World Baseball Classic 53 Everything Thread

by **Atheara** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 3:18 am

The Registeration
Kevin gets the eight city clubs to register for the First Division of the newly planned Athearan Baseball League.

Matchday 13
The 189                   3 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  9
Atheara                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Matchday 14
The 189                   0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Atheara                   0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 X  4

Matchday 15
The 189                   1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1  6
Atheara                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Once again, Kevin Laycent - Nuzel was in his office. But this time around, he wasn't on the computer. He was on the phone this time. He had already finished the proposition document for the new Athearan Baseball League (ABL) a few days ago. He was dialling the number for the last city club in Atheara, the first "official" baseball club in Atheara, the Trinover Cliffers (or the Cliffers for short). All these eight city clubs were community run, but with this new Baseball League in mind, they won't be only community runned anymore, they would be considered actually "official."

The phone picked up and an elder male voice picked up, asking. "This it the Trinover Cliffers Manager, Arnhalt Desenyv. How may i help you in this time of hour?" Kevin finally decies to speak up after a few seconds of collecting his thoughts. "Hello sir Desenyv. I am Kevin Laycent - Nuzel, Minister of Athletics and Sporting in Atheara." Both sides shared a few seconds of silence, until Desenyv said, "Well hello then, sir Nuzel. How may i be of service?" Kevin breathed, and then immediately said, "I would like you to register the Trinover Cliffers into the new Athearan Baseball League. The First Division."

After an hour and a half of talking...

List of Registered City Clubs:
1. Mugendar Blades (O)
2. Astena Warhawks (O)
3. Sardana Knights (O)
4. Sisalena Kings (O)
5. Newercliff Rodents (O)
6. Estria Lancers (O)
7. Hunvardehm Sharks (O)
8. Trinover Cliffers (O)

The call had ended after an hour and a half of talking. Desenyv was a very talkative, but also very much a friendly personality for a 56 year old man. He had some history in management, which was good for the Cliffers. 'And those are the eight city clubs.' Kevin thought to himself. He was quite bored after that however, and his paperwork has yet to arrive. 'Let's see how Atheara is doing in the World Baseball Classic, i'm not sure why i never checked on the National Team. I'm the Minister of Sports for fucks sake.' Kevin thought before looking at the group and...

Group E                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Zwangzug               15   12   3    88   54  +34
2 Super-Llamaland        15    9   6    71   80   −9
3 The 189                15    8   7    64   57   +7
4 Atheara                15    7   8    78   74   +4
5 Le Choix               15    6   9    59   78  −19
6 Behetij                15    3  12    62   79  −17

"Oh." Was all he had to say. 'Well i think getting the eight city clubs to register was better than this.' Kevin thought. Whilst getting to talk to the club managers was nice, some were a bit skeptical, and one of them were even quite suspicious. To tell the truth, it's actually rare for a proposition of sorts to be talked about with the people who are most likely to be affected by it. But because most of the managers were fine with it, Kevin had decided to continue to roll on with the idea. "Now, Atheara in the WBC peaked me. Who do they have next?"

Le Choix, more known as The Chosen in Atheara (for odd reasons). "Oh." Was all Kevin said again.

by **Super-Llamaland** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 3:27 am

THE TOP SNUBS FROM THE LPB ALL-STAR GAME
Jebediah Wong, LSN Baseball

NEW LLAMA CITY -- with the official rosters for both the Llamanean and Newlandian sides of the inaugural LPB All-Star Game set, and the game itself set to kick off in Cyclone Park in just two weeks, things seem to be going smoothly. But the novel process by which the fans, managers, players, and media combined to vote for the 18 position players and 11 pitchers on each team seemed to produce quite a few shocking snubs, which the likes of Miranda Gray and Tyson Long have referred to as an "outrage" and "complete bullshit", respectively. Long may not have much of a case this year with his .241 batting average, but the fact remains that the multiversal talent infusion that the LPB has been hit with has resulted in a lot of very tough decisions for ASG pickers this season. You only need to look at first base on the Newlandian side, where the selection committee had to choose between international regulars Matthieu Gammond (Chromatika), Adam King (South Newlandia), Bronson Ghirardello (Tikariot), Gabriel Acosta (Super-Llamaland), Chelsea Harlow (Newmanistan), and Luxolo Mbeki (Banija) for two spots. Here, we break down the top eight snubs from both sides in the LPB All-Star Game Rosters.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
T-9: RP Darlene Le (South Newlandia, Vargas City Lions), 2B Korban Pitts (South Newlandia, South Falls Athletics), 1B Chelsea Harlow (Newmanistan, Newport Owls), 1B Adam King (South Newlandia, Elephant Valley Homers)

Even in the honorable mentions we're already getting NT starters - that's how you know how much quality is in this league. In short - Darlene Le had a sub-2 ERA, eleven strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and generally shone on the mound, but was overshadowed by Kris Headley getting the higher-leverage outings for Vargas City. Korban Pitts hit .320, albeit diminished by his lack of plate discipline, but with Savanna Wladecki earning Evan Masorka consideration, there just wasn't room for two all-stars on such a bad team. Chelsea Harlow was quietly excellent on a struggling Owls team, with an OPS pushing .900, but just couldn't find space amongst all the superstars playing first base in the SNL half of the league. Finally, Adam King was even better than Harlow with the bat, but had a slow start that may have tempered voters' reactions to his play.

QUESTIONABLE

8. C Hugh Marquez (South Newlandia, New Llama Cyclones)

Cyclones fans were sorely disappointed to see their starting catcher and fan-favorite miss out, although it's unclear whether he had a better start to the season than Joe Gregory of TJUN-ia or NT starter Derrick Armstrong. Still, Marquez hit a solid .281, far outpacing anything Armstrong's ever done in the league, with eleven home runs and a few highlight-reel clutch hits. Defensively he wasn't up to the level of Gregory or Armstrong, owing to a recent freak injury that he's only recently fully recovered from, but held his own and proved a savvy veteran leader for a retooling Cyclones team.

7. C Brad Moore (South Newlandia, Newport Dolphins)

A veteran leader of one of the most successful teams in the league, internationally-recognized Brad Moore has an even stronger case than Marquez does on the other side of the league. While he wasn't spectacular with the bat, there's a reason the Dolphins' pitching staff blew the opposition away to a league-leading ERA. His framing, composure, and arm all contributed to an excellent run prevention game that deserves at least some recognition.

6. SP José Almas (TJUN-ia, Denison Dynamo)

The Dynamo may be absolute garbage, as reflected in Almas' 4-7 record, but voters shouldn't have let that distract them from the TJUN-ian's superb pitching. A 2.81 ERA over ninety-four innings made Almas one of few things that went right for the Dynamo in an abysmal start to the season, but pitching in the freezing north did little to raise the debutant's national profile. With five equally good aces ultimately taken ahead of him, it's hard to say he should've been a lock - but this kind of performance doesn't come often for Dynamo fans, and it's a shame that it wasn't acknowledged.

CONTROVERSIAL

5. SP Jacob Conroy (South Newlandia, Elephant Valley United)

Conroy has struggled in his past few seasons in SNBL, but moving to the LPB has proved to be somewhat of a cure for the NT starter's struggles. A 3.16 ERA and one hundred strikeouts (one of just a handful of starters to reach that mark so early) prove that although he may not be The Guy anymore, he's still quietly one of the best pitchers in the nation. But maybe "quiet" is the wrong thing to be when you're going for the all-star team, and there's no denying that there were some great pitchers in South Newlandia this season.

4. OF Rose Dawson (Chromatika, Apple Valley Vipers)

The Chromatik star and key figure in the team's WBC52 run followed up that sterling international performance with an equally strong domestic one. Her combination of patience and doubles power made her a dangerous - if sometimes underestimated - presence in the Vipers' dominant lineup (I mean, the team's on pace to win 110), with a .284/.373/.465 slash line a testament to her discipline and batting ability. She was also quietly excellent in the field, notably robbing all-star Tod Pittman of a game-tying home run in the ninth inning in a game against the Dynamo. The likes of Larkin and Mikkelson-Yao may have been bigger names (and free of Chromatik voter fatigue), but it's hard to say Dawson didn't deserve this. Confusingly, much of the discourse here has suggested Dawson should replace Ethane's Lucas Robinson, who has been nothing short of spectacular for the Lions as a bottom-of-the-order threat and defensive whiz.

3. CF Shawn Zimmerman (South Newlandia, Elephant Valley Homers)

Homers and Elephants star Zimmerman, though, is arguably an even worse snub in the outfield. His combination of flashiness and genuine five-tool talent make him a favorite every year for the all-star team, yet six other outfielders found their way in ahead of him? On pace for another 30-30 season, and hitting over .300 with excellent defense, it's not really clear why Zimmerman didn't make the team. Perhaps with two teammates having objectively better seasons (including Chromatik superstar Alisen Moyamoto), there just wasn't room for a third guy from a middling team.

INEXCUSABLE

2. SP Rudolph Vicar-Dijo (Zwangzug, Rüsselsheim Blue Sox)

Sure, Zwangzug's third starter was injured for a few starts, but the fact remains that Vicar-Dijo was a shutdown starter and one of few bright spots in Rüsselsheim's inexplicably sub-.500 start to the season. While he suffered from some poor BABIP luck, he still managed to post a sparkling ERA of 3.26 while all his teammates hemorrhaged runs and/or tore ligaments in their pitching arms. Vicar-Dijo earned the respect of both the statheads (thanks to his sublime peripherals and sub-2.70 FIP) and the old guard (for his workhorse nature and grind-it-out style while all the other starters crumpled like a wet paper bag) - but not, apparently, the selection committee. I mean, they took someone from Drawkland over him - really?

1. 3B Miranda Gray (Super-Llamaland, Emerald City Greens)

We genuinely considered putting Miranda Gray in her own tier, but this is somewhat on brand for arguably the most overlooked star in Llamanean history. Gray has been quietly putting up 6-WAR seasons since the dawn of time, but has seemingly never gotten the recognition she truly deserves due to her taciturn nature and succession of awful teammates, and this is just another unfortunate instance of this phenomenon. Gray slashed .283/.360/.510 with eighteen home runs in the first half of the season, pairing this phenomenal offensive output with the Gold Glove-level defense that we've come to expect of her. And while we can't fault the voters for taking the big bat of Edith Ponce, who has been invaluable in Vargas City so far, ...Ian Zhuang? seriously? Hitting .421 in your first month is really impressive for the young Kyrinson star, but Zhuang has been distinctly average since that scorching start.

by **Quintessence of Dust** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 4:26 am

(Provisional) box scores as posted on the TalkBaseball.qd website. This tournament, TBQ will be summarising results entirely through The Wire quotes.


                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            4   2   2   0   1   0   1  .306   1  10
L. Chevalier LF            3   1   0   0   2   1   1  .300   1   7
L. Dai 3B                  5   0   2   3   0   1   1  .300   1  10
S. Borgþórsson 1B          4   1   2   3   0   1   4  .327   2   7
J. Stevens RF              4   0   0   0   0   2   2  .341   1   6
Z. Janečková CF            3   0   1   0   1   0   0  .333   0   1
Y. Long C                  4   0   0   0   0   1   1  .216   0   1
M. Kawakami P              3   1   1   0   0   1   1  .333   0   0
  a–K. Yutani PH           1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .313   0   1
  M. Ryan P                0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  B. Beaufils P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
T. Watanabe 2B             3   2   1   0   1   0   2  .297   1   6

a–K. Yutani pinch-hit for M. Kawakami in the 7th

Doubles: J. Theriault (4, 1st inning, 0 on, 0 outs), L. Dai (5, 3rd inning, 2 on, 2 outs), K. Yutani (1, 7th inning, 1 on, 2 outs)
Home runs: S. Borgþórsson (2, 5th inning, 1 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: S. Borgþórsson 5, L. Dai 3, J. Theriault 3, K. Yutani 2, T. Watanabe, M. Kawakami, Z. Janečková
2-out RBI: S. Borgþórsson 3, L. Dai 2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Borgþórsson 3, T. Watanabe 2, J. Stevens
GIDP: L. Chevalier
Team LOB: 7

FIELDING
Double plays: 1 (Watanabe – Theriault – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
M. Kawakami W (1 – 1)      7.0  5   2   2   1   5   0  95  57  9.35
M. Ryan                    0.2  1   0   0   0   1   0   7   6  3.00
B. Beaufils                1.1  0   0   0   0   0   0  17  12  0.00

Game score: M. Kawakami 63
Batters faced: M. Kawakami 27, M. Ryan 3, B. Beaufils 4
Ground outs – fly outs: M. Kawakami 7 – 8, M. Ryan 0 – 1, B. Beaufils 2 – 2
Inherited runners – scored: B. Beaufils 1 – 0

Scoring summary:

1.1: Lingxin Dai grounds out (6–3). Jack Theriault scores.

