled sheepishly:

YES!

Jacinda squealed so loudly she thought the stadium would shatter into a thousand pieces. She and Matt kissed fiercely as they held each other in the tightest embrace of their lives. As they did, the entire Zyarian national team and a familiar woman surrounded them.
"And you thought they'd killed me, huh?" Janna Jasmina "J.J." VIsscher smiled under the camera she was using to photograph the engagement. "I knew they were coming for me, so I escaped by boat to the Democratic Republic of the Canada, where I've been living for the past several months. When I heard the WBC was here, I just HAD to see you guys. Maybe I can get a job on the sports board?"
Matt and Jacinda grinned at their old friend. "Have we got a story for you!"

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions' Pitching Significantly Improved

Ben Bridges, Staff Reporter

The Nova Anglicana national baseball team has seven new pitchers in WBC 37, including three new starters. The only holdovers from the WBC 36 rotation are Brandon Ashton and Cole Mayberry; everyone else is making their debut with the national team. The one thing everyone notices about this new squad is that the pitching is much improved. In WBC 36, Lions hurlers surrendered 127 runs in the group stage, an average of 4.2 runs per game. This time around, the pitchers have allowed just 92 runs, or 3.1 runs per game. This improved pitching, combined with an increase in runs scored from 5.3 per game to 5.6 per game, has propelled the Lions to a 24-6 record, as opposed to an 18-12 record in the group stages of WBC 36.

But who's moving the numbers this time around? Brandon Ashton has taken over the ace role for the Lions and has truly pitched like an ace, with a 1.93 ERA and 54 strikeouts to 10 walks over 42 innings in his six starts. But even better than Ashton has been third starter Brendan Gunderson. Gunderson has long been recognized for his outstanding pitching abilities, but there were always off the field concerns. In this Classic, it seems that he has been kept on the straight and narrow way, to the tune of a 1.34 ERA and 71 strikeouts in just 47 innings pitched, for an amazing 13.6 K/9. The young ace for the Isca Town Greens, Carson Whitten, has also pitched well, averaging 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched while his ERA remains under 3.00 for the tournament. It's been the two lefties, Cole Mayberry and Jules Halstead, who have struggled the most, allowing a 3.90 ERA between the two of them. Bullpen standouts have included rookies Will Thornton and Zack Whiting, as well as veterans Ross Long and Sidney Fleming. The whole bullpen has not been so stable; closer Colby Walker has blown two save opportunities and setup man Lucius Lavoie has struggled in a few of his appearances as well.

The Lions will take on The Fair Republic next in the Round of 16; the Toucans have scored virtually the same number of runs as the Lions, but have allowed many more. It again looks like the pitching will be the deciding factor. The Lions will surely get their runs against the Toucans, but can they silence their active bats? Manager Orlando Murray has announced that his rotation for the Fair Republic series will be Ashton-Gunderson-Mayberry, and then Whitten and Halstead if necessary. Walker is expected to maintain his closer's role, but look for much more of a mix-and-match approach in front of him. The Lions are well positioned to make a deep run, but they have to keep up their excellent run of play.

Pitching Stats

Brandon Ashton: 6 GS, 42 IP, 34 H, 9 ER, 10 BB, 54 K, 1.93 ERA, 1.05 WHIP
Cole Mayberry: 6 GS, 38.2 IP, 44 H, 18 ER, 6 BB, 41 K, 4.24 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
Brendan Gunderson: 6 GS, 47 IP, 34 H, 7 ER, 16 BB, 71 K, 1.34 ERA, 1.06 WHIP
Carson Whitten: 6 GS, 41.1 IP, 36 H, 13 ER, 11 BB, 58 K, 2.85 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
Jules Halstead: 6 GS, 37.2 IP, 39 H, 15 ER, 8 BB, 42 K, 3.63 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

Collective Rotation Stats: 6.9 IP/GS, 8.2 H/9, 2.2 BB/9, 11.6 K/9, 2.71 ERA, 1.15 WHIP

Collective Bullpen Stats: 67.1 IP, 67 H, 30 ER, 21 BB, 74 K, 4.02 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 9.0 H/9, 2.8 BB/9, 9.9 K/9

[Anglatia]

The Tragedy of Isa - Part Five

(OOC: Here's the finale to the series. I put it in spoilers because it might be disturbing to some because the entire part is about suicide. I'll try to get something recapping my team's last games up also before the cutoff, but no promises)

When your life was at rock bottom and seemed like it would stay there forever, was it even worth sticking around for? That was the question Isa Tangemen was asking herself as she laid on the floor of her hotel room with a grouping of objects next to her. A knife, a cell phone, and a bottle of strong alcohol. She regretted taking that small white pill that Cara had given her. It was likely part of her imagination, just like Cara, but whatever it was, it broke down the mental barriers she had subconsciously put up to protect herself. It brought back her memory of standing outside of her hotel room before the Cup of Harmony and hearing Katarina with someone else. Now that she remembered that and all the details that went along with it, clearly, she wished that she could forget it again.

The last night, she had gotten over her frustration and loneliness by paying one of the housekeepers twenty thousand dollars to spend the night with her. Had she overpaid? Sure. But it wasn't like she couldn't afford it, and if she would be miserable, she could at least make someone else happy. When she woke up in the morning, though, that girl was gone, and the loneliness hit her hard again.

She had gotten drunk to dull her feelings, but it somehow hardly helped this time. Now, she made her decision. She would make a phone call, and the result of that call would decide whether she would survive that night. Isa drunkenly reached for her phone, and dialed a number that she hadn't called in quite a while. The number of Karen Villegas, one of her teammates and friends when she had played for Rosenpfelblatz. It took five rings, but eventually, Karen picked up. “Um… Is that you, Isa? Isn't it a bit late to be calling?”

It was true that it was late at night, but Isa wouldn't let that deter her. “Karen, I called you because… I called you because I thought Katarina or Bianka or Alex might be the girl for me, but it was you the whole time,” she blurted out, and there was a long silence on the line. She was of course, basing this off of what her subconscious had told her. If her dreams were to be trusted, she had at least a subconscious level of attraction towards Karen.

