World Baseball Classic 46- Everything Thread

[Saintland]

Feministvs Sanctvsterra May Still Be Alive

(SP) - The infamous female supremacist terrorist organization Feministvs Sanctvsterra, which formerly controlled the western half of the Kingdom, may still be alive. That was the shocking revelation at today's Rally for the Unborn in the Free Republics. The rally was organized on the steps of one of their court buildings in the Republican capital of Republica by Sister Maria Polus, a nun from our Kingdom who works as an educator at a local school in Republica. Sister Polus is known for her popular Sanctustube video series Sister Polus's Thoughts which has had over 900 episodes so far covering topics ranging from international sports to the wickedness of Feministvs Sanctvsterra to news events in Saintland, the Free Republics or just about anywhere else in the multiverse. Recently, with the election of a militant atheist, radical feminist and follower of Satanas as a consul of the Free Republics, Sister Polus has also been leading an ecumenical movement to defend Christian faith in Republican society. "Today, I want to let the entire multiverse know that Feministvs Sanctvsterra is alive and well! We wish to applaud the Supreme Court for making the correct decision and we wish to deliver a further message: **** the Salvation Circle! **** your fake God and his book of stupid rules that we have to follow! For now on, I have chosen to embrace freedom from religion! Down with God! Up with freedom! Have a nice day!" - Feministvs Sanctvsterra supporter and Salvation Circle apostate Sarah Fuerst

The purpose of the rally was to protest the Republican Supreme Court's ruling that legalized the murder of unborn children across the Free Republics and effectively deprived Charter Societies like the Salvation Circle's Malifornia Charter Society of their sovereignty. This decision has been condemned throughout the multiverse, including by King Paulus XVI who took a break from studying film of The Sherpa Empire's hitters to release a debate condemning this truly heinous ruling. The announcement of the ruling, by Justice Celeste Salvini, was met with loud jeers from the massive crowd assembled outside the Court which was estimated by our reporter on the scene to number in the millions and quite possibly tens of millions. (OOC: The actual crowd size was closer to 500,000 which is what was reported by the Republican press.)

After hours of impassioned speeches from the heart condemning the terrible ruling and calling for Christians in the Free Republics to vote their values in the nation's upcoming legislative elections, a young woman named Sarah Fuerst assaulted Sister Polus with a pie to the face as the famous nun was beginning her speech, the last scheduled speech of the rally. After finishing her assault of a respected Christian woman, she grabbed the microphone and shouted profanities to the crowd, announcing that she had done it on behalf of Feministvs Sanctvsterra. To engineer their escape, Elio Lucchese, who is her boyfriend and the son of a high ranking official in the Salvation Circle, made a show of appearing to punish his girlfriend for her misbehavior, who played along to make it look genuine. Mr. Lucchese then apologized insincerely for his girlfriend's conduct and they managed to escape the rally unscathed as he dragged her out kicking and screaming. Later on, they revealed their ruse to News 5 at 5, a local news program on the Republica affiliate for Republican broadcast network FBC and claimed, without providing evidence, that they have been in communication with Feministvs Sanctvsterra.

We will continue to follow up on this developing story as more information becomes available...

[Free Republics]

Sister Polus's Thoughts

Hello, I am Sister Maria Polus. I am the Housemistress of Tomlinson House at the Barjavel Academy at Republica, the Instructor in Religious Studies, Deportment and Latin at the Academy and the Headmistress of the Barjavel Junior Academy, Republica Branch. I am joining you today on VirtueTube and SanctusTube to discuss current events in the Free Republics and around the multiverse. Today, I wish to speak primarily about the events that took place at the Rally for the Unborn but first I am going to talk about baseball. As many of you know, the Republican National Team is having trouble pulling away from their group in this year's World Baseball Classic. While they will not like hearing this, I will tell you the reason why: It is because they have offended God with their open rebellion against Him! I refer to the fact that they have a number of women on the team, including Luana Cremonesi who gave up a walkoff home run last night to Hampton Island's Bryce Mueller. I should also point out how Honomi Kamei struck out in the top of the 9th with the bases loaded. Now, some of you will tell me that she is the "best" baseball player of all time and she almost never strikes out but what good does hitting .400 and never striking out do your team if you strike out with the bases loaded late in a tie game? She simply cannot perform for her team in the clutch which is why they have not won the WBC despite being expected to do so for the last few WBCs. This time around, they probably won't even make it out of the group stage and that serves them right for rebelling against the Lord.

Now let me turn to something much more outrageous. Recently, I spoke at the Rally for the Unborn but my speech was ended rather abruptly by a young girl raised in the Salvation Circle who has since backslid into sin. This bad girl's name is Sarah Fuerst and I have found out who she is. Her father fought and died for the Leftist Republics, a terror state, in their illegal rebellion against the legitimate Republican government. After the War, the Salvation Circle purchased Malifornia's Charter and her mother saw the error of her ways, converting to the Salvation Circle. My sources have informed me that Sarah was a notorious hellion at Fierro del Infernus High School until she started dating her boyfriend Elio Lucchese. Afterwards, she suddenly changed for the better just as Katherina did after meeting Petrucio in a famous play that is taught as part of the English curriculum at Barjavel Academy. All involved were happy with the change in her and after the couple finished high school they were permitted to enroll at the University of Republica to train Elio for a political career and to allow the couple to be salt and light, sharing the Word of God with their secular classmates. Unfortunately, it seems that Elio's father Samuel Lucchese, a good man who is the top-ranking layman in the Malifornian government, made a serious miscalculation in trusting his son and likely future daughter-in-law to attend school in Republica without being corrupted by secularism. I want you to listen to this clip from News 5 at 5, a local news program here in Republica:

---

Cettina Beneventi - And now here's Thekla Isayeva with a special report on the Rally for the Unborn that protested this landmark Supreme Court ruling:

Thekla Isayeva - Thank you Cettina. The popular radical Christian online video personality Maria Polus organized a rally today to protest the Supreme Court's decision. However, the rally did not go the way she wanted it to.

The footage of Sarah Fuerst pieing Sister Polus in the face and her comments to the crowd were played.

Thekla Isayeva - In a News 5 at 5 exclusive, I have an interview with the woman who pied Sister Polus, a local college student named Sarah Fuerst and her boyfriend Elio Lucchese. First off Elio, there is footage floating around online claiming that Sarah is not actually affiliated with Feministvs Sanctvsterra and showing you striking your girlfriend. What is the truth behind this?

Elio Lucchese - Well, Thekla, that was all a ruse to get us out of the Rally safely. My "apology" to Sister Polus on behalf of my girlfriend was completely insincere and, in fact, I helped her plan this out.

Thekla Isayeva - So, you are saying that you're the mastermind behind all of this?

Elio Lucchese - Don't get me wrong. Sarah's much smarter than I am.

Sarah Fuerst - Elio, there's no need to be so modest. I couldn't have done this without you.

Thekla Isayeva - OK then. Sarah, why did you choose to have your boyfriend inflict physical pain upon you?

Sarah Fuerst - For one thing, this reflects the teachings of the Salvation Circle and likely several other organizations that are affiliated with Polus's Ecumenical Coalition for Morality. And it also didn't hurt one bit because I had a ton of padding on underneath!

Elio Lucchese - Well, it definitely helped that both of us have done theater before. Sarah, that was an absolutely brilliant acting job. Sister Polus fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Thekla Isayeva - It is indeed fascinating. Sarah, you claimed that Feministvs Sanctvsterra is alive and well. Have you had any contact with the Sanctii feminist organization and are you a member of the organization?

Sarah Fuerst - I am not a member of Feministvs Sanctvsterra. However, I have been in contact with Feministvs Sanctvsterra and, when I informed one of my contacts of my plan, I was asked to announce the continued existence of the group.

Thekla Isayeva - Unfortunately, that's all the time we have right now. We will be airing this entire interview this weekend on Thirty Minutes but for now I send it back to Cettina Beneventi in the studio.

---

This footage is extremely alarming but also really revealing. While it is unfortunate that Mr. Lucchese has such a serious problem in his family, I urge him to take care of it firmly and quickly. His son and the girlfriend are trouble and need a firm hand to bring them back to Godliness. I am also alarmed to discover that Feministvs Sanctvsterra may be alive and well. While I do not trust the word of Sarah Fuerst as far as I can throw a baseball, I cannot take the chance of assuming that she's lying. I urge King Paulus XVI to immediately step up his efforts to detect and bring to justice all members of any revival of Feministvs Sanctvsterra that may or may not exist and to firmly suppress the feminist movement.

Finally, I wish to speak about the actions I have attempted to take against Sarah Fuerst and her boyfriend accomplice. Firstly, I reported the incident to the Republica Police Department. I was informed that the Republica Police Department will investigate the matter and determine whether to press charges. However, as I left the police station, I overheard through an open window an officer say that they're not going to bother pressing any charges in this case because I "got what [I] had coming to [me]". This is utterly unacceptable and unprofessional and I call upon the city of Republica to fire the female officer responsible and any other officers who refuse to do their job. Secondly, after discussing that Fuerst is the starting 2nd baseman on their baseball team, I contacted the University of Republica and reported her off-the-field misconduct to the school and to her coach. I was informed that the school would investigate the matter. I can only hope that these misbehaving young adults will be punished in some way for their bad behavior. I am Sister Maria Polus and I thank you for watching.

[Lycrabon]

Tough loss, still on top

ST. CATHERINE - At 10-2, the Lycrabon Blue Jays still lead by a game over Cassasdaigua. In the minds of some, it should be a 2-game lead, and manager Garry Barnett, Jr. - still with 2 games of a 4-game suspension left - is still fuming.

"The (expletive) ran over our catcher. That's (expletive) obstruction. How those (expletives) umps blew that call - and the one at home is a NBL ump - is beyond me. We see that (expletive) again (the home plate umpire), we're taking his (expletive) out."

That rant cost Barnett 4 games, after the loss, a heartbreaking 5-4, 14-inning loss to the Tornadoes. Gonzalez was also lost for the forseeable future with a sprained knee from the game-ending collision.

Against Cosumar, the Jason Hagan (3-0) pitched a complete game, 14 hit performance.

Drawkland has been a thorn in the side of Lycrabon so far, even more so than Cassadaigua. Round 3 went to the Blue Jays in an 8-7 thriller.

TOTAL STATS:
Jason Hagan (3-0) 27 IP, 10 R, 27 H, 31 K, 16 BB
Zachary Horton (1-0) 19.1 IP 6 R, 22 H, 9 K, 7 BB
Jason Gentry (1-0) 11.2 IP, 4 R, 14 H, 6 K, 7 BB
Jay Kearns (2-0) 18 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 32 K, 3 BB
Will Anderson (0-1) 18 IP, 8 R, 20 H, 15 K, 8 BB
Trent McGowan 5.2 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 7 K, 4 BB
Mitchell Mooney (2-0): 6.1 IP, 6 R, 9 K, 3 BB, 14 H
Daniel O'Sullivan 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB
Theodore Gilmore (1-1, 3 SV) 7 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 9 K, 1 BB

BATTING:
Bradford - 13-42, 8 RBI
Bray - 11-38, 11 RBI
Daniels - 7-34, 6 RBI
Walton - 9-38, 3 RBI
Johnston - 15-35, 7 RBI
Kreuger - 10-32, 5 RBI
Gonzalez - 6-40, 1 RBI (OUT)
Buxton - 12-37, 7 RBI
Gale - 5-12, 2 RBI
Lester - 3-10, 1 RBI

PITCHERS:
Horton - 2-15 (.000)
Gentry - 2-4 (.500), 6 RBI
Hagan - 0-4 (.000)
Mooney - 1-3 (.333), 1 RBI
Anderson - 1-3 (.333), 1 RBI

UPDATE: It has been announced that Gonzalez, the Blue Jays starting catcher, has been ruled out for the remainder of the Classic with a torn ACL and MCL. Barnett, Jr was also suspended for the remainder of the group stage for commenting with the announcement, "we will throw at their (expletive) heads and run them over. If they lose a catcher, so be it."

[Newmanistan]

Matchday 13:

Group 1
The Sherpa Empire            0 1 3 0 0 0 0 4 0  8
Vangaziland                  0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0  3

Lisander                     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Liventia                     2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Saintland                    0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Holy Athonite State      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            13   10   3    81   47  +34    30
2 Saintland                    13    8   5    53   33  +20    24
3 Lisander                     13    7   6    52   47   +5    21
4 Liventia                     13    6   7    46   53   −7    18
5 Vangaziland                  13    4   9    48   71  −23    12
6 The Holy Athonite State      13    4   9    44   73  −29    12

Group 2
Oscioru                      2 0 3 1 0 0 2 0 0  8
Hapilopper                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Trastamar                    0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Free Republics               0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 X  4

Tierra de Castro             0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0  4
Hampton Island               0 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 X  7


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island               13    9   4    64   47  +17    27
2 Free Republics               13    9   4    59   46  +13    27
3 Hapilopper                   13    7   6    64   50  +14    21
4 Oscioru                      13    6   7    37   42   −5    18
5 Tierra de Castro             13    6   7    37   47  −10    18
6 Trastamar                    13    2  11    46   75  −29     6

Group 3
Drawkland                    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  4
Cosumar                      1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 X  6

Cassadaigua                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2  3
Lycrabon                     0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2

St Saratoga                  2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3  7
Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lycrabon                     13   10   3    82   48  +34    30
2 Cassadaigua                  13   10   3    75   41  +34    30
3 Drawkland                    13    8   5    75   68   +7    24
4 Cosumar                      13    5   8    49   60  −11    15
5 Tornado Queendom             13    4   9    50   70  −20    12
6 St Saratoga                  13    2  11    47   91  −44     6

Matchday 14:

Group 1
Vangaziland                  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Holy Athonite State      0 1 0 2 5 0 1 1 X 10

Liventia                     0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Saintland                    2 1 2 0 0 3 0 1 X  9

The Sherpa Empire            0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2
Lisander                     0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1  3


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            14   10   4    83   50  +33    30
2 Saintland                    14    9   5    62   35  +27    27
3 Lisander                     14    8   6    55   49   +6    24
4 Liventia                     14    6   8    48   62  −14    18
5 The Holy Athonite State      14    5   9    54   74  −20    15
6 Vangaziland                  14    4  10    49   81  −32    12

Group 2
Hapilopper                   4 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 10
Hampton Island               1 0 0 2 0 4 1 0 0  8

Free Republics               0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0  4
Tierra de Castro             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Oscioru                      0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0  5
Trastamar                    3 1 1 2 0 0 0 3 X 10


