World Baseball Classic 51 – Everything Thread (IC)

[Kohnhead]

Kohnhead National Baseball Team
Nation Name: The Galactic Empire of Kohnhead
Abbreviated Name: Kohnhead
Nation Trigramme: KHD
Nickname: The Pandas(The only time it's not The Brains)
Denoym: Kohnheadian
Overall Record: 43-40
Rank: 26

Info: Kohnhead did okay at their first WBC in Newmanistan ending with a 14-16 record in the group stage good enough to finish in 5th of their 6 team group which was obviously not enough to qualify for the next round. They came into the 50th World Baseball Classic and did a lot better going 20-10 and finishing as the surprising 15 seed following the Group Stage. This however only got us into the Round of 32 given the extra field size and so we took on Tikariot in a best of five series that we just barely lost 3-2 to send us home. The team comes to the 51th WBC with optimism based on the fact that it will be our 3rd, we looked good last time, and it's hosted by South Newlandia and Tikariot the same combination of nations that we came in 4th at the 12th IBS with. Baseball remains the only one of the major five sports where Kohnhead has qualified for the next round as they have yet to really see a lot of success in a lot of these sports however there is optimism in every one of them.


Coaching Staff:
Head Coach: Clay Glass, 51 years old (M)
Glass will guide this team, although he was a surprise pick for the job. He rose through the ranks having first been a pitching coach before being named to the team. Glass has done a fantastic job so far and is beloved by the players.

Hitting Coach: Phoebe Chapman, 54 years old (F)

Pitching Coach: Belle Parry, 70 years old (F)

Bench Coach: Dewey Horn, 74 years old (M)



Starting Pitchers
SP-RH Ralphie Bloggs, 26 years old (M)
Bloggs is the team's ace and is one of the best players. He has five pitches but really only uses four of them his 4 seam, slider, change, and curve. His speed tops out a 95 mph normally around 93 but it's his control and movement that got him in this position. Bloggs can normally go 7 innings into games but will reach the full 9 on occasion.

SP-RH Fletcher Crouch, 21 years old (M) - Rüsselsheim Blue Sox (South Newlandia)
Crouch is a very different type of player than Bloggs and that's why he's our number 2, although he most definitely has the upside of a true number 1. Crouch has our best arm capping out a 98-99 mph at his best with a slow windup, but he can be very inaccurate and needs to develop a true secondary pitch whether it be a curve or a slider. Crouch has joined Hahn in South Newlandia as he signs for the Rüsselsheim Blue Sox just like Hahn did last season.

SP-RH Allan Fox, 21 years old (M)
Fox is a flamethrower with accuracy and stamina issues. While he can get up to 97 mph on his pitches faster than most players on the team his accuracy issues are well documented. He is a streaky player so he will follow a shutout with a 7 runs in 2 innings performance. Fox had a very good IBS which why he got promoted to the National Team for the 50th WBC and he has played himself into the third spot in the rotation surpassing Mclellan.

SP-LH Sharon Mclellan, 31 years old (F)
Mclellan is a low upside southpaw pitcher on the wrong side of 30 at this point that is an okay at best fourth pitcher in the rotation, however before long we could easily see her supplanted by Duncan Park if he outperforms her. With Mclellan you know you're going to get 6 solid innings where they score 3 or 4 runs as she tries to navigate with a slowing fastball, slider, and change.

SP-LH Duncan Park, 18 years old (M)
Park was the ace of the IBS team that did really well in Banija and will be replacing Murrary Marshall in the rotation. Park will be the second southpaw on the team and the streakiest pitcher although he showed some good composure at the IBS. When he's on he could be the future ace of the team, if he's off the bullpen will have a lot of work to do. Park becomes the second starting pitcher promoted from the U-21 team that has shined in recent years.


RP-RH Kara Conroy, 20 years old (F)
Conroy was the best pitcher on the U-21 team over in Banija and was a reliable reliever. She replaces Austin Sutton in the bullpen as he has elected to retire and switch to a full time coach and could be a future manager of the National Team. Conroy has a lot of stamina but will mostly be used in the earlier innings if Millington or Arroyo need rest but won't see many innings during this WBC.

RP-RH Jasmine Millington, 26 years old (F)
Jasmine Millington is the reliever called upon to go 2-3 innings if the starter can't make it far into the game and we need someone to get us through to the 7th. Millington in addition has a pretty good fastball but is most known for her screwball which is not a normal or usual pitch.

RP-LH Nela Fowler, 29 years old (F)
Fowler is really only on this team because she is a left-handed specialist and can be counted on to pitch to lefties on the other team, something none of our other pitchers can do. Fowler is really only brought in if they have a stretch of good lefties and while she will pitch against right handed batters it normally doesn't turn out well.

RP-RH Scarlett Arroyo, 21 years old (F)
Arroyo is a developing reliever who will be pitched most of the time in the 7th inning if Millington needs rest. Arroyo has the same skillset as Millington (without the screw) except that Millington can go further than Arroyo. Arroyo throws decently hard and gets good movement on her pitches and is of course only 21.

Set up Melissa Berger, 23 years old (F)
Berger is the set up pitcher for the 8th inning. She's okay with no real fastball but she makes up for it with a plethora of other pitches in her arsenal. Maddy Lane is on a short leash as the closer and Berger might have to move down there if Lane performs poorly.

CP Maddy Lane, 20 years old (F)
Lane was a very surprising call up to the National Team last Classic and what's even more surprising is that she's our starting closer. Lane has talent there's no question about that but she struggled in the 12th IBS and was handed this job. Yes, Lane is the closer of the future it's just I don't quite feel she is ready for this role and if she struggles Berger will have to move down to become the closer, overall it was a mixed bag at her first Classic and she outperformed expectations while also falshing her upside.


Starting Lineup
1. CF-RH Lucca Hahn, 25 years old (M) - Rüsselsheim Blue Sox (South Newlandia)
Hahn is your stereotypical leadoff center fielder and is probably the best player on the team. He has the speed, plate vision, and on base ability a leadoff hitter needs to have. Despite this he also has above average power with great contact making him a complete asset. His biggest question mark is most definitely his arm speed but he has excellent range out in the field and that's why he has gone to South Newlandia to play professionally.

2. SS-LH Jessie Cherry, 28 years old (M)
Cherry has good speed in the 2 spot as well as nice contact and the power to go deep every so often. However his fielding skills are a bit below average for a shortstop. Despite this he has the best hands in the infield except for maybe Chiara Thompson who is on the bench until she improves her hitting. This is because our infield is not very good at fielding and we will commit errors a lot more frequently than most teams.

3. 1B-LH Monica Ratliff, 29 years old (F)
Ratliff is a power hitter plain and simple who will not draw walks and is an okay fielder at best with surprising speed consider her batting order and skillset. Ratliff and Vlad Burch will lead the team in homers and rbis and it won't be close. She is however a very hit or miss type of player as most like her are.

DH-RH Callie Dudley, 21 years old (F)
Dudley is an extremely good hitter who also hits for power in the 4 spot but is highly slow and cannot field very well. However her power in the lineup will be essential so she plays out in right field when the pitcher has to hit. She is a highly regarded prospect and will be the starting DH for the first time on the National Team here for the 51st Classic.

5. 3B-RH Cecilia Dickerson, 23 years old (F)
Dickerson is our 5 hitter and has almost no power which is interesting for her role. Dickerson hits in this spot because of her speed, ability to draw walks, and batting average which is very high. Dickerson's greatest strength is her ability to easily hit it the other way meaning you cannot switch on her or she will hurt you.

6. RF-SH Stuart Dorsey, 26 years old (M)
Dorsey has a good amount of power as the starting RF and is a decent fielder overall, he is just a solid well rounded player in the six spot who brings good hitting and good fielding to the table. In addition Dorsey is only entering his prime, the big knock on him is he's a little injury prone. Dorsey will not play when we play without the DH with Dudley shifting into right field because we want her in the batting lineup.

7. C-RH Sandra Craft, 30 years old (F)
Craft is the catcher and is most known for her defensive prescence compared to her hitting abilities. Sandra has a very good arm and her pop time is off the charts as she stops almost everyone from stealing second. She is also good on bad pitches blocking almost all of them. At the plate it's a different story as she struggles immenslely.

8. 2B-RH Artur Wagstaff, 24 years old (M)
Wagstaff is the same story as Sandra Craft, a better fielder than hitter although he is worse at both of them than Craft. Wagstaff doesn't have the best glove but his throws are powerful and accurate. At the plate Wagstaff can draw walks, maybe, sometimes go yard (rarely) and the hope was for Chiara Thompson to replace him. That clearly hasn't happened as she fails to take the next step hitting wise.

9. LF-RH Alvin Clayton, 21 years old (M)
Alvin Clayton is the third player from the U-21 team to be promoted to the National Team and their starting center fielder and leadoff hitter is almost a carbon copy of Lucca Hahn. However he still needs some time to adjust to the next level at the plate and isn't as fast as Hahn so he will be put into left field sending Dorsey to right field.

Lineup without DH
1. CF Lucca Hahn
2. SS Jessie Cherry
3. 1B Monica Ratliff
4. RF Callie Dudley
5. 3B Cecilia Dickerson
6. C Sandra Craft
7. 2B Artur Wagstaff
8. RF Alvin Clayton
9. Pitcher

Bench
IF-RH Chiara Thompson, 20 years old (F)
As eluded to before, Thompson has all the neessary tools to play in the field as the shortstop but has failed to show she can be even close to trusted at the plate. However Thompson is still young at 20 years old so she will get her shot at sometime in the future.

OF-LH Adrianna Holden, 33 years old (F)
Holden is not a promising option off the bench and will be replaced soon considering she couldn't win a job from Helena Mata.

1B-RH Leon Mcintrye, 30 years old (M)
Mcintrye is known for his power but struggles in all other aspects and thus is left on the bench.

C-RH Prince Santana, 23 years old (M)
Santana is the backup catcher and he doesn't offer much. As was discussed with the U-21 team the state of the catcher is not good in Kohnhead and it would be awful if Craft got injured.

CF-SH Esme Mohamed, 33 years old (F)
Mohamed is just another outfielder who at this point is last on the roster as the 26th person and probably won't ever see the field during the tournament as the coaching staff prefers Callie Dudley.

DH-RH Vlad Burch, 35 years old (M)
Burch as mentioned above is just another power hitter who used to hit in the four slot. Burch actually was a very good fielder in his early and later 20s but with age and injuries he has turned into a slow, prodding power hitter with his plate vision all but dissolved. However Burch will still send a lot deep as he swings the bat so well, he will be used as a bench option this classic as his time dwindles on the team.


Stadium:

Real Kohnhead Dressing Park, 15,000 capacity.
Dimensions
Left: 356
Center: 387
Right: 368



Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes, please let me know beforehand by tg or on discord
Use DH at home: Yes, pitchers should not be hitting.

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

FIRST GAMES IN THE BOOKS!

By Taylor Larson,


Game 1- The 189 6, Newmanistan 3.

How we scored: (Have not mentioned how The 189 scored due to the complexities of their player names).

Top 5th, trailing 2-0: Chelsea Harlow RBI single, driving in Nicole Larkin, who doubled.

Top 6th, trailing 3-1: Jenna Schuster RBI single, scoring Brooke Sauter, who doubled

Top 7th, trailing 3-2: Chelsea Harlow RBI single, scoring Lexi Burrows, who had singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

Pitching:
Kelsie Carmichael: 6 ⅓ IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (L, 0-1)
Kathryn Riggins: ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Crystal Madden: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Game 2- Newmanistan 2, The 189 0

How we scored:

Top 2nd, scoreless: Hannah Mitchell RBI double, scoring Nicole Larkin, who singled.

Top 9th, leading 1-0: Sierra McKinley RBI single, scoring Jenna Schuster who had singled and stolen second.

Pitching:
Brianna Fitch: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K’s (W, 1-0)


Game 3- Newmanistan 6, The 189 3

How we scored:

Top 3rd, scoreless: Megan Reardon led off, struck out. Brooke Sauter singled to left, and then stole 2nd and 3rd. Jenna Schuster singled up the middle, scoring Sauter. Schuster stole second and third. Sierra McKinley struck out. Lexi Burrows hit two-run homer to left.

Top 7th, leading 3-2: Chelsea Harlow RBI single, scoring Nicole Larkin, who drew a walk.

Top 8th, leading 4-3: Sierra McKinley RBI single, scoring Brooke Sauter, who singled and stole second.

Top 9th, leading 5-3: Hannah Mitchell solo home run to center.

Pitching:
Megan Reardon: 7 IP, 8H, 3R, 3ER, 2 BB, 8 K (W, 1-0)
Lauren Allen: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1K
Tori Fuller, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3K (S, 1)

OOC: My RP’s probably won’t be interesting, but I will be trying to do at least this, every MD.

[Hampton Island]

Hampton Island Golden Bears

The bears in the lineup will not act up in the game and attack your players. They are well fed prior to the game, but are trained well enough to focus on the game like any of the human players. They may growl loudly, though, if angered. (Intentionally walking them can cause that).

Manager: Ryan Slaughter, 48 (1st WBC)

Lineup:
1) Eric McLaren, 24,LF (Newcomer to the lineup, fastest human in the lineup)
2) Thunder, 5, RF (Hits the ball real hard, but doesn't get a lot of height on it, leading to doubles and not as many HR's)
3) Phillip Greene, 28,1B (Highly arrogant and money obsessed, but also an all-around threat and the reigning batting champion in the nation)
4) Boomer, 3, 2B (First time on the team, and first time we will have an ursine infielder)
5) Shadow, 5, DH (Absolutely no defensive instincts, which is why he is a DH)
6) Mario Cortez, 31, 3B (For a human, he possesses good power)
7) Nimble, 5, CF (Best agility of the bears)
8) Kylie Billings, 26, SS (Really a SS, but converted to SS to accommodate Boomer)
9) Danny Hackerbee, 32- C (Great overall contact hitter, works long pitch counts)

Bench:
1) Nick Pierson, 29- C
2) Kyle Hennessey, 28- 1B, 3B
3) Michael Stefano, 29- 1B, 3B, OF
4) Shane Carinci, 31- OF
5) Victor McClelland, 29, 2B, SS (Former starter who is not happy about losing job to Boomer)
6) Scott Van Allen- 36, 2B, SS

Rotation:
1) Cory Clover, 33 (LHP)- Long time member of team, nasty curveball. Doesn’t get along with Sanfredi
2) Curtis Sanfredi, 32 (RHP)- Very arrogant, and a wicked curveball. Hates Clover, but deals with him on the team.
3) Justin Mohlander, 29 (LHP)- Hard thrower, if he was more consistent, he would be the ace of the staff.
4) Felipe Aguilera, 26 (RHP)- Works pitch speed very well, and has a good slider.
5) Shane Coulson, 22 (RHP)- Newcomer that those who love analytics simply adore.

Bullpen:
1) Shawn Levinson, 32 (RHP)- Middle/Long Relief
2) Gabriel Wright, 33 (LHP)- Middle/Long relief
3) Byron Shannon, 31 (LHP)- Middle relief
4) Daniel Kirk, 21 (RHP)- Short relief
5) Trevor Howard, 24 (LHP)- Short relief
6) Timothy Werth, 25 (LHP)- Set-up
7) Martin Lemieux, 27 (RHP)- Closer

Stadium- National Stadium (Capacity- 68,217) in Stafford City

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Only if centered around the bears, but no killing or injuring them, or having them attack or kill anyone. Limit that to growling, or intimidating stares.
Use DH at home: Yes

[Xanneria]

Xanneria Maroons Roster

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

Starting Pitching

Order is top to bottom

#45 Bryan Benson
#17 Alec Ogletree
#29 KeRoy Means
#58 AJ Polling
#22 Victor Radke

Relief Pitching

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

Catchers starters on bold

#51 C Jan Van Der Bach
#70 C/DH Adam Pisgah

Infield starters in bold

#21 1B Adrian B Moore
#3 2B Alex Horn
#11 SS Paul Johnstone
#44 3B Yvan Trop
#31 INF Bobby Skinner
#13 INF Fox Francois
#6 INF Orlando Rosset

Outfield Starters in bold

#20 LF Kelly De Brock
#5 CF Ortega Sanchez
#9 RF J.R. Austin Jr
#49 OF Kit Boston
#1 OF Larry Jones
#24 Gordon Jeffers

Manager: Ned Counsell

[Tierra de Castro]

Federación Castrollana de Béisbol
World Baseball Classic 51 Roster

HEAD COACH: ‘El Zorro’ Hector Chicote, 51, fourth appearance (player: WBC 44, 45; assistant coach: WBC 46; head coach: WBC 51)

Somewhat of a living legend within Castrollano baseball, he has now followed in the footsteps of his mentor El Profesor Edgar Abasto by ending up as head coach of the national team. Chicote was a crafty pitcher, his nickname translates as 'the fox' and gives some idea of his cunning nature. He has undergone a degree of character development over recent years, earlier on in his career nobody would have suggested he would become a coach, but he has endeared himself to many with a hard-working approach as he has scouted games across Tierra de Castro for the benefit of the national team. A quiet critic of the regime he has the potential to be controversial, although he has mellowed somewhat following the conclusion of his playing career.