“Isa, are you okay? You sound drunk. And are you crying?”

“I'm… Not okay. I'm the opposite of okay. But what I said still stands. I know this came out of nowhere but… I want you to be mine, Karen. I don't care if you play here and I play in Ross, we’ll find a way to make this work long distance-”

“Isa, I'm not sure that-” Karen started, before being cut off.

“Don't say no. Don't fucking say no, not yet anyway,” Isa snapped, with surprising intensity in her voice. There was a hint of desperation in her tone, and there was an edge in her tone for sure. “Just hear me out first.”

“I just wanted to say that maybe we should wait and talk about this in person. There's-”

“Look, Karen. I've got a knife next to me. If you're rejecting me, and it sounds like you are…”

Isa let her voice trail, and a hint of concern and panic crept into Karen’s voice. The panic in her tone grew when Isa remained silent after her first question. “What? What are you saying?”

“I'm going to open my wrists if you reject me,” Isa stated, her voice shaking more with every word. “Don't think that I won't do it. I have the knife right here. Everything is fucked up for me right now, and the last thing I need is to be rejected by you. All I want is to be loved, but apparently that’s too much to ask for.”

“Isa, what's going on? Why do you want to be with me so suddenly? Why do you think I'm worth dying over?”

“Katarina doesn't love me, my manager regrets signing me, the fans and my own team don't trust me, and I'm losing my mind. And when I say I'm losing my mind, I mean that there's a ghost following me around and making my life hell,” Isa explained, and then she realized how crazy the last part sounded. “I'm sorry, you probably think I'm insane now. You don't have to tell me. I already know.”

“Don't hurt yourself. Let's talk in person. I'm sure things aren't as bad as you think they are. I would give you a speech about all the things you have to live for… But I doubt you want to hear that. You're in Rosenpfelblatz?”

There were tears on Isa’s face, but she nodded and managed a reply. “Yep. And there is something for me to live for… You.”

“I don't know about that. Like I said, don't hurt yourself. I'm sure you can fix all of your problems. What you can't fix is dying on an impulse because you're upset and drunk.”

=====

Isa was able to stay surprisingly composed when Karen had arrived, but the tension in the air was so thick that Karen felt like the weight of it was pushing down on her shoulders. She had spent a few minutes trying to talk Isa out of hurting herself, but it seemed like just being there gave Isa enough of a boost to relax and calm down a bit. However, Karen knew she wouldn’t be able to deflect from the subject of romance for much longer.

“Look, I’m going through a lot of shit right now. I need someone who will stick with me and help me through it. Not like a friend, either. I thought Katarina was that person, but she’s just like everyone else. She pretends to be on my side when things go well, and then she abandoned me when life got rough,” Isa explained, sitting on the edge of her bed next to Karen. “I want you to be that person, that I can trust.”

Karen was going to ask what Isa saw in her, but she thought about it more and the answer was semi-obvious. Isa clearly trusted her because she was one of the few who hadn’t totally turned on her when she left Rosen and ran off to Anglatia. And right now, trust was extremely valuable to Isa. She didn’t have anyone in her life that she could trust right now, at least not anyone who could stay in close contact with her when she was with her club in Ross.

“First off, I’m not mad because you feel this way. I understand. I think it’s okay that you’re in love with me, but I can only love you back as a friend. I don’t know how to say this, Isa, but I’m with someone else,” Karen said, speaking slowly and taking time to choose each word carefully. “It’s not public yet, but me and Luke Edwards are together.”

Isa looked like she’d been punched in the gut. “Oh… Of course you are. Of course you’re fucking Luke Edwards,” she said, and then her face went red with embarrassment when she realized her freudian slip. “I mean, of course you’re fucking with Luke Edwards, I wasn’t trying to say that you’re fucking him, even though I’m sure you are, and I meant ‘fucking’ as an adjective, not a verb-”

“I know what you meant. I’m sorry, Isa. It just won’t work between us. I still love you as a friend.”

Karen stopped speaking when she looked over and saw Isa in tears. So much for getting through this conversation without hurting her. “Hey, don’t cry. Everything is going to be all right. You’ll find someone else. You’re smart, pretty, and loyal to your partners… I’m sure that somewhere, there’s a girl who would love to be with you. I just can’t be that girl.”

“I know you’re trying to cheer me up, but nobody in my life is willing to stick around once things go downhill,” Isa complained. “Not my family, not my teammates, not my exes. The only one who was loyal to me is dead, and that might be my fault. Even Kameron avoids talking to me now.”

Karen paused now, looking for a way to explain that she and Isa really couldn’t be together, that wouldn’t make Isa feel even worse than she already felt. “If you really can’t handle being single, would it help if I set you up with a friend of mine?” she asked eventually. It was a crapshoot, but maybe that would be a decent compromise.

“Yeah. Whatever. I see that I don’t have a chance with you,” Isa sighed, wiping away her tears and running a hand through her short hair. “I hope Luke is treating you well, because I somehow doubt that he’s as into you as I am.”

Ignoring the last remark, Karen stood and moved towards the door. “I’m going to talk to my friend. Are you going to be okay if I leave you alone?”

“Sure. I just have one request before you go.”

“What is it?”

“Just one kiss,” Isa said, smiling weakly. Karen sighed and weighed her options, before sitting back down next to Isa.

“Go ahead, but only one,” Karen replied, and she didn’t get to say anything else because of how fast Isa cut her off by kissing her lips. The kiss seemed long when it happened, even though it was only a few seconds. Isa had to use all her restraint to keep from taking things any further(the alcohol in her system likely contributed to that). When she finally pulled back, she was blushing and grinning slightly.

“Thanks for that,” she said, and then she paused before taking off her necklace, which was a silver chain with a pair of lightning bolts hanging from it. “Here, I want you to have this.”