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               14   10   4    63   47  +16    30
2 Hampton Island               14    9   5    72   57  +15    27
3 Hapilopper                   14    8   6    74   58  +16    24
4 Oscioru                      14    6   8    42   52  −10    18
5 Tierra de Castro             14    6   8    38   51  −13    18
6 Trastamar                    14    3  11    56   80  −24     9

Group 3
Cosumar                      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 X  3

Lycrabon                     1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 1  6
St Saratoga                  0 3 1 5 0 0 0 1 X 10

Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3  7
Cassadaigua                  1 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0  5


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                  14   10   4    80   48  +32    30
2 Lycrabon                     14   10   4    88   58  +30    30
3 Drawkland                    14    9   5    82   73   +9    27
4 Cosumar                      14    5   9    50   63  −13    15
5 Tornado Queendom             14    5   9    53   71  −18    15
6 St Saratoga                  14    3  11    57   97  −40     9

Matchday 15:

Group 1
Lisander                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Vangaziland                  1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  2

Saintland                    0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0  3
The Sherpa Empire            1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 X  4

The Holy Athonite State      2 4 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 11
Liventia                     0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            15   11   4    87   53  +34    33
2 Saintland                    15    9   6    65   39  +26    27
3 Lisander                     15    8   7    56   51   +5    24
4 The Holy Athonite State      15    6   9    65   76  −11    18
5 Liventia                     15    6   9    50   73  −23    18
6 Vangaziland                  15    5  10    51   82  −31    15

Group 2
Trastamar                    0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Hapilopper                   1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 X  7

Tierra de Castro             0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0  3

Hampton Island               0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Free Republics               4 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 X 10


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               15   11   4    73   49  +24    33
2 Hapilopper                   15    9   6    81   59  +22    27
3 Hampton Island               15    9   6    74   67   +7    27
4 Tierra de Castro             15    7   8    43   54  −11    21
5 Oscioru                      15    6   9    45   57  −12    18
6 Trastamar                    15    3  12    57   87  −30     9

Group 3
Cassadaigua                  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0  3
Cosumar                      1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

St Saratoga                  0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  4
Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2  6

Tornado Queendom             2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Lycrabon                     0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 X  3


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                  15   11   4    83   50  +33    33
2 Lycrabon                     15   11   4    91   60  +31    33
3 Drawkland                    15   10   5    88   77  +11    30
4 Cosumar                      15    5  10    52   66  −14    15
5 Tornado Queendom             15    5  10    55   74  −19    15
6 St Saratoga                  15    3  12    61  103  −42     9

[The Sherpa Empire]

Matchday 13

Group 4
Devonta                  1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  4
Ancherion                0 3 2 0 0 2 0 5 X 12

Newmanistan              1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0  4
Ethane                   5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 X  7

Scootalove City          0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0  3
The Greater Nordics      0 0 3 0 0 1 2 0 X  6


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              13    9   4    70   47  +23    27
2 Ethane                   13    8   5    79   67  +12    24
3 The Greater Nordics      13    7   6    48   49   −1    21
4 Ancherion                13    6   7    64   60   +4    18
5 Devonta                  13    5   8    44   65  −21    15
6 Scootalove City          13    4   9    54   71  −17    12

Group 5
Ko-Oren                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 3  7
Abanhfleft               0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  4

Pratapgadh               2 3 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 10
Schiltzberg              1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 2  7

Banija                   0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 0  6
Anthor                   0 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 2  8


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   13    8   5    53   56   −3    24
2 Ko-Oren                  13    8   5    65   50  +15    24
3 Anthor                   13    7   6    63   64   −1    21
4 Pratapgadh               13    6   7    66   67   −1    18
5 Schiltzberg              13    5   8    51   56   −5    15
6 Abanhfleft               13    5   8    48   53   −5    15

Group 6
West Phoenicia           0 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 1  8
Nova Anglicana           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Alpine Union             0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Equestrian States        0 0 4 1 0 0 0 4 X  9

The Aurian Plains        1 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 2  7
Xanneria                 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0  3


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           13    9   4    62   37  +25    27
2 West Phoenicia           13    8   5    55   36  +19    24
3 Equestrian States        13    7   6    53   53    0    21
4 The Aurian Plains        13    5   8    61   95  −34    15
5 Xanneria                 13    5   8    59   62   −3    15
6 Alpine Union             13    5   8    60   67   −7    15

Matchday 14

Group 4
Ancherion                0 1 0 0 1 3 0 1 2  8
The Greater Nordics      0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Ethane                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0  4
Scootalove City          1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  3

Devonta                  1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Newmanistan              3 2 2 0 0 1 2 1 X 11


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              14   10   4    81   50  +31    30
2 Ethane                   14    9   5    83   70  +13    27
3 The Greater Nordics      14    7   7    51   57   −6    21
4 Ancherion                14    7   7    72   63   +9    21
5 Devonta                  14    5   9    47   76  −29    15
6 Scootalove City          14    4  10    57   75  −18    12

Group 5
Abanhfleft               1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Anthor                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 0  6
Banija                   2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  4

Ko-Oren                  2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Pratapgadh               0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  3


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-Oren                  14    9   5    70   53  +17    27
2 Banija                   14    8   6    57   62   −5    24
3 Anthor                   14    7   7    64   66   −2    21
4 Pratapgadh               14    6   8    69   72   −3    18
5 Schiltzberg              14    6   8    57   60   −3    18
6 Abanhfleft               14    6   8    50   54   −4    18

Group 6
Nova Anglicana           0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0  4
Xanneria                 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2

Equestrian States        0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
The Aurian Plains        3 0 0 0 2 0 2 6 X 13

West Phoenicia           1 0 2 0 5 3 0 0 2 13
Alpine Union             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           14   10   4    66   39  +27    30
2 West Phoenicia           14    9   5    68   37  +31    27
3 Equestrian States        14    7   7    55   66  −11    21
4 The Aurian Plains        14    6   8    74   97  −23    18
5 Xanneria                 14    5   9    61   66   −5    15
6 Alpine Union             14    5   9    61   80  −19    15

Matchday 15

Group 4
Newmanistan              2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  4
Ancherion                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Scootalove City          0 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 0  7
Devonta                  0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 3  6

The Greater Nordics      0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  3
Ethane                   6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  6


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              15   11   4    85   51  +34    33
2 Ethane                   15   10   5    89   73  +16    30
3 The Greater Nordics      15    7   8    54   63   −9    21
4 Ancherion                15    7   8    73   67   +6    21
5 Scootalove City          15    5  10    64   81  −17    15
6 Devonta                  15    5  10    53   83  −30    15

Group 5
Pratapgadh               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Abanhfleft               0 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 X  8

Banija                   0 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0  5
Ko-Oren                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Anthor                   0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  6
Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 1  7


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   15    9   6    62   63   −1    27
2 Ko-Oren                  15    9   6    71   58  +13    27
3 Schiltzberg              15    7   8    64   66   −2    21
4 Abanhfleft               15    7   8    58   55   +3    21
5 Anthor                   15    7   8    70   73   −3    21
6 Pratapgadh               15    6   9    70   80  −10    18

Group 6
Alpine Union             0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana           1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 X  3

The Aurian Plains        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
West Phoenicia           1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 X  5

Xanneria                 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 2  8
Equestrian States        1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  4


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           15   11   4    69   41  +28    33
2 West Phoenicia           15   10   5    73   37  +36    30
3 Equestrian States        15    7   8    59   74  −15    21
4 The Aurian Plains        15    6   9    74  102  −28    18
5 Xanneria                 15    6   9    69   70   −1    18
6 Alpine Union             15    5  10    63   83  −20    15

[West Phoenicia]

West Phoenician fans were left in a state of ecstasy and wild celebrations after three successful watches that saw the Confederates secure three wins and showed the WBC why they are a powerful force who are playing to win.

The first win came up against Nova Anglicana on their rivals home soil, that saw the Confederates claim a huge 8-1 victory against the number 1 placed team in their pool. The action began at the top of the second inning with a home run hit by Emanuel Army. Followed by Lukas Towers hitting a pitch into outfield that allowed him and two others players who were on bases safely home.

Empress Cleopatra-Olympias Gryphon-Bush an avid fan of baseball and their patron saint was quick to call on celebrations, that had pubs extended their opening hours to call on the West Phoenician faithful to come out and get drunk as a sign of support. The Empress also called on the faithful to show their love and support to the Goddess Fortuna who was looking over the team in there hour of need.

Fans took to the streets saving purple and gold streamers, acting as if it was the grand finals and not just a simple game.



The good luck that continued when The Confederates took to the Alpine Union home turf where they increased their run rate when they toppled Alpine Union 13-1. Alpine Union fans looked on shocked and stunned at the large margin of defeat. Team Manager Jacob Prosper said he could it believe the win, the Confederates had started off the season shaky, but now they were playing to their full potential.

The third victory come on their home soil against The Aurian Plains with a 5-0 win.

The three back to back win have given the Confederates a huge self confidence boost moving forward where they battle some of the toughest competition in the World Baseball Classic.

[Xanneria]

Maroons making comeback in WBC qualifiers?

The Baseball scene in Xanneria has been great domestically, but when stacking up the most talented players from Xanneria, to the rest of the world, it hasn't been hot. An 0-6 start made it look like the Maroons were once again destined to tank and embarrass themselves in front of the international stage in one of there worst performing international sports. After blowing up most of the roster last year due to an incompetent 8-16 record with a slower start to go with it, imagine the Baseball comissions surprise when Xanneria went on another 0-6 run to start the Classic. But all is not lost, Xanneria has been on a fantastic run as of late going 6-3 to bring up the teams record to a surging 6-9. 6-9 is a losing record but the Maroons who are tied for fourth can move up to a tie for third with the Equestrian States powerful team within the next game.

As far as players go, Thrill "the Drill" Stevenson (Yes Thrill is his birth name) has been a revelation! A big power hitter, Thrill has hit a massive 8 home runs in 17 games, including a two HR game in the Maroons Smash fest against the Aurian Plans. Pitching has been hit or miss though. There have been good games such as Dale Coyle's game in match 6 where he allowed only 4 hits, but the Phonecian pitcher Hieu Phan out dueled him by only giving up 1 hit, a double in the third inning to A.J. Bodine of all people. Management has been the bright spot though, after the slow 0-6 start Craig Congressor has managed to find his weaknesses and find ways to get a round them, in fact his main issue had been over-managing and be to adherent to pitch counts, leaving relievers to stay in possibly to long and give up runs. THat has been fixed and while there are still issue with a young core chasing balls its looking up for the Maroons.

[Free Republics]

Republica, Free Republics

Elio Lucchese and Sarah Fuerst were hanging out in their apartment watching the Free Republics play Hampton Island in the 15th game of the WBC group stage. Today, the teams were playing at the MingleDome and Ming Hsing had been dominant in the first inning, striking out the side. After a few commercials, including an ad for the new cPhone by Citrus Computing, they returned to the game.

Sarah Fuerst - Amazing how Citrus is still in business after the cBot debacle.

Elio Lucchese - Not really. Their phones are really popular with Safari because they offer really powerful Mobile Device Management.

Sarah Fuerst - Honomi told me about her plan to launch a "Stand Up to Safari" organization after the WBC is over to raise awareness about their mistreatment of workers.

Elio Lucchese - Its about time. Surprised she hasn't done it sooner.

Sarah Fuerst - There was some kind of a contract saying the National Team can't disparage Safari under penalty of a $100 million thaler fine that would bankrupt the National Team so management has ordered players to stay silent for the duration of the deal.

Elio Lucchese - That's unfortunate.

Sarah Fuerst - Safari was able to sneak that past them in some fine print.

Elio Lucchese - That's why you always need to read contracts before you sign them. Its very easy for somebody to cheat you with a contract if you're not careful and the courts don't always overturn unfair contracts.

Sarah Fuerst - Nice job Ferrau.

Elio Lucchese - Yeah, its always good to lead off with a walk. Come on Harald! (OOC: Harald Amundsen was playing 2B and hitting 2nd for the Free Republics for this game)

Sarah Fuerst - Great catch by Voorman. I didn't think he could make that.

Elio Lucchese - We'll definitely take a sac fly here. Now go get 'em Honomi!

Honomi Kamei nailed the first pitch from Curtis Sanfredi for an RBI double.

Sarah Fuerst - That's exactly what we needed!

Oskar Bjorgum struck out, bringing up Nicholas Fisher. Fisher would draw a walk.

Sarah Fuerst - Not sure I would have sat Hollie today but Julie Brodeur can hold her own.

Elio Lucchese - Look at that.

Brodeur had hit a long fly ball that just curved foul at the last minute. On the very next pitch, she hit it hard and in the gap in left-center. Kamei scored easily but Brodeur had to stop at second because Fisher couldn't run fast enough.

Elio Lucchese - Guess it was too early to put Rene Jager in.

Sarah Fuerst - Yeah it was but Fisher cost us 2 runs there with his slow base running.

With Jayden Riley starting at catcher, Evelin Norberg was batting 7th today. Riley was the 8th hitter. Norberg worked the count deep to 3-2 and then came the payoff pitch.

Sarah Fuerst - Looks like Sanfredi's throwing a curve here. Great contact from Evelin. I think this one is gone.

Elio Lucchese - It hit the wall!

2 runs scored and the Free Republics were up 4 to 0. At that moment, they heard a knock on the door.

Elio Lucchese - I'll get it.

Elio got up, answered the door and saw his father Samuel Lucchese standing outside the door.

Samuel Lucchese - Hello Elio. Figured I'd stop in because I was in the Republica area on Circle business.

The elder Lucchese invited himself in before his son could shut the door and saw Sarah sitting on the couch wearing a crop top and short jean shorts.

Samuel Lucchese - I see the two of you have become more worldly while you've been in school. I expected better from the both of you.

Elio immediately began trying to make excuses even though he knew that wasn't going to work.

Elio Lucchese - Sorry dad. I know it looks bad but we're still Christian and we're still waiting until marriage.

Sarah Fuerst - What Elio said. We want to fit in here rather than being looked down upon by our peers for being in the Salvation Circle.

Samuel Lucchese - Is that so?

Samuel was giving them one last chance to come clean and admit to their recent newsworthy actions.

Sarah Fuerst - We're not drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis or swearing or blaspheming. The only thing different is that we're dressing like normal college students do in the summer!

When Samuel walked in, the baseball game was on a commercial break because Riley had popped up behind the plate on the first pitch to end the inning. The commercials suddenly ended and Samuel could see the baseball game.

Samuel Lucchese - I can see that you're watching the feminist baseball team's game right now which isn't surprising given the photo I received during my recent trip to Saintland. Care to explain this?

Samuel had printed out the picture of Sarah in her University of Republica baseball uniform.

Elio Lucchese - That was from a party!