ASSISTANT COACH: Facundo Mina, 44, fourth appearance (player: 44, 45, 46; assistant coach: WBC 51)

Mina was an impressive lead-off hitter during his playing career, never really somebody who troubled the home run standings but he was always very good at getting on-base. It is probable that Chicote wants him on the coaching staff to develop this team's stealing prowess, with Mina an extremely patient thief who seemed to take a special joy in managing to steal bases throughout his playing career. A model citizen, Mina's stakhanovite work ethic always made him a good candidate to move into coaching and he's somebody who never causes trouble on or off the field.

STARTING ROTATION:
#29: ‘El Niño de Oro’ César de la Cavallería, 30, LHP, Estibadores, third appearance (WBC 45, 46, 51)

César burst onto the scene in WBC 45 as an 18 year old, he was the youngest ever player to be selected for the national team and he has now grown into the team's starting pitcher. He was long touted as the successor to Hector Chicote and now he's here in the national team's number one spot, big shoes for him to fill though, particularly with a few years away from the international game for the Castrollano team. He started his career when he was still in high school, playing for Estibadores and becoming a national star as a result of his quality at such a young age. He was christened with his 'golden boy' moniker and it has stuck due to his exceptional pitching ability and his diverse repertoire will make him a difficult opponent for anybody.

#25: Orlando Tenorio, 34, RHP, Industriales, third appearance (WBC 45, 46, 51)

Tenorio has often been criticised for his inconsistency with the national team, but he took Industriales to their record-setting 13th domestic title a couple of years ago and made himself a hero to their fans. Chicote has shown faith to keep him on here, he knows what a good pitcher looks like given that he was one for so long and likely sees the makings of a solid international talent. Sadly for Tenorio this may well be his last chance at playing at WBC level. Utilises a vicious curveball to good effect.

#26: Alberto Céspedes, 34, RHP, Industriales, third appearance (WBC 45, 46, 51)

Forms a pitching tandem with Tenorio for Industriales domestically and he relies more upon his fastballs and change-ups than breaking balls. As mentioned when discussing Tenorio's selection, Industriales won their record-setting 13th title two years ago and Céspedes was a huge part of that over the course of the season. Chicote would like the pair to bring that title-winning domestic form to the national team.

#07: Benjamin ‘Benji’ Arboleda, 38, LHP, Tocororos, fourth appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46, 51)

Benji Arboleda was originally touted as a closer with immense potential in WBC 44 and since then he has progressed reasonably well to the point where he will now be considered in the starting rotation. Arboleda has a knack for pressure situations and looks almost ice cold when he's on the mound, he's really at home in assessing the best method to get the next out. Domestically, Tocororos fans took a while to warm to Arboleda as he grew up a fan of their hated rivals from across town the Urracas, but his performances have started to endear him to them slowly but surely.

#30: Luis Obregón, 31, LHP, Macacos, second appearance (WBC 46, 51)

Obregón, also known as the bad guy of Castrollano baseball, renowned for his short temper and a tendency to be the focal point of bench-clearing brawls - in the midst of all that he's also a good pitcher. A bit of a rockstar domestically for his good lucks, devil-may-care attitude and off-the-field exploits he has run into trouble with the Party on occasion. Coach Abasto had to work hard to persuade him to stay on the straight-and-narrow and now that role will fall to Chicote. Obregón's unorthodox attitude is mirrored in his pitching and it can make him difficult to play against.

BULLPEN:
#32: Jesus Arnal, 25, RHP, Los Cubanos, debut appearance

Arnal will be the main option as this team's long reliever, he is usually first-choice domestically for Los Cubanos and is a pitcher who many believe could find his way into contention for the starting rotation in future tournaments. Arnal is an extremely intelligent person away from baseball, holding an engineering degree and he can often be found involved in government projects as a result. The regime hold him up as the poster boy for socialist virtues, as an example of academic and sporting excellence.

#33: Moises Velázquez, 24, RHP, 26 de Julio, debut appearance

Another one of the young bullpen Velázquez had the unenviable task of taking over from 26 de Julio legend Alfredo Tejedor with his domestic team and he has impressed thus far, helping them to the championship game last season in his first year as their number one pitcher. They lost against Marineros but Velázquez didn't do himself any harm, getting himself into Chicote's mind and arguably secured himself a place in the national team as a result. He isn't the most creative pitcher but he has done well domestically and Chicote will want him to try and translate that form to the national team.

#34: ‘Dizzy’ Benito Campos, 20, RHP, Agricultores, debut appearance

Campos is definitely one for the future but Chicote wanted to get him in the national team so that he would have experience because he seems to be a real talent. He is renowned for his dizzying knuckleball domestically, hence the nickname, it is a useful weapon to have at such a young age. He'll mostly be used as a closer during this WBC but because of his tender years Chicote may well protect him in the high-pressure games and only use him in those where the team look comfortable. Nobody wants to scar a young player so early on in their career, after all.

#35: Álvaro Nores, 23, LHP, Marineros, debut appearance

A lefty who can do a bit of everything, his diverse pitching repertoire makes him a pain to bat against and given the advancing years of many of the starting rotation it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see Nores breaking into it in the coming years. He'll be the team's main closer at this WBC but he's usually a part of the starting rotation for the current Castrollano champions Marineros, they're a team who have become really successful in recent years and they'll hope that Nores can ensure that that success continues.

#47: Joaquín Ruiz, 25, LHP, Los Cubanos, debut appearance

Ruiz is a pitcher who spends most of his time working as a mechanic, still combining his day job with his baseball career. He might not work quite as hard as he used to now that he's a part of the national team which spends a suspicious amount of time training given the fact it is supposedly amateur, but nobody can manage to tear him away from working with cars. Not the smartest guy, he's got a good fastball and that's about it. There's not much range to Ruiz's game.

#48: Yasiel Canseco, 19, RHP, Tortugas, debut appearance

Young and inexperienced Canseco will probably be used relatively sparingly but he is a player Chicote sees a bit of himself in. Canseco has wowed coaches as he's rose up the youth ranks, with intelligent pitch selection and a tendency to outwit batters. It's unlikely he'll be able to do that against the best the WBC has to offer just yet, but being exposed to this level won't do him any harm and Chicote wants to use him as a relief pitcher to get him some experience.

STARTING LINE-UP (bats/throws):
#28: Santi Cazalla, 34, RF (R/R), Industriales, third appearance (WBC 45, 46, 51)

A solid if unspectacular leadoff hitter, there is a feeling around Cazalla that if he wasn't an Industriales player he may not have had the career - or the national team appearances - that he has had, but that's quite unfair on the outfielder as he is a sound defensive presence and he was a part of the Industriales which won the championship two seasons ago. He is often a bit of a pest for opposition pitchers, having a knack of extending his at-bat for a long time and helps to increase the opposition pitcher's pitch count if nothing else! He's as good as any other Castrollano in the field, with that being a part of the game that is relentlessly drilled into kids from an early age, especially for those that attend the FCB's elite youth training programmes where the country's most promising young baseball talent is nurtured from little league right up until college.

#31: Eduardo Ciceron, 27, CF (R/R), 26 de Julio, second appearance (WBC 46, 51)

Ciceron was a major part of the championship winning 26 de Julio team from a few years ago, he's a really committed player and someone who excels in the field. Renowned for making magnificent catches and slamming home runs over the fences domestically he is one of the under thirties who actually has WBC experience and that made him an easy selection for Hector Chicote. His power has never really translated from domestic level to the international game, explaining his presence in the second spot in the line-up.

#11: Adan Carita, 38, C (R/R), Marineros, fourth appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46, 51)

Carita was this team's bona fide worldwide superstar, known as one of the best catchers in the game as well as being a regular home run hitter and with an envy-inducing RBI to boot. He is Tierra de Castro's all-time leading run scorer and is known for being a clutch player too, if the team need something, more often than not it is Adan Carita who provides it. Unfortunately his powers are waning and in Tierra de Castro's time away from international baseball he has declined a little bit with age. He's only small in stature (5'6), but he is a hefty man and packs some power into his hitting. Generally quiet off the field, preferring to help out at his family's restaurant than involve himself in any of the partying many other baseball stars take part in, on the diamond he is a different proposition altogether and a notoriously fiery character.

#19: Juan Esteban Capmany, 37, 3B (S/R), Marineros, fourth appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46, 51)

Capmany has regularly been the leading home run scorer domestically and as a childhood friend of Adan Carita the two make quite a pair on and off the diamond. They both play for their boyhood club, the Marineros and will often be seen sharing a laugh and a joke in the dugout together. However, where Carita is quiet off the field, Capmany is said to be the polar opposite as he lives an extroverted lifestyle (or as out there as can be in a communist state, although baseball stars are given some leeway...), and is a good interviewee with his always forthright views. It'll likely be Capmany's last WBC and he and Carita are determined to give it one last go at the top level.

#27: Jerónimo Illescas, 32, SS (R/R), Industriales, third appearance (WBC 45, 46, 51)

He's an excellent defensive player, with his instincts and his arm both being of the highest calibre. He's also a real danger at the plate, too, as he's developed his power over the years and added a greater level of consistency as he has got older. He's a powerful hitter, but his plate intelligence hasn't always been the greatest when compared to some of the biggest talents to have come through Castrollano baseball. Illescas has learned a bit from Isaias Tejeda over the years and that will surely prove to be useful knowledge. He plays for Industriales, he knows what pressure is, so he's probably Hector Chicote will want him to be a top contributor for this team.

#36: ‘El Ladrón’ Xavier Ureña, 25, 1B (L/L), Marineros, debut appearance

Ureña is a super aggressive baserunner and a reasonable lead-off hitter, Chicote will sometimes swap him into the lead-off or second hitter roles with the national team if Cazalla and Ciceron aren't quite doing the job. His nickname translates as 'the thief' and that explains everything you need to know about Ureña's game. He's conscientious in the field and extremely competitive, known to get quite riled up over games of cards or dominoes when on the team bus to away games with Marineros.

#37: Juan Martín Ros, 24, LF (R/R), Estibadores, debut appearance

Ros is tall and thin, not the usual build of the modern-day baseball star. He's a solid fielder but he's not going to offer much when at the plate, luckily for him his awkward approach makes him hard work to get out and that is why he occupies this spot in the line-up. Ros has often been towards the top of the charts domestically for bases on balls and it's not exactly because of any exceptional hitting ability.

#38: Lucho Cotilla, 22, 2B (L/R), Lobos, debut appearance

Cotilla is a potential star for this team, maybe the one who can follow Adan Carita into a leadership role and become Castrollano baseball's next hero. He plays second base for the unfashionable Lobos and is a real icon there despite his tender years. He wears his heart on his sleeve and it is something that they admire, when he announced that he would never leave - not even if Marineros or Industriales asked him to join them - it sent Lobos' fans into wild celebration. Cotilla can hit and will be dangerous down towards the end of the line-up and he's an extremely intelligent player when in the field too, often capable of creating double-play opportunities.

Pitcher or designated hitter, if DH: Lenin Alvarado

BENCH (bats/throws):
#39: Paúl Bienvenida, 27, 1B (R/R), Macacos, debut appearance

Quiet and unassuming Bienvenida is an asset to this young bench with his domestic experience and Chicote will expect him to really take charge and keep them focused, he will be as important to the team in doing that as he is out on the field. Better known for his quality in the field than his hitting he's not going to be setting the world alight if asked to step up to the plate, but he is a solid enough baserunner and could end up substituting in for some of the older players in the starting line-up in order to do that.

#40: ‘El Libro’ Ezequiel Barrios, 23, 2B (R/R), Marineros, debut appearance

Jokingly nicknamed 'the book' by his team mates at Marineros, Barrios is a bit eccentric and prone to viewing capitalist television programmes, he will certainly be one of the players on the national team whom the Party are watching particularly closely throughout this WBC. He came through the ranks at Marineros and has already won two titles in his three seasons of senior baseball. He's a reasonable hitter and seems to be adding power to his game, but he can sometimes be overly aggressive at the plate and he'll have to learn from the likes of Carita and Capmany to try and tone that side of his game down.

#41: Lenin Alvarado, 19, 3B (R/R), Hormigas de Fuego, debut appearance

Lenin Alvarado is from a family of staunch communists, if you couldn't tell. They were great supporters of the people's revolution, every single one of them a member of the Party and it ended up with Lenin being named after one of those responsible for the theoretical underpinnings of the Castrollano state. Turns out he's actually really good at baseball too, which is a boon for those working in Tierra de Castro's propaganda machine. He's a very powerful hitter - occupying the DH spot in this tournament - and he could become crucial in this second coming of the Castrollano national team on the multiversal stage, he's only 19 and could become a huge player in the future.

#42: Juliano Espina, 24, SS (R/R), Avispones, debut appearance

Competes for the perennial outsiders Avispones domestically, a club who always seem on the periphery of the 'big three' of Industriales, Marineros and Los Cubanos but are unable to ever quite break into it. Espina is a big hope for them as they look to add to their two championships, a really intelligent player to have at shortstop he is strong in the field but is also has the potential to be a lead-off hitter for the national team in the future. Good performances off the bench here could put him firmly in the frame to take over from Cazalla in that role next time around.

#43: Diego Alejandro Garrido, 23, LF (L/L), Tocororos, debut appearance

Garrido is a player who plays for an unfashionable team domestically and who could become a solid contributor for the national team. He doesn't really excel in any one area but is solid in all of them, a bit of a jack of all trades. It will be a tough decision for Chicote to decide between Garrido and Ros over the coming years, Ros' awkwardness has earned him the nod this time.

#44: Fidel Hurtado, 24, CF (R/R), Urracas, debut appearance

A monster arm and an appetite for stealing bases describes Hurtado's game pretty well. He's good in the field and that could be crucial for Tierra de Castro as they re-introduce themselves to the WBC, but he's also a real opportunist when baserunning and given Chicote's craftiness you can expect this team to be instructed to be really aggressive in trying to do that. He's not the best hitter but that probably isn't the skill Chicote has selected him for.

#45: ‘Sunny’ Santiago Beldadizar, 20, RF (S/R), Delfines, debut appearance

Beldadizar is nicknamed for his eternally positive disposition, something he has been noted for from being a child, apparently he has near enough always had a smile on his face. This is probably a good thing as he is a boyhood fan of Delfines, the team he now plays for and they have pretty much always been the worst team in Castrollano baseball. They are the only team to have never won a championship and if Beldadizar was prone to negativity this could be the sort of thing which would get him down. Thankfully for Delfines Beldadizar is a real talent, a strong hitter who is able to switch when at the plate he could be the man who turns it around for Delfines and gets them on their way to their first ever championship. Chicote will be rubbing his hands with glee at Beldadizar coming through given that this is probably Santi Cazalla's last WBC.

