International Baseball Slam XIII: Everything Thread

by **Srednjaci** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:41 pm

WORLD ARENA SPORT

News that the young players of Neptun Taru won a high 11: 2 and thus achieved their third victory.
Congratulations on the top result were joined by famous athletes from Srednjaci.
That is how the Olympic winner in biathlon, Nina Mandarić, came forward.

"[i]I would like to congratulate the young boys and the professional staff of Neptun Taru from the bottom of my heart on the achieved result. I wish you continued great success and that you love each other, love sports and be healthy without injuries. Your Nina loves you!"

Congratulations were joined by the basketball team Srednjaci with a statement:
"Players and the professional staff congratulate the young baseball players on the great success and promotion of the country. Neptune Taru thank you for making us proud. We wish you much success. We are with you!"

The success of the young boys in baseball has obviously aroused the media, which is now looking for a way to broadcast the performance of Neptune Taru.

by **South Newlandia** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:56 pm

ninja edit: I'd like to submit Nicolas Perez to the Home run derby. Thank you :)

PLAYOFFS

It’s time for the postseason of South Newlandian baseball. It will be a postseason of big stories, some upsets and almost-upsets, and a champion worth discussing. Eight teams have qualified here, and while the North is expected to take the crown in the end, with the Homers and the Dragons leading the way at the bookmakers; last postseason had proved that everything is possible.

Division round North:

#1 Elephant Valley Homers (49-23) - #4 Elephant Valley United (37-35)
H2H regular season: Homers 5-3 United

The North had a classic derby waiting. It would be the high favorites, the money club, the team with the best record in the league, against the outsiders, the worker’s team, the underdogs. Raymond McFadden had some work to do if he wanted to have any chance whatsoever. However, this may be the oldest rivalry in South Newlandian sports, and either team faced a tough challenge.
The series kicked off in the home of the Homers, Elephant Stadium. It was the biggest of the nation, and the two starting pitchers, Drawkian Darien Rodriguez for the Homers and Chromatik Hillary Angelou for United fought a tight duel. The Homers lead at first, but United rallied in the last three innings, with the Homers’ bullpen losing to the pen of United. United had taken game one by a score of 4-2 to take a series lead early.

Elephant Valley United      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1  4
Elephant Valley Homers      0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Game two, still in Elephant Stadium, was a slightly different story. The two teams remained tied at 1 into the 7th; when the two teams traded three-run innings to keep it tied. United took the lead again with a precise double by Bronson Ghirardello, driving in two runs; and the Homers were down two heading into the bottom of the ninth. Adam King homered to cut the deficit in half, and Alisen Moyamoto got to second. With two outs, the pressure was on Fabio Ventura, who tried to get a ball through the middle. Tikariotian Carlton Baines made a leaping catch and found his teammate and countryman Bronson Ghirardello on first base just in time to clinch the game. United took a commanding 2-0 lead with the series now shifting to Southern Valley Arena.

Elephant Valley United      1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0  6
Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1  5

Game three saw United’s bats go silent. The Homers cruised to a 5-0 win. For game four, both team’s aces would be back on the mound for another showdown, with United still a game away from a major upset.

Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 0 1 0 2 1 1 0  5
Elephant Valley United      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

It looked like it would go the exact way game three did, but after the Homers led 4-0 after the top of the seventh, United clawed back. The game headed into the ninth and eventually the bottom of the ninth with United trailing just a single run. With two outs and the bases empty, Igor White had to deliver for his team. He uncorked a deep ball to Right Field, nearly reaching the fence, but ultimately landing harmlessly in Ventura’s glove to tie the series. The Drawkian had gotten back at the Chromatik, too, and the series was headed back to Elephant Stadium for a do-or-die game five.

Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 0  5
Elephant Valley United      0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0  4

The pitchers were not giving each other anything here. The Homers took a run in the second, and with United facing potential elimination, they were still trailing 0-1 at the top of the ninth. They needed to score, and they did, with White driving the game-tying run home. The game went to extras, and after United failed to score in the tenth, Ventura took the first pitch of the bottom of the tenth and sent it over the fence. The walk-off home run ended the game to the great pleasure of the home fans. The Homers had come back from trailing 0-2 and were in the next round, while United had their hearts ripped out. They had been so close.

Elephant Valley United      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Elephant Valley Homers      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2

#2 Masmow Dragons (48-24) - #3 Newport Dolphins (43-29)
H2H regular season: Dragons 5-3 Dolphins

It would be another divisional round matchup between the Dragons and the Dolphins in the other series. The games had been very close more often then not in the regular season, and even though the Dragons held the edge, the Dolphins had won the last two. Both teams were regarded to play on roughly equal levels, so it would come down to coaching skill mostly. Llamanean star coach Sofia Rasmussen would try her best for the Dragons, while Daniel Nunez wanted to bring his Dolphins back to the semi-finals.
The series started in the Dragon Island Arena, the smallest ballpark to see playoff baseball. The Dolphins brought their a-game to Masmow, taking a three-run lead in the third and making it 7-2 after a three-run homer by David Drum in the eighth. Two more runs for the Dragons in the ninth were too little, too late.

Newport Dolphins            0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 0  7
Masmow Dragons              0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2  4

The Dragons struck right back in the next game, shutting the Dolphins out to tie the series. Three runs were enough as their starter, Jay Kramer, dissected the Dolphins batters.

Newport Dolphins            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Masmow Dragons              2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

With the series heading to Dolphin Stadium, everything was still on the table. The match, however, was decided early when the Dragons took their turn on a four-run inning in the eighth, thanks to homers by Gabriel Acosta from Super-Llamaland and Denis Caamano from Ko-oren. Slowing down the Dragons had been nearly impossible all season, and the Dragons took the series lead.

Masmow Dragons              0 0 2 0 0 2 0 4 0  8
Newport Dolphins            0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

In game four, the Dolphins were looking to force a game five. They led early, 5-2 after the end of the fourth, and even though they gave up two runs in the 6th, they took a narrow lead into the ninth. The Dragons lead the inning off with a groundout by Jason Valbuena, another Llamanean on the team, but Daryl Dunlop was walked to get the game-tying run on board. Gabriel Acosta was next, and he slapped a double down the third-base line; good enough to get a double. Game-tying run on third, potentially game-winning run on second. The next batter produced a ground-out to first that saw Dunlop score and Acosta advance to third. The game was tied, and even though the Dragons had two outs with them, Marcia McMahon, yet another Llamanean, had a chance to give the Dragons the lead. Her hit grounded out near second base, narrowly caught by David Drum. He attempeted to get the out, but his throw was too unprecise as he was falling to the ground, and McMahon was called safe. Acosta had scored in the meantime, and the Dragons held on to their lead to move on a round.

Masmow Dragons              2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2  6
Newport Dolphins            3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5

Division round South:

#1 Walstreim Lions (44-28) - #4 St. Riecarn Saints (35-37)
H2H regular season: Lions 5-3 Saints

Would you look at that, another division re-match. This one was different from the other, however. The Saints had narrowly snuck into the postseason, and the Lions were quite heavily favoured by just about anyone. No one thought the Saints had a shot.
That seemed to be confirmed when the Lions won game one in the Walstreim Baseball Arena. It hadn’t been close either, with the Lions winning handily, 7-1. Tikariotian Stuart Hernandez drove in the lone run for the Saints as Ienaga Vineno from Ko-oren got smoked by the Lions’ line-up.

St. Riecarn Saints          0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Walstreim Lions             2 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 X  7

Game two fell to the Lions as well, but this one at least required extras. The game had been tied at 2 since the sixth, but the Lions’ Left Fielder Chan Ford walked it off with a game winning double in the bottom of the tenth.

St. Riecarn Saints          0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Walstreim Lions             0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  3

With the series heading to Saints Stadium, the Saints were facing elimination. They needed to rally now, and they couldn’t. The first ever playoff match at Saints Stadium ended in a 7-2 blowout that wasn’t ever close. The Lions unceremoniously had swept the Saints, moving on to the next round and proving that they were the team to beat in the South.

Walstreim Lions             0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 3  7
St. Riecarn Saints          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

#2 Sun City Flames (36-36) - #3 Ratzupalfu Rhinos (35-37)
H2H regular season: Flames 3-1 Rhinos

This encounter between the Flames and the Rhinos was the only one not a division match-up, and due to neither team holding a positive record, was frequently called the worst playoff series. The Flames had been cooking the Rhinos in the season, but with the defending champs in grey, it would be a tight matchup.
The series would start with the first ever playoff game in Sun City Arena. The Flames, coached by Drawkian Al Krauss, were hoping to knock out the defending champions.
Despite a first-inning lead, the Rhinos took game one 2-1. Jairon Suarez had a good night for the Flames, bit Ryan Hunter pitching for the Rhinos had been borderline unstoppable. Rufus Salas scored the ultimately game winning run in the seventh on an error.

Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Sun City Flames             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

The second game seemed to be destined for another close affair, and the game was still scoreless heading into the ninth. There, the Rhinos woke up, taking four runs for themselves. Grady Reuters, the Drawkian reliever tasked with handling this, had one of the worst nights of his season, and one tiny run by the Flames came too late in the bottom of the ninth. The Rhinos were a game away from a sweep, and they had home field to do it.

Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  4
Sun City Flames             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

The Flames came alive in game three, crushing the Rhinos 12-1. It was a total blowout in all the possible ways, and it also was the first ever playoff win. They would need two more to pull off something ridiculous. Ryan Hunter was standing in their way from taking the series to an deciding game five in Sun City.

Sun City Flames             2 2 0 3 0 5 0 0 0 12
Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

It ended up being their own pitching that smothered the Flames. They were down 5-0 after the first, and this only ballooned into a final score of 2-12. With that, Fu Webb had taken the Rhinos to the next round. Although the Flames would have loved to keep their run alive, it was a very respectable first season that the Flames can build on.

Sun City Flames             0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2
Ratzupalfu Rhinos           5 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 X 12

by **Super-Llamaland** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:46 pm

OOC: please enter Buck Fuchs in the Home Run Derby; if you'd prefer a player enter (I don't have much of a preference), enter Bradley Guo instead.

LBA Headquarters

LBA Chairman Troy Vasquez wasn't annoyed very often. This was a bit paradoxical, as the former ace reliever had spent the entirety of his Llamanean national team career being annoyed - at the weather, umpires, his defense, Mercury being in retrograde, just anything. But while Owen Duffy had become increasingly aggressive since taking over the LBA post (which had ultimately led to his demise), Vasquez had been calmed by a new career in government.

That being said, when his eighty-four-year-old IBS coach requested to sign himself up for the Home Run Derby, while his team languished in fourth place with a .500 record, he was a little bit irked.

"...okay, but why though?"

"I just really think I can win it," Buck Fuchs said over the phone line.

"...you're eighty-four years old."

"And growing younger by the day," Fuchs said, as chipperly as Buck Fuchs could be (not very).

"Don't any of the, uh, kids want to partake in the home run derby? I know Bradley Guo's hit a couple this IBS."

"I just really want to keep the kids focused on their game. Those home run derbies can really mess up a player's swing, you know. We can't have people swinging for the fences all the time."

"So instead...you want to participate? Why not just, you know, send nobody, like a lot of other teams are doing?"

"Why not? I think I could do pretty well."

"...again, you're eighty-four. Have you ever even played baseball before?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough."

Ignoring whatever Fuchs was trying to say, Vasquez tried a different approach. "Look, Buck, we have utmost faith in you to turn the Cubs around, but you guys are .500. You just got blown out by a team whose nation of origin has forgotten they entered the IBS. Wouldn't it be best if everyone on the team focused on the tournament itself, rather than trying to win some meaningless exhibition contest, especially since we haven't clinched a spot yet?"

"Oh, we will have by the time the home run derby starts. Don't you worry about that, Troy." And with that, even though Vasquez hadn't even agreed to letting him enter, he hung up.

"Well, it's his head, not mine," mused the LBA Chairman...

by **Banija** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:32 pm

Cutoff 5!

You have until tomorrow's cutoff to get your home run derby participants in, if you want to participate!