2.0: Tiara Appleby doubles (9LM). Lane Wortham scores.

3.2: Lingxin Dai doubles (7LD). Teijo Watanabe scores.

3.2: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson singles (34D). Luka Chevalier scores.

5.2: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson homers (89XD). Jack Theriault scores. Sigurkarl Borgþórsson scores.

6.2: Jack Theriault reaches base on error (E5). Mayumi Kawakami scores.

6.2: Lingxin Dai singles (56D). Teijo Watanabe scores.

7.1: Harmon Frank flies out (9). Tiara Appleby scores.


                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
K. Yutani 2B               4   1   0   0   1   0   5  .250   0   1
L. Chevalier LF            3   2   2   1   1   1   0  .321   2   8
  f–C. Brewster LF         0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
L. Dai 3B                  5   0   2   1   0   1   4  .309   1  11
S. Borgþórsson 1B          4   0   1   1   0   0   0  .321   2   8
J. Stevens RF              4   1   2   2   1   1   2  .356   2   8
Z. Janečková CF            4   0   1   1   1   1   4  .313   0   2
Y. Long C                  2   1   1   0   1   0   3  .231   0   1
  B. Amundsen P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  e–M.P. Yang PH           0   1   0   0   1   0   0  .333   1   3
  M. Ryan P                0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
J. Scherer P               0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  a–J. Theriault PH        1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .320   1  10
  M. Ibsen P               0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–R. Weber PH            1   1   1   0   0   0   0  .300   0   2
  M. Ryan P                0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  c–K. Kawasuda PH         1   0   0   0   0   1   1  .294   0   1
  d–B. Meldgaard C         1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .333   0   0
T. Watanabe SS             3   0   0   1   0   2   4  .275   1   7

a–J. Theriault pinch-hit for J. Scherer in the 2nd
b–R. Weber pinch-hit for M. Ibsen in the 4th
c–K. Kawasuda pinch-hit for M. Ryan in the 5th
d–B. Meldgaard substituted for K. Kawasuda in the 6th
e–M.P. Yang pinch-hit for B. Amundsen in the 7th
f–C. Brewster substituted for L. Chevalier in the 9th

Home runs: J. Stevens (2, 7th inning, 0 on, 0 outs), L. Chevalier (2, 8th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: J. Stevens 5, L. Chevalier 5, L. Dai 2, J. Theriault, R. Weber, S. Borgþórsson, Y. Long, Z. Janečková, B. Meldgaard
2-out RBI: Z. Janečková, L. Dai, S. Borgþórsson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: Y. Long 2, Z. Janečková 2, L. Dai
GIDP: S. Borgþórsson
Sac Fly: T. Watanabe
Hit by Pitch: S. Borgþórsson, L. Chevalier
Team LOB: 11

BASERUNNING
SB: J. Theriault (4)

FIELDING
Errors: T. Watanabe (1)
Double plays: 1 (Dai – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Scherer                 2.0  2   2   2   3   2   0  39  18  4.50
M. Ibsen W (1 – 0)         2.0  1   0   0   0   1   0  20  16  0.00
M. Ryan H (1)              1.0  0   0   0   0   1   0  11   8  2.57
B. Amundsen H (3)          2.0  3   1   1   0   2   0  35  20  3.52
H. Liang SV (5)            2.0  0   1   1   2   1   0  37  22  1.13

Game score: J. Scherer 43
Batters faced: J. Scherer 11, M. Ibsen 7, M. Ryan 3, B. Amundsen 9, H. Liang 8
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Scherer 2 – 2, M. Ibsen 1 – 4, M. Ryan 2 – 0, B. Amundsen 3 – 1, H. Liang 2 – 2

Scoring summary:

1.0: Maegan Tash triples (89XD). Pastor Parks scores.

1.0: Lane Wortham flies out (7). Maegan Tash scores.

1.2: Zuzana Janečková walks with the bases loaded. Kaori Yutani scores.

4.2: Lingxin Dai singles (6M). Yazhu Long scores.

4.2: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson singles (4MD). Rémy Weber scores.

4.2: Jay Stevens singles (4MD). Luka Chevalier scores.

6.2: Harmon Frank singles (9LS). Lane Wortham scores.

7.0: Jay Stevens homers (9D). Jay Stevens scores.

7.1: Teijo Watanabe flies out (8). Maas Pheng Yang scores.

8.0: Spring Pardo flies out (8). Dyson Ellisson scores.

8.0: Luka Chevalier homers (78D). Luka Chevalier scores.


                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            3   0   0   0   1   1   1  .302   1  10
L. Chevalier LF            3   0   1   1   1   0   1  .321   2   9
L. Dai 3B                  4   0   0   0   0   1   2  .288   1  11
S. Borgþórsson 1B          4   0   0   0   0   0   3  .298   2   8
J. Stevens RF              4   0   0   0   0   1   1  .327   2   8
Y. Long C                  3   0   1   0   1   0   0  .238   0   1
C. Brewster CF             4   0   1   0   0   0   2  .250   0   0
N. Waismann P              2   0   0   0   0   0   2  .143   0   0
  a–Z. Janečková PH        1   0   0   0   0   0   1  .294   0   2
  B. Beaufils P            0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  K. Wahl P                0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
  b–M.P. Yang PH           1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .300   1   3
T. Watanabe 2B             3   1   1   0   0   0   1  .279   1   7

a–Z. Janečková pinch-hit for N. Waismann in the 7th
b–M.P. Yang pinch-hit for K. Wahl in the 9th

Doubles: T. Watanabe (3, 3rd inning, 0 on, 0 outs), L. Chevalier (3, 3rd inning, 1 on, 1 out)
Total bases: T. Watanabe 2, L. Chevalier 2, C. Brewster, Y. Long
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: N. Waismann, S. Borgþórsson
Team LOB: 6

BASERUNNING
SB: C. Brewster (1)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
N Waismann L (1 – 1)       7.0  7   2   2   1   3   0 108  69  2.14
B. Beaufils                1.1  3   2   2   0   1   0  23  16  3.38
K. Wahl                    0.2  1   0   0   0   1   0   9   7  6.35

Game score: N. Waismann 57
Batters faced: N. Waismann 29, B. Beaufils 7, K. Wahl 3
Ground outs – fly outs: N. Waismann 12 – 6, B. Beaufils 2 – 1, K. Wahl 0 – 1
Inherited runners – scored: K. Wahl 2 – 1
WP: N. Waismann

Scoring summary:

2.2: Sunshine Newton singles (7LS). Lane Wortham scores.

3.2: Xaviera Burton doubles (89XD). Pastor Parks scores.

3.1: Luka Chevalier doubles (5L). Teijo Watanabe scores.

9.1: Mayson Weston singles (4D). Sunshine Newton scores.

9.2: Maegan Tash singles (89S). Harmon Frank scores.

"Yo, this my corner. I ain’t running nowhere!" -- Bodie Broadus

With the vultures circling for her career, Mayumi Kawakami produced a fine pitching display to take Game 1 of the United Adaikes series on the back of some useful offence generated by her big corner men, Sigurkarl Borgþórsson and Lingxin Dai. It's fair to say the Quodite batting lineup still hasn't quite sparked as Jiang would have wanted -- after the misery of the team's HR leader having hit just a solitary bomb, the lead now being all the way up at... 2 hasn't exactly required installing extra steps on the pedestal -- but they're giving enough response to back up the largely effective starting rotation and murderously efficient arm barn. This time it was Borgþórsson smacking a three-run homer, while Dai hit his team-leading 5th double of the tournament.

In Game 2, Jan Scherer got his spot start as they adjusted the rotation to make up for Juzo Sakaguchi's temporary injury worries: he walked the first batter he saw and gave up a triple to Maegan Tash, who then scored herself on a deep sacrifice fly; walking 3 batters in his 2 innings pitched, it wasn't a command performance from Scherer. The relievers stepped up, though, helped out by some excellent fielding; the only blip was Teijo Watanabe, getting a game at shortstop to allow Jack Theriault a rest, dropping a line drive shot hit straight to him. The game ended on a nice bit of glovework from the least expected sources: Dai showing off rare athleticism to catch a line drive and rocket a throw to Borgþórsson, whose stretch got Tash just in time for the double play.

Even Game 3, which the Things lost as they continued their trend of failing to close out series, saw a decent pitching performance. WBC rookie Niklas Waismann threw 108 pitches, the most by any Quodite starter since WBC50, and gave up just 2 runs; but that was already 1 too many, and when United Adaikes added a couple in the 9th through pinch-hitter Mayson Weston and Tash, they were already in a winning position. 4-32 at the plate from the batting lineup didn't give Waismann much in the way of help, the sole run scoring off a double by Luka Chevalier, whose excellent form continues (his OBP is over .450 having drawn a team-leading 11 base on balls). Carolina Brewster got her first start and picked up a first hit and stolen base.

With corner infield and outfield hitting well, plus Theriault at short, it's mainly 2 and 8 that are troubling Jiang. Yazhu Long has looked fairly incompetent at the plate but he's the only one who can catch Kawakami's knuckleball and clearly has an excellent rapport with the whole staff. Bo Meldgaard looks a much better offensive prospect but hasn't been trusted much with the glove. In the outfield, Jay Stevens and Rémy Weber look in the best form but Weber is too much of a liability as a regular defensive starter. Zuzana Janečková's .294 average seems to flatter her a little and it's early to say but Carolina Brewster appears a similar type of light singles hitter.

As the Things remain home for a reunion with Nova Anglicana, the two teams lie comfortably 4 places clear of 3rd, and a winning record in the second half of qualification would see the Things in an excellent position to compete for the playoffs. But WBC baseball has many surprises in store and Jiang can't afford to let up with significant rest or rotation. Sakaguchi will indeed be fit to pitch Game 3, and he'll look to get Maas Pheng Yang into the lineup somehow, but the lack of designated hitter games this group stage plus the strong form of the men in possession at the corner spots mean Yang may have to continue as the best bench hitter around for now.

by **Chromatika** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:08 am

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly after Chromatika's 2-1 Series Win over Sevendia

The Good: Clara Ayonara's WBC Record.

In pitching the first six innings of Chromatika's 8-7 win over Sevendia, Clara Ayonara improved to nine wins and one no decision in ten starts in the WBC. The starlet, who came to fame by going six wins and one decision in seven starts in the Outliers' championship run of WBC 52, has been the only consistent pitcher of the Chromatik starting staff during this rough stretch. Ayonara's starts account for three of the team's seven wins, and that is after she was promoted from the fifth spot to the second spot. It's to the point where the age-old controversy of whether or not Angelou should be the ace or Ayonara should be the ace has resurfaced. She will have to keep up her tremendous record if the team is to make up ground and make the playoffs, but Ayonara has been golden.

The Good: Raitis Ranta, the Only New Starter

The Eyrods Pilots second baseman, the only new starter and the only new starter on this Outliers squad, has been solid. She hit six RBIs during the series against Sevendia, and has been one of the better bats in the lineup alongside Mayamoto, Dawson, and Annovar. It's becoming harder and harder for Chromatik baseball players to make it to the national team - the best way is to get to the LPB of South Newlandia and Super-Llamaland, but there is a way through the CBL. Ranta has been the one bright spot, and she will be needed.