#46: Guillermo Montoya Rincon, 19, C (R/R), Tortugas, debut appearance

Montoya Rincon has come through the ranks at Tortugas, a team renowned for their defensive prowess domestically and he brings that with his error-free performances as the team's catcher. He's also a handy hitter and whilst he's not going to set any records in terms of speedy baserunning he will knock a few the distance for home runs and that's always useful, particularly when the national team are probably losing Adan Carita after this WBC - another of that rare breed which is catchers who can hit. Montoya Rincon is in that category too, with Castrollano baseball seemingly adept at producing them, he is very much in the Carita mould (albeit less prone to fiery outbursts) and will be trying to learn as much as possible from the legend throughout this WBC before he takes over from him next time around.

---

HOME STADIUM: Centro Nacional de Béisbol (capacity: 38,000)

Both the ancestral home of Castrollano baseball and the future, the national stadium is a modern construction paid for by the government as a centrepiece of the country's sports programme (alongside a modern athletics stadium, football stadium and boxing arena), all shiny steel and glass it is an exceptional modern facility and one that will be used for years to come. The ethics of it being built are of course not in question at all and although the money spent on its construction could perhaps have been better spent in other ways, Castrollanos love their baseball and therefore this stadium is the jewel in the FCB's (and the government's) proverbial crown. Alongside the stadium are training facilities for the national team and all the age-group teams down to the little-league squads, with government funding of the FCB youth training programme increasing almost tenfold with the decision to finally send a team to the World Baseball Classic as they hope to prove the superiority of socialist sporting prowess above all else on the global stage. There are plans afoot to eventually name the stadium after legendary coach El Profesor Edgar Abasto, the man who got Castrollano baseball onto the international scene and with relative success as they progressed to the knockout stages during WBC 44 and 45.

NOTES:

Tierra de Castro is a communist state with a Caribbean climate and the government are determined to demonstrate the superiority of their chosen political system through sport, thus large swathes of government funds are funnelled towards baseball along with a few other sports (athletics and boxing mainly, with the proficiency of the Castrollano boxing being particularly worthy of praise).

The quality of life for citizens in Tierra de Castro is relatively good, but the majority of society will have very little in the way of disposable cash and some places will look a little rundown, although they will always be spotlessly clean at least. Public services are very good, healthcare and transport particularly. Tourism is the biggest industry for Tierra de Castro, with rich tourists from comparatively more prosperous nations spending their money vacationing on the sandy beaches that can be accessed straight from the government-run hotels right next to them. Castrollano cigars are exceptional and are regularly sold to tourists for an extremely high mark-up.

Sociolismo is rife, with friends often providing each other with certain black market goods that can be difficult to find, swapping one for another and saying little else about it. Anyone caught doing this will be imprisoned, something which is definitely a bad thing in Tierra de Castro. In short, citizens have a reasonable quality of life, with little to no political rights and a great love for baseball. Palm trees, communism and baseball - what's not to like?

Be careful, if your answer to that question is a negative one the secret police will send you to prison quicker than El Presidente can declare that manufacturing and agricultural production is up 150% in his next speech!

OOC STUFF:

Choose my runscorers: ¡Sí!
Choose my lineup: ¡No!
Follow my pitching rotation: Pick whichever you find the most interesting from the starting rotation.
Godmod scoring events: ¡Sí!
RP injuries to my players: ¡Sí! But I shall determine severity.
Godmod injuries to my players: ¡No!
Eject my players: ¡Sí!
Godmod other events: ¡Sí! No deaths though please.
Use DH at home: ¡Sí!

[Kohnhead]

Kohnhead comes into the 51st World Baseball Class with heightened expectations


We looked good during training

It's been a year since the last one and Kohnhead is ready for the 51st World Baseball Classic with a ranking of 26th following the 50th World Baseball Classic where we lost in the Round of 32 to Tikariot. It was a very surprising run from Kohnhead as we went 20-10 in the Group Stage which was good enough to earn us the 15th seed and had the first round been the Round of 16 we would have made that. However we suffered a hotly contested 3-2 series loss to Tikariot a team rising in the baseball world as well having won the 11th IBS and just like that we left Cassadaigua after five games.

This time around the team has expectations far greater than last time given that we enter as a pot three team and our group does not look that difficult to advance out of given how many teams advance. The two biggest teams that we have to face our 4th seeded Banija who dominated us back in WBC 49 when we were in the same group as them, while they've gone down two ranks since then hopefully we can show them that we are a lot better than our first tournament. While I don't see us coming close to winning the series against Banija hopefully we can win or maybe even go 3-3 against the highly ranked side.

Coming in as the pot two team is a side that we really didn't want to draw but unfortunately we have ended up with South Newlandia the top team in pot two being ranked #11 in the world. South Newlandia who are one of the co-hosts have been projected as a breakout candidate the last couple of Classics after their initial one saw them make the Round of 16 but in both Newmanistan and Cassadaigua they also fell out in the Round of 16. Now they try to avoid a curse as we take South Newlandia a nation whose baseball league has two Kohnheadian players in Hahn and Crouch who both play for the Blue Sox.

The pot three team is us who are looking to get back to the Round of 32 and potentially even further believing that we have the ability to do so as the 3rd team in pot three making this group have a really difficult set of top three teams. Sicoutimont are the pot four team and they are coming off of a 14-16 record at the 50th Classic where they finished 4th in their group and were a win away from advancing to the next round. Sicoutimont are going to look to play spoiler against us and we need to do our best to avoid this.

The pot five team in our group comes from St. Saratoga who are ranked 96th in the World and the lowest ranked team with a rank in the tournament who last participated in the 49th edition of the WBC. The hope against teams like St. Saratoga is that we go 5-1 against them and 4-2 at worst as we know we need to beat up on the bottom pot teams to try and advance.

Pratapgadh is the only unranked team in our group and if they're as good at baseball as they're in basketball, we are in trouble. They claim to be not very good at baseball, participating in the classic once back in the 46th edition and say that cricket is their main sport. Didn't they say the same thing about basketball? And look how they did in that, so I'm not buying it. Ideally we go 6-0 or 5-1 against them but Pratapgadh is definitely a wildcard in the group.

Overall I think this team is definitely improved from the team that went 20-10 in the Group Stage last year, however it must be noted that the team last year was statistically a lot better than it should have been in close games so regression is expected in that area. The team has gotten an influx of talent from the youth ranks recently most notably with Fox as the third in the rotation, Lane as the starting closer, and Dudley as the starting DH however Park, Conroy, and Clayton will all see playing time as well and there will definitely be more in the future.

Our first series will see us take on Pratapgadh the unranked team and I'm hoping for a sweep especially with our top three in Bloggs, Crouch, and Fox ready to take the mound for the first time in the Classic however you never know especially in baseball.

Let's go Pandas!

[South Newlandia]

What? who did you just say is hosting?

South Newlandian roster for the 51st World Baseball Classic

South Newlandia has, to the surprise of some, secured the hosting rights to WBC51 together with Tikariot. Three years after the International Baseball Slam, it will be the first big multiversal tournament coming to South Newlandia. After reaching the Round of 16 three times in their three attempts in the last six years, the team is still hoping for more; especially after the U22-team was just one game away from capturing the IBS13 title in Banija last year. Due to their relative success (although football is keeping easily pace with baseball now in that department), baseball has rapidly grown as a sport in South Newlandia, and this team is widely regarded as the best one South Newlandia has fielded yet. Of course, it contains much the same players, but there’s some good talents, too. As a pot two team, the Quarterfinals are a tough ask, but with home field advantage, it may just be possible.

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

Coaching staff

Manager/Head Coach: Tobias Sansara (37)

Sansara has brought the Elephants to three knockout stages only to be losing to an extremely good team in the Round of 16 time and time again. After Newmanistan, Hapilopper, and Nova Anglicana, he wants to reach the last eight. He certainly has time to try; being 37, there may be many Classics ahead of him. He brings basically the same coaching staff around again.

Hitting coach: Anthony Smith-Miller (37)
ASM is back, and he will assume his old role as the batting coach again. He and Sansara are not only the same age, but they are also good friends, and you can see them working together very well.

Pitching coach: Damian Bolton (41)
Damian Bolton also returns to his old spot, he brought all four of his pitchers along with him as well. Pitching was the big strength that got South Newlandia in the early years, and it will be crucial again.

Bench Coach: Gabriel Brown (45)
Brown returns to his job as a bench coach. He’s always been a good friend of Sansara, and assists him with difficult decisions.

Bullpen coach: Mohamed Felix (42)
In the very beginning of South Newlandian baseball, bullpens were a foreign concept. Over the years, the Elephants have adapted to playing actual baseball with relievers, at least for the most part. Felix is responsible for the relief pitchers, a crucial weak spot for South Newlandia in pretty much every tournament, so his squad will be important once more.

1st Base Coach: Jakub Mayo (57)
Mayo will be the oldest coach in this year’s staff, and he will be responsible for the 1st base. We strongly advise against making condiment-based jokes in his presence.

3rd Base Coach: Diego Kirk (46)
Kirk takes responsibility at third base. He’s often criticised for being not aggressive enough, often holding runners on third in favourable situations; but he is usually about right.

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

(SP1) Jacob Conroy (27, R) [Ko-orenite League]
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Curveball, Changeup, Cutter)
Conroy has been the South Newlandian ace for six years, and will be back once again. He has a fastball that can rival that of good relievers, and works a couple good pitches off of it. Like all South Newlandian pitchers, he isn’t held to any particular pitch count, but gets pulled whenever he doesn’t have his best stuff. Sometimes, that means he goes the entire game. Even though South Newlandia uses a DH, he occasionally has to hit here or there, and like all South Newlandian pitchers, he’s quite bad at it.

(SP2) Ryan Hunter (25, L) (Ratzupalfu Rhinos)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Circle Changeup*, Cutter)
Hunter is perhaps most well-known for an incident with Midnight, the bear that used to play for Hampton Island. Since the bear charged the mound there, giving him a good scare before Midnight was shot with a tranquilizer gun. He hasn’t given out a single international walk since. He doesn’t really need to, either, having earned his spot as #2 on the South Newlandian team with good fastballs and an excellent changeup that just vanishes, seemingly. He’s also the best hitter among the pitchers, for when the team has to play without designated hitter.

(SP3) Jay Kramer (23, R) (Masmow Dragons)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer, Changeup, Slider*)
Kramer, ace of the Masmow Dragons, has earned his spot on the team with an awesome slider and otherwise solid hitting. He’s pretty average aside from that, but he is known to collapse in spectacular fashion. Sometimes, when he gets overwhelmed, the wheels just completely come off, so putting him in high leverage situations isn’t always ideal.

(SP4) Blake Robbins (29, R) (Ruditown Dachshunds)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Splitter*, Forkball, Changeup)
Robbins, the oldest pitcher the Elephants have, is the only pitcher with his particular skillset. Whether that works to his advantage remains to be seen, but it certainly is more unusual then what most the South Newlandian pitchers have. He’s also the worst hitter among the pitchers by a long shot.

(SP5) Ben Gonzalo (21, R) (Newport Dolphins)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Slider, Curveball)
Gonzalo is the only WBC rookie among the starting pitchers, earning his spot with a fantastic IBS in Banija. His combination complements itself well; throwing the 4-seamer most of the time with a phenomenal curveball that completely disappears from where it was initially going. If he has to bat, he swings for the fences every single ball thrown to him, which isn’t the ideal strategy, but could go well if he ends up hitting one.

Bullpen

(Closer) Barnaby Butt (26, L) (Masmow Dragons)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer*, Circle Changeup, Slider)
Real pitching habits only evlved slowly with the Elephants, but they will make another step towards a usual bullpen this Classic. With Butt, the best among the relievers, the team has found a capable left handed pitcher to close out games with. Watch out for that Slider.

(Setup) Patrik Bryant (23, R) (Southwestern Baselanders)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer, Cutter*, Slider)
A setup pitcher will be used by the team for the first time, but probably not all the time. Bryant isn’t exactly a dominant reliever, but he can get some outs, especially with a cutter he can throw hard and with a decent amount of movement.

(Primary1) Abby Conrad (21, R, *F) (Sophie City Girls)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Cutter, Curveball, Slider)
Conrad is the only female player on the roster this year, but she will make history as the first female pitcher to pitch for South Newlandia. She definitely deserves that role, featuring a strong fastball and a great Curveball/Slider combination.

(Primary2) Gostaf Sjabard (24, L) (Rüsselsheim Blue Sox)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Changeup, Curveball*, Cutter)
Although Sjabard uses a similar set of pitches as Conrad, the two play very differently. For one, Sjabard is a lefty, and aside from that, he has a changeup he likes to use. His masterpiece, though, is a fantastic curveball that is very deceptive for the amount of movement is creates.

(Lefty specialist) Bert Hoosier (22, L) (Elephant Valley Homers)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer, Curveball, Circle Changeup*)
Hoosier will be the man to get lefties out. With a great Changeup, he can do just that; but he probably will not be called on a whole lot. South Newlandian coaches still dislike changing pitchers too often.

(Mop-up1) Marcel Adams (29, R) (Elephant Valley United)
(Arsenal: 2-seamer*, Slider, Changeup)
Adams might be the least interesting player on the team, average in everything he does. Don’t expect great things for him, but he rarely collapses either. He is most commonly brought in for the almost decided games. Don’t underestimate him, that 2-seamer is no joke. Still, he’ll most likely be out there in the games that are already lost.

(Mop-up2) Brayden Colhusion (26, L) (Newport Owls)
(Arsenal: 4-seamer*, Curveball, Slider, Changeup)
Colhusion is going to make his first international appearance at 26 years old, earning recognition with a terrific season with the Owls. He’s the only pitcher that can reliably approach 100 mph on this team, seemingly finding out how to just this year, and he’s going to show it off. He still lacks experience, so he’ll be stuck here; maybe brought on for the games well in hand already.


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

(1B) Adam King (26, R) (Elephant Valley Homers)
(Speed: Average | Power: Very High | Contact: Average | Fielding: Average)
King is definitely the biggest power threat on this team. He is definitely capable of hitting quite a few dingers without warning, but can approach a cold stretch just as quick. He can hit for contact too, if he has too, but is mostly mediocre at fielding or running fast.

(2B) Igor White (30, R) (Elephant Valley United)
(Speed: High | Power: Average | Contact: High | Fielding: Good)
Igor White is, at just 30 years old, the oldest player suiting up for the Elephants. He’s still fast, hits well, and most importantly, works together with Drum excellently. He does have frequent issues with his knees, and missed time during the season with United, but if he’s healthy, he’s a centrepiece of the team.

(3B) Ian Pearce (27, R) [Ko-orenite League]
(Speed: High | Power: Low | Contact: Very Low | Fielding: Very Good)
Ian Pearce has been on this team since the beginning, and he still didn’t figure out how to hit. Maybe he picked something up in Ko-oren, but he is definitely the least likely player to score runs. He is fairly fast, and by far the best fielder on the team. He produces few errors, and can throw out even the fastest runners on grounders to third.

(SS) David Drum (24, R) (Newport Dolphins)
(Speed: Average | Power: High | Contact: Low | Fielding: Good)
Drum has established himself as an elite shortstop, being both a scoring threat and an excellent fielder. He does have a tendency to produce trouble in the clubhouse, though, and isnt regarded as the best team player; except when it comes to his buddy Igor.

(LF) Daryl Dunlop (26, R) (Masmow Dragons)
(Speed: Very Fast | Power: Average | Contact: High | Fielding: Average)
Dunlop, another player from the Dragons, is the fastest guy on the team, and the only one to go for the steal often. He’s fairly good at getting on base too, but his fielding abilities are fairly average at best. Going for steals of course leads to getting thrown out occasionally, too.

(CF) Shawn Zimmerman (22, S) (St. Riecarn Saints)
(Speed: High | Power: Average | Contact: Very High | Fielding: Good)
Zimmerman is one of the biggest talents playing for the Elephants. The five-tool player excels at everything, and started for this team at just 18 years old. Now, four years later, he is phenomenal at getting contact, and goes for the deep ball less often then he used too. He’ll end up on base a lot, and has the speed to get more. That also allows him to cover lots of ground defensively, making him, coupled with a strong arm, one of the best South Newlandian players.

