World Baseball Classic 59 (IC thread)

by **Banija** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 3:14 pm

A Milestone victory- Banija picks up win #500 while taking commanding 2-0 series lead against the Ochre Islands

BASSABROOK, ZWANGZUG- While the Banijans struggled at the end of group play, they took advantage of an especially weak group to finish in the top spot quite comfortably, earning the #7 overall seed for the WBC 59 Playoffs. "Earning high seeding is crucial for success- while we still gotta win the games, it puts us in the best position to make a run." The manager, Kingston Jassey, told reporters. "There is no easy path to a title- you've got to win 16 games to win the whole thing, and it's starting in this very large Round of 32. In these short series, anything can happen- it is about getting off to a fast start."

In Game 1, the Banijans were chasing their 500th win of all time. The national baseball team entered the tournament with 492 all-time wins in all competitions. Blitzing out to a 7-1 record to start group play, they had two chances to get that milestone win before the season ended. But the pressure of getting to win #500, with everybody talking about it, seemed to get to the team. "Those milestone wins are pressure packed." Kingston Jassey told reporters. "And we saw that exactly in the end of the group stages." The Banijans had two opportunities in group play to get off 499, and that didn't happen- only increasing the pressure once KO play started.

But in Game 1, Odongo Lutaakome took the mound. Lutaakome has really grown into his own, and is deservedly the ace of this staff. A dominating presence for the Ratzupalfu Rhinos, he's proven himself at the club level as one of the best pitchers in the world. His last appearance in the WBC Playoffs? Not his best work. In the Championship series of WBC 57, he had two starts- both poor. Allowed 7 earned in less than 4 innings in Game 2, of which Banija clawed a win out anyways. And in Game 6, he took the loss in the closeout game for Ranoria. "Those games, while 6 years ago- I remember them well." He told reporters before the game. "I want to prove myself- I have shown in the LPB that I am a big game pitcher, and I'll show the country tomorrow night."

Lutaakome struggled mightily to start the contest as well. Allowed back to back singles to start the game, and quickly found himself in a bases loaded, nobody out jam after walking the #3 hitter. A visit from the pitching coach already? And then, he allowed a two run single, that put runners on the corners. A disastrous start, yes? But he took a deep breath, and found his command. He got the next three guys chasing- two swinging strikeouts, and a pop up to first base to end the inning. After that rough start, he settled in nicely- pitching 8 full innings, allowed 3 earned runs, and getting the win on the day. Banija's bats supported their ace with an explosive, 4 run 3rd inning, chasing the opposing pitcher early, and highlighted by the MBL's HR king, Ugonna Akachi, hitting a three run shot of his own.

Game 2 featured Banija's knuckler, Musabingo Vunaana, on the mound, chasing win #501. He was elite himself on the day- 6 innings, 2 earned runs. And the back end of the 'pen shut the door. Alanyo Matama took the 7th, Sadiki Walulya the 8th, and Sebaga Atla the 9th, as they took a 2-0 series lead. "I am glad that we have achieved our milestone win- 500, and now 501 as well." Said Sadiiq Xoosh after the game. "Now, the focus is entirely on this series. Ochre Islands have some good pitching- it will take everything we have to close this out. We want to close this out as quickly as possible- get the sweep, turn the focus to the Base Corps."

In honor of Banija achieving it's 500th win all-time in this sport, we are going to briefly list some of Banija's milestone wins.

1st ever WBC win

Borxinoia                         2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1  5
Banija                            0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 3  7

In walkoff fashion! MD3 of WBC 33, our first ever classic. Hosted by Gregoryisgodistan. A disastrous tournament that was- we went 1-9. But had a singular great win. The player who hit the first ever walkoff HR in Banijan WBC history? Remember this for the next time you go to pub trivia- his name is Sylvester Lobongo.

1st ever WBC KO Stage Win

Banija                     2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3  7
Saintland                  0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  3

WBC 35. You slowly improve, and then, boom. Finally made the KO stages. WBC 35, in Nova Anglicana. For some reason, it was best of 3 in the round of 16. WE won Game 1 against Saintland, upset brewing- but they beat us in games 2 and 3, really putting out any real chances of a cinderella story.

1st ever WBC KO Series Win

Ethane     0  0  0  1  0  2  2  1  0   6
Banija     0  3  0  0  1  0  1  0  2   7

This was a do-or-die, Game 5. Play-in round to the Round of 16, this best of 5 series went the distance. Banija was managed then by Raymond Cloutier- remember him? From Ethane. The last foreign manager we had. Once again, we won in walkoff fashion- Jebel Sowe hitting a two run HR with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to continue onwards.

You can continue onto page 7 of this magainze. to read on about all sorts of milestone wins for this team! 100th, 200th, and 300th ever WBC wins, the gold medal we had at the XVI Summer Olympiad, our title-clinching wins, etc...

MBL: Alexandria Ships put the Hippos on the brink, with pair of wins to take a commanding 2-0 series lead

Alexandria Ships             1 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 0  6
Herzegovina City Hippos      1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Alexandria Ships             2 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1  6
Herzegovina City Hippos      0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2

The Ships were sad to have overperformed this year, and they seem to be ignoring all the haters. "Overperformance, underperformance- get rid of that BS." Said a Banijan TV commentator before game 1. "This is the playoffs. Also, they both finished with the same record- 94 wins, 72 losses. Throw out everything we remember- it's a freaking best of 7, and it's gonna be awesome." Osumba Ball Park was packed to the brim- a hair over 37,000 in attendance for game 1, setting a stadium record for highest ever attendance. ANd despite the Hippos earning a 2-1 lead after 2 innings, those fans would go home very disappointed. The Ships put together quality at-bats as the game went on, and chased the Hippos starter in just the 4th inning. The 6-3 win was well-earned- great hitting, solid pitching, and they wrestled home field advantage away here in the Moravican capitol.

Game 2 was much more of the same. The Ships, once again, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. An early Dillon Marks HR saw him continue the blistering form that he had durign the season, and it got the Ships out to a lead that they simply would not let go of. The Hippos scored 2 runs in the 4th inning, turning a 3-0 to a 3-2 deficit. But that was the closest it would get for the remainder of the game. Marks had his second HR of the day in the 6th to make it 4-2, and the Ships eventually won, 6-2. A stunning performance from the Hippos, in all the wrogn ways. And yet- Milchamian teams dominated the regular season. Why not the postseason as well?

Everything is going wrong for the Hippos. They've got to fix it. If they don't turn it around, and fast- we've already seen the last game of the season played in Banija.

Alexandria Ships put the Hippos on the brink, with pair of wins to take a commanding 2-0 series lead

Alexandria Ships             1 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 0  6
Herzegovina City Hippos      1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Alexandria Ships             2 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1  6
Herzegovina City Hippos      0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2

BNL Promotion Playoffs-


Taramazna Cape Buffalo         0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1  4
Lwanga Leopards                0 0 1 1 0 5 2 0 X  9

Taramazna Cape Buffalo         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Lwanga Leopards                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2 (F/11)

Lwanga Leopards                1 1 0 1 1 1 3 0 3 11
Taramazna Cape Buffalo         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Lwanga Leopards                0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 0  5
Taramazna Cape Buffalo         1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2


Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3  5
Bunyoro RSC                    1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  3

Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Bunyoro RSC                    0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Bunyoro RSC                    1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0  5
Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 0 1 2 0 1 1 0 3  8 

Bunyoro RSC                    0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0  5
Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Bunyoro RSC                    0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 X  6

And in the lower leagues, there wasn't a ton of entertainment. While there was very little to separate teams throughout the regular season, in these two best of 7s, the best team clearly asserted themselves. The Lwanga Leopards, the top seed, took out the brooms against the Cape Buffalo, earning the sweep. The Cape Buffalo had an awesome one-game playoff win, but they were no match for the Leopards. Game 1 wasn't close, as the Leopards put up 9 runs in a 9-4 win. Game 2 was Taramazna's chance. Their starting pitcher threw a 9 inning shutout on the road in Game 2. But they got no help from their bats, as the game was 0-0 after 9. And hell- even after 10. The only runs of the game came in the 11th, when the Leopards finally went yard. A brutal loss- sucked the life out of the underdogs. Cape Buffalo got smoked, 11-0, in game 3. When you don't score a single run across 20 innings of play, and concede 13- you are going to lose. The brooms were out, and they won in 4 games. Is the MBL in their future?

And in the other series, there wasn't much entertainment. At least it was 4-1 instead of a straight sweep. But a gentleman's sweep feels just as bad. The Forest Elephants started on the road, but that didn't seem to bother them. Twice in the series, both in Games 1 and 3, Kosactus entered the 9th inning trailing, and exited the 9th with a W. Each individual game was pretty damn exciting- but the Forest Elephants were the superior opponent during the week. Bunyoro RSC at least had enough self-respect to avoid a sweep, but Kosactus slammed the door in Game 5 to reach the BNL Promotion Playoff FInal.

Kosactus v. Lwanga. 3 v 1. Lwanga with the home field advantage. Who will win this tantilizing matchup, and reach the Milchama-Banija League? And which team will go back down to the BNL for at least another season, slogging it in the second tier? We will find out very, very soon.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 4:45 pm

Game 2 of the Stars-Phoenix series. Last cycle's breakout side against the team who have at least threatened to be this cycle's breakout side. After a comfortable 7-1 win for the Phoenix in Game 1, this game was scoreless after five, and set up as a classic pitcher's duel between the Stars' sinker-slider specialist Marcus Greenberg and the Phoenix flamethrower Shrifflu Whootung.

But when Sarzonia came out for the top of the sixth, Whootung did not - his day done after the 74 pitches he took to get through five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk. Instead, Dings Whosash - a relatively similar pitcher, but one who's been a pure reliever since UCL surgery six years ago and also happens to be a legit hitting talent - was deployed precisely because of those stick skills, as the Phoenix had the 8-9-1 up for the bottom of the sixth. But why make a pitching change at all at this point? Because that's how Kytlerian pitching has worked for a generation now; short starts, short rotation, long pen. Generally considered to be a by-product of the "Kytlerian Compromise" semi-DH rule - where pitchers bat but can be pulled for a pinch-hitter for one declared at-bat per game without a pitching change - it has become a respected model in its own right in recent years, especially since that Phoenix breakout at WBC58. But it still has detractors, and on Whosash's first pitch, old-school leadoff man Tyler Stewart drove a hanging slider through the gap and into the wall for a leadoff triple. Lysa Beaupre would drive him in with a sacrifice fly, and while Lee Worthy's bloop single would be wiped out by Jaia Thornton grounding into a double play, the Phoenix were now behind, and Greenberg did come out for the sixth inning having thrown 83 pitches and allowed a hit and three walks. With three of those four baserunners falling to a double play, Greenberg had only faced one batter more than the minimum, but if we'd just seen one side of the short-rotation argument in the top of the sixth, we were about to witness another in the bottom half of the same inning.

Oscar Lopez - not known for his skills at the plate, and in this team mostly for his up-the-middle defense - drew a six-pitch walk. Greenberg would stay in to face the pitcher, even if said pitcher was a legit two-way player. The 90th pitch he threw was taken low for a ball, and the speedster Lopez stole second. He needn't have bothered. Greenberg's 91st pitch was a middle-middle fastball, and his slowest heater of the game at that, and Whosash - almost getting too far ahead of it - yoinked it down the right field line. The only way Greenberg could be saved was if it drifted foul, and before he could wonder too long about that possibility, the thunk of the ball hitting the foul pole confirmed that it hadn't happened. Whosash had gone from the losing pitcher to the winning one, and with no more scoring the rest of the way, that's the status he'd hold on the official box score as the Phoenix moved to within one game of a probable octofinal series with Ko-oren.

"It just goes to show that in a small sample size anything can happen," Phoenix manager Kevin Anderson observed in response to a question about that sixth-inning split of pitcher handling. "You have to judge on larger sample sizes, and across the whole of the KBL the three-man rotation worked well and the early adopters dominated the league for a while until everyone copied it. I'm not saying it's the single best way - some of it is the Kytlerian Compromise as you know, certainly that was the inspiration - but it's what's worked in our league, and our players are used to it and they're used to this kind of workload."

Are they ready to face Ko-oren? Anderson flip-reversed that question.

"Are Ko-oren ready to face us?"

by **Drawkland** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 5:31 pm

7,000

History of the Hit Record - The Contender - Glenn and Gelia

It had been a few weeks since Lane Kavana had spoken with his brother at the diner in Drawk City. The Base Corps was flying out to Zwangzug to begin their playoff run, hoping to build on the curse-breaking quarterfinals run from two cycles prior.

While most of the team sat engrossed in whatever in-flight entertainment they were using to pass the time. Abram Kavana was sleeping. The three of the former Skyhawks were engaged in a game of cards, while Elizabeth Houston looked on with a faint expression of disdain. Robert Butcher was proudly raw-dogging the flight, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, no pillow, staring straight ahead at the headrest in front of him. Aaron Frost and Richelle Shard, former teammates with the Pittsennat Cadets, were sitting together in an isolated row at the back of the plane.

Lane was reading a book. More specifically, he was reading an autobiography, that of Titus Kash, PBL’s hit record holder. What Lane appreciated most from the book was how Kash (through his ghostwriter) went into detail about his approach at the plate and how he attacked pitchers. The talk with his brother in the diner had only galvanized Lane’s plans to chase the hit record … and perhaps go even further beyond.

Unfortunately, Abram’s point about not being too picky with team selection was true. Lane reviewed the offers that his agent had sent him, and none of them were looking good. Only a couple teams from the DL, the side of the PBL with the DH, were interested. Both of those squads were expecting Lane to be a big bat power hitter, as he had been a half-decade ago in Hessport. That was no longer the kind of player he wanted to be. Most of the ML teams giving him offers were expecting similar profiles, envisioning Lane as a 3-4 hitter. He didn’t want that either. The more at-bats he got, the more hits he’d get. Being down a couple spots in the lineup doesn’t seem like it’d make much of a difference, but over the course of 4-5 seasons, those missed PAs would be felt.

One section of the book covered a particularly exciting series where Titus Kash played against the Gelia Blues and collected 10 hits in 3 games. Lane read a passage where Titus recounted hitting a home run on a pop fly to left field.

I swatted at a pitch high and outside. The ball looped up to left field, and off the bat I thought it was going to be a can of corn. Once the ball got above the stands, though, the wind seemed to carry it a little bit further. Broadway Ninth Corner Park in Gelia has a peculiar feature. The upper-deck stand in left field juts out about 3 feet further than the wall at ground level. Improbably, the ball spun away and landed in the first row of the upper deck for a home run, even though the left fielder was camped right under the spot where it should’ve fallen.

Lane couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. He’d hit a couple homers himself that only left due to landing on that lucky porch. He briefly stopped reading, letting his mind wander, reminiscing about some of the parks he’d played in. The thoughts returned to Gelia, and suddenly an idea occurred to him. The Base Corps manager, Glenn Sutton, was the manager for the Gelia Blues during the regular season. Lane had kindled a good professional relationship with Sutton, as they had the same goals with the Corps. It was a much different dynamic than the one Lane had with the previous longtime Corps manager, a hardly-competent fall guy named Blanton Evergreen.

Lane got up from his seat, and walked down the aisle.

The Skipper

Lane found Glenn Sutton snoozing uncomfortably towards the front of the plane. He took a seat across from the manager and tapped him on the arm. Sutton, an older fellow with snowy white hair, awoke suddenly, loudly cutting off a snore.

“Sorry to interrupt, skip. Mind if I talk to you for a moment?” Lane asked quietly. Not many people sat in the front of the plane. A couple of coaches were in a nearby pod of seats, but they too were asleep.

Sutton grunted in response, but he nodded, inviting Lane to continue.

“I’m not sure how closely you’ve been paying attention to the free agency moves this offseason,” Lane began vaguely. He wasn’t sure how to approach this request. “I’m struggling with finding a team that fits the vision I have going forward.”

“Uh huh,” Sutton eyed Lane carefully, as if trying to read words from his forehead.

“I was wondering if you could provide me with some guidance.” Lane grimaced. “I’ve gotten offers, but nobody is giving me what I really want.”

“Guidance, eh?” Sutton narrowed his gaze. “I didn’t realize you needed that. I thought you had everything figured out when you pulled that stunt to get out of Hessport.” Sutton’s tone was drier than a desert.

“See, that’s part of the problem.” Lane shook his head. “Part of that move was making a statement. I left Hessport because they wanted to keep me shoved into a role I was no longer interested in playing. I hoped that moving to Raikennax would’ve proven to the league that I make my own rules. And I have the talent to back that up.”

“Sure you do.” Sutton’s lips curled into a faint smile. Lane couldn’t tell if he meant it. “Your problem is that owners don’t value talent as much as they value not being bossed around by hotshot players. You haven’t exactly been making friends in the league, Kavana.”

“Fair enough.” Lane hesitated, then leaned forward. “Listen, money is no object for me at this point. Right now, all I want is to maximize my at-bats. I want to get hits. A lot of hits. And I need a place where I can do that.”

“Somewhere in the ballpark of 13 hundred, I imagine?” Sutton raised his eyebrows.

