World Baseball Classic 49- Everything Thread (IC)

[South Newlandia]

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports -> Baseball
The Preview for WBC49

South Newlandia has been drawn into Group 3 of the World Baseball Classic, with the games due to begin soon. We will take a look at the South Newlandian group opponents today, and discuss if the Elephants have any chance to advance from this group. We will be looking at the teams from bottom to the top, starting with the Pot 6 team.

From Pot 6, Torisakia was drawn into Group Three. While they are currently not ranked, they have quite a bit of history in the World Baseball Classic, but the last appearance of the Ice Birds dates back a long time. They seem to be back with full force now, and they will host the Elephants on MD9 in the biggest stadium they will see in the group stage, the Parque Nacional. They might be the most dangerous team from the pots below, and South Newlandia will have to be careful not to slip in those games.

The Pot 5 team is Quebecois Acadiana. We don’t know anything about them yet, except that they aren’t ranked. History teaches us that teams that don’t announce their players usually don’t do to well, but we shouldn’t underestimate them either.

From the fourth pot, Drunk People at the Local Tavern were drawn into Group 3. South Newlandia will play their first series there, and the players are already underway. The series will apparently be held in a back yard, and the players will have to use nearby houses as changing rooms. The team is currently ranked 45th, and they participated in the 48th WBC, but failed to make the playoffs. We like one of their relief pitchers, named “South Newlandia” which might end up being confusing for both teams. In any case, the Elephants need to take as many wins from this team as they can get, as there is much more dangerous opposition ahead.

The Pot Three team are the Elephants themselves. After surprisingly reaching the knockouts in WBC48 and their U22s taking fourth place in the International Baseball Slam, the Elephants are back to playing baseball, and currently ranked 31st.

From Pot Two, The Greater Nordics were drawn into the group. Currently ranked 11th, they reached the Round of 16 in the last Classic, only losing out against the later champions from Nova Anglicana. They are known to be an aggressive team, and they have a decent amount of experience playing baseball, certainly more than the Elephants. They might be the team South Newlandia has to beat to reach the knockouts, and with the series between the teams scheduled on Matchdays five and ten, it might come down to this last series, to be played in Newport, in the end.

The team from the first pot will be Hampton Island. They are currently ranked 8th, and they reached the Quarterfinals of the last World Baseball Classic. The Golden Bears feature an interesting Left Fielder, Midnight, and actual black bear. We don’t know how or why, but he seems to be the most dangerous player of the squad. The pitchers are already debating what they can do against him. The other players are good as well, and the team from Esportiva is the natural favourite in the group. To challenge them, the Elephants will have to play their best.
In summary, it will not be an easy task to reach the knockouts in Newmanistan. Now is the time to prove that the 2nd place last time wasn’t a fluke, but the group won’t make that easy for the South Newlandians. Here is our, as always, pessimistic prediction for the final standings in the group.

1.	Hampton Island
2.	The Greater Nordics
3.	South Newlandia
4.	Torisakia
5.	Drunk People at the Local Tavern
6.	Quebecois Acadiana

All there’s left for us to do is to wish the Elephants good luck. We hope for a fun series against the Drunk People, maybe with the better end for the Elephants.

[Zwangzug]

"Good evening! I'm Troy Dawson, with me is Anita Obermeyer, and we're here in what I will speculatively assume is Canterlot, Equestrian States, site of the WBC 25 final where Darmen defeated Zwangzug. As You Know, Bob."

"My name's Anita, you just said that."

"...Right. David Keanes, the Worms ace, set to take the mount for the visitors, in the Zebras' first game in years by anyone's calendar. What emotions are going through you right now?"

"Gutwrenching anxiety, Troy."

"Gutwrenching? That seems a bit extreme, we haven't started yet and there are thirty games in the regular 'season'."

"I mean, my gut is being wrenched, my intestines aren't being cooperative today."

"Oh. Uh. Do you want to see someone about that? I mean I don't know if these Equestrian doctors can treat us, but maybe there's a zebra specialist--"

"It's a chronic condition, can't really be helped."

"Is that something you should have considered before becoming a WBC broadcaster, perchance?"

"WBC 1450 tries to be an inclusive employer, I recognize this is much less debilitating than some other health conditions or disabilities that people live with, but I earned my job just like you."

"Right. Uh. What do you think about Wenjie Liu?"

"I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with the team, she's got a good baseball mind. But I don't think we're going to be seeing anything too new tactics-wise, it's the same as ever--work the count, wait for your pitch, employ the shift if you have to."

"Liu of course having scouted her fellow Ianix players for the team, Jia the Gray Sox' firefighter and Guohua Liu--no relation, I should say--a regular for Spenson."

"I heard those two were actually generated by a predictive text neural network."

"Well, I wasn't aware the robots cared about baseball that much."

"We have robot umps, don't we?"

"Well...yes...but that's a different story."

"Not really."

"Anyway. Cloudy conditions tonight in Atlantian Oceania, unlikely we'll see the comet that's been attracting stargazers this series, but you never know."

"What does that have to do with baseball, Troy?"

"Uh...well...Teagan Oshe-Black plays for the Arlington Aurora, right, so there's a strong tradition of--"

"Oh shut up."

"And their local rivals, the Weegham Rainmakers, can boast back-to-back sluggers in the cleanup and fifth positions..."

[Delaclava]

OnTrak.net

DUSA announces cross-country all star meet with Quebec, names squads

The Delaclava University Sport Association has announced plans for Delaclava's top cross country runners to compete in a "dual" meet in Ibex against Quebec's best collegiate harriers.

The meet will have a men's and women's race. In each race, Delaclava and Quebec will each send their top two teams, as well as an "All-Star" squad of the seven next-best individuals. Those All-Stars will compete and be eligible to score as a team, as well as running for individual honors.

Ibex is a research territory in the Great Calanian Desert, currently governed by Krytenia, and DUSA is currently working in conjunction with the Delaclav government to reach out to the Krytenian government and Ibixa Research Commission to finalise transportation and accommodation details. Reports indicate, however, that the meet will been approved by the Commission to take place at that location, which was selected due to its equidistance from Quebec and Delaclava and the allure of a demanding course. Even in the winter and at sunset, the heat, humidity, and hilly and sandy terrain will all factor into performances.

The 21 Delaclav men are headlined by team national champions Kitsuartat and sophomore Finley George (2nd at nationals); team runners-up Marturak Azgiveratsum, led by juniors Ardag Aviet (5th) and Frankie Murray (6th); the men's DUSA All-Stars will include the national champion, junior Christopher Turner of Quinniville IT, senior Tyler Rossko (3rd) of Van der Veil, and Bishop's sophomore Steven Gallagher (4th).

The 21 Delaclav women are led by national champions Columbia and their top two runners, seniors Alicia Davidson (1st in women's race) and Jennifer Decker (2nd), team runners-up St. James and their top performer, junior Abbie Arnaud (5); the women's DUSA All-Stars will include senior Keira Hodges (3rd) of Zombaan and junior Rihanna Hart (4th) of Arana State.

More details about the race and organisation, and full coverage of the meet, will be coming in the following days and weeks.

Full Meet Roster

Runners listed with school (if running on All-Stars), year, and placement at national championships.

Men's Race
- Kitsuartat (team champions): Finley George (So, 2nd), Bryce Osbourne (Sr, 8th), Dylan Butler (Sr, 10th), Jack Rose (Sr, 12th), Ben Edwards (Jr, 23rd), Issac Davis (So, 43th), Ben Burke (So, 44th)
- Marturak Azgiveratsum (team runners-up): Ardag Aviet (Jr, 5th), Frankie Murray (Jr, 6th), Gabriel Carr (Sr, 11th), Alan Horozian (Fr, 14th), Souren Ginosyan (Sr, 32nd), Arantsar Koundakjian (Sr, 51th), Manajihr Jambazian (Sr, 79th)
- DUSA All-Stars (best individuals): Christopher Turner (Quinniville IT, Jr, 1st), Tyler Rossko (Van der Veil, Sr, 3rd), Steven Gallagher (Bishop's, So, 4th), Martin Parry (Bishop's, Jr, 7th), Patryk Laskowski (Valhalla, Fr, 9th), Thomas Metselaar (Catherina, Jr, 13th), Karen Rodzyanko (Catherina, Sr, 15th)

Women's Race
- Columbia (team champions): Alicia Davidson (Sr, 1st), Jennifer Decker (Sr, 2nd), Ruthie Benson (Sr, 9th), Rachel Johnson (Sr, 10th), Marlee Olson (So, 25th), Lexie Burns (So, 34th), Kelly Wright (Sr, 35th)
- St. James (team runners-up): Abbie Arnaud (Jr, 5th), Gwen Taylor (Sr, 6th), Abby Stone (Jr, 8th), Ella Kallur (So, 17th), Mishelle Young (Sr, 20th), Aisha Brown (Fr, 39th), Claire Ng (Sr, 81th)
- DUSA All-Stars (best individuals): Keira Hodges (Zombaan, Sr, 3rd), Rihanna Hart (Arana State, Jr, 4th), Jennifer Atkinson (Hess, Jr, 7th), Aniyah Hodges (Arana State, Sr, 11th), Katrina Hull (Hess, Sr, 12th), Sheena Fox (Straka State, Sr, 13th), Marta Kouru (Catherina, So, 14th)

[Newmanistan]

Series 1, Game 1

Group 1
South Covello                         2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Chromatika                            0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

TJUN-ia                               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 X  3

Newmanistan                           0 6 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  8
Marigred                              1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3

Series 1, Game 2

Group 1
South Covello                         0 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 1  7
Chromatika                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

TJUN-ia                               1 0 1 0 0 0 7 0 0  9
Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0  4

Newmanistan                           2 0 0 3 0 0 2 1 2 10
Marigred                              0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 1  5

Series 1, Game 3

Group 1
South Covello                         0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Chromatika                            1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 X  4

TJUN-ia                               0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2

Newmanistan                           0 0 0 3 1 2 2 0 0  8
Marigred                              2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0  5

*  Group 1              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan             3    3   0   0    26   13  +13     9
2 South Covello           3    2   0   1    12    6   +6     6
3 TJUN-ia                 3    2   0   1    14    9   +5     6
4 Se Vende Skooma         3    1   0   2     9   14   −5     3
5 Chromatika              3    1   0   2     6   12   −6     3
6 Marigred                3    0   0   3    13   26  −13     0

Series 1, Game 1

Kohnhead                              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Liventia                              0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  2

Sarzonia                              0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  4
Banija                                0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3  5

Daskel                                0 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
The Jovannic                          1 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  7

Series 1, Game 2

Group 2
Kohnhead                              0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Liventia                              0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 X  4

Sarzonia                              0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1  5
Banija                                0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2  4

Daskel                                1 0 0 1 0 0 5 1 1  9
The Jovannic                          2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  6

Series 1, Game 3

Kohnhead                              0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2
Liventia                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4  5

Sarzonia                              0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 2  6
Banija                                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  3

Daskel                                0 0 0 3 0 0 4 1 0  8
The Jovannic                          0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 1  6

* Group 2               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Liventia                3    3   0   0    11    4   +7     9
2 Daskel                  3    2   0   1    23   19   +4     6
3 Sarzonia                3    2   0   1    15   12   +3     6
4 Banija                  3    1   0   2    12   15   −3     3
5 The Jovannic            3    1   0   2    19   23   −4     3
6 Kohnhead                3    0   0   3     4   11   −7     0

Series 1, Game 1

Group 3
Hampton Island                        0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  3
The Greater Nordics                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Torisakia                             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1  5
Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

South Newlandia                       1 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  6
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3

Series 1, Game 2

Group 3
Hampton Island                        1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  5
The Greater Nordics                   0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

Torisakia                             0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  3
Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

South Newlandia                       0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 3  8
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      1 0 0 3 5 0 0 1 X 10

Series 1, Game 3

Group 3
Hampton Island                        0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0  6
The Greater Nordics                   2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 3  8

Torisakia                             0 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 2  8
Quebecois Acadiana                    1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1  5

South Newlandia                       0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 6  9
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0  4

* Group 3                           Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Torisakia                           3    3   0   0    16    7   +9     9
2 South Newlandia                     3    2   0   1    23   17   +6     6
3 Hampton Island                      3    2   0   1    14   13   +1     6
4 The Greater Nordics                 3    1   0   2    13   14   −1     3
5 Drunk People at the Local Tavern    3    1   0   2    17   23   −6     3
6 Quebecois Acadiana                  3    0   0   3     7   16   −9     0

Series 1, Game 1

Group 4
Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2
Cassadaigua                           2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 X  5

Lovisa                                1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  4
The Fair Republic                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Ethane                                1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Drawkland                             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Series 1, Game 2
Group 4

Northwest Kalactin                    0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Cassadaigua                           0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  2

Lovisa                                3 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  6
The Fair Republic                     3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  4

Ethane                                0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Drawkland                             1 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 X  6

Series 1, Game 3

Group 4
Northwest Kalactin                    2 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 1  7
Cassadaigua                           0 4 0 0 3 0 1 0 X  8

Lovisa                                0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 0  7
The Fair Republic                     1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0  4

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

*                       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Lovisa                  3    3   0   0    17    9   +8     9
2 Cassadaigua             3    3   0   0    15   10   +5     9
3 Ethane                  3    2   0   1    12   10   +2     6
4 Drawkland               3    1   0   2    10   12   −2     3
5 Northwest Kalactin      3    0   0   3    10   15   −5     0
6 The Fair Republic       3    0   0   3     9   17   −8     0

Series 1, Game 1

Group 5
Ihilthracna                           0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Nova Anglicana                        1 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 X  5

Hapilopper                            0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  3
Jeckland                              1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  4