Sarah Fuerst - Yeah, there was a Baseball Party to celebrate the University of Republica's victory in the Big 16 tournament. Everybody, including fans, wore baseball uniforms to the party.

This actually wasn't a lie as the party really did happen.

Samuel Lucchese - Well then, care to explain this?

Samuel had printed out Sarah's profile page on the University of Republica's baseball team web site.

Sarah Fuerst - Oh shit!

Samuel Lucchese - Watch your language, though its the least of your sins at the moment. Now come clean, both of you. I want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from you.

Sarah Fuerst - I'm the starting second baseman for the University of Republica Patriots and I'm the Big 16 Conference Player of the Year.

Samuel Lucchese - Were the two of you involved in any other incidents lately?

Elio Lucchese - No, sir.

Samuel Lucchese - You're lying, Elio. I've seen the footage on TV of what the two of you did to that poor nun Sister Maria Polus.

Elio Lucchese - This isn't good.

Samuel Lucchese - That might be the first honest thing either of you have said today without being prompted. I'm going to give the 2 of you some choices at the moment. I have no interest in splitting you up since you seem to sincerely love one another. However, I've noticed that you seem to have become a couple of delinquents since the two of you came here for school. Therefore, choice #1 is this: You come home to Malifornia and transfer to a local university where I can trust you will behave yourselves.

Elio Lucchese - We don't want to do that.

Samuel Lucchese - Then choice #2 is this: You transfer to the University of St. Augustinus in Saintland. Or actually just Elio will transfer. Sarah, you'll marry him and go there with him as his wife.

Elio Lucchese - That's not acceptable either. Isn't there some way we could stay here?

Samuel Lucchese - Then I guess you'll be eager to choose choice #3 then. You can stay at the University of Republica but both of you must enroll in the Circle's new program to protect the innocence of college students attending school at secular campuses.

Sarah Fuerst - What does this entail?

Samuel Lucchese - Well, the program will not officially start until the beginning of the fall semester but the Salvation Circle has already purchased an apartment building for use as a dormitory. All students who live in this building, which will provide room and board at no cost to all residents, will be supervised by trusted adult members of the Salvation Circle and monitored to ensure that they behave in accordance with the teachings of the Circle and do not squander their education.

Elio Lucchese - So, if we agree to join that program, we can stay in this apartment unsupervised for the rest of the summer term?

Samuel Lucchese - That is partially correct. Since you have been very poorly behaved of late, I do not believe it is acceptable to pay for the two of you to live here unsupervised. Therefore, you would be supervised for the remainder of the summer by a highly qualified local educator who isn't doing much in her professional life at the moment.

Sarah and Elio both thought the same thing. Surely, he didn't mean...

Samuel Lucchese - I, of course, am referring to the poor woman whom you recently pied in the face: Sister Maria Polus.

Sarah Fuerst - But isn't she part of a different church?

Samuel Lucchese - I probably shouldn't reveal this to either of you but the Salvation Circle is the True Church of Iesus Christus and the True Church of Iesus Christus is the Salvation Circle. Therefore, she is a nun from our Church.

Both of them were shocked by this revelation. They'd been aware of many doctrinal similarities but still figured that the two churches were different entities.

Samuel Lucchese - When the great Reino Kulseth was murdered by traitors 11 years ago, Father Delmar Lavallee, a recent graduate of the University of St. Augustinus and newly ordained priest, established the Salvation Circle to protect the Faith from those who would persecute us in the Free Republics and to prepare for the day when we will set things right and take over the Federation Government once again. Since we didn't believe Consul O'Reilly would last and since he was never one of us but rather just a useful puppet, we maintained the facade even after he somehow won. We continue to back ambitious politicians such as Sebastian Trudeau who are willing to do our bidding even if they aren't part of the True Church and we will continue to use such proxies until such time as we are able to openly take power again.

Neither of them liked where this was going...

Samuel Lucchese - Now, Sarah, tell me the truth: Have you had any contact with Feministvs Sanctvsterra?

Sarah Fuerst - No, I haven't. I swear I made that up to troll Sister Polus!

Samuel Lucchese - Is that the truth or do I need to make you tell me the truth?

Elio Lucchese - She's telling the truth, dad. The whole Sister Polus thing was a practical joke she came up with.

Sarah was perfectly fine with her boyfriend shifting all of the blame onto her.

Sarah Fuest - Yeah, I came up with the idea and Elio only went along with it because he knew I'd do it anyway without him.

Elio Lucchese - And I wanted to make sure she'd get out of there safely.

Samuel Lucchese - A plausible story. Elio, it seems like your girlfriend is the primary source of the trouble and you're just going along with it like Adam went along with Eve. A man being led astray by the woman he loves is literally the oldest sin out there which is why its understandable that you've fallen into it. Its also why St. Paul wrote that wives are to submit to their husbands. I believe it will be to your mutual benefit to be supervised by Sister Polus, who is a very forgiving lady from what I understand. I've spoken with her and she's willing to forgive both of you provided that you repent of your sins and return to the True Path.

Sarah Fuerst - And what happens if we refuse all of your choices?

Samuel Lucchese - Then I cut both of you off and you can find yourselves another place to live and another way to pay for your education. I'm not going to make either of you choose right now. Instead, I'll be back in a week. Choose wisely.

The older Lucchese left the apartment, leaving the two college students there. They returned to the game just in time to see the Free Republics go up 10-1 in the bottom of the 4th on a 3 RBI double by Julie Brodeur. The remainder of the game was a walkover. Discussing their situation, they agreed that they needed to get ahold of Honomi Kamei immediately. They contacted her after the Free Republics defeated Hampton Island 10 to 2 and she agreed to stop by Republica on the off day before the National Team was scheduled to play Hapilopper in Falatulu...

[Lycrabon]

At the halfway point, very much in the hunt

ST. CATHERINE - Eleven and four.
That is where Lycrabon stands after fifteen games, tied with Cassadaigua, in second on tiebreakers.

Against Tornado Queendom, every Blue Jay pitcher was used, only because the staff seemed to take the manager's words to heart. The Tornado left fielder, who trucked Lycrabon's catcher out of the Classic, was thrown at every time at the plate, as was the shortstop, who came up third in the opening frame. The first three batters: double, home run, hit by pitch.

In game fourteen, the Jays were surprised by St. Saratoga 10-6, but Cassadaigua was upset by Drawkland 7-5.

The other tiebreaker the Dagans have (besides a 2-run allowed difference, 33-31) is a 2-1 head-to-head advantage, based on their 3-2, eleven-inning thriller. The pink and black put 2 up in the 11th, but the Blue Jays only managed one, and stranded the tying and winning runs at second and third.

[Lycrabon]

Capital City Gazette
UNOFFICIAL STANDINGS

These are strictly based on records/standings, irrespective of tiebreakers.

1-6:
T-1. Newmanistan (11-4, +34)
T-1. The Sherpa Empire (11-4, +34)
3. Cassadaigua (11-4, +33)
4. Nova Anglicana (11-4, +28)
5. Free Republics (11-4, +24)
6. Banija (9-6, -1)

7-12:
7. LYCRABON (11-4, +31)
8. West Phoenicia (10-5, +36)
9. Ethane (10-5, +16)
10. Saintland (9-6, +26)
11. Hapilopper (9-6, +22)
12. Ko-Oren (9-6, +13)

Wild Cards:
13. Drawkland (10-5, +11)
14. Hampton Island (9-6, +7)
15. Lisander (8-7, +5)
16. Schlitzberg (7-8, -2)

Quirks:
- LYCRABON would win 3 other groups with their stats.
- Every runner-up would win Banija's group currently, as would Drawkland and Hampton Island.

[Hapilopper]

(NOTE: The following stories were filed after each of Hapilopper's last three games and do not necessarily reflect the HNBT's current standing.)
HAPILOPPER GETS DOMINATED BY OSCIORU, DABNEY WALKS TEN
By Cassandra Jennings
Hapilopper Television Network

HAPILOPPER CITY - Well, that didn't go as planned. The Hapilopper National Baseball Team got a rude awakening courtesy of the Oscioru national baseball team tonight, as that team came out like a house of fire from start to finish, leaving the Hapiloppians in the dust, 8-1.

One of the factors that helped the Oscioruish team was Whit Dabney's sudden and inexplicable failure to find the strike zone. Dabney's knuckleball went high and outside one pitch, inside and bouncing off the dirt another. A batter had to jump out of the way for another pitch as many, many more pitches missed the strike zone than made it, and the pitches that did make it wound up becoming base hits.

By the time an Oscioru batter nailed a deep fly ball into the lower deck in left field to start the top of the 4th inning, manager Sam Kitchens had seen enough. It was now 6-0 for the Oscioru side. Dabney had walked 10 batters, the most walks for a Hapiloppian pitcher since "Nasty" Ned Jones of the West Hampton Royals walked 13 batters on May 14, 1983 against the Buckridge Blues. In case you're wondering, Buckridge won that game, 27-1, the most lopsided defeat in the history of the NLH.

Kitchens was heavily criticized for leaving Dabney in the game for as long as he did, but explained he did so to see if his pitcher would recover from the poor start.

"He's had bad starts before," Kitchens said. "You know, he's been in games where he couldn't find the strike zone to start the game, then he'd strike out nine straight batters. I expected he'd get out of this funk, but he just couldn't. You know, we all have bad days."

Dabney refused to speak to reporters after the game, sitting at his locker, his back to everyone else. When a Venerable Television reporter went over to the pitcher for a comment, Dabney looked at him and raised one middle finger, indicating to the reporter that now was not the time to talk.

Tonight was not a good night for the Hapiloppians, even more so when it was revealed that Terry Blanchard and Wes Sawyer have both been written off for the rest of the World Baseball Classic due to injuries. Sawyer suffered a concussion in Trastamar when he ran full-force into the right field wall at Trastamar National Stadium, suffering a concussion. Sawyer has yet to exit concussion protocol, and according to doctors, they are not interested in "rushing through it."

"Time is not of the essence here," said HNBT doctor Martina Garrett. "We're going to take our time to make sure Sawyer will be OK before we let him play again. In all probability, we'll keep him out of the WBC, because the last thing we need is a concussed player coming back and suffering another injury and possibly permanently disabling himself."

Garrett also wrote off Blanchard, who was hit right in the face with a 97 MPH fastball in Hapilopper's 1-0 win over Tierra de Castro. Blanchard suffered a concussion, a broken jaw and the loss of two teeth in the beaning.

"Terry got hit hard," Garrett said. "Again, we don't want to rush anything with him, and we don't want to put him back out there and run the risk of getting beaned again and suffering permanent damage. If he's not ready until after the WBC, then he's not. We'd rather Terry sit this one out and recover on whatever timeframe works for him."

Taking Blanchard's roster spot is Randall Pemberton, one of the three Pemberton brothers that troll the Washington Metropolitans' outfield and is known for their long hair, thick-rimmed glasses and balls-to-the-wall style of play. Randall Pemberton is best known for an ugly incident this April when he charged from the outfield to attack Surrey Wolves first baseman Junior Russell Jr., who was taking batting practice, marking the only time in NLH history that a bench-clearing brawl took place during pregame warmups.

---

HAPILOPPER POKES THE BEAR AND LIVES TO TELL THE TALE
By Cassandra Jennings
Hapilopper Television Network

STAFFORD CITY, HAMPTON ISLAND - Midnight, one of the biggest hurdles the Hapiloppians have faced this year (that hasn't been self-inflicted), hit two home runs tonight. Unlike Hapilopper's previous games with Hampton Island, however, Midnight's explosive power didn't break Hapiloppian hearts tonight.

That's because Hapiloppian bats came alive and yes, they beat the shifts that had plagued them in previous games. The mood was set when leadoff hitter Campbell Braxton, not known for his home run power, actually pointed to left field, and directly at Midnight. Taking the bait, the Golden Bears shifted to the left side of the field, anticipating something going that way. The only people standing at first base were Newmanistani umpire Wendi Hudson and Hapiloppian first base coach Tom Malloy. Everyone else was either in left field or between second and third base.

So Braxton bunted to first. With just two people in position to properly field the bunt, Braxton was aboard safely. The second baseman was extremely proud of himself, grinning with the enthusiasm of a child. When Larry Huckston, Golden Bears 1st baseman, walked back to his base, something was said and Braxton's smile instantly disappeared.

"He said 'nice bunt, dumb(expletive), don't ever do that again,'" Braxton said later.

But it set the tone for the rest of the game. Levi Berry was walked on four pitches. Dayton Rowe smashed a liner over the head of right fielder Brad Thomas, bringing in Braxton and Berry. After Jerome Hayden and Leroy Hunnisett flied out, Mo Beverly smashed a hard liner to left field that brought Rowe home. With Beverly at third base after Midnight fumbled with the throw, Mel Pemberton was plunked with a badly-thrown pitch from Jake Williams. A very patient Victor Foster, the pitcher, walked as well, and Campbell Braxton came back for his second at-bat of the inning.

Braxton, with a huge smile on his face, had the audacity to point to the Golden Bears defense to go back into that left field shift. Infielders Bryce Mueller, Patrick Seguin and Phil Haggarty could be seen giving Braxton a synchronized bras d'honneur in response, something that didn't help Braxton's composure, as he could be seen visibly laughing in the batter's box. Braxton took a fastball to the back on his first pitch, but this might not have been the smartest move - the bases were loaded and Beverly came home. Maybe that's what Braxton was looking for anyway - an unorthodox way to score a run, but a run had been scored.

The inning ended with the next batter as Berry struck out on three pitches, but the damage had been done and the mood had been set.

The Golden Bears got within one run at the bottom of the fourth after smooth hitting courtesy of Hampton Island hitters Seguin and Huckston, who were then brought home after Midnight smashed one against the center field wall. That, however, was as close as Hampton Island got, as the Hapiloppians turned on the jets and ran away with it in their next turn to bat.

"You know something, this was a win we desperately needed," said Hapilopper manager Sam Kitchens. "We've had some trouble. We had a poor outing from a pitcher. We've lost two right fielders. Until today, we had yet to take one from Hampton Island. This, hopefully, will be the start of something great for us. If we can beat the Republicans in a few days, then we'll have wins over every team in this group."

And, as one would expect, there was still controversy in this game, and you guessed it, Braxton, pitcher Charlton Forest and batter Leroy Hunnisett were the culprits. All three were ejected for excessive bench jockeying in the bottom of the 5th when the three heckled Hampton Island batters Brad Thomas and Phil Haggarty. Specifically, Forest said something about a scenario involving Thomas, Haggarty's wife and a couple of players from Hampton Island's domestic league. What, exactly, Forest said, is too explicit to be printed. (OOC: Sorry. I got carried away and thought it was funny.)