“That’s … remarkably perceptive.” Lane was caught off guard. He was over 1300 hits away from Kash’s career hit record. He hadn’t recalled talking to Sutton about his hit aspirations in the past. And in any case, that was math that Sutton likely would’ve done himself.

“I know ballplayers, son.” Sutton gave a self-satisfied smile. “I see the way you prepare for games. You’re a contact hitter who’s too good at everything else to be just that. And now, with your career winding down, you find yourself within arm’s reach of something nobody else can touch these days. Well, arm’s reach is a little generous. You’re within earshot of it. And you want that more than anything else.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” Lane didn’t know where to go next. Sutton already had this part figured out, but now Lane’s plan for the conversation was out of order.

“So I presume none of the teams offering you deals are willing to let you be a little contact hitter, or give you the at-bats you want.”

“Pretty much.”

“And that brings you to me because ..?”

“Because you and I are on the same wavelength, apparently.” Lane shrugged. “You understand where I’m most comfortable and most effective. You’ve given me the freedom to play where I want to play.”

“And don’t you take it for granted,” Sutton replied gruffly. “A whole team full of superstar egos, and I have to deal with all the whining from the other players. ‘Why does Lane get to hit where he wants? How come he never has to take a day off? He never gets pinch hit for.’ You’re lucky I like you, kid.”

“Do I not back that up with my performance on the field?” Lane asked, slightly taken aback. He wasn’t close friends with all his teammates but he had a good rapport with most of the roster. “I’m not saying I deserve that treatment, but-”

“You can make that excuse on a PBL roster, but not here. Especially not now that you’ve lured better talent to this team. But enough about that. It’s not why you came here to talk to me.”

The Request

“Right …” Lane took a deep breath. “Glenn, I was wondering if you could talk to your GM in Gelia about sending an offer my way. I know most managers can’t make that kind of call, but you’re a special case. You’ve been in Gelia for what, twenty years?”

“Thirty-seven,” Sutton croaked.

“I’m getting old,” Lane muttered to himself before continuing. “Anyway, I know you have a lot of clout there. I know your outfield is a little weak, and you don’t have any super consistent hitters in the top of your lineup, but you do have some good power guys. I think I could fill several needs for you at once. And you could fill those needs for me.”

“Right.” Sutton nodded. He was confirming a thought he’d had minutes before.

“And I was really hoping to sign with a DL team - y’know, utilize the DH spot in case my defense becomes untenable,” Lane kept talking, trying to release all of his reasoning at once before he could be stopped. “But really, no offense coach, the Blues outfield is kind of bad anyway. So I’d still probably be a daily option even if my mobility starts to go. Which I don’t anticipate, you know I have a good health routine, but you never know. And I won’t object to playing corner outfield, I don’t mind it, I just-”

“Can it,” Sutton waved an arm to silence Lane. “I get the picture. Trust me, the front office has been debating about you since last fall. Quite honestly, they’re scared to offer you a contract. The GM thinks you’re due to fall off a cliff any second, and he doesn’t want to deal with the flak of wasting money on you in case it becomes an albatross.”

“I don’t need that much money.” Lane rolled his eyes.

“That’s what I said. But I’m not in those meetings, I get all this stuff secondhand. In any case, their offer wouldn’t be competitive compared to what your current offers are, so they decided against it.”

“So if you told them I’d be willing to take a smaller salary-”

“-they’d be willing to give you an offer.” Sutton nodded. “Listen, I’m not thrilled with the prospect either. If word gets around that I was the reason Gelia offered you, and things go sour, it’s my head on a platter. But I have a lot of respect for you, and I have a bad case of baseball history nut syndrome. If I can help you on your journey, that’ll work for me.”

“No way you’d get fired from Gelia. They love you too much over there.”

“Love has its limits. Like it or not, I haven’t gotten Gelia to the MLCS in two decades. If I don’t make something happen soon, I’ll be made to resign. A signing like you going downhill would just accelerate that process.”

“Never mind then,” Lane shook his head. “I would hate to be the reason you lose your job. I respect you too, you know.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Sutton waved his hand dismissively again. “To be frank, I’m tired. I wouldn’t mind the idea of retirement. The only thing keeping me in the game is the fact that I think I’d go crazy without it. If you forget how to hit a baseball and I get canned, that’s alright with me. My time could come any day now.”

“Okay.” Lane nodded. “Okay, I get it. Talk to your people then. If they don’t offer me, it’s fine, but I would appreciate the attempt at least.”

“Don’t mention it.” Sutton leaned back in his seat. “Now shoo. You’re not gonna like my batting practice feedback tomorrow if I don’t get enough sleep.”

“Thanks, skip.” Lane smiled warmly, then went back to his normal seat.

Playing the Blues

A few days later, the Base Corps was fresh off the first two playoff wins against Panay Islands and Guimeras. Lane Kavana got a call from his agent before Game 1.

“This may surprise you, but we've got a new offer from Gelia. A little lower than what we've gotten from the field, so-”

“I'm interested. Give them an informal agreement, and I'll sign the contract in person once the Classic finishes.”

“Are you sure, Lane? I haven't even discussed-”

“Trust me on this one. I've got something in the works.”

“Alright.” At this point, Lane’s agent was used to the spontaneous and bizarre moves. “I'll pass the message.”

“Thanks. We'll talk more later.”

As Lane ended the call, he couldn't help but smile. It may be crazy, and it might not check off all the boxes, but Gelia could be the environment he needed to chase the record. It was time to truly begin the quest for history.

by **Sarzonia** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 5:49 pm

When a team hasn't competed in international competition previously, simply getting to the knockout rounds is an accomplishment.

Granted, some teams emerge from the throngs of unranked sides and make waves, none more notable than Schiltzberg in World Baseball Classic 33, who won the competition in their debut. They did so during an era when teams routinely played 10 group stage matches, a set-up that allows for Margaret to rear her head.

During recent World Baseball Classics that see teams playing 30 group stage matches, the long group stage frequently reduces randomness to perhaps no more than one shock result in the knockout rounds before order reasserts itself.

Despite that, Soldera entered WBC 53 unranked and ended up winning the third place series in a shock sweep of traditional powerhouse Milchama. The Snakes rallied from a 5-7 record just before the midway point of the group stage and finished 21-9 and group champions. They then knocked out the defending champions and the No. 1 ranked teams in succession. They swept then-No. 4 Sarzonia at Fleetwood Park in dominant fashion.

Desmond St. John likely won't be negatively scrutinized if Sarzonia get swept after losing the first two matches of their best-of-five series against The Kytler Peninsulae. They will have the designated hitter for Game 3 after being forced to insert their pitchers into the batting order.

However, regardless of what happens, St. John said losing would be a disappointment.

"Any time you compete, you play to win," he said. "There's going to be time to put everything in context, but right now isn't it." He said he and the managerial staff were beginning to schedule exit interviews for the players and staff, whilst Incorporated Baseball Federation chairman Ned Colletti and technical director Jeff Parrish had them with St. John. However, St. John said he hoped he could delay those proceedings a little while longer.

"The Phoenix are already looking past us," he seethed.

by **Zwangzug** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 6:08 pm

Who's sweeping? Who's going to a game 5? Find out soon!

by **Zwangzug** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 6:22 pm

South Newlandia                    0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0  4
Kanmer                             0 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 X  6

South Newlandia                    8 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
Kanmer                             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

South Newlandia wins series, 3-1

Scorinated by Quebec and Shingoryeo:

Zwangzug               0 3 1 0 0 3 3 0 0 10
Fezzikopia             1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2

Zwangzug               0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1  4
Fezzikopia             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Zwangzug wins series, 3-1

United States of Nova Calania      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
North and South Slavo-Baltia       2 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 X  5

United States of Nova Calania      1 0 1 0 0 3 2 0 1  8
North and South Slavo-Baltia       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

United States of Nova Calania wins series, 3-1

Tikariot                           0 1 0 3 1 0 1 1 0  7
Nationy Mcstateface                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Tikariot                           1 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 0  7
Nationy Mcstateface                0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Tikariot wins series, 3-1

Kamijiro                           0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 2  6
Mercatoren                         5 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 X  8

Kamijiro                           1 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 1  7
Mercatoren                         0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Series tied, 2-2

Eshialand                          0 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 6 12
The 189                            0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 0  6

Eshialand wins series, 3-0

The Kytler Peninsulae              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Sarzonia                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

The Kytler Peninsulae wins series, 3-0

Scorinated by Quebec and Shingoryeo:

Ko-oren                0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  2
Zug um Zug             2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  4

Ko-oren                0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 1  6
Zug um Zug             3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  5

Ko-oren wins series, 3-1

Quebec and Shingoryeo              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Vaishnavaria                       1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 X  5

Quebec and Shingoryeo              0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0  4
Vaishnavaria                       0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Quebec and Shingoryeo wins series, 3-1

Juldonia                           0 1 0 0 0 5 1 0 0  7
Diarcesia                          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Juldonia                           0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0  7
Diarcesia                          0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0  3

Juldonia wins series, 3-1

Drawkland                          4 0 1 0 0 2 2 2 0 11
Panay Islands and Guimaras         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Drawkland wins series, 3-0

Banija                             0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2
Ochre Islands                      0 3 2 0 1 1 0 6 X 13

Banija                             1 0 1 0 5 1 0 4 0 12
Ochre Islands                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Banija wins series, 3-1

Milchama                           1 4 1 5 2 0 0 0 0 13
Dhemixia                           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

Milchama                           0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0  5
Dhemixia                           0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3

Milchama wins series, 3-1

Dod Rava                           0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Crpostran                          0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  2

Dod Rava                           2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Crpostran                          1 0 0 4 2 0 0 1 X  8

Crpostran wins series, 3-1

Abanhfleft                         0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
TJUN-ia                            0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6  7

Abanhfleft                         0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
TJUN-ia                            0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  4

Series tied, 2-2

Super-Llamaland                    0 0 8 1 2 4 3 0 0 18
Holy Marsh                         0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Super-Llamaland wins series, 3-0

My series will hopefully follow soon-ish once I find a third party scorer! [Edit: found!]

by **Kamijiro** » Tue Aug 13, 2024 9:53 pm

Kamijiroan Diamond IX, Part XII: Nothing Easy! We Going to Game ~~Seven~~ Five!

Howard "Nightfall" Ellis in game three... what a disastrous outing for him! The Diamond IX got pitched through in the first inning, failing to record a hit. And up comes Ellis, ready for his playoff debut. Seven hits and five runs later and he's being pulled in favor of Alexander "Elbow Grease" Akerman. That's right - Ellis didn't even make it out of the first inning. The rest of the game is spent by the Kamijiroans trying mount a comeback, but the later runs scored by Mercatoren are enough to prevent a full-blown meltdown, with the all-professional side winning eight to six, despite a two-run top of the ninth - Markus "Corner Pocket" Blaauw grounded into a double play to end the game.

The post-game three interview from Orielle "Mains d'Or" de Côteaux is terse.
"We aren't playing well enough. That's all it is. We came here to try to put out best foot forward. It seems to me that we all have failed to do so and it is something we will try to address before game four to prevent an early departure from this lovely city."

Now back at the hotel, the team heads to bed after a short meal. Few words are spoken before game four. The stakes are known and they are looming over the team like a shadow growing larger in the evening sun. The goal is survival now. To force a winner-take-all game five.

The next morning, the team once more heads out to the field for batting practice and warm-ups before a high-carb meal. Clarence "Sunrise" Bartley would be on the mound to open for the Diamond IX in the bottom of the first. Fortunately for him, he already had run support heading into his debut, with Emi "Sun Queen" Phaëthon being the lone scorer, driven in by an RBI sac fly by Napoleon "Little Emperor" Sarre.

Both sides were in a hard stalemate from there, with neither team managing to bag a run... until the top of the fourth. The Lightning bats once again begin to roar, with Ryuji "Sun King" Phaëthon and Sarre being brought in by Lucian "Silk White" Belvedere, who was in turn brought in by Markus Blaauw. The lead extends to four-zero. The bats stayed warm in the top of the fifth and sixth, with Maou "Devil King" Ashiya being brought in by Félix "Knee Socks" Cavaco and Ryuji Phaëthon being brought in by his sister, Emi Phaëthon, respectively.

The center can't quite hold in terms of the shutout being pitched and Mercatoren scores two in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead back down to four. Bartley is pulled out after that inning for Ellie "Shadow Dance" Xanthe, who pitches through the eighth. Lucian Belvedere hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth for extra insurance before Tenshi "Death's Hand" Hikari takes the mound as the closer. Three batters later and the game is done.

However, the mood at the hotel is still very tense. Game fives are scary enough as a neutral observer. Playing in one is another story entirely. The upshot was that back home, the Kamijiroan football team was playing, giving a welcome distraction as Atsuji "Red Wolf" Akaminai streamed it onto a projector he set up in a meeting room. It's goals galore for the Lightning back home - they win by a score of five to one. The big win for their compatriots seems to ease the tension among the Diamond IX and once the final whistle blows on the match, goodnights are said and the team goes to bed. For tomorrow, the plan is already known. Orielle's going to start on the mound. Atsuji is the backup if things go wrong.

One more sleep until the biggest game they've ever played in.

Bonsoir, Kamijiro.

by **Super-Llamaland** » Wed Aug 14, 2024 4:55 am

part one

two years later
“Tonight’s starting lineup for your Super-Llamaland Tigers…batting leadoff, designated hitter Elijah Tatum.”

Tyler Rocke Stadium erupted with boos, followed by loud chants: “Just No DH! Just No DH!”

Elijah sighed. Things had been like this ever since the Just Stop DH movement started, but things had really escalated in recent years. The movement had become a full-fledged political party that had won 23.6% of the vote in last year’s Congressional elections, and with the Tigers playing home games again at the WBC, anti-DH fans had flocked to New Llama City to conduct an endless harassment campaign against whoever happened to be designated hitter on any given day. That had originally been Evander Stone, but an injury to Elijah’s throwing shoulder had forced the two to swap positions, and he’d been getting the brunt of the boos ever since.

It had been pretty hard to deal with - the hope was that Elijah, a WBC and IBS veteran, could handle the pressure better than first-time starter Evander. But neither had hit especially well, and while they’d at least be traveling to Zwangzug for the postseason, there was no doubt that a sizable contingent of Just Stop DH members would be following them there. But until his shoulder healed up, it was either DH or warm the bench.

“Frustrating, isn’t it?” an unmistakeable voice came from his left. Elijah turned to see Buck Fuchs, tapping away at a smartphone.

“Buck? What are you doing here - and when are you so tech savvy?”

The former Tigers and U11 coach looked up, confused. “I’ve had this phone for a while. And don’t worry - Jacinta specifically invited me here for today’s game. Said something about it helping with the feng shui of the dugout.”

“Probably a shot against Mike Shelby. They have not been getting along well lately,” Elijah said, after checking to make sure that the bench coach (and his former manager on the Chariots) wasn’t around.

“Anyways, I have a proposition for you. But it can wait until after the game. Have you tried earplugs, by the way?”

Desperate to start hitting, Elijah had, in fact, tried wearing earplugs. He’d gone 0-3, but had at least drawn a walk and scored a run, and so deemed the experiment inconclusive.

As promised, Buck Fuchs was waiting for him in the clubhouse after the game, even after all the other players had left for the night.

“So, uh, what did you have for me?” Elijah asked.

“It’s a bit of a…secret mission, I suppose. Hear me out - I was also a bit skeptical when I heard this, but someone I respect a lot as a mentor convinced me that it was the right thing to do.” Elijah noticed that he was holding a note. MARTHA’ S CARRIER PIGEON EMPORIUM, the side of the note facing him read, and underneath, it was addressed to ‘Young Buck’.

“Sure,” he said, noncommittally.

“There are rumors,” Buck said, “that Just Stop DH have been up to something ever since last year’s election result. They’ve secured a lot of donation money, but it’s unclear where that money has been going until recently. I have it on good faith that they’re trying to develop an artificial superintelligence so that they can tell it to prevent Super-Llamaland from using the DH on the international stage.”

“…that’s all they’d use artificial superintelligence for? Not even for the LPB?”

“I’m just relaying what I’ve been told.”

“Our country hasn’t had a President for, like, twenty years, because we keep forgetting to elect one.”

“Well. You can see why the kind of country to do that would also use artificial superintelligence in this way.”

“Is this related to that trip to Zwzngzug you went to a few years ago?”

“What?” Buck asked, brow briefly furrowing. “Oh yes, I will do that. But anyhow. They’ve been becoming increasingly brazen lately. There are leaks in the operation now, but they’re too low-level, and they don’t have access to any specifics. That’s where you would come in. As the current DH, if you offered to join their campaign, we’re hoping that you would be able to gain the confidence of their leader, and perhaps tease out more detail about the project.”

“I mean, I can see why I’d be helpful here,” Elijah started in reply. “But, uh, it’s the middle of the WBC. This can’t wait until after?” Seeing Buck shake his head, he added: “I’m flattered, and I’d be open to it, maybe. But it’s just not good timing for me.”

“I figured you’d say that. But lines are being drawn as we speak. Just No DH has already recruited one of your former teammates as a spokesman, and are reportedly telling him everything about the project.”

“So go ask him, then?”