Zwangzug                              1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 0  7
Equestrian States                     0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 1  8

Series 1, Game 2

Group 5
Ihilthracna                           0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana                        0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

Hapilopper                            0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3  6
Jeckland                              1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Zwangzug                              0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0  3
Equestrian States                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Series 1, Game 3

Group 5
Ihilthracna                           2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana                        0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 X  5

Hapilopper                            0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Jeckland                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Zwangzug                              0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Equestrian States                     0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 X  5

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana          3    3   0   0    13    6   +7     9
2 Hapilopper              3    2   0   1    11    8   +3     6
3 Equestrian States       3    2   0   1    14   13   +1     6
4 Zwangzug                3    1   0   2    13   14   −1     3
5 Jeckland                3    1   0   2     8   11   −3     3
6 Ihilthracna             3    0   0   3     6   13   −7     0

Series 1, Game 1

Group 6
Free Republics                        2 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1  7
Ranoria                               2 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  6

Delaclava                             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Abanhfleft                            2 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 X  7

HUElavia                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Nagore                                0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 X  4

Series 1, Game 2

Free Republics                        1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3  9
Ranoria                               0 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0  6

Delaclava                             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0  3
Abanhfleft                            0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1  4

HUElavia                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Nagore                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Series 1, Game 3

Group 6
Free Republics                        0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2
Ranoria                               0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1  3

Delaclava                             0 0 4 0 4 2 1 0 1 12
Abanhfleft                            0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

HUElavia                              1 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0  5
Nagore                                0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 1  6

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Free Republics          3    2   0   1    18   15   +3     6
2 Nagore                  3    2   0   1    10    8   +2     6
3 Abanhfleft              3    2   0   1    13   16   −3     6
4 Delaclava               3    1   0   2    16   13   +3     3
5 HUElavia                3    1   0   2     8   10   −2     3
6 Ranoria                 3    1   0   2    15   18   −3     3

Series 1, Game 1

Group 7
Royal Kingdom of Quebec               2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2  7
The Sarian                            2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Tikariot                              0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2  5
Mathuvan Union                        0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Ko-oren                               0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0  4
Falisiand                             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Series 1, Game 2

Group 7
Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Sarian                            0 0 0 5 1 0 0 1 X  7

Tikariot                              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Mathuvan Union                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Ko-oren                               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2
Falisiand                             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Series 1, Game 3

Group 7
Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 1  7
The Sarian                            0 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 0  6

Tikariot                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Mathuvan Union                        0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  2

Ko-oren                               0 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
Falisiand                             0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  7

*                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Tikariot                   3    2   0   1     8    4   +4     6
2 Ko-oren                    3    2   0   1    12    9   +3     6
3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec    3    2   0   1    17   15   +2     6
4 The Sarian                 3    1   0   2    15   17   −2     3
5 Falisiand                  3    1   0   2     9   12   −3     3
6 Mathuvan Union             3    1   0   2     4    8   −4     3

Series 1, Game 1

Group 8
Terre Septentrionale                  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

The Sherpa Empire                     0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Megistos                              0 0 2 2 1 1 0 3 X  9

Super-Llamaland                       1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  6
Devonta                               0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  5

Series 1, Game 2

Group 8
Terre Septentrionale                  0 2 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 11
Pripet Socialist Republic             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  3

The Sherpa Empire                     0 1 0 2 2 1 0 3 0  9
Megistos                              0 0 1 2 0 3 1 0 0  7

Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 1  6
Devonta                               0 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 X  7

Series 1, Game 3

Group 8
Terre Septentrionale                  2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0  5
Pripet Socialist Republic             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2

The Sherpa Empire                     0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1  4
Megistos                              0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Devonta                               2 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 X  7

*                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Terre Septentrionale         3    3   0   0    17    5  +12     9
2 Devonta                      3    2   0   1    19   14   +5     6
3 The Sherpa Empire            3    2   0   1    15   18   −3     6
4 Megistos                     3    1   0   2    18   15   +3     3
5 Super-Llamaland              3    1   0   2    14   19   −5     3
6 Pripet Socialist Republic    3    0   0   3     5   17  −12     0

[Hapilopper]

Rack City Ballpark, Rack City, Jeckland
World Baseball Classic 49 Series 1: Hapilopper v. Jeckland
The old convention, at least as far as Hapiloppian baseball is concerned, is that it didn’t matter if you dropped one game in a three-game series. If you took the other two and won the series, that’s what mattered. Sure, it would have been nice for the Haps to take the first game, but poorly-placed pitches from Charlton Forest in the early innings, and a brilliant walk-off home run from Jeckish first baseman London Jeffery put paid to those plans.

After that game, however, the Haps weren’t too irritated. Sure, they had made some mistakes that cost them the first game of the series, but all things considered, they had seen worse. Much worse. The next night’s starting pitcher, Curtis Skinner, remembered a night in the summer of 1985 when he was really off his game. I mean, REALLY off his game.

“I gave up like 10 runs in the first inning,” Curtis told his teammates. “We were playing the HC Nationals, and they were roughing me up like nothing else. After that 10th run scored, I looked over and saw the Skipper glaring at me. His arms were folded and he was just shaking his head. I got yanked after that inning, and nobody spoke to me afterwards. So, yeah, this isn’t bad at all. We can take care of them if we can just get some runs on the board.”

In the second game of the set, Curtis gave up two runs in seven innings of work, striking out six. The Haps didn’t get on the board until the sixth inning, when Jerome Hayden shocked everyone by starting the inning with a bunt to third base. Bunting wasn’t really something Jerome did – after all, he was a power hitter, and was typically positioned to send the ball flying right into the head of one of those scoreboard operators.

But everyone was cool with it, including Leroy Hunnisett. As Leroy came to the batter’s box, he looked over at Jerome, and nodded his head enthusiastically as a huge smile came over his face.

But his smile went away in a hurry as he went on a great battle with Jeckish pitcher Ernie Hammond, a battle that went on for 17 pitches and ran up to a full count, knocking foul balls everywhere. But he got the pitch he wanted and lined it over the head of left fielder Quinton Oliverson for what should have been a single, but both Jerome and Leroy ran like hell for extra bases. It was quite a sight as Leroy’s helmet flew off his head, his long flowing brown hair blowing in the breeze.

This brought up Mo Beverly, who looked like the essence of concentration as he waited for the right pitch to come from Ernie Hammond. With a 2-2 count, Mo blasted it into right field, which allowed Jerome and Leroy to score, but Mo’s knees failed him as he tried to run for extra bases. He just couldn’t leg out a double, and the throw from right fielder Stace Hayward to second baseman Des Nicholson was on time by a country mile. Mo knew it, too, and as he hobbled back to the Hapiloppian dugout, the television broadcast could see him quietly cussing himself out.

But it got the Haps going. A Jerome Hayden base hit to center field the next inning sent Levi Berry home, and gave the Haps a 3-2 lead, which they thought would bring them home for the first win of the World Baseball Classic. Unfortunately, in the bottom of the ninth, Dwayne Pocock gave up a beautiful home run to Lorne Bernard tying the game, and frustrating the Haps.

As the team went out to bat in the top of the 10th, a visibly angry Curtis looked at his teammates in the dugout and demanded they take care of business.
“I am NOT going to sit here and watch us lose another game like this! You go out there, plate some runners and GET THIS DONE!” Curtis roared.

Levi Berry, Dayton Rowe and Jerome Hayden were up to start the top of the 10th, and all three of them nodded in agreement with what Curtis had said. They didn’t want to lose another game the way they had lost the last game. It meant being patient at the batter’s box, waiting for the pitcher to give them what they wanted, and if something wasn’t there, then don’t swing at it.

That’s what Levi did – or didn’t – do. It seemed like the bat never left his shoulder during his at-bat, as he watched pitch after pitch after pitch sail by. Five pitches later, Levi tossed his bat back to the Hapiloppian dugout and gently jogged over to first base. Dayton Rowe walked up, lazily staring at the Jeckish pitcher as he swung his bat back and forth below the belt line.

And in all truth, Dayton looked about as calm as ever, gently bopping the end of the bat against home plate before setting into his stance. He knew what he needed to do. There was no sense freaking out about it. He watched the first pitch sail by, low and outside for strike one. He set back into his stance, lazily moving the bat around. The next pitch was what he wanted, and blasted it on the ground past a diving Lorne Bernard. Two runners on for Jerome Hayden, who couldn’t be any happier with the situation he had been given.

One swing of the bat could put it out of reach of the Jeckland team. One swing from one power hitter. Jerome knew it, and absolutely loved every minute of it. You could see the smile on his face as he set into his stance. Even better, the first pitch was exactly what Jerome was looking for. He hit it about as hard as he could hit it, and when he saw the ball take flight, he stood there in the batter’s box, admiring what he had done. A huge smile came over his face as he flipped his bat into the air. The bat hit the ground just behind home plate around the same time the ball cleared the left-center field fence, giving Hapilopper a 6-3 lead, a lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the game.

The next game was somewhat less interesting, except for the fact that Mill Gibbs pitched one hell of a gem in game three, allowing just one run in a complete game that saw twelve strikeouts and, even more surprisingly? 103 pitches, eight more than that supposed 95-pitch barrier he had a very hard time getting past for his entire career. The two runs came from Dayton Rowe and Leroy Hunnisett, and Hapilopper had taken the series 2-1.

Back home, the series win was enough for Hapiloppian fans to come around for their national team. While there had been some doubt over what the home opener would look like in Capital Stadium, the morning of the home opener, it had been reported that the stadium had, in fact, been sold out for the entire three-game series with Ihilthracna.

And when the players came out for their last practice just before the start of the home opener in Capital Stadium, they looked around and saw thousands of fans cheering and screaming. Whatever feeling of uneasiness wasn’t evident. Fans were waiting to pick up some balls from batting practice. Signs screaming “HIT IT HERE JEROME,” “LEROY’S HOT CORNER HONEYS” and “POUND IT MARION,” among many others, were all over the outfield. The enthusiasm looked like it was back. Now all the Haps had to do was deliver on it.

Jerome Hayden looked over at his teammates and smiled. They smiled back.

“I’m gonna give them what they want,” Jerome said. “Watch this.”

He took to the batter’s box, smiled at the practice pitcher, and nodded his head, before hitting ball after ball into the fans in the outfield seats. It was almost as entertaining watching the fans fight for the balls as it was watching Jerome blast them. It was the kind of enthusiasm, the kind of confidence, the kind of excitement that the Hapilopper National Baseball Team needed.

[Se Vende Skooma]

Bum Skanderbeg, defeated once again, stood ready to face the press. He was wedged in a corner hallway that opened on a utility closet not far from the team bathroom and the moist concrete and battered wooden benches that was the home clubhouse at SublimeBurger Park. A huge poster of the Sublime Double Peppercorn Bacon, radiating the munificence of dawn and gracefully enlarged to show texture, was half-tucked behind him as he faced down a pack of regional-paper interns and bloggers who covered Minor League Test Baseball.

"It's one of those nights where you don't have much to say," he self-contradicted. "Curtis fought his way out of a couple of tough spots and two runs isn't going to win you a lot of ballgames."

"I'm not as concerned about Curtis," one of the bloggers said, "but Rando got absolutely shellacked yesterday, and so did the emergencies."

"Bullpen, I think they call it."

"Don't you think that trotting out guys trained to pitch 80 for fifteen innings is gonna backfire in a world where it's 90 or go home?"

Bum's sun-battered jaw shifted his wad of chewing tobacco. "Worked well enough for Toots in game one. R.Q., Bienvenuto, Wilson, they all figured it out tonight."

"That's just it though," another one of the blogger jumped in. He was someone more tanned that Bum from a life of wandering around the Developmental and Quiz leagues with a laptop, trying to convince a couple of thousand gamblers and fantasy nuts that he knew who'd be the next 25-hits-per-game Test star. "Don't you worry they're gonna develop bad habits pitching so HARD?"

"Fred, stop trying to blow smoke up everyone's ass." Bum spat, then wondered what kind of an example he'd just set for the new draftees fresh out of high school ball. "We've all seen guys hit 90 on Day 5 when things are close..."

"They're throwing 90 right out the box!"

"These guys are the future of their clubs," Bum grunted, gesturing towards the room where fifteen of the twenty-five sweaty men were still waiting for their turn in one of the two showers. "Do you think the adults in the room would send them here if they thought it would ruin them?"

"This game kills everyone's body, though, all the fast pace and all that running," Hugo Trastamara a lean, angular scout-turned-blogger still wearing his old Tri-County Tractor Jockey windbreaker, and the only one of the bunch Bum respected enough to remember the name of. "Pedro Moires was running into walls every which way yesterday and today to make the catch instead of playing the bounce. Ki Yung-Son looked dirtier diving for everything 9 innings than most guys do at the end of their 20 a day. At some point don't you worry about guys pushing themselves past what they're used to and getting hurt?"

"Unlearn, hell. The only thing I'm worried about is going to Newmanistan and not crapping our pants in front of the hosts. Well, they were in the semifinals last time." He spat again, then inhaled. "I guess it's okay if there's a little turtleing going on."

The bloggers swapped awkward glances at each other long enough for Bum, who for all his years out of the managing game was still a master communicator, to walk away from the conversation guilt-free.

[The Sherpa Empire]

Daki Chuan knew the decision to put her on the national WBC team was controversial, not just in the media, but also in the clubhouse. The whole time they were training in Kunming ahead of the first series in Megistos, the other players had been giving her weird looks. Geli Ananthan looked like he wanted to bash her brains out, Kami Akunjee looked like he wanted to tear her clothes off, and Rita Katiyar looked like he wanted to do some combination of both. She had the feeling they were talking about her behind her back too.