The Bad: Hine Salle Blowing Another Save

Chromatika was one out from clinching a series sweep when Hine Salle walked a batter and then gave up a walk off home run to make the Chromatiks' record be a dismal seven wins and eight losses through fifteen games. The Chromatik bullpen have had their hands full with the way that the starting pitching has been going, but the way that this team relies on their closer dictates that they will need better results from Salle.

The Bad: The Perception of Chromatika's WBC 52 Victory

The worse that this team performs, the more that the victory of WBC 52 looks like a miracle run completed on home soil. Sure, there is nothing actually wrong with that, but if the Outliers are to prove themselves to be a prevailing force in international baseball, it has to become more than just a one-hit wonder. Imagine if the defending champion and number one team in the world doesn't make the final sixteen - that would be a true disaster.

The Ugly: Chromatika's Record

With Brookstation somehow sweeping the Equestrian states, Chromatika is a full three games behind second place, with The Sherpa Empire and Brookstation at the head of the standings with ten wins apiece. It isn't as bad as in some other groups, where the top teams have twelve or thirteen wins, but Chromatika must start winning every series, including the upcoming series against that same Brookstation.

According to Angelou, "It isn't over until we're eliminated." Hopefully, that won't come to pass.

The Ugly: Chromatik Fan Sentiment after Fifteen Games

The hype surrounding the Outliers after their WBC victory was immense - and now, they're trying to live up to the hype. Honestly, this was supposed to be a defining moment in Chromatik baseball where all the new fans could follow what was supposed to be a victory lap, but instead they're having to earn every single win. Hopefully, it'll turn out to be a different kind of drama that ends in success, but the Outliers have absolutely missed a chance to show face.

But... It really isn't over, no matter the fact that Chromatika has the worst RA in the entire group. Can they turn around their pitching? Can then turn around their form?

by **Brookstation** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:54 am

This video was uploaded on Wetube on Scott Parker's channel on 16th December 2021

Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in the video was based on my personal opinions. Anything in this video doesn't reflect on the Brook Baseball Association's opinions.

Here comes the second half.. and I say it's all right.

Right so welcome back to the channel - your boy is back with another new video. My name is Scott Parker and I make videos on everything related to sports. So if you are a Brook and a sports lover, go and change the colour of the subscribe button.

I must say that I was fortunate enough as I didn't have to see us lose to ponies or furrets. By the way, that doesn't make me racist. The thing is that growing up in this country where animals are just used for our purposes and aren't as evolved as us, it just creates this mindset that humans are the only superior being. One thing that I love about this World Baseball Classic is that I personally am getting to know a lot. I am being able to see how different countries have their own traditions and beliefs. From the Sevendians to Equestrian States, you just get to know how big the multiverse actually is.

Many of you have been asking me for some time that how come we have a National Baseball Team considering the fact that there is no baseball league as of yet. So you all wanted to know how these players actually get into the national team and it is a good question as I myself had to look that up. Instead of making a separate video on that, I will just tell you that in today's video itself. So everything simply starts from college and university. If you fall in love with the sport, you can get to the team. That's all required. To elaborate, you need to well in your high. High school games are very important as that's how you get into the team. It is the equivalent of our baseball league. That's all fellas.

The series against Equestrian States is by far the best I have witnessed in my entire life and obviously the best for Brookstation. The first match wasn't the one that was exciting. It was like any other normal match. Equestrian started with a single but it didn't take much time for Brookstation to overcome their opponents. Ripeppi started with hitting a double. Moore came and singled in no time and Ripeppi was in third base. When Cahill flung the ball towards the infielder, Ripeppi scored. This was followed by Moore scoring soon after. The team played really well but yeah it was a long innings but I had no idea of what was coming up next. The match was pretty close, I must say. Equestrian States were playing slow but they were consistent and focused on scoring runs in phases. Brookstation won just because of those three runs in the fourth innings. Had, Smith not scored before Mitchell got out, we would have to move to an extra innings which might have given the game to our opponents. Getting these 'lucky' wins isn't what makes a team excel in the sport. If this is how we continue, we might have to face problems.

Now then, moving on to the main point. The exciting game, I was talking about. The match which I wish, I could've seen live. But that's how things are. For the first five innings, nothing happened. Literally nothing. I mean seriously nothing. All, I could see was people get out and reach bases at most but there's nothing interesting unless you see a person score atleast. This is perhaps how most baseball games are but yeah this was boring to a point that I almost fell asleep. In the sixth innings, Equestrian States finally scored a run when their fourth hitter safely reached the third base. By that time, I was almost asleep. It was 2 a.m. at night and I was barely being able to keep my eyelids from going down when the unthinkable happen. Seven freaking runs in a single innings. I mean seriously ? There is a 0.1% chance of that happening. What was wrong with our hitters all of a sudden. It just seemed that there was a sudden burst of adrenaline in all the players. Doubles after doubles. I just don't want to spoil it for you. You have to see it with your own eyes to believe it. I have linked the highlights in the description. You just need to watch it. I was just shocked to see three doubles in an innings. A team which has been lagging for the first six innings. A team which couldn't get a single run for two hours suddenly getting three doubles. Players running faster than Cheetahs and it happened all of a sudden. The team that was playing like a snail suddenly decided to become Turbo. To bring an end to this wonderful display, Pat Jensen hit a beautiful 398 feet home run. I myself was not being able to believe my eyes. Was it a dream ? Had I fallen asleep ? NO. This was the only innings in which we scored for that matter. I mean its really not possible for a team to win if suddenly all players become charged and start running and scoring one after the other. I really feel sorry for Equestrian States, who had the lead after the sixth dam innings and then saw such a hilarious thing happen.

The third match was also pretty well. We got runs throughout the match and finished with 8 runs and also our pitcher's performances in the past two matches had been way better than they did throughout the series. Did Connor Harris really become a man in front of those ponies? The pitchers helped in keeping the game in control and provided constant support to the hitters to continue with their scoring. It was a really good match as we saw runs come in almost all innings of the game and it was good to see the scoreboard mount up one by one.

Man, it was the best series I have ever watched and baseball is a good sport. But yeah boy don't forget the next series please. It's against the world number 1. I know we defeated them once but believe me it was just mere luck. This win just cannot be taken for granted. Chromatika has been playing the last few matches really well, getting a win over Abanhfleft and Sevendia. This series is going to be a decisive one. I feel nervous and excited at the same time. I just don't know what is going to happen. Fingers crossed and see you next time.

by **Zwangzug** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:02 am

There is actually a (poorly known, unmapped or publicized) minor league farm system beneath the major leagues of Zwangzug. In some ways, they serve more to delight local fans from smaller towns who want to see baseball in person; a lot of the hot prospects go through the college system and don't spend long in the minors before making it to the bigs. This is the path that Griffith took.

The selection of the national team is mostly left up to the manager. In semi-recent history, timelines have synchronized such that a talented Zebra can expect to play for 3 WBCs (national stability permitting), with about a third of the roster turning over between tournaments. For a while in the early days, Reynolds of the Mustangs held the position semi-permanently. Once the LAZY and its successors got underway, the domestic leagues were competitive enough that the manager of the most recent league champion would be appointed temporary Zebras manager, a bit like an all-star team. Thus, Toussaint Bonner, of the WBC21 championship team, hailed from the Logrove Dolphins, but did not return for future teams.

However, in the most recent incarnation, the tables have turned again--but now it's the manager from the other half of the FTC who's made the position her own. (Almost as remarkably, the Mustangs' rivals have been known as the "Secret Squirrels" for that entire period--they are renowned for their identity crises and usually have to be described as "the Mustangs' rivals" or "the team from the east FTC" when speaking over a long-term history.) Anyway, this woman's name is Wenjie Liu. And while she is not as erratic as Jacinta MacRaun, she can be intimidating in her own way.

"There are many kinds of power," she said in a pep talk. "Slugging power. Fastball pitching power. In Zwangzug, we need to rely on brain power."

"Isn't that what we always do?" Curtis asked.

Ignore her, Griffith mouthed, she gave the same speech last Classic.

But Istvan would not be deterred. "Wait a minute. When you say brainpower...aren't you the one making the decisions? What's the batting order, when to substitute, where to shift?"

"Yeah," said Liu, not seeing the trap ahead of her. "And I trust you guys to carry them out."

"But that's kind of like...saying that we don't matter. All our strength and practicing? You think it doesn't matter if we bulk up and can throw a hundred miles per hour or hit the ball four hundred feet, because you're a stats genius?"

"I'm saying that an overemphasis on bulk and stature is going to get us beaten. Other countries have giants and naturally-gifted sluggers, too. We can't expect to dominate that way; we need to be efficient in the way we execute our gameplan. Taking pitches, aiming in the zone--those are skills you have, not me."

"This is some computer simulation nonsense!" Istvan railed. "Coach here thinks the future is predestined, like she's just plugging numbers into a scoreboard, our skill--our humanity--counts for nothing. Is that the kind of team you want to play for? You might as well defect and play for the 189."

Nelson's eyes were wide, hanging on Istvan's words. Jorgi was tense, drumming his fingers against the floor. And suddenly Griffith saw with a terrible awareness two paths that led forward from that moment. Down one, the players from the Descriptivist cities--Istvan and Jorgi and Enrico--threw off Liu's leadership, and spurned the Zwangzugian heritage. They would be as powerful as a Socki Lewis, as inexorable as those Newmanistanian women who threw 128 pitches a night. Down the other, Liu and her loyalists from the Algebraic cities--Brianna, Kajsa, Quentin--would lead with an iron grip. They would shroud their uncertainty in obscure acronyms and statistics on unfamiliar scales, as enigmatic and as cocksure as a Yaforite sybermetrician.

Were these choices fated, the only two tracks, with their train doomed to careen down one or the other eventually? Or were they only glimpses of possibility? Might there still be time to build a bridge that rose over both forks to somewhere in between?

by **United Adaikes** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:15 am

After the first half of the group stage of the 53rd edition of the World Baseball Classic, the United Adaikes are at the bottom of the upper half of Group D. Position-wise, it is a good vantage point for the Adaikesians to determine if they can proceed or not to the next round of the tournament. While third in the group, they are four (4) games behind the first two teams of the group, Quintessence of Dust and Nova Anglicana, which have the same win-loss record of 11-4.

Though currently 7-8, United Adaikes have shown the determination to deliver good results even if they are an unranked team. While they lost the first part of the series against Delaclava, Nova Anglicana, and Quintessence of Dust, they never gave a chance to the winning teams to sweep them in all three games. They have also won the first part of the series against Sangti and The Greater Nordics.

Now that they have seen how the teams in their group play, adjustments will indeed be made by Marmaduke Christison, the Manager and Head Coach of the United Adaikes National Baseball Team, which they collectively call themselves Hawks to get positive results in the remaining matchdays of the tournament.

-----------------

Tiara Appleby has not forgotten the road she has taken to get where she is now. At eight years old, after seeing the practice of the high school baseball team of the public school that she was enrolled in, she decided that she wanted to play baseball all her life. With no elementary baseball team in that school, she trained with the junior high school team, even asking the older pitchers to throw fastballs at her to test her reaction time, even at a young age. She joined them in all aspects of training: conditioning, batting, fielding, and baserunning. Impressed with the kid's determination, the junior high school coach brings her to the team's games to expose her to the game of baseball. He even gave her a uniform and allowed her to sit with the team during games.

For basic education public schools that do not have a team for a specific sport, the cluster where the school belonged, called the district, will look for players in the member schools with no teams to try to organize an all-district team. This all-district team will play with the other schools that have a team in a district meet. The semi-finalists in the district meets play in the city meet, to play with the semi-finalists in other districts and the private school association meet. The winner of the city meet will be sent to represent the city in the regional meet, then the winner of the regional meet will represent the region in the National Games. The National Games have two divisions, the Elementary Division (for players aged 8-13 from Grades 4-6) and the Junior High Division (for players aged 12-17 from Grades 7-10). The Senior High Schools do not have inter-school meets for students to prepare and decide if they will work right after graduating Senior High School or continue to study in a university. Student-athletes take the opportunity to focus on this level to ensure they will get the necessary grade requirement needed to enter a university.