According to Forest, the idea was all Braxton's and whatever he said was obviously lies, but he thought it was funny.

"He was in rare form, wasn't he?" Forest said, laughing. "You know, he had this idea and it was so ridiculous I had to say it. I think his goal was to piss off the Hampton Island guys, and I think it worked. Might have worked a little too well, you know?"

---

HAYDEN CALLS HIS SHOT, HAPILOPPIAN BATS COME ALIVE IN SEVENTH
By Cassandra Jennings
Hapilopper Television Network

HAPILOPPER CITY - For much of tonight's game between Trastamar and the HNBT, what you saw was a classic pitcher's duel. As the 60,000 on hand sang along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," they had been treated to a duel between two great pitchers - the ace of the Trastamar staff and Charlton Forest, who had thrown some fifteen strikeouts up to that point.

Up to lead off the inning was Mel Pemberton, who promptly took the first pitch of the bottom of the 7th into the second deck in left field. As Pemberton sent his bat skyward, the crowd went into a frenzy, celebrating the HNBT's first lead since the fourth inning. The next pitch, thrown to Brandt Williamson, landed in the second deck in right field, leading to balls clanging all over Capital Stadium and Hapilopper City. And the very next pitch?

Charlton Forest got all of it. The pitcher put one in practically the same location as Williamson's opposite field shot. Forest, wearing an eyeblack mustache for some reason, took a look at it and strolled around the bases. The Hapiloppians had blown the game wide open, but the display of power, which ran Trastamar's starting pitcher out of the game, was far from over.

After Ernest Brand struck out, Ben Hammond, playing first base in place of the resting Levi Berry, walked on four pitches. Dayton Rowe then knocked one of those Baltimore Chops over the head of Trastamar's second baseman, and Jerome Hayden came up to bat.

Hayden, known to never be upstaged, called his shot to left field. This wasn't a smart move, as the Trastamar reliever threw a brushback pitch to discourage Hayden's tomfoolery, but Hayden did it again. On the next pitch, Hayden made perfect contact with the ball, and sure enough, the ball landed in the second deck in left field. Not one to remain reserved, Hayden whooped it up as he rounded the basepaths. The score was now 7-1, which turned out to be the final score of the ballgame.

Despite the ridiculous offensive showing from his players, manager Sam Kitchens was not happy with Hayden for the showing, and in front of the entire team and members of the media, Kitchens eviscerated Hayden for "calling his shot."

"That's a real good way to get your head blown off," Kitchens shouted at Hayden. "You do that again and I'll sit your ass down, I don't care how good you are."

When he calmed down later, Kitchens spoke of the importance of getting hot at the right time.

"We're going to Free Republics in a couple of days," Kitchens said grimly. "That's the fourth-best team in the world. If we're going to get hot, now is the time to get hot. We can't do anything but bring our absolute best to Free Republics, because if we don't play our absolute best, they're gonna kill us."

Hapilopper now stands 2nd in Group 2, six points behind the Republicans. A Hapilopper win would put them to within three points, while a loss would substantially hurt their chances moving forward.

"And that's why we need to beat the Republicans," Kitchens said. "I don't really want to make too much about it, but that game is an absolute must win for us. Period, the end, roll creddits."

[The Sherpa Empire]

While Xue Gong and Kencha Adhikari were bickering about the future of IRACT and Lakpa Fang was demonstrating that he was not literally unhittable as he gave up a walk-off home run to Rei Yokoyama, something much more sinister was going on in the People's Court, the national legislature of the Sherpa Empire. The Imperialist Party had introduced a series of proposals that would outlaw the practice of Abrahamic religions, ban the use of languages other than Sherpa in businesses and schools, restrict immigration, and label several opposing parties as "terrorist organizations." Some of the opposing parties did have violent elements, but so did the Imperialist Party. The party leadership always distanced themselves from the hate crimes committed by individual party members, but they still continued to use hateful rhetoric that emboldened the extremists.

This legislation was not yet enacted into law, and some of it was likely to fail. The Imperialist Party's allies who had helped them take control of the government did not agree with all of it. Some of the smaller parties did not want to label other parties as terrorist organizations because they thought it set a dangerous precedent that could be turned against themselves if their coalition fell apart and they fell out of power. The openly racist Sherpa Homeland Party also disagreed with the list the Imperialists had drafted, arguing that anti-military and pro-LGBT platforms were legitimate ideological positions. Both the Imperialists and the left-wing parties that the Homelanders were defending were totally blindsided. They had never known racial supremacists could be so liberal.

The highly conservative Confucian Party had backed the governing coalition because they wanted to purge the nation of drugs, debauchery, corruption, feminism, and Islam -- but their supporters were almost all Chinese, so they were vehemently opposed to the ban on educating children in local languages. A couple of other Courtiers also broke ranks to argue against the language ban, saying it would hurt the Empire's standing on the world stage if people didn't have the language skills to conduct diplomacy.

The part of the Imperialist agenda that had the best chances of actually passing was an immigration bill that made it more difficult for foreigners to get tax IDs or citizenship, beefed up the security screenings at border checkpoints and airports, and imposed new visa requirements on travelers from several nations.

In Guilin, local leaders planned a protest against the immigration bill and Adhikari's plans to disband IRACT. It would not be the usual kind of protest with people marching in the streets shouting slogans, blocking traffic, and making an inconvenience for bystanders and police. Instead, they would cover Sherpa-language signage around the city with temporary English signs. This would serve the dual purpose of making a political statement and making the city easier to navigate for any Vangazis that came to watch their national baseball team play at Seven Star Stadium.

[Ko-oren]

Banija                   0 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0  5
Ko-Oren                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

The Greenblues are still in contention for the group win, but Banija are still first. There was a monumental chance to change that, in Nitoya's Twin Field, where all 27,000 tickets had been sold. The Nitoyans leapt at the opportunity to see the orange team that has been causing all the ruckus. The crowd noise kept on going during the match, and only subsided somewhere towards the end of the ninth inning, when all seemed lost... and was lost.

Senzo Utada started for the Greenblues, played moderately well, but ultimately couldn't stop the Banijans from reaching bases. The second inning started with Kandeh at bat, reaching first, and Diene getting both home with a home run that barely went over the fence. Regardless, Esumi had nothing on it anyway, so at best it would've been a double. Utada kept two more innings clean, then was pulled for the first of many relievers. First, Lambirthingun (a rare Gehrennan baseball player) gave up two runs across the fifth and sixth, was then pulled for Carballar, who stayed on for only three outs, then Hoga was put on in the seventh as a very early preparation for the closer - giving up a run on his first pitch - and then Janagimoto closed out the game, pitching 1.2 innings. The strategy seemed to be to let the middle relief on the mound for a little longer, but a run per inning (and plenty of baserunners) were so threatening that the coach opted for more unpredictability for the Banijans (who didn't seem to mind too much). Giving up four or so runs in an inning is one thing, but giving up one inning after inning leaves you with the impression that there was a lot more that could be done. It wasn't just the big hitters that did their work, it was anyone from Mansaré to Jawara, and the one certainty for Ko-oren was that the Banijan pitcher (Condé to start with) couldn't connect.

Assan Condé, the Banijan ace pitcher, had his fourth start precisely against us. In order to keep the tiebreaker on their side, they had to get a good performance in Nitoya. Which they did. Condé shut down everything he could, and the few times that someone reached first (Ritsushima, Peredo, and Kagulazaka did), they were either picked off later or only got in a scoring position with two outs - the third arriving before the baserunner could get to home. Sowe was put on the mound next, and the difference was night-and-day. Sowe couldn't get a rhythm, and even Jawara seemed to have lost the ability to read the hitters. That said, Sowe was out there for a full two innings (and a bit more) and yet every hit went straight to the shortstop/second base, quick throw to first, keeping the contact to outs at first. Only a combination of Peredo, Vamada and Viera could get the former back around to home - avoiding the shutout. A rare strikeout for Sowe ended the aspirations for the rest of the seventh. Banija then shifted to Touré in the eighth and Baturu in the ninth, mirroring what the Greenblues did. Touré doesn't have the most reliable of reputations, but the Ko-orenites were properly broken at this point and there was nothing that could be done to chase the four-run deficit.

You're not winning anything with that mindset.

[Liventia]

OOC: Massive apologies about the tardiness of this roster, and the fact that this is basically my WBC45 (post-Olympics) roster unchanged. Having six friends over in your city for a weekend of massive football (soccer) partying does tend to leave no time for NS.

The Baseball Federation of Liventia announces its 25-man roster for the 46th World Baseball Classic, as Liventia attempts to continue its playoff streak since the country returned to international play.

The team is colloquially known as the Red-and-Gold, after the colours of the Liventian flag (and their uniforms). There has not been a completed league season since the last WBC, therefore all stats are from last season. The Liventian Baseball Championship is currently made up of 24 teams in six divisions of four, with 12 in each conference (the National Baseball League and Challenge Baseball League). Teams are not 'franchises' and are based permanently in cities and towns.
The NBL does not use the designated hitter, while the CBL does. Sixteen teams qualify for the playoffs (three division winners plus next five best teams by record per conference) after a 104–game season. Note that therefore, the statistics provided below for each player are for a 104–game season, not 162, except for hitters' major league career averages.

Permissions:
Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: *Please follow my line-ups below unless one of my players has been RPed as injured, in which case you may select a replacement player if I have not already designated one.
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes – please, no season- or career-ending injuries.
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Eject my players: Yes – but only if you eject one or more from your own team.
DH used at home: YES
Godmod other events: Yes
Other info: The team will rely on sabermetric splits and substitutions, especially in innings 7 to 9 (or if behind early).

Home ground:
Liventia will use only one home ground this season, the quirky Port Cartfort Park.
Port Cartfort Park, capacity 24,100; DH used
Home ground of The Saboteurs Baseball Club Port Cartfort (CBL), average home attendance 22,100
Dimensions:
Left foul pole 317 ft; left field 349 ft; left-centre 397 ft; centre field 429 ft; right-centre 402 ft; right field 366 ft; right foul pole 322 ft; wall height 7 ft in left/left-centre; 13 ft in centre; 15 ft in right/right-centre
Right-handed hitters have far more joy at PCP than left-handed hitters. There are also a high number of triples and thanks to the dimensions, inside-the-park home runs are not uncommon at PCP.

Style modifier: +3

Starting Rotation
1. Oscar Bastable (#76), age 31, throws right, bats switch. Club: Olympton Rapiers
This season: 13–3, 2.13 ERA, 112 K, 25 BB, 1.03 WHIP, .225 OAVG
Last season: 12–7, 2.99 ERA, 134 K, 32 BB, 1.09 WHIP, .232 OAVG
One of just seven men to have thrown a no-hitter in the revived league. Hits 92–94 mph, with a four-seamer, slider, forkball and changeup.

2. Tony Metson (#22), age 34, throws right, bats right. Club: Orean Outer Oysters
This season: 9–5, 2.13 ERA, 119 K, 22 BB, 0.87 WHIP, .190 OAVG
Last season: 8–6, 2.31 ERA, 124 K, 26 BB, 0.84 WHIP, .187 OAVG
Ages like a fine wine, Metson continues to bamboozle opposing hitters at the plate. One of just two men to have thrown a perfect game in the league. 93–96 mph. Pitches: Changeup, cutter, four-seamer, two-seamer

3. Fraser Mansell (#27), age 22, throws right, bats left. Club: Colver Steamrollers
This season: 12–6, 2.25 ERA, 157 K, 20 BB, 0.83 WHIP, .190 OAVG
Last season: 12–2, 2.28 ERA, 124 K, 29 BB, 1.00 WHIP, .208 OAVG
Continued to dominate on the mound this season and then some. Led all pitchers in wins above replacement. A popular guy. Throws 92–94 mph. Pitches: Changeup, four-seamer, slider

4. Wayne Vann (#34), age 30, throws right, bats right. Club: Batogo Forest Raiders
This season: 6–4, 2.26 ERA, 111 K, 21 BB, 0.99 WHIP, .218 OAVG
Last season: 11–7, 3.19 ERA, 128 K, 33 BB, 1.13 WHIP, .237 OAVG
Don't look at Vann's win/loss record, for he received no run support this season for the 46–58 Raiders. Throws 94–96 mph, with an incredible six-pitch repertoire: forkball, four-seamer, splitter, cutter, slider and changeup.

5. Jonathan Twain (#20), age 22, throws right, bats right. Club: Port Cartfort Saboteurs
This season: 15–1, 2.64 ERA, 155 K, 33 BB, 1.20 WHIP, .250 OAVG
Last season: 8–5, 3.68 ERA, 130 K, 30 BB, 1.25 WHIP, .245 OAVG
This guy's got stuff and heat. Sure, he gets hit a bit more, but despite playing in Port Cartfort Park somehow only gave up six home runs this season. Led the league in wins. Registers 99–101 mph on the speed gun. Throws a deadly four-seamer, which he complements with a changeup, curveball, and circle change.

Bullpen
Frank Kenley (long relief #19), age 21, throws left, bats left. Club: Talbott South Hilltops
LBC: 6–1 2 SV, 1.53 ERA, 90 K, 16 BB, 1.05 WHIP, .217 OAVG; throws 92–94 mph, pitches: four-seamer, two-seamer, splitter

Arthur Laidler (long relief #12), age 27, throws right, bats left. Club: Leigham Timberjacks (AAA; Jesner)
AAA: 11–1, 2.52 ERA, 82 K, 13 BB, 0.92 WHIP, .217 OAVG. Throws 95–97 mph. Pitches: Cutter, four-seamer, changeup

Robin Holyday (long/middle relief #32), age 21, throws right, bats left. Club: Dover Outer South Bills
LBC: 0–1, 3.45 ERA, 18 K, 9 BB, 1.34 WHIP, .200 OAVG
AAA: 14–3 1 SV, 3.21 ERA, 152 K, 38 BB, 1.31 WHIP, .265 OAVG. Throws 99–101 mph. Pitches: Four-seamer, curveball, changeup

Gary Hale (long/middle relief #35), age 34, throws right, bats right. Club: Neverend Gunslingers
LBC: 4–2 1 SV, 2.64 ERA, 95 K, 2 BB, 0.88 WHIP, .228 OAVG. A frankly silly 47.5 K/BB ratio this season justifies Hale's place in the side, despite his past struggles at WBC level. 96–98 mph. Throws: Four-seamer, two-seamer, splitter

Gabriel Mumford (middle relief #31), age 20, throws left, bats left. Club: City Centre Keys
LBC: 5–2 1 SV, 2.60 ERA, 97 K, 23 BB, 1.20 WHIP, .228 OAVG. A bit wild with his control but boy can he make batters look silly. Throws 98–100 mph. Pitches: Sinker, changeup, two-seamer.