As for the cutoff video... Explore the idea of what if Antartica was inhabitable?

Also- time to schedule rivalry showdown! We've got four matches scheduled so far.

Quebec U22s v. Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars
Super-Llamaland U13s v. South Newlandia U22s
Nova Anglicana Lions v. Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars
Breton Valley Bangers v. Kohnhead U-21 Pandas

And 16 more teams to schedule

After scheduling those, here will be the official Rivalry Showdown schedule for tomorrow night's cutoff.

Rivalry Showdown Schedule (Home team for administrative purposes listed second- this has been added to the OP. Venue listed is the informal name of the Service academy where the match will take place.)
Quebec U22s v. Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars @ Navy
Super-Llamaland U13s v. South Newlandia U22s @ Air Force
Nova Anglicana Lions v. Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars @ Army
Breton Valley Bangers v. Kohnhead U-21 Pandas @ Navy
Santo Domingo Toros v. Cassadaigua U18s @ Air Force
Northwest Ballina Redhawks v. Newmanistan U16s @ Army
Neptun Taru U21 v. Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars @ Coast Guard
Sainte-Maire - Les Espadons v. Xannerian Junior Maroons @ Air Force
Alma-Ata Clerical Institute Holy Warriors v. Bohemia Buccaneers @ Navy
Hebitaka U21 Heroes v. Hannasea Independent All-Stars @ Coast Guard
Osci Talenti v. Silvedania U-21 Sycamores @ Army
Isle of Lowe United v. Daskel U18 Junior Daskies @ Coast Guard

Matchday 5

Blue: Clinched berth in Knockout Stages
Red: Eliminated

Group A

Quebec U22s                                      0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                       1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 X  4

Osci Talenti                                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Bohemia Buccaneers                               0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5  6

Breton Valley Bangers                            0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  4
Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Group A                                           Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 Quebec U22s                                      5   4  1   25  12 +13
2 Breton Valley Bangers                            5   4  1   22  10 +12
3 Bohemia Buccaneers                               5   2  3   24  23  +1
4 Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                       5   2  3   16  22  −6
5 Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                        5   2  3   14  23  −9
6 Osci Talenti                                     5   1  4   10  21 −11

Group B

Neptun Taru U21                                  1 0 1 0 2 5 1 1 0 11
Hannasea Independent All-Stars                   0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0  3

Xannerian Junior Maroons                         0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1  4
Northwest Ballina Redhawks                       0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3

Cassadaigua U18s                                 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0  5
Super-Llamaland U13s                             0 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 X  8

Group B                                           Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 Neptun Taru U21                                  5   4  1   35  15 +20
2 Super-Llamaland U13s                             5   3  2   28  30  −2
3 Hannasea Independent All-Stars                   5   3  2   27  30  −3
4 Cassadaigua U18s                                 5   2  3   21  29  −8
5 Xannerian Junior Maroons                         5   2  3   24  24   0
6 Northwest Ballina Redhawks                       5   1  4   22  29  −7

Host Note: I had listed with the Matchday 4 scores that Hannasea had already clinched a berth in the next round. Upon further review, I was incorrect, they have not yet clinched in the next round. My sincerest apologies to him about this.

Group C

Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                        0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2  5
Alma-Ata Clereical Institute Holy Warriors       2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Nova Anglicana Lions                             1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Santo Domingo Toros                              0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 X  4

Sainte-Maire - Les Espadons                      0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0  5
Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars          0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 3  8

Group C                                           Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars          5   4  1   22  21  +1
2 Nova Anglicana Lions                             5   3  2   31  15 +16
3 Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                        5   3  2   24  17  +7
4 Santo Domingo Toros                              5   2  3   15  16  −1
5 Alma-Ata Clereical Institute Holy Warriors       5   2  3   12  14  −2
6 Sainte-Maire - Les Espadons                      5   1  4   13  34 −21

Group D

Newmanistan U16s                                 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars                  1 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 X  6

Hebitaka U21 Heroes                              7 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  9
Isle of Lowe United                              0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0  5

South Newlandia U22s                             0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0  3
Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                             0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Group D                                           Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 South Newlandia U22s                             5   4  1   33  16 +17
2 Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                             5   4  1   21   9 +12
3 Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars                  5   2  3   16  21  −5
4 Isle of Lowe United                              5   2  3   19  24  −5
5 Newmanistan U16s                                 5   2  3   22  24  −2
6 Hebitaka U21 Heroes                              5   1  4   16  33 −17

by **Srednjaci** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:54 am

A new big victory for young baseball players.
Our young guys beat Hannasea Independent All-Stars with a high 11: 3!

The great game was surrounded by a winner but it was not easy.
The result was very close until the sixth change.
After five changes, the score on the scoreboard was 4: 2 for Neptune Tara!
Neptun Taru won the first change with 1: 0, the second change was 0: 0, in the third both teams did managed to score so that it was 1: 1, the fourth change was 0: 0 and without successful runs, the fifth substitution and ours boys achieved are two scores and the opponents succeed once so the result was 2: 1 for Neptune Tara.
And then comes that sixth change in which Neptune Taru makes a difference with successful runs and wins with a high 5: 0!

Hannasea Independent All-Stars in the knockdown, they fail to return to the match and Neptune Taru is doing a great result again!

Group B
Neptun Taru U21 1 0 1 0 2 5 1 1 0 11
Hannasea Independent All-Stars 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 3

Xannerian Junior Maroons 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 4
Northwest Ballina Redhawks 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3

Cassadaigua U18s 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 5
Super-Llamaland U13s 0 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 X 8

Group B                                           Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 Neptun Taru U21                                  5   4  1   35  15 +20
2 Super-Llamaland U13s                             5   3  2   28  30  −2
3 Hannasea Independent All-Stars                   5   3  2   27  30  −3
4 Cassadaigua U18s                                 5   2  3   21  29  −8
5 Xannerian Junior Maroons                         5   2  3   24  24   0
6 Northwest Ballina Redhawks                       5   1  4   22  29  −7

At today's government session, there was the most talk about investing in infrastructure projects in the country.
Among other things, the railway lines between the cities were on the agenda.
Construction of a new airport in the city of Domatisi.
The large cargo port in the city of Tara will be expanded, but the airport in Tara will be expanded from the current capacity of 5 million passengers to 7 million passengers.

There were talks about the tenders that cities have to submit for the financing of infrastructure facilities, as well as sports facilities.
In particular, they discussed the development of sports among young people and investments in sports infrastructure that would enable the development of sports.

MINISTER OF SPORTS: "These investments are necessary and our athletes have tasked us to do more. International sports are the best way to present our nation and culture. Our athletes have done a great job! At the Claycout Olympics, Kelssek, we heard twice our anthem, we won 5 medals, two of them gold! Basketball players are fighting for IBC in Delaclava, chess players were great and young baseball players, Neptune Tara, expect that when they return from Bani we start a national program for the renovation and construction of a baseball field! we must disappoint them because these young and beautiful souls did not disappoint us! "

PRIME MINISTER Danijela Milanović: we invite all cities and local governments to submit their projects and sustainability assessments to us, and the government will finance projects for both baseball and other sports infrastructure projects.

PROJECT IN MELARIT - BASEBALL PLAYGROUND FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND TURN INTO A STADIUM

PROJECT IN DORMATISI - BASEBALL PLAYGROUND FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND TURN INTO A STADIUM

by **Srednjaci** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:30 am

WORLD ARENA SPORT

REPORTER IVAN JURLINA : Our next opponent in the nock out phase is Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars!
We are in beautiful host country Banija.
What do we know about our opponent?
With us is the coach and manager of Neptun Taru U21, Mr. Velimir Isić.
Mr. Isić, first of all we wish you congratulations on the great result and everything you do for baseball and sports in general.

ISIĆ: Thank you

REPORTER: We watched the last two suratas. we broadcast your last two matches live. The game was almost perfect ...

ISIĆ: The game was ok, far from perfect, but the guys are playing better and better as time goes on.

REPORTER: who was the toughest opponent so far?

ISIĆ : Everyone who is here in this competition belongs to the top of baseball for their ages so there are no easy opponents, everyone has talented players and they play baseball. The toughest opponent we were ourselves because it was hard to bring these guys into discipline and work.
The moment we brought order, work and discipline then we could deal with tactics and play. Only then did the results show.

REPORTER: Yes, there are a lot of players and professional staff.
What is the atmosphere like in the team?

ISIĆ: very good, there is only positive energy around us, we are growing, we are developing. The guys stand firmly on their feet respecting each opponent.

REPORTER: until a few days ago, baseball was on the sidelines for us, today it has become popular. Little is known about the opponent in the knockout phase. Tell us a little about the opponent.

ISIĆ: a quality team with several top players. They have no constant, they play one match well while the others are catastrophically bad.
We studied them well. We’ve seen their pitchers and hitters, we know where they’re in the red and where they’re in the lead. So we know exactly what we need to do.

REPORTER: Congratulations from the athletes from Srednjaci arrived yesterday and today you were the topic of a government meeting ... do you like this attention?

ISIC: It doesn't matter if I like it or not. That attention to which I am very grateful is proof that we are doing well, that we are on the right track. That all that hard work paid off in the end.
Here are players from several clubs in the country. They were opponents until yesterday. We have now assembled all into one from several teams. And that one has to tune like an orchestra. It is easy to do this with seniors because they are already adults. Many of these young boys are still teenagers.
It is very important that we draw the attention of the government and the Minister of Sports. Because baseball conditions in the country are bad and we need help to help the development of young baseball players in the country.
This is great news that two playgrounds will be completely renovated and as far as I have learned two more cities will give projects on building completely new baseball stadiums.
Great!

REPORTER: How do you predict the match?

ISIĆ: I predict a hard fight but a quality match.

REPORTER: Thank you for this interview and good luck, we will continue to follow you.

ISIĆ: Thank you.

REPORTER: Let's now look at the matches of our opponents from Sarzonia, their composition and group.

Daskel U18 Junior Daskies 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 5
Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3

Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Osci Talenti 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 X 3

Bohemia Buccaneers 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 X 6

Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Breton Valley Bangers 1 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 X 8

Quebec U22s 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 X 4

REPORTER: As we can see, they have 2 wins and 3 losses.

Group A                                           Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 Quebec U22s                                      5   4  1   25  12 +13
2 Breton Valley Bangers                            5   4  1   22  10 +12
3 Bohemia Buccaneers                               5   2  3   24  23  +1
4 Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                       5   2  3   16  22  −6
5 Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                        5   2  3   14  23  −9
6 Osci Talenti                                     5   1  4   10  21 −11

REPORTER: Here's the lineup

Left field: 335 feet
Left field power alley: 380 feet
Centre field: 415 feet
Right field power alley: 385 feet
Right field: 320 feet
There's a 26-foot high wall in right field called Khalil's Corner

Style modifier: -1.69

Manager Edwin Crawford, 50
Currently manages the Class 4 Catherina Crickets in Sarzonia's minor league baseball system. He also coaches third base and the outfield. [OOC: Class 4 is Sarzonia's equivalent of rookie ball.]
Hitting Coach/infield coach Zayna Quayce, 44
Serves as a coach for the Class 3 Sequoia Comets [think upper Class A.]
Pitching coach Noah Satterley, 40
A retired pitcher, he just served as assistant pitching coach for the Class 2 Saugerties Silver Sox [Class AA]

INFIELDERS
1B 44 Xavier Felton, 21 (6-foot-5, 215 pounds)
Line drive hitter, would average 15-18 homers in a RL MLB season. Deceptively fast, but not a huge base stealer
2B 4 Kyle Monahan, 20 (5-foot-11, 175 pounds)
Good contact hitter, stole 29 bases in 48 Class 4 games
SS 14 Cornell Savage. 19 (6-foot-2, 190 pounds)
He takes over as shortstop from Cristobal Vargas, who was the team's biggest home run and RBI threat. He's more defensive and speed-oriented.
3B 10 Stephanie Alleyne, 20 (5-foot-8, 165 pounds)
Sprays the ball to all fields and can hit behind the runner and play hit-and-run.
LF 19 Deanna Parker, 20 (5-foot-11, 185 pounds)
Not the strongest arm, good average hitter. Little to no pop.
CF 11 Anderson Bradley, 19 (6-foot-2, 225 pounds)
Known for speed and some power, but logged a career high 20 homers in Class 3.
RF 20 Martaye Adams, 21, (6-foot-1, 185 pounds)
Not a threat to run on the basepaths. Known best for a rocket arm in right.
C 24 Rick Zaun, 21 (5-foot-10, 215 pounds)
Calls a great game, cut down 42 percent of would-be base stealers.