“We have. He genuinely hates the DH, and won’t cooperate.”

Elijah’s eyes widened. “This isn’t Bradley, is it?”

“The one and only.”

by **Banija** » Wed Aug 14, 2024 10:46 am

Banija take down the Ochre Islands as 3-1 series victory puts Banija into the WBC 59 Round of 16

BASSABROOK, ZWANGZUG- Nothing- and when we say nothing, we really mean nothing- went right for the Banijans in Game 3. Our starting pitcher, Kigongo Namatiwa, never really got comfortable in this closeout game. He allowed 6 earned runs in 4^1/3 innings, a lack of showcasing of his skills. Our bullpen got pounded in the back half of the game, allowing 7 more earned runs- including conceding 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th. The 13-2 loss was a blowout- but as Kingston Jassey said, those happen in baseball. "Sometimes, in this sport, you are going to take a licking- it is a shame when it happens in a playoff game." He told reporters. "This changes nothing- we have got to go out there and win Game 4." And while sometimes you are on the wrong side of a blowout where everything goes wrong- sometimes you are on the right side of one.

And that's what happened in Game 4. That's why the Banijans earning wins in Games 1 and 2, both of those close games, was so important- gave themselves a margin for error. The space to weather the storm that was Game 3. And in Game 4, with Baaku Kutate making his first career WBC playoff start, the Banijans were rolling. Sadiiq Xoosh got things going with a solo HR in the top of the 1st inning, to make it 1-0 to the Banijans. In the top of the 3rd inning, it was Xoosh again driving in a run, with a 2 out single to drive in Gadilefe from second base. A 2-0 lead for Banija in a closeout game, early on. Bending, but not yet breaking the Ochre Islands starting pitcher. Operative word- Yet.

In the 5th inning, the Banijans really broke things open. 3rd time through the order, the starter wasn't all that impressive the first two times- yeah, that's how these things tend to go. Gadilefe walked to start the inning. Then, immediately stole second. Fadiya slapped a single to left field. Usually, Gadilefe is flying around third but, it was hard hit enough where the ball was on one hop, perfectly to the glove of the left fielder. Runners on the corners, nobody out- Xoosh at the plate. Nobody wants their pitcher in that situation. The manager climbed out of the dug out, pulled out their starter, and in came a reliever. Xoosh had a hell of an at-bat- they couldn't give him anything to hit, but they did not want to load the bases. After working a full count, he fouled three payoff pitches in a row off, before talked ball 4 just off the outside corner. Ochre Islands fans thought it was a strike, and their manager came out of the dugout to argue the balls/strikes call- to no avail.

Bases loaded, nobody out. Rehana was looking to take one- and first pitch, got something good to hit, and laced it. Into the gap in right center. A bases loaded, bases clearing double for the Ratzupalfo Rhinos 1B. A huge hit, breaking the game wide open. And then, Ugonna Akachi got the kill shot- also first pitch swinging, hit a moonshot, 477 feet to left center. The MBL home run king strikes again. Suddenly, it was 7-0, and practically, both the game, and the series, were over. The Banijans kept scoring in the game, as they won by a score of 12-1. The bats overshadowed one hell of a playoff debut by Baaku Kutate, who threw 7 shutout innings.

"Series won- moving forward." Jassey told reporters. Not much else to say, right? The Banijans were heavily favored to take care of business against the Ochre Islands, and did exactly that. Now, the real KO stages can begin. Banija's first opponent is none other than Drawkland- a Base Corps squad that desperately wants to win their first ever World Baseball Classic. A highly talented, yet notoriously cursed squad, they feel that with this influx of LPB talent- this is their best team ever. They easily got a sweep in the Round of 16, so both teams will have a chance to set their rotation for the Round of 16. "These types of matchups are mouthwatering- they are why we play this game." Jassey said. "Not much to choose between them- we must be ready."

Alexandria Ships taking 3-0 series lead over the Herzegovina City Hippos have their fans dreaming of glory

Game 3
Herzegovina City Hippos      1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  4
Alexandria Ships             1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 X  5

To understand how Ships fans are feeling here, you have to go back and really understand the history of Alexandria's second team. The Ships have always lived in the shadow of the Alexandria Commies- their bitter, crosstown rivals. The Commies have always been one of the biggest clubs in Milchama, if not the biggest. Super popular, historically dominant, all sorts of MLB titles. So while Ships fans always see their neighbors happy and joyous, they just kind of trudge along. And although the Ships got to be in the first season of this competition, not much was expected of them. Any reasonable observer would have predicted them to finish in the mid-table range, maybe upper mid-table- somewhere between 9th and 5th. A solid team, maybe a winning record- but certainly not a playoff team.

So them finishing in the top 4 was one thing. But seeing the Commies, in the first ever season of this competition, not even make the playoffs? Quite possibly Milchama's biggest club? That was a shocker to all who observe- but for the Ships, it was a double dose of deliciousness. We talked to a few outside their stadium ahead of Game 3. "For once, finally, the attention in this country is on us- we are Alexandria's reps now. And look at us- we are good enough to win this whole damn thing!" And the Ships may be. They won two games in Herzegovina City quite comfortably, and came back to Alexandria looking to put this series away. And the Hippos gave them a run for their money, taking a 4-1 lead on the back of three runs in the 4th- chasing the Ships starting pitcher, as well.

But, slowly yet surely, the Ships never lost faith. They started clawing back. A solo shot in the bottom half of the 4th, to make it 4-2. They earned 2 runs in the 5th inning, a two-run double by Dillon Marks, to tie the game. And then, finally, taking the lead in the bottom of the 6th. The bullpen held things down- pitching 5^1/3 shutout innings, 4 relievers ocmbining for that. The closer had a 5 out save. The fans were glorious, delirious, booming- some even in tears. They could taste a berth in the Arrosian Series- could they get there tomorrow nigh

Hippos stay alive with back to back elimination game wins to bring the series back to Banija- is it possible?

Game 4
Herzegovina City Hippos      4 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 10
Alexandria Ships             1 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 1  7

Game 5
Herzegovina City Hippos      0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0  5
Alexandria Ships             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

While the focus, righteously so, was on the Ships, due to the storyline and the drama and the general dominance they have shown in the series, the series was not over yet. "One game at a time." The Hippos first baseman told repoters ahead of Game 4. "It's not over until the fat lady sings- and I don't hear any notes." The Hippos sure love these close ones- they sure left it late. Game 4 also saw both starters chased early, as the bullpens, tired on both sides, had to continue working and logging innings. But in the top of the 8th, a 6-6 game, the Hippos broke out- three runs, all in the clutch, and that was enough to eventually beat the Ships, 10-7. The crowd would go home disappointed- but still, knowing their team was the dominant favorites in the series.

The Hippos starters had been so poor in the first four games of this series. Only once has their starter lasted 5+ innings, and that was in a game the Hippos lost. They were logging heavy bullpen innings- both teams were, really. But the Hippos especially. They needed, desperately, a starting pitcher to put on a dominant performance. The Hippos called upon their ace, Dzunani Mazuze, who is a former WBC Champion and an Olympic Gold Medalist. They needed an absolutely special performance if they wanted to survive and bring this series back to Banija- and they got one. A complete game shutout. In an elimination game on the road. The 37 year old turning back the clock. 9 innings, 2 hits(both singles), one walk. No runner even reached third base. "This might have been the most singular dominant pitching performance of his entire career." Said a TV reporter. "When you think about the stakes, the quality of the opponent, the hostility in the atmosphere... Just one hell of a performance."

The Hippos gave him run support, but he barely needed any. And now, after not really worrying about Game 4- there is quite a bit of worry among the fanbase after Game 5. A fanbase used to pain, seeing that Game 5 performance is giving many of them heart attacks. Their manager, however, preached confidence. "Have faith- we still have the advantage in this series." The Ships manager told reporters. "They simply had one hell of a game in Game 5. We can win this series in Banija- we fear nobody." There's a travel day between Games 5 and 6, can the Ships use that to get right?

BNL Promotion Playoff Final- Kosactus wrestle home field advantage from Lwanga as the Forest Elephants take a 2-1 series lead

Kosactus Forest Elephants      1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  4
Lwanga Leopards                0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3

Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1  4
Lwanga Leopards                1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1  5

Lwanga Leopards                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  2
Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 X  4

Meanwhile, the BNL Promotion Playoff Final Series is going on. The top seeded Leopards, against the #3 seeded Forest Elephants. Which team will win this best of 7, and clinch promotion to the MBL? Both teams want it- it is hard to get here, and neither wants to lose this golden opportunity. And this series has been defined by clse games. Kosactus won the opening game of the series, 4-3, in a game where their last run scored was in the 4th inning. Clutch pitching, as they neutralized the Leopards offensive threats to take home field advantage. The Leopards, to avoid being desperate, walked it off in Game 2, to make it 1-1 in the series- although that meant the series would shift to Kosactus.

The Forest Elephants protected home field in Game 3, as 7 shutout innings from their starting pitcher more than made up for a few shaky innings from the pen, as they won 4-2. The series is anybody's to win still at this point- but Kosactus has a distinct advantage, playing at home for the next two games. Can they parlay that into the first ever promotion into the MBL? Or will Lwanga, the top team over a long season, turn things around and prove themselves as the best team in this league?

by **South Newlandia** » Wed Aug 14, 2024 4:57 pm

logo credit: Sacha

LPB STANDINGS - 100 / 160 games played

  SNL NORTH                     SNL CENTRAL                   SNL SOUTH
           W-L     GB  WCGB              W-L     GB  WCGB              W-L     GB  WCGB
  JADR   63-37    --  +11       NEOW   61-39    --   +9       SCFL   47-53    --    5
  RUDA   59-41     4   +7       NEDO   50-50    11    2       RARH   46-54     1    6
  EVHO   52-48    11   --       SCMO   49-51    12    3       STRS   46-54     1    6
  EVSB   46-54    17    6       RÜBS   48-52    13    4       WAST   39-61     8   13

We’re now 100 games flat into the LPB season, having made it through more than half the season. There’s one team that clearly had the best month out of the SNL squads, that being the Newport Owls. Not only did the team in white win 14 games, best in the SNL, but they also nearly doubled their separation from the second team in the division. Evelyn Brown was a major reason, playing the best month of her LPB career so far; with the Center Fielder nearly hitting .400 in these twenty games, while adding excellent outfield defense. With the pitchers clicking on all cylinders, the Owls look hard to catch.
They still don’t quite have the best record in the SNL, as that is still Jaffro, who put together another excellent month. They didn’t gain as much separation, though, with the Dachshunds and Homers just about keeping pace. One of the big losers of the month were the Monarchs and Rhinos, who both had good opportunities to cement their claims on a playoff space, but instead lost their cushy positions. For now, the Flames have somehow taken over the division; despite really being carried by George Torresino on offense, who, spoiler-alert, was their lone All-Star. That’s a rare thing for a division-leading team.
Elsewhere, the Dolphins mount some resistance, winning 13 games on the month, including one of the best pitching performances of the season. Facing the Kyrinson Cosmos at home with the Dolphins currently 44-48 after blowing out the Cosmos the previous day, Erin Snair-Gannof took on Kyrinson starter Astrid Abrahamsson in what quickly became a pitchers’ duel. Both the Llamanean standout and Zebra star made it through three innings unscathed, each having faced the minimum nine batters so far, with a slick Tali Mironer double play helping the cause. After six, the game was still tied, with neither team finding the scoreboard, although the Dolphins had been more threatening. A leadoff double by Petre-Sherman went nowhere, but the Fins finally broke through in the seventh with Tommy Gulnoi-Kedren sending a ball into the gap. Kieran Fletcher misplayed the ball, turning a single into a triple, and from there, Atori Cragun had little trouble scoring the Zwangzugian for the 1-0 lead. Fortunately, Snair-Gannof was locked in, continuing to mow down the Cosmos, including adding a third strikeout against their star, Lewis Hunter. At this point, the 0 on the scoreboard had surely gotten everyone’s attention – Snair-Gannof entered the top of the ninth without a hit allowed. David Price lined out, and with the Zebra’s pitch count already above 100, Telyatin had a difficult decision to make. He elected to leave Snair-Gannof in, and was rewarded with a groundout for Barron Edwards. Ian Zhuang was the last man standing, and Snair-Gannof spammed fastballs at him that ultimately induced a game-ending popout. Snair-Gannof had pitched the first SNL no-hitter of the season.

All-Star alternates
SP: Griffin Gonzalez (SCMO-SLL)
SP: Yolande Sirapui (RUDA-TJU)
SP: Félix Clermont (RUDA-NOV)
SP: Hannah Gray (NEOW-ESL)
SP: Lucy Walker-Diaz (STRS-SLL)

RP: Andrew Gilson III (STRS-SLL)
RP: Miellen Walker (EVSB-RAN)
RP: Royston Hodgson (NEOW-TKT)
RP: Trinity Shelby-Dowora (RUDA-TJU)
RP: Alexandra Graham (RÜBS-DHE)

C: Ryan Marshall (RÜBS-KYP)
1B: Ted Honeycutt (JADR-DRK)
2B: Tali Mironer (NEDO-MIL)
SS: Jaxson St. James (RÜBS-DHE)
3B: Jimi Fiazzo (STRS-LOY)
LF: Julian Breit (EVSB-RAN)
CF: Martina Andrade de Souza (RUDA-TJU)
RF: Bradley Petre-Sherman (NEDO-ZWZ)
DH: Harry Brentwood (NEOW-ESL)

All-Star starters
SP: Andrew Boone (JADR-DRK)
SP: Erin Snair-Gannof (NEDO-ZWZ)
SP: Todd Pearson (NEOW-CDG)
SP: Carter Wilkinson (JADR-SLL)
SP: Adrian Wnuk (EVHO-DOR)

RP: Trevor Bell (JADR-DRK)
RP: Kayla Sandlin (SCMO-CDG)
RP: Tenli Food (NEDO-MIL)
RP: Daniella Arenta (NEOW-ESL)
RP: Mladen Manevski (RARH-AFT)

C: Cooper Calebs (JADR-DRK)
1B: Tommy Gulnoi-Kedren (NEDO-ZWZ)
2B: Len Pijpenbroek (EVHO-KOR)
SS: Apollo Sündstrom (STRS-SLL)
3B: Kristen Martorella (SCMO-CDG)
LF: George Torresino (SCFL-DEL)
CF: Batya Jones (NEDO-MIL)
RF: Stefan von Shültz (RUDA-TJU)
DH: Anna Builler (RUDA-TJU)

The All-Star game is a tradition that takes place every season in the LPB. You know what an All-Star game is. This season, it took place at Rüsselsheim Park, the ballpark purpose-built for the Blue Sox. As usual, it featured 19 starters and 19 alternates, because there’s so much talent in the LPB at this point. Taking on the SLL All-Stars were a group that included quite a few first-time All-Stars, including Snair-Gannof, Adrian Wnuk, George Torresino, and many of the Alternates. The most representation went to the Dolphins and Dachshunds at six each, although the Drawks co-led with the Fins with four starters. Llamaneans and TJUN-ians were most represented by country, getting five each.

But who really cares about the All-Star game? The festivities in Rüsselsheim had a far more important event to showcase.
The Home Run derby is a baseball institution, but came under increasing fire in recent seasons. Many athletes were unhappy with the event, with plenty of stars choosing to pull out, citing a heightened risk of injury during a frantic Home Run derby in which they’d need to swing far more often that typical. The data seemed to back this up – Home Run derby participants lost about 20 points of OPS on average in the two weeks after the derby.
Torn between wanting to preserve the very popular event and preserving the health of its players, the LPBPA helped to come up with a compromise solution. Instead of limiting the time each athlete has to hit Home Runs, the new format would be limited by the number of pitches. Each player would see 25 pitches per round, with a maximum of 20 swings per round – in other words, the batter can lay off five bad pitches for free. Instead of a strict maximum time, there would only be a modest pitch clock. Each of the twelve SNL franchises send one entrant. After the first round, the top four finishers advance to the semifinals, from where the tournament continues in a head-to-head format.

Aiden Beasley started off as the lone representative of the Stingrays at the event, hitting a solid eight, before Sündstrom was the first to score double digits. Benjamin Ígorsson nearly pulled out of the event last minute, dealing with a thumb injury that was clearly limiting his swing. He finished last, but was still celebrated by his home fans. After that, there were finally some strong totals. Bradley Petre-Sherman made his ambitions known with a strong 13, followed by Sun City Flame Terresino with a 13 as well. Harry Brentwood managed nine, before Joanna Adoyo, the veteran Banijan hitter, vaulted into third with a clean dozen. She was quickly outdone by Julian Breit, with the Snow Bear hitting another 13, before Kristen Martorella took the lead for the first round, hitting 14 of her 20 swings out – including 12 in a row. That made clear that no score under 13 would suffice to make it to the semifinals. Pijpenbroek fell off pace quickly, hitting seven, and Stefan von Shültz fell just short with 12. The last competitor was the Jaffro Drawks’ Ted Honeycutt. After quickly hitting ten home runs from his first 14 swings, he seemed on pace to cruise into the next round; but he fell just short of the warning track on the last swing to finish with 12.
That meant that Martorella, Breit, Torresino and Petre-Sherman would advance to the next round – ties broken by the longest home run hit during the round. The lower-seeded player went first. Torresino found himself unable to repeat his strong performance in the first round, settling for only six home runs. The Ranorian still made things exciting by needing 17 of his swings to finally chop that total down, advancing to the Final. The batters also slowed down in the other semifinal. Petre-Sherman started with a nine, which Martorella exactly tied – however, Petre-Sherman had the longer home run, which meant the Zwangzugian would match up with the Ranorian in the final.
There, it was back to fireworks. The Zebra recovered from the slower semifinal to post another strong score of 13, not making things easy for Breit. The Ranorian came out of the gate slow, but went on a tear to reach 12 with a swing remaining, which he managed to launch to dead center to tie things at 13. He also had the longest home run, but in the final, there would be a swing-off instead. Five pitches and four swings for each competitor. Bradley-Sherman started with hitting two of his four, and the Ranorian seemed trouble after fouling off the first pitch. He recovered to hit consecutive home runs, and with a chance to win the derby outright, did so with a deep drive to right field to take home the Home Run Derby Crown.