“If you’re trying to make me love you by giving me this, it’s-”

“Take it!” Isa snapped, before apologizing for her tone. “Sorry. I just really want you to have it. It’s not because I want you to love me.”

Reluctantly, Karen nodded and took the necklace, putting it on. “Thanks, I guess. Like I said, I’m going to go find my friend. Don’t hurt yourself or anything like that while I’m gone.”

=====

“Oh my god,” said Karen, as she and her friend walked through the open door of Isa’s hotel room. She found Isa on the floor surrounded by blood, with a knife lying next to her. It had been a bad move after all to leave Isa alone when she was so clearly feeling this depressed. “Isa, are you okay? Can you hear me? Did you do this to yourself?”

“Read the note…” Isa muttered, her voice sounding quite weak. Karen ran to the note on the ground and picked it up and read the message that had been scribbled in poor, nearly impossible to understand, handwriting:

‘I can't deal with this any longer. Make sure Blaze is taken care of, and tell Kat that this isn't her fault. I'm sorry that things ended like this, but I know you and your friends will be happier with me out of your lives, permanently. Oh, and thanks for the kiss. It was great. XOXO, Isa.’

Isa apparently attempted to bleed herself out, but in her drunken state, she'd collapsed on the ground before she could do much with the knife. “I'm so sorry for leaving you here, I should have known that this would happen,” Karen said, kneeling next to Isa and examining her self inflicted injury. “Call an ambulance,” she told her friend, before looking back to Isa. “You should have told me what you were going to do. You could have gotten help and-”

“I didn't want help. I wanted it to be all over. I don't want to play this season in Ross, and I can never go home again, and the only person who loved me is making a move on my friend, because dating me is too exhausting,” Isa said, a stream of tears running down her face. “All I wanted was for you to love me, but no… You just had to be with a guy. Not just any guy, but a dumb jock who won't value you. That's… That's what pushed me over the edge. I knew what I was going to do, as soon as you said you were with Luke. It's why I gave you my necklace, I wanted you to have something to remember me by.”

“This isn't fair to me,” sighed Karen, and she was right.

“Then take the knife and finish the damn job,” Isa blurted out, looking Karen in the eye. “I'm already not far from passing out… It won't hurt, much. Please, Karen. Don't let me down twice.”

Now Karen was the one with tears welling in her eyes. “I can't do that to you, Isa. I'm sorry.”

Isa sighed and closed her eyes, nodding slowly. “Of course. Nothing is ever going to go right for me… Of course you would rather let me get locked up in a hospital, instead of helping me out one last time.”

“You'll get help there. You won't be happy about it now, but you'll thank me later.”

“Will I?” Isa asked, and then there was silence in the room until the ambulance arrived at the hotel. Indeed, nothing had gone right for her on that day. But little did she know that there would be more truth to Karen’s words than she originally knew.

[Drawkland]

LAST SET OF GAMES OF WBC 37 GROUP STAGE
Written By: Maddie Basshart and Matthew Underwood

---

RECENT RESULTS
FROM GROUP E:

Drawkland                                1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0  5
Schiltzberg                              0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3  8

Ethane                                   1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 1  7
Drawkland                                0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0  4

Drawkland                                0 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 0  7
Vangaziland                              0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0  6

Skeckoa                                  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Drawkland                                0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 X  4

Drawkland                                1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2  4
Ilyseum                                  1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 X  5

Schiltzberg                              0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0  3
Drawkland                                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Drawkland                                3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1  8
Ethane                                   0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  4

Vangaziland                              0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
Drawkland                                0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 X  4

Drawkland                                0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 2  7
Skeckoa                                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2

RECAP
Once the seventh set of games finished up, Ethane had the lead over Drawkland's Base Corps in the group stage of WBC 37. Pundits agreed that at this point, the dogs of doom were howling for the Corps and that their inevitable 3rd place finish was on its way. The inspiring underdog story had finally been killed off and balance in the universe was truly restored. However, there was still come hope left. The Corps had to win all 3 games of the 8th set, 2 of which were against Shiltzberg and Ethane themselves, and then keep their win streak going as long as possible. Could they do it?

EIGHTH SET
As it looked starting off into the eighth set, the Base Corps just wasn't going to have a good time. They started the game off winning against Schiltzberg in the 1st, but 2 2-run homers in the 2nd and 3rd innings for the Schiltzbergers left the Drawkians behind, scrambling. However, the 4th and 5th yielded similar scorelines for the Corps, and the game was 5-4 Drawkland. But lo, in the 6th inning, Schiltz came back to tie it up, and neither team would be able to seal the deal before the 9th inning, forcing the 10th. And just like that, Schiltzberg took a 3-run homer off of the tired closer Gordon Durante, putting the set off to a horrible start.

To add insult to injury, next came a vitalized Ethanese squad who led the game since a walk-off homer by the 2nd baseman, Chad Brock. The Base Corps managed to slip in a few runs here and there, but they never amounted to much, resulting with an embarrassing 7-4 scoreline to seal the fate of the Base Corps for this set. They would not be coming back to edge over Ethane.

The only thing keeping any hope or dignity left for the Corps was a nailbiting win over Vangaziland, where the Corps overcame a 1-point deficit in the 6th and prevented extra innings by scoring in the 8th and bringing in hard pitchers for the 8th and 9th, shutting down the Vannish team. But, as it was shown the game before, there was just no way the Drawkians could overcome Ethane, as it seemed.

Group E                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Schiltzberg                              24   18   6   133   96  +37    54
2 Ethane                                   24   15   9   131  104  +27    45
3 Drawkland                                24   14  10   115  118   −3    42
4 Ilyseum                                  24    9  15    96  128  −32    27
5 Skeckoa                                  24    9  15   102  116  −14    27
6 Vangaziland                              24    7  17   109  124  −15    21

NINTH SET
Perhaps the Base Corps could come back in the 9th set, many hoped. They were only a game behind Ethane, they could possibly take it back from them. That's what they said going into the game against Skeckoa, and that's what they repeated afterwards. The Drawkians led the game up until the 6th, where Skeckoa finally put another run together to tie the game, 2-2. But 3 consecutive doubles in the 8th got in 2 RBIs to take the game.