Some of the men weren't so bad -- Zhiku Tsongba and Luochong Zhuang didn't seem too perturbed that she was there -- but she still felt awkward. Since she had only played domestically in the women's division, never together with the men, all her teammates were new to her. None of them were friends she could turn to when Ananthan or Katiyar got nasty. She could call old friends back home in Suzhou, but it wasn't the same as having someone right there on the team that you could confide in.

So it was time to make some new friends.

She thought Wangdi Ai had a lot in common with her. They were both young pitchers making their WBC debut under a lot of media scrutiny. They were both from the Jiangnan region, in the northeast corner of the Sherpa Empire. They both came from bourgeoise families that spoke Sherpa at home, even though their ancestry was Chinese -- the sort of families that said they were "proud of their Chinese heritage," but still ate tsampa and potatoes as often as rice.

As they were waiting to board their plane to Megistos, Chuan tried to strike up a conversation with Ai. She stepped up beside him and said, "Hi. How are you?"

Ai glared at her like she'd just confessed to murdering puppies for fun in her spare time. It was immediately obvious that he didn't want to talk. She took the hint and left him alone, but she kind of wanted to scream. It bothered her being brushed off like that.

Meanwhile, Chongba Lee was debating what to do with Chuan. If he put her in and it went badly, people would accuse him of pandering, and the misogynists would go after Chuan. If he didn't use her, people would accuse him of being sexist. Maybe he could have her pitch an inning when there wasn't much to lose? If she fucked it up, he'd have a good excuse not to use her regularly. If it went well, maybe people would calm down and stop making such a big deal about her being on the team.

Unfortunately, Lee didn't have to wait very long to put his idea into action. The first game of the WBC, Zhuang had a bad start, and Daki Chuan got her international debut in the 5th inning. The Sherpas were already down by 4 runs, with two runners on. Chuan allowed one of the inherited runners to score, but she managed to get out of the inning after that. She came back to the dugout disappointed with herself for letting the run score, but Lee gave her an encouraging pat on the back and told her not to beat herself up about it.

Lee was actually pleased. She'd been good enough that he could easily defend keeping her on the team and having her eat an inning here or there, but not so good that he would feel pressured to use her in big games. It was good this way, not too much drama.

[Liventia]

The Baseball Federation of Liventia announces the following 25-man roster for the 49th World Baseball Classic that will attempt to keep the team's six-tournament playoff streak alive.

This was the second year of the new seasonal and playoff structure for the two conferences of the Liventian Baseball Championship, the National and Challenger Baseball Leagues. There are 12 teams in each conference, with two divisions of six in the NBL and three divisions of four in the CBL. In the Challenger League the three division winners and next five best teams make the postseason, while in the National League the top two teams from each division plus the next four qualify. Each team plays 144 regular-season games, with the bottom team in each conference being relegated to Division Two.

With the standard in Division Two — formerly an AAA feeder to the LBC — still extremely low, last year's two relegated teams, Lox Land Talons and Bede Swordfish, easily claimed promotion back to the top flight. The Talons beat the Swordfish 4–3 in the Division 2 championship series. In the LBC, City Centre Keys won their first title with a 5–1 Grand Finals series win over the Port Cartfort Saboteurs. Additionally, this season saw the third-ever perfect game pitched in the LBC, by Steven Godsave for the Orean Capital Tiger Cats. Two hitters also broke the 50-homerun mark for the first time.

Baseball Liventia applies the following selection rules to all its WBC teams: no foreign-based players will be selected; no player playing in Division Two will be selected due to the lower standard of baseball; and no position player aged 33 or above will be selected. There is no age limit for pitchers.

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: Please follow it in order stated below or per any of my RPs.
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, including in 'home' playoff games
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).
Style mod +3

Home stadium
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.

The team is colloquially known as the Red-and-Gold, after the colours of the Liventian flag (and their uniforms).

Rotation
1. Noah Rippin (#23), age 24, L/RHP, Dover Outer South Bills
Season: 28 GS, 18*–4, 1.71 ERA*, 14.9 K/9*, 1.1 BB/9*, 0.74 WHIP*, 7.6 WAR*, All-Star, CBL Pitcher of the Year
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, cutter, curveball, slider, changeup
First WBC selection

2. Kieran Sheldon (#5), age 23, L/LHP, Orean Inner Hawkeyes
Season: 28 GS, 13–3, 1.78 ERA*, 13.8 K/9*, 1.7 BB/9, 0.87 WHIP, 7.4 WAR*
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, two-seamer, curveball, knuckle curve
Returns to the WBC side after a number of years struggling with injuries

3. Ashley Lutley (#4), age 24, R/RHP, Wakeford Capitals
Season: 31 G (30 GS), 9–10, 2.93 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 1.07 WHIP, 6.2 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, splitter, forkball, slider, curveball

4. Tony Metson (#22), age 36, R/RHP, Orean Outer Oysters
Season: 30 GS, 14–7, 1.95 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 1.1 BB/9*, 0.81 WHIP*, 5.8 WAR, All-Star, NBL Pitcher of the Year
Throws: Four-seamer 92-94 mph, two-seamer, cutter, changeup

5. Doug Rawsthorne (#20), age 24, L/LHP, Orean Capital Tiger Cats
Season: 30 G (29 GS), 12–6, 2.55 ERA, 9.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.00 WHIP, 4.4 WAR
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, two-seamer, slider, changeup
First WBC selection
Note: To be used as a follower after opener

Bullpen
Neil Causton (#2), age 33, L/RHP, Wakeford Capitols
Season: 33 G (25 S), 11–11, 3.18 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.34 WHIP, 3.6 WAR
Throws: Sinker 89-91 mph, slider, changeup, curveball
Usage: Long relief/emergency starter
First WBC selection

John Cropper (#21), age 32, R/RHP, Folenisa Sounders
Season: 54 G, 6–6 32 SV, 1.49 ERA, 13.5 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 0.84 WHIP, 4.8 WAR
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, two-seamer, curveball
Usage: Long relief/middle relief
First WBC selection

Joel Thompson (#32), age 23, L/LHP, Wakeford Capitols
Season: 40 G (14 GS), 8–7 1 SV, 3.27 ERA, 11.5 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.15 WHIP, 2.7 WAR, NBL Best New Player of the Year
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, curveball, changeup, forkball
Usage: Long relief/Lefty specialist
First WBC selection

Kyle Sheffield (#31), age 22, R/RHP, Wakeford Capitols
Season: 70 G, 7–6 32 SV, 3.54 ERA, 14.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.24 WHIP, 4.3 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Sinker 98-100 mph, curveball, changeup
Extreme groundballer (0 HRA in 89 IP), Usage: Opener (max 2 innings)/middle relief
First WBC selection

Gerald Smedley (#25), age 24, R/RHP, Talbott South Hilltops
Season: 47 G (7 GS), 10–3 1 SV, 1.91 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 1.11 WHIP, 3.2 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Four-seamer 96-98 mph, splitter, curveball
Usage: Middle relief/emergency starter
First WBC selection

Jake Dominey (#6), age 32, R/RHP, Jesner Spin Doctors
Season: 56 G, 4–2 37 SV, 1.36 ERA, 16.8 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 0.83 WHIP, 4.4 WAR, All-Star, CBL Bullpen Arm of the Year
Throws: Four-seamer 95-97 mph, sinker, curveball
Usage: Middle relief/set-up

Frank Kenley (#19), age 23, L/LHP, Talbott South Hilltops
Season: 59 G, 5–5 39 SV*, 1.62 ERA, 14.7 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 0.82 WHIP, 4.0 WAR, All-Star, NBL Bullpen Arm of the Year
Throws: Four-seamer 93-95 mph, two-seamer, splitter
Usage: Closer

Catchers
Harold Welford (#9), age 23, R/R, City Centre Keys
Season: .280/.371/.559, 30 HR, 113 RBI, 59 BB, 97 SO, 5.5 WAR, LBC Champion, Grand Final MVP, NBL Championship MVP
Also plays 1B
First WBC selection

Oscar Gauntlett (#12), age 31, L/R, Olympton Rapiers
Season: .304/.360/.515, 22 HR, 106 RBI, 48 BB, 58 SO, 4.1 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (C)

Infielders
Ron Edney (#13), age 23, S/R, Lantgoma Snipers
Season: .311/.433/.622, 37 HR, 123 RBI, 99 BB, 104 SO, 19 SB, 5.7 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (1B)
Plays: 1B, CF

Chris Phippen (#33), age 29, L/R, Colver Steamrollers
Season: .320/.452/.494, 14 3B*, 11 HR, 102 RBI, 118 BB, 35 SO, 7.1 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (2B)
Plays: 2B, 3B, 1B, SS

Josh Gwynne (#40), age 23, R/R, Olympton Rapiers
Season: .276/.385/.517, 34 HR, 103 RBI, 85 BB, 121 SO, 29 SB, 6.7 WAR
Plays: 2B
First WBC selection

Kane Merrell (#15), age 23, R/R, Batogo Forest Red Raiders
Season: .300/.389/.420, 10 HR, 64 RBI, 82 BB, 72 SO, 33 SB, 5.2 WAR, All-Star
Plays: SS/3B/1B
First WBC selection

Bart Borlase (#26), age 22, S/R, Desert Counts
Season: .315/.376/.437, 5 HR, 48 RBI, 29 BB, 43 SO, 26 SB, 4.5 WAR, CBL Outstanding Defence Award (SS)
Plays: SS, 3B, LF, 2B, RF
First WBC selection

Samuel Oram (#45), age 24, L/R, Orean Desert Tiger Cats
Season: .353/.411/.507, 187 H*, 13 HR, 72 RBI, 54 BB, 28 SO, 23 SB, 6.0 WAR, NBL Swing Batter Swing Award (3B)
Plays: 3B, 1B, RF

Outfielders
Danny Hugill (#14), age 23, S/L, City Centre Keys
Season: .303/.424/.482, 21 HR, 79 RBI, 103 BB, 49 SO, 51 SB, 6.5 WAR, NBL Swing Batter Swing Award (LF), LBC Champion, NBL Division Series MVP
Plays: LF, RF

Dermot Rowntree (#57), age 23, R/R, Port Cartfort Saboteurs TEAM CAPTAIN
Season: .318/.394/.763*, 68 HR*, 176 RBI*, 64 BB, 108 SO, 30 SB, 8.3 WAR*, All-Star, CBL Player of the Year, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (CF)
Plays: RF, CF, LF

Pat Pallant (#24), age 22, R/L, Orean Inner Hawkeyes
Season: .320/.357/.609*, 56 2B*, 32 HR, 119 RBI, 33 BB, 134 SO, 23 SB, 7.3 WAR*, All-Star, NBL Player of the Year, NBL Swing Batter Swing Award (CF)
Plays: CF, LF, RF, 1B
First WBC selection

Brad Appleyard (#93), R/R, Jesner Spin Doctors
Season: .333/.395/.660, 50 HR, 138 RBI, 54 BB, 113 SO, 40 SB, 7.3 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (RF), CBL Division Series MVP
Plays: RF, CF
First WBC selection

Andrew Batkin (#35), age 25, R/R, Dover Outer South Bills
Season: .298/.418/.533, 28 HR, 106 RBI, 79 BB, 93 SO, 22 SB, 7.0 WAR, All-Star
Plays: RF, CF, LF, 1B, 3B, 2B (utility)
First WBC selection

*Denotes led conference in stat

Starting lineup without DH
1. 3B Samuel Oram (L)
2. 2B Chris Phippen (L)
3. RF Brad Appleyard (R)
4. CF Dermot Rowntree (R)
5. LF Pat Pallant (R)
6. 1B Ron Edney (S)
7. C Harold Welford (R)
8. SS Kane Merrell (R)
9. Pitcher's spot

Starting lineup with DH
1. 3B Samuel Oram (L)
2. 2B Chris Phippen (L)
3. RF Brad Appleyard (R)
4. DH Dermot Rowntree (R)
5. LF Danny Hugill (S)
6. CF Pat Pallant (R)
7. 1B Ron Edney (S)
8. C Harold Welford (R)
9. SS Kane Merrell (R)

[Cassadaigua]

Suns Out, Brooms Out,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

The sun has risen on the 49th World Baseball Classic, and there is only one acceptable result for the Fillies at this point. After advancing to the championship series and losing in both World Baseball Classic 46 and 48, and placing third in 47; there can be no other finish. Final victory must be attained. They must do more then they have done, and need to bring home the championship to Concord Heights. That is a lot of pressure on the team, for sure. There are so many good teams playing in the competition, all with their own agendas and backstories as to why it should be them that wins the title in Tundra Falls, Newmanistan (presumably). For Team Cassadaigua, that does not matter. All that does is the need for this team to get it done for themselves. As for the pressure, the team understands why it is there. Cassie Daniels told me before the first game that, “It’s not really pressure at this point. There can simply be no other result for us in this World Baseball Classic. So, I guess it is a case of us just not thinking about it. Weird to say, maybe, but honestly we all know what we need to do. The expectations of others are great, and they should be; but the expectations we have on ourselves are even greater. Just play ball at this point, because we know we can get there. If we start feeling the pressure, then it is not going to happen now. It will happen in the playoffs, and a couple rounds into the playoffs.”

