World Baseball Classic 62 Everything Thread

[Dhemixia]

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The Columbus Dominion(Est.1873)
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[insert Serpents choking joke here]

Schedule:

Series 1: vs. Nusandara W 2-1
Series 2: @ Liventia L 1-2
Series 3: vs. Abanhfleft W 3-0
Series 4: @ Chromatika W 2-1
Series 5: vs. Drawkland L 1-2
Series 6: @ Nusandara W 2-1
Series 7: vs. Liventia
Series 8: @ Abanhfleft
Series 9: vs. Chromatika
Series 10: @ Drawkland

A second Alexandra Graham masterclass has hit the WBC.

The Serpents have done it again. They've managed to choke a sweep against Nusandara again. At this rate, it's a miracle they even swept a ranked Abanhfleft.

All things considered, though, this was actually a solid series and a great improvement from the Dhemixians. In all three games, the starting pitching was pretty solid (ignore the third inning of game two it didn't happen) for the first time, and the bats actually decided to show up all three games. They needed a rally in game two, and they got it little by little, culminating in a 12th inning go-ahead suicide squeeze to win it. Game one didn't actually look all that close judging from the final, but if you actually analyze the box score a little further, the Serps were losing entering the top of the seventh, and only went on to tie the game later that inning. They were definitely bailed by an extremely timely 5-spot, but again, that's the kind of clutch hitting that was nowhere to be found in the first round-robin. Dhemixians never just win a game by six in which they were tied or losing at the stretch. Apparently, they do now.

Then there's game three. Serps are up 6-2 the majority of the game, they've never known a deficit, and all is well in the world. Sellers comes in and gets through the seventh having allowed one, but that's fine! Again, Cook comes in for the eighth and allows one, but he gets through it. McCarthy reaches for the bullpen phone as Cook strikes out the last batter and tells Alex to start warming. 2 runs isn't exactly the largest of leads, but with your closer in the game, they should definitely be able to lock down the sweep for you here. I'm sure every closer in the multiverse not named Franklin Bell could successfully come out with the win here. Every closer except Alexandra Graham.

The inning unfolds as follows:

Ball one high, ball two behind the hitter, hit by pitch, foul ball, ball one in the other batters' box, single, ball one above the hitter's head, walkoff three-run home run.

It's almost like poetry, really. Alexandra Graham is no mere victim of a good collapse now and again, she's an architect. She masterfully manages to find ways to lose games and blow saves that have never even been conceived before.

This is one of them.

[Chromatika]

After a sweep of Abanhfleft, the Outliers see themselves tied with Drawkland at a record of 12-6, the Drawkians having dropped two of three to Liventia. Liventia and Dhemixia are only a game behind, and that's that for the top of the table. Eddard Friend pitched nine strong innings on the game, throwing a hundred and twelve pitches, walking two, and striking out eight; he gave up one home run at the bottom of the sixth, and only exited when the game went into extras. It took until the twelfth for Miles Sturdevantt, the reliable bat, to hit a line-drive single that scored the winning run; the bullpen held, and the Outliers barely won.

Then, Ashleigh Witters had a stellar start, lasting six innings that allowed the Outliers to score the two runs needed for her to get the win. Alena Egorova hit a three-run home run at the top of the eighth inning, and the Chromatik bullpen made short work of the final innings, only giving up a lone run. With a chance at the sweep, Marceaux Justinian lasted seven strong innings, giving up two runs on five hits along with seven strikeouts. He only managed a no-decision as the game was tied when he exited, but he made it so that the Chromatik starting pitchers conceded a total of five runs throughout the three games. It took a nice rally started by Béa Arcierge to get three runs at the top of the ninth, and Katerina Pavlova was on it at the bottom of the ninth for the save.

It's a nice way for the Outliers to start the second leg of round-robin, as they face Drawkland, Liventia, and Dhemixia in succession going forward. This was the best series that the starting pitchers had, and the timely batting from Sturdevantt, Egorova, and Arcierge means that they had enough help.