By now fans were excited. Ethane had lost in extra innings to Schiltzberg, so now the 2 teams were even and Drawkland had a chance to take the lead from Ethane again. Well, as much of a lead that 2nd place is. But Ilyseum, who'd previously never really amounted to any trouble on the Corps, got themselves together enough to score big in the opening few innings. Going into the 9th the score was 2-5, and although Drawkland crunched in 2 runs, a devastating out at home threw in from center ended the game 4-5 as a loss for Drawkland.

An Ethane win over Vangaziland the game before meant the Corps was behind again, but not even that threat could inspire them enough to take down Schiltzberg in the final matchup between the two teams. The world #1 had finally cracked the code that the Drawkians presented and had so perplexed them earlier in the group stage. The devastating 3-1 loss for Drawkland put Ethane even firmer into the 2nd place hole, and now it would take a miracle for the Corps to survive at that point, due to a 2 game deficit and having to play Ethane in game 1 of the next set, who Drawkland still had yet to defeat.

Group E                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Schiltzberg                              27   20   7   149  109  +40    60
2 Ethane                                   27   17  10   148  119  +29    51
3 Drawkland                                27   15  12   124  128   −4    45
4 Skeckoa                                  27   11  16   116  130  −14    33
5 Ilyseum                                  27   10  17   106  141  −35    30
6 Vangaziland                              27    8  19   121  137  −16    24

FINAL SET
The first game was truly the one that decided the fate of the Base Corps. They had to win every game in the set (which they've never done) and Ethane had to lose every game or win once and lose massively the other 2 while Drawkland won their games massively. And if Drawkland lost in the game against Ethane, it was all over, bar none. But regardless, the Corps performed so well under pressure that they were never behind the perhaps even haughty Ethanians over the course of the game. The 5-4 score made many fans on edge in the 7th and 8th, but in the top of the 8th, the Corps managed to score 2 runs, and then another one to add insult to the Ethanian injury in the 9th. The Base Corps had done the unbelievable, they'd beaten Ethane, 7-4. Take that, James Halworn. Maybe underdog stories do prosper outside of the movie theaters.

But the tale was not over yet. Drawkland still had to hurdle over Vangaziland and Skeckoa, the 2 minuscule-ranked teams who usually were defeated but had proven themselves in several key losses to the Corps. Vangaziland led by 1 starting in the top of the 2nd and were in the lead until the bottom of the 4th where Drawkland tied it up. The 7th saw Drawkland take the lead in a solo homer to a roaring crowd, but the situation was soon quelled by the Vannish team scoring in the top of the 8th. Drawkland would not be discouraged though. 2 runs would be scored in the bottom of the 8th to take the clear lead, and when Spider Jenkins came in to close the game, he took down the top of the Vangaziland lineup in 3 consecutive strikeouts. The dream stayed alive, with only one game left to go. Ethane were skunked by Skeckoa, 8-0, meaning the teams were on even footing, 17-12. It would all come down to the performance in the final game.

Drawkland had just come out of a 2-4 win over an inferior team. Skeckoa has just come out of an 8-0 win over a vastly superior team. It was anyone's guess who would win, although many superstitious Drawkian fans and experts expected a massive failure to crush any hope of a good run into the WBC. And yet, somehow, the Corps did what they did best, apparently, and that was score decisively under pressure. 2 runs in the 2nd and 3 runs in the 4th kept Drawkland ahead safely, as the pitching rotation kept firm, but surprise runs by Skeckoa in the 8th suddenly put the whole crowd in the Olympia Coliseum on edge, no matter who they pledged allegiance to. Of course, a 3-run deficit was nothing to sneeze at, but it's been defeated before, even in this very WBC. The Base Corps wouldn't have any of it, though. Third baseman Sean Navis knocked himself and his brother Mike Navis in on a home run right over the 444-foot fence in center field in the 9th, and following the example of Jenkins before him, Sammy Roth took the Skeckoan lineup, 3 up, 3 down (although not all by strikeouts).

Drawkland had won their game, but Ethane was still yet to play that night. Many Drawkians bought their tickets in advance and simply stayed in their seats to watch the titan matchup between Ethane and Schiltzberg, to decide the future of their team. The Base Corps had fulfilled their end of the deal, sweeping the final set. Now it was all up to how much Ethane wanted to pull out to defeat the world #1 and to slide into the playoffs. But things wouldn't go well for the Ethanians. The red and yellow of Schiltzberg had a red and black ally in the stands, and the Red Kites couldn't compete with what the Schiltzbergers put up. 4 runs in the 1st, another 2 in the 6th, and all Ethane could manage was a fluky run on a bad call in the 8th. The Schiltzberg crowd was of course excited they didn't lose the last game, not like it mattered, but the real section of the crowd excited by the 1-6 final score were the Drawkians, who erupted into cheers as the final batter in the Ethanian lineup popped a can of corn to center to end the game. It was true, the Base Corps battled impossible odds since day 1, and managed to finally, decisively, luckily, defeat them by the end. The group table says it all.

Group E                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Schiltzberg                              30   22   8   165  118  +47    66
2 Drawkland                                30   18  12   143  136   +7    54
3 Ethane                                   30   17  13   153  141  +12    51
4 Skeckoa                                  30   13  17   129  138   −9    39
5 Ilyseum                                  30   11  19   116  156  −40    33
6 Vangaziland                              30    9  21   134  151  −17    27

SUMMARY
So, with the high-stakes run of the Group Stage in the competitive Group E finally behind the Base Corps, and poor Ethane with it, now energy must be focused on the playoffs. Now, if the Base Corps is anything like the Grid Corps or the Net Corps, they're perfectly set up to lose embarrassingly in the Round of 16 even though they have a decent shot at winning. However, based on what we've witnessed these past few days, there's nothing that the Base Corps won't surprise us with.