Northwest Kalactin provided the first opposition to the Fillies in the Classic, at Concord Heights. Things started well immediately when Macy Hamel hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first inning of the first game. Kayla Mason tossed a gem, and the pink and black took the first game, 5-2, a score that probably does not do justice to the way Cassadaigua outplayed the Kalactanians. In game two, former ace Samantha Owens showed that just because she is now the #2 pitcher, it does not mean she should be feared any less. She shut down Kalactin, with a complete game, outdueling Josh Perez in a 2-1 win. Jordyn Prosser’s two run double in the seventh was the big hit in the game. Finally, the sweep was completed in a hard fought 8-7 game, a final score we will all remember (Cassadaigua lost 8-7 to Nova Anglicana in Game 7 of the final). Break out the brooms, Cassadaigua dispatched their opening opposition. Now, the team travels to Drawkland. That will be fun, won’t it. It is a three game set against the Drawks, who dropped two of three to Ethane in the opener. Manager Maddie Polanco said of the series, “Drawkland is a solid team, and it is their first series at home since the amazing tournament they host last time out. The players need to bounce back from the Ethane series. It is a strong early test for us.”

[Sarzonia]

Sarzonia's national baseball team would not have surprised anyone if they'd limped back home to Fleetwood Park in Woodstock after suffering a bruising sweep at the hands of Banija.

After all, Banija are the second ranked team in the multiverse and were hosting 28th ranked Sarzonia in a three-game series. And on top of that, Stars closer Tyrell Douglass blew a save by coughing up a three-run homer to first baseman Yakuba Kah in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game One of the series.

However, Sarzonia bounced back from what could have been a disheartening loss in the second and third games of the series, getting a two-run jack from designated hitter Luke Brinkley in the seventh inning of Game 2 and a solo shot from left leftfielder Jodie Schein in the ninth to give the Stars what looked like all the insurance they'd need.

Setup pitcher Scott Lassiter strolled to the mound in the bottom of the ninth after Douglass threw 39 pitches in Game One and promptly loaded the bases with two hits and an intentional walk. He uncorked a wild pitch to allow a run, then manager Geoff Yancey went out and got him, sending in lefty specialist Myron Daniels, who gave up a sacrifice fly to allow another run.

With the tying run in scoring position, Yancey again went to the bullpen, going with Carnie Weston. She balked before throwing a pitch, getting the tying run 90 feet away, but then struck out both batters to end the game and even the series.

In Game three, it was the Jeff Parrish show for 8 1/3 innings as he struck out 10 and only allowed a sacrifice fly and an RBI through eight. Yancey left him in to pitch the ninth inning with the bullpen struggling, but Banijan hitters finally got to him, forcing Douglass into the game after Kah hit a tape measure home run to make the score 6-3. This time, Douglass fanned both hitters to pick up the save and Sarzonia walked out of Istira City Baseball Diamond with a surprising 2-1 record.

They make their home debut at Fleetwood Park against unranked Kohnhead. They're coming off a three-game sweep away to No. 10 Liventia where they only scored four runs against Liventian pitching.

Sarzonia will play Liventia away in their next series and then travel to Daskel before returning home.

[Hampton Island]

(Scenario: Phone Conversation between CEO and manager John Morton)

CEO: Good job taking two out of three against the Nordics.

Morton: Thank you, but I am not really happy about letting that third game get away.

CEO: It was not good, but I don’t think it will be that big of an issue in the long run. Stick with Martin (Reynolds) in that role. He will be bounce back.

Morton: I think so. Midnight was a little slow reacting to that double in the ninth. I think we really need to consider making him the designated hitter when we are able to do so.

CEO: We can’t do that. I know that might make sense now, but the fans want to see Midnight play the field every game. Plus, doesn’t Midnight get antsy in the dugout for a long time? He will run out into the outfield anyway.

Morton: I don’t think he would do that. Maybe a few Classics ago, he would have, but I don’t know. Maybe we should try it.

CEO: It can be something to think about down the road. I do not want to overreact to that play all that much. He had two home runs in the series, so let us not mess with whatever goes on in that ursine mind of his. Perhaps, if we struggle, but we are doing fine.

Morton: I guess. I suppose I just wanted to get the sweep.

CEO: We took two out of the three against the biggest threat to us in the group, on paper, while on the road. It’s a great result for us. Don’t worry about the one we did not get.

Morton: I think South Newlandia is the biggest threat to us, though, in reality.

CEO: They are only a threat to the Greater Nordics, not to us. We keep taking care of business like we did in the opening series, then all will be fine. Focus on Torisakia, please.

Morton: Don’t worry, I am very focused on Torisakia, they got that opening sweep.

CEO: They are a pretty good sporting nation. Not to be overlooked.

Morton: I don’t overlook anyone, especially a team that is ahead of us in the group.

[TJUN-ia]

U3 Sports can sometimes be crazy to keep track of. Like we have the NSTT and the ARWC to keep track of, plus the upcoming Di Bradini Cup, and then suddenly: "Oh shit! Baseball's back!" As a Pot 4 team in WBC49, the Battin' Jags are expected to be up in the mix for qualification for the playoffs. But with 2 Unranked teams in the mix, no one really knew what could happen this time around.

The first UR we have to take on is the "Cool Dudes" of Se Vende Skooma. At a small (and I mean small) SublineBurger Park, the Jaguars faced a team who treats this sport like cricket. This 9-inning format is considered the T20 variant of the sport over here, with their "Test" format being 120 innings over the course of 5 days - something that would make the average pitcher melt back in TJUN-ia. Luckily for our players,
we wouldn't be subjected to that nightmare over the course of the series. No DH here, as it is apparently forbidden by the laws of the game here. If we were to use Killian O'Mally in that role, it would be illegal according to their laws. Strange place, Se Vende Skooma is...

---

Game 1
TJUN-ia 2-3 Se Vende Skooma, SVS lead series 1-0
The cricket-like feel continued into game 1. The Cool Dudes' starting pitcher, Toots ANGSTROM, was more used to the 5-Day format of the game and pitched like that throughout - around 80mph- while Chris Harris, who didn't even know there was apparently another format of the game he loved until he arrived here, was throwing 90mph pitches like it was nothing. You would think that this would be easy but if Test cricket shows us anything it's that patience is a virtue. They scored the first run in the bottom of the 4th, but the Jaguars responded in the top of the 6th. But it would be the Cool Dudes who took the advantage with 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th. TJUN-ia got one back in the top of the 9th, but couldn't get another to force the rest of the inning.
Game 2
TJUN-ia 9-4 Se Vende Skooma, Series tied 1-1
Not the best start, but that didn't matter come Game 2. At one point the hosts we're leading 4-2, but then came the top of the 7th. Rando JOHNSON looked like he didn't know how to pitch and soon enough, the bases were loaded. Bryce Calhoun ended the pressure via Grand Slam. 6-4, but that wasn't the of the pain as Matoko Kagawa hit a 3-run bomb before the scoring dried up.
Game 3
TJUN-ia 3-2 Se Vende Skooma, TJU wins the series 2-1
This game was tighter than it needed to be, but we got the job done in the end. We scored our runs early and managed to hold off the late pressure to take the win. I don't know if Bum Skanderbeg, the manager of the Cool Dudes, is reading this but if he is, a word of advise: In most the multiverse, the 9-inning format is the only format. Please take that into account before you give away easy runs that could have been avoided.

A 2-1 start could have been better but in any series with an unranked team, you just don't know what to expect. The next series is our grand return to Rounder's Field in Portside, as we take on 22nd seeds South Covelo in a match-up that could decide who has the early momentum in the battle for 2nd in Group 1. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group 1)
S1 (G1/G2/G3): @Se Vende Skooma (UR) - SublimeBurger Park W 2-1 (3rd)
S2 (G4/G5/G6): vs South Covello (22) - Rounders Field, Portside
S3 (G7/G8/G9): @Chromatika (26)
S4 (G10/G11/G12): @Newmanistan (5)
S5 (G13/G14/G15): vs Marigred (UR) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
---------------------------MIDWAY BREAK---------------------------
S6 (G16/G17/G18): vs Se Vende Skooma (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside
S7 (G19/G20/G21):@South Covello (22)
S8 (G22/G23/G24): vs Chromatika (26) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S9 (G25/G26/G27): vs Newmanistan (5) - Rounders Field, Portside
S10 (G28/G29/G30): @Marigred (UR)

[Terre Septentrionale]

Terre Septentrionale wins their first series against Pripet Socialist Republic

Èntland, Pripet Socialist Republic - The Under 24 team did an impressive run and played much better than expected at the International Baseball Slam played in november and december. Now, in february, it's time for the real thing, the World Baseball Classic and 5 players from the IBS roster are on the national team, plus 5 more of them players are "extra players". Our first series is on the road in the Pripet Socialist Republic, a nation which reminds us the Union of Socialist Alpine Republics. The Nordiques won a pitching duel in game 1. Rusty Castillo threw a complete game and he only allowed one hit and a walk in 9 inning. He also struck out 10 batters. Our only point was scored in the 4th inning when Gustavo Mendoza's double sent Melanie Wojciechowski to the plate.

Game 2 was more wild. The score was 3-1 in the top 8th inning when we hitted 3 homeruns and scored 8 runs in that particular inning. Melanie Wojciechowski was the first batter of the inning and she hitted a double. Szandra Szucsanszki walked and Gustavo Mendoza hitted a 3 runs homerun. Garrett Strzelecki followed with a solo homerun. Keegan McCullough hitted a single, Stefan Boissonneault hitted an optionnal. Trevor McGarry also hitted a single. Pinch hitter Zlatan Belec was flied out, Boissonneault reached the 3rd base but McGarry stayed at 1st base. Katarina Radovnikovic followed with a double, Boissonneault scored, McGarry advanced to the 3rd base. Melanie Wojciechowski hitted a 3 runs homerun and the score was 11-1. Lucija Kikanovic came to pitch in 9th inning and allowed 2 runs. The winning pitcher was Frédérique Lafleur who allowed 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run in 7 innings. She also struck out 6 batters.

Then, the Reprezentacja Nordycki won game three 5-2. Szandra Szucsanszki hitted a 2 runs homerun in the 1st inning. Then in the 5th inning, Trevor McGarry was the first to bat and he hitted a double. pitcher Travis O'Rear hitted a sacrififce bunt, he was out at 1st plate but McGarry advanced at 3rd base. Katarina Radovnikovic followed with a double, McGarry scored. Melanie Wojciechowski was flied out, Radovnikovic stayed at 2nd base. Szandra Szucsanszki hitted a single, Radovnikovic scored from the 2nd base and the score was 4-1. Both teams added one more run and the final score was 5-2. Travis O'Rear played 8 innings, he allowed one run, 6 hits, one walk. He also struck out 6 batters and he's the winning pitcher.

Home Stadiums and schedule

The team announced their home stadiums in their roster guide but never announced who will play where. Our first two series are on the road. Then, series 3 will be played at Park Wroblewski against Super-Llamaland. Series 4 will also be on the road. Then series 5, 6 and 7 will be at home. Series 5 against Megistos will be at Rapido Presto Park, a park sponsored by a beverage (orange juice and lemonade) producer. Series 6 against Pripet Socialist Republic in Parc Turcotte and finally series 7 against The Sherpa Empire, at Parc des Capitales. Series 8 is on the road, then the Northmen comes back at home for a series against Devonta in NordCola Sportni Park.

Series 1: at Pripet Socialist Republic
Series 2: at The Sherpa Empire
Series 3: vs Super-Llamaland at Park Wroblewski, Krzczonow, MA
Series 4: at Devonta
Series 5: vs Megistos at Rapido Presto Park, Rawdon, SH
Series 6: vs Pripet Socialist Republic at Parc Turcotte, Oujé-Bougoumou, CN
Series 7: vs The Sherpa Empire at Parc des Capitales (Capitals Park), Ville Jacques-Cartier, DC
Series 8: at Super-Llamaland
Series 9: vs Devonta at NordCola Sportni Park, Kukljica, DA
Series 10: at Megistos

Dragomir Kovacevic,
La tribune Septentrionale

[Daskel]

HORIMAT CITY
Park of the Grand Emperor - Day one

"Is it normal to feel this tired?" Thought Jossei, preparing his next pitch: A sinker. Many innings ago, he was sitting in the bench, shouting words of good luck. "Ganbare!" "Haita Haita!". It felt so long ago. While he removed a tiny bit of dirt, he looked at the scoreboard; A long row of zeros crossed his vision.

It felt so long ago, that fifth inning.

Runner on second, one out. Itara Crisui was on the mound, his eyes sharp on Tang's glove. This was the opportunity to take a better lead, as Cho stepped on the right batter box. Two strikes after, Cho connected and sent it to the right field, a double where Kishimoto could score.

"A deep hit into the right field, Kishimoto is flying and returns home! Jovannic 1 - Daskel 3! Top of the first runner on first . Cho is not a quick runner, through. We cannot count with him to steal second. Next at bat is Ben. If just Cho-san was a quick runner, isn't it, Mr Tanaka?"

"Pinch hitter" An Takashi lifted his arm, sending Eidome Yōichi to battle. Takashi knew what he was doing; The guy's batting was nuts, and had the arm and the intelligence to defend the outfield. The strategy worked, and Eidome hit the fastball deep, and went and went and....

"It's gone! Eidome connected with Crisui's curveball. I don't know if it was luck, or if he read that, or both, but Daskel is now 1-5 up! "

The next batters didn't have the same luck with Crisui's brutal curveball, and the fielders went back to defend the extended lead. Everything was happiness until the bottom of the six. One out, bases full. And as quick as the lead came... is was gone.

"Grand slam homerun from Marken and the game is tied 5-5! This game will kill me, let me tell you. Shintaro asked for a timeout and now everyone is on the mound, talking with Kojima. This does not look well for our ace pitcher"
"That's right, Mr Maeda. Kojima's pitch count is not high, but this play may take a toll on his mental preparation. Coach An may do something about this"

But An didn't do anything, and Kojima found the strength to close the inning. He was benched after that, sending Watanabe for the next innings. A couple of runs were scored, and the scoreboard came to a halt. Nine innings played, 6-6, and zeros started to appear, one by one. Watanabe was seriously tired and they send him, Nakamura Jossei. "You have the experience and the stamina to overcome this" said coach An, before calling the umpire and signaling the change.