Mark Staite (middle relief/set-up #33), age 21, throws right, bats right. Club: Neverend Gunslingers
LBC: 3–2 27 SV, 1.56 ERA, 56 K, 13 BB, 1.21 WHIP, .234 OAVG; throws 98–100 mph; pitches: four-seamer, sinker, curveball.

Aiden Horne (closer #77), age 27, throws right, bats right.
Plays in the Newmanistan Baseball League. Throws four-seamer, cutter, changeup.

Position players
C Finley Grainger (#83), age 33, throws right, bats right. Club: Orean Capital Tiger-Cats
This season (94 games): .378, 16 HR, 70 RBI, 75 BB, 55 K, 14 SB
Career avg (162 games): .344, 18 HR, 97 RBI, 81 BB, 90 K, 22 SB
Led the league in batting average and batting WAR. Has decent speed for a catcher and knows how to steal a bag or two.

1B Edward Mull (#17), age 21, throws left, bats left. Club: Talbott South Hilltops
This season (101 games): .309, 22 HR, 55 RBI, 30 BB, 81 K
Career avg (162 games): .304, 28 HR, 71 RBI, 35 BB, 99 K
Can't run. Has a bit of pop. Has a long career ahead of him at the top level.

2B Eddie Denve (#7), age 32, throws right, bats left. Club: Jesner Spin Doctors
This season (100 games): .328, 25 HR, 79 RBI, 44 BB, 72 K
Career avg (162 games): .313, 39 HR, 121 RBI, 66 BB, 91 K
Can also play first base, third base, and shortstop. A great defensive infielder who's got an eye for making contact and the power to boot. Could work more on avoiding striking out.

3B David Stelfox (#25), age 26, throws right, bats right. Club: Olympton Rapiers
This season (100 games): .335, 12 HR, 56 RBI, 35 BB, 83 K, 24 SB
Career avg (162 games): .291, 12 HR, 74 RBI, 42 BB, 163 K, 32 SB
Returns to the national team, having been on the WBC43 roster. Can also play first base and shortstop. Loves a steal. Strikes out a bit too often.

SS Kian Sergeant (#18), age 31, throws right, bats right; also plays 1B, 2B, 3B. Club: Colver Steamrollers
This season (83 games): .357, 2 HR, 35 RBI, 65 BB, 37 K, 14 SB
Career (162-game avg): .317, 3 HR, 56 RBI, 84 BB, 47 K, 23 SB
Can run. Great fielder. No pop in his bat. Second in the big leagues in batting average this season, only behind Grainger.

LF Ryan Farquharson (#30), age 37, throws right, bats right; can also play RF. Club: Lantgoma Snipers
This season (102 games): .335, 21 HR, 97 RBI, 60 BB, 106 K
Career (162-game avg): .326, 41 HR, 145 RBI, 90 BB, 167 K
He's not getting much younger but continues to tear the league apart and earn his spot on the national roster. Gap hitter, loves an extra base hit. Led the league, obviously, in XBH, doubles, and total bases.

CF Kane Roskilly (#37), age 22, throws right, bats right. Club: City Centre Keys
This season (97 games): .284, 18 HR, 57 RBI, 34 BB, 90 K, 30 SB
Career avg (162 games): .249, 17 HR, 65 RBI, 55 BB, 164 K, 53 SB
Another returnee to the national team, having been a bench pinch-runner on the WBC43 squad. Still has that speed and will to run, and has improved his batting and power somewhat. Has a better arm than York.

RF Andrew MacGeechan (#93), age 33, throws right, bats right. Club: Pardbo Bisons
This season (100 games): .308, 21 HR, 95 RBI, 41 BB, 68 K
Career avg (162 games): .290, 24 HR, 104 RBI, 75 BB, 109 K
Great arm from right field, and can play in left too. Loves finding the gap.

C Oscar Gauntlett (#12), age 29, throws right, bats left. Club: Olympton Rapiers
This season (91 games): .320, 18 HR, 88 RBI, 19 BB, 50 K
Career (162-game avg): .293, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 48 BB, 53 K
Good catcher with above-average power, but will have to serve as backup for a change after Grainger's storming season.

SS/3B Samuel Oram (#45), age 22, throws right, bats left. Club: Orean Capital Tiger-Cats
This season (100 games): .353, 1 HR, 48 RBI, 36 BB, 24 K, 23 SB
Career avg (162 games): .329, 4 HR, 69 RBI, 36 BB, 49 K, 21 SB
No power. Good contact hitter, having put together two straight years hitting above .350. Can run.

OF Billy Savory (#19), age 34, throws right, bats left. Club: Wakeford Capitols
This season (100 games): .299, 32 HR, 84 RBI, 53 BB, 102 K
Career avg (162 games): .258, 43 HR, 118 RBI, 93 BB, 158 K
A pinch-hitter off the bench, but not much more than that.

DH/OF Dermot Rowntree (#57), age 21, throws right, bats right; plays CF if needed. Club: Port Cartfort Saboteurs
This season (97 games): .268, 39 HR, 105 RBI, 42 BB, 115 K, 16 SB
Career (162-game avg): .248, 57 HR, 154 RBI, 45 BB, 189 K, 29 SB
Still only 21. Plus-plus power and speed. Resumes DH duties. Will play CF where the DH is not used.

Starting lineup with DH
1. CF Kane Roskilly
2. 3B David Stelfox
3. LF Ryan Farquharson
4. DH Dermot Rowntree
5. C Finley Grainger
6. 2B Eddie Denve
7. RF Andrew MacGeechan
8. 1B Edward Mull
9. SS Kian Sergeant

Starting lineup without DH
1. 3B David Stelfox
2. C Finley Grainger
3. LF Ryan Farquharson
4. 2B Eddie Denve
5. CF Dermot Rowntree
6. 1B Edward Mull
7. RF Andrew MacGeechan
8. SS Kian Sergeant
9. Pitcher's spot

[Newmanistan]

Matchday 16

Group 1
Vangaziland                  1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0  5
Liventia                     0 4 0 0 1 0 0 2 X  7

The Holy Athonite State      3 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0  8
The Sherpa Empire            0 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 2 10

Saintland                    0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0  5
Lisander                     1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            16   12   4    97   61  +36    36
2 Saintland                    16   10   6    70   41  +29    30
3 Lisander                     16    8   8    58   56   +2    24
4 Liventia                     16    7   9    57   78  −21    21
5 The Holy Athonite State      16    6  10    73   86  −13    18
6 Vangaziland                  16    5  11    56   89  −33    15

Group 2
Hapilopper                   0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1  5
Free Republics               0 2 0 0 0 0 3 2 X  7

Hampton Island               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Oscioru                      0 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 X  5

Tierra de Castro             1 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 2  8
Trastamar                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               16   12   4    80   54  +26    36
2 Hapilopper                   16    9   7    86   66  +20    27
3 Hampton Island               16    9   7    74   72   +2    27
4 Tierra de Castro             16    8   8    51   54   −3    24
5 Oscioru                      16    7   9    50   57   −7    21
6 Trastamar                    16    3  13    57   95  −38     9

Group 3
Cosumar                      0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2
Lycrabon                     1 0 2 0 0 5 0 3 X 11

Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2  5
Drawkland                    0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  3

St Saratoga                  0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0  3
Cassadaigua                  1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  5


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lycrabon                     16   12   4   102   62  +40    36
2 Cassadaigua                  16   12   4    88   53  +35    36
3 Drawkland                    16   10   6    91   82   +9    30
4 Tornado Queendom             16    6  10    60   77  −17    18
5 Cosumar                      16    5  11    54   77  −23    15
6 St Saratoga                  16    3  13    64  108  −44     9

Matchday 17

Group 1
Saintland                    1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0  4
Vangaziland                  2 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 X  7

Lisander                     0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1  3
The Holy Athonite State      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

The Sherpa Empire            0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Liventia                     3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X  5


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            17   12   5    98   66  +32    36
2 Saintland                    17   10   7    74   48  +26    30
3 Lisander                     17    9   8    61   58   +3    27
4 Liventia                     17    8   9    62   79  −17    24
5 The Holy Athonite State      17    6  11    75   89  −14    18
6 Vangaziland                  17    6  11    63   93  −30    18

Group 2
Tierra de Castro             2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  4
Hapilopper                   1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Trastamar                    1 0 0 1 0 4 0 2 0  8
Hampton Island               2 1 0 4 1 4 0 0 X 12

Oscioru                      1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  3
Free Republics               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               17   12   5    82   57  +25    36
2 Hampton Island               17   10   7    86   80   +6    30
3 Hapilopper                   17    9   8    88   70  +18    27
4 Tierra de Castro             17    9   8    55   56   −1    27
5 Oscioru                      17    8   9    53   59   −6    24
6 Trastamar                    17    3  14    65  107  −42     9

Group 3
St Saratoga                  0 0 4 0 0 4 1 1 1 11
Cosumar                      0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Cassadaigua                  0 0 1 3 0 1 0 4 0  9
Tornado Queendom             1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  3

Drawkland                    2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  4
Lycrabon                     0 3 0 1 0 0 5 1 X 10


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lycrabon                     17   13   4   112   66  +46    39
2 Cassadaigua                  17   13   4    97   56  +41    39
3 Drawkland                    17   10   7    95   92   +3    30
4 Tornado Queendom             17    6  11    63   86  −23    18
5 Cosumar                      17    5  12    57   88  −31    15
6 St Saratoga                  17    4  13    75  111  −36    12

Matchday 18

Group 1
Vangaziland                  0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Sherpa Empire            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Liventia                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Lisander                     0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 X  3

The Holy Athonite State      1 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0  5
Saintland                    0 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 X  6


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            18   12   6    98   68  +30    36
2 Saintland                    18   11   7    80   53  +27    33
3 Lisander                     18   10   8    64   59   +5    30
4 Liventia                     18    8  10    63   82  −19    24
5 Vangaziland                  18    7  11    65   93  −28    21
6 The Holy Athonite State      18    6  12    80   95  −15    18

Group 2
Hapilopper                   0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

Free Republics               0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Trastamar                    0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Hampton Island               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Tierra de Castro             0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 X  5


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               18   13   5    86   60  +26    39
2 Hapilopper                   18   10   8    91   72  +19    30
3 Hampton Island               18   10   8    88   85   +3    30
4 Tierra de Castro             18   10   8    60   58   +2    30
5 Oscioru                      18    8  10    55   62   −7    24
6 Trastamar                    18    3  15    68  111  −43     9

Group 3
Cosumar                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Lycrabon                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Cassadaigua                  0 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 X  5

Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1  4
St Saratoga                  1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                  18   14   4   102   57  +45    42
2 Lycrabon                     18   13   5   113   71  +42    39
3 Drawkland                    18   10   8    95   93   +2    30
4 Tornado Queendom             18    7  11    67   89  −22    21
5 Cosumar                      18    6  12    58   88  −30    18
6 St Saratoga                  18    4  14    78  115  −37    12

[The Sherpa Empire]

Matchday 16

Group 4
Ancherion                0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 0  6
Ethane                   0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5  8

The Greater Nordics      1 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 2  9
Devonta                  0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 0  6

Scootalove City          1 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0  6
Newmanistan              0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              16   11   5    87   57  +30    33
2 Ethane                   16   11   5    97   79  +18    33
3 The Greater Nordics      16    8   8    63   69   −6    24
4 Ancherion                16    7   9    79   75   +4    21
5 Scootalove City          16    6  10    70   83  −13    18
6 Devonta                  16    5  11    59   92  −33    15

Group 5
Abanhfleft               0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Schiltzberg              1 0 1 2 0 0 2 1 X  7

Anthor                   0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0  3
Ko-Oren                  1 0 0 2 1 3 0 2 X  9

Banija                   0 0 1 0 4 1 0 0 0  6
Pratapgadh               0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   16   10   6    68   65   +3    30
2 Ko-Oren                  16   10   6    80   61  +19    30
3 Schiltzberg              16    8   8    71   67   +4    24
4 Abanhfleft               16    7   9    59   62   −3    21
5 Anthor                   16    7   9    73   82   −9    21
6 Pratapgadh               16    6  10    72   86  −14    18

Group 6
Nova Anglicana           0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 2  5
Equestrian States        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Xanneria                 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  4
West Phoenicia           0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 4  8

The Aurian Plains        0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Alpine Union             2 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 X  8


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           16   12   4    74   42  +32    36
2 West Phoenicia           16   11   5    81   41  +40    33
3 Equestrian States        16    7   9    60   79  −19    21
4 The Aurian Plains        16    6  10    76  110  −34    18
5 Xanneria                 16    6  10    73   78   −5    18
6 Alpine Union             16    6  10    71   85  −14    18

Matchday 17

Group 4
Scootalove City          0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Ancherion                1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Newmanistan              0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  4
The Greater Nordics      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Devonta                  1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  5
Ethane                   1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2  6


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              17   12   5    91   58  +33    36
2 Ethane                   17   12   5   103   84  +19    36
3 The Greater Nordics      17    8   9    64   73   −9    24
4 Ancherion                17    7  10    80   78   +2    21
5 Scootalove City          17    7  10    73   84  −11    21
6 Devonta                  17    5  12    64   98  −34    15

Group 5
Banija                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  4
Abanhfleft               0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1  3

Pratapgadh               1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Anthor                   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3  6

Ko-Oren                  3 0 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 12
Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1  3


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   17   11   6    72   68   +4    33
2 Ko-Oren                  17   11   6    92   64  +28    33
3 Schiltzberg              17    8   9    74   79   −5    24
4 Anthor                   17    8   9    79   86   −7    24
5 Abanhfleft               17    7  10    62   66   −4    21
6 Pratapgadh               17    6  11    76   92  −16    18

Group 6
The Aurian Plains        4 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  7
Nova Anglicana           0 1 0 0 0 6 1 0 X  8

Alpine Union             0 0 2 2 0 0 1 1 0  6
Xanneria                 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

West Phoenicia           0 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 0  6
Equestrian States        0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           17   13   4    82   49  +33    39
2 West Phoenicia           17   12   5    87   43  +44    36
3 Alpine Union             17    7  10    77   88  −11    21
4 Equestrian States        17    7  10    62   85  −23    21
5 The Aurian Plains        17    6  11    83  118  −35    18
6 Xanneria                 17    6  11    76   84   −8    18

Matchday 18

Group 4
Ancherion                0 0 3 7 1 2 0 0 0 13
Devonta                  0 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 2  8

Ethane                   0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2
Newmanistan              0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  3

The Greater Nordics      0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0  4
Scootalove City          1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              18   13   5    94   60  +34    39
2 Ethane                   18   12   6   105   87  +18    36
3 The Greater Nordics      18    9   9    68   74   −6    27
4 Ancherion                18    8  10    93   86   +7    24
5 Scootalove City          18    7  11    74   88  −14    21
6 Devonta                  18    5  13    72  111  −39    15

Group 5
Abanhfleft               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4  5
Ko-Oren                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2

Schiltzberg              0 0 1 11 0 0 0 0 0 12
Pratapgadh               3 0 1  0 0 0 0 1 0  5

Anthor                   1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0  5
Banija                   1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2  6


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   18   12   6    78   73   +5    36
2 Ko-Oren                  18   11   7    94   69  +25    33
3 Schiltzberg              18    9   9    86   84   +2    27
4 Abanhfleft               18    8  10    67   68   −1    24
5 Anthor                   18    8  10    84   92   −8    24
6 Pratapgadh               18    6  12    81  104  −23    18

Group 6
Nova Anglicana           0 0 1 2 0 3 2 0 0  8
West Phoenicia           0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2

Equestrian States        1 1 0 0 4 0 0 3 0  9
Alpine Union             0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Xanneria                 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 1  5
The Aurian Plains        1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  3


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           18   14   4    90   51  +39    42
2 West Phoenicia           18   12   6    89   51  +38    36
3 Equestrian States        18    8  10    71   88  −17    24
4 Xanneria                 18    7  11    81   87   −6    21
5 Alpine Union             18    7  11    80   97  −17    21
6 The Aurian Plains        18    6  12    86  123  −37    18

[West Phoenicia]

Dorothy Prim; President of The West Phoenician Temperance Movement has strongly condemned and criticized the words spoken by Empress Cleopatra-Olympias Gryphon-Bush earlier this week when the West Phoenician Confederates scored three major wins in a row.