For Appleby, at Grade 4, aged 9, she was selected to play in an all-district team and even won the Red Forthdor city meet. However, their team lost in the Ludsport regional meet. The following year, she headed the team to proceed in the National Games. Eventually, she lost to a nationally-acclaimed pitching prodigy, Delia Mata, who she became teammates with in the national team, graduating that year. In Appleby's final year in elementary school, they claimed the national title.

Recruiting to study and play for a school starts in the final year of elementary school for a student-athlete. Once recruited, a student-athlete will commit to study and play in that school until they graduate. Of course, when a student-athlete fails to keep their grades within the national requirement, they also will be ineligible to play for one school quarter/term until he/she can return her grades to the acceptable standards. If for the second straight quarter/term a student-athlete was not able to keep their grades within the requirement, they will be barred to play in that year and for the succeeding two years. If it happens in a non-consecutive quarter/term, they will not play in that year and the succeeding year. For UAAUA member universities, recruitment starts in the last year of junior high school. Universities that offer senior high school also include the scholarship for the senior high school level to closely monitor the student-athlete and already include them in practices to prepare them in UAAUA tournaments when they finally enroll in their school.

For Appleby, her exposure in the National Games in her fifth-grade year had all private schools in the country wanting to get her on board in their school. Deciding with her family, she chose to play in the Holy Cross Academy in Wrarnerbadshot, in the sports capital of the United Adaikes, the Thraproy region. Being in a private school, she gets to play in two tournaments in every level of meets, as private schools also have separate city, regional and national associations. With her recruitment, Holy Cross Academy became a household name for baseball fans, winning all meets and tournaments they entered, with Appleby leading the team. The historic record-making perfect record for Holy Cross Academy was achieved in Appleby's final year in junior high, winning all 107 games in 11 tournaments they participated in that year.

She chose to study and play at the University of the Forest Lake in North Shil, Adaikes. She continued to give stellar performances in UAAUA games. With that, the national team coach Marmaduke Christison gave her a chance to play in the International Baseball Slam 15 and the World Baseball Classic 53.

by **Hannasea** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:15 am

How the Choughs made it to the Show

Ethan Harman: It’s really easy to be honest. Just be 6’4” and supremely athletic with an impeccable eye, power to all fields, and a rocket arm in the field. What’s so difficult about that?

Jason Mathis: Was the consensus #1 draft pick. Initially attracted doubters because of his high strikeout totals and mediocre batting average, but his power numbers in the minors were hard to argue with. Harder to argue with were the cops who arrested him for drug possession. After rehab, he worked his way back up with a stint in the Independent Leagues, then got selected for the IBS Independent League All-Stars, earning him first a reprieve from HBL, and then a jump to the Llamaphant Baseball League. So basically, be really good at hitting home runs and as good as you can possibly be at not smoking too much crack.

Zach Walker: Hannasea doesn’t have a strong tradition of university sports. While sports are played at university, they’re genuinely amateur and don’t attract big TV deals. Few baseball players therefore bother with the college route. Which is fortunate for Zach, who would struggle to spell his own name.

Aaron Green: Son of Adam Green, one of the greatest hitters in HBL history. If you want to play baseball in Hannasea, try to be born to a former pro’s family, it really helps your odds of making it.

Sam Pearce: Began playing Children’s Championship baseball. Children’s Championship is a fun, recreational activity to get young children first involved in baseball, and has rules like requiring everyone in the team bat at least once, a mercy rule to prevent blowout wins, and a strict limit on how times parents can call umpires blind sons of bitches.

Jesse Lowe: When his waistline was 26”, he was playing high school baseball. He’s steadily worked his way up from single A rookie ball to the show, adding an average of 4” per level climbed.

Joe Mills: Unsurprisingly, Joe began in the traditional way, getting drafted and then playing for the minor league affiliate of a major league club. This is unsurprising to anyone who’s seen his recent play and assumes he’s a minor leaguer who somehow stumbled onto the national team.

Jay Wagner: Wagner, who is out for the remainder of the tournament after a setback in rehab on his injured knee, first learned to get injured playing Children’s Championship ball, where his ability to get hit by pitch endeared him to stats-minded coaches. He’s since honed his craft, getting injured in the minors, getting called up to the show so he could sit out his rookie year with an injury, and then adding injury after injury as he progressed up to major league level.

Jake Walsh: The speedster was never actually drafted, he just stole a seat in a major league club room before the catcher could throw him out.

Scoring summaries:

by **South Newlandia** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:28 am

How do you make it into Llamaphant Pro Baseball?

While players from outside South Newlandia and Super-Llamaland were able to independently come to agreements with teams, most South Newlandians enter Llamaphant Pro Baseball through the LPB draft. The first LPB draft saw talents such Tiffany Grey, already a fan favourite with the Flames, or Darlene Le, who managed to play so well in her rookie season with Vargas City that she was called up for the bullpen of this Classic. Alongside them, there were a ton of solid players, many of which got to represent South Newlandia at the most recent International Baseball Slam. As such, it is only natural that we take a look at the potential stars of the future – which South Newlandians are likely to declare for the second LPB draft?

First of all, this draft will not have a likely South Newlandian superstar, like Tiffany Grey was when she was selected second overall. Instead, we have a good bunch of very good players; one of them surely can be a star, too.

One of them is first baseman Nolan Ramsey, who collected all kinds of accolades in his college career. He’s highly likely to declare, and the 23-year-old could be a star in the making; but at his extremely loaded position, he’d have to set the league on fire to make it on the Elephants. Nevertheless, Nolan, who spent his college days in Newport, could be a top-5 pick depending on how teams see him and what they need. He may also be the most likely South Newlandian to go first overall – the Blue Sox, who hold this pick, already have a young first baseman in Tom Abbott (Sanford), but have had lacklustre production at DH.

Another potential top pick is Leo Jimenez, third baseman. The 20-year-old man from St. Riecarn has announced that he will not return for future college seasons, and will instead declare for the draft. Third Base is a much more favourable position to try to get on the Elephants, and some see the young player, who especially excelled defensively in college, as the true best player from this group. Experts say he’s likely heading to Super-Llamaland with a top-5 pick, but if he falls to #6, his hometown Saints are almost certain to pick him up.

The other two top players from South Newlandia will be Catcher Tyler Danson and second baseman Mike Oeland. Both have been selected by Sarang Oli to play for the South Newlandian U21-teams despite still being in college. They were both used as bench players, and only entered a couple of games as defensive replacements, so it is hard to take any information from there; but if Oli believes they can play good baseball, odds are, they really can. They’re both difficult to project, and could very well go in the top 5; but if they fall out of there, the Mariners have been said to likely pick Oeland at 7, while Danson’s most likely landing spot in South Newlandia could be the Sun City Flames. Of course, both teams may trade up to land either of them, but being selected top-10 seems likely for both of them.

We haven’t talked a lot about pitchers yet, simply due to a lack of top stars likely to declare – the best available pitcher out of South Newlandia, Lola Marques, 21, is very likely to go late in the first round, while the better relievers Samuel Vaughn, Moriyama Nanako, and Amano Sachi may all fall out of there entirely. Nanako is notable nevertheless, having said to declare for the draft at age 19.

After all, the Draft remains as unpredictable as it ever has been. With not only Super-Llamanean prospects also in the mix, accurate predictions are highly difficult to make.

by **Banija** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:56 am

Welcome to the sixth cutoff of the World Baseball Classic, brought to you by me. Sincerely, me.

Each MD I will be offering a small prompt. These prompts are not required and there is no extra bonus for doing them compared with doing a match report or any other type of RP; they’re simply there because, with a long group stage format and many tournaments competing for attention, inspiration may be running thin. Feel free to respond in whatever format you like – or ignore them entirely.

Today' we are going to move back to another baseball-specific prompt- how much celebrity do baseball players have in your nation? Are your biggest baseball superstars the richest athletes in the country, appearing on TV commericals and what not? Are even regular star athletes household names? Or would the average sports fan struggle to name even one player on the team? Also, in your country, is baseball a path to serious wealth? Or are your national teamers simply middle class- or, are they even picking up second jobs in the offseason?

Note: Tomorrow's cutoff will be in the early part of the window. Between 7 and 8 AM EST.

Matchday 16-18 Scores

Group A

Matchday 16
Bardney                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2
Ardengard                 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 X  3

Banija                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2  3
Eshialand                 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 X  5

Ranoria                   0 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 0  6
Drawkland                 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0  3

Matchday 17
Bardney                   1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  4
Ardengard                 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  3

Banija                    2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  4
Eshialand                 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3

Ranoria                   1 0 0 0 2 3 0 1 0  7
Drawkland                 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2

Matchday 18
Bardney                   0 0 2 1 4 0 2 0 0  9
Ardengard                 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  3

Banija                    0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0  4
Eshialand                 1 0 0 2 1 0 3 0 X  7

Ranoria                   0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0  7
Drawkland                 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Group A                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Eshialand              18   12   6    89   70  +19*
2 Banija                 18   12   6    77   57  +20
3 Ranoria                18    9   9    79   72   +7
4 Bardney                18    8  10    70   70    0
5 Ardengard              18    7  11    67   76   −9
6 Drawkland              18    6  12    55   92  −37

*= Eshialand holds head-to-head tiebreaker over Banija, 4 games to 2.

Group B

Matchday 16
Kohnhead                  5 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 10
HUElavia                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Quebec & Shingoryeo       0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1  5
Tikariot                  2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  4

StrayaRoos                0 0 0 1 0 4 0 2 0  7
Alzavola                  0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2  5

Matchday 17
Kohnhead                  0 1 0 3 0 3 0 0 0  7
HUElavia                  0 2 4 2 0 0 1 0 X  9

Quebec & Shingoryeo       0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0  4
Tikariot                  2 1 2 0 0 0 2 3 X 10

StrayaRoos                1 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  6
Alzavola                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2

Matchday 18
Kohnhead                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  3
HUElavia                  0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 X  4

Quebec & Shingoryeo       0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 2  8
Tikariot                  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0  4

StrayaRoos                0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1  7
Alzavola                  4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  6

Group B                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 StrayaRoos             18   12   6    81   68  +13
2 Kohnhead               18   11   7    93   68  +25
3 Quebec & Shingoyreo    18    9   9    91   93   −2
4 Alzavola               18    8  10    95   99   −4
5 HUElavia               18    7  11    76   97  −21
6 Tikariot               18    7  11    74   85  −11

Group C

Matchday 16
Sarzonia                  0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 5  9
South Americanastan       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  2

Soldera                   0 0 3 2 5 0 0 0 0 10
Aji No Moto               2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Hannasea                  0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2  4
Cassadaigua               0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1  3

Matchday 17
Sarzonia                  1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
South Americanastan       0 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 X  5

Soldera                   1 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 5 11
Aji No Moto               0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Hannasea                  2 0 0 6 0 0 0 2 0 10
Cassadaigua               0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0  4

Matchday 18
Sarzonia                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
South Americanastan       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Soldera                   4 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0  9
Aji No Moto               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Hannasea                  1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  4
Cassadaigua               2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 X  5

Group C                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Sarzonia               18   13   5    91   67  +24
2 Soldera                18   11   7    93   71  +22
3 South Americanastan    18   10   8    75   70   +5
4 Hannasea               18   10   8    91   62  +29
5 Cassadaigua            18    7  11    70   79   −9
6 Aji No Moto            18    3  15    57  128  −71

Group D

Matchday 16
Sangti                    0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
The Greater Nordics       0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 X  4

Nova Anglicana            0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Quintessence of Dust      2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  5

United Adaikes            0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2
Delaclava                 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 X  5

Matchday 17
Sangti                    0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
The Greater Nordics       0 0 2 0 5 0 0 1 X  8

Nova Anglicana            2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Quintessence of Dust      2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  4

United Adaikes            0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  3
Delaclava                 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 X  4

Matchday 18
Sangti                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
The Greater Nordics       1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 X  4

Nova Anglicana            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Quintessence of Dust      1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  4

United Adaikes            0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0  5
Delaclava                 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 X  6

Group D                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Quintessence of Dust   18   14   4    83   60  +23
2 Nova Anglicana         18   11   7    81   60  +21
3 Delaclava              18    9   9    78   64  +14
4 The Greater Nordics    18    8  10    70   78   −8
5 United Adaikes         18    7  11    68   86  −18
6 Sangti                 18    5  13    62   94  −32

Group E

Matchday 16
Le Choix                  0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2
Atheara                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

The 189                   0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1  4
Behetij                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3

Super-Llamaland           0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
Zwangzug                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Matchday 17
Le Choix                  0 0 0 1 5 0 0 3 0  9
Atheara                   0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 2  7

The 189                   0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0  3
Behetij                   1 3 3 1 1 0 1 0 X 10

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

Matchday 18
Le Choix                  0 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0  5
Atheara                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

The 189                   1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4  7
Behetij                   0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0  4

Super-Llamaland           1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1  7
Zwangzug                  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Group E                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Super-Llamaland        18   12   6    88   86   +2
2 Zwangzug               18   12   6    94   71  +23
3 The 189                18   10   8    78   74   +4
4 Le Choix               18    9   9    75   87  −12
5 Atheara                18    7  11    87   90   −3
6 Behetij                18    4  14    79   93  −14

*= Super-Llamaland holds head-to-head tiebreaker over Zwangzug, 4 games to 2.