Since that, five innings have passed. He started to move, released the ball and...

"Ping!"

He couldn't hear anything but the roar of the crowd, nor see the face of the runner. They lost, they just... lost. at the sixteenth inning.

This was pain

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

INTERESTING OPPONENT AWAITS AFTER SWEEP

by Brianne Henry,

Newmanistan got off to a fast start in their opening series against Marigred, doing what everyone expected them to do. The unranked side from Marigred was hoping to impress their home fans against the Rockets, but the sky blue had no problem disposing of them 8-3, 10-5, and 8-5. It was the top performance of any team over the first three games, when considering that the run differential is higher then anyone else right now. Sometimes, you will see someone drop one of the games in a series like this, but clearly, no one is surprised by this.

There is not much to talk about with them, but the next opponent, Se Vende Skooma is a very interesting side. The Cool Boys play baseball a little differently then most nations do it. In their country, youth games take 40 innings to complete, and a single game is actually a five-day long, 120-inning affair. Interesting, isn’t it? Don’t you just want to see, for example, the Pocono City Capitals and Loudon Leopards play with that format just for the hell of it to see what happens? Perhaps that can be arranged sometime. For now, their players, as well as manager Brian Skanderbeg, must make adjustments to the format of the World Baseball Classic, which of course, plays the game that way pretty much every other nation in the world plays it. Manager Ashley Hedstrom sympathized with Skanderbeg to a point, saying, “I would have to make drastic adjustments to the way I did things if I played it the way they did it. It is not going to be easy for their team.”

One of the biggest adjustments that need to be made is how one uses their pitching staff. For Skanderbeg, he would often see his pitchers pitch fifteen or more innings, routinely, at a time. In order to this, pitchers would have to keep the velocity down on their pitches. As we saw against TJUN-ia, they had a hard time adjusting to it, and will need to start throwing harder. That said, Newmanistan has earned a reputation of having durable pitchers themselves, so I had to ask some what they thought about the Cool Dudes. WBC legend Courtney Duvall told me in response that, “Yes, you could certainly last longer if you did not throw hard on every pitch. Just like on the playground, if you are out there lobbing it to your friends, then you can go all day and it do it, 200 or 300 times without even noticing. There is so much more to pitching then speed, but if you don’t have the element of speed, then there is little that you can do to confuse a batter. They know what works in their league, but I expect that they are going to have a big problem pitching-wise, in the World Baseball Classic unless they get the velocity up. I am just an observer now, so I don’t know the details of what their team, of course.” Duvall, when asked about if she would want to play in their league, stated, “I would have to learn more about it. I don’t think I would want to play professionally in a league like that, but to do it a few times could be pretty interesting.” Former WBC pitcher Hannah Lee said similar, but also would add, “The most disappointing part about Se Vende Skooma is not their team, but the fact that they have to use such a small field. Very frustrating to see the team not get any cooperation from the bigger clubs about sharing facilities. Their fans only suffer in the long run.”

One thing we can agree on with Se Vende Skooma is that the DH should not be part of the game. However, they go to an extreme extent in outlawing it.

[Torisakia]

By Jed Merrill

Tokai Met reportedly moved 1.346cm left due to mass disappointment

12th August 2020

According to the University of Tokai Department of Geophysics and Seismology, The Tokai Met has been observed to have moved roughly 1.346 centimeters to the left from its foundation. Dr. Stephen Ott, professor of Geophysics at the University of Tokai, stated that the movement was a result of "collective mass disappointment from within the confines of the stadium". Ott clarified that the disappointment felt by fans of the Torisakia national baseball team over the three game series against Hampton Island, where the Ice Birds got swept, exerted enough physical force to move the 1.24 million square foot stadium roughly 1.346 centimeters (0.529 inches) to the left. The Department of Geophysics and Seismology at the University of Tokai were involved due to the movement being registered on the seismograph at the institution, prompting an investigation. Ott stated that the movement occurred "sometime in the top of the ninth inning in game three", which coincides with Torisakia giving up three runs to Hampton Island and giving away a 4-2 lead. This phenomenon has been observed in numerous Torisakian sports over the past 100 years, earning it the name "Sportsquake".

Past occurrences of this phenomenon has not always been the result of mass disappointment. In June 1985, seismographs at the University of Ogino recorded an earthquake roughly 800 feet from Ogino Municipal Stadium during the 73rd edition of the Megabowl when Ogino scored a go-ahead goal in game five to lift them to victory over Mushai and win their first ever TSL championship. In 1991, Alderney State Arena was moved 0.22cm after one of the most controversial calls in TFL history led to the then ASFC Criminals missing out on the Hyperbowl. The collective booing, throwing of bottles, and overall uproar caused a small earthquake that was registered on the University of Tokai's seismograph and slightly moved the stadium. The sportsquake can occur due to a number of different factors. In the Tokai Met's case, it was due to the fans being let down by the national team. Torisakia led Hampton Island 4-2 in the top of the 9th inning and looked to be heading for their only victory in the series as they had dropped the previous two games. Despite changing pitchers, playing more towards the infield, and even creating new version of pitches, the Ice Birds gave up 5 hits and 3 runs that led to Hampton Island taking a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. Torisakia would go three up-three down and lose the last game of the series, officially making it a sweep for Hampton Island. GBN Torisakia was unable to reach head coach Kermit Woods for comment after the game.

Expectations still seem to be high after the 3-0 sweep, however. Social media has been abuzz with praise for the national team, continuing to fight even though they were losing in all three games. Many fans have also pointed out that Hampton Island is a top 10 team internationally, so to expect Torisakia to win any game in the series was a bit farfetched. The players definitely seem to be enjoying their time, as seen by the numerous dugout shenanigans and jokes with the 'law' we have seen on broadcast. It seems that the team's chemistry is coming along well, even more evidenced by the players' presence on social media and having nothing but good things to say about their teammates. While things may be good between the players, it is becoming more evident that there is extreme discord between the players and coaching staff. Particularly between the players and Woods. Woods still seems to be flip-flopping between conservative and aggressive schemes, which is throwing the players off and forcing them to adapt to changes each game. Doing so results in inconsistent performance, and thus why the team seems to be struggling at the moment. While no player has publicly discussed their relationship with Woods, evidence that we see on field suggests that things are internally headed south rather quickly. Kermit Woods may be a successful coach in the TMLB, but perhaps he just is not cut out for international competition.

[Jeckland]

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 30 - THE SPUDS THAT SHOCKED THE MULTIVERSE

Those eagle eyed Jeckish baseball fans amongst us will have noticed that our group draw for World Baseball Classic 49 has a notably similar flavour to one in the past.

Even those who do not follow the sport avidly, or those who were not around in years past, may well be able to tell you the significance of the draw, aside from it appearing to be one of if not the toughest group in this year's tournament. Nineteen editions ago, in World Baseball Classic 30, Jeckland also drew both Nova Anglicana and Zwangzug in their group.

Expectations then as now were low for the Spuds. Their debut in World Baseball Classic 29 had been a surprising success. Baseball was a niche sport at best in the country, with the average member of the populace unaware that the tournament was even occurring, at vast odds with the huge sporting culture of the country. Which sports are popular and are not in Jeckland does not seem to be pre-determined by anything, but in years since national team success has played a major role in bringing certain disciplines into the limelight.

In Classic 29, Jeckland were drawn into a relatively easier group, but still not expected to do much more than pick up two or three wins. The Spuds surpassed this, having registered five as the final day of the group stage dawned. San Jose Guayabal were the team in possession in second place and faced eliminated Estope, with a win enough to secure them the second guaranteed spot behind Vaugania. The Spuds and Premier Thomas Wilette were both 5-4 and could snatch the final spot with a win, an SJG loss and an appropriate swing in run difference. The Spuds pulled off a 4-1 win against their rivals, before waiting with bated breath as the Estope-SJG match went into additional innings. But eventually the news came through that they all wanted to hear - Jeckland were through to the knockout phase. Estope had won.

The Spuds group record made them the #14 seed in the knockouts, meaning they would not receive a bye and instead have to play Milchama to progress to the Round of 16. The Spuds were huge underdogs against what was an established baseball nation and were shut out, losing 5-0 but going home with their heads held high.

Despite their above par performance for rookies, public interest and international expectations for Jeckland going into Classic 30 were both low. This was exacerbated by the group draw, with the top two seeds in the group presenting formidable opposition. Nova Anglicana, the current champions, were then a fairly new nation on the scene, but had shown their prowess in previous editions and justified their tag as tournament contenders and their #3 ranking. Zwangzug's relaitvely lower ranking of #14 appeared to be falsely low, as the former champions pedigree in the sport made them seem a formiddable opponent. Elsewhere in the group all those years ago, a fiery matchup with Jecatria awaited, a part of modern Jeckland which had at the time recently seceded from the larger state via a frostily received referendum. Digestra were the fifth team in the group, which the Spuds were not expected to advance from.

Whilst Nova Anglicana are now Classic champions, Zwangzug are like the Spuds returning after a period away from the sport. However, it will take a lot to get anywhere near what happened in that fateful World Baseball Classic 19 years ago. The Spuds, ranked 37 going into the tournament, upset the apple cart - and arguably changed the World Baseball Classic forever...

[Tikariot]

The picture fades into to the Oceanview Park in Port Rhovanyon, the location for the second series of the World Baseball Classic against the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. Sarah Ladle and Angelo Mori are standing in the Tikariotian dug-out to welcome the viewers.

Angelo Mori: So the first series went well, with Tikariot scoring a 2-1 win over the Mathuvian Union, giving us a good start to go into series numero two against the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. Here's a quick rundown of how the first three games went.

Game 1
Kenneth Burgess: The first game against the Mathuvian Union did not quite start out as planned, with the hosts scoring a single home-run off De'Andre Stevens and it stayed a pitcher's game throughout most of the following innings, with few hits and zero runs until the fifth inning, when JJ Bernardetti struck a sacrifice fly to allow for Carlton Baines to equalize the game. Then it took two more innings before Tikariot scored again.

Foster Fleming had struck a single before Vincent Pelmore struck out. A nice double by Carlton Baines brought both players into scoring position before Steven Marangoudakis tried his best, but was caught with a fly-out, and a beautiful catch by the Mathuvian right fielder. JJ Bernardetti had a great chance for Tikariot to take the lead, but he was walked, now giving Tikariot loaded bases and William Carruthers stepped up to the plate. He fouled the first two balls, almost was hit my the third pitch, but then struck a sinker beautifully, dropping down right between the centre and left fielder, allowing for both Fleming and Baines to score, giving the Devil's Rejects a two run lead.

De'Andre Stevens and Devon Cargill continued their great pitching streak, allowing the Union only three hits in the six innings following their only run. Then came the last inning and with Hamish Shawcross, who had come on in the eighth inning for Vincent Pelmore, on second base and Steven Marangoudakis at bat. The Mathuvian pitcher was clearly a little unnerved by his own team's inability to score when he tried for a fierce fastball, which came a little close to Marangoudakis, who still swung, hitting the ball very oddly due to the trajectory, but it sailed along the foul line and across the fence in left field for a two-run homer for the designated hitter, giving Tikariot a 5-1 lead that they would not relinquish in the bottom of the ninth, handing them the first victory of the series.

Interview
Sean Callahan: Steven, that fastball in the ninth, replays showed that it would have been a ball, but you still decided to strike. Was that just a reflex to swing?

Steven Marangoudakis: Pretty much. I was more worried about getting hit, but somehow still swung and it hit my bat at about half and it actually cracked it, but that was a one in a million hit for it to actually go out.

Callahan: A first win in the Classic continues right on where you had left off at the International Baseball Slam. Is that a good omen for this tournament as well?

Marangoudakis: It was nice to kick things off with a W, but the competition here is a lot fiercer than at the Slam, and I dont want to offend anybody there, this is the big kahuna of baseball and while it's great that we are keeping the momentum, it'd be suicidal to now get the mindframe that we're just gonna cruise through this.

Callahan: So what are your expectations for the World Baseball Classic? Do you think you can go all the way like you did in Super-Llamaland?

Marangoudakis: If I knew, I'd have a lot of people put a lot of money on us right now, haha. I don't know, we don't have a whole lot of experience here, but I think we've proven that anything is possible, so we're just going to play our game and see what comes of it in the end.

Callahan: Thank you, Steven Marangoudakis.

Game 2
Burgess: Game two started better, with Mike Romanov hitting a single homer right with the first strike, but what followed after could probably have been sold as a cure for insomnia. Throughout the first eight and a half innings we saw one run and three hits between both teams, so great for the defense, but horrendously boring for the fans. They did wake up, though, after William Carruthers fumbled a catch and allowed the Mathuvian Union to equalize things. The Tikariot catcher was so upset about it that he managed to get himself ejected for some choice expletives and the officials didn't care that he had aimed them at himself. But again thanks to Hamish Shawcross, who was part of the win, when he struck a ball with such force that the third baseman could not actually catch the ball and dropped it, allowing for Yosvani Fernandez to score the decisive 2-1 run.

Game 3
Burgess: If the press had called game 2 a snoozefest, they were not prepared for game 3. The whole game yielded a whopping three hits, all of which turned into homeruns, this time giving the Mathuvian Union a 2-1 edge. Coach Graham McCrory was so infuriated by the performance of his team that in the seventh inning he brought Fletcher, Christensen, Consigliere, Allen, Hernandez and Carsullo on, so basically replacing everybody but Marangoudakis and Shawcross, with the only positive coming from it the homerun by Blair Consigliere. We tried to get the coach for an interview, but trust me, the mood he was in I believe it was better that we didn't manage.