The Empress appeared on the West Phoenician National channel praising the hard work the Confederates have been doing during this tough World Baseball Classic. As the patron saint of baseball for the nation she called on fans to drink up and celebrate the wins. She authorised bars to remain open, and she would cover the alcohol for any West Phoenician who could not afford it. She urged people to party to show their love and support.

"Alcohol consumption should not be taken lightly. Booze wrecks people's lives, it destroys families for those who are not able to control themselves." Dorothy Prim fired back during her talk back radio program. "It was highly irresponsible for the Empress to encourage people over 18 to engage in reckless drinking. She is in a position of power and should not abuse it by telling people to go out and party and drink. One can have fun without having to be drunk. If anyone had died during this time l, their blood would have been on her royal hands."

While many West Phoenicians dismissed the rantings of Dorothy Prim as the voice of a minority in the nation. As West Phoenicians are famous for their sold celebrations and debauchery. The small minority have become quite loud in echoing the words of Dorothy Prim.

Also in her corner are Senator Trevor Meadows of The Prohibition Party and it's 89 members of the House of Representatives and Senate who are planning to initiate a bill that would ban venues from serving alcohol to 12pm, and to deny service to people who are intoxicated. Co sponsoring the bill are Members of the Christian Democratic Alliance and Catholic Peoples Party.

While not expected to pass the House of Representatives or the Senate, the three parties are busy gathering support from other members of the government to at least get the bill passed in the House of Representatives, which would allow a more detailed review in the Senate.

Empress Cleopatra-Olympias was asked to comment and said West Phoenicians are a proud people who like to have a good time. If they choose to drink it's their choice.

[Hapilopper]

The HNBT Clubhouse, Oscioru National Stadium
An hour after the game

The final score on the scoreboard outside read “3-2, HAPILOPPER BEATS OSCIORU,” but the Hapiloppians were in no mood to celebrate, and neither was pitcher Darren Goodwin. Hapilopper had taken a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth, the manager for the Oscioru National Team noticed something strange, and asked the umpires to inspect pitcher Vic Foster, who was working on a complete game shutout to that point.

There had been reasons to suspect Foster was up to something. His career has been plagued by claims of “defiling” the ball, as Garvinson Trojans manager Jim Patrick once claimed. The umpires went over to look at Foster’s glove, his hand, his pockets and the ball, and found some sort of petroleum jelly above his left eyebrow. Home plate umpire James Crockett from the Tornado Queendom looked at the substance and then at Foster, who realized that, after about a decade of getting away with doctoring his pitches, he had finally been caught.

“You want to tell me what this is?” Crockett asked Foster.

Foster looked around shiftily, trying not to admit that yes, he had doctored the ball.

“What do you think it is?” Foster spat out, pretty much realizing he couldn’t get out of this. “It’s petroleum jelly. They sell it at drug stores everywhere.”

“You want to tell me why you’re using it?” Crockett asked with a tone that strongly indicated he wasn’t going to take Foster’s bull a second longer.

“Figure it out yourself.”

“Fine, you’re gone,” Crockett said. “Get off my field.”

Sam Kitchens ran onto the field and tried to protest, but was quickly rebuffed by Crockett and his umpiring crew, who quickly showed the little dollop of petroleum jelly, as well as a baseball which was smeared with the substance. Seeing the evidence, Kitchens’ mood turned from anger to disappointment. He couldn’t get his pitcher out of this, when there had been cold, hard evidence from the Tornado Queendom umpiring crew. He would reserve his anger for his starting pitcher, but asked if he could have a few minutes to let his closer warm up.

The request was granted, but judging from his performance, he might have needed some more time. Goodwin walked the bases loaded before recording the first out of the inning. The television cameras trained on Kitchens could see a look of pure, unadulterated rage. Hapilopper had lost its last two games and was on the verge of falling out of playoff contention. The last thing it needed was another meltdown, like it had in the last two innings of the game against Free Republics a few days before.

After the third walk of the inning, and after the Oscioru ducks got on the pond, Kitchens walked over to his dugout phone, a direct line to the bullpen and pitching coach Clyde Ely.

“Warm up Meadows,” Kitchens snapped on the phone.

“Which one? We’ve got two of them,” Ely responded.

“GIVE ME BOTH OF THEM!” Kitchens screamed.

The whole dugout could hear Kitchens, typically a relaxed, calm individual, snapping at the pitching coach. Foster, sitting at the other end of the dugout, squirmed. He had been working on a complete game shutout and might have gotten it had he not gotten caught.

As both of the Meadows twins warmed up in the Hapilopper bullpen, Goodwin was pitching to Oscioru’s power-hitting second baseman. The one thing he didn’t need was to give up a long home run, and expand Hapilopper’s losing streak to three games, and possibly fall out of playoff contention. Realizing he was in trouble, Mo Beverly, the catcher, called time and walked over to the mound to try to calm down his pitcher.

“You know, you can get these guys out. Just a few more minutes and we’ll be back in the clubhouse drinking some beer,” Beverly said. “You can still get this.”

“I sure hope so,” Goodwin said, his voice trembling. “I don’t want to be the reason this all falls apart.”

“You wouldn’t be the reason. You came in at a bad situation,” Beverly responded. “You’re not the one Skip’s going to yell at tonight.”

Beverly and Goodwin then looked over at Foster, sitting in the dugout. They could have been a little more subtle about it – Foster could see them staring at him, and he squirmed again.

“Just get this over with,” Beverly said quietly, yet deliberately, at his pitcher. “Don’t give him a home run.”

Just seconds later, Goodwin threw a pitch he wished he could have had back the second the ball was released from his hand. The ball was high, but right down the pipe. The second baseman got most of it, and it bounced off the right field wall. Mel Pemberton tried to catch it at the wall, but couldn’t get it in time. One run scored. Another run scored. Pemberton fired the ball towards Ernest Brand at second base, who would then relay the ball to catcher Mo Beverly.

Goodwin swore loudly, a profanity that could be heard throughout the stadium, and on the HTN broadcast of the game.

“Well, we understand his frustration, but we apologize for that,” said Marty Miller on the broadcast.

With Oscioru’s left fielder batting, it was now up to Goodwin to find a way to get this guy out and still seize victory from the clutches of defeat, or something like that.
Thankfully, on the first pitch, with runners on second and third, the left fielder popped it straight into the air. Beverly called for it over in the backstop and caught it. One out.

As he was about to throw back to Goodwin, the runner on third base thought it was a great idea to try to take home, completely disregarding who had the ball. Beverly stopped the throw and placed himself on home plate. The runner, in this idiotic attempt to railroad Beverly, was out by a mile, and he knew it. So now the time was right for him to knock the catcher into next week.

He did, but Beverly held on to the ball. Two outs. The runner on second base, seeing Beverly distracted by the play at the plate, decided to run to third. Beverly looked up to hear Leroy Hunnisett, the third baseman, screaming for the ball.

Beverly obliged that request and hurled the ball to third base. Fortunately for both men, the runner, so desperate to get to third base and possibly steal home on the next at-bat, tripped. He stumbled badly on the way to third base and fell flat on his face, several feet shy of third base, as Beverly’s throw was halfway to Hunnisett. The runner looked up in time to see Hunnisett catching the ball, his left foot firmly planted on third base. Three outs.

Back in the clubhouse, players sat at their locker, almost as frustrated about the bottom of the ninth as they were relieved they had gotten out of a rally by a double TOOTBLAN and a popped foul ball. Some were drinking beer. Others, like Beverly, were on the way to the cold tub. Foster and Kitchens, meanwhile, were in the office, holding a closed-door meeting. Typically Sam Kitchens’ door was open for anyone to speak to him, but this time, Kitchens thought it necessary to close the door.

That didn’t stop anyone from being able to hear the manager screaming at his starting pitcher, verbally eviscerating him for doctoring the ball, and specifically, getting caught in the act.

There was likely going to be action taken once the HNBT got back to Hapilopper, but Kitchens didn’t know what, exactly, that action would entail.

[The Sherpa Empire]

From the blog of Supriya Gu...

शेर्वी | 中文 | हिंदी |English

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

First off, when I say "diamonds," I mean baseball diamonds, not sparkly rocks. Maybe some other time I'll write a post about jewelry, but today I want to talk about baseball. The World Baseball Classic is back for another season, and as usual there are some great teams out there that have women on their teams, but our team is still all male. So why is that? It's almost like the Sherpa Empire is sexist or something. (Say it isn't so!)

It seems like every year, there is some kind of debate or controversy about women in baseball, whether it is the "Stand Up To Sexism" campaign, Gary Barnett claiming his throne as the poster child for toxic masculinity, or a bunch of Lamas fans and insecure Brahmins getting their knickers in a knot about...something... Sometimes it's hard to even understand what people are so upset about. This year, there has not been as much controversy as some, but I think it's something we should still be talking about, because the Sherpa Empire is still behind the curve on this.

Obviously, women can play baseball or we would not see perennial play-off contenders like Newmanistan and Cassadaigua putting women on the field every year. So why is our team still all male?

It's not because we don't have great female players in our country. We've had professional women's baseball for a few years now, and I feel confident that Zangmu Kumari could strike out a lot of these batters we're seeing in the World Baseball Classic. (Shout out to my girl Zangmuuuuuuuuu!!!) But she's not on the national team.

No matter how good any of the players are, our women's teams still don't get the same respect as the men's teams. They don't get the big crowds or the big salaries, and when it comes time to choose players for the national team, no one is looking at the women's division. It's hard to show what you can do if nobody ever looks your way. And that's the problem: as long as our women are playing in a separate division, there's no way for them to prove that they're as good as the men. I'm sure a lot of the people (mostly men) responsible for creating the women's division had good intentions, but it's not working. "Separate, but equal" is never going to work because as long as there are separate teams, you can't tell people which teams to watch. Would it work if you told people in Delhi to root for the Green Sox instead of the Rajas? No. You can't tell people which team to support. The only way that female athletes in this country are going to get anywhere is if they play together with the men.

Obviously, that's not going to be easy. We've already seen the controversy it caused when the Jewelers signed Lakshmi Songtsen, and the haters still throw a lot of shade her way, but it's not supposed to be easy competing at the highest level in the world.

I'm sure we have women in this country who are up to the challenge, but first we have to recognize what the challenge is, and we have to confront it. If we're going to prove that Zangmu Kumari or Laki Singh is as good of a pitcher as Tsewang Akbar or Luochong Zhuang, we need to see them pitching to the same batters. It's time for SIBA to be gender-integrated.

[Banija]

Dramatic comeback victory against Anthor highlights 4 game winning streak as Bnaijans move into the stretch run of the group stages of WBC 46


Banijans celebrate walkoff victory against Anthor on Matchday 18

ISTRIA, MORAVICA- The Banijans have been on top of Group 5 from the word go at the World Baseball Classic- they have held at least a share of the group’s top spot for the majority of this tournament, though they have, at times, fallen behind Ko-oren. Now, of course, there’s still plenty of tournament to go, and things are certainly tight- Banija is only a game ahead of Ko-oren, though, so far, they hold the tiebreaker over their Atlantian Oceania rivals by being 3-0 against them so far in the tournament. And in the last four games, they have shown why they’ve been able to keep up that form. The Banijans are in the midst of a four game winning streak, and as they head to the stretch run of the group stages, where there are only limited games left against their opponents and the shape of each group is really starting to play out.

Let’s start at the beginning of this current winning streak- Matchday 15, when Banija paid their second visit to Ko-oren. Now, of course, manager Ousman Kakay fiddled around with his rotation a little bit, to ensure that, in the latter stages of this tournament, that he had his top pitchers facing Banija’s toughest opponents- Ko-oren and Schlitzberg. Ko-oren had seen Ensa Suso, Banija’s 5th starter, twice already, and it was time to put the ace in against the group’s top ranked team. That meant the big lefty Assan Condé from the University of Ankole would have his opportunity to go after the vaunted Ko-oren lineup, a team that, up to that point, had been leading the group in runs scored. And on the road, facing this lineup, he tore through them. Pitching on three days rest, he threw five shutout innings against the hosts, putting himself in line for the win. Being on three days rest, however, it would be difficult for him to go deeper to the game- and perhaps unwise, considering that he still had a number of starts remaining for him in the group stages. The ball had to be turned over to the bullpen, and it was Ankole pitcher Gibril Sowe who got the ball next. He didn’t exactly pitch that well, as he struggled through two innings of work, but he limited the damage- logging a pair of innings, and only allowing one run. And then, of course, they followed the rest of the regular bullpen rotation, bringing in Sarjo Touré in the 8th, and handing the ball to the closer, Baturu, in the 9th. A good performance out of the pitching staff, as this was a solid 5-1 victory for a team with their eyes on returning to the knockout stages.