The team Drawkland's Base Corps is set to play is the feared and skilled Bat Slaves of Gregoryisgodistan. Now, this won't be a dry matchup. The teams have met before, in the group stage of WBC 36. Drawkland finished last in the group that time, but the Bat Slaves seemed to be one of the easier challenges, contributing to several of the meager wins. This time around, the Bat Slaves did finish first in their less competitive group, but they finished 19-11: only one win more than the Base Corps themselves. They are seeded much higher than Drawkland of course, but this time around, it seems that the matchup is going to be pretty even. Drawkland has been massively improving, Gregoryisgodistan is likely atrophying this time around. In the common cliche, it's anyone's game. Let's just hope it's ours.

Good luck Base Corps, smash the Bat Slaves.

[Ethane]

Matthew Patterson,

I have to inform you that we have decided to take action against you in regards to the recent disappointment from the Red Kites in the World Baseball Classic. Being the 11th ranked team in the world, it was highly expected of us to be able to qualify for this tournament, giving our significant skill over the rest of the group, excluding number one ranked Schiltzberg.

We knew that it would be tough against Drawkland, but we expected that the Red Kites would have progressed out of the groups, and into the playoffs. The massive, and numerous losses against the likes of Ilyseum and Skeckoa, all of which should have been relatively easy wins for the team, are extremely disappointing, and have not boded well for our discussions of your future in your managerial capacity.

In failing to reach the target that we had set to you at the start of this World Baseball Classic, you have failed in your role as manager of the Red Kites, and have let down the whole nation in your failure to secure progression out of the group stages.

As a result of this, it is with solemn gratitude for all the work that you have done towards baseball for Ethane, bringing our team from nothing to our height last tournament, that we must let you know that an executive decision has been made by the Baseball Federation Council in Ethane to remove you from any managerial capacity on the Red Kites, due to the performance exhibited in this most recent World Baseball Classics.

We do regard your endeavour as worthwhile, and your contribution to baseball in Ethane as significant, which I am sure you will go down in history for, but it is time to let you go, and look for new leadership for our national team.

We do hope that wherever you may go next, you have great success, like you did for this team for most of your tenure as manager.

We also understand your frustration in regards to the lack of baseball support and funding from the government in this country. It also frustrates us that we have no system in place, in which teams can join up and compete in a league-style format. Without extra funding from the government, we cannot deliver on such a system. However, all we can hope is that in the upcoming election, someone who is willing to send more funding to sports, such as baseball, is elected in the upcoming elections.

Yours sincerely,
The Baseball Federation Council Executive Committee.

[Skeckoa]

ETERNAL CITY, Ilyesum - Despite being eliminated, the Esquequi National Team was able to influence the playoff picture of Group E over the last three matchdays at the World Baseball Classic in Ilyesum.

The Esquequis, who were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after MD 25, still fought hard in the homestretch knowing that their performance could influence the results of Drawkland and Ethane, two countries in a tight race for the final playoff spot. With Ethane's lead being slimmed down to one game following their loss to Drawkland, the Esquequis had the power to complicate further Ethane's chances of advancing.

Fans across Skeckoa grudgingly, and some enthusiastically, supported the Drawkland team despite the fact that they have defeated Skeckoa in the tournament several times already. However, a sense of rivalry between Ethane and Skeckoa put into stone Skeckoa's support for whatever team there is that could help eliminate Ethane.

With Ethane's thin lead, they were outmatched by an Esquequi team that didn't relent. The game was tied at zero entering the 5th inning until the Esquequis blew it open with a 4-run 5th.

Pitcher Andres Carter who was proven himself remarkable this tournament took a no-hitter in the 8th inning before allowing allowing a chopper that went over his head and squeaked its way into centerfield. All in all, the Skeckoa team proved themselves relevant and continued to be a thorn at the side of Ethane Baseball. Skeckoa would pile on one more in the seventh and eight and two more in the ninth to put the nail in the coffin.

With Drawkland having to finish off the group stage (while tied) against Skeckoa and Ethane having to do so against #1Sciltzberg, the Drawkish felt the advantage coming into the match and would capitalize on a weaker Skeckoa team. Skeckoa, whose had the most amount of trouble against Drawkland, were easily handled in a 7-2 loss while Ethane could not keep up with Schiltzberg hitters and lost 6-1, thus eliminating them from playoff contention.

"I'm glad they're not going, simple as that" said one player who wished to remain anonymous. "They thought that they were better than us, now they can watch the tournament from their couches like us".

When asked about the irony of having Skeckoa and Ethane both be eliminated, Skeckoa players and fans responded noting that Skeckoa is a smaller country who has recently reentered the international Baseball scene. At #66, they went toe-to-toe against the world's best and came out defeated, but not embarrassed.

"We have a young team, we are going to have a new manager, Skeckoa will be fine for years to come, we'll have our chance" said Herald Hedrada Beltre through a translator. Beltre announced before the tournament that this would be his last and that he will soon retire from professional baseball.

[Schiltzberg]

SCHILTZBERG WINS GROUP, ADVANCES TO ROUND OF SIXTEEN

Schiltzberg finished up its preliminary rounds last night with a win against Ethane, which eliminated that team and allowed for the advancement of Drawkland into the playoffs. Schiltzberg had a strong last few games, finishing the season with a respectable 22-8 record, which is second place overall in the conference after only Maklohi Vai. Schiltzberg has officially advanced, and will now play in the Round of 16 against the team Anglatia, who is in their second season in the WBC, and finished their season with second place in Group F with a 17-13 record, two games behind Gregoryisgodistan, who had a 19-11 record. Schiltzberg has never played Anglatia before in any baseball competition, so this will be a new experience for both teams, but hopefully the Schiltzbergers will be able to pull off another clutch win, as they are known for doing in the playoffs for the last few years. Regardless of how Schiltzberg does in the playoffs, they had a solid season to this point, doing well against every team in their group with winning records and positive run differentials against all other teams in the group. Hopefully Schiltzberg will be able to pull off another lucky championship, but they will just be taking it one win at a time between now and the finals. We will now give a breakdown of Schiltzberg's performance against every individual team in Group E over the course of the preliminary rounds.