Carmen Bynum-Jackson and Syr Gaillen will get the starts against Drawkland before Eddard Friend returns to the mound. Is this the start of a lasting winning streak, or just taking care of Abanhfleft?

[Drawkland]

7,000

History of the Hit Record - The Contender - Glenn and Gelia - The New Fire - Shooting For 6 - Vow Renewal - Chasing .400 - A Pleasant Surprise - Jamming the Blues - Lingering Questions - Oh Brother - Beach Bums - Bargaining with Bellator

Lane Kavana was milling around his home in Akkor Beach, starting to pack up the few things he’d brought with him. His contract with the Hammerheads had expired, and though the GM insisted that he was glad to have had Lane and his brother on for that year, there was a suspicious lack of discussion regarding a second contract. Lane knew his time in AB was over, so he started getting ready to move out. Where he’d be moving to, he didn’t yet know. While he worked, the TV played a sports channel in the background. He wasn’t paying close attention until he heard his own name.

“Now for a piece of news we’ve received today. According to Lane Kavana’s agent, it appears Kavana is actively searching for a contract for this upcoming PBL season. You probably heard this already since it was reposted about a million times, but Kavana’s one-year contract with the Akkor Beach Hammerheads ended with the 49-year-old reaching second on the career base hit list. Some believe that Kavana intends to challenge Titus Kash’s record as the all-time hit leader with another season in the league. Shane, I’ll let you take the first shot at this.”


[Talking Heads 2]

“Hilarious. Let me tell you what this is. We have a guy who is absolutely past his prime trying to cling to any shred of relevance he has left. I’m not going to pretend like Lane Kavana wasn’t a legend in his heyday. We all know he’s going first ballot. But he’s just not That Guy anymore, and it looks like it’s driving him crazy. He’s lost all his pop and resorted to sprinkling singles to try and retain any value. He’s not a great outfielder anymore, either. He had to play a bunch of first base on the Hammerheads just to get starts, and putting it nicely, the Hammerheads are bereft of actual outfield talent. Even on the Base Corps roster, which some consider to be his pet project, he’s spent the last couple tournaments at the bottom end of the lineup. We all know he’s got a bit of an ego. This ride into the sunset with Akkor Beach apparently wasn’t good enough, so he’s gonna try one more time to try and demand some attention. Good luck to him finding a team willing to pay a 50-year-old for the privilege of attention begging.”

“That’s a little cynical, Shane.”

“Am I wrong, Dane?”

“I think so. The guy is what, 120 hits away from Titus Kash’s record?”

“A hundred and twenty-two, right now.”

“Thanks, Jane. So yeah, that’s not an unachievable number. Kash’s hit record has stood for like a hundred years. Nobody else has even gotten particularly close. Roger Madison got into the 6000 club and tapped out pretty much right after that. Lane is the only one who could conceivably challenge that mark. Why throw away that opportunity when he’s logically a season away? Even Kash did the same thing when he finished a season right behind Russo’s record.”

“I just find this whole game to be pathetic. It’s all stat-padding. Even Kash’s record was a nasty stat-padding job. He basically handcuffed his longtime team for another season so he could get one more hit, then continued taking starts away from better players to pad that number. Esmereldane ended up missing the playoffs that year, by the way. They were a game or two behind their division winners. There’s still some historians that believe the Rebs would’ve won a couple extra games had they not been starting a 51-year-old contact hitter for half their games that season.”

“So are you saying it would be better for Lane to go to a non-contender and play there? No team expectations to ruin for his sake, no ‘better’ players to ‘cover up,’ maliciously or not.”

“I would argue that makes it even worse. Even more of a blatant stat-pad. Here’s the thing. He’s already arguably the best in the last three decades. First ballot hall of famer. Some will even say he’s the greatest ever. Will him getting the hit record actually change anybody’s mind about his legacy? I think more people will be swayed in a negative direction if he has a bad year than swayed positive with a good year.”

“If he’s good enough to get a team to sign him, I think he deserves to play and try for the record. Why not? If he wants to play for it, he should be allowed to try. He’s certainly earned it with how the rest of his career has gone. An average PBL GM won’t make decisions that hamper their team, and if they do, you can blame it on them. Don’t blame it on the player for wanting to spend one more year in the league.”