Mori: Thank you Kenneth. So not ideal to have lost the last game, but still we got the series and the last two games were so utterly boring, it was hard to stay awake, but in the end all that counts is that we won and not how we did it.

Ladle: Exactly. Now tonight we are here in Port Rhovanyon and we are hosting the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, the 32nd ranked team in the world, so this could be a completely different beast from the Mathuvian Union, so we better hope that Graham McCrory has found the right words to shake up our team.

Mori: The Kingdom had faced The Sarian in the first series, who themselves are ranked #24, so not a nobody by any stretch of imagination, and they also took the series 2-1. So they also are coming in with confidence. Before we go, though, game three of the Ko-oren Falisiand series was THE game everybody was talking about. Falisiand ended up taking the win 7-6, but they scored at the bottom of the 17th inning, so I could see a few people in these two teams not being in their best physical shape tonight.

Ladle: That's if from us here, join us tonight for our live coverage from Port Rhovanyon and let's hope that this is going to be a gripping, but ultimately successful series for the Tikariot Thunderforge. I'm Sarah Ladle and this is Angelo Mori.

[South Newlandia]

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports -> Baseball
Elephants solid, but not great

South Newlandia played their first series of the World Baseball Classic at what must be one of the strangest locations of any team participating. In “Cassie’s backyard” a small field in a backyard, the South Newlandian players seemed to be slightly confused, and the fact that they had to change in a nearby house didn’t seem to help. They managed to take two wins off of Drunk People at the Local Tavern, who all seemed to be more or less intoxicated (as the name suggests), and take 2nd place of the group for now.

South Newlandia                       1 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  6
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3

For the first game, Jacob Conroy took the mount. While the Drunk People’s pitcher, Abanh Fleft, wasn’t so lucky, Conroy showed us more of his strengths, shutting out the Drunk People over seven innings, and the Elephants cruised to a clear six point lead after only five innings. Already in the first inning, Fabio Ventura scored an early run, and in the top of the second, a home run by Mike Larsen with Igor White and Daryl Dunlop on the bases gave South Newlandia a 4-0 lead already. The got another run in the 4th and 5th inning, scored by Gregor Garner and Mike Larsen, and the outcome of the game seemed to be clear now. Then, Marcel Adams came into the game, and he gave up three runs in the last two innings, scored by Michael "Rocketman" Newman and Cassie the cheergirl in the eighth and Rule Theriault in the ninth. Thankfully, the end result was a win anyway, 6-3.

South Newlandia                       0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 3  8
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      1 0 0 3 5 0 0 1 X 10

Blake Robbins pitched Game 2, and he wasn’t so lucky. On the other side, Liventia was pitching, with not much more luck. The Drunk People scored the first run after a solo homer by Nova Anglicana on the very first pitch, but a home run by Daryl Dunlop with Shawn Zimmerman and Igor White on the bases got the Elephants a 3-1 lead. Another run by Adam King in the fourth increased the lead to three runs, but that was all gone after another home run by Gregory Covello got the Drunk People three runs, equalizing the game. It went downhill in the fifth inning. Robbins allowed five runs, and South Newlandia was now down 4-9 after leading by three just two innings ago. Robbins was pulled now, and Dennis Miles came in. He allowed no runs in the two innings he pitched, but South Newlandia also only scored one after a run by David Drum. In the eighth, closer Barnaby Butt allowed another run, scored by Ko-oren, and the Elephants had a wall of five runs to climb. They managed three, scored by Daryl Dunlop, Ian Pearce and Fabio Ventura, but it wasn’t enough, and South Newlandia lost game two 8-10.

South Newlandia                       0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 6  9
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0  4

For the last game, Ryan Hunter took the mount, while Greater Nordic pitched for the Drunks. In the third inning, action started to happen with a run by Mike Larsen, but the Drunks got it right back, scoring through Hampton. In the fifth, South Newlandia took the lead again, this time scored by Daryl Dunlop, but once again, the Drunks equalized right again. It got worse, as Hunter allowed two runs in the 6th inning, putting South Newlandia against a deficit again. They got one back in the 7th after a solo homer by Igor White, and Fabio Paul was coming in as a closer now. He allowed no more runs, but South Newlandia was still down by one. It took them until the ninth and last inning to score again. Shawn Zimmerman was at bat first, starting the team of with an early double. A single by Daryl Dunlop put runners on the corners, and after Ian Pearce got retired, Mike Larsen scored a crushing home run to put the Elephants up by two with only one out. Fabio Ventura got a double, and David Drum got another double to score Ventura. Adam King got retired, but Shawn Zimmerman, now again at bat, got two more runs with another homer. With this six-run inning, South Newlandia took the last game, as the Drunks didn’t manage another run. Against our expectations, the South Newlandian pitchers struggled a bit, but the batters made up for it, scoring 23 runs, a mark only beaten in the entire tournament by Newmanistan, who managed 26. Daskel tied the South Newlandian score, getting 23 runs as well.

All matches
Drunk People at the Local Tavern 1-2 South Newlandia (3-6, 10-8, 4-9)

The Greater Nordics 1-2 Hampton Island (1-3, 4-5, 8-6)
The favourites from Hampton Island took two wins from the Greater Nordics on the road, putting them in a great position early on.

Quebecois Acadiana 0-3 Torisakia (1-5, 1-3, 5-8)
Torisakia got a sweep on the road in the battle between the two unranked nations. They lead the table now, while the next opponent for South Newlandia started terribly.

Current standings

* Group 3                           Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Torisakia                           3    3   0   0    16    7   +9     9
2 South Newlandia                     3    2   0   1    23   17   +6     6
3 Hampton Island                      3    2   0   1    14   13   +1     6
4 The Greater Nordics                 3    1   0   2    13   14   −1     3
5 Drunk People at the Local Tavern    3    1   0   2    17   23   −6     3
6 Quebecois Acadiana                  3    0   0   3     7   16   −9     0

South Newlandia will play Quebecois Acadiana in the Ratzupalfu Arena next, and they will try to get two wins at least, although three would be better in a group that clearly isn’t messing around. Conroy will pitch a game again, and Cain and Kramer will get their first starts here. We hope for the best, and we also hope that ASM can avoid another pitcher from collapsing, and also build up Robbins; he will need to pitch a game against Hampton Island very soon, and you don’t want to get eaten by a bear there, neither metaphorically nor literally.

[Zwangzug]

The Arlington Moon-Tribune
Meet the new boss...

Other nations' fans may recall the Zebras for such achievements as frequently finding themselves in third-place playoffs, or having a mixed-sex team in a tournament where all-female teams have often dominated, or even a much-deliberated but short-lived multiassociational league. Zebras fans in Spenson and the rest of Zwangzug remember bullpen implosions. So much so that, for a time, the national team only brought starting pitchers from the various pro squads and trusted them as both "openers" and relievers when necessary, which didn't work either. Wenjie Liu can now add her name to this register of disappointment, with the Zebras clawing their way back in a game the Equestrians had all but sewn up, and then contriving to blow it in ten innings.

David Keanes was knocked out of the box during a five-run third, but Evan Singer-Lun, thrust into action earlier than expected, acquited himself admirably, holding the home team to one run through two and two-thirds innings. Maia Whitsun-Elm's double brought in Sharon Lubbock in the sixth, and a Frances Wake solo home run made it 6-3 Equestria in the seventh. A scoreless eighth followed, and the third seeds looked in control.

Whitsun-Elm took a third strike looking to lead off the top of the ninth. But Jeremy Burnham would double to left, and his Weegham teammate Nathaniel Skyler singled to push him in. Skyler took second on defensive indifference, and Wake made them pay with a long single to right to make it 6-5. Guohua Liu drew a walk. Oliver Crant-Bridge flew out to deep center, but Skyler had taken a short lead and beat the throw to third on a sacrifice. The daring sprint turned out not to matter, as pinch hitter Dmitri Schrieber blasted a double that easily scored Liu from first as well as Skyler. Lubbock popped to the mound, and suddenly it was the Zebras in control.

Xiaodong Jia, who hadn't been expecting a save situation (not that we really care about them, just, we'd been losing) took the mound for the bottom half, and promptly allowed a leadoff homer. With Teagan Oshe-Black hastening to get ready, Jia induced a rolling groundout to Burnham at third before walking the next Equestrian hitter. A sharply hit ball turned into a timely 4-6-3, however, and Oshe-Black would wait until the tenth.

Lincoln Small led off the top of the tenth frame by fouling out to first, and Whitsun-Elm bounced to short. The pitcher bobbled a comebacker from Burnham, but he would be stranded at first as Skyler flew out to shallow center.

Oshe-Black began her international career by hitting the first Equestrian batter, who in fairness was crowding the plate with some oddly-proportioned limbs, and Skyler attempted to give her advice, more to give himself reassurance than to give anyone time to warm up--Wenjie Liu did not look ready fo exhaust the bullpen on opening day. The pep talk was moot, however, as a blast off the left-center wall led to a trot-off for the home side.

Naomi Elsen will face the Equestrians tomorrow, and Wenjie will surely be hoping for a longer start than Keanes'.

[Free Republics]

OOC: This roster is a cycle out of date so add 1 to everybody's age. Stadium assignments are up to date however.

Free Republics National Baseball Team

Manager - Kyle Thomas
Assistant Manager - Fitz Dupont
Bench Coach - Joseph Martensson
Batting Coach - Geoffrey Amato
Pitching Coach - Aimone Cremonesi
1st Base Coach - Blaze Kaminski
3rd Base Coach - Salomon Castro
Bullpen Coach - Yuusuke Heida
Colors: Blue and White
Demonym: Republican
Trigram: FFR

Roster

League Key

ABF - Acedonian Baseball Federation (Acedonia)
ENBL - Newmanistan Baseball League (Newmanistan)
IBL - Iodara Baseball League (Free Republics)
JBL - Jolarus Baseball League (Free Republics)
NBA - Nejax Baseball Association (Free Republics)
RABL - Republic of Amolotopia Baseball League (Free Republics)
RCAA - Republican Collegiate Athletic Association (Free Republics)
SPBAA - Shostistan Professional Baseball Players Association (Free Republics)
TPB - Taiyou Pro Baseball (Noburu Taiyou)
XBL - X Baseball League (Free Republics)
YBL - Yorkoba Baseball League (Free Republics)


Rotation

Slot #   Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
1    88  "Wild" Ralph Fiedler    R     R    24  South Charlotte Condors (ENBL)     16-9, 211 K, 88 BB*
2    16  Rhys McIntyre           R     R    24  Republica Vipers (XBL)             19-7, 2.24 ERA, 281 K, 37 BB
3    72  Taryn Russell           R     R    27  Oldston Arsonists (XBL)            21-5, 1.94 ERA, 213 K, 19 BB
4    42  Gioacchino Arcuri       R     L    28  Mortonsville Monsters (XBL)        14-17, 2.67 ERA, 255 K, 49 BB
5    47  Ming Hsing              R     R    25  Petrograd Greed (XBL)              21-3, 2.11 ERA, 308 K, 24 BB

*Age 19 season (which is the most recent season that I'm aware of)

Bullpen

Role #    Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
CL   91   Kiyosumi Takeuchi      L     L    27   Tohoko Giants (TPB)               9-3, 64 SV, 0.94 ERA, 127 K, 87.1 IP
SU   11   Luana Cremonesi        R     R    22   Oldston Arsonists (XBL)           5-3, 48 SV, 1.39 ERA, 98 K, 72.2 IP
SU   14   Gabrielle Jobin        R     R    25   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             9-2, 27 SV, 1.23 ERA, 144 K, 112 IP
MR   21   Kacie Munro            L     L    29   Republica Vipers (XBL)            11-4, 2.87 ERA, 129 K, 98 IP
MR   34   Avdei Kazantsev        R     R    34   Latroit Ligers (YBL)              7-1, 1.66 ERA, 17 K, 38 IP
MR   74   Ecio Saucedo           R     R    30   Borotia Riflemen (IBL)            9-3, 2.58 ERA, 37 SV, 59 K, 53.2 IP
LR   31   Sheamus O'Connor       R     R    33   Reco Purple Sox (JBL)             13-10, 3.08 ERA, 224 K
LR   23   Namo Busque            R     L    35   Republica Vipers (XBL)            20-4, 3.63 ERA, 257 K
LR   19   Zac Gatehouse          R     R    31   New City Time Bombs (XBL)         17-7, 2.36 ERA, 147 K, 33 BB

Starting Lineup (listed in order)

POS  #    Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
RF    1   Philipp Schmitz        R     R    24   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .357 AVG, 11 HR, 98 SB, 38 2B, 17 3B
2B   69   Sarah Fuerst           R     R    20   Republica Patriots (RCAA)         .559 AVG, 27 2B, 13 3B, 12 HR, 48 SB
SS   20   Honomi Kamei           R     R    27   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .418 AVG, 44 HR, 47 SB, 31 2B, 27 3B, .432 OBP, 5 K
1B   33   Oskar Bjorgum          L     L    28   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             .322 AVG, 42 HR, 4 SB, 134 K, 138 BB, 487 AB
3B    7   Hollie Rogers          S     R    23   Baseton Bullies (XBL)             .355 AVG, 34 HR, 30 SB, 61 K
DH   24   Alexander Capon        L     R    31   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .277 AVG, 49 HR, 1 SB, 148 K
C    40   Teresa Mrazova         R     R    26   New City Time Bombs (XBL)         .258 AVG, 33 HR, 9 SB, 37.7% caught stealing percentage
LF    3   Evelin Norberg         L     L    29   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             .322 AVG, 51 HR, 17 SB
CF   89   Ferrau Bergeron        R     R    29   Baseton Bullies (XBL)             .308 AVG, 3 HR, 97 SB, .422 OBP