(RF) Fabio Ventura (28, L) (Elephant Valley Homers)
(Speed: High | Power: Average | Contact: Very High | Fielding: Bad)
Ventura has been the offensive star on this team since the beginning. Like most South Newlandian hitters, he goes for contact a lot, and is very good at it. His formerly phenomenal speed, however, is dropping, and he’s never been a great fielder in the first place. Nevertheless, he’ll be the first to step in the box every game, just like he always has been.

(C) Fred Burn (22, R) [Ko-orenite League]
(Speed: Average | Power: Low | Contact: Average | Fielding: Average)
Burn, another player in the Ko-orenite baseball league, is the only truly new player on the starting lineup, replacing Garner. He’s not bad at hitting, and works with the pitchers well; which is all the Elephants need from him. He’s a bit too paranoid about sequences, and not too good at throwing base-stealers out, but after four years of sitting on the bench, he’s more than ready.

(DH (RF)) Mike Larsen (23, L) (Newport Dolphins)
(Speed: High | Power: Low | Contact: Very High | Fielding: Average)
Larsen, the Designated Hitter for the team, is another Contact hitter, usually not going for power. He’s decently fast, and has among the best plate discipline of the squad. Despite that, he rarely strikes out. He plays in Right Field for the Dolphins, and could be the player to eventually replace Ventura there.


Bench:

(C) Brad Moore (23, R) (Newport Dolphins)
(Speed: Low | Power: High | Contact: Low | Fielding: Good)

(IF (1B)) Nicolas Perez (20, R) (Sun City Flames)
(Speed: High | Power: Very High | Contact: High | Fielding: Average)
Perez is one of the biggest talents for South Newlandia, a true five tool player, who’ll break into the roster sooner than later. He’s also the most likely pinch hitter.

(IF (SS)) Bob Flowers (25, R) (Ratzupalfu Rhinos)
(Speed: Average | Power: Low | Contact: Average | Fielding: Very Good)

(OF (CF)) Rufus Salas (20, R) (Ratzupalfu Rhinos)
(Speed: Fast | Power: Average | Contact: High | Fielding: Average)
Salas is decently fast, and the most likely option to be pinch running.

(OF (RF)) Gary Promises (19, R) (Newport Owls)
(Speed: Low | Power: Very High | Contact: Low | Fielding: Good)
Promises, who really bulked up in the offseason, is a really, really strong guy. He goes for the deep ball, and that’s about all he does. He’s the other good option for pinch hitting.

Lineups:

With DH:
1. Fabio Ventura
2. Mike Larsen
3. Shawn Zimmerman
4. Adam King
5. Daryl Dunlop
6. David Drum
7. Igor White
8. Fred Burn
9. Ian Pearce

Without DH:
1. Fabio Ventura
2. Daryl Dunlop
3. Shawn Zimmerman
4. Adam King
5. David Drum
6. Igor White
7. Fred Burn
8. Ian Pearce
9. Pitcher

Stadium

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

[Bardney]

The difference is clear: traditional base ball is superior

Rudolph Colburn, Bristol Herald

My dear reader, international base ball has returned to our fair shores once more. The World Baseball Classic, which you may remember as the international base ball competition our nation entered into two years ago, is preparing for its 51st edition. Our base ball players managed a record of 8-22 last time they competed, due to a variety of factors which I shall now elucidate. First, the despicable conduct of the opposing teams, including the team from Hapilopper. They simply refused to play a gentlemanly game; when one side conducts itself in the manner befitting gentleman at all times, while the other takes every opportunity to bend the rules to their breaking point, it is unfair and can only result in the downfall of the gentlemanly side. Second, our men were simply not accustomed to the rules and play of international base ball. With one WBC under their belts, we may expect stronger results this time.

But I do not wish to dwell on the past too long. I must discuss a rising threat to our game of base ball and the way it has been played for many years now. Some hooligans, ruffians, and scoundrels calling themselves baseball players, complaining of unfair treatment and wages by the team owners, and wishing to change the rules of base ball, have announced their intention to form a competing base ball league, which I am told they are calling the "Bardneyian League of Professional Base Ball." Their new league would play by the rules of international base ball and would supposedly address these supposed labor issues. They intend to drum up support for this new league by competing against our neighbors in the region of Escandinavia in an international baseball competition of their own. They are destined to fail, and for several reasons.

First, they simply cannot hope to compete with the National Association of Professional Base Ball Clubs. The NAPBBC is too well established and provides a base ball of such surpassing excellence that no fan in their right mind would support this new league. Second, I hear they intend to gain financial support by allowing gambling men to invest in teams and for gambling to be freely allowed in this new league. This type of moral degeneracy is akin to building one's house upon a foundation of sand and there is no room for it in base ball. Third, the caliber of player they have so far attracted is far below that of Bardney's WBC team or of the NAPBBC. No player from the last WBC has jumped ship to this new league and competition. Some lesser players have been tempted by offers of a higher salary, but this is a devil's bargain. They will find that they take no pleasure in playing in a league that is so inferior in quality. Fourth, these supposed labor issues over which these players justify their secession in reality do not exist. Players are compensated at wages far beyond that of the average workingman; what right do they have to demand more? Additionally, complaints such as these only encourage the socialist and anarchist rabble in this country and foment chaos. Furthermore, I know personally many owners of NAPBBC clubs, and they assure me that money is tight even in the best of years because they try to keep the prices of tickets and refreshments low to benefit spectators. Fifth, what do these players hope to accomplish by competing against our Escandinavian neighbors? They have underdeveloped base ball traditions compared to ours. They play, yes, but not in any way so as to compare to us. Defeating teams of amateurs does not cover oneself with glory. Sixth and finally, they propose to play the international style of base ball. Those of you who read my column regularly will remember me addressing why the international rules and style of play are far inferior to the Bardneyian style, so I shall not recapitulate here. Suffice to say that it is not nearly as interesting, nor will it attract the Bardneyian attention in the same way as our native game.

The rogues say they are going through with it; I wish them nothing but sorrow. It shall serve them right for embarking on such a foolish and morally degenerate endeavor. Those of you with a superior moral fiber will join me in supporting the true Bardneyian team with all of our might. Those of you who are morally bankrupt might wish to subscribe to our competitor newspaper, the Bristol Post. I think that its gambling and cartoon sections will be much more to your liking.

[Hapilopper]

Raceway Park, Buckridge
World Baseball Classic 51 Series 1: Hapilopper v. the Luck of Jirachi
There was something different about the first series of this year’s World Baseball Classic, and everyone knew why. Raceway Park was so much different from Capital Stadium. Not in a bad way, mind you, but just different. The fans were louder and closer to the action. Maybe the Hap Thrashers could play a little harder because the surface had that extra give that the old artificial turf at Capital Stadium didn’t. That kind of play led to Hapiloppian fans almost en masse calling for Capital Stadium to install natural grass into their stadium, something Capital Stadium’s twii.tur had to explain was simply not possible.

CAPITAL STADIUM ✓

@HC-CapStadium

We have way too many events for a natural grass surface to be feasible.

#WBC51 : #HAPvsCLJ

Or maybe it was the extra intensity coming from the Hap Thrashers coming in to sweep the Alma-Ata Clerical Holy Warriors. It wasn’t the fact that the Holy Warriors were a bad team. It was just the fact that the Hap Thrashers felt like there was something to prove. They had to win. They had to go out, kick ass and show the world that this was their year. It started in the second inning when Jerome Hayden – you know that name, right? – came up to the batter’s box. He stared a hole through Holy Warrior pitcher Chagatai Asharikov and nodded his head. Everyone was thinking home run.

So imagine everyone’s surprise when Jerome hit a light chopper over the head of shortstop Sergei Tilekov and ran like hell – faster than anyone was expecting. It was certainly not the hit anyone was expecting, and his motion past first base and then into second – leaping into the air and diving head-first into second base – caught everyone off guard. It seemed like Jerome was leading with his face, and it certainly didn’t bother him when he bonked the base bag with his nose. In fact, he looked over to the second base umpire, and appeared to ask “am I safe?”

When the umpire motioned that Jerome was indeed safe, he lept up, gestured to the Hapiloppian dugout and shouted “watch THIS!” He then pointed to Levi Berry, walking up to the batter’s box and shouted “TAKE ME HOME!”

Levi nodded his head, and hit a bloop single to right field that sent Jerome to third. Leroy Hunnisett was up to bat. He sensed something was up. He looked back towards third base to see a crazed look on Jerome’s face. It seemed like his legs were rumbling, raring to go. To Leroy, that was a subtle hint. Jerome was going to try to steal home. The best thing Leroy could do in this situation was get ready to step back. He watched the first pitch sail past him for a ball, and resisted the urge to look back to third base. After all, the worst thing he could do was telegraph that Jerome was about to steal home.

But Leroy swore he could hear the sounds of a train in his head. He swore he could hear a locomotive coming his way. As catcher Amir Taymetov threw the pitch back to Asharikov, Jerome started running.

“GET READY FOR THE PAIN, BOY! THE PAIN TRAIN IS COMING! WOO WOO, WOO WOO!!” Jerome roared as he emulated the sound of a train just before rushing towards home. He was going to knock Taymetov into next week if he had the ball, and if Leroy didn’t get out of the way, he was going to become collateral damage. Leroy rushed back in time for Jerome to get to home, but thankfully for Taymetov, the ball didn’t reach him in time, so Jerome didn’t have to knock Taymetov into next week. The Hap Thrashers’ first run of the World Baseball Classic had been scored by stealing home.

It set the tone. The Haps never trailed during the first game, winning a 5-4 win over the Holy Warriors. In the second game, Vic Foster went to a Mel’s Ultra-Mart near Raceway Park and picked up some personal lubricant to do something to his pitches. And sure enough, he slathered the balls with the personal lubricant. When an umpire bitched, Vic shouted “IT’S WATER BASED!” as if that was going to make any difference. And Vic pitched a gem, giving up only one run, six hits and two walks while registering twelve strikeouts in eight innings. But that one run, scored by Aman Kasharbayev, very nearly cost the Hap Thrashers.

It was one of the few pitches that Vic missed on. He had hoped the pitch would sink, but it didn’t. He had hoped the pitch would slow down in velocity, but it didn’t. Instead, it went right down the middle. Vic had given Kasharbayev a gift, and Kasharbayev made the most of it, sending it into the bottom two rows of the second deck in left field. Vic watched it fly, shook his head, and mouthed the word “Fuck!” as he watched the ball land in the deck.

And deep down, Vic felt terrible about the home run. That is, until Jerome Hayden bailed Vic out in the bottom of the ninth with a towering shot to deep left field. There was no question of the overhang of the second deck – this one was fuckin’ belted. Jerome knew it, too. He watched it fly towards the deck and stopped to watch it fly. A huge smile came over his face. The fans in the upper deck of left field hoped to fight for the ball – but they couldn’t. The ball hit the roof of the second deck and bounced out of the park entirely. Jerome smiled even more then started trotting slowly around the bases. The Haps had tied it with the Holy Warriors, 1-1.

In the 12th inning, Dayton Rowe – he with the incredible speed – hit a gentle chop over the head of relief pitcher Vasily Vladimirov and rushed towards second base. As Jerome By God Hayden took to the plate for his at-bat, everyone was watching him. That was Dayton’s cue. He rushed for third base and slid in safely without a lot of people noticing. Dayton got up and gave the thumbs up to his teammate. Jerome nodded his head, which appeared to be a silent cue for something.

So as the first pitch flew past Jerome for a strike, something clicked in his head. He looked back to Dayton, raised his eyebrow and looked back to Vladimirov. And to the surprise of everyone, Jerome put his bat out to bunt. Dayton was already running home. By the time the pitcher or the catcher could get to the ball, Dayton had slid into home, giving the Haps the win on a walkoff suicide squeeze.

And in the third game, it was more of the same. The Holy Warriors took an early lead in the fourth inning, Aman Kasharbayev again taking advantage of a bad pitch, this one from Cole Winthrop. But the Haps came back, scoring in the fifth with a Levi Berry home run, and in the seventh when Grant Bonney ran like hell to make a double a triple, and when Terry Blanchard followed suit. The Haps wound up sweeping the Holy Warriors in three games as the Haps got ready to travel to Super-Llamaland.

The Tigers of Super-Llamaland were going to be one of the strongest tests of the Hap Thrashers. Super-Llamaland was a very good baseball team. Their novel concept of selecting players, utilizing advanced stats to pick their players, appeared to have worked at least in the first series of the World Baseball Classic, sweeping Silvedania in the first series.

And the Hap Thrashers knew that Super-Llamaland, one way or another, was going to be one hell of a challenge for them.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Now And Forever

PART 5 (62) - Deepest Lonely

Here I am, alone again.

Asher sat alone in Eileen’s apartment, at six in the early-June evening, quietly watching the rain drizzle down the tuesday night, with a mug of tea right in front of him. The tea mug, slightly oversized red one that Eileen brought from her parents’ place almost a decade ago, contained a couple of lemon tea bags bought from a local store. While an owl forevermore, he wasn’t like a lot of stereotypical Quebecois in that he seldom was picky with his choice of tea in what hour or under what occasion. Asher preferred to pick whichever that he would first see on the cupboard, and would have a cup after having a deep puff of cigarettes.

For those who knew them well, the abundance of mugs was something particularly noticeable from the beginning, the product of a household that’s slowly merging their properties together from one house to another and vice versa. As Asher slowly drank and shared a light-hearted conversation with clouds of colours both pale, fiery and of pale fire, he was once again confronting himself face-to-face.

Hello, bonjour, I’m….

Asher was always ready to have such conversations, and was afraid of it no more. However frightening the fears of being truthful, whether it be the past-life traumas, which they had now collectively shared as a couple, or the lack of faith in their relationship, was not enough to deter the man. He had scrambled on tasks like this before, sleeping away on the responsibilities and stayed alone in their lodgings, but pretensions.

Yes, it’s me. It’s me you looking for? I’m sure you’ve heard of me before.

He remembered his younger self as a Capitolien back in his city. At this point in time, the meaning of loneliness differed between Asher and Eileen. In those days, Asher was a college student who would find the pleasures in trying every substance possible, meeting every person he could meet, and most channelling every form of pleasure into his life experiences. Yet somehow, despite attaining it all as a college catcher and having all his doors opened for him into his desired career pathway of journalism, Asher had ended up feeling emptier than his younger self.

So he went back, but the gap between him and her, in status and confidence, had only widened. The social obligations, where he would usually be the one dressed in simple dress shirts and pants, and her exquisite dresses, were frequent enough to remind him so. Worse still, the life he had to sacrifice twice- first when they got back together and second the night they cried on her appearance at the Nam Chang-Seon’s Boardwalks last July- was coming back at him. Now, they were chasing Asher around like shadows even when they were at their happiest, and such was the sheer state of his mind (but not hers, don’t be confused dear reader! Very important!).

.....Yes, I do love her, but that doesn’t mean I’m the right person. He said to himself. The rain continued to fall, and so did he contemplate. One thing he clearly remembered since the very night they had spent together once again as a couple, was the change of attitudes in loneliness and running away. And that’s where he had noticed her improvements as an artist, and he was not so much as a dreamer.

Of course Asher had remembered Eileen, who was always the introvert in heart, as the one to find the meaning in darkness, but even more so was she able to increasingly find the gap between the night and the day, the opaque and the bare, and the mystique and the clear, and weave them along. Whenever they would travel anywhere together, she’s the one who would navigate on her own for hours and come back, while Asher would feel lost without a museum or a village trip gone according to his ‘plan’. Thus, by the end of the night, it had ended up going in a neverending circle of questions about the circles that should have been overlapped with each other, but actually failed to do so for majority of the time.