“He already had a good sendoff. He had that great last month, admittedly, with Akkor Beach. It was good enough to get everyone, including you, to forget how mediocre he was for a majority of the year. He had that great game with his brother to finish the season. That’s a perfectly acceptable time to call it quits. Leave the game with a reminder of your legacy while it’s still a good picture.”

“You’re afraid he’s going to somehow tarnish his reputation with this last season?”

“Not afraid. I’m fairly confident that’s the case. Outside a couple weeks of a hot streak to finish the year, he was nearly an embarrassment out on the field. He just looked old. I already said that he’s probably the greatest player of his generation. Do we really want his swansong to be him trudging out there and looking terrible? Think of how many careers have ended with just an awful season that stains the player’s legacy.”

“I’m sure Lane knows that. The fact that he’s looking for another contract tells me that he’s confident enough in his own abilities to make it work.”

“So is every guy that takes contracts like those. These guys are all millionaires, it’s not like he or any of the others need the money, especially since these contracts are rarely as lucrative as the ones from their primes. They all think they’ll have that magic storybook season, or maybe they’re just desperate to cling on to the last vestiges of the game they dedicated their lives to. Retirement is scary, or whatever. He won’t go out with grace because he’s afraid of what comes next. That’s what I find pathetic.”

“The hit record isn’t that unrealistic. He’s well over a .300 career hitter. If he hits like that over 400ish at-bats, he’s got the record. That’s a good enough sendoff even if he’s just tipping singles all over the place. It’s not just for him, this is baseball history we’re talking about.”



[Target Acquisition]

“At least somebody gets it,” Lane muttered. He didn’t give too much credence to the dissenter’s opinion. Fears of retirement? Unable to accept his own aging? As if. The hit record was all that mattered.

Unfortunately the point about finding a team to house him was still incredibly relevant. It was the same issue he had a season before when he finally landed on Akkor Beach, except without the full season of batting .400 to buoy his case for a roster spot. If there was one thing for certain, it was that he had to find a team in the Drawk’s League, which had the designated hitter. The point about his lacking defense was right. He was far from a liability, but there weren’t too many current players he could start over in the outfield or at first base.

If there was one thing Lane would do differently this time, it was to actively seek employment. A year ago he figured the .400 season would speak for itself. He had to focus on remaining ready for WBC 61 at the time anyway. His agent did get a few offers, but none had the promise of playing time that he wanted. If it weren’t for Akkor Beach falling into his lap at the end of spring training, he would’ve been screwed.

This time he wouldn’t make the same mistake. It was time to seek out the opportunity that he needed. It reminded Lane a little bit of his days recruiting for the Base Corps ahead of World Baseball Classic 57 – arranging ‘chance’ meetings to help disguise his ulterior motive. Going to a GM outright and begging for a job would reek of desperation. Lane needed to achieve that additional level of subtlety.

There were a few landing spots that Lane considered. After some thought, he decided that the nostalgia move would have the best chance of working. He thought back to Titus Kash and his return to the Esmereldane Rebels, his longtime franchise, for the swansong record-breaking season. Perhaps a return to one of his former employers would be a good move. He hadn’t spent enough time in Gelia or Raikennax to be considered a franchise icon there, and being drafted by Shire-Port was practically ancient history at this point. It would come down to one of the two franchises where Lane had spent most of his career. Of the thirty (hopefully thirty-one) seasons Lane spent in the PBL, eighteen of them were accounted for by the Bellator Cavaliers and the Hessport Blockade.

Lane was shipped off to Bellator ahead of the final year on his rookie contract, since Shire-Port was not in a position to pay Lane the money he’d undoubtedly ask for. The Cavaliers certainly had that money, so they opened up their pocketbooks and signed Lane to an extension. He spent just over a decade there (thanks to a second extension), but he had a free agency year for the ages in his age-33 season with the Cavies. Hitting 71 homers will make any team salivate for your services. Even though Lane was a pretty loyal player, he couldn’t help but listen to his agent when he heard how much teams were willing to pay for him that offseason.