Spotlight: Newport Dolphins

Home: Dolphin Stadium, 22,500
Record last season: 102-58, division win, lost South Newlandian Championship Series
Playoff / Division drought: 0 / 0
Modern era titles: 2
Top pitcher: Erin Snair-Gannof (15-6, 2.28 ERA, 245 K’s, All-Star, Evan Masorka award [Pitcher of the Season])
Top hitter: Batya Jones (.406 OBP, 32 SB, 24 HR, +9 DRS, All-Star)

It really feels like the Dolphins dynasty has won more than two titles in the LPB era. They were the dominant force of the early LPB, having made it to the SNLCS more often than not. They also have four division titles to date – the Homers are the only other team with at least three, and they only won one playoff series in the LPB era so far. Ernest Telyatin has found great success with the team as well, and this was supposed to be another great season for the Dolphins. While the Owls passed them up in the standings, though, the Dolphins languished around .500 despite an excellent run differential and real stars. Their pitching just severely lacked depth; Snair-Gannof ended up as literally the best pitcher in the SNL, with Mecc-Sanders also pitching another strong campaign, and the bullpen had the great one-two punch of McIntyre and Food, but there’s still way too many innings left to pitch after that. Struggling with some injuries throughout, the Dolphins had to lean on players like Nicholas Cox, Benedita Wright and Matt Decker in key spots, and that’s just not a fun time for anyone.
Equally, the lineup has its fair share of stars, and also its fair shares of struggles. Zebra trio Gulnoi-Kedren, Cragun and Petre-Sherman were key leaders for the team. Tommy Gulnoi-Kedren handled the transition from third to first very well, having his best season at the plate and collecting a Gold Glove award; Petre-Sherman also took one for himself in Right Field. The Michamian duo of Tali Mironer and Batya Jones hit 1-2 on the Warriors, and were also very important presences for the Dolphins, both making the All-Star game. The holes in the lineup were elsewhere, with the Dolphins struggling to find a consistent answer at catcher, while Angela Bengtsson uncharacteristically struggled at the plate. Erin Guthrie missed a large chunk of the season with a shoulder injury, and Tiffany Grey didn’t seem quite the same type of hitter for long streaks; a lack of great options from the bench didn’t help either.
Remarkably, even in a bad season, the Dolphins still finish right around .500. A record like this has gotten teams into the playoffs in the past, and the Dolphins still have a 6-season LPB postseason streak to protect.
The AAA affiliate of the Dolphins, the Lexen City Rebels, hasn’t seen a lot of great seasons lately. It makes sense – when you’re competing for the title, you don’t want to have assets that don’t help you there. This season, Lexen City witnessed the development of Lily Kirkpatrick, who was drafted as a fairly polished 23-year-old left-hander. She worked mostly with her accuracy and off-speed stuff, with the fastball velocity holding her back from getting drafted even earlier. After playing well for Lexen City, she was elevated to the bigs due to their depth situation, and proved she belonged with a successful, albeit very brief rookie campaign. The Rebels have also seen encouraging progress from RHP Kevin Taylor, who came in unable to locate a pitch on a movie screen, much less the plate; but he did have some nice stuff, and the Rebels seem to be on their way to mould him into a big-league calibre reliever.
The Dolphins are also fortunate not to have traded away any picks, so they hold their first-round selection, which they will use around the middle of the first round to add further firepower to the Lexen City squad.

by **Zwangzug** » Wed Aug 14, 2024 6:05 pm

Cutoff for Mercatoren/Kamijiro game 5. Stay tuned to the discussion thread for more information/resims.

Mercatoren             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Kamijiro               0 3 0 0 0 5 0 0 X  8

Kamijiro wins series, 3-2

by **Milchama** » Thu Aug 15, 2024 11:21 am

Karakorum Forum-Democracy-Times-Tribune-Sun-Stars-Gods-Men-Tribute-Fightin'-Picayune-Post-Gazette-Chronicle-Eclipsor-Ellipsor-Report-Spin-Connector-Deflector-News-Today-Yesterday-And-Tomorrow

Sports Section

Milchama Get Through

The one worry about a small sample size is that everybody understands that even if you are the better team, upsets happen, and in a small sample even more upsets are more likely because there isn't time to correct things to have the better team be better. So everybody kinda flipped out after Dhemixia took game 2 as the Serpents had flipped home field advantage. Of course we needn't have worried as the Warriors breezed through both games 3 and 4 getting through the series and moving onto octofinals where they will face tbd due to several math shenanigans that we don't understand and won't try to explain. We also have totally forgot the bracket so we don't even know, without math shenanigans, who the Warriors will play because that's how these things go sometimes.

Regardless, let's talk about Games 3 and 4. The big thing that we wanted to talk about was the offense because oh boy did they look much better. After scoring only 3 runs in the first 18 innings, the Warriors scored 5 in the next 2 and 11 through the first 4 innings of Game 3. A couple of notes about the offense: Erez Goldman looked great in 3 at bats, Marius McNeesh hit another homer which is always cool to see, and that the top of the order (1-3) went 6-9 (nice) before subs came in with a homer, 2 doubles, and 6 runs scored. It's nice to see such domination from the top players. It was also cool to see Terron know when the game was over and making sure that all players were able to help in the playoffs instead of just using the starters. In the same vein, it was smart to let Erin Aarons only go 6 despite the fact that she only let in 1 run so that she could be rested for later games.

Game 4 was all about one player, Maia Tennons who hit a massive 3 run shot to help Milchama get a 4 spot in the 6th inning which was enough to bring the Warriors through. Even though Garrick had a disappointing 7 inning start, there was enough for the Warriors to get through and advance.

Now the question becomes what can Milchama do in octos? As we mentioned at the beginning of our coverage of this WBC the goal this year is at least the semifinals. So far Milchama has held up their part of the deal with a dominant group performance, a third seed (for once) and now a dominant sextodecimofinal performance, so we move onto octofinals and we wait to see whether Milchama can keep it up. Oh, who are we kidding, we will crush them! We will have VICTORY! GLORIOUS VICTORY! GLORIOUS VICTORY TO MILCHAMA! VICTORY!

by **Zwangzug** » Thu Aug 15, 2024 7:10 pm

Vaishnavaria               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
South Newlandia            0 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 X  8

Vaishnavaria               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
South Newlandia            0 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 10

South Newlandia            0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  3
Vaishnavaria               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

South Newlandia wins series, 3-0

TJUN-ia                    0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 X  5

TJUN-ia                    2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  5
Quebec and Shingoryeo      2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 X  6

Quebec and Shingoryeo      0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
TJUN-ia                    0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Quebec and Shingoryeo wins series, 3-0

For transparency: I originally posted Dhemixia versus Milchama here--Dhemixia were 30th seeds and the two teams beneath them changed, however, nothing about this matchup was actually altered so the resim was superfluous (fortunately Milchama won again). I'm spoilering the results because they aren't necessary, but you can click through to see what the post originally said:

Dhemixia                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Milchama                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X  1

Dhemixia                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2
Milchama                   0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

Milchama                   3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  7
Dhemixia                   1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

Milchama wins series, 3-0

The Fortem                 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  4
Banija                     0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

The Fortem                 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Banija                     0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1  5

The Fortem                 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Banija                     0 0 0 1 1 4 1 0 X  7

The Fortem                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3
Banija                     1 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 X  6

Banija wins series, 3-1

Hapilopper                 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0  3
Abanhfleft                 0 0 0 2 1 1 4 0 X  8

Hapilopper                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1  3
Abanhfleft                 0 1 0 0 8 0 0 0 X  9

Abanhfleft                 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0  3
Hapilopper                 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2

Abanhfleft wins series, 3-0

And with that, what we very much hope is a settled round of 16 bracket:

1. South Newlandia vs. 16. Zwangzug
Worm Hole, Spenson

8. Tikariot vs. 9. United States of Nova Calania
Delacruz Field, Bassabook

4. Kamijiro vs. 13. Eshialand
East Side Park, FTC

5. Ko-oren vs. 12. The Kytler Peninsulae
Swainyo Stadium, Zwischen

2. Quebec and Shingoryeo vs. 15. Juldonia
Chet Barzun Stadium, FTC

7. Banija vs. 10. Drawkland
Eastride Park, Nuel

3. Milchama vs. 19. Crpostran
Paddock Park, Arlington

6. Super-Llamaland vs. 11. Abanhfleft
X Park, 102d

Any questions, give a shout in the discussion thread. Again, scorination will be 2-2-1.

by **South Newlandia** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 10:37 am

The Savannah Classic

Disclaimer: Rasmussen was already included in an earlier RP. Also, Griffith Puyo-Sachar is not actually the Zebra from "Pearls before Swine". Probably.

Do you like trains? South Newlandia likes trains.

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 1:59 pm

Statement From TJUN-ia Baseball

Today, after a tough deliberation among our Executive Council, we called Manager Phillip Hellas-Verona, Assistant Manager Jack Helstrom-Satanique and Batting Coach Enrique Lopez to inform them that they were being relieved of their duties in their respective positions.

TJUN-ia Baseball wishes them well in their future endeavours. They committed so much to this sport and this team and their contributions to TJUN-ian Baseball will never be forgotten.

The search for replacements in these roles, and any such moves thereafter, will commence immediately.

The Changes

DISMISSED
Phillip Hellas-Verona, Manager
Jack Helstrom-Satanique, A.M.
Enrique Lopez, Batting Coach

RETIRED
Santino Fenatti, 1B
Anastasia Mykvinich, 3B
Svetlana Mykvinich, SS
Anna Builler, DH

by **Banija** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 2:22 pm

The Round of 16: Mouthwatering matchup between Drawkland and Banija higlight the WBC 59 Round of 16

NUEL, ZWANGZUG- Now we're getting towards the business end of this competition. The Round of 32- a little unwieldly, and certainly very, very large. But- beyond that, now it's done. Many pretenders have been knocked to the wayside, and we are here in the Round of 16. Not everybody is a true contender- the philosophy is that you don't have all true contenders remaining until the quarterfinals remains true for a tournament that has a Round of 32. And while all 16 teams left in this tournament are elite, you probably would not consider all of them to be true contenders to win this damn thing. That's what makes this next series so enticing- both Banija and Drawkland are true contenders, and they face each other in the next round.

"Drawkland- their historic performances in this tournament don't do them justice." Kingston Jassey told reporters. "Yes, we all know they had that Round of 16 curse- but as we all know, curses exist in sports until you break them. And you look at the depth of talent on this team, and see what their players are doing in the LPB... I, personally, don't believe they have ever been as talented as they are right now. They are not capable only of smashing that Round of 16 glass ceiling for the second time- this is a team that is fully capable of going all the way. It will be a fantastic series, for both players and fans."

The hype is real. Banija knows how curses feel. Remember when we felt as if we would never win a World Bowl? It was our fifth ever trip to the World Bowl SFs that finally got us over the line, into our first World Bowl Final(and took another 5 cycles after that to win the damn thing). Cursses are there until they aren't. This team is every bit as talented as this Banijan team. They showcased their talent in their dismantling of Panay Islands and Guimaras- with 13-5, 6-1, and 11-1 victories in one of the most dominant playoff series the WBC has seen in a while. Banija was less dominant- although, of course, what matters is that both teams are here. Banija won their series in 4 as well, so both teams got to set their rotations exactly as they wanted to.

This is probably the matchup of the Round. Banija. Drawkland. Winner to the QF- loser goes home bitterly early. Who's got the popcorn?

MBL Semifinal Series, Game 6

How much have the tables turned since this series was last in Herzegovina City? The energy around the Hippos could not have been lower- down 2-0, losing the first two at home, in a fashion where the Ships seemed to clearly be the better team on the day. And the Ships ended up going up 3 games to none. But.. The Hippos battled back. A desperation hitting performance to stay alive in Game 4, followed by a historically dominant pitching performance in Game 5, has suddenly turned the entire series on its head. We're here for a Game 6, back to a place where we did not think the series would return. The Hippos are excited, yet focused- just because you've gotten to a Game 6, does not mean you can get to game 7.

Once again, this is the playoffs- it was going to be low-scoring, the margin for error was always going to be low. So let's take you to the Bottom of the 4th inning, in a 1-1 game.

Banijan Radio Commentator wrote:It's 1-1 early in this game, and the Hippos have another scoring opportunity ahead of them right now. They've got a runner on first base, and the Ships pitcher is getting to pitch again. 2 outs in this inning- but the Hippos have their power hitter up at the plate. The first pitch- a strike is thrown on the outside corner, makes it an 0-1 count. The pitcher leans in, and throws a second pitch- just outside. A 1-1 count. The pitcher steps back onto the mound, and whips around- a quick pickoff attempt, the runner barely scrambling back to the bag.

The pitcher gets the ball and pitches again- the catcher tries to frame it, but the umpire is shaking his head. It's a 2-1 count, in favor of the hitter. Can he get some contact here, get the Hippos to start a rally? The pitcher delivers- AND IT'S A FLY BALL! Deep right field... If it's fair it's gone.. AND IT'S GONE! The umpire is twirling his finger in the air, and this place explodes! It's a 3-1 lead, in favor of the Hippos. Have a day, Herzegovina City!

That was just the bottom of the 4th inning- but somehow, those were the last runs scored in the entire game. The Hippos starter went into the 7th inning, getting himself in some major trouble there. The next reliever didn't do well either- the Ships loaded the bases, with Dillon Marks, their power-hitting superstar, at the plate with one out. Desparation time- the Hippos brought out their closer? ONe of the most unbelievable things you'd ever seen. He struck out Marks, looking, and then, the next batter grounded out to end the inning.

The closer finished out the game. Yes folks- an incredible 8 out save to close out Game 6. How the hell is this manager going to deal with that tomorrow, we have no idea. But he managed like there might not be a tomorrow if they lost- which was true. Hippos fans and Commies fans ecstatic, Ships fan miserable. Now, time for the two greatest words in sports- Game 7!

Game 6
Alexandria Ships             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Herzegovina City Hippos      0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 X  3

MBL Semifinal Series, Game 7

The two greatest words in sports- Game 7. And with some added spice- a hater's special. The Ships, who had led, 3-0, facing doom and destruction in Herzegovina City. The Hippos, trying to make the first ever season of this league the most insane one. We sent reporters to Alexandria shortly before the start of Game 7- and while the bars were packed, fans were gloomy. "This is the most miserable sporting experience I have ever had- bar none." Said a bar owner a few hours before first pitch. "This season has been so glorious- if it ends like this? Misery."

A lot of doom and gloom around Ships fans, after seeing their squad blow a 3-0 lead. But there was still some optimism on the street. "I think that we can win this series." Said a younger fan. "Obviously, things aren't going great- but it's Game 7. Throw out everything you know. It's one game, for all the marbles. Everyone will be playing like their hair is on fire. This type of game- we are better. We are built for it. Let's GO!"

And on the Banijan side of things, well- the doom and gloom that was in Herzegovina City at the beginning of this series has been completely erased. Instead- unbridled optimism. "This is the greatest thing I have ever watched." Said a longtime Hippos fan. "We don't have the history of the Milchama league [editor's note: WBBL was around for less than 4 decades], but I love this team. And this- if we finish them off here, this might be the greatest thing we've ever done." The WBBL never in its history saw a team successfully come back down 3-0. Will the MBL see the greatest of comebacks in its first ever season?

Game 7s are all about pitching. Elite pitching is what wins these do or die games. So both pitchers were dominant their first times through the order. In fact, the Hippos only had one baserunner in the first three innings, a leadoff single by the cleanup hitter in the second inning. As for the Ships, the Hippos pitcher went 9 up, 9 down to start the game. The Hippos started getting hot in the bottom of the 4th, however- hot enough to chase the Ships starter. A rally. Starting with the #3 hitter, and one out in the inning. That hitter singled. Then, the next singled- and the #3 hitter went from first to third. Runners on the corners, one out. A sac fly to drive in the run- 1-0 to the Hippos. Then, another single to put runners on the corners again. And finally- a two out hit to the gap in right center, allowing both to score. Hippos fans going crazy- suddenly, they were up 3-0. Was this series over?

Not by a long shot.