He knew why that would her, the coexistence of the mischievous and the joyful could coexist, but not for him. It’s straightforward, in that Asher wasn't scared of people or the chaotic, but rather in its manifestation- he is scared in being a different self. Sure, Asher in many occasional had thought of running away and living a hateful, Foucaldian existence or that of a Quignardian choice of non-redeeming deernacy, but all such waves were frivolous too much and not one bit substantial for him to really live one. None of it would provide him the neverending circle of what it truly means to live, or be a worthy human being, and he didn’t want to go through that again. He had already done that before since by the end of it all, half the high society had known of Baron Bron-Yr-Aur's nephew's brilliant penmanship and his ability to bed every other person if willing. Thus, by this point, Asher was resigned to pick a tarot card of his fate, that was going to happen sooner than later.

Still, the heart-to-heart moment has yet to happen, and they still had to go through a couple of hurdles first.

The night was growing colder now, and long puffs of breath hung in the air in the form of condensation. Positioned in a comfortable sofa better used for movie nights than watching the dusk, Asher contemplated once again as he realised it was almost nine in the dark.

6:49, in eleven minutes and I'll be heading… He thought, realising that he had a taxi scheduled right at front of their place for a seven-forty five reading event of his own work.

Then, just as he turned around, he watched the figures of his own shadow rise, carefully reframed as that of a suffering woman, stand away from him, into the night. He held back at how precise the figure was in representing his fear, and how imprecise as to who this figure may represent. Asher held back, his body feeling bloated, immovable and without control.

No...not today...not today...

That's all he said over and over again, as he sat for a few minutes, slowly trembling even with his numbed senses, until all calmed down. Gradually, the form dissipated and he was able to realise that it was all the product of his mind. Of course, it's not the end of the day yet...

[Quintessence of Dust]

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

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

Home stadiums:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Names: Since this was not clear last time, all Quodite names use the forename-surname format, including for players of Japanese or Chinese descent.

NEW! Coach: Jun Jiang. The Things resurrect a 120 year dormant tradition of appointing former players as coaches, and a Quintessential-Chinese one at that. Jun lost his starting place at WBC 50 but enjoyed a couple solid domestic years before succumbing to injuries. Rather than endure a long slow decline, he sensibly hopped straight into coaching. By international standards he’s very experienced, having never even coached an HBL team, but the Things are betting on his good rapport with many team-mates and intimate knowledge of his pitchers. A pretty traditional guy (in Quodite terms, meaning he favors splits, aggressive use of relievers, being willing to use his high-leverage closers before the 9th inning, aggressive base running, and conservative base stealing).

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

1. #10 Jack Martin
2. #71 Mayumi Kawakami
3. #11 Hachirou Fujimori

NEW! 4. #96 Wen Lei (L/L) Upper Niedewe Gael
Cut fastball (95 – 97 mph), curveball, changeup
2.69 FIP / 1.03 WHIP / 6.6 K/9
His so-so career numbers compared to some of his other teammates are partly explained by his young age when he made the jump to Hannasea, but he’s coming off an insane hot season, which has seen him win multiple pitching awards and throw a first career no-hitter. Still not a major strikeout guy, he’s a pronounced groundball pitcher with a Platinum Glove fielding off the mound and a fair bat for a pitcher.

NEW! 5. #36 Zhen Jiang (L/L) New Blopping Mountaineers
Cut fastball (92 – 94 mph), curveball, changeup, slider
3.60 FIP / 1.27 WHIP / 8.9 K/9
Following a career repeatedly hit by injuries, Jiang finally seems to have put it together in time to impress at a WBC. A very decent hitter for his position, he was previously more known for his exploits at the plate than on the mound, but always had solid strikeout numbers thanks to excellent off-speed pitches. This season, a change in release angle helped him improve his control.

Gender-non-specific-bovine-pen: Listed in approximately ascending order of leverage. Splits favored. Given the complete implosion the supposedly highly rated closers suffered at WBC 50, Jun has instead gone with bright young prospects, for the most part.

#29 Justin Isaacson
#79 Jules Béranger

NEW! #25 Cody Young (R/R) Highmark Giants
Four-seam fastball (90 – 92 mph), curveball
2.82 FIP / 1.39 WHIP / 6.7 K/9

#37 Jiro Fujioka
#76 Alexis Lacroix

NEW! #70 Matthew Murphy (R/R) Greenfield Shamans
Sinking fastball (95 – 97 mph), curveball
2.10 FIP / 1.06 WHIP / 13.7 K/9

NEW! #43 Jean-Noël Boudreaux (L/L) Butterfly City Super Hamsters
Sinkiing fastball (95 – 97 mph), slider
2.06 FIP / 1.04 WHIP / 10.3 K/9

NEW! #37 Michael Ryan (R/R) West Chestnut Dragons
Four-seam fastball (97 – 99 mph), slider
2.61 FIP / 1.05 WHIP / 14.7 K/9

NEW! #95 Cheng Mao (R/R) New Blopping Corsairs
Sinking fastball (95 – 97 mph), slider
2.15 FIP / 0.98 WHIP / 12.8 K/9

Position players: After the failures last time the priority has been to get power into the lineup and especially on the bench. Splits at first, third, and right field. Isabella leads off and Naoko bats second but everything else can be reasonably fluid.

#27 Luke Phelps

NEW! #89 Joakim Stensrud (R/R) Pintook Saracens
.331 wOBA / .173 ISO / 20.5 LD% / 2.3 SPD
Superb hitting catcher with real pop. Nowhere close to Luke as a defensive catcher and cannot catch the knuckleball, so appearances may be limited to DH, bench, and giving Luke the odd rest.

NEW! #4 Sigurkarl Borgþórsson (L/L) West Chestnut Dragons
.476 wOBA / .301 ISO / 28.6 LD% / 5.6 SPD
Poor Thorsten, just as he establishes himself as the everyday first baseman, Sigurkarl knocks 51 home runs over the fences as a rookie. Physically the strongest man to play for the Things since perhaps the days of Barry Pullman. Surprising speed for a man of his size. Awful splits and not a special defender.

#47 Thorsten Kaufer

NEW! #45 Yasuhiro Hanazawa (R/R) New Blopping Mountaineers
.337 wOBA / .112 ISO / 21.9 LD% / 6.9 SPD
One scrappy slap hitter replaces another at second base. Yasuhiro is a better fielder than Kosuke was, though. Not much upgrade in power.

NEW! #92 Stig Akerström (L/R) Coral Coast Silver Sox
.372 wOBA / .226 ISO / 22.7 LD% / 2.1 SPD

NEW! #45 Kun Lin (R/R) Angelwood Green Jaxx
.308 wOBA / .181 ISO / 18.5 LD% / 4.7 SPD
The split at third contrasts a pretty typical corner infielder in Stig, with a lot of power, a good eye, and not much else, with Kun, who has some speed, a better glove, a more rounded offensive game, but nothing close to the power. Fortunately Stig can barely even be in the same ballpark as a lefty so Kun will get some games.

#7 Naoko Hisakawa
#74 Arielle Lacroix
#62 Ben Wilson

NEW! #2 Isabella Gennarelli (S/R) Oakwood Whites
.402 wOBA / .185 ISO / 23.7 LD% / 8.6 SPD
A speedy center fielder who served as bat girl at WBC 50.

NEW! #30 #Naemi Kivimäki (L/L) Coral Coast Silver Sox
.382 wOBA / .158 ISO / 18.5 LD% / 8.4 SPD
Unlikely to break in ahead of Isabella, so mainly there as defensive substitute and pinch-runner.

NEW! #26 Ryan Harris (L/L) Butterfly City Super Hamsters
.349 wOBA / .235 ISO / 19.2 LD% / 4.2 SPD
A beautiful swing to righties. Ugly hacks to lefties.

NEW! #73 Tom Brøndum (R/R) Oak Park Iguanas
.327 wOBA / .176 ISO / 18.2 LD% / 7.6 SPD
Young prospect with a massive arm from deep right that has not quite converted to power from the plate, yet.

RP permissions:

You may choose run-scorers and otherwise assign statistics for my players. You may RP baseball events. You may choose my lineup and RP substitutions, in line with my roster. You may assign injuries. You may RP ejections. You may RP any story elements you like. We will waive our right to determine DH preference at home and will use at home whatever the DH preference of the visiting team (unless the team has no stated preference or has a similar permission, in which case to avoid getting stuck in a causality loop we will not use DH). If you consider any of my RP lore wank you may ignore it.

You may not:

• choose my starting pitchers: please follow the listed pitcher
• godmode unusual statistical events taking place (specifically, no no-hitters without asking)
• RP any of my players or fans being involved in violence
• use RL photographs and say they represent my players, fans, ballparks, or nation

[Tikariot]

Zis is ze of-fish-ial cutoff for ze Tikariot half!

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 51

GROUP STAGE - SERIES 1 – GROUPS 6-10

Group 6

Game 1
Marigred                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Sannyamathland             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  5

Srednjaci                  0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  3
Nova Anglicana             0 0 1 4 0 0 1 2 X  8

Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Fortem                 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Game 2 
Marigred                   0 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 0  6
Sannyamathland             0 0 1 0 6 0 0 1 X  8

Srednjaci                  0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0  5
Nova Anglicana             0 0 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 1  6

Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0  4
The Fortem                 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  2

Game 3 
Marigred                   1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2  6
Sannyamathland             0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Srednjaci                  0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana             0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 X  4

Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  3
The Fortem                 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 X  4

P Group 6                Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Nova Anglicana           3    3   0    18   10   +8     3
2 Sannyamathland           3    2   1    16   13   +5     2
3 The Fortem               3    2   1     9    9    0     2
4 Quebec and Shingoryeo    3    1   2     9    9    0     1
5 Marigred                 3    1   2    13   16   −5     1
6 Srednjaci                3    0   3    10   18   −8     0

Group 7

Game 1 
BohemiaIV                  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Karditan                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Zwangzug                   5 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 0 11
Tierra de Castro           0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0  4

HUElavia                   0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0  4
TJUN-ia                    0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4  8

Game 2
BohemiaIV                  1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0  5
Karditan                   0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Zwangzug                   3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  5
Tierra de Castro           0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

HUElavia                   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  3
TJUN-ia                    1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 X  4

Game 3
BohemiaIV                  0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0  4
Karditan                   5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  7

Zwangzug                   0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 2  6
Tierra de Castro           0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0  5

HUElavia                   0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3  6
TJUN-ia                    0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2

P Group 7               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Zwangzug                3    3   0    22   10  +12     3
2 TJUN-ia                 3    2   1    14   13   +1     2
3 BohemiaIV               3    2   1    11   11    0     2
4 Karditan                3    1   2    11   11    0     1
5 HUElavia                3    1   2    13   14   −1     1
6 Tierra de Castro        3    0   3    10   22  −12     0

Group 8

Game 1
South Newlandia            2 0 0 0 3 1 0 2 3 11
Sicoutimont                0 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 1  6

St. Saratoga               0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1  4
Banija                     0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  5

Kohnhead                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Pratapgadh                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Game 2
South Newlandia            0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1  4
Sicoutimont                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

St. Saratoga               0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3
Banija                     3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  5

Kohnhead                   0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Pratapgadh                 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0  3

Game 3
South Newlandia            0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1  4
Sicoutimont                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

St. Saratoga               0 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 0  7
Banija                     1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0  4

Kohnhead                   1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  5
Pratapgadh                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

P Group 8               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 South Newlandia         3    3   0    19    8  +11     3
2 Kohnhead                3    3   0    10    3   +7     3
3 Banija                  3    2   1    14   14    0     2
4 St. Saratoga            3    1   2    14   14    0     1
5 Pratapgadh              3    0   3     3   10   −7     0
6 Sicoutimont             3    0   3     8   19  −11     0

Group 9

Game 1
The Sherpa Empire          1 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0  6
Hicaña                     0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2  3

Quintessence of Dust       0 2 0 3 0 0 0 2 1  8
Qzvarkian Qaz              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Chromatika                 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Bardney                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 X  3

Game 2
The Sherpa Empire          0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0  4
Hicaña                     0 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 X  5

Quintessence of Dust       2 0 1 1 2 0 3 2 0 11
Qzvarkian Qaz              0 1 4 0 0 1 2 0 0  8

Chromatika                 0 3 0 4 0 0 2 0 1 10
Bardney                    0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 1  8

Game 3
The Sherpa Empire          0 0 0 4 2 0 1 0 1  8
Hicaña                     1 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  6

Quintessence of Dust       0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1  8
Qzvarkian Qaz              5 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 X 12

Chromatika                 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  5
Bardney                    0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

P Group 9               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Quintessence of Dust    3    2   1    27   20   +7     2
2 The Sherpa Empire       3    2   1    18   14   +4     2
3 Chromatika              3    2   1    16   15   +1     2
4 Bardney                 3    1   2    15   16   −1     1
5 Hicaña                  3    1   2    14   18   −4     1
6 Qzvarkian Qaz           3    1   2    20   27   −7     1

Group 10

Game 1
Hampton Island             0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Liventia                   0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 X  3

Crilland                   0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0  4
Anthor                     0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 X  5

Aji No Moto                0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0  3
Equestrian States          1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 X  4

Game 2
Hampton Island             0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3  6
Liventia                   0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Crilland                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Anthor                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Aji No Moto                1 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 5 12
Equestrian States          0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0  6

Game 3
Hampton Island             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0  4
Liventia                   0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2

Crilland                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0  5
Anthor                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  3

Aji No Moto                0 1 0 0 1 0 4 0 0  6
Equestrian States          0 4 0 0 0 2 1 0 X  7

P Group 10		Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Hampton Island          3    2   1    11    7   +4     2
2 Crilland                3    2   1    10    8   +2     2
3 Equestrian States       3    2   1    17   21   −4     2
4 Aji No Moto             3    1   2    21   17   +4     1
5 Anthor                  3    1   2     8   10   −2     1
6 Liventia                3    1   2     7   11   −4     1

[Le Choix]

The Hannasean Federation @ Le Choix, Dragon Stadium, South Newlandia

Game 1: Wyatt Gardner and Josée Lahaye pitched pretty late into the game, the Chosen pitcher being pulled first in the seventh and the Hannasean pitcher pitching well into the eighth. It was Yael Cohran's two-run double that put the Hannaseans ahead of The Chosen, and Valentine Raynaud's solo shot to center field wasn't enough to tie the game. It was a shame to waste the brilliant outing by Lahaye, who at one point had seven straight batters retired without allowing one on base.

Game 2: This time around, The Chosen bats came to play. Audrey Pellerin led all batters with five hits and three runs batted in, while Éloïse Baudry scored three of the runs. Hannasean pitcher Jimmy Morris retired in the seventh, which ended up being a questionable move with how the Chosen took care of Justin Nevin.

Game 3: Though The Chosen scored first at the bottom of the first, Kian Bell would prove to be too much after that, only allowing one run on three hits the rest of the way. The Chosen bats were silent.

With a 1-2 start against one of the lower ranked teams in the Group, it wasn't what the squad had wanted - but it was good to get out there.

---

Partie 1

Trente Jours en Enfer (Thirty Days in Hell)
Partie 2: Le Diable Vous Savez (Part 2: The Devil You Know)

Note: The following are excerpts from the Chosen Novel, Trente Jours en Enfer. The text that isn't in brackets is the same for both versions of the book. The text in blue was in the original text that was cut out by the Grand Bishops of the Chosen. The text that directly follows after the blue text in parentheses is the text that is actually in the book, approved by The Chosen.

When she walked through the gate, what awaited Dannielle Thoreau was an empty hallway. The person that had gone before her was nowhere to be seen, and though she could swear that she wasn't the last one to come through, there was nobody behind her. [(What was this devilry? How could they possess such technology to make sure that this was possible? It made absolutely no sense - nobody within the Theocracy had the capability to do what they were doing. What help were they getting, and more importantly, from where?) It was as if the very heavens were judging them, putting them in separate areas to ensure that they would all be individually tested. She wouldn't have the luxury of companionship nor camaraderie while she would be here, in the Portal to Hell. No, she was truly alone.]

After what felt like an eternity, she found herself on a deserted street. There was rubble on either side, and a package ahead of her on the ground. The sky looked black, but the air was clean; it wasn't night but the light wasn't really present. If she were to be asked, she'd claim that she was indoors, except as far as her eyes could see, she saw an endless wasteland of dust, ash, and smoke.