Hence the Hessport era began. Blockade ownership wanted to build a big contender again, and an insane hitter like Lane Kavana was exactly the centerpiece that they envisioned. Primary owner Peyton McDonald made Lane the highest-paid player in PBL history at that point in time, and the juggernaut was completed a couple seasons later. This core went on to win 2 championships with Lane at the center, but things didn’t end gracefully between Lane and the Blockade. See, in between those two championship runs, McDonald chastised Lane for his lacking playoff performances, believing that WBC participation was causing Lane to tire months later when the PBL playoffs rolled around. Insulted and incensed, Lane refused to sign another contract with Hessport once his player option came around.


[An Old Friend]

Considering how things ended with the Blockade, Lane knew nobody in Hessport would want to sign him again. He didn’t know it for sure, but he figured it wouldn’t be worth the trouble. He’d left Bellator in a more amicable fashion – that core had won a championship, he’d had great seasons, but it just wasn’t the right time for them to pay him even more money. Some fans were angry at his supposed betrayal, but he still had friends in the Bellator front office.

That, Lane decided, would be his target. He was still linked with some Bellator people on social media, including the majority owner, Brian Morton. Lane was already planning to jet down to Bellator to try and make moves. When he saw on his feed that Morton was planning to check out some outlandish mansion’s open house, he knew that would be his best shot at an ‘accidental’ meeting.

A couple days later, Lane had arrived in an expensive developed neighborhood in Bellator’s outskirts. Apparently this was a very high-class area, with plots dozens of acres wide and manors at ridiculous asking prices. Even with the absurd money Lane had earned, he’d never dream of wasting it on some overpriced house like this. Half of the price tag was just for the privilege of saying you spent that much money to live in such an exclusive neighborhood.

Naturally, the owner of a major sports franchise would be present at the open house. Lane was thankfully a big enough name to be allowed in the door; it was practically a black tie affair. The realtor team had several people milling about, running tours, answering questions, and pointing out the best features of the place. Lane just nodded along as needed until he found his quarry. Brian Morton was in a group alongside his trophy wife, listening to some spiel about the indoor bowling alley. Lane covertly moved along until he’d merged with the group, waiting to be noticed.

“Oh, look who it is!” Morton exclaimed when the group moved to another room. He’d just turned around and noticed Lane towards the back of the group. “Mr. Kavana, what a pleasure to see you again!”

“Mr. Morton!” Lane said with the most faux surprise he could manage. “What a coincidence! Though I suppose it’s no surprise you’d be checking out a place like that.”

“Well, the missus is growing tired of our old place. You know how it is.” Morton chuckled dryly. A moment of realization came across his face. “So, you’re looking at places in Bellator, hmm?”

“Just a little market research, I guess.” Lane grinned. “I have retirement to worry about, after all. I’m thinking it’s the right time to find a forever home, and I always enjoyed my time living around here.”

“We enjoyed having you around as well,” Morton chuckled. He appeared to be reminiscing over the old days. Not like the Cavaliers were in a bad spot now, what with Tyler Silvanus and Alex Gates on their roster, but nostalgia is often infectious. After a moment’s pause, Morton spoke again. “Retirement, you say? I heard some rumblings that you were looking for another year in the league.”

“Doesn’t hurt to get a head start.” Lane shrugged. “Like I said, research. If I end up playing somewhere else I imagine I’d just find something temporary anyhow.”

“Of course, of course.” Morton nodded along. “Oh! Congratulations on the hit milestone, by the way. You know I’m very busy and mostly focused on my Cavaliers, but I was following your season towards the end there. Very nice end to the year.”

“Thank you, thank you.” Lane said coolly. He smirked a bit. “Though I couldn’t have done it without you. Those years playing here in Bellator really did a lot to build my career! Not to mention all the hits.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Morton smiled warmly. At this point they’d fallen behind the group they’d been with, standing alone in one of the hallways covered in bizarre abstract art. A thought visibly occurred to Morton, who folded his arms and looked at Lane curiously. “Have you heard anything from our team about this coming season?”