The Ships bullpen woudl get them out of that inning, and in the top of the 6th, they would respond. Sometimes, you are going to rally. And others- it will be the long ball. The Banijans in the 4th didn't need the long ball- a string of hits, put together, punctuated by a gapper. The Ships, on the other hand, much simpler. A leadoff walk, leads to a stolen base. A single with a runner on second gives the Ships their first run of the game, with Dillon Marks up. And Marks crushed it- a towering, two run shot to tie the game. A hell of a time to go yard. You could probably hear a pin drop in Herzegovina City after that- but the watch parties back in Alexandria were exploding.

3-3 in the 6th inning. It's Game 7. Everybody's got goosebumps- what more could you ask for as a neutral?

The intensity of Game 7. And now, getting to the bottom of the 7th. Still 3-3. But the Hippos saw their chance, their sliver of a chance- and they took it.

Banijan Radio Commentator wrote:There is just one out in this inning- and the Hippos have a runner on first base. They are going to use a pinch hitter here for their #9 hitter, and the strategy makes sense- you have got to take some risks if you want to win a game as pressure packed as this one. The pitcher leans in- he will have to be careful. This hitter loves to first pitch swing- if he sees something good, he's swinging that bat. The pitcher leans out, there goes the pitch.. He swings and it's a line drive down the left field line.. AND IT'S FAIR! Runner is flying around as the LF goes to field it. The fielder picks it up and throws a relay to Dillon Marks as the runner rounds third... He's got a throw to the plate and... IT'S NOT IN TIME! NOT IN TIME! THE HIPPOS TAKE THE LEAD!

What a throw, what a play, what a slide! This ballpark is going crazy as the slide just barely beat the throw- this stadium is so loud, it's literally shaking. Is that the run that will send the Hippos to the Arrosian Series?

What a throw, what a play. That was basically it for the Hippos offense- and they would not need anything more. Middle relievers took care of the 7th and 8th- but with their closer logging so many pitches last night, who would pitch the 9th? They brought out their setup man. He's talented, and young- the pressure got to him. He did get the first out. But ended up with some control issues, issuing back to back walks with one out. The Hippos manager had no choice- despite the closer throwing a whopping 49 pitches the night before, he would have to call on him one more time.

And the closer slammed the door shut. First, a pop up to first base to get the second out. And then- a swinging strike three to end Game 7. An exhiliarating, heartstoppping game- a tremendous playoff series. The score on the day matched the score of the series- Hippos 4, Ships 3. Ships fans and players were absolutely devastated- tears from visiting fans. But the Hippos were ecstatic- an insane comeback, putting them into the Arrosian Series.

The Arrosian Series will be fantastic. The Herzegovina City Hippos will have home field advantage, taking on the New Sparta Phalanx- but as both teams finished with the same record, there isn't much to choose between them. Remember, the Arrosian Series is a best of 9 series. Games 1-3 will be in Herzegovina City, then the teams will travel to Milchama, as Games 4-7(if necessary) will be in New Sparta. And then, if Games 8 and 9 are required, those will be back in Herzegovina City. First team to win 5 games wins the Arrosian Series, and are the first ever champions of the MBL.

Got it? Let's go baby!

Game 7
Alexandria Ships             0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  3
Herzegovina City Hippos      0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 X  4

[align=center]BNL Promotion Playoff Final- Kosactus earn promotion to the MBL in dramatic fashion as they bury the Leopards in 5 games

Game 4
Lwanga Leopards                0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0  3
Kosactus Forest Elephants      4 1 0 1 3 0 1 2 X  12

Game 5
Lwanga Leopards                0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0  4
Kosactus Forest Elephants      0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1  5 (F/10)

And now, for the BNL Promotion Playoff Final Series. Why not Kosactus, they said? They won Game 4 in fairly simple fashion- up 4-0 after the first inning, and up 5-0 after 2 innings, the Leopards were never really in Game 4. There isn't really much to write about for Game 4- a dominant performance from beginning to end, a 12-3 blowout win to put the Forest Elephants on the brink. They would have a Game 5, at home, to win the series and earn promotion- was promotion in their grasp?

While Game 4 was all sorts of one-sided, Game 5 was anything but. The Forest Elephants started so strong in the game- tacking on a pair of runs in the 4th, and another pair of runs in the 5th, to be up 4-0 at the midway point of the game. The Leopards could not see the ball to save their life, as the Forest Elephants were just dominating in all facets of the game. Figuured it's mostly a wrap- good season to the Leopards, we'll see Kosactus in the big leagues? Well... The Leopards were not done.

They did score a run in the 7th. But in the 9th, a 4-1 game, the Forest Elephants closer on the field, everybody figured, this must be over. Especially when the first batter struck out on three pitches. But then- the Leopards showed some signs of life. They weren't dead yet. They had a batter bunt for a single- do whatever it takes if you are about to be eliminated. Then, a single. Then, another strikeout. Runners on 1st and 2nd, two outs. One out away from their season ending, their dream of top flight baseball ending. But, their next batter was first pitch swinging- and with one swing of the bat, the ball traveled 447 feet away, to straightaway center field- and tied the game.

"I felt my heart drop in the mouth." Said a Kosactus fan after the game. A stunning HR, the Leopards were suddenly tied at 4 runs a piece, and they felt as if they were very, very close to bringing this series back to Lwanga. But Kosactus, after recovering from that, had other ideas. In the bottom of the 10th, they were ready. A leadoff walk for their fastest baserunner. This baserunner proceeded to steal second- and the Leopards catcher, trying to throw him out, had a wild throw into the outfield. So the runner ended up standing up at third on the error. Brutal, and costly.

Infield forced to play in- and the Forest Elephants would hit a single into right field. Runner scores, game over, series over- promotion earned. The Kosactus Forest Elephants will be in the MBL next season- congrats to them and their fans, and welcome to The Show!

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 3:51 pm

Despite wormholes being created by errors in the time dilation machine, we think we're here now. The Kytler Peninsulae Phoenix are ready to face a Ko-orenite team who have some of the best infielders in the multiverse and a general level of depth that marks them out as a leading contender. Certainly, they are expected to win this octofinal series handily on paper. But the game isn't played on paper, it's played on grass and dirt.

What if it was played on paper, though? That would be a seriously slippery surface if it was just a bunch of 80 gsm* office paper sheets laid on top of whatever other surface (perhaps especially if it was grass and dirt) the playing area had. You'd get fielding and baserunning turned into a slip-and-slide challenge, while getting bat to ball in the first place would very likely require a lot less footwork in the swing than usual in order to stay upright, but to counter that you'd surely get easier pitches to hit given how the viability of striding down the mound would be essentially nonexistent.

But let's say it's a permanent layer of paper bolted onto the surface. That would still, probably, be quite slippery! And the large players who regularly take the field - chonky corner bats, commanding catchers, hefty hurlers - would surely at least have some sort of subconscious worry that the surface would fail on them and goodness only knows what might lie beneath. So it would still be quite questionable.

Fortunately, as just got mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago, the game is not, in fact, played on paper. Who's going to play best on grass and dirt? Those dangerous Dragonflies have got certainly got plenty of stars at their disposal - while relatively few play in LPB (in fact, just two do, which is actually fewer than the Phoenix), the Ko-orenite League is a level or two above the KBL, and so is the Chromatik league where numerous Ko-orenite relievers ply their trade. Glove-first shortstop Letha Newich is already a prodigious defensive talent at age 22, and forms a quality double team tandem with veteran keystone glove Len Pijpenbroek of the Elephant Valley Homers. She is just one of numerous rising stars from this Ko-orenite generation, with line-drive machine Kurenai Komamura filling the cold corner at 23 (and backed up by a 20-year-old in Sodjeto Ljotsesen!), 24-year-old Tadanari Amachi offering a boomstick lefty bat albeit with no defensive value, and the other 32-year-old in the lineup - left fielder Kava Jamana - soon to be usurped by 20-year-old Hoku Falozen. And that's before we even mention the pitching staff, whose established ace Bielto Vasquez is still only 24 and fellow presumed playoff starter Yurika Ohashi a year younger still. One has to imagine some of these young guns will be gathering LPB interest in the seasons ahead, and this series could be a big chance for scouts in the multiverse's top league to check them out.

Not that the Phoenix will be lacking in that department. The Rüsselsheim Blue Sox have moved from cack to credible with the addition of three Kytlerian players (and a manager, in the form of the former Phoenix bench coach Angufams Pentove), one of whom - catcher Ryan Marshall - was named as an LPB All-Star alternate. Meanwhile, the first two starts of the playoff series will go to LPB pitchers, with Cedric Lundy having established himself quickly in the Apple Valley Vipers' reworked and Kytlerian-inspired "4/75" rotation while Shrifflu Whootung has offered value in a non-traditional capacity for the Blue Sox. While there's a larger-than-usual load for relievers with the way the Phoenix operate, they also have a larger-than-usual collection of them, and they can offer a bunch of different looks; in the middle innings, that could be a crucial aspect, and the righty-heavy nature of the Dragonflies lineup will allow the likes of Aaron Clark and particularly the sidearm slinger George Walton to potentially get more value than usual. (It also may weaken the value of LPB lefties Lundy and Whootung, especially the latter with his low arm slot, but that could free them up even more easily to go to the pen - perhaps veteran Edward Marshall, a largely-rested swingman for the Phoenix, will get a big role in Game 2? Some have even speculated he might start it, but manager Kevin Anderson has insisted that's "not the plan.")

After just two cycles, the Phoenix have established themselves as a legit force in multiversal baseball. Over the course of this series in Zwischen, we might get an idea of just how much of one they really are.

* It is believed that the thicker, higher-quality paper used in physical communications by the Margaret Institute is 110 gsm. Rounded up, anyway.

by **Kamijiro** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 4:52 pm

Kamijiroan Diamond IX, Part XIII: Sweet Sixteen

Game five against Mercatoren is a game that will go down in Kamijiroan sporting history as the first time a national team actually performed when the spotlight was on them (asides the Baptism of Fire, way back when). Every other series in the World Baseball Classic Round of 32 went to three or four games, leaving the Lightning and Mercatoren as the lone two that had to duke it out in a winner-take-all game to extend their stay in Zwangzug.

The starting pitcher for the game is, of course, Orielle de Côteaux. Backing her up would be Atsuji "Red Wolf" Akaminai, giving the Kamijiroans a one-two punch on the mound that would strike fear into the hearts of every player back home. But, granted, this is the big show. Pitching to professional players is a different story entirely. All it takes is one mental slip-up and you've conceded a run.

Fortunately, Orielle was locked in from the start. And the Diamond IX bats came out on fire again, giving Orielle the run support she desperately needed. Three runs in the bottom of the second, provided by Lucian "Silk White" Belvedere's two-run homer that brought in Napoleon "Little Emperor" Sarre with him and an RBI double from Magurix "Wings" Gaëtan that brought Maou "Devil King" Ashiya in. Three-zero to Kamijiro after the second.

Orielle stays hot on the mound, placing her pitches well and swapping hands with ease. She begins tiring out during the fifth inning and is switched off for Atsuji, a round of applause given to her by the travelling Kamijiroans as she makes her way to the dugout. Atsuji continues where Orielle left off, striking out the remaining batter for Mercatoren to end the top of the inning.

After another scoreless inning keeps the game at three-zero and another Atsuji blitz of pitches, the Lightning bats come to life. The top of the order is up for the Lightning and all three of Félix "Knee Socks" Cavaco, Ryuji "Sun King" Phaëthon and Emi "Sun Queen" Phaëthon get on base. Napoleon Sarre up to bat... BOOM. A grand slam to bring the lead all the way up to seven-zero. Lucian Belvedere homers again immediately afterwards to take the lead all the way to eight-zero. The inning ends shortly after, with the weakest hitting part of the Kamijiroan order up - Markus "Corner Pocket" Blaauw, Daijiro "Island" Kamada and Maou Ashiya all striking or flying out.

Atsuji continues his pitching streak, getting the eight-zero lead to the end of the eighth. The Lightning haven't scored since the sixth and substitute on Tenshi "Death's Hand" Hikari to close. Despite giving up a solo shot to the second batter he faces, Hikari gets the job done and the Lightning win the game, securing a spot in the final sixteen.

The television flickers to life in the team dining hall (slash hotel meeting room) that they've set up. The matchups are announced for the next round. A talking head on the screen goes through the list as the team quiets down to listen...

"One-seeded South Newlandia will be taking on host nation Zwangzug, who are 16th-seeded..."
"Tikariot will face the United States of Nova Calania in a highly-anticipated eight-versus-nine matchup..."
"Kamijiro, the surprise fourth-seed of the tournament, will take on Eshialand, the 13th seed..."

And then the television turns back off. Eshialand is the next opponent up. They had just swept The 189 in the round prior without a single win being by fewer than two runs. The Diamond IX's newest test - will they continue to defy their own meager expectations, or is their Cinderella story ending soon?

With a few tired nods and murmurs of 'bonsoir' or 'oyasumi' or 'kalinikta' (in the case of the Phaëthon twins), the players head to bed. Eshialand awaits them tomorrow.

by **Drawkland** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 5:58 pm

Sometimes, you just win the games.

It's almost hilarious how it's a rarity for the Base Corps, but in the first round of playoff action in Zwangzug for WBC 59, that's exactly what happened. You'd expect a top ten team with "home advantage" facing an unranked debuting squad that had never been to the playoffs before to win with ease, maybe giving up a few runs, perhaps even suffering a close loss, but taking care of business without too much stress. You'd expect Drawkland in any situation to make the series much harder than it needs to be, wasting valuable time and energy on a team that likely isn't going to be making a run.

Instead, Drawkland just went out to Mepo Stadium and took care of business. Three games, a comfortable win sandwiched between two blowouts to create a delicious sweep. Let's take a look at how the Base Corps made this happen, shall we?

GAME 1
A punch to the gut, and 5 feet short

Ro32, Game 1                     1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E
Panay Islands and Guimaras       0 0 0  0 1 1  1 2 0   5  5  0
Drawkland                        1 0 2  6 1 0  0 3 X  13 15  0

W: J. Shrubbin (1-0)
L: R.A. Santiago (3-2)

Game MVP: Lane Kavana (4-for-5, 1 HR, 2 2B, 2 R, 6 RBI)

Joseph Shrubbin was on the bump for the opening game of the playoffs. The young, lanky starter only had one appearance in the group stage, his Base Corps debut in MD5 against StrayaRoos. "Joe Shrub" pitched a by-the-books quality start, going 6 innings and allowing three runs. Some wondered if it was the right move by Glenn Sutton to allow the Corps "rookie" to start in Game 1 of a playoff series, but this was the Round of 32, and the bigger arms in the rotation still needed another day of rest.

Joe made good on that faith, cruising through 4 innings allowing just 1 hit. He started to get touched up in the 5th and 6th, allowing walks that turned into manufactured runs from sacrifices and a few base hits. Nobody really cared, though. The pressure was off. Why? Well, when Joe came off the mound following the top of the sixth, he was in line for the win thanks to a 10-2 scoreline.

Rolando Andrés Santiago, the "starter" for Panay Islands, was doing pretty well. In his typical workflow, he managed the first two innings, only allowing 2 hits. Unfortunately for him, those hits were a Richelle Shard double to lead off the 1st inning and a Tyler Silvanus RBI single to put Drawkland on the board early. Still, he handed the ball off to the bullpen with only a 1-run deficit ... and the bullpen immediately tossed that narrow margin into the dumpster.

Romualdo Lozano Villegas came on to pitch the third, and he did not have the same success as Santiago. He immediately gave up a single to Aaron Frost out of the nine-hole, then Shard worked a patient at-bat to reach first on a walk. Lane Kavana scrapped a single to shallow left field for an RBI, and though Villegas retired the next three batters, one of those outs was a sac fly by Zac MacBay to make the score 3-0. Villegas came back out for the fourth, but only got 4 pitches into that inning. Cooper Calebs laced a hard single to left field, then Abram Kavana followed that with a loud home run to deep center field. Gallardo Miguel Nagashima came on to try and limit the damage, and to be fair, he did get two of the next three batters out, sandwiching an Aaron Frost single (and stolen base). Then came a two-out rally which effectively salted the game away. Lane Kavana traded places with Frost at second, then Silvanus knocked his first homer of the playoffs, a two-run shot. Nagashima was left in, hoping to find that elusive third out, but once he gave up back-to-back doubles from MacBay and Honeycutt, his day was done. Rosalino Armando Sotto couldn't find the strike zone against Calebs, but managed to induce a groundout from Abram Kavana to put a merciful end to the 6-spot inning.

With the crooked number on the board, the Corps went into cruise control. Most of the offensive action was centered around Lane Kavana. The Corps veteran knocked home Alex Gates in the 5th inning with a double. It was a deep shot to the gap in right center, which rolled up onto the warning track. With an advantageous hit placement, plus a single and double already on his line, Lane turned on the jets to try and leg out a triple ... only to be gunned right as he began his slide at third base. The run still scored, but the inning was over. Most fans joked that Lane Kavana would've been safe had he been 3-4 years younger. The irony was even more hilarious when Lane jacked a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth that would've completed the cycle, had he managed to leg out the 5th inning triple.