Leaning down, she looked at the package in front of her. How had it been put there, and by whom? In it was a standard military dagger knife, a more sizeable shortsword, a pistol with three magazines, three grenades, a standard issue military vest, and a map. It was the map that interested her the most. [(Why would they bother provide the people inside with maps? What did the Theocracy want its people to focus on?) What did those that watched over the Theocracy want her to make sure she overcame in order to become pure again? Where would she need to go?]

The map was crude; it had the main roads marked alongside a few points of interest marked with yellow stars. It wasn't clear from the legend of the map or anything on it exactly what the yellow stars were for; it seemed as if she would have to find that out the hard way.

As she armed herself, she heard a sound that caused a shiver to run down her spine. It was an otherworldly screech, almost too high for her ears to pick up. There had been warnings in the Books of the Chosen about the wailers that haunted those that strayed. Except... Those couldn't be real, right?

[{The noise came once again, much closer to her, and she wheeled around, brandishing the sword on her left hand and her pistol on her right. A whirlwind of activity caused her to flinch, and then she saw it: A wailer. Fiery, lithe, limber, four-legged, advancing. It looked like a hound from hell with an elongated mouth that it would use to wail every few seconds, the very sound reaching her to her soul. She raised her pistol and fired, the gunshots hitting the beast as it pounced to attack her. Thankfully, she had been pretty proficient with the dual weapon stance in her education, and by moving to the left side, she was able to dodge it while hitting it in the throat. A most fortuitous kill.) The noise came once again, much closer to her, and she wheeled around, holding her pistol with both hands and muttering a word of prayer. A fiery demon stood behind her, a wailer from the Books of the Chosen. It slowly advanced on her, wailing every few seconds draining her very will to fight. At the very last second, struck with a moment of utter panic and divine inspiration, she shouted out a cry for help, and her gun, as if of its own accord, fired three shots into the demon at almost point-blank range. The demon fell.]

[(As she approached the corpse of the wailer on the ground, the very ground below it opened up, starting to swallow it. She slid on the ground, trying to get a piece; instead of grabbing onto a fleshy limb of a deceased otherworldly creature, she found herself holding something far worse.) She fell to the ground next to the demonic corpse, weeping in relief. As if answering a prayer, a ray of light shone down from the sky and hit the creature, causing it to vanish from the ground, defiling the holy land no longer.]

[(What she held in her hands was a mechanical foot. That's when she realized just how much trouble that she was in. She was in so, so deep now.) Her faith restored and a newfound determination to survive in her steps, she moved toward the next challenge.]

[Ranoria]

Revenge on Their Minds: Krauts Thrown to the Wolves in Group With Abanhfleft, Newmanistan

By Nancy Menard

We'll be honest: Ranoria (25) was probably overlooking Pluvie's (UR) squad, a national team in their own right. But their practices were no less intense, no less focused for it. Anyone from the media who was allowed access to their facilities has been at a consensus: They're as sharp as they can possibly be, intense and focused. You may be wondering why the practices have had a higher-than-usual level of effort. Or why they weren't focusing on Pluvie, who stole two games from us in what was, frankly, a disastrous opening series.

The answer of course, is the team at the top of the group.

Abanhfleft, (15) is going to be no small task when we take them on. We can predict, comfortably, that there will be no sweeping of that baseball team in either series, and that if we go .500 against them, we'll have done well. But Abanhfleft wasn't the stone wall we hit in the playoffs. They didn't take a team that had been on the hottest streak in Ranorian baseball history and crush them with all the ease and enthusiasm of a professional wrestler finally scripted to win the belt.

That was Newmanistan.

Game 1

Ranoria                      0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2
Newmanistan                  0 0 4 0 1 0 1 1 X  7

Game 2:
Ranoria                      1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Newmanistan                  0 2 3 0 1 1 0 0 X  7

Game 3:
Newmanistan                  0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0  4
Ranoria                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Look, no one expected Ranoria to get past them. Beating the Sherpa Empire was a surprise. A welcome one, to be sure. But they had already been suffering a down season. Going against the Rockets, one of the best teams in baseball, was something that a rising, but not established, Ranorian team never had a chance to prepare for. Outscored by a total of 18-3, including a shutout 4-0 loss in our final matchup, was a punch in the mouth. A necessary one, perhaps, to realize that for all our success, we still had a long way to go.

And there was plenty of success! The Ranorian Krauts looked mediocre early on, only to go on an absolute tear in last eleven group stage contests, winning ten of those matchups before defeating the Sherpa Empire in a five game series, with perhaps some help from the injury bug.

But once we really got tangled up with a heavyweight whom hadn't had a down year, it was over. The Rockets never blinked, never struggled, never even seemed to acknowledge that a team, even with Leonardo Harrison and Nicholas Lux at the forefront, could possibly pose a threat.

Well, like we said in the beginning: our Krauts have revenge on their minds. More than likely, we'll be throttled again. But Leonardo Harrison would hear nothing of the sort.

"We're going to give them all they can handle," he'd affirm leading up to a three game run in Newmanistan, "I don't know if we've improved enough to beat them, but they'll get the best of the Ranorian Krauts."

And, well, we have improved. Judas Acker finally taking a spot in the starting lineup was big, as he's been an up can comer for a couple seasons now and is finally hitting his stride. Harrison doesn't seem to have lost a step meanwhile, and Nicholas Lux is going to be in his prime for a long time yet. Jesse Griffith, meanwhile, is a year older and a year better. Don't expect him to carry the team anytime soon, but the youngster's development seems to be exploding, and sooner rather than later, he projects to be a third star for our Krauts.

So: Next up, the Newmanistan Rockets, who are probably not nearly as concerned with this game as we are.

Are you ready, Ranoria?

[Drawkland]

CORPSGUY725'S BLOG

World Baseball Classic 51 Group Stage Preview
We're Fucked

As if life couldn't take anything else away from me. As if there was nothing less to lose in this world. I come into this WBC with essentially rock bottom expectations for the Base Corps. Just making the playoffs, for a team that's entered 17 straight editions, is not a tall ask. I'm not asking the world here. I'm not being unreasonable, am I? And yet, whatever cruel being of fate controls my life decides to steal even this away from me.

In short, as soon as the draw happened (which I attended in person, btw - I had a lot of miles on my airline card that were about to expire), I knew we were totally boned in this WBC. Let me just illustrate our situation. Here's our group, Group 3, in this WBC 51:

Cassadaigua.
Ethane.
Delaclava.
Hannasea.

And those are just the nations you've heard of! There's also another unranked nation I've never heard of called Le Choix, but I managed to do some deep digging and it looks like even as an unranked team, they have a legitimate chance of wreaking havoc in this group. Let's get right down to the breakdown. We'll go in order of how we'll play them in the group stage.

Group Stage Opponents

First off: Delaclava. It seems like we just got done dealing with these guys in the World Bowl, and now we have to deal with them again. To be fair, their baseball NT does not seem to be nearly on par with their gridiron squad, but let's be honest: Delaclava is a nation with a storied history, plenty of space and money, and therefore they have an environment that ends up developing good players. We open the group stage with a series at home. What could be better than that? Well, besides the fact that we're definitely going to somehow find a way to bottle the series. Knowing us, we're going to start our home stand 1-2. Quote me on it. The return leg will be worse, because by then Delaclava are likely to have gotten into a rhythm, and they'll have the home field on their side. We'll, meanwhile, be floundering at around .500 and barely staying above water. If that.

So after probably choking away our series against Delaclava, how do we get to rebound and perhaps get some momentum back on our side? We get to play away at Cassadaigua. Sheesh, even the schedule order is trying to make our lives hell. We're basically guaranteed to be swept in this series. I predict at least one epic late-inning collapse. Don't act like this is some hot take. That's like guessing that if I flipped a coin 20 times it would land on heads at least once. It would take a miracle to not happen. Anyway, we'll get them in the home series in the back half, but by then we'll already be out of playoff contention without several consecutive miracles happening, so who cares if they pull the visitor's sweep on us? It won't make a difference.

We finally get an "easy" series against one of the unranked sides. It's the home series against Hannasea. Excuse me, The Hannasean Federation, or something like that. The problem is that, unlike many unranked teams where they're so disorganized you can't even find a roster for their players or any information about their nation, Hannasea seems to have their shit together. Plus they've been around the block before, I think. Basically they're a fake unranked team, sent to deceive and lull us into a false sense of security so that they can steal two wins on the road. Our away tie will be held at "The Lightning Dome," which sounds cool. Pitcher's park at sea level? Seems like it would limit the ability for Franklin Bell to blow another save. Too bad we'll already be eliminated from playoff contention by then.

Le Choix, another unranked team, will complete our back-to-back unranked opponent schedule. We'll face them first on the road, though apparently their home games will be held in South Newlandia, and their fans won't be able to attend. Nice to limit the home field advantage factor as far as we're concerned, but all my research on this team has led me to believe that they, like Hannasea, will be a false-hope type unranked who will be able to steal some wins from us. Le Choix likely won't be looking at a playoff berth, but their likely wins against the top teams could ruin another team's berth. The benefactor of such campaign-destroying upsets? Definitely us. By the time we get them at home it'll be too late.

Finally, our first half and second half of the group stage will be contested against our old baseball rivals, Ethane. Remember Ethane?! We totally had a rivalry thing going on with them in the late 30s and/or early 40s. It's been so long that I don't remember how that went. All I know is that we met in the groups a couple times and I think we eliminated each other at one point. Then we went on to miss the playoffs and/or lose in the Round of 16 a million times and Ethane went on to win a title. We did somehow manage to beat Ethane in the Round of 32 last WBC, which is something at least. That was our second playoff series win in Base Corps history, btw. We get them at home the first time, which means that we'll end our pathetic group stage on the road getting laughed at by our kinda-former-rivals-ish.

My prediction? Losing record by the halfway point of the groups, and there's no way in hell we recover.

Playoff Chances

Zero.

Okay, maybe not zero. But in this group, if we can even manage a playoff spot, we'll be so beaten and bloody from all these L's we'll be taking that we'll barely scrape by with a bottom seed, so we'll be playing whoever had the best group stage, and that's just in the Round of 32!

In short, even if we somehow, by some miracle, manage to make the playoffs, we'll probably be swept before we can even get to the Round of 16 (our best possible result).

corpsguy725 out

[Chromatika]

Chromatik Baseball: Narrow Victories
By: Liana Odonis, Baseball Correspondent

So it turns out that Bardney was a much tougher opponent than expected. Were you expecting a cakewalk?

In the WBC, every game is a battle, every series a war. Even with the top half of the table moving to the Ro32 and there being a chance to advance even for fourth placed squads, each win shouldn't be discounted.

Chromatika                 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Bardney                    0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 X  3
Pitching: H. Angelou 7 IP, 1 ER; J. Edward Jr. 1 IP, 2 ER, L (0-1)

Chromatika                 0 3 0 4 0 0 2 0 1 10
Bardney                    0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 1  8
Pitching: J. St. Augustine 4.1 IP, 7 ER, ND; O. Bier 3.2 IP, W (1-0); H. Salle 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 Save

Chromatika                 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  5
Bardney                    0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Pitching: M. Savey 10 IP, 4 ER, W (1-0); H. Salle 1 IP, 1 Save (2)

Hilary Angelou pitched a great game in Game 1 but an unfortunate bottom of the eighth meant that the Amateurs would lose the first game of their time in this World Baseball Classic. After having such a dominant domestic season, Joseph Edward Jr. gave up a two-run double to Harrison. Connelly closed the ninth for the victory.

In game 2, Chromatika would get to Geiger first by virtue of a three-run homer in the third inning along with some hits from all over the lineup. Alisen Moyamoto drove in five of the runs including the home run. Then, on the bottom of the fifth inning, Justin St. Augustine got tagged quite badly, and Ollie Bier had to come in. Thankfully, the Amateurs would score enough runs to get the victory.

In Game 3, Miles Savey and Thaddeus O'Neill got into a pitching duel. Besides a three-run double, Savey was brilliant, and so was O'Neill. It took until the eleventh to break the tie, with Jason Duster getting the game-winning solo shot. Hine Salle struck out the side to preserve the win.

Pitching Staff:
H. Angelou: 7 IP, 1 ER, ND
J. St. Augustine: 4.1 IP, 7 ER, ND
M. Savey: 10 IP, 4 ER, W
J. Edward, Jr.: 1 IP, 2 ER, L
O. Bier: 3.2 IP, 0 ER, W
H. Salle: 2 IP, 1 ER, 2 Saves

Projected Pitchers for Chromatika vs. Qzvarkian Qaz:
Game 1: Samuel Han
Game 2: Oscar de Witt
Game 3: Hilary Angelou

[The 189]

The 189 were starting WBC 51 with a six-game homestand against the Newmanistan Rockets and an unranked team from Mapletish. They were still learning about Earth and its people, but the local people who lived around ----------- seemed to enjoy watching baseball, so the 189 had decided to sign up for another WBC and line up some new games. ------ had used the offseason to expand and refine its repertoire of Earth-style recipes, and it was eager to show off its new shwarma wraps and bratwurst.

----- and ------ had read enough about baseball to know that it had been played in Newmanistan for many years and the people there had a reputation for being able to field a good team -- but they were not really sure what to expect from the Rockets. The respect was there, but the scouting wasn't. Professional quality scouting was one of the finer points of baseball that the 189 had not yet grasped.

Specialized pitching was another concept that still eluded them. The first time through the Rockets' batting order, -------- was surprisingly effective, holding them scoreless while -------- and ------- slugged their way to an early lead. The second and third time through to order, it was much less effective because the Rockets had become more familiar with its pitching style, and -------- did not know how to mix things up without throwing balls and wild pitches. When it tried to confuse Nicole Larkin with a sneaky curveball in the top of the 7th, it failed miserably and instead threw a wild pitch that allowed Lexi Burrows to move into scoring position. Shuffling the team around and putting another machine on the mound would have probably solved the problem, but ----- had not thought of that. It still thought of relief pitching as being something humans did because their starters got tired.

The 189's offense managed to carry them through their first game, but then kind of dried up in the next two games so they lost the series 1-2.

During the travel day between series, while they were waiting for the team from Mapletish to arrive, ----- and ------ read the Rocket Report to see what the Newmanistanians thought of their trip to -----------. They were a little disappointed and confused when they saw that Taylor Larson had neglected to report any information whatsoever on the individual accomplishments of any of the 189 due to the "complexities" of their names.

"What does that mean?" ----- wondered in a flicker of colored lights. "What is complex about our names? They are much simpler than any of these Earth languages with their complicated shapes and symbols."

"Maybe she is colorblind?" ------ suggested. "Or maybe she is worried about the print quality if there is going to be a paper edition. You have seen what human newspapers are like. The colors look worse than a --------- accent."

[Abanhfleft]

ABANHFLEFT REVOLUTION
Abanhfleft men's national baseball team

Can WBC 51 be something different? Can the Revolution go further into this tournament than last time? Maybe, but it's still a huge ask.