Group F

Matchday 16
Equestrian States         0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Sherpa Empire         0 0 0 1 2 1 0 2 X  6

Abanhfleft                0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0  5
Sevendia                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Chromatika                0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  3
Brookstation              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Matchday 17
Equestrian States         0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0  4
The Sherpa Empire         2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  5

Abanhfleft                2 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 12
Sevendia                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Chromatika                1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Brookstation              0 0 1 1 0 2 4 3 X 11

Matchday 18
Equestrian States         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  4
The Sherpa Empire         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Abanhfleft                0 0 2 0 1 6 0 1 0 10
Sevendia                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Chromatika                2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Brookstation              1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 X  5

Group F                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 The Sherpa Empire      18   12   6    86   57  +29*
2 Brookstation           18   12   6    84   69  +15
3 Abanhfleft             18   11   7    93   56  +37
4 Chromatika             18    8  10    82  100  −18
5 Equestrian States      18    6  12    69   88  −19
6 Sevendia               18    5  13    60  104  −44

*= The Sherpa Empire holds head-to-head tiebreaker over Brookstation, 2 games to 1.

Group G

Matchday 16
Liventia                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Kriegiersien              1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 X  6

TJUN-ia                   0 0 3 1 5 0 0 0 1 10
Muralos                   1 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 0  7

Milchama                  1 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0  7
Mylderm                   0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 10

Matchday 17
Liventia                  0 1 1 0 0 1 11 0 0 14
Kriegiersien              0 0 1 0 0 0  0 1 0  2

TJUN-ia                   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Muralos                   0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 X  3

Milchama                  0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2  5
Mylderm                   0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Matchday 18
Liventia                  0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Kriegiersien              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

TJUN-ia                   2 1 2 2 0 3 0 0 1 11
Muralos                   2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3

Milchama                  1 0 0 3 1 4 0 1 0 10
Mylderm                   1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0  5

Group G                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Milchama               18   14   4    94   72  +22
2 TJUN-ia                18   12   6   106   57  +49
3 Muralos                18    8  10    85  101  −16
4 Liventia               18    8  10    87   74  +13
5 Kriegiersien           18    6  12    56   90  −34
6 Mylderm                18    6  12    61   95  −34

Group H

Matchday 16
Ethane                    0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2  5
Caleon                    0 0 0 1 0 1 1 5 X  8

South Newlandia           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Ko-oren                   0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  2

Barnettsville             0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Daskel                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Matchday 17
Ethane                    0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0  3
Caleon                    0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

South Newlandia           0 0 0 3 0 0 4 1 0  8
Ko-oren                   2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Barnettsville             3 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0  8
Daskel                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Matchday 18
Ethane                    0 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 2  8
Caleon                    0 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  6

South Newlandia           0 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 0  6
Ko-oren                   0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0  5

Barnettsville             0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0  4
Daskel                    1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5

Group E                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 South Newlandia        18   15   3    88   50  +38
2 Ethane                 18   12   6    77   68   +9
3 Daskel                 18    8  10    76   76    0
4 Barnettsville          18    7  11    56   63   −7
5 Ko-oren                18    7  11    49   73  −24
6 Caleon                 18    5  13    55   71  −16

by **Soldera** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 10:29 am

"Ned! Ned!"

Manager Ned Willingham kept the door to the away manager's office slightly ajar as he heard the woman's voice call out to him. He had just finished completing a three-game away sweep of Aji No Moto, which meant a six-game winning streak for his unranked Solderan national baseball team. Winning three games against a moribund national team that ranked 79th in the baseball playing multiverse entering this 53rd edition of the World Baseball Classic was one thing, even if it was away. It didn't hold a candle to sweeping three from a team that entered a series in first place in their home ballpark. But here it was, Soldera earned the sweep and the winning streak that came along with it.

They were now in second place in Group C, two games behind Sarzonia and in knockout round position. If the group stages ended right now, Soldera would be through. And they wouldn't be the lowest seeded second place team as they actually carry a higher run differential than Group D's current runners up in Nova Anglicana. They'd responded after losing two of three to the Stars, a result no one would have questioned considering Sarzonia's pedigree and the focus Stars manager Geoff Yancey demanded from every corner of his roster.

Willingham recognized the voice that was calling for his attention. He was still in his uniform and eagerly awaited the opportunity to shed his uniform for the more casual outfit he wore prior to arriving at the ballpark.

"Oh, hi Katie," he said, watching at Katie Trumbull, the assistant to the director of sport assigned to help develop the structure the national team was going to operate under. "What's on your mind?"

"We've just named a technical director," she said. "It's going to be Tom Harvey," she said. Willingham nodded. He'd been impressed with Harvey's background and breath of knowledge in organizing a baseball program earned as one of the lieutenants for the Delaclav and Sarzonian national teams. Now he had a vision for Solderan baseball, and it was a vision Willingham endorsed when he sat on the committee to pick his eventual boss. Harvey was the man he wanted the Solderan baseball federation to pick, and he was happy to see the choice. He also knew Harvey had people he was ready to bring in to handle various logistics that Willingham himself was responsible for prior to Harvey starting on the job.

"That's great, Katie," Willingham said. "Is he going to be at Prince Francis Stadium when we play Cassadaigua?"

"Yes," she said. "He wanted you to give him a chance to address the team before you take the field."

"That shouldn't be a problem," he said. "It'll be nice to just focus on being a manager," he said.

"I'll bet. Congrats. I'll see you when you arrive at the ballpark tomorrow."

Willingham would arrive to the ballpark with much less on his plate than he had the last time he arrived for the rubber game of the Sarzonia series. He would arrive as the manager of a team that was in position to qualify for the Round of 16 despite never having played competitive baseball prior to this current World Baseball Classic. They would play a Cassadaigua team that has thus far been badly underperforming with a 7-11 record despite being ranked 12th in the multiverse, and despite its recent world championship. However, Willingham was quick to warn his charges that the Fillies were wounded animals.

"You all know the maxim that a wounded animal is more dangerous," he said. "They're coming in fighting for their lives and they've been questioning themselves," he said. "I need you to muster up all the motivation you had to play Sarzonia against that team because they're going to come in here fired up."

He hoped his team would get the message. They were one match clear now of South Americanastan for that coveted second place position from Group C. And not only that, but they currently enjoyed the tiebreaker winning all three games against the Bears. Win just one more game against them and they would have the tiebreaker advantage against them if they finished tied in the standings. But that was in the future. The right now was a series against the Dagans that could go a long way toward determining if Soldera's run was going to be a fluke or if they actually had something special brewing in Branwen.

by **Sarzonia** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 10:53 am

Tiebreakers are all important in a tournament that involves close races.

The Sarzonian national baseball team winning two of three matches from South Americanastan away gave Sarzonia the head-to-head victory over South Americanastan four games to two. It meant that if the Stars and Bears were deadlocked at the top of the table or for the second and final knockout round berth, the advantage would go to Sarzonia. Even with Sarzonia currently sitting at 13-5 and two matches clear of surprising Soldera for the top position in the Group C table, that would still be of utmost importance for Geoff Yancey and company.

The first game of the series saw Jeff Parrish give a vintage pitching performance, limiting South Americanastan to two hits, both solo home runs, walking none and striking out 11 en route to a 9-2 romp that included two tape-measure three-run shots by designated hitter Luke Brinkley in the seventh and ninth innings that not only put that particular match away, but also served notice to the Bears and to the rest of Group C that Sarzonia wasn't to be fucked with. However, Game 2 would see South Americanastan reply with a 5-4 victory that promptly revived concerns about No. 2 starter Mark Conroy, who allowed five runs through six-plus, highlighted by a two-run jack by third baseman Frank Malone with no one out in the bottom of the seventh that gave the Bears the lead and forced Yancey to his bullpen.

The third match saw Jamie Pearson out to prove himself after a rough set of outings. He wanted to show he belonged as the No. 3 starter -- or perhaps higher, if Conroy's struggles continued past the group stage. And prove himself he did, tossing an eight-inning gem allowing only three hits, striking out nine and walking one en route to a 1-0 victory. First baseman Cody Frazier scored the only run in the top of the fifth inning after rightfielder Garry O'Hannagan misplayed his gapper in right centre field and he had trouble grabbing the ball before firing it into the infield. The ball sailed on Malone and Frazier was able to notch an unearned run that made a tough luck loser of Bears starter Darby Nikolasson, who baffled Stars hitters with his sidearm delivery and struck out eight and allowed only three hits the entire contest.

The result meant the Stars (13-5) would host Hannasea in a series that some reporters are already asking Yancey if it will be a revenge series considering the heinous Orange Bowl conditions the Choughs subjected the Stars to, but Yancey shrugged off the notion of revenge.

"They're a quality side and they're still in the fight for the knockouts," he said. "Our job is to make sure we win at least two out of three against them and see where that puts us in terms of the knockout rounds."

Revenge against the Choughs may or may not be a subject Yancey's willing to broach, but revenge for the first half of qualifying in the previous World Baseball Classic is well within discussion. The Stars' 11-4 record beginning in the second half of qualifying gives the Stars a 24-9 mark in group play and a 31-13 overall record since they began that first half 7-8. For a man who'd heard whispers about his job security, Yancey admitted the team's success was a "massive" relief.

"Absolutely," he said. "It's a much better feeling to be able to say our record in the first half of qualifying was an aberration," he said. "And it feels nice to not have to wonder if the next phone call is my job."

by **TJUN-ia** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 3:28 pm

Game 1: TJUN-ia (3) 10-7 Muralos (UR) (TJU lead 1-0)
A pattern can be either good or bad, depending on what results said pattern develops. For TJUN-ia and the Battin' Jags, the most relevant pattern so far is a 2-1 series win with 1 blowout, 1 closer win and a tight loss. As the 2nd half began at Venko Field in Okcidenta-Havenurbo against a high-flying Muralos side looking to get closer to the Top 2, TJUN-ia may be needed a bit of improvement on this pattern to get a good seeding in the Playoffs...or do we?

Game 1 would see Chris Harris face old friend Lin Ruiz in the "closer win" of the pattern, despite things not looking that way for a while. Sara Donaldson scored the first run of this series before TJUN-ia decided to score 9 unanswered runs to completely blow open the entire contest with just pure offence. That saw Aleksandro Chen enter the game and brings some much-needed stability that saw the hosts score 6 runs in response before a final TJUN-ian run made the 10-7 final score.

Game 2: TJUN-ia (3) 2-3 Muralos (UR) (Tied 1-1)
This one was the "tight win" of the pattern and Davis Johnson would face Ruiz this time around. Pedro Moires scored first blood with a homer on the 3rd ball in a game that would certainly be very tight throughout. The first lead for the hosts came through a 2-run bomb via Kotaro Nakamura in the 4th before Ki Yung-son made it home in the 5th to tie the game up at 2-2. That wouldn't last long either as Ruiz themself got the winner via a homer in the 6th. Series tied at 1-1a and a decider was required.