LINEUP
Monahan
Alleyne
Felton
Bradley
Adams
Savage
Parker
Zaun
Pitcher

If the Junior Stars need the DH, Wingate moves into the six-hole.

RESERVES
C 15 Dexter Abernathy, 20 (6-foot-3, 200 pounds)
IF 12 Chad Wingate, 19 (6-foot, 180 pounds)
IF 33 Nel Bradley, 18 (5-foot-9, 155 pounds), non-binary
OF 3 Paula Spann, 20 (5-foot-11, 170)

STARTING ROTATION
22 RHP Cal Zane, 20 (6-foot-3, 195 pounds)
Sinker-slider pitcher with a decent change.
30 RHP Darryl Shaw, 19 (6-foot-1, 205 pounds)
Below-average fastball, but excellent offspeed stuff. Can keep hitters off balance.
29 LHP Kiki Felton, 20 (5-foot-10, 175 pounds)
Another junkball pitcher, can get by as a crafty lefty

BULLPEN
16 LHP Vance Ridge, 20 (6-foot-2, 190 pounds)
Long reliever, fastball, slider, curveball pitcher
27 RHP Joyce Khan, 21 (5-foot-11, 180 pounds)
Long reliever, sinker-slider, foshball pitcher. She taught herself the foshball.
49 RHP Tom Crowley, 20 (6-foot-1, 185 pounds)
A middle reliever who became available after his team lost their junior college championship, he features a fastball and slider with a developing change up.
58 LHP Claude Bingham, 21 (5-foot-11, 175 pounds)
Bingham doesn't throw particularly hard, but he can serve as a lefty specialist or throw up to two innings.
39 RHP William Gates, 21 (6-foot-2, 175 pounds)
Set up reliever, fastball, slider, palmball
40 LHP Ned Creighton, 20 (6-foot-7, 245 pounds)
Closer. Fastball, curveball, both fast and hard.

REPORTER: Dear viewers, thank you for your attention.
Watching from the broadcast of the match from Coast Gurad.
You will be able to watch the match Neptune Taru U21 v. Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars directly on our program.
Greetings from Banija.

by **Nova Anglicana** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:57 am

Lions gored by Toros, what will rivalry round bring?

Heading into the final game of the group stage proper in the 13th International Baseball Slam, the Nova Anglicana Lions were 3-1, coming off a big win over the Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars, and preparing to take on the 1-3 Santo Domingo Toros. A win for the Lions would guarantee their advancement to the next round and get them a better seed heading into the regional round. Unfortunately, they could not pull that off. The Toros scored four runs across the third and fourth innings and held on to defeat the Lions, 4-2.

Although Rob Patten had an RBI double in the first inning off of young Daniel Cedano to give the Lions an early lead, Toby Caldwell couldn't hold it. An inspiring story after recovering from a line drive to the head, Caldwell pitched fine through the first two innings, allowing a single baserunner. But 8th place hitter Angelino Cadiz reached on a single, was bunted over, then scored on Hernan Fraga's RBI double to tie the game. The Toros would put up two more runs in the inning and then turned a walk, a wild pitch, and a hit into a run in the fourth to make it 4-1. Caldwell would depart for a pinch-hitter in the sixth, having allowed four earned runs in five innings. The Lions scratched out a run on a walk, stolen base, groundout, and sacrifice fly in the sixth, but that was all they would get. Long reliever Greg Harper tossed two scoreless innings in relief, and Kerry Mercer pitched a scoreless eighth, but it was all for naught. The Lions would only get two baserunners in the last three innings, falling with the final score Toros 4, Lions 2.

This loss puts the Lions in an uncomfortable, if not do-or-die situation. The top four teams in each group will advance to the regional round. Banija's team has already secured advancement, while Les Espadons from Somiens-et-Haveras are eliminated at this point. The Lions and the U21 Sycamores of Silvedania are 3-2, while Santo Domingo and Alma-Ata are 2-3. In the final game before the regionals, called the "rivalry round", teams will play a team from a different group for a one-game showdown. Because there are no in-group games, it is possible for the Lions to lose, every other team to win, and the Lions drop out of the competition. This is because Silvedania would be 4-2, and advance. The remaining two teams, Alma-Ata and Santo Domingo, are the only teams the Lions have lost to, and therefore the Lions would be eliminated. Even if it finished in a 4-way tie, the results would be Silvedania 2-1, Santo Domingo 2-1, Nova Anglicana 1-2, Alma-Ata 1-2. That means Silvedania and Santo Domingo would advance, and then Alma-Ata would hold the advantage over the Lions. So the Lions need to win in order to guarantee their advancement. If they lose, they need Santo Domingo or Alma-Ata to lose as well, finishing at 2-4 and dropping into 5th place. They control their destiny, but a loss would be awful.

So who's everyone playing in the rivalry round?

Quebec U22s v. Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars @ Navy
Sainte-Maire - Les Espadons v. Xannerian Junior Maroons @ Air Force

We can largely discount these two games. Though Quebec vs Banija should be a great game, and would have some effect on the Lions' seeding should they win and Banija lose, it's not important for the Lions' advancement hopes. Watch it and have a good time. Les Espadons vs. Xanneria has no import on the Lions, as they have already been eliminated. Don't watch it, it probably won't be that good.

Nova Anglicana Lions v. Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars @ Army
Santo Domingo Toros v. Cassadaigua U18s @ Air Force
Alma-Ata Clerical Institute Holy Warriors v. Bohemia Buccaneers @ Navy
Osci Talenti v. Silvedania U-21 Sycamores @ Army

Nova Anglicana's game against the former national team players of Abanhfleft will be incredibly important. If they win, they're in. It's the first game of the day of these four, and would cause a lot of people to relax if they just won. The Revolution All-Stars haven't played super well, sitting at 2-3 so far. However, a win would almost certainly get them through, so they're not going to roll over. The Lions have apparently decided to bring back #1 starter Nathan Webster for this game. Webster will be on a pitch count (unreported, but likely fewer than 75) to make sure he doesn't need to sit out the regional stage. Expect Webster to go anywhere from 3-5 innings, then turn it over to the bullpen. This will allow the Lions to get presumably good innings from their best guy, and then use the off days/home run derby to rest Webster so he can pitch in the regional stage.

If the Lions lose, it's going to be a long day. Santo Domingo vs Cassadaigua U18s will be the second game of the day at the Air Force Academy; if the Lions lose and the Toros win, it's a bad sign. Cassadaigua is 2-3 so far, but with hopes of advancement. Should be a close one. Alma-Ata vs Bohemia is the third game of the day at the Naval Academy, again, if the Lions lose and the Warriors win, it's a bad sign. Bohemia is also 2-3, but with hopes of advancement. If the Lions lose and the Toros win, all eyes are going to be glued to Alma-Ata vs. Bohemia. Should the Warriors win, it's curtains for the Lions. But if the Lions win or either of those teams lose, the Lions are going through. Silvedania has a chance to secure advancement in the last game of the day against Osci Talenti, but the Lions' fate will already be decided.

Watch the game early, then either go celebrate or stay glued to your phone for updates all day, depending on the outcome. Please let it be an easy day. Go Lions!

by **Kohnhead** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:01 pm

U-21 Pandas finish 4-1 set to face Breton Valley Bangers in rivalry week

Following our 3-0 start to the 13th International Baseball Slam, many were considering the U-21 Pandas a contender once again to win following our 4th place finish last time. While a match against the at the time winless Hebitaka U21 Heroes was left we also had our two biggest and most difficult matches of the group stage remaining, a battle with the South Newlandia U22s and the rivalry game showdown against Delaclavan club team the Breton Valley Bangers.

South Newlandia started out 2-1 but were always going to be the team Kohnhead needed to beat in Group D and the Breton Valley Bangers jumped out to a 2-1 record as well and looked like one of the top teams in Group A. However before the match against either nation we had to first get by the 0-3 Hebitaka squad. Now Hebitaka are a rising nation in many sports but there U21 team has definitely not shown a lot here in Banija and they were heavy underdogs to our Pandas. In addition this game could give us another chance to get the bats which have fallen off considerably since our opening day win against Abanhfleft going again.

Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                             1 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0  6
Hebitaka U21 Heroes                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Young Dane Kelly would be given the rubber in this game and here was a chance for him to come in and dominate in his first ever start for the U-21 team. Taking on the worst offense in the tournament the best pitching team got to work and Kelly just like every other Kohnheadian starter this tournament really dominated. In addition the bats finally got going again starting out with an Izabella Fitzgerald homer in the first inning that set the tone of how things were going to be.

We would also score one run in the second and fourth innings however it probably could have and should have been a couple more as we were consistently stranding runners. Fortunately this didn't matter too much and with a big 6th inning that included a two run homer from Jules Wise we took a 6-0 lead and the game was never close again. Kelly in the end made it through 5 2/3 innings before surrendering the ball to the bullpen with a 6-0 lead that they would not give away.

This win brought our record to 4-0 and with the U22s from South Newlandia winning 6-2 against the over 35s from Abanhfleft it set up a very important 5th game for each team with Kohnhead top of the group at 4-0 with SNL chasing us with a 3-1 record. If we win we would take the group if they won they would most likely take the group but rivalry games still factor into this.

South Newlandia U22s                             0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0  3
Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                             0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

As expected in a Kohnhead loss it was the bats that let us down and not the pitching staff in a 3-1 loss to South Newlandia that confirmed what many had been thinking about the team. We are an elite pitching team and could have the best staff in the IBS in particular the starting five have been on fire but if our hitters can't score runs we can't go all the way. While we do have the least runs allowed and are allowing less than two per game our scoring rate has been in the bottom half potentially even the bottom third as our hitters just aren't playing as well as last time around.

Maybe it's the Banijian weather that's affecting the batters or it's possible we are just an elite pitching team and a below average hitting team. Blake Tomlinson was the one to take the rubber for this important match as our 5th starter but he didn't show any indication of being the 5th starter looking filthy for most of the game. Our hitters who hadn't really been able to touch Jack Beard through the first four innings finally didsomething in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Cassandra Day led off from the 9 hole and she managed a base on balls only being the second walk Beard had given up all game. Clayton would fly out but Day would tag and advance to second having to slide in to barley beat out the throw from Oliver Landry. A single from Fitzgerald would send Day to third and she almost went home but smartly decided against testing Landry's arm again. Atkinson would end up striking out althought it had been a seven pitch battle on a full count but there were no two outs and Day was still on third.

Fortunately Megan Lewis would land a blooper right over the heads of Malika Bains and Jeremy Moss to drop in for an rbi single that scored Day. Just like that it was 1-0 Kohnhead and with the way Tomlinson was playing it was possible that maybe Kohnhead would get off with only one run in a 1-0 win. However South Newlandia had other plans for us and in the top of the 7th inning with Tomlinson's pitch count getting decently high they would take the lead.

It would be the young 18 year old Gary Promises a player as known for his awful personality as he is for his power hitting and he is well known at both. I don't know why Tomlinson was still in the game and after walking Nicolas Perez on four pitches, Promises hit this deep shot to give South Newlandia the 2-1 lead over Kohnhead. Promises celebrated the way Gary Promises knows how to and while this pissed off our team there was nothing we could do.

While that 2-1 lead would have been enough to give them the win, South Newlandia was not yet done and with Bellamy in the game in the 8th inning, Shawn Zimmerman tripled to score Oliver Landry from first who had been there on a walk to make it 3-1 South Newlandia. Fortunately Bellamy regained composure and struck out the rest of the side to strand Zimmerman on third however the damage had been done. If you thought we would have trouble scoring one run imagine how difficult it would be for us to score two.