Basic Information
Name of nation: Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft
Demonym: Fleftic
Team name: Abanhfleft Revolution
Nickname: Revolutionaries (common), Revolters (derogatory)
Official history: This will be Abanhfleft's thirteenth time participating in the World Baseball Classic. It's the golden edition of the WBC, lads. At least try to look good.
Team colors: Blue, orange, and green
Style modifier: +3
Park factor: 110 (disregard if we're not doing park factors)

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

1 - Bertram Benedetto (#19, R/R, 31)
2 - Guillermo Rodriguez (#54, S/R, 35)
3 - Sanford Capuano (#95, L/L, 35)
4 - Yakub Petrenko (#13, R/R, 34)
5 - Joffrey Yedlin (#24, S/R, 34)

Long Reliever - Dan Lesesne (#66, L/S, 31)
Middle Reliever - Collin Olea (#43, L/L, 33)
Middle Reliever - Damon Simmer (#42, S/L, 34)
Setup Receiver - Olivier Savanier (#39, L/L, 34)
Closer - Peter Langford (#90, R/R, 33)

INFIELD
Catcher - Doyle Rotz (#51, R/L, 33, Starter)
Catcher - Gaston Panek (#83, L/S, 31)
First Base - Elroy Combs (#5, L/L, 29, Starter)
First Base - Ernest Douthit (#89, R/L, 31)
Second Base - Yorge Freyas (#29, R/R, 31, Starter)
Second Base - Jorge Day (#30, L/S, 32)
Third Base - Kristopher Hine, (#97, S/R, 30, Starter)
Third Base - Rhett Ricker (#41, L/L, 32)
Short Stop - Giovanni Perkinson (#20, R/R, 27, Starter)
Short Stop - Delbert Ridge (#05, S/R, 27)

OUTFIELD
Left Fielder - Hashim Khateb Bansamun (#66, R/R, 29, Starter)
Left Fielder - Conrad Mason (#14, L/R, 30)
Center Fielder - Jarred Hardwick (#3, L/L, 28, Starter)
Center Fielder - Booker Draves (#64, R/S, 26)
Right Fielder - Aedan Soto (#7, L/R, 27, Starter)
Right Fielder - Eldridge Soucy III (#52, R/R, 26)

BATTING ORDER
1 - Y. FREYAS (2B, R)
2 - H. K. BANSAMUN (LF, R)
3 - A. SOTO (RF, R)
4 - J. HARDWICK (CF, L)
5 - G. PERKINSON (SS, R)
6 - E. COMBS (1B, L)
7 - D. ROTZ (C, L)
8 - K. HINE (3B, R)
DH - B. DRAVES (CF, S)

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

Reheboam Zimmermann was killed in the same terrorist attack that changed forever the lives of those on the national baseball team. Who knows in which direction the new management will take this team?

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 Abanhfleft Baseball Federation has announced that it will be using two baseball stadia as venues for the Abanhfleft Revolution's home matches.


Official name: National Baseball Stadium
Capacity: est. 60,000
Record attendance: 65,233 (Effelenendro Islanders vs. Pilken Blue Sox, 19 October 2022)
Operators: Abanhfleft Baseball Federation, Effelenendro Islanders (for games against big teams)


Official name: Stadion Memoriam de December 27
Capacity: est. 26,500
Record attendance: 37,084 (Verbergerkinnh Cubs vs. Copper Cuprum Miners; October 5, 2022)
Operators: Verbergerkinnh Cubs[/spoiler]

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 home then you can use a DH at mine. If I can't use a DH at your home then you can't use a DH at mine.

[Ethane]

Roster

Pitchers:

NO.  POS.  Age    BAT.  THW.  NAME.
#65  SP    27     L     R   Adam Gilchrest    
#33  SP    29     R     L   Andrew Schilling       
#28  SP    29     R     R   Graham Castillo              
#89  SP    26     L     L   Carlos Mossaco     
#24  SP    33     R     R   Harry Markwright          
#63  RP    35     R     L   James Hannersson             
#29  RP    31     L     L   Jaime Parkersen           
#65  RP    23     R     R   Daniel Peterson       
#41  RP    25     L     L   Edward Jordans                
#43  RP    30     L     R   Henry Francos     
#56  RP    27     R     R   Adam Carler

Catchers:

NO.    POS. Age     BAT.   THW.  NAME.
#09    C    22      R      R     Benjamin Wilden
#23    C    32      L      L     Damien Greene

Infielders:

NO.    POS.  Age    BAT.  THW.   NAME.
#63    1B    32     R      L     Benjamin Cutleigh
#42    2B    29     L      L     Samuel Winter
#77    2B    31     R      R     Amelia Yearn
#99    2B    32     R      R     Samuel Mann
#36    3B    37     L      L     Graham Wilde
#03    3B    35     L      L     Kirsty Islington
#06    SS    30     R      L     William Oswelton
#86    SS    28     L      R     Pippa Middleton

Outfielders:

NO.    POS. Age    BAT.  THW.   NAME.
#91   LF    26      L      R     Christian Hanks
#80   LF    34      R      R     Benjamin Lynch
#54   CF    29      L      L     Izzie Rasker
#39   CF    22      L      R     Emily Crater
#51   CF    23      R      R     Lucas Robinson
#13   RF    25      L      R     Bobby Bassen
#19   RF    37      R      R     Michael Carr
#40   RF    35      L      L     Jeremiah Wheeler

Designated Hitter:

NO.   POS.  Age     BAT.  THW.   NAME.
#01   DH    29      R      R     Kayleigh Lane

Staff:

Manager: Graham Steadhall
Ever since the national team won the World Baseball Classic, it has been downhill from there. The state of the Ethanian national team has got so dismal that for the first time since the start of the nation's time in the tournament, Ethane is now ranked outside the top ten in the World Baseball Classic rankings. Lockie, while he brought good fortune to begin with, had lost his magic spark in the team, so one of the more left-field options has been brought in to try to change the culture in the club. Graham Steadhall leads one of the local-run baseball clubs in Ethane and is well-known for being a tough manager, which is what is seen to be needed for the national team. He won't be their friend; he'll probably be their enemy, but he views it that when that is the case he is doing his job right. It's hoped he can instill a sense of discipline into the side.

Assistant Manager: Jonathan Herts
First Base Coach: Yula Thomston
Third Base Coach: Damien Malsanger
Batting Coach: George Orcusson
Pitching Coach: Lee Wilkinson
Style Mod: -5

Stadium:


The McTidley arena is the baseball arena recently commissioned after the IBS X by the government, as they felt even though not many baseball games take place in Ethane, that we ought to have a baseball arena in Ethane for those times when we would be playing home matches. The McTidley arena is named after the teacher who tried to set up a baseball league in the humorous reality tv show, ''But it's Baseball'', which ran from 2003-2005, and attracted an average of 3 million viewers an episode in its first 2 series. This stadium has recently been expanded with the increasing popularity of baseball in Ethane, and now can hold around 20,000 spectators and is currently operated by the EBA (Ethane Baseball Association).

RP Permissions: My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes
Follow my pitching rotation:
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but I can limit/change if it doesn't fit my narrative.
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes, same caveat as above.
Eject my players: Yes.
Godmod other events: Yes.
Use DH at home: No.

[Quintessence of Dust]

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

                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       5   2   2   1   1   0   4  .400   1   1
N. Hisakawa SS         6   1   1   3   0   2   1  .167   1   3
R. Harris LF           5   1   2   0   0   0   0  .400   0   0
S. Akerström 3B        4   1   3   2   1   0   0  .750   1   2
B. Wilson RF           4   0   2   0   1   1   1  .500   0   0
S. Borgþórsson 1B      4   0   1   0   1   0   3  .250   0   0
L. Phelps C            4   1   1   1   1   0   3  .250   1   1
J. Martin P            4   0   1   0   0   2   2  .250   0   0
  M. Murphy P          0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–J. Stensrud PH     1   0   0   0   0   1   0  .000   0   0
  M. Ryan P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
Y. Hanazawa 2B         4   2   2   1   1   1   2  .500   1   1

a–J. Stensrud pinch-hit for M. Murphy in the 9th

Doubles: B. Wilson (1, 5th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home runs: L. Phelps (1, 2nd inning, 0 on, 0 outs), I. Gennarelli (1, 2nd inning, 0 on, 2 outs), N. Hisakawa (1, 4th inning, 2 on, 1 out), S. Akerström (1, 8th inning, 1 on, 1 out), Y. Hanazawa (1, 9th inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: S. Akerström 6, I. Gennarelli 5, Y. Hanazawa 5, N. Hisakawa 4, L. Phelps 4, B. Wilson 3, R. Harris 2, S. Borgþórsson, J. Martin
2-out RBI: I. Gennarelli, Y. Hanazawa
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Borgþórsson 3, I. Gennarelli 3, L. Phelps, N. Hisakawa
Team LOB: 12

BASERUNNING
SB: I. Gennarelli (1)

FIELDING
Double plays: 1 (Hisakawa – Hanazawa – Borgþórsson)

                        IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
J. Martin W (1 – 0)    7.0  3   0   0   0   7   0  80  53 0.00
M. Murphy              1.0  0   0   0   1   0   0  15  10 0.00
M. Ryan                1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0  13   8 0.00

Game score: J. Martin 78
Batters faced: J. Martin 23, M. Murphy 4, M. Ryan 3
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Martin 7 – 6, M. Murphy 1 – 2, M. Ryan 1 – 1

                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       6   0   1   0   0   2   3  .273   1   1
N. Hisakawa SS         5   1   2   1   1   0   3  .273   2   4
R. Harris LF           5   1   1   1   0   0   1  .300   0   0
S. Akerström 3B        4   4   3   1   1   1   1  .750   2   3
B. Wilson RF           4   2   3   1   1   0   0  .625   0   1
S. Borgþórsson 1B      5   1   2   5   0   0   2  .333   1   5
L. Phelps C            5   1   3   0   0   0   2  .444   1   1
M. Kawakami P          2   0   0   0   0   0   1  .000   0   0
  J. Isaacson P        0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–K. Lin PH          1   0   1   2   0   0   0 1.000   0   2
  J-N. Boudreaux P     0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–T. Brøndum PH      1   0   0   0   0   0   1  .000   0   0
  A. Lacroix P         0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  c–J. Stensrud PH     1   0   0   0   0   0   1  .000   0   0
Y. Hanazawa 2B         4   1   2   0   0   0   1  .500   1   1

a–K. Lin pinch-hit for J. Isaacson in the 5th
b–T. Brøndum pinch-hit for J-N. Boudreaux in the 7th
c–J. Stensrud pinch-hit for A. Lacroix in the 9th

Doubles: S. Akerström (1, 3rd inning, 0 on, 0 outs), Y. Hanazawa (1, 4th inning, 0 on, 0 outs), R. Harris (1, 4th inning, 1 on, 2 outs)
Home runs: S. Borgþórsson (1, 7th inning, 2 on, 0 outs), N. Hisakawa (2, 8th inning, 0 on, 1 out), S. Akerström (2, 8th inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: S. Akerström 7, S. Borgþórsson 5, N. Hisakawa 5, Y. Hanazawa 3, B. Wilson 3, L. Phelps 3, R. Harris 2, I. Gennarelli, K. Lin
2-out RBI: R. Harris, S. Akerström
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Akerström, N. Hisakawa
GIDP: R. Harris, Y. Hanazawa
Hit by pitch: Y. Hanazawa
Team LOB: 6

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

                        IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
M. Kawakami            2.0  4   5   5   4   1   1  51  25 22.50
J. Isaacson            2.0  1   0   0   0   0   0  17  11  0.00
J-N. Boudreaux         2.0  2   1   1   1   2   0  32  18  4.50
J. Fujioka             1.0  1   2   2   2   2   0  19  10  9.00
A. Lacroix W (1 – 0)   1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0  13  10  0.00
C. Mao SV (1)          1.0  0   0   0   0   0   0   9   7  0.00

Game score: M. Kawakami 25
Batters faced: M. Kawakami 13, J. Isaacson 6, J-N. Boudreaux 9, J. Fujioka 6, A. Lacroix 4, C. Mao 3
Ground outs – fly outs: M. Kawakami 3 – 1, J. Isaacson 2 – 3, J-N. Boudreaux 1 – 3, J. Fujioka 0 – 1, A. Lacroix 1 – 1, C. Mao 1 – 1
Inherited runners – scored: J. Isaacson 1 – 0
Hit batspersons: C. Mao

                      AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
I. Gennarelli CF       4   1   2   1   1   0   0  .333   1   2
N. Hisakawa SS         4   0   0   1   0   1   3  .200   2   5
R. Harris LF           5   1   1   2   0   1   2  .267   0   2
S. Akerström 3B        2   1   1   0   1   0   0  .700   2   3
  e–T. Kaufer PH       0   1   0   0   1   0   0  .000   0   0
B. Wilson RF           4   1   1   3   0   0   2  .500   1   4
S. Borgþórsson 1B      4   0   1   1   0   1   1  .308   1   6
L. Phelps C            4   0   1   0   0   1   2  .385   1   1
H. Fujimori P          0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–A. Lacroix PH      1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  J. Fujioka P         0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  J. Béranger P        0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  J-N. Boudreaux P     0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–K. Lin PH          1   0   0   0   0   1   1  .500   0   2
  M. Murphy P          0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  c–J. Stensrud PH     1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .333   0   0
  d–T. Brøndum PR      0   1   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  C. Mao P             0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  f–N. Kivimäki PH     1   1   1   0   0   0   0 1.000   0   0
Y. Hanazawa 2B         3   1   0   0   0   0   1  .364   1   1

a–A. Lacroix pinch-hit for H. Fujimori in the 3rd
b–K. Lin pinch-hit for J-N. Boudreaux in the 5th
c–J. Stensrud pinch-hit for M. Murphy in the 8th
d–T. Brøndum pinch-ran for J. Stensrud in the 8th
e–T. Kaufer pinch-hit for S. Akerström in the 8th
f–N. Kivimäki pinch-hit for C. Mao in the 9th

Doubles: I. Gennarelli 2 (2, 6th inning, 0 on, 1 out; 8th inning, 2 on, 0 outs), S. Akerström (2, 7th inning, 0 on, 0 outs), R. Harris (1, 8th inning, 2 on, 1 out)
Triples: N. Kivimäki (1, 9th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Home runs: B. Wilson (1, 8th inning, 2 on, 1 out)
Total bases: I. Gennarelli 4, B. Wilson 4, N. Kivimäki 3, S. Akerström 2, R. Harris 2, L. Phelps, J. Stensrud, S. Borgþórsson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: R. Harris
GIDP: L. Phelps
Sac fly: N. Hisakawa
Hit by pitch: Y. Hanazawa
Team LOB: 5

BASERUNNING
SB: T. Brøndum (1)

FIELDING
Double plays: 1 (Akerström – Hanazawa – Borgþórsson)

                        IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS  ERA
H. Fujimori L (0 – 1)  2.0  7   6   6   0   5   1  46  35 27.00
J. Fujioka             0.2  2   2   2   1   1   0  14   9 13.50
J. Béranger            1.0  3   3   3   0   0   1  21  13 27.00
J-N. Boudreaux         0.1  0   0   0   0   0   0   2   0  0.00
M. Murphy              3.0  3   1   1   2   1   0  42  26  3.00
C. Mao                 1.0  0   0   0   0   0   1   6   6  0.00

Game score: H. Fujimori 23
Batters faced: H. Fujimori 14, J. Fujioka 5, J. Béranger 6, J-N. Boudreaux 1, M. Murphy 13, C. Mao 3
Ground outs – fly outs: H. Fujimori 0 – 1, J. Fujioka 1 – 0, J. Béranger 1 – 2, J.N. Boudreaux 0 – 1, M. Murphy 4 – 3, C. Mao 1 – 1
Inherited runners – scored: J. Béranger 1 – 0
Hit batspersons: H. Fujimori
Balk: H. Fujimori

[Sarzonia]

In the grand history of the World Baseball Classic, Barnettsville was once a major player on the multiverse stage.

They were world champions under the name Lycrabon. They hosted the World Baseball Classic twice, including the first series sweep in World Baseball Classic finals history.

Now they were back as Barnettsville and were starting over on the multiverse stage. They would face a Sarzonian national baseball team that itself only recently resurrected its programme after an extended absence. The fact that Geoff Yancey was the manager of that Sarzonia team led him to warn the current edition not to take the Blue Jays lightly.

“I don’t have to tell you ‘you saw what happened’” in World Baseball Classic 48, Yancey told the media he warned his team. “I told them, ‘you lived it.’ If we get a chance to put them away, we better fucking do it.”

So far, so good. The Stars got a three-match sweep of the Blue Jays to open World Baseball Classic 51, only allowing one run in the top of the first inning of Game 1 courtesy of a leadoff home run by second baseman Arthur Rodgers. After that, Stars ace Jeff Parrish settled down, allowing just two more hits, one walk and six strikeouts before Yancey replaced him with setup man Scott Lassiter for a three-up, three-down eighth and closer Tyrell Douglass, who struck out the side in order.