“Hm? Oh, I don’t think so.” Lane replied. “I haven’t heard as much from my agent, at least.”

“Would you consider it?” Morton asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“I’m not sure,” Lane said awkwardly. He didn’t want to seem too desperate. “You all have championship expectations, after all. Very good roster. I’d be willing to play but I don’t want to be stuck on the bench all year. I have a record to chase!”

“Ah, Kash, of course.” Morton understood. He seemed to be warming this idea in his mind. Even better that Morton seemed to believe it was his idea originally. “Well what do I know, I’m just the guy that signs the checks. Ha! But maybe we could find a spot for you. For old time’s sake.”

“Old time’s sake,” Lane echoed. He pretended to turn this idea over in his own head.

“To be frank,” Morton leaned forward conspiratorially, “I’ve heard rumblings of the Hall of Fame committee being split on whose team logo to put on your plaque. Between us and Hessport.”

“Oh, right.” Lane nodded slowly. He couldn’t care less about that, but he could understand why the owner of said team might care. “I can see the argument for both sides.” He’d spent three more years in Bellator, but some would argue that Lane’s most dominant stretch, his true prime, came in Hessport.

“Exactly.” Morton said, still in that hushed tone. “I’m wondering if one last year in Bellator would help tip the scales in our direction for good. Not that this should matter to you for your own goals, but this is something I care about. I’d love another one to hold over Peyton McDonald’s head. We owners can be a little annoying to each other about that.”

“I can relate to that.” Lane chuckled. He rolled onto his heels and back, as if continuing to consider the offer. “Well, go talk to your people and tell them to call my people. I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to coming back here, if the situation is right.”

“Okay. That sounds good.” Morton seemed to realize only in that moment that they’d lost their group. He laughed when he noticed how far away they were now. “Better catch up now!”

“Playing catch-up is all I’ve been doing for the last half-decade,” Lane mumbled to himself. He had to suppress a smile. Maybe this was going to work out better than he thought.

[Ranoria]

@HalfDeadBeatMom Krauts dropped to 6-7 and you know my grandson - first time I've seen him since he was born btw - had to do the stupid thing kids do. Reminded me why I neglected his mother as a child to watch this baseball team.

They're 3-1 since, take that, child. #SauerkrautSzn

---

Back To Reality?

After a surprisingly successful campaign last go round, the Krauts are sitting at 10-8 despite coming in as a top ten team in the multiverse. There was a lot of roster turnover - but in the offseason, most of that was regarded with excitement. After all, the next generation was what helped take the team from contenders to a championship squad in the 57th Classic. And the new players have certainly pulled their weight, but a group with Ko-oren and South Newlandia was perhaps always going to be a bloodbath. It should be pointed out that aside from cuddles, the Krauts are a 10-5 squad. Classic authorities have yet to respond to official team inquiries about that, we're still not sure how we got three losses tacked on for that. But we're very happy that our elefriends are better off for it.

With plenty of baseball left to play, this doesn't exactly have the look of a championship winning baseball team, but Ranoria's proven it has the talent - only time will tell.

[Tikariot]

Episode V.1: The Morannon Violin

Morannon is a city built around endurance. The capital of Saburnia started out as an impenetrable fortress, which, across centuries, was expanded, reinforced and then had the city grow outward in rings. Workshops, guild halls and academies. Morannon was known for its luthiers, some of the best Tikariot had to offer. Among them, was Declan O'Farragh, master luthier, known for his precision, patience and control, crafting instruments not just to be played, but to last.

The Instrument

The violin never received a formal name, despite being considered one of the finest pieces ever built. In records through the centuries, it was only ever referred to as "The Morannon Piece." Its origin tracks back to O'Farragh, who didn't produce many of them, but those he did stood apart.

The Construction

The violin is, by all accounts, exceptional.