Kohnhead have already punched their ticket into the next round of the IBS and the matchup against the now 4-1 Breton Valley Bangers out of Delaclava should prove to be a good, pitchers duel considering it's the statistical best pitching team against the statistical second best pitching team with them having allowed 10 runs in five games. In addition given that there are not many remaining games and rest days will occur more often Kohnhead will be switching to a three man rotation for the rest of the tournament and Park is still scheduled to make his second start against the Bangers.

For those of us who care about Kohnhead winning the group you should know that a South Newlandia loss to the 3-2 U13s out of Super-Llamaland (obviously) and a Kohnhead win against the Bangers would indeed win us the group although with the loss to South Newlandia they are definitely in the driver's seat per say.

by **The Luck of Jirachi** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:44 pm

OOC: I would like to send Jules Duclerc to the home run derby.

“THE ARMS”
The Holy Warriors’ pitchers, as collated by Ari Sapurnetov
The Starting Four:
Chagatai Asharikov, the year four superstar from Altai, has led the starting rotation for two years after transferring in year 7 from Altai Agricultural. Asharikov commands the outside of the plate with a four-seam fastball that peaks at 95 mph, and works a sharp slider in for 20% of his pitches, and 60% of two-strike situations. The slider averages 89 mph.
Last season’s stats:
10 starts, 6-1, 68 IP, 17 ER, 2.35 ERA, 51 H, 14 BB, .956 WHIP, 87 K
Marat Batyruli, the year 2 big man from Alma-Ata, has started for the Holy Warriors since year 6. He’s somewhat of a divisive figure among the Warriors’ fans, because of his pro-fundamentalist posts on social media. He throws a 97-mph four-seamer, and mixes in a 92 mph sinker and a 81 mph sweeping curveball. He recorded a league-leading 97 strikeouts last season.
Last season’s stats:
10 starts, 7-3, 71 IP, 21 ER, 2.66 ERA, 78 H, 20 BB, 1.380 WHIP, 97 K
Kyle San Bracero, the crafty knuckleballer from Inner AginanaUsordia, has started for one season. He performed phenomenally in a pair of overseas tournaments for Inner AginanaUsordia’s teams, and transferred to the Clerical Institute on a church-sponsored scholarship. He throws a 71 mph knuckleball, and will occasionally quick-pitch the hitter with a 92 mph four seam fastball.
Last season’s stats:
9 starts, 6-1, 70 IP, 16 ER, 2.05 ERA, 47 H, 19 BB, 0.943 WHIP, 68 K
Ladomir Aikalon II is one of the richest university students to ever play the sport; his father is the Minister of Commerce and the owner of the largest Uranium ore exporting company in Blackstar. His baseball ability is no joke, however; he commands a two-seam fastball with surgical precision, and will mix in a highly unpredictable splitter and a sharp knuckle curve at any count. His last season marked a dip in performance after leading the Warriors to a title in 2018.
Last season’s stats:
10 starts, 5-3, 62 IP, 26 ER, 3.77 ERA, 63 H, 27 BB, 1.452 WHIP, 76 K
The Bullpen
Vasily Vladimirov is the tallest, and second youngest, member of the Holy Warriors’ active roster, and the primary middle relief and setup pitcher. He throws a 98 mph fastball and a 94 mph cutter with solid precision and forces a lot of weak contact.
Last season’s stats:
31 appearances, 2-2, 31.1 IP, 7 ER, 2.01 ERA, 20 H, 8 BB, .894 WHIP, 40 K
Sayed Rozim is the long reliever. He was just promoted to the active roster in January, after the graduation of last year’s class. He throws a 91 mph cutter, and a 79 mph circle changeup, and through this season’s scrimmages, has consistently performed average.
Last season’s stats:
None, played as reserve
Ali Aleyev is another short-term middle-inning man that saw little use last year, after the starting four performed phenomenally. He throws a four-seam fastball at 93 mph and a curveball at 83 mph at a nearly 50:50 ratio; he transferred from Kyzyl-Su’s naval academy in the summer of last year, while injured.
Last season’s stats:
21 appearances, 8-2, 20 IP, 5 ER, 2.25 ERA, 16 H, 4 BB, 1.000 WHIP, 20 K
Osman Gravier is the Warriors’ savant, and is studying five languages to be an international interpreter of the faith; he employs a two-seamer with a fair amount of english* and the occasional curveball. He is a middle relief and setup man, and a Lefty specialist.
Last season’s stats:
8 appearances, 2-0, 8 IP, 4 ER, 4.50 ERA, 10 H, 2 BB, 1.500 WHIP, 6 K
Serik Laffitte is another late-inning setup pitcher. He forces a lot of contact, with an either incredible efficiency or a quick loss of the lead. He was the runner-up for the CICL Sportsman of the year voting.
Last season’s stats:
12 appearances, 1-1, 11.2 IP, 2 ER, 1.54 ERA, 6 H, 6 BB, 1.029 WHIP, 2 K
Marcus Thierry is the Warriors’ closer, from the French Quarter of Alma-Ata. He throws an 89 mph two seam fastball, and a 76 mph forkball from a nearly 60° arm angle.
Last season’s stats:
28 appearances, 1-0, 22 SV, 28.2 IP, 5 ER, 1.60 ERA, 16 H, 7 BB, .816 WHIP

*[editor’s note: Ari Sapurnetov is still running wind sprints for this one.]

by **Banija** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:30 pm

Cutoff 6! Rivalry Showdown!

Continuing the exploration of my favorite YouTube channels... Animalogic!

Learn about the kings of the actual jungle.

Matchday 6 Scores

Quebec U22s                                      4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  5
Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars          0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Super-Llamaland U13s                             0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
South Newlandia U22s                             2 0 1 0 0 1 2 3 X  9

Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Nova Anglicana Lions                             4 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 X  6

Breton Valley Bangers                            0 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                             0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 10

Santo Domingo Toros                              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
Cassadaigua U18s                                 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Northwest Ballina Redhawks                       1 2 0 5 0 3 0 3 0 14
Newmanistan U16s                                 0 2 6 0 1 0 2 0 0 11

Neptun Taru U21                                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                       1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  1

Sainte-Maire - Les Espadons                      0 1 0 2 3 0 0 1 0  7
Xannerian Junior Maroons                         0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Alma-Ata Clereical Institute Holy Warriors       0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 1  6
Bohemia Buccaneers                               0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0  5

Hebitaka U21 Heroes                              0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
Hannasea Independent All-Stars                   2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

Osci Talenti                                     0 0 2 0 0 0 2 4 0  8
Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                        1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  3

Isle of Lowe United                              1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0  4
Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                        0 1 0 0 3 3 1 0 X  8

Final Group Stage Standings
Top 4 teams from each group advance, bottom two teams in each group eliminated

Group A                         Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 Quebec U22s                   6    5   1    30   13  +17
 2 Breton Valley Bangers         6    4   2    28   20   +8
 3 Daskel U18 Junior Daskies     6    3   3    22   27   −5
 4 Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars    6    3   3    17   22   −5
 5 Bohemia Buccaneers            6    2   4    29   29    0
 6 Osci Talenti                  6    2   4    18   24   −6

*Daskel finishes ahead of Sarzonia on H2H

Group B                             Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 Neptun Taru U21                   6    4   2    35   16  +19
 2 Hannasea Independent All-Stars    6    4   2    30   32   −2
 3 Super-Llamaland U13s              6    3   3    30   39   −9
 4 Northwest Ballina Redhawks        6    2   4    36   40   −4
 5 Xannerian Junior Maroons          6    2   4    27   31   −4
 6 Cassadaigua U18s                  6    2   4    23   32   −9

*Neptun Taru finishes ahead of Hannasea on H2H
*In slots 4-6, all three teams beat each other once. H2H Run Differential is the next tiebreaker...
NW Ballina beat Cass 10-3 and and lost to Xan 4-3 For a total of +6 H2H Goal Differential.
Xan beat NW Ballina 4-3 and lost to Cass 4-2 For a total of -1 H2H Run Differential.
Cass beat Xan 4-2 and lost to NW Ballina 10-3 For a total of -5 H2H Run Differential.
With that, NW Ballina is ahead of Xan who are ahead of Cassadaigua.

Group C                                         Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 Nova Anglicana Lions                          6    4   2    37   17  +20
 2 Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars       6    4   2    23   26   −3
 3 Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                     6    3   3    27   25   +2
 4 Santo Domingo Toros                           6    3   3    18   18    0
 5 Alma-Ata Clereical Institute Holy Warriors    6    3   3    18   19   −1
 6 Sainte-Marie - Les Espadons                   6    2   4    20   37  −17

*Nova Anglicana ahead of Banija on H2H
*For three-way tie, the tiebreaker is H2H
Silvedania beat Santo Domingo 5-3 and Alma-Ata 5-3... 2-0 against the 3.
Santo Domingo beat Alma-Ata 3-2 and lost to Silvedania 5-3... 1-1 against the 3.
Alma-Ata lost 2-3 to Santo Domingo and 3-5 to Silvedania... 0-2 against the 3.

Group D                              Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 South Newlandia U22s               6    5   1    42   18  +24
 2 Kohnhead U-21 Pandas               6    5   1    31   15  +16
 3 Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars    6    2   4    18   27   −9
 4 Isle of Lowe United                6    2   4    23   32   −9
 5 Newmanistan U16s                   6    2   4    33   38   −5
 6 Hebitaka U21 Heroes                6    1   5    18   36  −18

*South Newlandia over Kohnhead on H2H
*Group of 3, Abanhfleft/Isle of Lowe/Newmanistan all 1-1 in the H2H, so H2H Run Differential is the next tiebreaker...
Abanhfleft lost to Isle of Lowe 1-2 and beat Newmanistan 6-2... Overall H2H Run Differential of +3
Isle of Lowe beat Abanhfleft 2-1 and lost to Newmanistan 4-6... Overall H2H Run Differential of -1
Newmanistan beat Isle of Lowe 6-4 and lost to Abanhfleft 2-6... Overall H2H Run Differential of -2.

by **Banija** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:49 pm

Seeding for the tournament.

As stated in the bid, seeding is by group rank, then record, then H2H(if applicable), then Run Differential, then Runs For.

Seeding                                       Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 South Newlandia U22s                        6    5   1    42   18  +24
 1 Quebec U22s                                 6    5   1    30   13  +17
 1 Nova Anglicana Lions                        6    4   2    37   17  +20
 1 Neptun Taru U21                             6    4   2    35   16  +19
 2 Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                        6    5   1    31   15  +16
 2 Breton Valley Bangers                       6    4   2    28   20   +8
 2 Hannasea Independent All-Stars              6    4   2    30   32   −2
 2 Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars     6    4   2    23   26   −3
 3 Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                   6    3   3    27   25   +2
 3 Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                   6    3   3    22   27   −5
 3 Super-Llamaland U13s                        6    3   3    30   39   −9
 3 Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars             6    2   4    18   27   −9
 4 Santo Domingo Toros                         6    3   3    18   18    0
 4 Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                  6    3   3    17   22   −5
 4 Northwest Ballina Redhawks                  6    2   4    36   40   −4
 4 Isle of Lowe United                         6    2   4    23   32   −9

Knockout Stage Bracket
Your Regional is the venue for your matchup.

Army Super Regional
Army Regional
South Newlandia U22s v. Isle of Lowe United
Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars v. Silvedania U-21 Sycamores

Air Force Regional
Neptun Taru U21 v. Santo Domingo Toros
Kohnhead U-21 Pandas v. Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars

Navy Super Regional
Navy Regional
Quebec U22s v. Northwest Ballina Redhawks
Hannasea Independent All-Stars v. Daskel U18 Junior Daskies

Coast Guard Regional
Nova Anglicana Lions v. Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars
Breton Valley Bangers v. Super-Llamaland U13s

Home Run Derby Participants
Jason Mathis(Hannasea Independent All-Stars of Hannasea)
Sulayman Ouattara(Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars of Banija)
Scott Elston(Nova Anglicana Lions of Nova Anglicana)
Siniša Cvetojević(Neptun Taru U21 of DR Srednjaci)
Cory Atkinson(Kohnhead U-21 Pandas of Kohnhead)
Francisco Mariano(Santo Domingo Toros of Saint-Domingues)
Nicolas Perez(South Newlandia U22s of South Newlandia)
Buck Fuchs(Super-Llamaland U13s of Super-Llamaland)
Jules Duclerc(Alma-Ata Clereical Institute Holy Warriors of The Luck of Jirachi)

The home run derby will take place at the Navy baseball diamond. It will be scorinated by Hannasea.

by **Srednjaci** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:01 am

DEFEAT OF NEPTUNE TARU

Young U21 baseball team Neptune Taru defeated Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars with 1: 0!
An amazing match in which our young men were completely deconcentrated and failed to score.
On the other hand, the opponent didn't play well either, they were also heads somewhere else but they managed to score in the first inning and keep that score until the end.