Skeckoa
Schiltzberg overall were pretty solid overall against Skeckoa, though the team did definitely challenge the Schiltzbergers at times. David Toups pitched all of the games against Skeckoa, and he led Schiltzberg to a 4-2 record against that team with a head-to-head run differential of +8, which is pretty respectable over the course of only six match ups. Schiltzberg started their head-to-head matches off strong, winning the first two match ups, then dropping the third one, but bouncing back to win the fourth and fifth match ups, and then losing the sixth in a game that did not really matter, because Schiltzberg had already clinched, while Skeckoa had already been eliminated. Skeckoa finished fourth place in the group, four games behind Ethane for third place and nine games behind Schiltzberg, who ultimately won the group. Skeckoa has a good team, but they just had the unfortunate luck of being placed in a group with a lot of other really active and capable teams.

Drawkland
Drawkland gave Schiltzberg a run for its money on multiple occasions, and has now rightfully gained a playoff spot, after fighting hard to take that second place title from Ethane, who was probably the favorite for advancing over the lesser Drawkland. Drawkland put up its first winning record in the history of its time in the World Baseball Classic, and this marks its first appearance in the playoffs, as they will square up against Gregoryisgodistan in the Round of Sixteen, which should be a tough round for them. McKey was Schiltzberg's starter against Drawkland, and he struggled in his early games, giving up a lot of runs, despite high expectations, and he did win the first match up, but then lost the second and third. He bounced back in the second half of the season though, as Schiltzberg won its last three match ups against Drawkland by at least two. Schiltzberg fought back to bring its record against Drawkland into the green territory in the second half, and they succeeded, bringing it up to 4-2 head-to-head with a +7 run differential head-to-head against Drawkland. Drawkland is a tough team, and good luck to them as they hope to get as far as they can in the playoffs. They finished the season with a 18-12 record, four games behind Schiltzberg.

Vangaziland
Vangaziland did not have a season to remember, but they did put up a surprising amount of fight against the Schiltzbergers, fighting to win two of their games, and also hold Schiltzberg to really tight margins in the games that they did win. Schiltzberg's pitcher Henry Price is somewhat to blame for this, as he was the pitcher of all of these games, and he gave up some runs he probably shouldn't have, but the offense also struggled. Schiltzberg was lucky to pull off a winning record against the unranked team though, just barely pulling it off with a 4-2 record, and four of those decisions came in one-run games. Schiltzberg held Vangaziland to a modest +3 head-to-head run differential, but was just lucky to beat them in the first place, though the Schiltzbergers will take wins however they can get them. Vangaziland ended up finishing the season by far in last place, the odd one out in an active, talented division, finishing with a 9-21 record, thirteen games behind first-placed Schiltzberg. Vangaziland has a lot of potential though, and it will be interesting to see if they will progress to be a threat in the next few seasons.

Ilyseum
Schiltzberg took pride in continually beating the host country in this competition, putting up a great show in all six games against Ilyseum, except for one where they were shutout, much to the delight of the home crowd. Schiltzberg's pitcher Jorge Matos did a good job, leading his team to a 5-1 record against the hosts, and playing a big part in why the hosts had an early elimination in their inaugural World Baseball Classic. Schiltzberg won their first three match ups, before being shut out and then winning their last two match ups by large margins to make up for the shutout. Ilyseum had a disappointing season, as it is usually the case that the hosts do better in hosting years than normal due to all of the fan support, but being that Ilyseum was unranked, this helped them little, especially in such a tough group as Group E was this time around. Schiltzberg finished the season 5-1 against Ilyseum head-to-head with a +10 head-to-head run differential, making Ilyseum one of Schiltzberg's favorite opponents so far this year. The co-hosts finished fifth out of six in the group with a 11-19 record, two games behind Skeckoa and eleven games behind Schiltzberg.

Ethane
Ethane was Schiltzberg's favorite opponent this preliminary round, even though they had a good team this year, because Schiltzberg always seemed to do well against the team from Ethane. Schiltzberg won the first three match ups, including one that was a slug fest that they won 11-1, and then they lost a very close game that was a near-comeback by just one run in extras, before taking the last two match ups by hefty margins, including the last game of the season, which eliminated Ethane from playoff contention in a 6-1 Schiltzberg win that sealed Ethane's fate. The Schiltzbergers fought hard, proving that they can do well against playoff-quality teams, as Ethane is, though Schiltzberg has already proven that they can beat such teams in the playoffs by doing it in past years. Schiltzberg finished its head-to-head against Ethane with a 5-1 record and a +19 head-to-head record, which is the most that Schiltzberg has against any team so far this year. Schiltzberg finished the year with an overall 22-8 record and a positive run differential of +47, while Ethane fell just barely short of Drawkland, just one game behind, with a 17-13 record, five games behind Schiltzberg. Ethane is a quality team that really should have made the playoffs because they are so active and energetic, but just did not get lucky this time around and barely fell short. There is always next year, and the best of luck to them in the future.