Unusually dense wood, sourced from slow-growth timber in the northern ranges
A varnish formula not recorded in any known Saburnian tradition
Internal bracing and graduation patterns that differ subtly from standard forms

Experts who have examined it describe the craftsmanship as *deliberate to the point of fixation," which is closer to the truth than most would think. Every element of the violin was refined beyond necessity.

The Sound

Across time, accounts of its tone are consistent. It is not louder than the other, not sharper, but it has a strange presence that could not be properly put into words or quantified.

Players describe it as requiring less effort to project, less force to sustain. Notes carry further than expected, filling space without strain, leading to audiences often reporting that the sound feels closer than it should, as if the distance between the performer and listener has been reduced, even if they are seated at the very back of an auditorium.

The First Owner

The violin’s first recorded owner was a professional musician in Morannon’s court ensemble, Ciaran O'Fathaigh. Apparently his family sold half of their farm to buy the violin for the boy and his career advanced very quickly after he began to play the piece. More performances, greater recognition far beyond just Morannon's borders. There were no complaints until they gradually began to set in.

The Decline

It began subtly. O'Fathaigh would begin to complain about fatigue even after short performances and begin to have difficulty concentrating during rehearsals. Even melodies he had truly mastered had to be repeated over and over and his colleagues began to notice the change. It was nothing drastic, nothing dramatic, but persistent. Only two years later, he had withdrawn from public performances, within three, he was dead. The cause was put down as natural decline, but he was only 24 when he died.

The Pattern Begins

The family sold the violin to buy back part of their farm, so the violin changed hands. Each new owner brought it into their own context:

A conservatory instructor
A touring soloist
A collector who allowed select performances

In each case, the same arc appears. Not the same, but close enough to be seen as consistent.

The Effects

Those who played the instrument extensively began to exhibit similar patterns:

Increasing practice durations, often beyond necessity
Difficulty disengaging from the instrument once a session began
Reports of subtle physical strain, hands, shoulders, breathing, without clear cause

Medical examinations found nothing definitive, no injury that matched the severity of the symptoms, no illness that explained the progression.

The Timeframe

None of the players noticed the changes immediately. Some would play for months, others years, marvelling in the quality of the instrument and the music. It rather looked like things accumulated slowly.

The Fortress Archive

About twenty years ago, the Morannon Preservation Society began to catalogue Morannon's central archive, which had always been housed in the lower levels of the fortress. During these proceedings, they found a series of correspondences; letters from musicians, instructors and patrons, spanning over three centuries, and many referring to the same instrument. Never by name, as it didn't have one, but by description.

The Language

The letters vary in wording and tone, with some referring to the violin as "an instrument of remarkable clarity," while others claim that it "demands more than expected," while some get more direct, stating that "it does not allow for rest."

[Chromatika]

Cutoff for Series 7.

---

Group A

Game 1
Equestria                                   0 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 1  9
Haltoria                                    3 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 0  8

Quebec and Shingoryeo                       0 0 4 2 0 0 1 0 0  7
Loyo                                        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Eshialand                                   1 3 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  7
Natkr                                       0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Game 2
Equestria                                   0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  2
Haltoria                                    0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 X  3

Quebec and Shingoryeo                       0 1 3 0 0 0 4 4 0 12
Loyo                                        0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Eshialand                                   1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3  6
Natkr                                       0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1  3
Game 3
Equestria                                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Haltoria                                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2  3

Quebec and Shingoryeo                       3 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 0  8
Loyo                                        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  3

Eshialand                                   1 3 0 0 1 0 5 1 0 11
Natkr                                       0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7  8

Group A                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Quebec and Shingoryeo   21   16   5   146   71  +75
2 Eshialand               21   14   7   106   95  +11
3 Loyo                    21   10  11   110  116   −6
4 Equestria               21    9  12    95  123  −28
5 Haltoria                21    9  12    82  103  −21
6 Natkr                   21    5  16    81  112  −31

Group B

Game 1
Crpostran                                   0 3 0 3 1 2 0 4 1 14
Solgavden                                   2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  4

Ranoria                                     0 0 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 12
New Montreal States                         0 0  0 1 0 0 0 1 1  3