Despite the defeat of Neptune Tara, they retained position 1 ahead of the Hannase Independent All-Stars due to a better mutual H2H ratio.

Group B                             Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 Neptun Taru U21                   6    4   2    35   16  +19
 2 Hannasea Independent All-Stars    6    4   2    30   32   −2
 3 Super-Llamaland U13s              6    3   3    30   39   −9
 4 Northwest Ballina Redhawks        6    2   4    36   40   −4
 5 Xannerian Junior Maroons          6    2   4    27   31   −4
 6 Cassadaigua U18s                  6    2   4    23   32   −9

Seeding                                       Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
 1 South Newlandia U22s                        6    5   1    42   18  +24
 1 Quebec U22s                                 6    5   1    30   13  +17
 1 Nova Anglicana Lions                        6    4   2    37   17  +20
 1 Neptun Taru U21                             6    4   2    35   16  +19
 2 Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                        6    5   1    31   15  +16
 2 Breton Valley Bangers                       6    4   2    28   20   +8
 2 Hannasea Independent All-Stars              6    4   2    30   32   −2
 2 Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars     6    4   2    23   26   −3
 3 Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                   6    3   3    27   25   +2
 3 Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                   6    3   3    22   27   −5
 3 Super-Llamaland U13s                        6    3   3    30   39   −9
 3 Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars             6    2   4    18   27   −9
 4 Santo Domingo Toros                         6    3   3    18   18    0
 4 Northwest Ballina Redhawks                  6    2   4    36   40   −4
 4 Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                  6    3   3    17   22   −5
 4 Isle of Lowe United                         6    2   4    23   32   −9

One very bad and uninteresting game against the team we were supposed to beat.
Did the guys relax a bit?
We hope they have learned something from that defeat because the next opponent will punish the mistakes.

Air Force Regional
Neptun Taru U21 v. Santo Domingo Toros

What did these young men run all over the Srednjaci?
Our cameras spotted children across the country playing baseball. Baseball is becoming a big topic.

More and more kids want to play baseball and more and more kids are copying our young guys.

by **Nova Anglicana** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:33 pm

Victory over Revolution All-Stars means Lions will host Coast Guard regional

Going into the rivalry round of the 13th International Baseball Slam, the Nova Anglican team was in a precarious position. If they lost against the Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars, and the Santo Domingo Toros and Alma-Ata Holy Warriors won, the tiebreakers would mean the Lions would miss out on the regional stage altogether. A win would mean their advancement, while a win and a Banija loss would mean a #1 seed and a chance to host a regional.

Fortunately, despite the Toros' 3-2 win over Cassadaigua and Alma-Ata's 6-5 win over Bohemia, both in extra innings, the Lions would defeat the All-Stars to advance to the next round. The Revolution All-Stars are composed of former national team players who range in age from 33 to 60. Despite their age, they had all been formidable players for a formidable team, so it wouldn't be easy for these Nova Anglicans who had never cracked the major leagues, let alone the senior national team. The Revolution trotted out 52 year old Tim Moyers to the mound. Moyers had allowed only two runs in a victory over Hebitaka's U21 Heroes national team in the group stage, but didn't have it tonight. The Lions turned five hits and a walk into four runs, burying the All-Stars early. They added two more in the fourth when Nick McAllister popped an opposite-field two-run homer. Moyers would leave, having allowed six runs in the game. The Lions sent their #1 starter Nathan Webster to the mound under a strict pitch count. Webster ended up throwing 52 pitches over four scoreless innings, leaving for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fourth. Long reliever Greg Harper pitched the fifth, sixth, and seventh, while Emil Blum tossed the eighth. They combined to allow two baserunners in four shutout innings. In the ninth, Kerry Mercer faltered, walking two and allowing two runs, but Alex Long came in in a non-save situation to get the final out. All in all, it was a very strong win.

That win, combined with the Banija Joint Service Academy All-Stars losing to Quebec's U22 team, 5-1, meant the Lions took the top spot in the group by virtue of their head-to-head win over the BJSA All-Stars. That means they will be the top seed and nominal "host" for one of the four regionals in the regional round of the IBS. They'll play a double-elimination tournament among themselves and three other teams for the right to advance to the super regional round, which functions as a de facto semifinal. If the Lions can avoid losing twice between the regional and the super regional round, they'll get a shot at the IBS title. This is the first time since the revival of the IBS that a Nova Anglicana team has gotten past the group stage.

So who's joining the Lions in the regional? The #4 seed, and the Lions' first opponent, is the Northwest Ballina Redhawks, a club team from Northwest Kalactin. Unfortunately, we don't really know anything about them; what league they play in, what level, who their players are, nothing. This anonymous team won one of their five group-stage games before outslugging the Newmanistan U16 team 14-11 in the rivalry round to advance. They have a good offense, averaging six runs per game, but a terrible defense, allowing 6.7 runs per game. If the Lions can get good pitching from Gabe Nichols, who will start this game, they will likely be able to win.

The other two teams in the regional are the #2 seed Breton Valley Bangers, a club team from Delaclava, and the Super-Llamaland U13 national team. The Bangers rallied from 5-0 down to take a 6-5 lead, then blew it, then lost 10-6 in 14 innings to the Kohnhead U-21 Pandas in the rivalry round, but finished 4-2 overall in the group stage. Before their 10-run debacle against Kohnhead, they'd only allowed 10 runs in five games, a remarkable number. They are the defending Southeastern Baseball League champions, feature a number of players who have WBC experience, and employ good-hitting pitchers and every strategy you can think of to win. They are probably the second most dangerous team in this regional after the Lions. Facing them will be the Super-Llamaland U13 national team, led by 84 year old manager and Home Run Derby participant(????) Buck Fuchs. This is the same team, that as U11s, won the last IBS. They lost 9-2 to the South Newlandia U22 squad and fell to 3-3. Despite their age, this is a good team. You don't win an IBS at age 11 and win three more games at age 13 against older teams without being a great squad. Nevertheless, Breton Valley and the Lions are tough opponents, and they shouldn't advance.

As for the pitching rotation here's how it breaks down:

-#2 starter Gabe Nichols will start game one against Northwest Ballina.

Losers' Bracket Scenario #1

-Should the Lions lose game 1 and drop into the losers' bracket, they will call back Nathan Webster. With the home run derby day, the other rest days before the regional round starts, and Webster's low pitch count against the Revolution, the coaching staff feels comfortable he'll be ready for that game.

-If they lose both of their first two games, they're out. But if they lose and then win, it'll be #3 starter Bradford Curry in an elimination game to advance to the regional final.

-If they make it to the regional final from the losers' bracket, manager Rick McDonald says he'll look at their opponent and decide who's best, Jean Desmarais, or Toby Caldwell. Should they win that game and force a final winner-take-all game, it will either be the other one or maybe Gabe Nichols on short rest.

Losers' Bracket Scenario #2

-If the Lions win their first game, they'll likely bring out #3 starter Bradford Curry, giving Webster an extra day to rest.

-If they win, then lose, it'll be Webster for game 3, then the same as above (Desmarais or Caldwell, etc)

Winners' Bracket Scenario

-If the Lions win their first game, they'll likely bring out #3 starter Bradford Curry, giving Webster an extra day to rest.

-If the Lions win their first two games, Webster will start game 3, which would be the regional final against a team with one loss.

-If they lose that one, it'll be Desmarais or Caldwell, with the slight possibility of Nichols on short rest (given that they will have a day off after winning their first two games).

However, the regional round shakes out, the Lions will be in the thick of it, trying to advance and make their first serious run since IBS VIII, where they were runners-up.

by **Banija** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:51 pm

The Lion's Roar
Banija's #1 English language newsletter for military veterans

Tough path ahead at the International Baseball Slam for the Joint Service Academy All-Stars

The Academy All-Stars have made the knockout stages! Their win on Matchday 5 put them in, although they unfortunately lost 5-1 to the Quebec Under-22s in the rivalry round. No matter- even if we lost to Quebec then, what matters is that we're in the next stage.

That puts us as the bottom ranked 2nd seed. And that puts us into the Army Regional, within the Army Super-Regional. Don't have to worry about the Super-Regional just yet, because the BJSA All-Stars have an extremely tough draw for the regional.

As the 8 seed, of course, we're basically at a draw with the #9 seed on paper. It'll be a coin toss. We'll have to get out of the opening game against 9th seeded Silvedania. Now, who is waiting for us if we win? You got that right- we'll play the winner of #1 v. #16 in the second stage if we win. Make no mistake about it- the likely winner of that game is to be the South Newlandia U22s.

The entire regional, and super-regional round if we get that far, of course, will be at Army. South Newlandia U22s are the #1 overall seed at this tournament for a reason. They've got, by far, the best bats in this tournament. 42 runs scored in six games, an average of 7 per game. Anyone playing them will have to have their pitching staff on absolute point.

And of course, it's no guarantee that we even get that far. We've got home field advantage, yes. But what if we lose to Silvedania? Then in the second round, we'll play the Isle of Lowe United, in what will be an elimination game in this double elimination tournament. That'd be a tough one, to get eliminated so early on home soil. But we don't have to think about that just yet.

In his press conference(we finally got media passes after Matchday 3! Woo!) following the announcement of the draw, the manager, Baluta Colley, expressed the importance of taking this one day at a time. "Look- there are all sorts of brackets and possible scenarios for us, thanks to the format chosen by the Banijan Service Academies Association. I'm not here to worry about that. I don't really care about how the bracket turns out. All I can do, is control what is in front of us. We'll show up wherever they want us to play, and play whoever they tell us to. We've got to focus on one game at a time. That's our best chance of doing anything here."

And that, of course, is not wrong. So Colley isn't thinking about a potential epic matchup with South Newlandia's U22s. All that matters is how they deal with Silvedania. Ateh Dika will be on the mound to start us off, and it will be curious to see how he does. He has two starts so far in this tournament. An excellent one in Game 1, and another one in Game 5- six innings and two earned in our 5th game of the tournament. Of course, he left in line for a loss, but we came back and got a big-time win. Can he get it to the bullpen with a lead?

The middle of our bullpen is up and down. The back end? More solid. We've just got to get it to them. We'll see if we can do so. Banijans will fill the Academy field at the Kabaka's Military College to see if we can.

by **Hannasea** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:33 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4KhZeVosMM

Welcome to the Home Run Derby. The format is a four minute timed round; ties are broken with 1 minute swing-offs.

Ranking Round
1 Cory Atkinson (Kohnhead)               28
2 Siniša Cvetojević (DR Srednjaci)       20 (swing-off: 8)
3 Sulayman Ouattara (Banija)             20 (swing-off: 6)
4 Scott Elston (Nova Anglicana)          19
5 Buck Fuchs (Super-Llamaland)           17
6 Jason Mathis (Hannasea)                16
7 Jules Duclerc (Luck of Jirachi)        15
8 Nicolas Perez (South Newlandia)        10
E Francisco Mariano (Saint-Domingue)      4

Quarter-finals

  Cory Atkinson (Kohnhead)             18
W Nicolas Perez (South Newlandia)      30

  Siniša Cvetojević (DR Srednjaci)     20
W Jules Duclerc (Luck of Jirachi)      34

W Sulayman Ouattara (Banija)           34
  Jason Mathis (Hannasea)              31

W Scott Elston (Nova Anglicana)        19
  Buck Fuchs (Super-Llamaland)         17

Semi-finals

  Nicolas Perez (South Newlandia)      17
W Scott Elston (Nova Anglicana)        22

  Jules Duclerc (Luck of Jirachi)      31 (swing-off: 5)
W Sulayman Ouattara (Banija)           31 (swing-off: 7)

Final

W Scott Elston (Nova Anglicana)        33
  Sulayman Ouattara (Banija)           31

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:01 am

ABANHFLEFT REVOLUTION
Abanhfleft men's national baseball team

If Abanhfleft's best can't even win a damn Baseball Slam, what hope do a bunch of retired players have? None, that's what. And now this bunch of oldies is being called back for another shot. Can't the SBA just let these guys stay retired in peace?