The Stars then got consecutive shutouts by Mark Conroy (a two-hitter with eight Ks and one walk) and Jamie Pearson, who allowed six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Designated hitter Luke Brinkley hit two home runs in the series to go along with six RBI.

“It was a good start for us,” Parrish said of the sweep of Barnettsville. “We’re under no illusions. That’s not the Blue Jays of old out there. They may get good fast, but they’re not there yet.”

The Stars (3-0) will get a much bigger test for their next series, an away set at No. 16 Tikariot. The Stars will send out No. 4 starter Brian Lynch and fifth starter Alton Long before closing the series with Parrish. Yancey said it’s too early to think about moving pitchers up or down in the rotation for important matches.

“You do something like that if this is late in qualifying and you need to either advance or jockey for better position in the knockout rounds,” Yancey said when asked if he considered using Long in relief and moving Parrish and Conroy up to face Tikariot. “As it stands now, I want to see how Brian and Alton handle a quality team and we’re not going to get too many chances to do that in this group.”

The Stars may be 3-0, but Brinkley is aware that a tougher road likely lies ahead.

“We may not be facing the Banijas or the Cassadaiguas or the Delaclavas in this group,” he said. “But we have to be on point if we want a chance to face them and to do well when – or if – we advance to the Round of 32 or beyond.”

[Mapletish]

TEAM MAPLETISH FOR WBC 51
Nation Name: The Mapletia Unida of Mapletish
Demonym: Maplish/Mapletian
Team Nickname: The Dragons/The Minnows
The Supporters: The Fierykop

OFFICIAL KIT
HOME - AWAY

The Buio'Dzz
Before every match, the team members (including the designated substitutes for the match) will perform a traditional ritual, called the Buio'Dzz on the pitch just before play begins. The Buio'Dzz performed by the Maplish sports teams are from the Mapli-ane, one of the largest aboriginal groups in Mapletish. The Buio'Dzz originated from the sun god, Inaka, a Mapli-ane creation. To celebrate the birth of his son Arone, Inaka broke into a dance while humming a poem to celebrate the occasion. This continued to be the foundation of all tribe dances done by the Maplish aboriginals. The Buio'Dzz is just one of the many tribe war dances from the aboriginals of Mapletish. It is meant to awe and to challenge their opponents in the sports context today. This is similar to the [RL] New Zealanders' haka before their matches. It is performed by a group of people, with intensity and vigour. Actions are performed rhythmically including foot-stamping, tongue protrusions, rhythmic body slapping, clapping of the hands, and an accompaniment of shouting in the aboriginal dialect, which may represent tribal poems passed down from the ancestors of the particular tribe, or a poem that marks the events of a particular tribe. This ceremonial dance ritual also fulfills social functions such as weddings, funerals and celebration of great achievements, occasions, other than the anticipation of war from its earlier intentions. This would be performed unless the hosts of the match in question object to the ritual.

Staff
Head Coach: Cary Curry, 48
Assistant Coach: Leland Franklin, 43
Pitching Coach: Damon Jones, 46
Bullpen Coach: Ed Stevenson, 49
Hitting Coach: Ben Wise, 47
First Base Coach: Edgar Morgan, 43
Third Base Coach: Jake Stanley, 42

Pitchers (Starting Rotation) - Shirt No - Name - Age - Batting Side - Throwing Side
1. Alton Webb - 23 - L - R
2. Rodney Newton - 25 - R - R
3. Woodrow Webster - 26 - L - L
4. Alberto George - 24 - R - L
5. Ismael Fields - 25 - S - R

Pitchers (Relief)

6.Jeremiah Floyd- 28 - R - L - Long Reliever
7. Brian Watts - 27 - L - R - Long Reliever
8. Eric Oliver- 26 - S - R - Middle Relief
9. Todd Morris - 27 - S - L - Middle Relief
10. Hector Lawrence - 24 - R - R - Set up
11. Cameron Graham - 26 - S - L - Closer

Infielders

12. Daryl Bowen - 27 - L - R - C
13. Dennis Sandoval - 25 - R - L - C
14. Bradford Phillips - 23 - L - R - 1B
15. Glenn Francis - 23 - R - R - 1B
16. Sheldon Palmer - 23 - S - L - 2B
17. Manuel Jennings - 23 - L - R - 2B
18. Bradley Black - 23 - L - L - 3B
19. Julian Harvey - 23 - R - R - 3B
20. Alfonso Nash - 24 - S - L - SS
21. Adam Cook - 23 - R - R - SS

Outfielders
22. Ronnie Weaver - 23 - L - L - CF
23. Jacob Stone - 24 - R - R - CF
24. Erick Blake - 25 - L - R - RF
25. Courtney Hill - 24 - R - L - RF
26. Tim Burgess - 23 - L - R - LF
27. Rick Rose - 23 - R - R - LF

Battling Order (No DH)
16. Sheldon Palmer - 23 - S - L - 2B
22. Ronnie Weaver - 23 - L - L - CF
14. Bradford Phillips - 23 - L - R - 1B
18. Bradley Black - 23 - L - L - 3B
24. Erick Blake - 25 - L - R - RF
20. Alfonso Nash - 24 - S - L - SS
26. Tim Burgess - 23 - L - R - LF
12. Daryl Bowen - 27 - L - R - C
Pitcher

Battling Order (DH)
16. Sheldon Palmer - 23 - S - L - 2B
22. Ronnie Weaver - 23 - L - L - CF
14. Bradford Phillips - 23 - L - R - 1B
18. Bradley Black - 23 - L - L - 3B
28. Abel Walters - 24 - S - R - DH
24. Erick Blake - 25 - L - R - RF
20. Alfonso Nash - 24 - S - L - SS
26. Tim Burgess - 23 - L - R - LF
12. Daryl Bowen - 27 - L - R - C

Other Roles
28. Abel Walters - 24 - S - R - DH/ Utility Infielder
29. Carlton Berry - 26 - R - L - Pinch Hitter/ Utility Outfielder
30. Rolando Fox - 28 - S - S - Utility All Round (Infielder/ Outfielder/ Catcher/ Pitcher)/ Pinch Runner/ Pinch Hitter
31. Dale Hale - 24 - R - R - Pinch Hitter/ Utility Outfielder

MY OPPONENTS HAS THE PERMISSION TO ...
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: TG me first
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: Yes

[Xanneria]

XANAxis Games unveils Empire VI!
Excerpt from http://www.xangamer.xan

ROME BEACH - XANaxis games, and 1g Publishing have announced a return of the classic video game series "Empires" will be released soon. Empires a game developed by legendary developer Andrew Tyson has been on of the leaders in the genre of strategy games. The game will see you take control of a multiversal empire and lead it from Stone Age to Modern Age. Of course the first empire developed was the Xannerian Empire. The Xannerian Empire uses the Virginia Pine as its symbol, the symbol taken from the Tonissians and is adorned with the gold and maroon colors of the Xannerian flag. Xanneria is designed to be a pro-trading and exploration empire.

The leader of the Xannerian Empire is non other the legendary Tonissian explorer and first governor of the Xannerian Colony "Dominic Anneria"

[TJUN-ia]

Game 1: HUElavia (29) 4-8 TJUN-ia (9) (F/10) (TJU lead series 1-0)
You could feel the atmosphere in the air as TJUN-ian baseball finally returned home to Rounders Field. The last game was playing in Portside long before that run we always go on about and with 29th ranked HUElavia in town, the entire city was certainly ready to welcome back their heroes and the game they would see was certainly a TJUN-ian one. The name of the game during the first 5 innings was to just drip-feed runs into the scoreboard and Batting Coach Enrique Lopez certainly knew how to do that. The first run of the new campaign would be a home run (of course) as Bryce Calhoun send a deep one into centre field in the 2nd. TJUN-ia would get another one in the 4th with Ki Yung-son and the pitching from Chris Harris was strong but once the 5th arrived, HUElavia finally struck as Renato Mantovani-Lopes sent a ball deep to take an unexpected 3-2 lead. TJUN-ia would strike back soon after Rafael Llorente was allowed home due to back-to-back doubles but after that, the heat would certainly turn up. Miliano Villa thought he would be the winning run at the top of the 9th, but a Solo-bomb Ki meant that TJUN-ia's first game back would be going to extras. Harris held firm in that top while the bottom saw him finish the job he started, sending a ball over the wall to the roar of the crowd to walk off this one 8-4.

Game 2: HUElavia (29) 3-4 TJUN-ia (9) (TJU win series 2-0)
If Game 1 was the welcome back party for TJUN-ian baseball, Game 2 would be the remix as Davis Johnson started what would become another tight game for the Battin' Jags. Both teams would end up with a run after the first inning and things would certainly be a bit tight until the 3rd, where Pedro Moires (a household name for multiple reasons) hit the 2-run bomb to give the Jags the lead they would end up not relinquish for the rest of the game. HUElavis certainly tried to get back into the game but Johnson was just too powerful to handle and the series would be won 4-3.

Game 3: HUElavia (29) 6-2 TJUN-ia (9) (TJU won series 2-1)
Every game counts in this competition and Game 3 would be no different as HUElavia took hold of the game and never gave it back up - simple as that. TJUN-ia actually scored the first run of this contest but our opponents struck back almost immediately with a 3-run bomb by Naomí Manzanedo. TJUN-ia tried to come back into the game but Yong-Sun Mae was almost impossible to get anything from and another 3-run bomb, this time by Doroteia Lima, sealed the 6-2 win for the opponents in the rubber game and sent the Jags a game off the pace in the early running. Karditan was next in this hallowed ballpark and hopefully, this team can bounce back in style over the 46th-ranked Wild Kards (great name, by the way). GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group 7)
S1: vs HUElavia (29) - Rounders Field, Portside W 2-1 (2nd)
S2: vs Karditan (46) - Rounders Field, Portside
S3: @Tierra de Castro (UR)
S4: vs BohemiaIV (UR) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S5: @Zwangzug (12) - Worm Hole, Spenson
S6: @HUElavia (29)
S7: @Karditan (46) - Big Island Field, Ponyburgh
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S8: vs Tierra de Castro (UR) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S9: @BohemiaIV (UR)
S10: vs Zwangzug (12) - Rounders Field, Portside

[Cassadaigua]

Fillies Survive a Wild Opener,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Prior to the game at Concord Heights Stadium, there were ceremonies to honor the World Baseball Classic 50 Champions. This was mostly for the fans, as the players had received their rings and a banner was already put in place at the stadium to honor it. For the players, it was a moment to reflect, to watch the highlights from the title run of two years ago and remember how great it was to end our long drought. They also knew that once the first pitch of this game was thrown, everything would be about World Baseball Classic 51. It was more exciting for the fans, with massive tailgating taking place in the parking lot, to several opportunities to get autographs from players who were a part of the roster from #50, but are not on the #51 team. Other well known Cassadagan athletes were on hand for the ceremony, such as NSSCRA drivers Stacie Houston, Jenna Logan, and Maddie Alexander. Logan’s special car and paint scheme that celebrated the “50/50” champions (World Cup 50 and World Baseball Classic 50) was on display, and one of the biggest hits of the festivities, since it may have been the first time that baseball fans, who are not racing fans, were seeing it. World Bowl winning quarterback Taylor Crimmins, and many football players were there, as were some members of the soccer team. Rachel Schanke, and Tiffany Nelson, players who opted out of the Copa Rushmori, were among those, but the soccer team is otherwise trying to win a title of their own in Eura right now. (and doing a good job in this effort if you haven’t been paying attention). That made it exciting for everyone, but once the first pitch was thrown, it was time for baseball.

On the other side, was the nation of Ethane, themselves a former champion, though they have not been playing at that level for a little while. We’ve talked about it before that you always need to watch out for these teams with championship pedigree as you never know when they will have their bounce back year to greatness. 27-year-old Adam Gilchrest would get the ball for the Red Kites, being opposed by 28-year old southpaw Brianna Shirley. Two aces in their prime, each wanting to get the World Baseball Classic started the right way for their respective teams. They would not disappoint, but in the bottom of the second, Gilchrest made one mistake as he hung a slider over the middle of the plate. Macy Hamel knows what to do with that, and blasted a 439-foot bomb well over the left field fence to give Cassadaigua the lead. Gilchrest settled down after that, hoping and waiting for his team to get him that run back. Shirley was not going to let that happen, retiring the first 13 batters she faced before the veteran Graham Wilde blooped in a single to left. He would be erased on a double play, and Shirley continued to be dominant.

Heading into the 8th inning, Shirley had only allowed two baserunners, the single to Wilde, and a walk in the 6th inning. She was in command, but like Gilchrest, she would make one costly mistake. For her, it would just come later as opposed to earlier. The mistake was similar, hanging a slider, and Benjamin Cutleigh capitalized, much like Hamel did. Cutleigh sent the pitch 430 feet over the left field fence, landing in the same general area as Hamel’s blast. In fact, as we watched it, the same fan who caught Hamel’s home run was in the picture of Cutleigh’s home run (though she was not the one who caught that one). Like Gilchrest, Shirley settled in after that. Both pitchers were dominant and went all nine innings. Shirley allowing one run on three hits, Gilchrest surrendering one hit on four hits.

The game went into extra innings, and in came Becca Fisher, the closer. She’s been reliable, so everyone expected her to take care of business, and after she struck out Benjamin Wilden to lead off the inning, no one was worried. William Oswalden walked in a 14-pitch at bat to be the first base runner, and then Emily Crater, pinch hitting for the pitcher, blooped a single into the “triangle” near the right field line where none of the charging Cassadagan players could get to it. Astutely, Wilden made it to third on the play. Izzie Rasker flew out to left for the second out, but that would allow Wilden to score, putting Ethane up 2-1, and the Fillies in a must-score situation in the bottom of the inning. That would be a task, but one run is certainly possible. Michael Carr had other ideas, blasting a home run just over the center field fence and the outstretched glove of Katie Stephens. The third out was made on the next batter, but the Fillies were now in the hole, down 4-1.

Perhaps in some stadiums, fans would have begun to head for the exits to try and beat the traffic, but at the Dagan Airways Stadium, they stayed in their seats and stood. “Let’s go Fillies!” chants were heard loudly, about as loud as they were at the start of the game. They were not going to be satisfied with a loss, and remember all of those comebacks that this team has made before in extra innings, especially in the late rounds of the playoffs. The team themselves still had to strongly believe, but this was going to be tough. Steffie Kennedy would lead off the inning with a soft grounder to third, and with her speed, the third basemen, Wilde, knew he would not have a play on the infield single. Up next was Chloe Sorenston, one of the new players on the team, and the Red Kites were hoping for a double play ball. They would not get one, as Sorenston singled to left, putting runners on first and second and getting the fans excited. Chants of “Let’s go Fillies” were getting louder, as Ethane closer Adam Carler tried to regain his composure. The next batter was Meghan Thompson, a player who had struck out in all three of her at bats against Gilchrest. Here, she would not, singling to right, scoring Kennedy, and now it was 4-2. Runners on first and third, and still nobody out.

The cheers continued as Kaitlin Beane stepped up to the plate, but Carler would win this battle, striking out Beane and hoping that would end the threat. The pitcher slot would come up next, so a pinch hitter was needed, and up would step Ashley McKnight. McKnight is only 20 years of age, and would be having her first at bat of the World Baseball Classic right here and now. Everyone in Cassadaigua sees her as a huge star in the making and the member of the North Granby Bobcats had a chance to do something great. She did have experience in the International Baseball Slam on our youth rosters, and will one day, many think, have a much bigger role on this team. At bat number one of her WBC career, right here, right now. First pitch, high and away. Ball one.

Second pitch? No. No way…. Are you kidding….

Well hit. Deep to left-center.

The fans stood on their feet, many raising their arms. From the crack of the bat, they knew what was about to come. But they had to wait to erupt, wait for that ball to clear the fence, though it was a no-doubter. High. Deep. Gone!

Ashley McKnight knew it too but did not celebrate too quickly. Deep down you knew that thoughts were going through her head that her career that everyone is talking about and getting ready for was going to start like this!

5-4, the Fillies win. On a night that the past was celebrated, the future took over. Cassadagan baseball is in good hands!