Ko-oren                                     0 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 1  6
South Newlandia                             0 3 0 2 0 4 0 0 X  9
Game 2
Crpostran                                   0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 1  7
Solgavden                                   0 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 0 2  8

Ranoria                                     0 0 0 1 1 1 3 2 0  8
New Montreal States                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Ko-oren                                     0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  2
South Newlandia                             2 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 X  5
Game 3
Crpostran                                   2 0 1 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 12
Solgavden                                   1 0 0 1 3 2 0 2 1 0 3 13

Ranoria                                     0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
New Montreal States                         0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 X  4

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

Group B                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 South Newlandia        21   17   4   118   65  +53
2 Ranoria                21   12   9   102   83  +19
3 Crpostran              21   10  11   111  119   −8
4 Ko-oren                21   10  11   109  105   +4
5 New Montreal States    21    9  12    90  113  −23
6 Solgavden              21    5  16    99  144  −45

Group C

Game 1
Soryeon                                     0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 10
The Martian Independent Republic            1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Tikariot                                    0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Srednjaci                                   0 0 0 0 5 0 0 2 X  7

TJUN-ia                                     0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Zwangzug                                    0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 X  4
Game 2
Soryeon                                     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Martian Independent Republic            0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 X  3

Tikariot                                    0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Srednjaci                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

TJUN-ia                                     4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  5
Zwangzug                                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0  4
Game 3
Soryeon                                     0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  3
The Martian Independent Republic            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Tikariot                                    0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 1  9
Srednjaci                                   0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  3

TJUN-ia                                     0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 3  7
Zwangzug                                    0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2  5

Group C                             Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 TJUN-ia                            21   12   9    97   89   +8
2 Zwangzug                           21   12   9   107   89  +18
3 Tikariot                           21   12   9    93   69  +24
4 Soryeon                            21   11  10    77   87  −10
5 Srednjaci                          21    9  12    81   94  −13
6 The Martian Independent Republic   21    7  14    91  118  −27

Group D

Game 1
Paradystopia                                0 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 4  9
Zenic                                       0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1  4

Drakur                                      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Milchama                                    0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  2

Andso Mangis                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
The Kytler Peninsulae                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  4
Game 2
Paradystopia                                2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Zenic                                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Drakur                                      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Milchama                                    0 2 1 7 0 0 0 1 X 11

Andso Mangis                                0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
The Kytler Peninsulae                       0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X  2
Game 3
Paradystopia                                0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  7
Zenic                                       0 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 0  6

Drakur                                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Milchama                                    0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 X  5

Andso Mangis                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
The Kytler Peninsulae                       0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 X  6

Group D                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 The Kytler Peninsulae   21   15   6   113   78  +35
2 Milchama                21   13   8   129   72  +57
3 Paradystopia            21   12   9    97   93   +4
4 Zenic                   21   11  10    96   89   +7
5 Drakur                  21    6  15    63  116  −53
6 Andso Mangis            21    6  15    79  129  −50

Group E Series involving Chromatika scored by Tikariot

Game 1
Liventia                                    0 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 5 12
Dhemixia                                    0 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 1  8

Drawkland                                   2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3  8
Chromatika                                  0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0  4

Abanhfleft                                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Nusandara                                   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  2
Game 2
Liventia                                    0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  7
Dhemixia                                    3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

Drawkland                                   2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  6
Chromatika                                  1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0  4

Abanhfleft                                  1 0 2 0 1 0 4 2 0 10
Nusandara                                   0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0  4
Game 3
Liventia                                    1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0  4
Dhemixia                                    0 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 X  7

Drawkland                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1  3
Chromatika                                  0 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 X  5

Abanhfleft                                  0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Nusandara                                   0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  7*
*This was originally 3-8, but they can only win by 4, so this has been fixed.