Bench

POS  #    Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
C    13   Brock Shield           S     R    31   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .244 AVG, 24 HR, .364 OBP, 36.6% caught stealing percentage, 188 K
C    29   Shiori Tsuchida        R     R    23   Tohoko Giants (TPB)               .303 AVG, 8 HR, 11 SB, .374 OBP, 42.7% caught stealing percentage
IF   43   Ethan Joyner           S     R    28   Mortonsville Monsters (XBL)       .276 AVG, 31 HR, 13 SB
IF   27   Harald Amundsen        R     R    23   Falkamore Blackbirds (NBA)        .355 AVG, 48 HR, 17 SB
OF   38   Ella Abbott            L     L    20   Republica Patriots (RCAA)         .403 AVG, 4 HR, 56 SB
OF   44   Amber DeRose           S     R    25   New City Time Bombs (XBL)         .304 AVG, 21 HR, 19 SB, .413 OBP, 14 assists
UT   64   Julie Brodeur          S     R    29   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             .293 AVG, 11 HR, 22 SB, 24 2B, 7 positions played
PR   77   Rene Jager             R     R    27   Republica Vipers (XBL)            72 SB, 7 CS, 94 R, 0 AB, Games of XIII Olympiad Gold Medalist in Men's 100 m Dash

Stadiums

Series 3 vs HUElavia

Stadium: Nicholls Air Park
Stadium Location: Baseton, Amolotopia
Stadium Capacity: 47,321
Distance to Walls: 329 to left, 298 to right, 404 to center
Stadium Surface: Grass

Series 5 vs Abanhfleft

Stadium: Daniel Lemelin Memorial Park
Stadium Location: Republica, Republica District
Stadium Capacity: 51,378
Distance to Walls: 330 feet to left and right, 408 to center
Stadium Surface: RepubliTurf

Series 6 vs Ranoria

Stadium: MingleDome
Stadium Location: Latroit, Yorkoba
Stadium Capacity: 73,203
Distance to Walls: 330 to left and right, 400 to center
Stadium Surface: RepuliTurf

Series 7 vs Delaclava

Stadium: General Milani Park
Stadium Location: East Point, Orlandiana
Stadium Capacity: 51,789
Distance to Walls: 325 to left, 323 to right, 380 to left-center, 377 to right-center, 407 to center
Stadium Surface: Grass

Series 9 vs Nagore

Stadium: Horn Field
Stadium Location: Goldberg, Nejax
Stadium Capacity: 84,201
Distance to Walls: 346 feet to left and right, 419 to left-center and right-center, 444 to center
Stadium Surface: Grass

Notes

After an embarrassing failure to even make the playoffs on home soil at WBC 42, the Republican National Baseball Team was completely revamped going into WBC 43. Republican National Baseball, LLC fired the entire coaching staff and carried on an extensive search to find a new manager. Eventually, they settled upon Kyle Thomas as the new manager. Thomas hired a completely new coaching staff, including former national team pitcher Aimone Cremonesi as the new pitching coach. The new coaching staff carried out an extensive scouting expedition to build a new team, eventually settling on a roster of 30, which was significantly smaller than previous Republican National Team rosters.

For the first time, the Free Republics sent a mixed-gender team to that WBC and the new women players made significant contributions to the team. The first woman selected to the team was Luana Cremonesi, the niece of the pitching coach. As a freshman, she won the closer job for the Nejax Horns, one of the elite college teams in the Free Republics and helped lead the team to a national championship by being virtually unhittable all season long. Honomi Kamei and Hollie Rogers started at shortstop and 3rd base, respectively. Kamei was the sole bright spot on a terrible Republica Vipers team, putting up numbers that would have likely won the MVP award on a better team. Hollie Rogers was the reigning RABL MVP after leading the Barkersville Titans to a surprise pennant (she has since won a second consecutive RABL MVP and led the Titans to another pennant). Teresa Mrazova's handling of the New City Time Bombs pitching staff was a major reason why the Time Bombs had won the XBL pennant, which won her a 3rd place finish in XBL Rookie of the Year voting. She served as Zac Gatehouse's personal catcher but otherwise backed up Brock Shield. Evelin Norberg and Julie Brodeur played key roles on a Petrograd Greed team that led the XBL in scoring but failed to repeat due to the implosion of their starting pitchers. Brodeur could fill in at any position in the event that a player is hurt or needs rest.

Kamei emerged as arguably the best player in the world with a dominant performance in WBC 43 and took another giant leap forward during the XBL season that saw her voted the unanimous MVP as she led a much better Republica Vipers team, including new signing Brock Shield, to a respectable 4th place finish. Kyle Thomas named Teresa Mrazova as the starting catcher for WBC 44 after she took the next step as a hitter during the XBL season, keeping the Time Bombs afloat in spite of Nicholas Fisher's down season. Taryn Russell takes Sheamus O'Connor's spot in the rotation while O'Connor remains on the roster as a long reliever in Leon Eichel's old spot. Eichel had an extremely bad season for the Oldston Arsonists at 39 and was dropped from the national team. Russell broke out for the Arsonists this year, emerging as the team's new ace. On the 5th matchday of this WBC's group stage, she will become the first female starting pitcher for the Republican National Team. The Republican rotation has been shuffled based on the results of last WBC and the recent domestic season. Namo Busque, who signed with the New City Time Bombs during the WBC, will now be the Republican National Team's ace while Gioacchino Arcuri, who was awarded the Platinum Arm award for best pitcher in the XBL, will start third because Kyle Thomas didn't want to start two lefties back-to-back. The fact that the two pitchers widely regarded as the best in the XBL would start against Liventia and Maklohi Vai, respectively, was surely just a coincidence.

After 2 WBCs of failing to return to the finals, even with the addition of pinch running specialist and Olympic 100 Meter Dash gold medalist Rene Jager during the WBC 45 playoffs, Kyle Thomas elected to retain the same roster for another WBC but shuffled the lineup a bit to reflect developments in domestic baseball. Ming Hsing replaced the aging Nemo Busque in the rotation, Kiyosumi Takeuchi replaced the aging Mario Rothschild as closer and Evelin Norberg won the starting job in left field after her breakout season for the Petrograd Greed (OOC: This resembles Christian Yelich's breakout in RL baseball last year). After several disappointing WBCs in a row, patience was running low among fans and the higher ups at Republican National Baseball, LLC. alike. Their hopes looked especially bleak when starting second baseman Ethan Joyner tore his ACL late in the group stage but Sarah Fuerst joined the team and played every bit like a younger version of Honami Kamei during their playoff run. Kyle Thomas abandoned the concept of a pitching rotation altogether during the WBC 46 playoffs, choosing to utilize openers for most games and to regularly change pitchers during games. This all paid off with a WBC title.

Last year, Thomas has once again elected to keep the same team to defend their title at home but he has made a number of changes to the lineup to reflect developments in Republican domestic baseball. It has been a really eventful season in the X Baseball League as the Republica Vipers ran away with the league title after buying several national team stars during the off season. They broke the league record for wins in a campaign even after failing to convince Sarah Fuerst, who lives rent-free in Kamei's house, to drop out of the University of Republica. Instead, Fuerst led the Patriots to an RCAA title while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average in her computer science program. That campaign ended with a quarterfinals loss to Cassadaigua.

This year, the team has been revamped as several aging players have been left off the roster as Kyle Thomas has elected to give several new breakout stars a spot on the roster. The Vipers once again won the XBL but it was nowhere near as easy this year. The biggest surprise of the season was the New City Time Bombs, who remained in contention until fading down the stretch in large part due to the resurgence of Teresa Mrazova and the emergence of Amber DeRose. The emergence of Gabriel Jobin as a relief ace and the development of Ming Hsing helped the Petrograd Greed overcome the regression of Oskar Bjorgum to finish just 3 games back of the Vipers. Meanwhile, the University of Republica Patriots won the RCAA title again despite an injury to Fuerst during the RCAA tournament. That was in large part due to RCAA Tournament MVP Ella Abbott who went 4 for 4 in the final against University of Malifornia - Los Martires, scoring the winning run with a daring steal of home in the bottom of the 9th.

Alexander Capon, who replaced former cleanup hitter Nicholas Fisher as the starting DH last year, is capable of playing the field and will sometimes play first base to give Oskar Bjorgum a day off from playing the field.

All of the players on the bench are likely to see playing time over the course of the WBC and Kyle Thomas will not hesitate to pull a pitcher who is obviously tired. Strategic substitutions and defensive shifts should be expected at appropriate times. Thomas has also been known to use openers in the past but got away from that strategy last year.

The various leagues in which these players compete domestically vary greatly in terms of caliber of play. The ENBL in Newmanistan is obviously vastly superior to any of the domestic leagues in the FFR but among those domestic leagues the XBL and the TPB are the best leagues with the RABL and SPBAA on a slightly lower tier. The RCAA is college baseball and therefore plays only a 60 game regular season with a much lower level of play.

RP Permissions

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes (but don't do anything that would be impossible under the rules of the sport)
Choose my lineup: Yes (please read the notes section first)
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes (if the team is using an opener, I'll mention it in my RP)
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Eject my players: Yes (unlimited)
Godmod other events: Yes
Use DH at home: Yes

[Falisiand]

The Falisiand Bison put up a hard fight against the #4 team in the multiverse, but still lost 2 games to 1. Let's recap those games and see how our team did.

In the first game, Xerxes Anscom was on the mound after his incredible performance in IBS, but he let 2 runs score early, he pitched 6.0 innings with 2 BB's and 9 Ks, our only run was by FBA MVP front runner Ciaran Krueger, but the bullpen allowed 2 more runs allowing Ko-oren to win 4-1 in the first game.

Ko-oren                               0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0  4
Falisiand                             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Kyron Burnett was on the mound in this game where he pitched 7 innings with 3 walks and 11 K's, Falisiand struck first with a home run by Richard Mcbride in the 3rd inning, but the one run Kyron Burnett allowed was in the 7th, then Ko-oren scored a late run in the 9th and took off with a 2-1 win in this close matchup.

Ko-oren                               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2
Falisiand                             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

The 3rd game had Austin Wilkerson on the mound where he pitched 6.1 innings and had 6 stikeouts and 3 walks. Ko-oren took the early lead but Falisiand came back with two 2 run homers by Kodey Kenton and Ciaran Krueger, getting them a 4-1 lead, thenKo-oren hit a grand slam and a scored a run to have them a 6-4 lead, but Kodey Kenton came up clutch by hitting a game tying home run in the 8th for a 6-6 game, then no one scored in the 9th having the game go to extra innings, after 8 more extra innings Richard Mcbride hit the walk off homer in the 17th to close out the series and prevent Falisiand to be swept by the 4th ranked team ,Ko-oren.

Ko-oren                               0 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
Falisiand                             0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  7

The next series will be against the rosterless The Sarian who are ranked 24th in the multiverse, history has shown that rosterless teams tend to lose against teams with rosters, but the WBC can be unpredictable.

[Delaclava]

DSGN.com Baseball

Little-regarded Delaclava team shows fast progress, takes top-10 win

The Delaclava national team, consisting entirely of Dillobourne (Hess) locals, got off to an unexpectedly strong start, winning one of three games in ninth-ranked Abanhfleft and improving with every game.

The Phoenixes lost 7-1 in their opener, before drawing closer with a 4-3 loss that was only decided with a walk-off double in the ninth inning. Then the floodgates opened in the series finale, a 12-2 victory with a home run and four RBIs by Josip Oller and a strong complete game performance from young starter Rhys Hackett.

Hackett's performance, including 11 strikeouts, was particularly notable, as the Delaclava Olympic Committee is looking at this performance as a measure of the viability of a future Delaclav baseball program. Players like Hackett, 22, Oller, 24, and 23-year-old Owen Clark, who went 8-for-14 in the series, are possibly proving themselves as worthy to take part in a fully recruited and carefully selected national team going forward.