The bullpen gave up a few runs, but those pitchers hadn't pitched since MD6, so it was a little understandable. This is the exact win that Drawkland needed - big and stress-free. It seemed that the Corps was firing on all cylinders ... could they keep that momentum going?

GAME 2
Panayenses run out of gas, in two metaphorical senses

Ro32, Game 2                     1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E
Panay Islands and Guimaras       0 0 0  0 0 0  0 1 0   1  3  0
Drawkland                        0 1 0  0 0 4  1 0 X   6  9  0

W: T. Silvanus (3-0)
L: R.A. Santiago (3-3)

Game MVP: Tyler Silvanus (7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 12 K, 1 BB / 1-for-3, 1 RBI, SAC)

It was clear that Panay Islands refused to go quietly. Santiago once again managed to quiet the top of the Drawkian order, though Ted Honeycutt did take him deep in the second inning. Then the Panayenses brought out a trio of relievers: Leonardo Jang, Alberto Orlando Solano, and Javier Manuel Esparza, who managed to keep the Corps at bay through the fifth inning.

Unfortunately for the Panay Islands, Tyler Silvanus was on the hill for Drawkland and he was nearly unhittable. Silvanus scattered two hits and a walk over what became a 7-inning outing, allowing no runs and striking out an even dozen. It seemed to be a war of attrition between Silvanus and the Panay pitching staff ... and Silvanus did not blink.

The Panayenses did blink, though. They only had so many arms that could keep the Drawkians off-balance, and in the sixth inning, manager Enrique Solórzano chose wrong. Josué Fernando Leyva came on for the sixth inning, facing Aaron Frost at the bottom of the order. Leyva gave up three straight hits, singles from Frost, Shard, and a double from Lane Kavana to score Frost and move Shard to third. Silvanus almost went deep, knocking a high fly ball that died right on the warning track. It was deep enough to score Shard, and the Panay Island fans breathed a sigh of relief. A home run in this situation would basically be a backbreaker; a sac fly was begrudgingly acceptable. Then Zac MacBay hit a two-run home run on Leyva's very next pitch.

Drawkland added another insurance run in the bottom of the 7th. Abram Kavana led off with a double, and came in to score a few pitches later off an Alex Gates single. Brett Sadler came on in the eighth inning to ensure that insurance run didn't count, surrendering a solo home run to Adalberto Yoo but retiring the other three hitters he faced. Even though the Corps had a five-run lead, setup reliever Terenzo McFee came on for his first action since MD8, and he closed it down without a hitch.

It was a closer one for sure, but the Panay Islands roster simply wasn't deep enough to hold down the Corps bats for the entirety of the game. To be fair, not many lineups would be able to put up a winning number of runs against Tyler Silvanus, given how he was ripping through the order this day.

GAME 3
The Corps finally gets to Santiago

Ro32, Game 3                     1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E
Drawkland                        4 0 1  0 0 2  2 2 0  11 13  0
Panay Islands and Guimaras       0 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0   1  4  0

W: C. Kirkland (2-1)
L: R.A. Santiago (3-4)

Game MVP: Jimmy Todd (2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI)

Sweeps are not something the Base Corps does very often, especially in the playoffs. You can talk about how Drawkland is mid, but baseball is a crazy game. You never know when a better team will lose thanks to an outstanding performance from the opposing roster. This time, though, Drawkland could taste the blood in the water. It was time to make things happen.

The lineup was a little different, as the DH was not in effect for this game (and in any case, Silvanus would likely be taking the day off following his start in Game 2). Thankfully, decent-hitting pitcher Claire Kirkland was scheduled for the start, so she slotted into the nine-spot without complaint.

Through the first two games, Panay starter Rolando Andrés Santiago had managed to limit the damage from the dangerous top of the Drawkian order. He'd received two losses since he got no run support in the early going, but you couldn't really say the losses were Santiago's fault. Today, finally, the Corps core had an answer. Richelle Shard worked a 5-pitch walk to lead off the game. Lane Kavana roped a first-pitch single, taking advantage of Santiago attempting to throw a quick strike following the walk. Shard and Kavana pulled off a double steal, allowing Ted Honeycutt to get a sac fly when he popped out to deep center. Zac MacBay grounded an infield single, barely beating the throw and moving Kavana to third. Alex Gates knocked his first extra base hit of the playoffs, a two-run double to put up a crooked number against Santiago. Jimmy Todd completed the rally by trading places with Gates, though Santiago managed to limit the damage at just 4 runs.

Claire Kirkland picked up right where Shrubbin and Silvanus had left off. Her heater was buzzing and her slider was zipping, and the Panay lineup simply had no answers. The Corps lineup, on the other hand, was perhaps getting a tad too aggressive. With the sweep on the horizon and a nice 4-run cushion, the Corps swung for the fences. Only Ted Honeycutt actually connected on one in those middle innings, scooping a down-and-in curveball over the fence for a solo homer.

Kirkland finally gave up a run, a solo homer off the bat of Cristián Villacampa in the fifth inning. The Corps answered promptly in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Elizabeth Houston grounded a single up the middle, then Jimmy Todd muscled a no-doubt shot to left field. Kirkland retired all three that she faced in the bottom of the sixth, and her day on the mound was done. She was not yet done in the game, however. She demanded to bat for herself, then 0-for-2 on the game, as the nine-hole was due up in the top of the seventh. Kirkland smacked a single after a 6-pitch at-bat, and was doubled home by Shard in the next AB (who came home herself on a MacBay single later in the inning).

Kirkland was replaced by Stephanie Bullard, who pitched a clean seventh. Even after two outs, the Corps kept their 2-run-inning streak going, with back to back doubles from Aaron Frost and pinch hitter Cooper Calebs, then a walk and an RBI single by Lane Kavana to bring the score to its final resting place of 11-1. Spoilers.

Despite the low leverage of the situation, big boy relievers Robert Butcher and Trevor Bell came on to finish the game, needing to get some work so their arms didn't get too cold in the playoffs. They combined for 3 strikeouts, zero baserunners, and completing the sweep.

"Top Jimmy" (he's the king!) got player of the game for his 6 total bases and 3 RBIs, but this was a solid all-around effort which featured hits from every player in the lineup. In fact, the only player with a hitless appearance in this series was Cooper Calebs in Game 2, but we suppose he made up for it with his pinch-hit RBI double here in Game 3. Every other batter got at least one base hit every game. Similarly, all three starters pitched high-strikeout games, earning quality starts and keeping the bullpen relatively fresh. And that's a great thing, because we're gonna need all the help we can get.

Ro16 Preview vs Banija

It's never easy in the playoffs of the World Baseball Classic, but you at least hope that you avoid a team like Banija until a later round. No such luck for the Corps. Even though the Round of 16 curse is broken, that doesn't mean the Corps may not go back to the doldrums of losing out early. This is going to be a tough series. The good news is that Drawkland's bats are swinging well in recent games, and the pitching staff will be well-rested. The bad news is that the pitching hasn't had to deal with pressure in at least a week ... perhaps they will be too well-rested.

Projected Rotation
Game 1: Andrew Boone (0-1, 2.77) L
Game 2: Tyler Silvanus (3-0, 3.32) R
Game 3: Claire Kirkland (2-1, 1.69) R
Game 4*: TBD, likely bullpen game
Game 5*: TBD, likely Boone

The biggest question mark here is Andrew Boone. The ace of the Jaffro Drawks LPB team (if you feel like disrespecting Kigongo Namatiwa) hasn't pitched since MD8, well over a week of rest. That sounds like a good idea, but really he's essentially missed a start, which can be detrimental to a pitcher's rhythm. He's done pretty well in his two group stage starts, but big question marks remain on whether he'll be able to fire up and effectively challenge the Banijan lineup. Also, slightly less important, I think a lot of fans were hoping to see a Jaffro vs Jaffro matchup between Boone and Namatiwa, but unfortunately this isn't going to happen, just based on how the rotations turned out. Blame the Panay Islands sweep!

Things get a little dicey after the standard 1-2-3 of the Corps rotation. Due to the Boone start and the want to keep the best pitchers in line, Joe Shrubbin has been knocked from his spot in the rotation, which could render him less effective if he pitches in Game 4. Manager Glenn Sutton has implied that a bullpen game (more like a parade of long relievers like Coleman, Barton, and Judd) might be the answer, to at least vary the looks that the Banijans get. Of course, it'll all come down to who has the series lead at that point.

The bullpen availability is the bright spot. With the few days off due to the sweep and a travel day, Pretty much every arm in the pen will be ready to go. The real question is if they'll be in rhythm enough to pitch at their full potential. Lorraine Lockwood is the biggest concern. As the Corps closer, she had no input during the blowout sweep of Panay Islands, meaning she hasn't pitched since the group stage either. If she's going to be in, it's going to be a close game, so she needs to be on her best. After so much time away from the mound, one wonders if she'll be headed into Franklin Bell territory her first appearance or two.

At some point, though, you have to trust your pitchers to keep their stuff going. You have to do the same with your lineup.

Game 1 & 2 vs Banija
Average and OPS are playoff totals only, not counting group stage results.

       lineup             avg    ops
1. (R) R. Shard      RF  .333  1.127
2. (S) L. Kavana     CF  .571  1.571
3. (L) T. Silvanus   DH  .333  1.083
4. (R) Z. MacBay     LF  .308   .901
5. (L) T. Honeycutt  1B  .250  1.119
6. (R) J. Todd        C  .500  2.000
7. (R) A. Kavana     2B  .286  1.143
8. (S) A. Gates      3B  .250   .583
9. (R) A. Frost      SS  .455  1.000

Thankfully, that's an easier decision in this case. Facing back-to-back right-handed starters and working with the DH, Sutton decided to stick with the lineup that put up 19 runs in 18 innings against Panay Islands. You can hardly expect the same results against guys like Lutaakome and Vunaana, but a lineup that's hitting well and swinging in sync can often overcome more difficult hurlers. At least they were hugely productive against the Panayenses ... that Round of 32 series could've just as easily been a scrapfest.

It all comes down to momentum. Can the Base Corps carry forward the momentum they had against Panay Islands and Guimaras? Banija had a tougher time taking down The Fortem, but it would be a big mistake to think they won't come to play against Drawkland. No matter what, this should be an entertaining series. Not only are Drawkland and Banija rivals in the gridiron and basketball world (including college), but Drawkian and Banijan baseball are just as intertwined. When Sadeg State's Core Four won IBS 19 in dominant fashion, they did it on the back of two wins against the combined University of Loyola team (including the championship clincher). Boone and Namatiwa aren't the only positional counterparts on the Jaffro Drawks either - Aaron Frost and Lolong Fadiya share the middle infield in Jaffro.

The rivalry may be mostly friendly, but only a fool would expect this series to be calm. This should be a beautiful example of world-class baseball, so let's see it.

Let's play ball.

by **Zwangzug** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 6:12 pm

Who will have a sweet round of sixteen? Find out soon!

Scorinated by The Kytler Peninsulae:

Zwangzug               1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  5
South Newlandia        0 0 0 1 0 2 1 2 X  6

Zwangzug               0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
South Newlandia        0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 X  5

South Newlandia leads series, 2-0

United States of Nova Calania      0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  3
Tikariot                           1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 X  5

United States of Nova Calania      0 0 0 0 0 6 3 0 2 11
Tikariot                           0 0 8 0 0 2 1 0 1 12

Tikariot leads series, 2-0

Eshialand                          0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Kamijiro                           1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 X  3

Eshialand                          1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2
Kamijiro                           1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Series tied, 1-1

The Kytler Peninsulae              0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Ko-oren                            0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

The Kytler Peninsulae              0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
Ko-oren                            0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

Series tied, 1-1

Juldonia                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Quebec and Shingoryeo              3 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 X 13

Juldonia                           2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0  5
Quebec and Shingoryeo              0 0 6 0 0 0 2 0 X  8

Quebec and Shingoryeo leads series, 2-0

Drawkland                          0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Banija                             2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 X  6

Drawkland                          2 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 10
Banija                             1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  4

Series tied, 1-1

Crpostran                          0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Milchama                           0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 X  5

Crpostran                          2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Milchama                           2 0 2 1 0 7 0 0 X 12

Milchama leads series, 2-0

Abanhfleft                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Super-Llamaland                    2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X  4

Abanhfleft                         0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Super-Llamaland                    0 0 3 0 2 0 5 0 X 10

Super-Llamaland leads series, 2-0

by **Super-Llamaland** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 7:23 pm

part one
part two

a few days after that
It had been surprisingly easy, in the end. Elijah had reached out to Just Stop DH to request a meeting. He’d played the first meeting exceptionally well - acting interested and passionate about the cause, but skeptical that Just Stop DH had the ability to do anything about it - and he’d been invited back almost immediately to tour their new facilities in Kyrinson. It was no wonder Buck Fuchs had been able to extract so much information from these guys.

He’d been waiting in the building lobby when none other than Bradley Guo stepped in. “Elijah? Come on in - they’re ready for you.”

The inside of the building was astonishingly new. Polished hallways passed room after room of brand-new electronics, each more complex than the last, to the point where Elijah couldn’t even guess what any of them did. Bradley walked a few steps ahead, having not said a word since he’d entered the building.

“Cool place,” Elijah eventually said.

“Why are you here?”

“Huh? Oh, well. It’s pretty frustrating not playing the field now. I don’t think I was meant to DH, and I’m starting to think that nobody is meant to DH. So. You know.”

“Harder to lie to me than the rest of the guys, huh?”

“Bradley. What?”

“This is my thing, Elijah. I finally have a thing. You know how hard it is to be a glove-first first baseman? Nobody wants me. They just want sluggers, and if the sluggers can’t play the field, they roster them anyways and figure they can have a bad first baseman or a good DH. There are so many of those types now, and none of them ever need to learn how to field. Just slug, draw the occasional walk, and steal my roster spots.”

“Bradley, you literally play in the LPB.”

“Yeah, I’ve played for the Owls and the Wizards. They might as well put me in the Hall of Fame already.”

“Hey, look at how the rest of the U11s turned out. It’s just you, me, and Rowan in the LPB still, right? There are people who flamed out in college, people who didn’t even make it that far. Things could be wor-“

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’re all they talk about now. They won’t listen to me, because it’s all patting themselves on the back about getting the Tigers DH on their side. But they’ll see,” he said, walking away.

"It's funny, actually. This all came out of some intern's project," said The President.

"Oh?"

"His name was Kyle, I think. We were working with the national team on the LBA, and Kyle decides that he wants to use machine learning to generate scouting reports on opposing pitchers. Seems useless, right? - we already have real scouts doing this kind of thing - but we'd fucked up and hired too many interns that summer, and he didn't seem like he needed much supervision to do his own thing."

The President leaned forward. "So he comes into my office a few weeks later to show me the demo. And it looks fine - we ran it on one of the Tigers' opponents from the last WBC, and it gave us some generic stuff, but decent enough. 'He likes to start with get-me-over curves, so you can attack early in the count, because his breaking ball is less hittable than his fastball. And the manager doesn't pull him until it's too late, so you can be more patient the third or fourth time up because he can't stay in the strike zone consistently when he's tired.' That kind of thing, right?"

"So I say, point it at one our own starters, Genevieve Strauss or something. See what happens. And it turns out, for any other country, the model would give us the same kind of baseball stuff. But for Strauss, it was unearthing deep psychological weaknesses and describing how hitters could exploit her traumatic childhood run-in with a circus clown. And it did it for every other Llamanean starter. And Kyle was freaking out, showing me how none of it was in the training data and so on. That's when The Project started."

"You had Kyle keep working on this model?"

"Oh no, he bailed out immediately, kept ranting about how it was an affront to God. But we took over the project, we found some collaborators in the field of artificial intelligence, and well...we'll soon have full mastery over the world that is Llamanean baseball."

"...based off of a scouting report generator?" Elijah knew he was doing a poor job of concealing his confusion, but The President at least seemed to be too caught up in his monologue to notice.

"At first. But it's transcended that long ago. It has discovered the fundamental underpinnings of the Llamanean baseball universe. Every single plate appearance of every inning of every game the national team plays? All of it is predetermined by the same latent structure. And we now have the tools to understand it, and now, to control it."

The President wiped a tear from his face, which Elijah pretended not to notice.

"...okay, so your scouting report generator is now the machine god. What does that have to do with the whole DH thing?"

The President smiled, then turned to the office window behind them, and opened the blinds. Elijah peered down, and saw what looked to be a warehouse floor with an enormous glass screen in the middle and wires emanating from all sides. What seemed to be miles of titanium and copper sprawled across the floor, while a number of workers in white antistatic suits milled back and forth, tending to the machine.

The screen on the machine read: LOADING WEIGHTS 99.3% TIME REMAINING 0Y7D8H13M30S

"Soon, The Project will be complete, and its first directive will be the eradication of the DH."

A visibly disturbed Elijah walked until the offices were out of sight, then dialed Buck Fuchs.

"Hey, I just talked to them, and it-"

A black SUV pulled up alongside him, window rolled down. Inside were three men wearing suits and sunglasses, and Buck Fuchs.