Now, for Matchday 16. While the visit to Ko-oren was all about chipping away at their opponents, the visit to Pratapgadh could not be more different. With Ensa Suso pitching on an extra day’s rest, considering his normal day would have been against Ko-oren, there were worries that he could come out rusty, or out of rhythm. But the pitching coach, Yakuba Borussa, did what he could to ensure that Suso was ready for this matchup. And Suso made the decision pay off at the back end, allowing 2 earned runs in 6 innings, including retiring the side in order in both the 5th and 6th innings. After that shuffle of his rotation succeeding, it will certainly allow Kakay to continue fiddling with the rotation for the latter half of the group stages, to ensure his best pitchers are on the mound for Banija’s biggest games. But the story of the game was not the pitching, although it was excellent. It was the explosive fifth inning. Down 2-1 entering the inning, Sohna and Sillah both singled, to give the Banijans 2 on with nobody out. Kah struck out, but then Kandeh walked to load the bases, with just one out. Lama Ouattara then came up and went to put his mark on this game. He worked a 2-0 count, and then when faced with a hanging curveball, he blasted the ball 450 feet down the right field line. A towering grand slam, the game went from 2-1 to the hosts, to 5-2 to the Banijan visitors, who won 6-2. A great, explosive inning for Banijan fans.

Against Abanhfleft, the fourth seeded Banijans had Banta Jawara on the mound for them, for that matchup away from home. Jawara was matched up with Guillermo Rodriguez, and it was a classic pitcher's duel. Over a stunning 112 pitches across 7 innings, Jawara allowed just 4 hits and had 9 strikeouts. Unforutnately for him, two of those hits, in this age of the power ball, were dingers, hit over the wall for solo home runs. Unlucky? Of course. But that's how the ball bounces. Still, 2 earned in 7 innings is a great start, and there can't be any complaints. On the other side, Guillermo Rodriguez seemed to outduel him in this fantastic pitching matchup. HE allowed just 1 run and allowed just 3 hits- after allowing a pair of doubles to start the game and for Banija to take a 1-0 lead, he only allowed one more hit, a 3rd inning single. Outside of that, he did have five walks, which worked his pitch count and made the scorching pitcher leave the game after 7 innings. Still, 121 pitches for the workhorse, and left the game with a 2-1 lead, in line for the win. However, the Fleftic bullpen had trouble holding on after that. In the 8th, Olivier Savanier, the southpaw, came in to try and go 1-2-3 and hand the ball off to their closer. After the first two batters were retired, Mansaré and Jawara had back to back singles at the bottom of the order, to put runners on the corners with 2 outs. The leadoff hitter, Assan Mansaré, came in and hit a double down the line, easily scoring the game tying run. A blown save for Savanier, and the game was 2-2 headed into the bottom of the 8th. Sarjo Touré retired the side, in order, in the 8th to get to the 9th.

That's when the late game heroics came up- with the heart of the order, the 3-4-5 hitters up to the plate, success was quite possible, and they all went hard after Savanier, who stayed in the game as it wasn't a save situation. Sillah found the gap leading off, doubling himself to put himself on second base. And then when Kah walked, the teenager had a huge at-bat coming up. A pitching change was necessary- Savanier was off his game, and this situation was too high leverage. Peter Langford, the closer, took the mound in the non-save situation. Cyper Kandeh worked a full count, and ripped a ball towards the gap in left center, with the double scoring two, including Kah all the way from first base. A big time hit- both of those runs, of course, went to Savanier. The Banijan couldn't advance Kandeh, but they went to the 9th up 4-2. They handed the ball to their closer, Demba Baturu, to finish the game. It was tough and tight, as he allowed a run, and with 2 outs, it was 4-3 with runners on the corners. But, in that situation, Baturu got James Hester to strike out looking to end the ball game.

And then, back home to Banija, against Anthor. The beginning of this game was rough- Duta Condé struggled out of the gate, letting Anthor load the bases in the first inning, though limiting the damage to just one run. HE had incredibly high pitch counts, and got hit in the 3rd inning as well, but that inning allowing doubles on three consecutive plate appearance, that led to three additional runs for Anthor. This was going to be a long day for the Banijan pen- the final line for Duta Condé was 2 and 2/3s innings, 4 earned, 7 hits, on 68 pitches. But Tairu Sesay, the long reliever, came in and started a master piece by the bullpen. HE went 3 and 1/3 innings, going all the way through the top of the 6th. And after him, Jebel Darboe, Gibril Sowe, and Foday Kandeh all each gave an inning. That meant the pen, across 6 and 1/3 innings, allowed only one run- a solo shot off of Sesay to start the 7th, which is when he was pulled. But, with the score being 5-2, the Banijan bats needed to wake- and boy, did they ever.

A solo home run in the 7th by Lalo Diene made it 5-3, and then a series of hits strung together in the 8th made the score 5-4. But going to the 9th, is when the dramatics happened. Cyper Kandeh lead the inning off against Anthor's closer with a leadoff double, putting himself in scoring position to start the inning. Lalo Diene would then pop opp, while Jibril Mansaré would then bunt the runner to third base. With two outs, and the #9 hitter up at the plate, Kakay, the manager, called for a pinch hitter- the switch hitting Bamba Jawo. Jawo came into the game, and in that huge moment, launched a walk off home run for the Banijans, a rocket to straight away center field, just over the wall. And like that, in stunning fashion, for the second straight game, the Banijans had completed the comeback.

What's next? Now the Banijans are up one game with 12 left, but their two toughest opponents are up- a game against Schlitzberg, and another against Ko-oren. Of course, they've had success agianst both teams so far, but with only so many games left before the playoffs come, expected everybody to be playing with more focus, and intensity, as the groups wind to a close. And expect Kakay to lean more on his big game pitchers as these inevitably become bigger, just because of their place in the schedule.

[Free Republics]

Republica, Free Republics

Honomi Kamei checked to make sure the taxi driver had taken her to the correct address. The night before, following the Republican rout of Hampton Island, she had received word that there was an emergency involving the National Team's #1 prospect in Republica. Sarah Fuerst had been on Honomi's radar for years by this point and the Republican superstar had been the one to suggest that she attend the University of Republica to get her out from under the Salvation Circle. Now, it seemed like the Salvation Circle had caught on to Sarah's baseball career, which violated the teachings of the radical Christian sect and was attempting to use their economic power to force her to give up baseball, one way or another.

It certainly hadn't helped that this top prospect had brought unnecessary attention to herself by starting trouble with Sister Maria Polus, a loudmouth nun and common scold who was infamous for her large volume of frivolous police reports that wasted the Republica Police Department's time and interfered with their efforts to fight actual crime. While Polus was a repugnant figure, it wasn't exactly a wise move for a couple of college students attending a secular university on the Salvation Circle's dime to do something that would anger the Christian extremist lobby.

The building she had arrived at definitely did not look like a student apartment building. It was evident from the gates around the complex that this was a high-end apartment complex where some of the richest and most powerful in Republica lived. As she walked through the door, she noticed a man in a suit rushing out of the building. Unbeknownst to her, the man was a Senator who was being called into the Senate to vote on new legislation called the Content Creators Protection Act which was designed to protect people in the creative fields from having their works stolen by their employers via unfair and exploitative contracts by granting the creator of a work the right to revoke any "assignment" of their copyright to a creative work after 5 years. The legislation had been proposed by the Responsible Progress Party, an opposition party, and had passed the Assembly by a large margin as the Coalition did not want to be portrayed as pro-big business in an election year. It was not expected to pass the Senate, which remained mostly controlled by old fashioned corporate-friendly politicians of the sort that were rapidly going out of style.

Honomi entered the building and walked up to the front desk. Informing the receptionist of her business at Apartment 737, she was escorted up to the apartment by a member of staff. This was a precaution always taken by the building to prevent visitors from wondering around the building into places where they had no business being. Only tenants and those paying for an apartment were permitted to wonder around the building unsupervised. She knocked on the door to the apartment and waited for Elio and Sarah to answer. Finally, Elio answered the door.

Elio Lucchese - Miss Kamei, thank you for agreeing to come here on short notice. Sarah will be back in a few minutes. Her last class got out late today. Come in and make yourself at home.

Honomi walked in the door and sat down on the sofa.

Honomi Kamei - I'll wait until Sarah gets here to discuss business. First off, how have you been lately?

Elio Lucchese - I've been great lately. It felt so good to give that witch what she had coming to her!

Honomi Kamei - I'm sure it did though it also escalated the situation with your dad.

Elio Lucchese - I know. I wish the True Cult didn't have to break up my family but there's no other way.

Honomi Kamei - Wait a minute. You're blaming the Church of Saintland and not the Salvation Cricle?

Elio Lucchese - They're the same thing. Dad told me all about it last night.

Honomi Kamei - Oh my god! I can't believe that the "Holy" Party never went away.

Elio Lucchese - Do you remember the days when they were in power?

Honomi Kamei - Oh god yes. It was terrible. They shut down our shrines so we couldn't pay our respects to our ancestors. Even in Taiyou, all of the shrines were forcibly closed and worship of the gods, other than the 3 Christian gods, was forbidden.

Elio Lucchese - I think you're mistaken about Christian doctrine. Christianity is monotheist.

Honomi Kamei - Yes, you have 3 gods but they are all aeons of the same God similar to how Buddhism teaches that we are all part of God.

Elio Lucchese - I guess but you really shouldn't say any of this around my dad or anybody else who really believes in the Salvation Circle.

Honomi Kamei - That would be foolish unless I'm specifically trying to make them angry.

At that moment, Sarah arrived.

Sarah Fuerst - Hey Honomi. Thank you so much for coming by here on such short notice. Sorry I'm late.

Honomi Kamei - No problem, Sarah. Now, let's get straight to the point since I need to be on a flight to Falatulu in a few hours.

Elio Lucchese - I've already told Honomi about how the Salvation Circle is the Church of Saintland.

Honomi Kamei - Don't go around telling people that. The Circle will just spread slander about how the two of you are just bitter apostates who are spreading falsehoods to hurt the Circle.

Sarah Fuerst - I can absolutely see them doing that.

Honomi Kamei - Well, first off, if you're going to move in with me, that likely means cutting off all contact with your families. Are you fine with this?

Sarah Fuerst - I don't think that will be necessary for me. My mom really isn't a Salvation Circle zealot anyway.

Honomi Kamei - It'd still be dangerous for her to be in contact with an apostate. Even encrypted messages would likely be a sign she's still in contact with you. For her safety, you can't maintain contact after you fully turn your back on the Circle.

Sarah Fuerst - I guess. Isn't there any way to get the Charter Societies abolished?

Honomi Kamei - Unfortunately, there isn't. I think Scarlett Nicholls regards her dad's decision to create these as the biggest mistake of his time in office but she can't reverse that policy unilaterally. The only option would be to get charter societies declared unconstitutional or, at the very least, a court ruling granting the right to leave.

Elio Lucchese - I've heard rumors that the Salvation Circle has decided to utilize the Doe v. Malifornia precedent to sue for full voting rights for those living in Charter Societies.

Honomi Kamei - That could be very bad. In all likelihood, they'd adopt postal voting and there would be large-scale coercion to ensure all votes were cast for the Salvation Circle. If they can form a pact with some of the other extremist groups that run charter societies, they could win an election without needing a Progressive bogeyman or rigged voting machines.

Sarah Fuerst - That would be a disaster.

Elio Lucchese - I could probably find an attorney who could get in touch with Sarah's mom to see if she wants out of Malifornia.

Honomi Kamei - It sounds like that would work if she's inclined to leave and get free of the Circle. Are both of you 100% certain that you want to do this?

Elio & Sarah - Yes

Honomi Kamei - Then, here are keys to my place and the address. You need to move all of your belongings out of this apartment and into my home before Elio's father returns.

Elio Lucchese - He's already said he's going to throw us both out in a few days if we don't allow Sister Polus to stay with us and "supervise" us over the summer.

Honomi Kamei - Then you need to get a move on. Sorry I can't stick around to help you. I've also set up a bank account for the two of you to ensure you have some spending money. Just don't waste it on anything frivolous.

Sarah Fuerst - We won't.

Honomi Kamei - Oh and Sarah, Mr. Thomas told me to tell you that we're going to be calling you up for the playoffs. At the moment, we're not sure whether we'll be playing in Newmanistan or The Sherpa Empire but either way, we want you playing second base for us. I'll be back in a few weeks when we play Oscioru at Memorial Park and we want you to begin practicing and travelling with the team from that point.

Sarah Fuerst - I can't believe this! Thank you so much.

Honomi Kamei - We're expecting great things from you. Perform well and there may be an XBL contract waiting for you as well.

Sarah Fuerst - I won't let you down.

Honomi Kamei - I've got to get going now. If you run into any trouble, let me know and I'll get a few of my teammates from the Vipers to help you.

Elio Lucchese - Thank you, Miss Kamei. We'll see you soon.

Sarah Fuerst - Thank you, Honomi. Now make sure you make the playoffs because I can't wait to join you on the National Team!

Honomi Kamei - I'll do my best. Goodbye.

Honomi left the apartment, having already called a taxi via a taxi app. The Free Republics would win 2 out of their next 3 games and would hold a 3 game lead over three teams that were stuck in a 3-way tie for second. By the time those 3 games were over, Sarah and Elio had already finished the moving process. In the meantime, all they could do besides continue attending their classes was hope the National Team could hold onto a 3 game advantage with 12 to play...