Game 3: TJUN-ia (3) 11-3 Muralos (UR) (TJU win series 2-1)
No one really expected the "blowout win" of the pattern to be the decider, but that is exactly what happened here. Gene Almac started this one and was witness to a 2-2 draw in the first inning before the Jags went on a run of 5 unanswered to make it 7-2 and send Aleksandro Chen back out onto the mound this series. Under his watch, another run would come the hosts' way while TJUN-ia managed another 4. 11-3 was the final score and another 2-1 series was secure for the Battin' Jags.

4 games ahead of the pack but still 2 games back on the leader, there is still plenty to play for in the coming series. We shall return to Rounders Field in Portside for the first time since Opening Day to face 6-12 Mylderm. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group G)
S1: vs Muralos (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside W 3-0 (1st)
S2: @Mylderm (UR) W 2-1 (2nd)
S3: vs Milchama (39) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington W 2-1 (1st)
S4: vs Liventia (15) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington L 1-2 (2nd)
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S5: @Kriegiersien (18) W 2-1 (2nd/10-5/+39RD)
S6: @Muralos (UR) - Venko Field, Okcidenta-Havenurbo W 2-1 (2nd)
S7: vs Mylderm (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside
S8: @Milchama (39)
----------------BREAK TIME----------------
S9: @Liventia (15)
S10: vs Kriegiersien (18) - Rounders Field, Portside

by **Super-Llamaland** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 4:57 pm

The Tigers' sweeping their Zebra opponents makes them tied ahead their groupmates - three favorable games later, they've erased their three-game deficiency. Previously floundering pitchers excelled, conceding merely seven over three games despite their excellent adversaries, whose ninety-four combined scores lead their groupmates.

Söderstrom, game one starter because ace's illness, shone, excelling over seven frames while conceding merely one score (Kinnakeet rakes misplaced curveballs, apparently). Montrose? Less fortunate - Trevor Mikkelson-Yao's homer plated three before she escaped the second.

Nguyen allowed five scores before exiting the second contest prematurely. Summer shone - her attempts (triple, double) plated three. Wladecki struggled regulating her pitches (five free passes!?), yet the bullpen covered adequately after her departure. Despite late rallies over the later frames, the Zebras fell over one score. Close!

Game three? Slaughter (makes sense given the team names). Seven unanswered scores after Solveig's early mistake let Boole score. Fireballer Jørgensen dominated, retiring eleven over three strikes. Her heater reached one hundred sixteen times! The Zebras never seriously threatened after the opening frame.

"bleep those no-e phrases", announced Llamanean reporter Michael Finley after completing these summaries.

by **Muralos** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:10 pm

Sara Donaldson's Thoughts on the Muralosian National Baseball Team's Series Against Milchama
Detailed in a Phone Conversation

Sara Donaldson, left fielder: "So, it happened."

Lerta Donaldson, brother of Sara Donaldson, midfielder for the Muralosian national soccer team: "......losing a series?"

Sara: "Yeah. It had to have happened against Milchama, too. Before you get to how they're leading their group or anything like that, I want to call attention to their rank. 15th in the world. We had good results against Kriegiersien and Liventia, two teams of comparable rank, which leads me to believe that we most definitely had the potential to beat Milchama. But no, we lost the series. At least we didn't get swept, I suppose, but how on earth are we going to pick up from here? We have to play TJUN-ia next, and from the way things are going, I'm pretty sure TJUN-ia is to us what Cassadaigua is to the soccer team, if you know what I mean."

Lerta: "The team that you desperately want to beat, that you go into every match against thinking that – once and for all – it'll be Upset City, but you leave feeling absolutely humiliated and creamed? Yeah, I got ya." [Context: the Muralosian national soccer team has had its fair share of losses to Cassadaigua, often by huge margins. These include their two qualifying games in the World Cup 87 qualifiers, as well as a home-and-away friendly series.]

Sara: "Okay, so you see what's going on. I'm attached to the outcome. It's our first WBC, we cobbled together this squad and we're unranked, but at the same time, we've stayed 3rd in our group for so long. I'm just hoping for something, like a combination of us sweeping a team and, like, Milchama and TJUN-ia both slipping up... or one of them, anyway. And hoping that we'll make it into the knockouts this way."

Lerta: "Now, now....."

Sara: "I don't want to hear anything about sportsmanship from you! Yeah, I shouldn't be rooting against other teams, and I know how infamous the soccer team is for not giving a shit about group tables and knockout stage predictions and all of that. But that isn't me..."

Lerta: "It isn't, huh?"

Sara: "Not right now, at least. I'm not too sure how I can change my attitude toward this whole thing. I pretty much just came to you to vent."

Lerta: "Yeah, that's fair."

Sara: "I mean, I really am having a good time out here. There's nothing quite like baseball. So, um, I'm going to sleep."

Lerta: "Yeah, that'll do you a lot of good."

Sara: "Bye!"

Lerta: "Night!"

by **Hannasea** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:29 pm

The most popular sports in Hannasea are baseball and field hockey, but baseball stars attract significantly more celebrity than all but the very top hockey players. This is because field hockey interest only tends to peak around the Olympics, which are held every 4 years [in Hannasean time], whereas the World Baseball Classic is a much more regular affair, not to mention the domestic HBL season. On a recent ranking of top Hannasean sports celebrities, there were 3 baseball players and 4 hockey players [housewives' favourite Ethan Harman, perennial MVP Aaron Green, and home run king Jesse Lowe; versus Vanessa Aguirre, Jasmine Dawson, Emilia Tanner and Holly George] alongside rugby player Jay Parker, soccer captain Rebecca Morgan, and basketball player Tom Powell; Aguirre topped the list and George was 2nd, while the highest ranked baseball player [Green] was 4th. However, on a list of the top hundred Hannasean sports stars there were only a couple more hockey players, whereas baseball took up over 20 of the slots. So while hockey's support is arguably more intense, baseball's is more widely spread. Virtually every member of the national team bar some of the relief pitchers would be recognized on the street, and many are real household names.

Speaking of those "Big Three" power hitters, right now only Aaron Green's bat is cooking with gas. Harman is out injured; fortunately, it's not as serious as the shoulder injury that ended his WBC52 campaign altogether, but the team are being understandably cautious as he recovers from a sprain in the lower leg, and will ease him back in. Connor Baker and, against non-DH opponents, Sam Pearce can cover right field well enough. Seb Gallagher has been called up as injury cover for Jay Wagner, whose tournament is now confirmed to be over. Jesse Lowe, meanwhile, is kidding no one: his sole job is to hit home runs. He's big and slow and worthless in the field, but so long as he can hit bombs or scare pitchers enough into pitching around him, he's worth his place in the side. Unfortunately right now he's not going deep often enough, not helped by platooning with Chase Lee [who has looked pretty damn effective and has the added benefit of not requiring a specially tailored uniform made of enough material to house a scout troop on a windy campout]. With Harman out, a reshuffled order might give him a chance to bat higher: at the moment, despite his mediocre power numbers, he leads the team in intentional walks as opponents pitch around him to get to the light-hitting Mills and Hamilton. The problem is the batting order as a whole, stacked with power guys, has become a double play machine, and putting Lowe ahead of Mathis, Green, or Walker is just going to invite more of the same.

by **Zwangzug** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:37 pm

(OOC: the "folk tale" is not my own invention and of course its place in Zwangzug lore is not new. But I had to make a rice joke eventually.)

The night before opening day, Liu cooked a special rice dinner. Of course there was other stuff with the rice. Chicken and carrots and noodles and some pie for dessert, milk or orange juice or water depending on people's nutrition plans. Nothing too sweet that would throw off their diets. But mostly, rice.

"This is good stuff, coach," said Nelson. "Thanks."

Griffith said nothing. The food wasn't really that good. Liu's gifts were not in the culinary department. But it was probably an important team bonding thing or whatever, so he put up with it.

"It is good," said Brianna. "One time I couldn't sleep, I was up after a bad loss. I think it was to the Flash. And I kind of lost my appetite. So I got up and cooked a pot full of rice."

Istvan snorted. "Is it like a special east side secret recipe or something?"

"No secret!" said Brianna. "All you need is one of those really thick pots--"

That was true, Griffith thought. Rice was simple.

"You should have told us you were planning something," said Chloe, "we could have brought snacks."

"You can eat whatever snacks you want after the tournament," said Liu.

"Don't tell me this is some cheesy get-to-know-you scheme," said Jorgi, "we all know each other from the league, we've played against each other for years."

"You're here for the rice," said Liu. And without preamble, without sipping her milk or crunching on a carrot, she continued, "There are many old stories down in Namiri, and this is the oldest of all. Once, long ago, in the land of no rice..."

Griffith is not Namirite, but he knows this story. Probably they all do. Once there was a wise man who gave his king a gift of genius and beauty like none had before or since. The king asked his advisor what he could give him in exchange. He said he desired nothing, just the satisfaction of serving a monarch who dealt shrewdly and loved peace over war. But the king grew angry and demanded he give the man an opportunity to show his magnanimity.

"If it please you," he said, "my liege, give me a grain of rice."

"A grain of rice?" said the king. "Are you making mock?"

"Certainly not, your majesty. One grain of rice, here, for the first square of this chessboard. Tomorrow, two. The next day, perhaps you would deign to grant me four, and then eight. Two for each grain the prior day."

The king decided to indulge the advisor and duly presented him with a grain of rice. The second day, two, and the third, four. After a week, he carefully counted out one hundred and twenty-eight grains of rice. After two weeks, he received 8,192 grains, about a cup.

But the grains continued to mount, and so did the wrath of the king as all his subject's labor, and agriculture, went towards fulfilling the advisor's impossible demand. "Beware a proud king," said the advisor, to the terrified people. "He may claim that he wishes to show you his grandeur, but he is weak, and when he is endangered, all is lost."

But the king in his pride would not reconsider his folly. And one night, perhaps around the third week, the people fled. They sought out a refuge far from their home, where no kings reigned, and the rice would be enough for all. Some say the advisor led them, the keenest to evade the king's might. Some say he remained behind to face the king, leaving his board and his impish request as a reminder. But all say that the farmers whose rice was seized were the first--not to surrender or to take up arms--but to run, and seek a new way, a new home.

"You may be small," said Liu, nodding at her plate, "but when you stand together, there is nothing you can't do. One grain of rice can move the world."

by **Quintessence of Dust** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:51 pm

(Provisional) box scores as posted on the TalkBaseball.qd website. This tournament, TBQ will be summarising results entirely through The Wire quotes.


                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            4   1   2   0   1   2   2  .316   1  10
L. Chevalier LF            4   0   2   1   1   1   3  .333   2  10
R. Weber RF                4   1   2   0   1   1   2  .333   0   2
L. Dai 1B                  5   0   1   1   0   0   7  .281   1  12
J. Stevens CF              5   0   3   1   0   0   5  .352   2   9
M.P. Yang 3B               5   0   0   0   0   2   4  .200   1   3
Y. Long C                  4   1   2   0   0   1   0  .261   0   1
J. Sakaguchi P             1   1   0   0   0   1   0  .000   0   0
  a–K. Kawasuda PH         1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .278   0   1
  H. Liang P               0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
T. Watanabe 2B             2   1   1   2   1   0   2  .289   1   9

a–K. Kawasuda pinch-hit for J. Sakaguchi in the 7th

Doubles: T. Watanabe (3, 2nd inning, 2 on, 0 outs), J. Stevens (4, 5th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: J. Stevens 4, T. Watanabe 2, L. Chevalier 2, Y. Long 2, R. Weber 2, J. Theriault 2, L. Dai
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: M.P. Yang 3, L. Dai 2, T. Watanabe 2, J. Stevens, L. Chevalier
GIDP: M.P. Yang
Sac Bunt: J. Sakaguchi 2
Hit by Pitch: T. Watanabe
Team LOB: 12

BASERUNNING
SB: L. Chevalier (2)

FIELDING
Errors: L. Chevalier 2 (2)
Double plays: 1 (Yang – Watanabe – Dai)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Sakaguchi W (1 – 0)     7.0  7   3   3   1   3   1  80  54  4.61
H. Liang SV (6)            2.0  0   0   0   0   1   0  19  12  0.90

Game score: J. Sakaguchi 53
Batters faced: J. Sakaguchi 26, H. Liang 6
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Sakaguchi 7 – 7, H. Liang 3 – 2

Scoring summary:

1.1: Lingxin Dai singles (4MD). Jack Theriault scores.