"We heard everything, and we're on it," Buck said, and then the car drove away.

by **Milchama** » Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:01 pm

Boats-Liners-Schooners-Clippers-Barges-Tankers-Junks-Destroyers-Caravels-Sails-Transports

An Alexandria Ships Blog by Alex "Quartermaster" Rosen

This is Truly the Worst of Times

We know the jokes, we know what it's like, we're always the underdogs, the forgotten team, the "other" Alexandria team, the team nobody wants to talk about, to write about. The Commies win everything, always. Who's their best all time player? Marius McNeesh one of the best Milchamian players of all time. Who's ours? Tennons before she went to the LPB after like 2 seasons, Hayden McIntyre before he came a Commie, Jude Jefferson? He wasn't even that good. It goes downhill from there. Sure we've had some good seasons but nothing that would be considered great and we were lucky to end up in the MBL in the first place as the 7th place team of the 8 qualifiers. Of course, we collapsed from 4th in the last month of the season but, then again, that's Ships baseball. Our acronym is September Has Inherent Problems. It always ends badly and if it doesn't yet, just wait.

Then this season happened, we didn't collapse! Not only that but the Commies absolutely did and finished in 5th place. We made the playoffs and they didn't! When's the last time that happened?! When's the last time those Commie Bastards didn't make the playoffs, nevermind us making it! Mission Accomplished! But not only that we have to Banijan team, not even a Milchamian team. While we obviously have to respect the Banijan NT, it's pretty clear right now that they're club baseball is pretty terrible compared to Milchamian baseball and we just have better depth. Yeah it seems like the Hippos don't suck but, then again, I'd prefer to play them then any other team. Do you want to play Tel Chittor or New Sparta? God no! Give us the Banijans!

And it goes even better than we expected! A 3-0 lead, nobody expected that. You can read through the blogs, we expected a split in Herzegovina City and thought that, at best, we would win in 6. But a 3-0 lead! Nobody blows 3-0 leads, we're not the Yankees here. Yes, we know the history, yes we know that we're the Ships, but it's still a 3-0 lead. We need to win 1 while Herzegovina has to win 4 straight. That shouldn't happen to playoff team like the Ships. OH MY GOD WE WERE A PLAYOFF TEAM! HOW COOL IT SHOULD FEEL TO TYPE THAT AND YET!!!

Sure we lose one, a gentleman's sweep and the Ships are always gentleman. Also, if we won in 4 I would fear that we were in a reality where things weren't real but instead simulated via random numbers about results that are then turned into narratives through a mechanism called "Role playing" and that's too terrible to contemplate. So no harm there, again the Hippos have to win 4 straight. It's fine, we're fine. Then they win game 5. Ok, now we're worried, especially because they're going back to Banija with the momentum but we won both games on the road so far and the road teams are now 4-1 in the series so it's a reverse series and we have the advantage.

Then comes Game 6, sure we tie the game in third but it's never really close and it always looks likely we'll lose. At that point everybody knew what was going to happen, the only question was how and how bad was it going to be. Would it be Drawkland pre-Milchama bad? Or was it going to be more like the Cubs or just your old general incompetence? And the answer was Drawkland. We tied it up in the 6th! It was a tie game! It doesn't get better than that! Dillon Marks should have statues built of him! I mean you can't get better than that! Well, I guess we could've taken the lead but that was never in the cards and of course we blow it the next inning. Once they scored again you knew it was over. Fuck man, just fuck. I hate everything.

This will take some time to get over. We'll cry some, drink some, cry some more, drink some more, and I'll see most of you lot at the ballpark for next year. Maybe we get Goldman in free agency? Nah, fuck that he wouldn't come to some losers like us. God I hate everything.

by **Banija** » Sat Aug 17, 2024 7:09 am

OOC Note: Our boy Drawk is handling the game summaries, so back to some political RP that i had intended to do during group play but couldn't. Enjoy y'all!

Part 1

The Busukuma Post
Covering All of Banija, All of our News, All of the Time

Heritage Party stunner in the Banijan Esportivan Territories as Jebel Darboe proudly declares 'change is coming'

District Map of the Banijan Esportivan Territories

ZANSASI, BANIJAN ESPORTIVAN TERRITORY OF NJAZA- Just like in Banija, you vote on one day and the next day, the votes are counted. So voting was last night, and now today, we had our electoral count. Not a surprising, and yet at the same time, a stunning result- the fears of many have come to pass, as the Heritage Party, and their allies, have been elected to a majority in the Territorial Lukiiko. Moved forward by an absolutely dominant showing in Mugishaland, their consolidation of the territory's largest ethnic group, the ex-pat Banijan population, means change is coming to this small corner of Esportiva.

A lot of people have a lot to think about. Will one of the region's largest rainforests remain protected? Are the Territories about to undergo what would be dubbed a 'Mormonization'- update the Territories much more liberal religious laws to be more in line with the homeland? Who knows what the future holds? But we do know what the present holds- and this newspaper is here to explain, to those at home and around the world, exactly what these electoral results mean.

Let's go through District by District, shall we? That will gain the people a much better understanding of these electoral results. As a reminder...

Constituency Territorial Lukiiko Allocation
District 1/Mugishaland - 41 members
District 2/Nakaseke - 20 members
District 3/Jayunga - 8 members
District 4/Anvik - 17 members
District 5/Zelland - 10 members
District 6/Wura - 2 members

Plus 49 PR seats.

This means 98 FPTP constiuencies, plus 49 PR seats- 147 seats up for election. 74 seats required for a majority Government.

We're not necessarily going to go district by district... But we are going to tell you why the Heritage Party won, and how they did so.

Get the Brooms- Clean sweep in Mugishaland put the Heritage Party at a massive advantage

41 seats in Mugishaland. And with a whopping 68% of the popular vote in the Territory's largest region, and economic engine, and most homogenous region(90%+ Banijans), they were absolutely dominant here. 41 seats out of the 98 constituency seats were here, and they were able to clean sweep these. Yes- 41/41 seats in this region went towards Jebel Darboe's party. Jebel Darboe, of course, has run a slick campaign. We will talk about this later, but he had some incredible advantages, due to the nature of the political system in this Territory, as well as funding from back home(we'll talk about that). Still- to do a clean sweep in the largest region will definitely help them get where they want to go, especially when you consider the fact that the rest of the country were not anywhere close in terms of their favorability towards the Heritage Party.

But even if they did not win any seats in the country beyond this- this kind of result in Mugishaland simply meant that the Heritage Party, regardless of results elsewhere, were simply guaranteed to be the largest party in the Territorial Lukiiko. Even if they could not form a government, being the singular largest party meant that they had clear advantages over the other parties when it came to coalition building. And, of course, that dominant position among the Banijan population was always an advantage.

Jebel Darboe- the charismatic former ballplayer and his slick contacts back home

When previewing this election, we talked about how Mugishaland being the only part of the country with basically permanent electoral politics gave the Heritage Party a distinct advantage. They had grizzled political veterans, while everybody else wasn't all that used to the grind of an electoral political campaign. With historic tribal power structures mostly ruling in most of the country, they are battle-tested veterans. But the real key- Jebel Darboe was able to go to Banija, unlike basically any of the other Banijan leaders, and fundraise- hard.

"Darboe had decently frequent trips to the mainland. It is a long flight- from Esportiva to Busukuma, naturally." Said one political analyst. "But you see the money the Heritage Party were able to pull back in the mainland. Fundraise mainly among right-wingers back in the country, it gave them access to political funds, and a political sophisication, that their rivals simply did not have. If all things were equal, the opposition parties probably would have done much better- both throughout the Territory, and in Mugishaland specifically. But all things were not equal- Darboe ensured that they brought a gun to this knifefight. And with friends especially among the junior coalition partners, the Latter-Day Alliance, good times were ahead."

Efficient vote targeting- ruthless electoral seat by seat targeting

With the dominance in Mugishaland, they knew that they had to target specific seats in the rest of the country if they wanted to get their majority. And they were able to do that- they knew exactly what was possible, and ruthlessly targeted specific seats. They would flood various interior constituencies with volunteers, paid door knockers, etc... Once again, a level of sophisication beyond what anyone else could pull off. And... It worked. To perfection. The electoral season, they showcased brilliance- Darboe's WBC watch parties as well proved to be greatly effective.

And that leaves the Banijan Esportivan Territories where they are... A brand new government. The results?

FPTP Seat Count
Heritage Party- 50 seats
Njaza United Front- 35 seats
Progressive League- 9 seats
Revivalist Party- 4 seats

PR Vote/Seat Count
Heritage Party- 42% (21 seats)
Njaza United Front- 32% (17 seats)
Progressive League- 15% (8 seats)
Revivalist Party- 7% (3 seats)

Total Seat Count  (Out of 147, 74 required for a majority)
Coalition Government
Heritage Party- 71 seats
Revivalist Party- 7 seats

His Majesty's most Loyal Opposition
Njaza United Front- 52 seats
Progresisve League- 17 seats

Coalition government has a majority of 9 over the opposition- 78 seats, just four more than required. Omugabe Lallo, on behalf of the Kabaka, has invited Jebel Darboe to form his Government. While we do not know what the future holds, we know this- things will not be the same in these Banijan Esportivan Territories.

Sports Brief
- The Banijans split their first two games of their Ro16 series with Drawkland at the WBC, with a 6-3 game 1 victory being cancelled out by a 10-4 loss in Game 2 to the same Drawk team. With the series functionally a best of 3 now, expect increasing chaos- everybody's going to be playing like their hair is on fire, trying to get to the next round. Can the Banijans triumph in Zwangzug?

by **Ko-oren** » Sat Aug 17, 2024 1:31 pm

Season 30 - End of Regular Season (120/120)

*                           W    L       %    RF    RA    RF/G    RA/G     P   Div   Rank  Playoff    GB    Home    Away   DES   FER   KGI   FUR   AVI   TER   NIT   STA   ECH   KGE   AMA   ARA
1   Desierto Challengers 80   40   0,667   529   382   4,408   3,183   120   West    1   Div Round   0   44-16   36-24   0-0  13-11  5-1   3-3   6-0   4-2   2-4  18-6   5-1   5-1  15-9   4-2
2   Ferrovente Whales    72   48   0,600   487   428   4,058   3,567   120   West    2   Wildcard    8   36-24   36-24  11-13  0-0   0-6   3-3   5-1   3-3   4-2  15-9   5-1   5-1  17-7   4-2
3   Katashi Giants       66   54   0,550   494   419   4,117   3,492   120   South   1   Div Round   0   36-24   30-30   1-5   6-0   0-0   2-4  11-13  3-3   16-8  4-2   3-3  14-10  2-4   4-2
4   Furune Bees          62   58   0,517   515   494   4,292   4,117   120   North   1   Div Round   0   30-30   32-28   3-3   3-3   4-2   0-0   3-3  12-12  2-4   2-4  15-9   1-5   4-2  13-11
5   Aviansola Admirals   61   59   0,508   491   474   4,092   3,950   120   South   2   Wildcard    5   30-30   31-29   0-6   1-5  13-11  3-3   0-0   1-5  12-12  4-2   2-4  18-6   4-2   3-3
6   Teragaseki Originals 59   61   0,492   400   440   3,333   3,667   120   North   2               3   29-31   30-30   2-4   3-3   3-3  12-12  5-1   0-0   1-5   1-5  13-11  4-2   2-4  13-11
7   Nitoya Silvers       57   63   0,475   460   499   3,833   4,158   120   South   3               9   29-31   28-32   4-2   2-4   8-16  4-2  12-12  5-1   0-0   3-3   3-3  10-14  3-3   3-3
8   Santa Teresa Stars   56   64   0,467   428   466   3,567   3,883   120   West    3               24  30-30   26-34   6-18  9-15  2-4   4-2   2-4   5-1   3-3   0-0   6-0   1-5  13-11  5-1
9   Echizen Dragons      55   65   0,458   453   473   3,775   3,942   120   North   3               7   29-31   26-34   1-5   1-5   3-3   9-15  4-2  11-13  3-3   0-6   0-0   4-2   1-5  18-6
X   Katashi Generals     53   67   0,442   444   462   3,700   3,850   120   South   4               13  30-30   23-37   1-5   1-5  10-14  5-1   6-18  2-4  14-10  5-1   2-4   0-0   4-2   3-3
=   Amandine Wanderers   52   68   0,433   438   499   3,650   4,158   120   West    4               28  30-30   22-38   9-15  7-17  4-2   2-4   2-4   4-2   3-3  11-13  5-1   2-4   0-0   3-3
10  Arakura Knights      47   73   0,392   411   514   3,425   4,283   120   North   4               15  25-35   22-38   2-4   2-4   2-4  11-13  3-3  11-13  3-3   1-5   6-18  3-3   3-3   0-0

And that's that! We have our playoff temas - the

Desierto Challengers keep their lead from the mid-season point on and never look back to lock in the first seed. The

Ferrovente Whales, second overall and the only team within 10 wins from the Challengers take the first wildcard spot because they're unfortunately in the stacked division. That opens up the rest of the field for the remaining three spots, with the

Katashi Giants taking their division and a pretty well protected #2 seed and the

Furune Bees exploiting the uncertainties at Echizen, Teragaseki, and Arakura to win their division for the #3 spot - which means they'll be visiting the Giants in the first round proper - and lastly the

Aviansola Admirals finish safely above .500 for the final wildcard seed and a trip to the Whales.

West
We said this would be the strongest division, and we were somewhat right. The

Desierto Challengers had a 7-game lead over the league at the three-quarters point and extended that to an 8-game lead for an insane .667 win percentage - the last time a Ko-orenite club won 80 games was when the season consisted of 132 games instead of 120 now, sidestepping the LPB era. The Challengers are good away and completely in charge at home in, well, the desert, and win every head-to-head except for, somehow, the 57-63 Silvers. They only marginally beat the Whales (13-11) but leave nothing standing of the Stars (18-6), whereas we'd expect the reverse in every season before this one. In only one head-to-head they've taken every game, namely against the Admirals, as one of the few full-season sweeps.

Finishing second are the

Ferrovente Whales, reigning champions, putting themselves in a decent position to repeat. If they survive the wildcard series, that is, and their very next opponent after that would be the Challengers again. We know ad sales would go through the roof in case of a Stars-Whales opportunity, but maybe Whales-Challengers could be a very fun up-and-coming rivalry series? The Whales go 20-10 since the previous stretch (second best behind the 21-9 Challengers) to end up with a very impressive .600 and 70+ wins. Their record against fellow playoff teams isn't that great, though, with a minimal loss to Desierto across 24 games, a complete 0-6 deception to the Giants, and a mediocre 3-3 against Furune, but their wildcard series is against the Admirals and they match up quite well: 5-1.

The

Santa Teresa Stars were .511 at the three-quarter point and looked like they could take that second wildcard, but after a few more divisional games - losses against 21-9 and 20-10 teams - the Stars closed off season 30 with a 10-20 collapse that obviously isn't getting them anywhere near the playoffs. In the end they're only 5 games behind, but, well, it's just not it. They're also TWENTY-FOUR games behind their division winner, making this one of the worst showings of this blue blood team. A perfect 30-30 at home, it's not the bastion it once was. They are 6-0 against Echizen so in any other season that would've been a great success, the Stars and the Dragons usually in the postseason but this could well be the most pyrrhic 6-0 you've ever seen. The

Amandine Wanderers are 52-68, which means they dipped another two spots from the three-quarter point, but ending up with positive results against the Giants (4-2) and Originals (4-2), two teams we didn't exactly expect to end up with records that good but in the end it speaks for the Wanderers that they got something done. Either way, for the team on paper they had, 52-68 is beyond terrible.

South
Two teams in the playoffs! Not exactly what was on the cards for them, but three out of four teams have surprised us positively in some way (the Generals didn't). As for the

Katashi Giants: well done! They have finally shaken off the small team stink and they'll be favourites at home in the playoffs for the first series at least! At 14-16 in the final 30 games it's not the practice they would've wanted, and they're not brilliant against the rest of the field, but the fact they finally got there means a lot.

The

Aviansola Admirals are the final wildcard team, and by now, they're getting used to their little 3-game escapade between regular season and postseason. Wildcard regulars, they've had a good team for a while now but somehow never enough to win their division. 0-6 against the Challengers, 1-5 against the Whales, it's unlikely that their run is going to be deep, but hey, at least they made it.

The

Nitoya Silvers are four games out and going exactly 12-12 against the Admirals didn't help. But where they really dropped the ball - and given some compilations of their fielding this season, that's literal - is going 10-14 against the final team of the division: even in a completely down year, the Silvers just can't beat the

Katashi Generals. The latter go 14-16 in the final quarter but don't improve their standing in tenth, and a 6-18 record against the Admirals did a lot of heavy lifting to get both clubs to where they are in the end. And yes, the 14-10 over the Silvers kept the Generals from bottoming out entirely.

North
Finally, the division with only one playoff team. And it's not the Dragons this time - it's the

Furune Bees who make good on their many, many promising seasons to make it to the dance. At 62-58, it's not exactly by much, but hey, if the rest of the division takes the year off - why not take advantage? They're only 13-17 down the stretch, but the

Teragaseki Originals (and I still can't believe they made it into the top half of the table, only two games out of the wildcard!) were behind by too much to let their 17-13 final quarter stretch do anything for them. There are no participation trophies, but they would certainly deserve one. Further back are the

Echizen Dragons, who improved on their .411 37-53 by going 18-12 in the end to secure 9th... but what a come down.