Here are the end of the season summaries and standings:

MD1  V Skeckoa       W (5-3)  Toups
MD2  V Drawkland     W (7-2)  McKey
MD3  @ Vangaziland   W (9-8)  Price
MD4  V Ilyseum       W (6-5)  Matos
MD5  @ Ethane        W (11-9) Paul
MD6  @ Skeckoa       W (9-4)  Toups
MD7  @ Drawkland     L (1-5)  McKey
MD8  V Vangaziland   W (5-4)  Price
MD9  @ Ilyseum       W (5-4)  Matos
MD10 V Ethane        W (3-2)  Paul
MD11 V Skeckoa       L (1-5)  Toups
MD12 V Drawkland     L (4-6)  McKey
MD13 @ Vangaziland   W (4-3)  Price
MD14 V Ilyseum       W (8-4)  Matos
MD15 @ Ethane        W (11-1) Paul
MD16 @ Skeckoa       W (3-1)  Toups
MD17 @ Drawkland     W (8-5)  McKey
MD18 V Vangaziland   L (1-2)  Price
MD19 @ Ilyseum       L (0-4)  Matos
MD20 V Ethane        L (8-7)  Paul
MD21 V Skeckoa       W (4-0)  Toups
MD22 V Drawkland     W (8-5)  McKey
MD23 @ Vangaziland   W (7-3)  Price
MD24 V Ilyseum       W (6-3)  Matos
MD25 @ Ethane        W (9-7)  Paul
MD26 @ Skeckoa       L (4-5)  Toups
MD27 @ Drawkland     W (3-1)  McKey
MD28 V Vangaziland   L (6-3)  Price
MD29 @ Ilyseum       W (7-2)  Matos
MD30 V Ethane        W (6-1)  Paul

Group E                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Schiltzberg                              30   22   8   165  118  +47    66
2 Drawkland                                30   18  12   143  136   +7    54
3 Ethane                                   30   17  13   153  141  +12    51
4 Skeckoa                                  30   13  17   129  138   −9    39
5 Ilyseum                                  30   11  19   116  156  −40    33
6 Vangaziland                              30    9  21   134  151  −17    27

This year Schiltzberg got stuck in a really tough group with almost all of its opponents being playoff-quality teams, but the Schiltzbergers were able to fight it out and prove themselves once again, showing that they truly are worthy of the number one seed and the three championships that they have won over the past four years. The real test is yet to come: the playoffs. The season has just begun for the Schiltzbergers, and hopefully it won't end too quickly. For now, the Schiltzbergers are basking in the glory of being the defending champions, and hoping they can renew that title, though the odds of winning three times in a row are slim, and the players know that, even as good as they are. Ducky Fitzhugh was quoted saying, "I kiss the trophy every day, afraid of one day when it will no longer belong to us." For now though, Schiltzberg will fight to see another day in the baseball world.

This Is Your New Schiltzbierg Times Sports News!

[Anglatia]

The Valeria Free Post

Redcaps Rolling in Ilyseum

Being a follower of the Anglatian national baseball team is one of the most up and down experiences in sports right now. The team has upset some of the best in the game, but has also suffered losses at the hands of teams who have no business beating them. Their worst position in the group was third, but they eventually came back strong in the late second half of pool play, to finish in second place and four games over .500. Most notably, the group that they escaped was home to West Saintland, the sixth ranked team in the world. The best thing about this team has been the pitching, at least during the second half of the group play. Leif Erlunder is as good as everyone says he is, and his one hundred mile per hour fast ball was what held Saintland to two runs last game. Here's the list of all of Anglatia's second half results.

Anglatia 3-2 Islanda Lunigo(W, Devon Patil)
Anglatia 14-5 Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic(W, Domotor Marian)
Anglatia 5-6 Sandberg(L, Rosza Keller)
Anglatia 3-5 Gregoryisgodistan(L, Frazier Blackwood)
Anglatia 4-6 West Saintland(L, Leif Erlunder)
Anglatia 3-8 Islanda Lunigo(L, Arianne Venczel)
Anglatia 3-7 Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic(L, Devon Patil)
Anglatia 6-1 Sandberg(W, Domotor Marian)
Anglatia 3-1 Gregoryisgodistan(W, Arianne Venczel)
Anglatia 5-4 West Saintland(W, Arianne Venczel)
Anglatia 7-2 Islanda Lunigo(W, Leif Erlunder)
Anglatia 8-4 Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic(W, Devon Patil)
Anglatia 2-3 Sandberg(L, Domotor Marian)
Anglatia 8-1 Gregoryisgodistan(W, Rosza Keller)
Anglatia 6-2 West Saintland(W, Arianne Venczel)

During the second half of group play, the best hitter on the team has been shortstop Eric Bystrom, who could also be called the best defensive player. Bystrom is a superstar for the Underfell Storm and has proved that he deserves that title, hitting just over .300 and hitting clutch home runs in the 3-1 win over Gregoryisgodistan and the 5-4 win over West Saintland. His rival Rohan Narang has managed to get over their club rivalry for the sake of the national team, connecting well with Bystrom from the outfield and linking up well with the shortstop on cutoff throws. Narang however, also deserves mention as a superstar, with his flashy play in the outfield. It could be said that the 5-4 win against Saintland was a direct result of him robbing Cristina Inventius of a home run by the wall in the ninth inning while playing as a center fielder. The Sungri slugger hasn't batted as well as he's fielded though, with an average around .230.

On the pitcher's mound, the team appears to have two aces. Starting pitcher Domotor Marian, and Arianne Venczel, who sometimes comes out of the bullpen for relief. Both are atypical pitchers. Marian is built like a linebacker, with a 6'5 height and a wide frame, but his throws are deceptively accurate. Most don't think of someone like him when they think of an accurate pitcher, but he's proven time and time again that his fastballs can cut and sink with little warning, and his circle change leads to him recording many highlight reel strikeouts. On the other hand, Arianne Venczel is the opposite. She's small, a former softball player, and she makes no effort to deceive the batter with breaking balls and changeups. Venczel is a strikeout pitcher, and she's damn good at it. Her most used strategy against top batters is to throw high four seam fastballs early and then to finish the batter off with a knuckleball that they know is coming but still can't hit. Because of her skill at striking batters out, she's spent time as a reliever and closer, which is something that she's not happy about. She's even rumored to be planning to leave the Underfell Storm for the Piranha Lumberjacks next offseason, although those are just rumors.