BASIC INFORMATION
Name of nation: Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft
Demonym: Fleftic
Team name: Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars
Nickname: Revolutionaries (common), Revolters (derogatory)
Official history: This will be Abanhfleft's sixth time participating in the International Baseball Slam. Yes, the IBS is back. Shocker, right?
Team colors: Blue, orange, and green
Style modifier: +2. Abanhfleft is experimenting with new styles to try and finally get a win in the IBS.
Park factor: 90

PITCHERS
Key: (Shirt number, pitches/bats, age)

1 - Francis Ness (#84, L/L, 41)
2 - Tim Moyers (#5, R/S, 52)
3 - Brendan Judge (#62, R/R, 46)
4 - George Dey (#18, S/L, 44)

Long Reliever - Lewis Brodie (#82, L/L, 40)
Middle Reliever - Donte Ackermann (#17, R/S, 49)
Middle Reliever - Fidel Fray (#78, L/S, 45)
Setup - Olivier Savanier (#39, L/L, 34)
Closer - Peter Langford (#90, R/R, 33)

INFIELD
Catcher - Terence Ebert (#52, R/R, 47, Starter)
Catcher - Brad Sargent (#25, L/L, 41)
First Base - Earl Villareal (#2, S/R, 55, Starter)
First Base - Ferenc Attila (#19, R/R, 57)
Second Base - Curt Weedon (#36, L/L, 49, Starter)
Second Base - Patrick Dobryk (#22, S/R, 40)
Third Base - Doug Farthing (#14, S/L, 40, Starter)
Third Base - David Gaspariño (#76, R/R, 42)
Short Stop - Brooks Kogut (#12, R/R, 43, Starter)
Short Stop - Henry "Hank" Landry (#96, L/L, 53)

OUTFIELD
Left Fielder - Trenton Petrella (#20, R/S, 57, Starter)
Left Fielder - Jarvis Galvez (#69, S/L, 45)
Center Fielder - Alexis Socia (#4, L/L, 47, Starter)
Center Fielder - Wagner Casemiro (#70, L/S, 60)
Right Fielder - Ibrahim Ahmadinejad (#67, S/R, 44, Starter)
Right Fielder - Lawrence Fleck (#8, L/L, 45)

BATTING ORDER
1 - B. KOGUT (SS, R)
2 - C. WEEDON (2B, L)
3 - T. PETRELLA (LF, R)
4 - I. AHMADINEJAD (RF, S)
5 - D. FARTHING (3B, S)
6 - T. EBERT (C, R)
7 - A. SOCIA (CF, L)
8 - E. VILLAREAL (1B, S)
DH - P. LANGFORD (P, R)

In the event that a DH is not allowed, the starting pitcher according to the schedule takes the DH's place.

STAFF
Why get an all-new staff for what is most probably a one-off event? Yes, the IBS has a long and quaint history behind it, but the fact remains that it's only been resurrected now. And the old-timers have been told that they're doing this for fun, so why worry about getting more coaches than the Samahang Beisbol ng Abanhfleft can afford?

MANAGER - KURTIS LINGENFELTER

ASSISTANT MANAGER/BENCH COACH - JAIME GROVER

FIRST BASE COACH - STEFAN MCKENNY

THIRD BASE COACH - IVAN BRETT

BATTING COACH - JOHN JOHNSON

PITCHING COACH - TERENCE ROCKITANSKI

STADIA
The Samahang Beisbol ng Abanhfleft (Abanhfleft Baseball Federation) has announced that it will be using two baseball stadia as venues for the Abanhfleft Revolution's home matches.

PRIMARY STADIUM (Majority of games will be held here)

Official name: Cooper Drumheller Memorial Park
Location: Paulsen, Dorfdifving Province
Capacity: est. 19,000
Operators: Paulsen Minutemen

SECONDARY STADIUM (Games against "big" or "famous" teams will be played here as decided by the SBA)

Official name: National Baseball Stadium
Location: Effelenendro, Effelenendro Island
Capacity: est. 60,000
Operators: Abanhfleft Baseball Federation, Effelenendro Islanders

RP PERMISSIONS
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes, within reason
Choose my lineup: No, please stick to the starters as much as possible
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes, you must follow it to the letter
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but TG me first
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes, except killing my players or coaching staff, and please TG me before doing this
Use DH at home: If I can use a DH at your place then you can use a DH in mine. If not then no.

by **Nova Anglicana** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:00 am

Navy Baseball Diamond, Busembe, Banija

Scott Elston settled into the batter's box for the final round of the IBS Home Run Derby. He had to admit, this was fun. An off day in the middle of the competition just so he could do what he did best? That was cool. Plus, he hadn't really gotten that much playing time since he was platooning with Rob Patten in left. At least the team was winning. Maybe he wasn't getting noticed for his play in the IBS, but he would here. He lived to hit home runs. He'd always been a big kid, hit his first growth spurt and was six feet tall before he got out of middle school. High school brought another one and his current height of 6'4 (1.93m). Of course, he was gangly as all get out, but weight training, both as a class and for basketball and baseball got him bulking up. He'd never been much good at hockey, and he didn't really have the skills to be a great basketball player, but his high school team needed every tall person they could get, so there he was.

But baseball was his real skill. As a second-year player, he'd led his team in home runs. It got him noticed and he got a partial baseball scholarship for university. More homers there, but also more strikeouts. The pitchers in college had better breaking stuff, and it was getting harder. Plus, he'd never been great on defense. But still, he hit plenty of homers and got himself noticed by enough teams that he was a 5th round pick, got some decent money. Labrador League wasn't too difficult; he mashed homers like nobody's business and even hit over .300. That got him to the Twin Provinces League the next season; that was quite difficult. He'd gotten used to college pitchers' breaking stuff, but these guys in the TPL were on a totally different level. Sure, when he hit one, it was pretty loud and he hit his fair share of homers, but he just didn't make enough contact. It took him three years to hit above .250 and finally get out of the TPL. Then he made it to the Maritime League, one step from the bigs. These last two seasons had been rough. Still plenty of homers, but he was facing guys who'd played in the NABL in a lot of games, and they were a step up from the TPL. His defense hadn't gotten any better, and now he was being sat against righties sometimes too. It wasn't his fault he could see southpaws a lot better. The IBS was a chance for him to get noticed. At 27, a lot of guys' careers were over if they hadn't made the majors. Repeating AA for three years killed a lot of guys' careers too. But he stuck with it, and his organization believed in the power. So Scott needed to show them the power.

The home run derby was the perfect fit for him. Batting coach Lou [Sharp] out there, feeding him perfect pitches and encouraging him the whole way. There were some tough guys out there. Jason Mathis had actually played major league ball in Hannasea, the Perez kid from South Newlandia was only 19 but had great power, Cory Atkinson from Kohnhead was a 20 year old with a sweet swing, and Sulaymun Ouattara, the 18 year old Air Force cadet from Banija just murdered the ball. 19 homers in the first round got him the fourth seed and a matchup with Buck Fuchs. This f*cker was 84 years old and coaching a bunch of 13 year olds. If that wasn't weird enough, he'd hit 17 homers in the first round. Scott blasted another 19 in this round and basically figured he was home and dry. No way the old guy hits 20. Heck, if he hit 10 after his performance in the first round, it would be impressive. But the number kept creeping up. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Scott started to get nervous. If he lost to a guy who was as old as his grandfather, he'd never hear the end of it from the guys on the team. 15, 16, 17. But then he faltered a bit and time ran out. Scott wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook hands with the crazy old man.

Up next was Perez. He'd gone head to head with the first round winner, Atkinson, and old sweet-swingin' Cory had gotten torn apart. Perez beat him 30-18. Hit his 19th with more than two minutes to go. He'd already won, but it didn't matter. He hit 11 more and his last ball fell just shy of the wall. Coulda been 31. Scott almost considered yelling, "Eat a biscuit!" at Perez for just missing out on his last one, but decided against antagonizing him. This time Scott got to hit second. Maybe Perez was tired or something, but he only hit 17. Just like Atkinson last round, he'd "shot his wad" too early. Scott hit an easy 22. The most he'd hit so far, but it was also the hardest he'd been going. The qualifying round didn't matter much. You just had to avoid being eliminated there. And then Buck Fuchs? He definitely didn't go his hardest. He'd lucked out there. 22 was more than good enough. In the other semifinal, Ouattara and the guy from that weird school, Alma-Ata, Jules duClerc, had to go to a swing off. Ouattara, after hitting 31, hit 7 more in the one-minute swing-off. This kid had some real power. He'd beaten the veteran major leaguer Mathis 34-31 in his first matchup. This was after hitting 20 (and 6 more in the swing-off) in the qualifying round. Not counting swing-offs, he'd hit 85 homers (nearly 100 if you counted swing-offs). This is in a total of 12 minutes. That's 7 homers a minute. Scott had only hit 60. Granted, he wasn't going quite as hard, but still. 25 homers is a big difference.

Scott batted first and went after it hard. He needed as many homers as he could get. Didn't matter if they were wall scrapers or moon shots. He felt good. He swatted nine homers in the first minute. Several of them were laser beams, which helped with the pace. Minute two brought nine more. Could he keep up the pace? Minute three was nine more. Scott was getting exhausted. Keeping up the pace to hit one homer every six seconds, since you weren't supposed to just be fed balls continuously, meant he basically needed needed to hit a homer on every pitch or almost every pitch. With one minute to go and 27 homers in the bag, Scott pumped three more as fast as he could to get to 30, then relaxed, said "eff it", and decided to try to hit balls as far as he could instead of keeping up the pace. His last three landed well into the seats. He was sure none of them were 500 feet, like he'd managed on a few occasions, but they were big ones. The buzzer rang and he sighed. Thirty-three. Was that going to be enough? Maybe. The kid might be tired, but then again, he was 18, he probably had boundless energy. Now it was time to sit and watch. He didn't care if he won or lost. He'd done his best, and if the kid beat him, it was going to be an impressive display. Time to enjoy the show.

by **Sarzonia** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:21 am

Sarzonia's Under 21 national baseball team has been struggling.

It struggled to score runs with the aging out of shortstop Cristobal Vargas, who supplied much of the team's power and was a legitimate threat to go yard no matter where he played or how tough his opponent was. It struggled to find an identity without Vargas looming in the batter's box or keeping managers and pitching coaches up at night trying to figure out how to get the burly shortstop out.

They may have struggled, but the team found a way to qualify for the knockout rounds in Banija, earning a 1-0 victory over the Neptun Taru Under 21 team representing Srednjaci in the so-called "rivalry" match-up. It may not have counted for much of a rivalry since it was the first time the Junior Stars ever met Srednjaci, but for manager Edwin Crawford, it was enough to see his Junior Stars through to the knockout rounds as the 15th overall seed.

"We didn't make anything easy," Crawford admitted after the match. "We had to fight and scratch to get here, but no Cristobal Vargases are going to walk through that [clubhouse] door and into our starting lineup, so we've got to play things differently."

The Junior Stars will battle the Nova Anglicana Lions, who won their group with a 4-2 record. Sarzonia would be in line to face Quebec U22s, but that would be a group stage rematch.

Either way, the matchup between the Lions and the Junior Stars looks to be a difficult one for Sarzonia.

"At this stage, every match is important," Crawford said.

Crawford was asked why the Junior Stars did not send a player to the home run derby.