Still, it's got nothing on the

Arakura Knights, who finish season 30 as the worst club in Ko-oren, 5 games behind the rest, 10-20 in the final quarter to drop their winning percentage to under .400, a whole bunch of split series (3-3 against the Admirals (!), Generals, Wanderers and honestly not a horrible showing to their division mates (11-13 against the Bees and Originals, then again it was kind of a bad division) and it's their 6-18 against the Dragons - basically a staple every year - that puts them in twelfth.

by **Drawkland** » Sat Aug 17, 2024 1:35 pm

"This is a joke, right skip?" Andrew Boone stormed up to Glenn Sutton in the dugout of Eastride Park.

"Eh?" Sutton, the Base Corps manager, replied with a narrowed gaze.

"This!" Boone jabbed a finger into a copy of the lineup card, specifically in the 6-spot. "You're putting Jimmy Todd behind the dish today?"

"We need his offense," Sutton replied coolly. "Calebs was ineffective in a series where everybody else was hitting out of their mind. We're going against a tougher pitching staff and we'll need all the help we can-"

"What about my help, huh?" Boone pointed at his own chest. "Todd is a freaking neanderthal behind the dish. He can't frame worth a damn, and he has no instinct for pitch selection. He's a glorified first baseman. Calebs is literally my catcher every day of the regular season. I thought we had an agreement."

"I recall no such thing."

"Okay, maybe it was never explicitly stated, but I figured an experienced manager like you wouldn't be dumb enough to split up batterymates. This is ridiculous."

"I thought you were supposed to be a good pitcher?" Sutton raised his eyebrows. "The aces I know pitch well regardless of who's receiving them."

"It's about comfort level. Calebs and I have been a battery for almost half a decade now. This should be a no-brainer."

"You can suck it up for one start, kid." Sutton shook his head. "It's my job to make the decisions."

"Fine." Boone fumed and spun away, heading back to the field to continue his pregame warmup routine. It was already shaping up to be a rocky day.

GAME 1
Banija bullpen clutches up, and Boone hates Jimmy

Ro16, Game 1       1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E
Drawkland          0 1 2  0 0 0  0 0 0   3 10  0
Banija             2 0 1  0 0 1  0 2 X   6 13  0

W: O. Lutaakome (3-1)
L: A. Boone (0-2)
Sv: S. Atla (5)

Game MVP: Zac MacBay (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB)

Maybe Andrew Boone wasn't exaggerating when he said it would be harder to pitch with Jimmy Todd behind the dish. Maybe taking over a week off pulled him out of rhythm. Whatever the case, Boone did not start Game 1 off very well. He looked rusty, his sinker and sweeper were coming out flat and he had trouble finding the zone. Banija's lineup took full advantage coming out of the gate. Boone managed to retire lefty leadoff hitter Atla Gadifele, but Jaffro teammate Lolong Fadiya was ready, and smacked a hanging slider into the gap for a standup double. Sadiiq Xoosh put Banija on the board a few pitches later with a two-run shot to dead center (a flat two-seamer with almost no break on it). From there Boone managed to get himself under control, but Banija had taken early advantage.

Drawkland answered quickly, however. It wasn't as resounding, as Odongo Lutaakome was fired up for the biggest game of the cycle so far. There were some who questioned if Lutaakome would be ready for a lineup like Drawkland's after working through such titans as Oscioru, Nationy McStateFace, Zug um Zug, and The Fortem with only a 2-1 record, but he proved the doubters wrong. Sure, Zac MacBay led off the second inning with a single, and got knocked in by Alex Gates to put the Corps on the board. Sure, Drawkland took the lead in the third inning with 4 singles in five at-bats ... but Lutaakome still limited the damage, inducing a double play from Tyler Silvanus and only giving up 2 runs despite 4 batters reaching base that inning. After that? The Drawkian bats were silent. Lutaakome allowed just two more singles in the next four innings, not allowing anybody to reach scoring position after the third.

And of course, Drawkland's third-inning lead didn't last for long. Andrew Boone seemed frustrated again with his signalcaller in the third inning. He left another slider up in the zone, and Ugonna Akachi clobbered it for a game-tying solo shot. The middle innings became more of a pitcher's duel, with Boone matching Lutaakome blow-for-blow ... until a few well-hit grounders and a sac fly from Joanna Adoyo put Banija on top in the sixth inning. Boone would leave the game once he got the third out of the inning, putting him in line for the loss if the score held.

That was a big "if." When Lutaakome finally left the game, Drawkland's bats were ready to make things happen in the top of the eighth. So what if Sadiki Walulya was on the bump now? It's only a one-run lead. A different look could make all the difference. Lane Kavana was ready to ignite the rally, starting off the inning with a loud single to shallow center. Tyler Silvanus was hunting for his pitch, but Walulya didn't give it to him, so Silvanus worked a walk. Tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs and the middle of the order coming ... and Walulya clutched up. Zac MacBay struck out, then Ted Honeycutt chopped a grounder to first base that became an inning-ending double play.

Then Dion McDaniel came into the game. The lefty specialist was brought in to handle the corridor of Rehana (L), Akachi (R), and Kiribata (L) ... but the middle of the Banijan order was ready. All three of those hitters reached base, Nvunyi knocked a sac fly, then Luzira struck out to get it to two outs. If McDaniel could just handle the 9-hole hitter, he'd be clear with just the one run surrendered. Joanna Adoyo was ready, though, and she laced a double down the line to score another run and bring the score to 6-3. Setup reliever Terenzo McFee came out to get that final out, but now the Corps had a bigger hill to climb.

Sebaga Atla came on to close out the game. He'd done well in his first cycle as Banija's closer, earning 4 saves (by our reckoning) through the course of the group stage and the Round of 32. He was fired up, and Jimmy Todd went down in three pitches to start the inning. Abram Kavana managed to get on with a single, but this is where the trouble came in. With Drawkland already having two double plays on the game and zero extra base hits, there was a real danger of the DP. Glenn Sutton signaled for Abram Kavana to steal, not as much to put him in scoring position (with a three-run deficit, his run didn't matter), but to prevent a double play. Instead, Abram got caught stealing, and Alex Gates grounded out to end the game.

Obviously you don't want to give up losses, especially in a 5-game series, but the silver lining here is that even though the lineup looked pretty bad (again, no extra base hits all game, two double plays, two runners caught stealing), it was a competitive game. If the pitching staff was a little tighter, the result would've been entirely different. In the loss, Zac MacBay was definitely the least incompetent, getting two singles and a steal early in the game. MacBay started the second inning rally and kept the third inning rally going to score what was the go-ahead run at the time. Without him, this result would've been much uglier.

GAME 2
Silvanus on the warpath, and FINALLY some elevation

Ro16, Game 2       1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E
Drawkland          2 1 1  0 0 2  0 0 4  10 15  0
Banija             1 0 0  0 0 0  3 0 0   4  7  1

W: T. Silvanus (4-0)
L: M. Vunaana (2-1)
Sv: T. Bell (1)

Game MVP: Tyler Silvanus (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 8 K, 0 BB / 3-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB)

Did I mention how much I love Tyler Silvanus? After arguably his worst performance of the tournament at the plate (0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 GIDP), he was clearly fired up for his fourth start of the WBC. He would not be denied, no matter how tough the competition was. One thing was for certain: he was not going to go hitless at the dish. After Richelle Shard led off the game with a double down the left field line (the first extra base hit of the series for Drawkland), Silvanus traded places with her off a double of his own. Zac MacBay knocked Silvanus in with an RBI single, and Drawkland had an early lead going against Musabingo Vunaana. In the bottom of the frame, Silvanus allowed a solo shot to Lolong Fadiya when he left a fastball belt-high, but that was his only blemish.

Vunaana, the soft-pitching Banijan knuckler, did not have his stuff working well in the early going. The knuckleball is very unpredictable; this is both the blessing and the curse for those who learn the craft. Sometimes it's fluttering, utterly unhittable. Sometimes it's just a faster eephus with less arc. On this day, Vunaana was tossing the latter. And when your secondary pitch is as fast as an average changeup, a national team lineup is going to take advantage. The Corps lineup was really swinging it, gathering a couple hits every inning, scoring additional runs along the way. Vunaana still managed to limit the damage despite the action on the bases, and the Corps was still struggling to really drive the ball deep.

Silvanus, on the other hand, was getting better the more he pitched. Typically he's known for being wild and giving up some walks, but this time he was filling up the zone. His heater was humming in triple digits, his slider was biting on the edges of the plate, and his splitter was flummoxing even the best of the Banijan hitters. It wasn't as dominant as his start against Panay Islands and Guimaras, but he did fan 8 Banijan hitters and only allow 3 hits across 6 innings of work.

Speaking of the sixth inning, this is where the book was closed on Vunaana. After getting out of an early jam in the 5th inning, it seemed like he'd be able to at least get away with a solid six innings of work. Then he gave up three straight singles to start the sixth. When Alex Gates knocked in Jimmy Todd for the first run of the inning (and runners on the corners with no outs), Vunaana's day was done. Batte Kirulu came in, and he got a quick out, just not like he was hoping. Aaron Frost grounded his first pitch through the right side of the infield for a single. It was a slow roller that Ugonna Akachi had to run for in right field. Abram Kavana scored, and Alex Gates tried to push from first to third. Akachi gunned Gates, Ocan Luzira quickly applying the tag at third for the first out of the inning. Kirulu got a little more luck coming his way, getting two quick strikes on Richelle Shard. Shard whiffed at a high fastball for strike three, the same time that Frost took off for second. The Corps fell victim to the strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play, but they were still sitting on a 6-1 lead.

With how questionable the middle relievers had been for the Corps, and a 5-run lead to play with, Glenn Sutton decided to let spot starter/long reliever Tyrell Coleman take over in the bottom of the seventh, hoping he could eat a couple innings and perhaps record the old school three-inning save. Coleman made Sutton look foolish. Now that Silvanus was out of the game, the Banijan lineup was hungry to make something happen. They put together a rally against Coleman, scoring 3 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. Coleman finally induced a double play to end the inning, but suddenly the game was close again.

When Drawkland scored nothing in the top of the eighth, Sutton needed a setup man to keep the 2-run lead intact in the eighth. Trevor Bell was summoned, and he carved through three Banijan batters in 7 pitches (popout, groundout, strikeout). Lorraine Lockwood started warming in the pen, and the Corps offense came out for one last chance to get some insurance.

Nakisisa Buwuuyo came into the game to hold the 6-4 scoreline and keep Banija in striking distance. He did not do this. Alex Gates grounded out to start the inning, but Aaron Frost got a little lucky. On a grounder up the middle, Lolong Fadiya snagged the ball before it could reach the grass. Frost was digging out of the box, though, and Fadiya had to rush his throw. The throw went wide over the head of Rehana, and Frost was safe at first on the error. Then the lineup flipped over, and the troubles for Buwuuyo continued. Shard singled. Lane Kavana doubled, driving in Frost and putting two runners in scoring position. Then Tyler Silvanus came to the plate ... and a Drawkian finally got some elevation on the ball. Silvanus ripped a 2-1 two-seamer from Buwuuyo, lining it 6 rows deep into right center field for a backbreaking three-run shot. Buwuuyo managed to put a merciful end to the inning, but the score was now 10-4.

Now that the game was firmly out of reach, there was no reason to waste Lockwood's bullets from the pen, so she was sat back down. And seeing as how Trevor Bell only had 7 pitches on his arm through one inning, Sutton had the nephew of Franklin Bell come on to protect a 10-4 lead. Trevor Bell proceeded to rip two more strikeouts and a soft lineout to end the game without a sniff of a comeback. What, like that's so hard?

Obviously, Tyler Silvanus was the main character in this game, as he has been for pretty much all his starts this tournament. He literally reached base more times than the entire Banijan lineup did against him in this game. Plus a couple extra base hits and 4 RBI ... you get the picture. It was a team win, though. Trevor Bell did an excellent job at keeping things tight after Coleman made things interesting, and everybody in the Corps lineup reached base at least once. It bodes well for the rest of this series, but is this really what Drawkland is, or did they just get lucky against a couple pitchers who didn't have their stuff working?

UP NEXT

It is a very delicate position for the Base Corps. The good news is that Claire Kirkland is taking the mound in Game 3, and she's been lights-out for the entirety of this cycle. Obviously this means she's due for a horrific blowup start that could be the turning point for a series win by Banija. Enough of the pessimism though, this is the best possible scenario besides maybe cloning Tyler Silvanus and letting him pitch back-to-back days. What happens in Game 4 is largely dependent on how Game 3 shakes out. With a win, Sutton might opt to save the best arms in Game 4, having a game in hand and Boone (who will surely get back on track any day now) set for Game 5. Sara Barton and Jeffry Judd might pitch 2-4 innings each to bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen. If Game 3 is a loss, it's backs-against-the-wall time, and Joe Shrub will have to come out to keep the Corps hopes alive. He's been solid, if not a little leaky run-wise in the middle innings, but at least he's dependable.

Projected Rotation
Game 3: Claire Kirkland (2-1, 1.69) R
Game 4 if Game 3 win: Sara Barton (0-0, 2.84) R
Game 4 if Game 3 loss: Joseph Shrubbin (1-0, 3.75) R
Game 5*: Andrew Boone (0-2, 3.79) L

Thanks to the rotation continuing to pitch effective innings, the bullpen is also rested. Three solid arms including Robert Butcher haven't pitched since the Panay Islands series, so they're ready to go. Lorraine Lockwood still hasn't pitched in these playoffs. It seemed like the best move to not let her pitch in Game 2 with the 6-run lead even though she'd gotten warmed up, but now some wonder if she's going to be ready to face Banijan hitters after well over a week of not pitching live. I suppose that's the sort of thing we'll find out when it happens and witness yet another horrific choke job in the Round of 16. But hey, at least the curse is broken now!

Game 3 vs Banija
Average and OPS are playoff totals only, not counting group stage results.

       lineup             avg    ops
1. (R) A. Frost      SS  .444   .944
2. (R) R. Shard      1B  .333   .978
3. (S) L. Kavana     CF  .522  1.348
4. (R) A. Kavana     RF  .357  1.043
5. (R) C. Calebs      C  .250   .708
6. (S) E. Houston    2B  .250   .650
7. (R) Z. MacBay     LF  .318   .804
8. (L) T. Honeycutt  DH  .238   .880
9. (S) A. Gates      3B  .250   .550

Tyler Silvanus always takes a day out of the lineup after bump day, so even with the DH staying in play for Games 3 and 4, the Corps lineup is getting a bit of a shakeup. Ted Honeycutt moves to DH, Richelle Shard (who is slightly more defensively competent) will take first base duties, and Abram Kavana is shunted back out to right field. Elizabeth Houston is back in the lineup for the next couple days as well. It's going to be interesting to see how the Drawkian lineup fares against the lefty Kigongo Namatiwa after facing a slew of righties nearly all tournament. With that in mind, right-hander Aaron Frost gets moved back to the leadoff spot due to the hand advantage, but with how well Shard has been hitting, it just made sense to keep them both up there. The result is a lineup quite different than the Corps standard the last couple cycles.

Not only will Game 3 feature a Jaffro Drawk pitching against a couple of his position player teammates, it's also a former Loyola-Istria graduate facing the former heart of the Sadeg State order. While Namatiwa didn't have to pitch against Sadeg State in IBS 19 (that unfortunate job fell to Isingoma Nviiri and Sarah Namagoye), he was present on that second-place roster. You better believe that he wants to shut down the former Skyhawks, perhaps to avenge the losses of the All-Loyola All-Stars all those seasons ago. Similarly, it's no mistake that Glenn Sutton put the "Core Four" in the same order they appeared when playing in Skyhawk gold and navy. This could be the final proof that Sadeg State truly is a notch above Loyola, at least in baseball. No matter what, it's gonna be a juicy matchup.

Game 4 vs Banija
Average and OPS are playoff totals only, not counting group stage results.

       lineup             avg    ops
1. (R) A. Frost      SS  .444   .944
2. (R) R. Shard      RF  .333   .978
3. (S) L. Kavana     CF  .522  1.348
4. (L) T. Silvanus   DH  .400  1.311
5. (R) Z. MacBay     LF  .318   .804
6. (L) T. Honeycutt  1B  .238   .880
7. (S) E. Houston    3B  .250   .650
8. (R) C. Calebs      C  .250   .708
9. (R) A. Kavana     2B  .357  1.043

Like with the pitching matchup, there's a lot more in question about how Game 4 is going to shake out. WBC debutant Baaku Kutate will be on the hill for Banija, a 24-year-old right hander. The Corps could easily take advantage of a potentially inexperienced opponent, but if the pressure is on, they may press too hard. Game 1 was a prime example of Drawkland's lineup trying to make too much happen, being too aggressive at the plate. If they do the same here, it might be over. At least Silvanus will be back in the order. We know he won't go down without a fight.

World Baseball Classic 59 (IC thread)

7,000 - Glenn and Gelia

Ro32: Drawkland vs Panay Islands and Guimaras

Ro16 vs Banija, Games 1 and 2

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