1.1: Jay Stevens singles (7LM). Rémy Weber scores.

2.0: Joey Keller homers (78D). Joey Keller scores.

2.0: Davis Shipley singles (56D). David Conner scores. Nolan Dunning out at 3rd.

2.0: Teijo Watanabe doubles (89XD). Yazhu Long scores. Juzo Sakaguchi scores.

2.1: Luka Chevalier singles (34D). Teijo Watanabe scores.

6.2: Sam Erickson singles (6MD). Hank Oliver scores.


                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            1   1   1   1   4   1   2  .328   1  11
L. Chevalier LF            3   1   0   0   2   1   4  .317   2  10
S. Borgþórsson 1B          3   0   0   1   1   1   5  .283   2   9
L. Dai 3B                  4   0   2   1   0   1   3  .294   1  13
R. Weber RF                4   0   1   0   0   1   3  .321   0   2
J. Stevens CF              4   0   2   1   0   1   1  .362   2  10
Y. Long C                  3   1   1   0   0   0   1  .000   0   1
  a–K. Kawasuda PH         1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .263   0   1
  K. Wahl P                0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
J. Martin P                2   0   0   0   0   1   0  .182   0   0
  b–B. Meldgaard C         1   0   1   0   0   0   0  .400   0   0
T. Watanabe 2B             3   1   3   0   1   0   0  .333   1   9

a–K. Kawasuda pinch-hit for Y. Long in the 7th
b–B. Meldgaard substituted for J. Martin in the 8th

Doubles: R. Weber (3, 3rd inning, 0 on, 1 out), Y. Long (2, 6th inning, 0 on, 0 outs), B. Meldgaard (1, 8th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: T. Watanabe 3, R. Weber 2, J. Stevens 2, L. Dai 2, Y. Long 2, B. Meldgaard 2, J. Theriault, K. Kawasuda
2-out RBI: J. Stevens
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Borgþórsson 2, L. Dai 2, L. Chevalier 2, Y. Long
GIDP: L. Chevalier 2
Sac Bunt: J. Martin
Team LOB: 11

BASERUNNING
SB: L. Chevalier (3)
CS: J. Stevens (2)

FIELDING
Errors: L. Dai (4)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Martin W (4 – 0)        7.0  2   3   2   3  11   0 103  64  2.67
K. Wahl SV (1)             2.0  1   0   0   0   2   0  23  16  4.70

Game score: J. Martin 77
Batters faced: J. Martin 26, K. Wahl 7
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Martin 6 – 4, K. Wahl 3 – 1

Scoring summary:

1.1: Vincent Saint-Denis singles (7S). Hank Oliver scores.

1.1: Joey Keller flies out (9). Sam Erickson scores.

1.1: Lingxin Dai singles (56D). Jack Theriault scores.

1.2: Jay Stevens singles (34D). Luka Chevalier scores. Lingxin Dai out at 3rd.

6.2: Sam Erickson reaches base on error (E5). Barrett Satterfield scores.

6.0: Jack Theriault walks with the bases loaded. Yazhu Long scores.

6.1: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson walks with the bases loaded. Teijo Watanabe scores.


                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            5   1   2   0   0   0   2  .333   1  11
L. Chevalier LF            2   0   1   2   2   0   0  .323   2  12
S. Borgþórsson 1B          2   0   0   0   2   0   1  .274   2   9
L. Dai 3B                  3   1   1   1   1   0   2  .296   1  14
R. Weber RF                4   0   0   0   0   1   3  .281   0   2
J. Stevens CF              3   0   1   0   1   1   2  .361   2  10
B. Meldgaard C             2   0   0   0   2   0   3  .333   0   0
H. Kalberg P               2   1   0   1   1   0   4  .000   0   1
T. Watanabe 2B             3   1   0   0   1   1   5  .000   1   9

Doubles: L. Chevalier (3, 2nd inning, 2 on, 1 out), J. Stevens (5, 3rd inning, 0 on, 1 out)
Total bases: L. Chevalier 2, J. Stevens 2, J. Theriault 2, L. Dai
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: T. Watanabe 4, B. Meldgaard 2, L. Dai
GIDP: S. Borgþórsson, L. Chevalier
Sac Bunt: H. Kalberg
Team LOB: 9

FIELDING
Double plays: 2 (Theriault – Watanabe – Borgþórsson, Dai – Watanabe – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
H. Kalberg W (2 – 0)       9.0  5   0   0   2   9   0 107  67  1.98

Game score: H. Kalberg 81
Batters faced: H. Kalberg 32
Ground outs – fly outs: H. Kalberg 12 – 4

Scoring summary:

1.0: Lingxin Dai walks with the bases loaded. Jack Theriault scores.

2.1: Luka Chevalier doubles (7D). Haakon Kalberg scores. Teijo Watanabe scores.

5.1: Haakon Kalberg grounds out (6–3). Lingxin Dai scores.

"Shit, murder ain't no thing, but this here is some assassination shit!" -- Slim Charles

Jack Martin and Haakon Kalberg both exceeded 100 pitches in their starts against the Nova Anglicana Lions, signalling an end to the extreme restraint shown under Bennett Arrighi. Jun Jiang had already allowed Martin to pitch a complete game last tournament, a vanishing rarity for Quodite pitchers at the WBC. [Fun fact: More Barnettsville pitchers have thrown no-hitters than have Quodite pitchers thrown complete games!] He allowed Kalberg to do same here in game 3, hurling his way to a violent 9K, 5-hit shutout. On offence, it's still not quite there, with another series ticking by without a single longball. But they're getting on base plenty, at least, with captain Luka Chevalier leading the way with 15 walks and an OBP approaching .500. While Jiang has softened Arrighi's harsh pitch counts, he's also moved away from strict platoons -- but he did play Lingxin Dai at 1st in Game 1, with Nova Anglicana's lefty ace Christian Hammond on the mound. He sat Sigurkarl Borgþórsson and gave a long-awaited game to Maas Pheng Yang, who promptly went 0-5 with 1 GDP and 5 LOB. Oops.

by **StrayaRoos** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:33 pm

The Roosian Baseball Federation has announced the sacrifice of several emus to Margret in addition to
Rubber Chickens
The WBC Trophy Replica
an baseball Bat
the StrayaRoos WBC53 Kit
and several more items at Circunses Intl' Baseball Stadium before the next WBC Matches to ensure we make it to the final 16 and win on debut

by **South Newlandia** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 8:12 pm

Previously on Llamaphant Pro Baseball

Playing at the Dragon Island Arena always is especially difficult. It didn’t always show up during the season, with the Masmow Dragons finishing the season 45-35 at their home stadium. The 384-323 run differential might be making things a little clearer, but the fact remains that the Dragons were a force to take down at home. Taking both games of a series from the Dragons-road trip was extraordinarily difficult; it happened only a couple times, and only three South Newlandian teams managed to do it. Two of those happened very late in the season, though – from the last six home games, the Dragons won only one. The Blue Sox, however, had been fairly effective in Masmow, splitting both series for an even 2-2 record on the road. Meanwhile, in the reverse encounter, the Blue Sox were a perfect 4-0 when they were hosting the Dragons.

The Dragons had been playing a decent season, but in the highly difficult SNL North, that was never going to be enough to just cruise into the playoffs. They were making steady progress, until a six-game losing streak dropped them to 62-52, dangerously close to whiffing on the playoffs entirely. They won their next eight in a row to put them back into a great position, but while the Blue Sox ascended, the Dragons pretty much had just put it in park. Hosting the Blue Sox, with both teams locked in at the exact same record, the Dragons failed to deliver a kill shot, splitting the series; they had to earn the first wildcard spot by sweeping the Homers, winning both of their final two games to reach an 88-72 record. This put them just one game ahead of each the Dachshunds and Blue Sox; the latter won their 88th game against the former to reach this do-or-die wildcard game.

While the Dragons had the luxury of starting their ace, Jay Kramer, who had been heating up lately in a pretty bad season for his standards, the Sox had just used Vocar-Dijo a couple of days ago in Ruditown to get them here. For the wildcard game, manager Ember Marshall gave the ball to his fellow Kohnheadian Fletcher Crouch.

Experts predicating the outcome saw the Dragons favoured to reach the SNLDS, which would hold a match against their rival Dolphins. It would be a match on the “old” rivalry for the Dragons, who would play their former SNL Northeast division rivals, while it would be a “new” rivalry game for the Sox, who are now joined with the Fins in the SNL Central division.
They believed this because Masmow had homefield advantage, the reigning home run leader, Super-Llamanean Gabriel Acosta, who was part of an excellent offense that got the Dragons the second-best runs scored in the SNL, trailing only the Dolphins, along with them having a solid infield.
There were advantages for the Sox, too. Crouch was a very good pitcher in his own right, and the Blue Sox were trailing the Dragons in runs scored by just three runs; half what they had just put on the Dachshunds.

The game started with Kramer immediately surrendering a run in the first, a solo-shot by Will Rentería, and another in the second, an RBI-double for Bob Flowers to score Videtake Aoyama. Both of them had been held hitless by the Dachshunds, but they went to work early here.
The Dragons immediately struck back, tying the game with a beautiful home run not by Acosta, who struck out looking an inning earlier, but by Len Pijpenbroek, becoming the second Ko-orenite to score a run in this one.
After both starters showed some cracks early, the game remained tied for a while. It took until the fifth inning, but the Sox managed to get on top once again; this time, it was again Rentería who drove in the game-leading score, represented by Hannasean Jason Mathis, who had been walked earlier in the inning.
Kingsman made an unusual decision after this. With the bullpen having been below average to bad all season, and even worse in the final couple of games, he pulled Kramer for another starter, Julia Donaldson of Newmanistan, to finish the game. Donaldson got out of the two-on none-out jam Kramer put her in thanks to a strikeout, a deep flyout and a groundout.
Crouch, meanwhile, remained solid, and held the lead when he was lifted for the bottom of the eighth. The Sox’ bullpen had been better throughout the season, and it was on Patrik Bryant to hold the lead. He rose to the occasion, pitching a hitless inning after initially dealing a walk to Acosta.
In the top of the ninth, the Sox added an insurance run. Jack Theriault went yard, prompting Donaldson to exit the game despite a good performance.
With a 4-2 lead to hold, the Blue Sox relied on closer Tom DiVicenzo again. DiVencenzo took only 12 pitches to retire the side, and deliver a crucial save for the Sox to reach the SNLDS, continuing their unlikely run. Next, they would be heading to Newport – could they upset the team that won 104 games that season, including 10 against them?

by **Milchama** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 9:52 pm

"We're ranked 15th!"

"By whom?"

"Muralos"

"Interesting considering per the official WBC rankings we're ranked 39th"

"Yep but we got so much respect that other teams are confusing us with Liventia"

"I'd do the same thing"

"Why?"

"Because we're winning and Liventia are still not very good"

"Still no Liverpool England"

"You realize nobody gets that joke"

"Yes but I still laugh so I don't care"

"Ok"

"You're old"

"We've been at this for a long time. Do you want me to make Nedalia references?"

"Literally nobody knows who that is"

"My point exactly"

"Fine we'll talk about Bipedal Apes"

"You mean humans?"

"No the nationstate of Bipedal Apes who were a baseball power pre WBC"

"Oh dear god stop"

"What about Casari?"