Anglatia's next opponent will be Schiltzberg, which will be quite a challenge. With Domotor Marian scheduled to start in game one and Leif Erlunder scheduled to start in the second game, however, Anglatia should show no fear. The Redcaps have played the entire time with a chip on their shoulder, as reflected by when they beat West Saintland multiple times and ignited a bench clearing brawl near the end of the last game. Show no fear has been the mantra of the team for the entire tournament, and win or lose, it's practically a given at this point that they'll keep living up to that mantra through the coming series with the world champs.

[Super-Llamaland]

RENAISSANCE MAN: BURR RE-EMERGES AS BULLPEN STAR

Lefty pitcher Jacob Burr was told at the start of WBC37 that if he couldn't usurp somebody else's spot in his first three starts, the team would demote him to the bullpen. "Naturally," the City of Dinschria ace told us, "my first instinct was to try to get as far away from the bullpen as humanly possible." A mindset that makes sense - while Llamanean starters are more comfortable with the idea of swinging into relief than their global counterparts (the absurdly successful season long reliever Jordan Martel had just the latest indication: 110 IP with a 2.05 ERA), most still would prefer to remain a "full" starter.

Turns out that a spot in the bullpen was exactly what Burr needed.

As a starter for the national team, Burr appeared to be barely keeping things under control. In his first start, he seemed to be cruising along for the first six innings, allowing just two runs while striking out six, but three walks and five hits painted a darker picture. Sure enough, when he was allowed to start the seventh inning, he immediately gave up a double and a two-run home run and left with an uglier line of 6+ IP/4 ER/7 H/6 K/3 BB. His next start, against a far weaker team and with the Tigers exceeding expectations at 7-2? "Let's not talk about that one," Burr said. He laughs it off now, but after he gave up three runs in 4+ innings, breaking a record by hitting three batters, nobody was laughing.

Going into his final start, also against Greater Korea, it was widely assumed that Burr would need a miracle to make it. Aside from him, the entire rotation had been solid. But, after five innings of no-hit pitching, it looked like he'd gotten his miracle. Walking two men on with two outs (his ninth and tenth strikeouts of the night) didn't seem too concerning, either. Until the next batter hit a three-run home run, chasing him from the match. In three starts, Burr went 0-3, giving up ten runs in fifteen innings for a 6.00 ERA, and sporting a concerning 4.8 BB/9 ratio. Small sample size played a part - but most observers agreed Burr was laboring.

So, to the bullpen he went. "I was upset, but at the same time, nobody can get away with throwing that poorly and staying on the rotation. Especially not for the Tigers." Nobody knew what his role was, especially with ex-manager Cameron's replacement with Colin Nittledeen. But it became clear that Nittledeen was unwilling to trust the left-handed pitcher in a high-leverage situation. Burr was first deployed in the sixth inning of a match against The Free Republic. The score? Tigers 12, Toucans...3. Burr, knowing he was unlikely to get much better of a scenario, jogged out and threw three innings, allowing just one hit (a solo home run) and striking out five to, surprisingly enough, zero walks. The appearance dropped his ERA by a full point. He'd been impressive, but his next appearance, although not long relief, wasn't too high-leverage - the eighth inning of a two-one win over minnows Korizland - once again, though, Burr impressed, striking out the side in eleven effortless pitches.

Along with cajoling from interim pitching coach Michael Wang, this performance convinced Nittledeen to give Jacob Burr an extended tryout. While the Tigers trailed 4-3 in a high-pressure game, Burr pitched a perfect ninth inning. He then pitched two scoreless frames against The Fair Republic the next day to preserve a tie, striking out five more. As a reliever, he'd struck out sixteen batters in seven scoreless innings - with one hit and no walks.

His next appearance was a three-inning save, sealing the team's seven-two victory - and the group win. While Super-Llamaland watched, Burr struck out seven batters while allowing just two hits and one run. Despite striking out seven, Burr required only an efficient thirty-four pitches to clinch the team's first-place group finish: an absolutely clinical finish to cap off a strong team performance. The next day, newspapers showed City of Dinschria starter Jacob Burr - throwing his glove into the air, mobbed by teammates - as he capped off another sterling relief performance.

Burr, in a new role, is finally showing the strikeout potential and ability to perform under pressure that made him such an appealing selection for this edition of the Tigers. How will he respond to being thrown into the fire in a playoff situation? If the past few days are any indication, there's nothing to worry about.

[Ilyseum]

Results for Games 1 and 2 of the Round of 16 in Frenline Delpha

Cosumar                       0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Ko-oren                       0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 X  4

Ko-oren                       1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2  5
Cosumar                       0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Ko-oren leads series 2 games to 0

United States of Devonta      0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Super-Llamaland               1 0 0 1 2 1 0 2 X  7

Super-Llamaland               0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  4
United States of Devonta      0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 3  7

Series tied 1-1

Frenline Delpha               0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Zyarus                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Zyarus                        0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3  8
Frenline Delpha               1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0  5

Series tied 1-1

The Fair Republic             0 0 2 0 5 0 1 0 0  8
Nova Anglicana                1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0  4

Nova Anglicana                1 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0  5
The Fair Republic             0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0  3

Series tied 1-1

[Frenline Delpha]

World Baseball Classic 37: Frenline Delpha and Ilyseum

In the eleventh letter of the Al-phabet, Weird Al shows all you fools why he is indeed the King of Suede.

Game 1

Anglatia                0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Schiltzberg             2 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 X  7

Nassau-Hessen           0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  4
Maklohi Vai             0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 X  5

Drawkland               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Gregoryisgodistan       1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 X  3

Kaboomlandia            1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Serbian Empire      2 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 X  5

Game 2

Schiltzberg             0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0  4
Anglatia                0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0  3

Maklohi Vai             0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Nassau-Hessen           0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2

Gregoryisgodistan       1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Drawkland               1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 X  4

The Serbian Empire      0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
Kaboomlandia            2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  3

Results

Schiltzberg 2 Anglatia 0

Maklohi Vai 1 Nassau-Hessen 1

Gregoryisgodistan 1 Drawkland 1

The Serbian Empire 1 Kaboomlandia 1