[Newmanistan]

Matchday 19:

Group 1
The Holy Athonite State      0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
Vangaziland                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

Saintland                    0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  2
Liventia                     0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 X  3

Lisander                     0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
The Sherpa Empire            0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 X  6


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            19   13   6   104   72  +32    39
2 Saintland                    19   11   8    82   56  +26    33
3 Lisander                     19   10   9    68   65   +3    30
4 Liventia                     19    9  10    66   84  −18    27
5 The Holy Athonite State      19    7  12    83   97  −14    21
6 Vangaziland                  19    7  12    67   96  −29    21

Group 2
Hampton Island               3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  5
Hapilopper                   0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  2

Tierra de Castro             0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1  3
Free Republics               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Trastamar                    0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Oscioru                      0 0 4 1 3 3 0 4 X 15


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               19   13   6    87   63  +24    39
2 Hampton Island               19   11   8    93   87   +6    33
3 Tierra de Castro             19   11   8    63   59   +4    33
4 Hapilopper                   19   10   9    93   77  +16    30
5 Oscioru                      19    9  10    70   65   +5    27
6 Trastamar                    19    3  16    71  126  −55     9

Group 3
Tornado Queendom             3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Cosumar                      0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

St Saratoga                  0 2 0 1 0 0 5 0 2 10
Lycrabon                     0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Cassadaigua                  2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  5
Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                  19   15   4   107   60  +47    45
2 Lycrabon                     19   13   6   116   81  +35    39
3 Drawkland                    19   10   9    98   98    0    30
4 Tornado Queendom             19    8  11    72   91  −19    24
5 Cosumar                      19    6  13    60   93  −33    18
6 St Saratoga                  19    5  14    88  118  −30    15

Matchday 20:

Group 1
Vangaziland                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  3
Lisander                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

The Sherpa Empire            0 3 1 1 2 1 0 1 2 11
Saintland                    0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2

Liventia                     0 0 3 0 1 1 0 1 0  6
The Holy Athonite State      0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2  4


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            20   14   6   115   74  +41    42
2 Saintland                    20   11   9    84   67  +17    33
3 Lisander                     20   10  10    69   68   +1    30
4 Liventia                     20   10  10    72   88  −16    30
5 Vangaziland                  20    8  12    70   97  −27    24
6 The Holy Athonite State      20    7  13    87  103  −16    21

Group 2
Hapilopper                   0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2  5
Trastamar                    0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0  3

Oscioru                      0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 0  7
Tierra de Castro             0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2

Free Republics               0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 0  6
Hampton Island               0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 X  7


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               20   13   7    93   70  +23    39
2 Hampton Island               20   12   8   100   93   +7    36
3 Hapilopper                   20   11   9    98   80  +18    33
4 Tierra de Castro             20   11   9    65   66   −1    33
5 Oscioru                      20   10  10    77   67  +10    30
6 Trastamar                    20    3  17    74  131  −57     9

Group 3
Cosumar                      1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  3
Cassadaigua                  0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 X  4

Drawkland                    0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0  3
St Saratoga                  2 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 X  6

Lycrabon                     0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1  8
Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 2 1 0  7


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                  20   16   4   111   63  +48    48
2 Lycrabon                     20   14   6   124   88  +36    42
3 Drawkland                    20   10  10   101  104   −3    30
4 Tornado Queendom             20    8  12    79   99  −20    24
5 St Saratoga                  20    6  14    94  121  −27    18
6 Cosumar                      20    6  14    63   97  −34    18

Matchday 21:

Group 1
Liventia                     1 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 1  7
Vangaziland                  0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  5

The Sherpa Empire            0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3  5
The Holy Athonite State      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Lisander                     0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Saintland                    1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  7


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire            21   15   6   120   76  +44    45
2 Saintland                    21   12   9    91   72  +19    36
3 Liventia                     21   11  10    79   93  −14    33
4 Lisander                     21   10  11    74   75   −1    30
5 Vangaziland                  21    8  13    75  104  −29    24
6 The Holy Athonite State      21    7  14    89  108  −19    21

Group 2
Free Republics               0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1  6
Hapilopper                   0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  2

Oscioru                      0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0  3
Hampton Island               0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 X  4

Trastamar                    1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1  7
Tierra de Castro             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4  6


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics               21   14   7    99   72  +27    42
2 Hampton Island               21   13   8   104   96   +8    39
3 Hapilopper                   21   11  10   100   86  +14    33
4 Tierra de Castro             21   11  10    71   73   −2    33
5 Oscioru                      21   10  11    80   71   +9    30
6 Trastamar                    21    4  17    81  137  −56    12

Group 3
Lycrabon                     0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3  6
Cosumar                      0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3

Drawkland                    1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0  5
Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2

Cassadaigua                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
St Saratoga                  1 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 X  6


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                  21   16   5   112   69  +43    48
2 Lycrabon                     21   15   6   130   91  +39    45
3 Drawkland                    21   11  10   106  106    0    33
4 Tornado Queendom             21    8  13    81  104  −23    24
5 St Saratoga                  21    7  14   100  122  −22    21
6 Cosumar                      21    6  15    66  103  −37    18

[The Sherpa Empire]

Matchday 19

Group 4
The Greater Nordics      0 0 1 0 6 0 6 2 0 15
Ancherion                0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  4

Scootalove City          2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  4
Ethane                   0 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 X 11

Newmanistan              0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1  8
Devonta                  0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2 2 0  7


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              19   14   5   102   67  +35    42
2 Ethane                   19   13   6   116   91  +25    39
3 The Greater Nordics      19   10   9    83   78   +5    30
4 Ancherion                19    8  11    97  101   −4    24
5 Scootalove City          19    7  12    78   99  −21    21
6 Devonta                  19    5  14    79  119  −40    15

Group 5
Anthor                   0 2 0 4 0 1 3 0 1 11
Abanhfleft               0 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0  6

Banija                   0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  2
Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Pratapgadh               3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  6
Ko-Oren                  0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 3  8


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   19   13   6    80   73   +7    39
2 Ko-Oren                  19   12   7   102   75  +27    36
3 Schiltzberg              19    9  10    86   86    0    27
4 Anthor                   19    9  10    95   98   −3    27
5 Abanhfleft               19    8  11    73   79   −6    24
6 Pratapgadh               19    6  13    87  112  −25    18

Group 6
Xanneria                 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Nova Anglicana           2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 X  6

The Aurian Plains        0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  4
Equestrian States        0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Alpine Union             0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0  4
West Phoenicia           0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  3


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           19   15   4    96   56  +40    45
2 West Phoenicia           19   12   7    92   55  +37    36
3 Alpine Union             19    8  11    84  100  −16    24
4 Equestrian States        19    8  11    74   92  −18    24
5 Xanneria                 19    7  12    86   93   −7    21
6 The Aurian Plains        19    7  12    90  126  −36    21

Matchday 20

Group 4
Ancherion                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2
Newmanistan              2 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 X  6

Devonta                  0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0  3
Scootalove City          0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 X  5

Ethane                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Greater Nordics      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2  3


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              20   15   5   108   69  +39    45
2 Ethane                   20   13   7   117   94  +23    39
3 The Greater Nordics      20   11   9    86   79   +7    33
4 Ancherion                20    8  12    99  107   −8    24
5 Scootalove City          20    8  12    83  102  −19    24
6 Devonta                  20    5  15    82  124  −42    15

Group 5
Abanhfleft               0 2 2 1 0 0 3 0 0  8
Pratapgadh               0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0  3

Ko-Oren                  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  5
Banija                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2  4
Anthor                   1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  3


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   20   13   7    81   78   +3    39
2 Ko-Oren                  20   13   7   107   76  +31    39
3 Schiltzberg              20   10  10    90   89   +1    30
4 Abanhfleft               20    9  11    81   82   −1    27
5 Anthor                   20    9  11    98  102   −4    27
6 Pratapgadh               20    6  14    90  120  −30    18

Group 6
Nova Anglicana           0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0  4
Alpine Union             1 1 1 0 3 0 1 0 X  7

West Phoenicia           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2
The Aurian Plains        0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 X  5

Equestrian States        0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 1  6
Xanneria                 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           20   15   5   100   63  +37    45
2 West Phoenicia           20   12   8    94   60  +34    36
3 Alpine Union             20    9  11    91  104  −13    27
4 Equestrian States        20    9  11    80   94  −14    27
5 The Aurian Plains        20    8  12    95  128  −33    24
6 Xanneria                 20    7  13    88   99  −11    21

Matchday 21

Group 4
Ethane                   4 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0  7
Ancherion                2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  4

Devonta                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
The Greater Nordics      0 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 X  6

Newmanistan              0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0  3
Scootalove City          0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan              21   16   5   111   70  +41    48
2 Ethane                   21   14   7   124   98  +26    42
3 The Greater Nordics      21   12   9    92   80  +12    36
4 Ancherion                21    8  13   103  114  −11    24
5 Scootalove City          21    8  13    84  105  −21    24
6 Devonta                  21    5  16    83  130  −47    15

Group 5
Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0  4
Abanhfleft               0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1  5

Ko-Oren                  0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  5
Anthor                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Pratapgadh               0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0  4
Banija                   0 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 X  6


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                   21   14   7    87   82   +5    42
2 Ko-Oren                  21   14   7   112   76  +36    42
3 Schiltzberg              21   10  11    94   94    0    30
4 Abanhfleft               21   10  11    86   86    0    30
5 Anthor                   21    9  12    98  107   −9    27
6 Pratapgadh               21    6  15    94  126  −32    18

Group 6
Equestrian States        0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0  3
Nova Anglicana           0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4  5

West Phoenicia           2 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0  7
Xanneria                 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5

Alpine Union             0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
The Aurian Plains        0 0 1 1 2 0 0 4 X  8


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           21   16   5   105   66  +39    48
2 West Phoenicia           21   13   8   101   65  +36    39
3 The Aurian Plains        21    9  12   103  130  −27    27
4 Alpine Union             21    9  12    93  112  −19    27
5 Equestrian States        21    9  12    83   99  −16    27
6 Xanneria                 21    7  14    93  106  −13    21

[West Phoenicia]

With 9 games to go before play off The West Phoenician Confederates are confident off progression to the play offs as long as they can pull in wins for at least 4 of the of the 9 games. The wins will keep them in a healthy second place heading into the play offs.

Team manager Jacob Prosper did state during a post game loss to The Alpine Union on game 19, that this World Baseball Classic has been very challenging for the Confederates. They are playing at their full potential, however so is every other team. Aside from a few games were the run margins were quite large, the Confederates have faced more tighter games this season where the run different was 1-3 runs. Any simple error could spell disaster for the team if it allows an opponent to reach home.

Team coach Julian Pancretè has been extremely focused on ensuring opponents score as little runs as possible. The pitching rotation has taken on a merry go round affect. Tiger Singh is one of the new pitchers to the team, as a relief pitcher his strong focus is on closing pitching which has been instrumental in keep the run rate low.
Tiger Singh had been a pitcher for the Kingdom of Debney Bay Fins which are a team in the Empire Baseball League where he was poaches after a successful first season with the team.


They currently sit in 13 wins out of 21 games, which is not the best results tbey have had during this Chamltionships. But fans are paying homage to Goddess Fortuna to keep up the teams good luck. With nine games left to play it would be disappointing if they were to slip to third spot before the play offs.

[Hapilopper]

The visiting team’s clubhouse, Centro Nacional de Beisbol
Two hours before gametime

In the last several days and weeks, the mood among the Hapilopper National Baseball Team had soured considerably. The last three games had been less than impressive for the Hapiloppians, dropping a frustrating game 5-2 to Hampton Island, barely squeaking out a 5-3 win over last-place Trastamar (who were tied with the Hapiloppians in the 9th inning) and then getting knocked off, again, 6-2 to Free Republics, in a game Hapilopper never really contended in.

Two hours before the HNBT’s next game against Tierra de Castro, the visiting team’s clubhouse was remarkably quiet. Whit Dabney, the starting pitcher for tonight’s game, nervously tossed a ball up in the air and glared at manager Sam Kitchens, who had made some head-scratching moves lately that kept the HNBT from contending for victory. It wasn’t as if he was intentionally screwing with the team, but instead, it appeared as if he was in over his head. Kitchens was in his office, looking over some information pertaining to the Federación Castrollana de Béisbol, the Tierra de Castro baseball team. He hadn’t noticed Dabney’s deadly glare.

Sitting next to him was Calvin Ware, one of the team’s relief pitchers. Ware had been put in late in the last game against Free Republics, a game that saw him give up a home run to the only batter he had faced, Oskar Bjorgum. Ware was still seething several days later, after a two-pitch outing at Capital Stadium. His anger had been well-documented, as cameras showed him taking a bat and smashing Kitchens’ dugout phone in a white-hot rage, then hurling a bucket of bubble gum onto the field. To make matters worse, it appeared that Ware had been brushed off by both Kitchens and pitching coach Clyde Ely, so he hadn’t even had an explanation for why he had been pulled after two pitches.

Ware looked over at Dabney, whose eye had not left Kitchens in his office.

“I’m gonna talk to him,” Ware said. “I’d like an explanation.”

Calvin got up out of his seat and made a beeline for Sam Kitchens’ office. While that was going on, fielders Jerome Hayden and Leroy Hunnisett were making the mistake of watching a sports opinion show, “The Hot Take,” on H-Sports. Panelists Tucker Dunst and Mack Masters were screaming at each other about the HNBT. Both Dunst and Masters appeared to relish in the fact that the team had been struggling, as it gave them more opportunity to generate some kind of controversial comment that would generate attention for their own cause.

“I told you from the onset that this team sucked!” Dunst shouted. “This team is full of overpaid, underachieving slackers who don’t give a damn about the game and about this nation! I think it’s time the National League gets rid of all of these players and starts fresh from the beginning! None of them are capable of doing anything!”

Hayden and Hunnisett looked at each other and slowly shook their heads.

“You wanna turn up the Piss Take?” shouted Mo Beverly, a few feet away.

Beverly could hear the shouting from the television screen, and he didn’t like it. However, he thought it could make for some good “bulletin board material” that the team could use to motivate themselves, in some form or fashion. First of all, he absolutely hated the “Hot Take” show (which he always called the “Piss Take”) and its hosts, as he thought them to be “worthless loudmouths who’ve never played this game,” as he put it recently. Secondly, everyone else did as well. A better motivator to win didn’t exist than to shut up those two annoying loudmouths.

Players started gathering around the television set as Dunst and Masters screamed at each other about how terrible the HNBT really was. Something about how the team didn’t have what it took, and if they couldn’t even beat a team like Tierra de Castro or Free Republics, they wouldn’t stand a chance against a powerhouse like Newmanistan.

“Those assholes,” shouted designated hitter Ethan Abbey. “Have they ever played this game before? What the hell do they think they’re talking about? What in the HELL are they thinking?”

“I’d sure like to show them a thing or two,” said starting pitcher Mill Gibbs. “You know something, I’m not going to take this. I’d sure like to expose them in front of god and everybody, and when we win, I’mma dedicate it to those assholes.”

Many in the team shouted in agreement. Meanwhile, Kitchens was sitting in his office, listening to Calvin Ware rip him a new one, primarily for that two-pitch outing. Ware was still incensed at Kitchens, and he wanted to make sure that the manager had understood his message. Turns out, he was starting to get it. Maybe it was the fact that Ware threw a chair at a wall when he came in.

“You know, I like that fire,” Kitchens told his player. “That’s a fire we’ve been missing from this team the last few games, and goddammit, I think it’s time we start showing some passion.”

Kitchens and Ware stepped out of the manager’s office to hear the rest of the players, huddled around the television, screaming and whooping that yes, they were going to make an example out of Tierra de Castro, Oscioru and Hampton Island. It was a passion that hadn’t been seen in a number of games, a passion that had been extinguished by some poor performances the last several games. It was time to battle back, and time to claw their way into the playoffs, one way or another.

Kitchens couldn’t help but smile as Ware joined his teammates, screaming and shouting with the fervor of a jailbreak. If they didn’t win, it wouldn’t be for a lack of trying.