"If we still had Cristobal, we would have sent him," he said. "We really don't have a massive home run threat without him in the lineup."

by **Delaclava** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:38 pm

DSGN.com Baseball

"Useless skill", "waste of time": Bangers deride Home Run Derby
As festivities carry on, Breton Valley takes rest, prepares for Round of 16

On the day between Rivalry Day and the Round of 16 at the International Baseball Slam in Banija, the organizers put on a Home Run Derby, which features hitters from nine of the 24 teams entered into the competition. Home favorite Sulayman Ouattara racked up a total of 116 home runs, but with the round-by-round bracket format, it was Nova Anglicana's Scott Elston who would win the contest, hitting a whopping 33 dingers in the four-minute championship round, to Ouattara's 31. It was a lighthearted affair for the players, their teammates, and the fans alike.

But color the Breton Valley Bangers not impressed.

"It's ridiculous," said veteran left fielder Owen Clark, one of a minority of players in the tournament with previous international experience. "We're all about to go right into the most important part of the tournament, every game is win or die, and some guys want to take an off day to mash balls over the fence? It's a complete waste of time."

Clark leads the Bangers with four home runs in six games, so it is fair to say that the Dillobourne native knows a bit about power hitting. In fact, Clark would have been the most likely representative of Breton Valley in the Derby, had the team or Clark himself volunteered. But Clark asserted his disinterest in the event: "It's like penalty shots to decide a football or hockey match. You take home run hitting out of the context of the game, the tactics and skill behind setting up goals and runs, and it's a useless skill."

Second baseman Ryan Rudock, who has hit three home runs himself, agreed with his teammate, although his criticism was not directed at the tournament hosts: "I think it's a great idea that the IBS has put this together. They know what the fans want, and I can see how some guys find it fun. But for us, we see it as a pointless exercise. This isn't what we came here to win."

Notably, the Valhalla-based Southeastern Baseball League champions qualified for the Round of 16 as the sixth seed, but are coming off a 10-6 loss to the Kohnhead U-21 Pandas in 14 innings. After that marathon, anyone could understand the Bangers' desire for a little extra rest before taking on the Super-Llamaland U13 team in the Coast Guard Regional, hosted in Herzegovina City at the Shango-Fogoa Coast Guard Academy. Furthermore, the Bangers were already located in Herzegovina City for the Kohnhead "rivalry game", and so could stay in the area and save themselves the travel to Busumbe, on the opposite side of Banija, by forgoing the Derby.

But leadoff hitter Valery Robiquet, who reportedly has only hit home runs "by accident" or "because I undercut the ball", insisted that the team had made the decision to skip the exhibition as soon as they were informed of the event, long before the scheduling of the tournament had fully taken shape. "We agreed in the clubhouse, this is a stupid thing to do," the diminutive, fiery shortstop told. "If someone does this, and they throw out their back or get hurt, they're a joke. It would be an embarrassment, they'd never play international again. No, we focus on the games."

Team captain and right fielder Pavel Malek pointed out that Delaclav baseball players are not averse to exhibitions or light-hearted events, citing the SBL's mid-season and post-season All-Star games, which hold great entertainment and charity fundraising value. But he concluded, "At the end of the day, we're still playing baseball the way we know how. The fun of it is putting together the league's best players to compete, the showmanship is in the high level of skill, not with some artificial, contrived bit."

Rudock, who memorably clinched a Game 1 victory against Bohemia with a walk-off home run, assured that neither he nor his teammates begrudged any of the participants of the Derby, saying, "They're taking part because of their love for the game. We disagree with that choice for our purposes, but we have a different baseball culture and so we can't judge how anyone goes about it.

"But for us, our love of the game is when all the parts are put together. Even though we lost to the Pandas, we got to go for 14 innings, and in those last five, it was a technical and tactical battle, both of us trying to get over the finish line... It's thrilling, it really is.

"We can't wait to put ourselves to the test against Super-Llamaland tomorrow, and the only thing we've wanted for the past few days is to come out on the right side of that game."

by **South Newlandia** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:46 pm

After the disaster that was IBS 11, when the South Newlandian team missed the knockouts they would’ve played on home ground after getting swept on the last day, Matteo Maxbar resigned his position as coach of the team. This time, the tournament headed to Banija, one of the most highly regarded sporting nations not only in baseball. While South Newlandia does not really like the entire military organization portion of the entire event, they still hoped to make a better impression this time around. To replace Maxbar, they hired an experienced coach from within Esportiva. Sarang Oli has coached The Sherpa Empire in the World Baseball Classic in the past, and has agreed to take the job as the coach for the South Newlandian U22 team.
Because the tournament would not feature a series format, but single game matches, the team took only three primary pitchers on the roster, all of them young talents from the South Newlandian Baseball League. On the line-up are some of South Newlandias finest talents, with the stars being the two power hitters Nicolas Perez and Gary Promises. Shawn Zimmerman, going into his third Slam with two Classics in his career, is also a centre piece of the line-up.

In the first game, South Newlandia took on the team Isle of Lowe United from Ethane. Michael Michaelson gave up two runs in the first, and the South Newlandian team kept being outclassed through the first few innings. Going into the seventh, the team trailed 1-4. A sight to see was the fourth inning, when Gary Promises took a deep shot to centre right. The ball bounced off the wall, giving the outfielder some trouble. Promises should have had an easy triple, but he blew past a stop sign trying to break for home. He was thoroughly chewed out by Sarang Oli, who would not take any of this from the young player. Many believe this was a big part of the decision to send Perez to the home run derby instead of Promises. Either way, Promises, who was known for ignoring his coaches, did not try a similar thing again in the group stage. This didn’t help for this game, though; a ball into the infield by Henry that should’ve scored Promises from third instead ended as an easy groundout to end the inning.

As the South Newlandian team got back in it in the seventh, cutting the deficit to two with a score by Bains, the only female player on the regular line-up, the team from Ethane also kept on scoring on the South Newlandian pen. While Perez put up a two-run homer in the eighth, Ethan Ress gave up a run in both the eighth and the ninth, putting South Newlandia in a two-run hole for the ninth. Moss scored a run in the ninth, but with a man on first and two outs, Burn’s flyout was caught to end the game. South Newlandia had lost the first game of the Slam, instantly putting the pressure on Oli and the team.

In game two, the team would take on the U16 team from Newmanistan; a team that had performed well in the last few tournaments. Even though they were young, Newmanistan is a traditional baseball powerhouse. This was not supposed to be an easy match, especially after the team from Newmanistan had won their opening game 11-zip. And yet, South Newlandia cruised to a 12-2 win without many problems in their second of three encounters with other Esportivan sides in the group stage.

Game three was much closer. Against another youth team, the Hebitaka U21 Heroes, Ben Gonzalo took the mound. After South Newlandia took an early 4-0 lead through the fourth, the Heroes struck back, taking three runs in the fifth. Gonzalo maintained this lead for a while, but it was once again the bullpen in trouble. In the top of the ninth, Stef Svojarnsson gave up a run to tie it up, and the game went into extras tied at four. He gave another run in the tenth, and pressure was once again on the team to get some runs now. Luckily, they would start near the top of their line-up. After Zimmerman walked, Rufus Salas grounded out to first, allowing Zimmerman to advance to second. Nicolas Perez was next, and he launched one deep on a 2-1 count; but it fell just shy of the wall. The double still brought Zimmerman home, and with Perez in scoring position, it still looked good for South Newlandia. Even if they wouldn’t score another run, they had already guaranteed more innings. Promises took the next at-bat, and he shot a ball on a 1-0 count into the stands behind Right Field to walk it off.

In game four against the Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars, the team was in some trouble early on, but rallied late to take a 6-2 win. This brought them up to 3-1 ahead of the big game against the 4-0 team from Kohnhead.

Against the Kohnhead U-21 Pandas, semi-finalists in the last Slam, Jack Beard took the mound again after the strong game two. In a low scoring game, the South Newlandian team trailed for while, but a homer by Promises and a run by Landry put them up 3-1. They were now leading their group, just in time with the rivalry game.

They had a game scheduled against the Super-Llamaland U13s, surely one of the most interesting teams in the competition. The youngest team, coached by the oldest coach, fresh off a run to the final two years ago. This team, basically full of kids, was definitely feared. They were 3-2 to this point; these kinds were definitely for real. And yet, in the second game with Gonzalo on the mound, South Newlandia took a relatively easy 9-2 win.

This brought the South Newlandian team to a 5-1 record, the best in the tournament. 42 total runs, an average of seven a game, were the most of any team, and a run differential of +24 is also the best of any team. 18 runs against, 3 on average, are good for 5th. This, overall, gives them the one seed for the playoffs, and a game against.. Isle of Lowe United. That team they lost to in game one. It’s time for revenge.

by **Super-Llamaland** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:23 pm

In the two years since he'd made the U11 team during that fateful tryout in Arthur Clarke Stadium, Bradley Guo had never seen Buck Fuchs so frustrated with himself. Together, they had made it through one and a half IBS competitions (although Fuchs made a point of not interacting with his players between tournaments, other than to make sure they were still training regularly) - and although the Cubs had seen their share of highs and lows during that time, Fuchs had never seemed this mad.

Fuchs had been mumbling all day about "that whippersnapper from Nova Anglicana" who had beaten him in the Home Run Derby. Honestly, Bradley personally thought that thirty-four home runs in two rounds was a pretty good outcome for an octogenarian. But Fuchs seemed like he was expecting much more.

So while Bradley Guo wished he could've been surprised when he'd shown up to batting practice before the match against Delaclava and found Buck Fuchs in the on-deck circle, he really wasn't. But the grizzled veteran had led them, a group of preteens, to the IBS finals - so maybe he just wanted to get in on the action.

Fuchs usually threw batting practice himself, but today he'd had young Owen De Vries take over so he could swing. From a distance, Bradley saw Owen hesitate before pitching, but beckoned on by the 84-year-old manager, he threw his best fastball in anyways.

Fuchs, with a swift flick of his wrists, sent the ball four hundred feet over the left-field fence. "Again!" Bradley heard him bark, followed by the crack of leather on wood and another bomb, this time to center. "Again!" 350 to right. "Again!" 390 to center. "Again!" 370 down the left-field line.

Twelve home runs later, the manager had apparently finally had enough, and relieved Owen of his batting practice duties. But it appeared he had his swagger back. And, with the surging Breton Valley Bangers awaiting them, they would need every bit of that to advance.

by **Banija** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:32 pm

Regionals Day 1 cutoff!

Another day in the trip through my favorite YouTube channels... Why don't you take a seat and watch Lego Luke Skywalker duke it out with Lego Harry Potter? Hopefully the matchday results don't leave you like a horcrux... Split up and destroyed.

Regionals Day 1 Results
Army Super Regional
Army Regional

Isle of Lowe United                          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
South Newlandia U22s                         1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 X  4

Silvedania U-21 Sycamores                    0 1 0 0 2 1 0 7 2 13
Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars      0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 5  8

Air Force Regional

Santo Domingo Toros                          1 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  6
Neptun Taru U21                              0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars              1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Kohnhead U-21 Pandas                         0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 X  4

Navy Super Regional
Navy Regional

Northwest Ballina Redhawks                   1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Quebec U22s                                  2 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 X  7

Daskel U18 Junior Daskies                    0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0  5
Hannasea Independent All-Stars               0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0  3

Coast Guard Regional

Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2
Nova Anglicana Lions                         1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 X  5

Breton Valley Bangers                        0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  4
Super-Llamaland U13s                         1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Regionals Day 2 Matchups
Home team(aka higher seed) listed second

Army Super Regional
Army Regional
Silvedania U-21 Sycamores v. South Newlandia U22s
Isle of Lowe United v. Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars(ELIMINATION GAME)

Air Force Regional
Santo Domingo Toros v. Kohnhead U-21 Pandas
Abanhfleft Revolution All-Stars v. Neptun Taru U21(ELIMINATION GAME)

Navy Super Regional
Navy Regional
Daskel U18 Junior Daskies v. Quebec U22s
Northwest Ballina Redhawks v. Hannasea Independent All-Stars(ELIMINATION GAME)

Coast Guard Regional
Breton Valley Bangers v. Nova Anglicana Lions
Sarzonia U-21 Junior Stars v. Super-Llamaland U13s(ELIMINATION GAME)

by **Nova Anglicana** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:05 am

Mid-game burst proves decisive for Lions in victory over Junior Stars

The Nova Anglicana Lions baseball team took on the U21 Sarzonia Junior Stars in the first game of the regional round of the International Baseball Slam and came away victorious, 5-2. The Lions scored four runs in the sixth and seventh innings combined, and with a good start from #2 hurler Gabe Nichols, took the victory over the junior team from Sarzonia.