"They always sucked at baseball, only good at soccer"

"I miss Casari"

"Me too, fun nation, good RPers"

"Well the newbies ain't bad"

"No, I think Muralos got a future"

"Yeah but we still beat them"

"Definitely, I mean we're still better. We're Milcham after all. Nobody beats Milchama"

"At least not in baseball"

"Correct, in other sports, sure, but not in baseball!"

"Nope we're the best there ever was and continue to be"

"Well except Newmanistan"

"Yeah but Newmanistan was so scared of us than when we rejoined they left the WBC"

"I think it was coincidence"

"What if it wasn't?"

"You would need evidence"

"Ok and I have none"

"Then I can't believe you"

"That's fine but you're wrong"

"You have no evidence, extend our argument, we're way ahead"

"Who is we?"

"It's modern day LD, everybody is we even if it's one person"

"I hate you so much right now"

"Sure, but if everything is we then nothing is we"

"God is modern day LD stupid"

"The number of people who will understand this reference is zero and you should be happy"

"I am"

"Ok that's good"

"This is getting weird"

"Yeah, let's send it to Margaret"

"Sounds good"

"Then say as I say and do as I do"

''Ringa pakia!''
''Uma tiraha!''
''Turi whatia!''
''Hope whai ake!''
''Waewae takahia kia kino!''
''Ka mate, ka mate''
''Ka ora, ka ora''
''Ka mate, ka mate''
''Ka ora, ka ora''
''Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru''
''Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā''
''Ā upane, ka upane''
''Whiti te rā, hī!''

"Now repeat after me!"

"Forini! Forini!"
"Finidi! Finidi!"
"George! George!"
"Oh Brother! Oh brother!"

*They strip and run around for 7 minutes*

"We pray the Margaret of SnubNose 38 and Random Number God that you may deliver us victory over Liventia and any other infidels that we face in international play"

"Sacrifice the Rubber Chicken!"

*Swoosh of an axe and the chicken is dead*

"Margaret we pray that you take this sacrifice of a rubber chicken in good faith and that by your deliverance Milchama does well in all international competitions"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

by **Chromatika** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 11:11 pm

Press Release from Alisen Mayamoto, Captain and Player-Coach of the Chromatik Outliers

First off, we'd like to apologize for the lack of results. It's strange looking up the standings at so many teams at a record of 8-10. We've struggled all throughout this group stage, and have found ourselves four games out of second place, which is contested by The Sherpa Empire and Brookstation. Our pitching has been inconsistent, our bats often quietened by the gap that we've had to face. And so, we've agreed on a change.

Effective immediately, the Outliers will change the pitching order to be as follows: Hilary Angelou, Jerome Delapier, Izzie Ramone, followed by Clara Ayonara, Oscar de Witt, and Miles Savey. It's our hope that having Ayonara, our best pitcher so far, lead the second three games will help set the stage on the series to come.

Also effective immediately, Dane Gilbert will replace George Ducat on the outfield, as Ducat has been nursing a left elbow injury; also, expect Redwina Maxx to play some more in place of Mattieu Gammond and myself.

It is our hope that by having these changes, we'll be able to turn things around before things get too late...

We hope that everyone will be able to give us the time and grace needed, and thank everyone who has still been with us through thick and thin.

Signed,

Alisen Mayamoto
Captain, Chromatika Outliers

by **Muralos** » Sat Dec 11, 2021 11:14 pm

Sara Donaldson's Thoughts on the Muralosian National Baseball Team's Series Against Milchama, Part 2 (of 2!)
Detailed in a Second Phone Conversation

(OOC: Yeah, this RP takes place before the Muralos vs. TJUN-ia series that has already been scorinated. I had this humble RP idea around that time OOC-ly, so I'm keeping it IC-ly before the Muralos vs. TJUN-ia series as well.)

Sara Donaldson, left fielder: "UGH! MILCHAMA IS RANKED 39TH! NOT 15TH LIKE I THOUGHT! 39TH!"

Lerta Donaldson, brother of Sara Donaldson, Muralosian national soccer team midfielder, yada yada: "You call me again, in the middle of the night... for this???"

Sara: "I am now experiencing humiliation the likes of which I have never known before."

Lerta: "Humiliation where? In front of who? To be humiliated, someone's gotta be watching you get humiliated. But that's not really happening. Everyone's seeing a new team doing surprisingly well for their debut in the WBC. Now PLEASE. Oh, and I think Mr. AI Man has gotten to you."

Sara: "Nobuo?"

Lerta: "Yeah, Nobuo. He's the one who's all about ranks and how they predict success and stuff, right?"

Sara: "Yeah, that's him. And I mean you can't really argue with that right? [coughs] CASSADAIGUA?"

Lerta: "AHHHHHHHH! [pause] Okay, okay. But you forgot the secret sauce that every team needs. A good team doesn't rest on its laurels and stay defined by its baseline rank or skill. They also TRAIN. That's how your team is doing as well as it is, no? I'm pretty sure that's how our soccer team managed to stay in World Cup qualifying contention for a while, too. That's how Milchama has managed to perform way above what their ranking suggests, and even take a game away from TJUN-ia. Which, by the way, I'm pretty sure you can do too. But yeah, 39th in the world or not, that squad is a well-oiled, thoroughly-calibrated machine."

Sara: "Point taken. And you really think we can win one against TJUN-ia?"

Lerta: "I mean, sure. But only if you go to sleep and not call me again for another 12 hours, thanks! And keep training so you can transcend your rank. Sheesh, Coach Huerta should be the one giving these speeches!"

Sara: "He might have given one before, actually... Bye!"

Lerta: "Bye!"

by **Eshialand** » Sun Dec 12, 2021 12:32 am

Deciphering King William
Part VI: The Right Thing Often Seems Wrong
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V
Banija 3-5 Eshialand
Banija 4-3 Eshialand (10)
Banija 4-7 Eshialand

"Mmmphh!!"
"It's okay Michael, you can take the rope out of his mouth now." Kevin said as the three arrived in the forest outside Brightonsea.
"Wh-where are we??" the king asked, in a mixture of fear and shock, the moment he was able to speak again.
"That's funny, Al told me you were so happy to be here last year..." Kevin answered, "we're back in Brightonsea."
"Michael, do you realize what you've just done??"
"I've saved your life is what I've just done! We, being me, Kevin, and Al, have spent nearly a whole week researching what was wrong with you and how we could help. You need this, whether you like it or not!"
"But Rebecca Saunders was gonna be on Talk! Nightly! It's gonna be the highest-rated episode of the year!"

Michael and Kevin exchange a look before replying in perfect unison. "You would never say that before, you have a problem."
"Come on Kevin, let's get him to Al..."
"Won't he need a wand first?"
"Can't you just use any--"
"HAHAHA no, of course not! Not to mention we have to find out his magical seal... this could be a while..."

"Wait," the king interjected. "Just how long could this take?"
"Honestly, I don't quite know... but Michael definitely did you a favor in the long run by forcing you to come here. It may not seem like it was the right thing to do, but trust me, for the sake of your health, it absolutely was. Sadly, it might just take you some time to figure that out..."

A week later, back in Eshialand City...

"Hey, Michael, have you seen Will around lately?" his girlfriend Summer asked to who someone in Michael's office who she thought was his assistant.
"Michael? I'm Tony, the janitor..."
"Oh, I'm sorry... have you seen him? I haven't seen him around in a week or so, and I was wondering if he was holed up in his office again..."
"That's the funniest thing... Michael went missing for a week, came back for a day, and now I haven't seen either in another week!"
"What? You haven't seen him either?"
"No, miss."
"So... who's running the country?"
"Do you want me to ask Prime Minister Davidson next time I see him?"
"Yeah, please, if you get the chance... have a nice day!"
"You too!"

"Twice in the last year, Will sure is the king of disappearing acts..." Summer muttered under her breath as she left the building.

But who was running the country? Without a king, was the Council of Governors still functioning? And what of the sporting portfolio that he refused to entrust to anyone other than himself? What was Eshialand doing without a king, with no advance notice or chances to set up contingency plans?

by **United Adaikes** » Sun Dec 12, 2021 2:10 am

Baseball in United Adaikes is not quite popular in the country yet, compared to football, volleyball, and basketball. While being compared to the gridiron and rugby union in terms of popularity, the rivalry between gridiron and rugby puts baseball behind the two team sports.

However, with a domestic league already set up, institutionalized by the end of this tournament, players' income will be at par with the more popular team sports in the country.

-----------------

United Adaikes national baseball team head coach Marmaduke Christianson was looking over reports sent by the other coaches to look at what the Hawks can do to bounce back from the 5-1 series loss against Delaclava, with the hosts Delaclava sweeping the visitors in their last three matches. While looking at the reports, Christianson saw a folder labeled "International Baseball Slam 15". He remembers this one. Assistant Coach Waylon Kimberly sent the file to him after their last matchday of the tournament.

Looking at the first page of the report, Christianson looked at the team's batting statistics during that tournament.

Batting			AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	PA	TB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pit	Str	Str-Pit%	PO	A	Details
Pastor Parks CF		15	2	2	1	2	1	17	2	0.133	0.235	0.133	0.369	54	33	0.611		9	6	SB
   Josefa Rojo CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0									0	0	
Maegan Tash 2B		17	3	3	2	0	4	17	4	0.176	0.176	0.235	0.412	71	48	0.676		9	3	2B
Xaviera Burton 1B	15	1	3	0	2	5	17	3	0.2	0.294	0.2	0.494	70	39	0.557		8	4	IW
   Mayson Weston 1B	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	1	1	2	3	3	2	0.667				2B
Lane Wortham RF		13	2	4	2	1	2	14	4	0.308	0.357	0.308	0.665	43	32	0.744		0	6	GDP
   Tony Plank RF	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	0.5	0.5	1	1.5	4	3	0.750		0	1	2B
Tiara Appleby LF	14	3	3	3	2	4	16	6	0.214	0.313	0.429	0.742	63	36	0.571		34	2	HR, GDP
Dyson Ellisson 3B	15	1	3	2	0	4	15	5	0.2	0.2	0.333	0.533	47	33	0.702		23	2	2·2B
Sunshine Newton SS	13	1	2	2	1	3	14	2	0.154	0.214	0.154	0.368	53	32	0.604		10	0	CS
   Wesley Adair SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1.000		1	0	
Harmon Frank C		11	3	4	2	2	0	13	5	0.364	0.462	0.455	0.916	54	31	0.574		13	8	2B, GDP
   Lily Spurling C	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0.500		2	0	
Laurelle Jephson P	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	12	9	0.750		0	2	2·SH
Mikey Walter P		3	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	9	6	0.667		0	0	
Cullen Ibañez P		1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	7	5	0.714		0	0	SH
Dwayne Sawyer P		3	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	11	10	0.909		0	1	SH
   Hollis Willey P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0									0	0	
Team Totals		126	16	26	15	10	25	140	35	0.206	0.938	0.385	1.667	504	321	0.637		109	35

He has to look at this again and see if he can utilize something that the Adaikesians can use in their next games in Sangti. The following page was the five pitchers he fielded in the 15th edition of the International Baseball Slam tournament.

Pitching			IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	Ctct	StS	StL	GB	FB	LD	Unk	GSc
Laurelle Jephson, W (1-0)	9	3	0	0	2	6	0	0	32	111	73	44	11	18	12	11	3	0	85
Mikey Walter			9	3	1	1	3	9	1	1	31	132	76	41	11	24	10	8	3	1	83
Cullen Ibañez, L (0-1)		8	8	2	2	3	9	0	2.25	35	105	68	36	13	19	12	11	4	0	64
Dwayne Sawyer, W (1-0)		9	7	2	2	1	5	0	2	34	126	86	48	11	27	7	21	9	0	69
   Hollis Willey, L (0-1)	1.1	3	1	1	1	0	0	6.75	8	24	17	14	1	2	2	5	3	0	
Team Totals			36.1	24	6	6	10	29	1	1.49	140	498	320	183	47	90	43	56	22	1

The Hawks managed to win the first part of their series when they won two of the three games against the visiting Sangti in Thraproy.

World Baseball Classic 53 Everything Thread

Batter Up!: Shorter Summaries (@Muralos)

The Emu Sacrifice

Who is online