The Phoenixes next come home to Khalil Dennis Stadium at the National Athletic Complex in Catherina to take on #7 Free Republics, the top seed in Group 6. With a respectable performance in their first three games, the upstart Dillobourne squad may be seeing a large and enthusiastic crowd in support of their next top-10 challenge.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Royal Kingdom of Quebec National Baseball Team

Nickname: Grim Reapers
Acronym: QUE
Denonym: Quebecois (Preferred), Quebecer (that's fine)

Home Colours: Blue, White and Yellow
Away Colours:Red, Black and White
Official Supporters Group: The Bubonic Plague
IBS Season : December 2044-February 2045
Stadium: Parc Jamsil, Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale (Park Factor: 65)
Style Mod: -1

Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Kim Seung-Bong, 61 - M - Quebec Bears
Pitching Coach: Dana Hussul, 46 - F - Winnipeg Rangers
Fielding Coach: Seo Sang-Mi, 55 - F - Chicoutimi Lions
Hitting Coach: Hector Rosenbloom-Kirsanoff, 58 - M - Kingston Tigers
Bench Coach: Gabriel-Henri Matsumoto, 48 - M - Sherbrooke Raiders
Battery Coach: Katie McLelland-Gong, 44 - F - Moncton Dinos
Bullpen Coach: Choe Bong-Hak, 39 - M - Chicoutimi Lions


Pitching rotation (5)
#29 - FIRST - LHP - Jo Seung-Geon - M - Levis Wyverns
#13 - SECOND - LHP - Karine Bessette, 26 - F - Montreal Twins
#17 - THIRD - RHP - Nadine Seo, 28 - F - Halifax Giants - SIDEARM
#99 - FOURTH - LHP - Keith Bankosky, 35 - M - California City Dodgers
#28 - FIFTH - RHP - Kevin Buchanan, 21 - M - Kingston Blue Jays

Bullpen (8)
Long Relief : #15 - RHP - Alexis Mwanga, 33 - F - Winnipeg Rangers - UNDERHANDED
Long Relief : #61 - LHP - Kim Gi-Joong, 22 - M - Ottawa Eagles
One-out-specialist : #28 - LHP - Janice Grametbauer, - F - Prince Eric Athletics
Middle Relief : #47 - LHP - Kim Soo-Hwa, 25 - F - Chicoutimi Lions
Middle Relief : #20 - RHP - Jang Hyo-Seung, 24 - M - Sherbrooke Raiders
Short Relief : #19 - RHP - So Eung-Ran, 27 - F - Montreal Expos
Setup Man : #15 - LHP - Hector Macintosh, 31 - M - Montreal Twins
Setup Man : #21 - RHP - Margo Nam-Bowen, 34 - F - Kingston Tigers
Closer : #18 - RHP - Alexandre Farias, 22 - M - Levis Wyverns - SIDEARM

Catchers (3) - Throws/Bats
#22 - R/R - C - Pierre L. Martin, 34 - M - Chicoutimi Lions
#25 - R/S - C - Kelsey Altherr, 23 - F - Moncton Dinos
#47 - R/R - C - Horace Choo, 25 - M - Halifax Giants

Infielders (7) - Throws/Bats
*#8 - R/S - 2B - Levinson Webster, 28 - M - California City Dodgers
#5 - R/L - 1B - Kang Ye-Rim, 20 - F - Attawapiskat Wiz
#6 - L/L - 1B - Alexanne Langford, 26 - F - Chicoutimi Lions
*#7 - R/R - SS - Gregory Reynolds-Walusimbi, 22 - M - Kingston Tigers
*#10 - R/R - 3B - Heo Myeong-Shin, 23 - M - Kingston Tigers
#14 - R/R - SS/2B - Hwang Joon-Beom, 34 - M - Southport Tigers (Newmanistan)
#25 - R/S - UTILITY - Christiane Jo-Gagnon, 25 - F - Quebec Bears

Outfielders (5) - Throws/Bats
#4 - R/L - LF/RF - Pierre Gong-Auclair, 25 - M - Chicoutimi Lions
*#11 - R/S - CF - Samuel Carlini-Mwambutsya, 22 - M - Kingston Blue Jays
#16 - L/L - CF - Dana Batoș, 28 - F - Levis Wyverns
#31 - L/L - RF - Hwang Gyu-Seong, 26 - M - Moncton Dinos
#50 - R/R - LF - Hannah Choe, 21 - F - Quebec Bears

Notes on our Grim Reapers

Traditionally, the Grim Reapers have taken the pitcher use with great dose of liberalism. Assuming the pitcher has a solid game, the pitching count is loosely observed, and it's absolutely in sight for the starter to go well into seventh or even eighth inning. That said, it is just as likely for the starting pitcher to get yanked within first three innings if one allows too many runs early into the game, which of course have happened before. In those cases, expect at three to five pitchers to be used for remainder of the game.

The Grim Reapers, as with their equivalents in other sports, are very aggressive- it's in their playing colours and will stay like that forever. While they do lack fast players, most of the outfielders and some infielders do have very good sense in stealing bases or making right decisions when taking risks, so while an occasional whoopsie-daisie with early outs do happen, it's not be all end all. Of course, we also have to remember that this is counted into the selection criteria, which means that both the infielders and outfielders are expected to be proficient in defence and even prepare for multiple positions. This is more the case with infielders than outfielders, but both have seen flexible use of such players before anyway.

Of course, there is a bit of complicated situation with the Quebecois history and geographic realities. Traditionally, baseball has been a fairly racially and regionally ubiquitous sport in Quebec, though there are strong regional and ethnic elements that are noticeable to it. Traditionally, there is strong sense of regional pride that derives from many of the iconic QBO franchises that have defined its history, as six regions traditionally dominate in both high school and pro baseball output, which reflects well into the first round of QBO Drafts. There is somewhat divide between those of Central Quebec (Montreal Twins vs. Quebec Bears), Southwest (Kingston Tigers vs. Kingston Blue Jays), Manitoba (California City Dodgers), Southeast (Halifax Giants), Northwest (Attawapiskat Wiz) and Northeast (Ottawa Eagles). There are minor stylistic differences between the regions and how their players' play, but those don't factor as much as how they used to be. Ethnically, the sport does have more Korean-Quebecois players in general rule of thumb, though that means little in this day and age where most Quebecois, whether Indigenous, Caucasian, Korean or of other Commonwealth origins, are fairly mixed-raced. Still, Korean is the lingua franca of the baseball diamond and that continues to be a defining feature of the Quebecois baseball scene as whole.

Starting Lineup (Position, Bats)
1: S. Carlini-Mwambutsya (CF, S)
2: 8: G.S. Hwang (RF, L)
3: A. Langford (1B, L)
4: M.S. Heo (3B, R)
5: Y.R. Kang (DH, L)
7: H. Choe (LF, L)
7: L. Webster (2B, S)
8: H. Choo (C, R)
9: J.B. Hwang (SS, R)
If the DH is not being used on away venue of concern, Y.R. Kang will alternate with either G.S. Hwang on RF or A. Langford on 1B.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Sure
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No!
Eject my players: Go ahead
Godmod other events: TG me in advance
Use DH at home: Hellyeah!

[Newmanistan]

Series 2, Game 1

Group 1
Chromatika                            0 1 0 0 2 0 0 5 0  8
Marigred                              2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0  5

Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Newmanistan                           0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 X  4

South Covello                         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3  4
TJUN-ia                               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  3

Series 2, Game 2

Group 1
Chromatika                            0 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  6
Marigred                              0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0  4

Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Newmanistan                           0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 X  4

South Covello                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  3
TJUN-ia                               0 1 1 1 3 0 0 2 X  8

Series 2, Game 3

Group 1
Chromatika                            1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3  7
Marigred                              4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  5

Se Vende Skooma                       0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Newmanistan                           0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 X  3

South Covello                         0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0  4
TJUN-ia                               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan             6    6   0   0    37   15  +22    18
2 South Covello           6    4   0   2    23   19   +4    12
3 Chromatika              6    4   0   2    27   26   +1    12
4 TJUN-ia                 6    3   0   3    27   20   +7     9
5 Se Vende Skooma         6    1   0   5    11   25  −14     3
6 Marigred                6    0   0   6    27   47  −20     0

Series 2, Game 1

Group 2
Liventia                              0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 2  5
The Jovannic                          1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  4

Banija                                2 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0  8
Daskel                                0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0  5

Kohnhead                              0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  4
Sarzonia                              0 0 4 2 1 2 0 0 X  9

Series 2, Game 2

Group 2
Liventia                              1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
The Jovannic                          0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Banija                                0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0  6
Daskel                                0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Kohnhead                              0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0  4
Sarzonia                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Series 2, Game 3

Group 2
Liventia                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
The Jovannic                          0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 X  4

Banija                                1 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 1  9
Daskel                                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Kohnhead                              1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
Sarzonia                              0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1  4

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Liventia                6    5   0   1    21   13   +8    15
2 Banija                  6    4   0   2    35   23  +12    12
3 Sarzonia                6    3   0   3    29   25   +4     9
4 The Jovannic            6    2   0   4    28   33   −5     6
5 Kohnhead                6    2   0   4    17   25   −8     6
6 Daskel                  6    2   0   4    31   42  −11     6

Series 2, Game 1

Group 3
The Greater Nordics                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0  5
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  6

Quebecois Acadiana                    3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  6
South Newlandia                       0 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 X  8

Hampton Island                        0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3  5
Torisakia                             0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Series 2, Game 2

Group 3
The Greater Nordics                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Quebecois Acadiana                    0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1  4
South Newlandia                       2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  5

Hampton Island                        0 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 0  8
Torisakia                             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Series 2, Game 3

Group 3
The Greater Nordics                   2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Drunk People at the Local Tavern      0 0 0 2 1 3 0 2 X  8

Quebecois Acadiana                    2 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1  6
South Newlandia                       0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 3  8

Hampton Island                        1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3  5
Torisakia                             0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0  4

*                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island                      6    5   0   1    32   20  +12    15
2 South Newlandia                     6    5   0   1    44   33  +11    15
3 Drunk People at the Local Tavern    6    3   0   3    31   32   −1     9
4 Torisakia                           6    3   0   3    23   25   −2     9
5 The Greater Nordics                 6    2   0   4    22   28   −6     6
6 Quebecois Acadiana                  6    0   0   6    23   37  −14     0

Series 2, Game 1

Group 4
Cassadaigua                           0 1 0 4 0 2 0 1 1  9
Drawkland                             0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2

The Fair Republic                     0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0  7
Ethane                                1 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 3 10

Northwest Kalactin                    0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  4
Lovisa                                0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Series 2, Game 2

Group 4
Cassadaigua                           6 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 11
Drawkland                             0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 1  6

The Fair Republic                     0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1  4
Ethane                                0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  3

Northwest Kalactin                    1 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 1 10
Lovisa                                1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 1  6

Series 2, Game 3

Group 4
Cassadaigua                           0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
Drawkland                             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

The Fair Republic                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2  3
Ethane                                0 2 0 1 0 5 0 0 X  8

Northwest Kalactin                    0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2  7
Lovisa                                0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0  5

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua             6    6   0   0    38   20  +18    18
2 Ethane                  6    4   0   2    33   24   +9    12
3 Northwest Kalactin      6    3   0   3    31   28   +3     9
4 Lovisa                  6    3   0   3    30   30    0     9
5 The Fair Republic       6    1   0   5    23   38  −15     3
6 Drawkland               6    1   0   5    20   35  −15     3

Series 2, Group 1

Group 5
Nova Anglicana                        2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Equestrian States                     0 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 X  7

Jeckland                              0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Zwangzug                              0 2 1 0 0 3 0 3 X  9

Ihilthracna                           2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Hapilopper                            0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 X  4

Series 2, Game 2

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

Jeckland                              1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Zwangzug                              0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 X  5

Ihilthracna                           1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
Hapilopper                            0 1 0 3 0 2 0 0 X  6

Series 2, Game 3

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

Jeckland                              0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0  4
Zwangzug                              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Ihilthracna                           1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Hapilopper                            1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana          6    5   0   1    23   16   +7    15
2 Hapilopper              6    5   0   1    24   18   +6    15
3 Zwangzug                6    3   0   3    28   23   +5     9
4 Equestrian States       6    3   0   3    24   23   +1     9
5 Jeckland                6    2   0   4    17   26   −9     6
6 Ihilthracna             6    0   0   6    16   26  −10     0

Series 2, Game 1

Group 6
Ranoria                               0 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 0  6
Nagore                                2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

Abanhfleft                            0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  3
HUElavia                              0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2  4

Free Republics                        2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  4
Delaclava                             0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2

Series 2, Game 2

Group 6
Ranoria                               1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Nagore                                1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 X  4

Abanhfleft                            0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0  3
HUElavia                              0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 X  4

Free Republics                        2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1  6
Delaclava                             1 1 2 2 0 0 1 1 X  8

Series 2, Game 3

Group 6
Ranoria                               0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
Nagore                                3 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 X  8

Abanhfleft                            0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  5
HUElavia                              0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0  4

Free Republics                        2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Delaclava                             0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3

*                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Nagore                  6    4   0   2    26   19   +7    12
2 Free Republics          6    4   0   2    32   28   +4    12
3 HUElavia                6    3   0   3    20   21   −1     9
4 Abanhfleft              6    3   0   3    24   28   −4     9
5 Delaclava               6    2   0   4    29   27   +2     6
6 Ranoria                 6    2   0   4    26   34   −8     6

Series 2, Game 1

Group 7
The Sarian                            2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Falisiand                             1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 X  4

Mathuvan Union                        0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0  4
Ko-oren                               1 2 3 2 3 5 1 0 X 17

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Tikariot                              1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  6

Series 2, Game 2

Group 7
The Sarian                            2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Falisiand                             1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  4

Mathuvan Union                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Ko-oren                               0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 X  4

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               0 1 1 0 0 0 7 0 0  9
Tikariot                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Series 2, Game 3

Group 7
The Sarian                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Falisiand                             0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 X  3

Mathuvan Union                        0 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 2  7
Ko-oren                               0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3  8

Royal Kingdom of Quebec               4 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 13
Tikariot                              1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 3  7

*                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                    6    5   0   1    41   22  +19    15
2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec    6    4   0   2    41   28  +13    12
3 Falisiand                  6    4   0   2    20   17   +3    12
4 Tikariot                   6    3   0   3    21   28   −7     9
5 The Sarian                 6    1   0   5    20   28   −8     3
6 Mathuvan Union             6    1   0   5    17   37  −20     3

Series 2, Game 1

Group 8
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
Devonta                               0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

Megistos                              0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  3
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 X  5

Terre Septentrionale                  0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  4
The Sherpa Empire                     1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 3  7

Series 2, Game 2

Group 8
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Devonta                               0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 X  4

Megistos                              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 1 1 3 1 0 4 X 10

Terre Septentrionale                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1  4
The Sherpa Empire                     0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3

Series 2, Game 3

Group 8
Pripet Socialist Republic             0 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 0  6
Devonta                               0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0  3

Megistos                              1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  4
Super-Llamaland                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2  5

Terre Septentrionale                  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  3
The Sherpa Empire                     0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2  5

*                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Terre Septentrionale         6    4   0   2    28   20   +8    12
2 Super-Llamaland              6    4   0   2    34   27   +7    12
3 The Sherpa Empire            6    4   0   2    30   29   +1    12
4 Devonta                      6    3   0   3    30   27   +3     9
5 Pripet Socialist Republic    6    2   0   4    18   28  −10     6
6 Megistos                     6    1   0   5    26   35   −9     3