Cal Zane toed the rubber for the Junior Stars in this matchup. He features a sinker and a slider as his primary pitches, with the changeup as his third option. Zane didn't get off to a great start, allowing a walk and two hits in the first inning, allowing Roscoe Meacham to knock in Michael "Mac" McCray for an RBI to put the Lions up, 1-0. But following that first inning, Zane settled in, allowing no runs over the next four innings and only three baserunners. Coming into the bottom of the sixth, Rob Patten led off against Zane and hit an elevated change off the wall in right-center, earning himself a double. With a runner on second, Zane appeared to be a little shaken, and walked Meacham. Catcher Jack Corcoran flied out, and when Alain Gosselin grounded into a fielder's choice, it looked like Zane would get out of the inning unharmed. With runners on third and first, shortstop Philippe Marchand came to the plate and surprised everyone by drag bunting for a basehit, which scored Patten and made it 2-1, Lions. Maybe with Marchand's surprise play still affecting him, Zane hung a slider to pinch-hitter Jason Snodgrass, who missed a homer by about three feet, instead settling for a deep double to center that scored both Meacham and Marchand. At that point, it was 4-1 Lions and manager Edwin Crawford made the slow walk out to the mound to relieve Zane of duty. In the next inning, Corcoran singled home McCray with two gone to make it 5-1.

On the pitching side of things, #2 starter Gabe Nichols took the mound. He had a tough-luck loss against Alma-Ata in the group stage, allowing two runs across seven innings, but getting only one run of support from the offense. Nichols allowed only one baserunner, a leadoff single, in the first three innings of the game while striking out three, a good start. But he faltered in the fourth, allowing a walk and an RBI double to tie the game at one. In the fifth and sixth, however, he came back, allowing a single hit and striking out three. He departed for a pinch-hitter in the sixth with a final line of 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. With a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning, Matt Townsend worked around a walk to notch a scoreless inning, while Alex Long retired the side in order in the eighth, with the Lions now up 5-1. In the ninth, Mitch Ballard came on to face the heart of the Junior Stars' order. He recorded two outs, but allowed two hits and a walk, resulting in a run and bringing the tying run to the plate. Closer Rick Sims entered at that point and used his trademark sinker to induce a game-ending groundout.

This is an important win for the Lions, because it helps them stay out of the losers' bracket. Because the regional and super regional round only allow one loss across both rounds, any loss puts a team on the edge of elimination and forces them to fight a difficult path to the final. The Lions took care of business in their first game, and will now face the Breton Valley Bangers from Delaclava, who got two late runs to top the Super-Llamaland U13 squad 4-2. Breton Valley will be a tough out for the Lions, as their defense and pitching is a great combination. If the Lions' can't break through their wall, it will be a long game. #3 starter Bradford Curry will hope his sinker-curveball combo can put a stop to the Bangers. If the Lions win, they'll get to sit out the next day as the Bangers and the winner of Sarzonia-Super-Llamaland go toe-to-toe. If they lose, they'll be in an elimination game. Let's hope the Lions can pull it out against a strong Breton Valley team.

by **South Newlandia** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 3:42 pm

PLAYOFFS (part 2)

Northern Championship:

#1 Elephant Valley Homers (49-23) - #2 Masmow Dragons (48-24)
H2H regular season: Homers 1-3 Dragons

The matchup between the two best teams in the regular season would certainly be a big one. Both teams hoped to win it all this year, and both certainly had the quality; they had overcome tough opponents and tough scenarios in the first round to get here. And yet, only one of the teams could move on to the final.
The series would start in Elephant Stadium. The Dragons had been outdoing the Homers in the regular season, but that wouldn’t matter now.
After the Dragons gained a lead in the top of the second, things fell apart. Jay Kramer had a day that made many reminiscent of his game against Super-Llamaland at the Classic of 50. He was pulled, bit the Homers were hot, and a home run by Adam King put the Homers up 8-1. They rode their Drawkian starter, Darien Rodriguez, the rest of the way to take a series lead.

Masmow Dragons              0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  3
Elephant Valley Homers      0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  8

The Dragons struck back in game two, managing a shutout against the Homers. Five runs were scored to put the Dragons right back in the series as it shifted to Masmow. Marcia McMahon from Super-Llamaland was the hero of the day, going 3 for 5 with 3 RBI.

Masmow Dragons              0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0  5
Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

In the first game in Masmow, the teams traded runs back and forth into a 3-3 tie into the ninth. After Barnaby Butt gave up a big RBI double in the top of the ninth to Alisen Moyamoto, the Homers were up one. The Dragons needed a run to bring it to extras. Daryl Dunlop reached first base with a hit down the middle, but after he stole second, Hoosier recorded two outs for the Homers. Gabriel Acosta stepped up to the plate. He and Hoosier worked to a 2-2 count, with the game on the line. Hoosier served the Llamanean a meatball right down the middle, and Acosta crushed it nearly out of the park. A walk-off two run homer gave the Dragons the series lead.

Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1  4
Masmow Dragons              0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2  5

The next game looked almost exactly like the last one. The game was tied at three, Homers took a lead in the top of the ninth to lead 4-3. After Len Pijpenbroek, the Ko-orenite second baseman, tied it up with an RBI hit, Denis Caamano sent one out of the field to win it. The Dragons led 3-1, and were a game away from the final.

Elephant Valley Homers      1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  4
Masmow Dragons              0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3  6

They had a chance to put it away in the last game in Masmow, but the Homers inched back. This time, the Dragons didn’t get any heroics in their favour, and the series headed back to the capital.

Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2  5
Masmow Dragons              0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2

There, the Dragons took a convincing early lead in game 6 and never looked back. As Butt struck out Mitch Sneider, the Masmow Dragons officially reached the South Newlandian Final Series.

Masmow Dragons              0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
Elephant Valley Homers      0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2

Southern Championship:

#1 Walstreim Lions (44-28) - #3 Ratzupalfu Rhinos (35-37)
H2H regular season: Lions 6-2 Rhinos

Even though the North seemed more interesting, the South had its storyline too. The two division rivals from Walstreim and Ratzupalfu had fought in the final of the last year, with the 6-seeded Rhinos taking the championship in the last game. The Lions had been the dominating force of the South, while the Rhinos had struggled. Especially in the direct matchups, the Lions seemed like the better team of the Southeast. Of course, that wouldn’t matter now.
The Lions would get to host the first two games, but the Rhinos rallied late to take game one. It was the first game the Lions lost in these playoffs.

Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 2  7
Walstreim Lions             2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

The Lions cruised to a win in game two, leaving the Rhinos completely without a chance, as the series travelled to Ratzupalfu.

Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Walstreim Lions             0 2 0 2 1 3 0 0 X  8

Game three went to extras tied at two. In the top of the eleventh, the Lions went ahead with Chan Ford, their star Drawkian, going deep; but the Rhinos tied it back up as the game went into a twelfth inning. In the bottom of the twelfth, Rufus Salas had reached on an error, and after a ground- and a flyout, he stood on third base. Nalivalu Amakusa was the next at-bat, with a chance to walk-off the game, and that’s exactly what his hit right down the first base line did.

Walstreim Lions             0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1  4

Game four was back to the Lions cruising to victory. Even though they held a 10-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth, they held on to take game four easily.

Walstreim Lions             1 2 0 0 0 3 0 3 1 10
Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  3

In the last game in Ratzupalfu, the Rhinos took a lead quickly that the Lions just couldn’t dig out of. Despite their best efforts, the Rhinos narrowly took the lead again with a 4-3 as the series headed back to Walstreim.

Walstreim Lions             0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0  3
Ratzupalfu Rhinos           0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 X  4

There, a dominant performance by Ryan Hunter led the Rhinos to a shutout win to advance. It was their biggest win of the series. They just kept trickling on with one-run innings in their most dominant performance to upset the Lions to reach the final. They beat the Lions 4-2 despite getting outscored 26-24.

Ratzupalfu Rhinos           1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1  5
Walstreim Lions             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

by **Delaclava** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:06 pm

DSGN.com Baseball

Vatanen comes alive, Clark finishes off IBS victory
Bangers best Super-Llamaland U13s, get inside track in Coast Guard regional

Lauri Vatanen and Owen Clark contributed two RBIs each, and the Breton Valley Bangers defeated the Super-Llamaland U13s 4-2 to begin the Coast Guard regional at the International Baseball Slam in Banija.

With the double-elimination structure of the knockout phase, the opening win effectively puts the Bangers in a winners' quarterfinal for the time being, but would eventually need an additional win to reach the Navy Super Regional final, which functions as the tournament semifinal.

"It's a great outcome, starting off with a win," Clark said. "A loss doesn't quite sink you in this format, but why put yourself in a hole? We're better off taking a step forward the way we did."

Clark's two-run double in the ninth inning off Melissa Jensen broke a 2-2 tie and puts him at a team-leading 14 RBI's. Clark generated a little bit of noise with his comments about the off-day Home Run Derby, which Breton Valley skipped; although the Super-Llamaland players did not participate - 84-year-old manager Buck Fuchs represented the team - the Bangers had emphasized the importance of preparing with a true rest day, and followed through with the victory.

Yannick Ronan got the start and allowed a run on six hits and four walks, striking out six. He left the game in the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead and the bases loaded. Sean Wilson escaped that game with a strikeout, and got the win, although he was credited with a blown save opportunity after pitcher Erick Garcia's single drove in Mason Vasquez and tied the game at 2. Sean Magary captured the save by retiring the side in the ninth.

Vatanen's two-run double in the second inning was a massive breakthrough for the catcher, who didn't get a hit until the third game of the IBS and struggled particularly with runners in scoring position. The two RBIs were his first of the tournament.

"It was really hard to work through," Vatanen admitted. "On the one hand, you just try to tell yourself to keep focused, keep working the same way you've been doing as a ballplayer for years, and eventually it'll come. On the other hand, how can you not get frustrated? So I'm very relieved."

The Bangers next draw the Nova Anglicana Lions, who dismissed the Sarzonia U21 Junior Stars 5-2. The Lions came through the group stage as the #3 seed and Group C winners, although with the same 4-2 record as the Bangers. The Lions are not a full-strength team, like the Lions who won WBC48 and came in second at WBC50, but they are a senior squad who competes as a national team.

"This is going to be our toughest matchup yet," manager Joran Perrot said. "They'll have the same physical maturity as us, they've got great pitching, are a smart baserunning team. We have to take it to them, at the plate and on the mound, right away."

But the Bangers can take confidence that they have now defeated both the defending champions and runners-up of the International Baseball Slam. The Super-Llamaland U13s, as a U11 team, lost to the Daskel U18 Junior Daskies in the five-game final of IBS XII in Tikariot. The Bangers previously defeated the Junior Daskies 4-0 in the group stage.

"There's still a long way to go," Clark said. "But starting this phase off with a win, and beating the teams that have gone deep in this tournament before, it lets us know that we're on the right track, we just need to keep doing the same things that have worked.

Breton Valley ace Bedin Egozhevy was withheld from the Super-Llamaland game to allow him an extra day of rest, but will take the mound against the Lions. His Nova Anglican counterpart will be Bradford Curry, whose breaking ball-dominant repertoire will provide a contrast to Egozhevy's more conventional mix.

Breton Valley vs. Super-Llamaland U13s Scorecard

International Baseball Slam XIII: Everything Thread

BIG DAY FOR YOUNG BOYS

INTERVIEW WITH MANAGER

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