Group E                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Drawkland              21   14   7   117   81  +36
2 Chromatika             21   13   8   114   97  +17
3 Liventia               21   13   8    96  102   −6
4 Dhemixia               21   12   9   127  109  +18
5 Nusandara              21    8  13    94  111  −17
6 Abanhfleft             21    3  18    76  124  −48

Group F

Game 1
The Batavia                                 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  3
Kamijiro                                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

The Authority of the Underwater Cities      0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 0  6
Banija                                      1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 1  7

United States of Devonta                    3 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 1 11
Valentine Z                                 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 1 0 2 0 10
Game 2
The Batavia                                 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0  6
Kamijiro                                    0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1  5

The Authority of the Underwater Cities      0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Banija                                      3 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 X  8

United States of Devonta                    0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Valentine Z                                 0 0 1 0 1 0 6 0 X  8
Game 3
The Batavia                                 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  4
Kamijiro                                    1 0 1 1 3 1 0 1 X  8

The Authority of the Underwater Cities      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Banija                                      2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 X  6

United States of Devonta                    0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0  5
Valentine Z                                 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  6

Group F                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Banija                                   21   19   2   137   58  +79
2 Kamijiro                                 21   16   5   125   70  +55
3 The Batavia                              21    9  12   117  128  −11
4 Valentine Z                              21    8  13   114  115   −1
5 United States of Devonta                 21    6  15    82  142  −60
6 The Authority of the Underwater Cities   21    5  16    75  137  −62

[Banija]

Youth Ball in Banija- where are Banija's future baseball players coming from?

BUSUKUMA, NATIONAL CAPITOL REGION- The national team, once again, is rolling here at the World Baseball Classic- winners of 9 in a row, they sit in pole position to get the #1 overall seed for the knockout stages, with a 19-2 record through 21 games. As many will say, the team seems to be steamrolling through a rather weak group- only two teams have a winning record in the group, and Banija is one of them. But hey, winning the games you are supposed to win is certainly not guaranteed at this level, especially in a sport like this. "We cannnot take for granted- we have had a strong group phase so far, and we are fortunate that, with 9 games left, we have already mathematically clinched a top 2 spot in group F, and with it, a berth in the knockout stages." Said the manager, Kingston Jassey. "But we've got a lot more that we want to accomplish then simply a top two slot. We want to win this group, and we want to reach as high as possible- aka, that #1 seed is in play, and we certainly want to grab at it."

Behind them, of course, are a rather raucous Kamijiro squad, who sit three games behind the Banijans at 16-5. "Kamijiro has been excellent this whole tournament, and they probably had an unfortunately series 7." Kingston Jassey told reporters. That much, of course, is true. While Kamijiro will surely be joining Banija in the knockout stages, the two teams have largely kept pace with each other. Heck, after 18 games, they were both a combined 14-1 against teams that were not each other. And in the head-to-head, Banija had two late inning (8th or later) comeback wins against Kamijiro, showcasing how truly equal these teams have been. Series 7 was the first time we had a little bit of separation between the two in the group, as Kamijiro traveled to The Batavia and dropped the first two. That might be the breathing room we need- gives us some space to maneuver even if we lose the return series in Kamijiro.

But enough about this tournament. Sometimes, we gotta talk about special interests. And today, we have one. The question is- how do players navigate their way to the national team in the first place? Different sports have different youth pathways, of course- and we're here to tell you about Banija's baseball youth pathways.

Ages 6-10: Youth Neighborhood Teeball and Baseball

It is fairly self-explanatory. You don't have travel ball at these ages- it did used to exist in Banija from the U8 age group and on, but that was very recently banned by bipartisan legislation from the Lukiiko(Parliament). At these ages, you are learning the sport- how to play, playing against teams from within your city and/or neighboring towns, and basically the sport just existing at a recreational level. Like we said, up until WBC 61, basically, travel ball existed until age 8- and then that was banned until the U11 age group. The present Minister for Culture, Sport, & Media, Taziva Gezi, told the Lukiiko back then, when introducing the legislation, that "travel sports hurt a child's love for the game."

Now, how to get signups? Obviously, people like baseball. But in Banija, a bedrock law for a long-time has been the country's Youth Sports Participation Law. While it has existed in various iterations, the current version says that children are required to play organized sports at least 4 months out of the year, from ages 8-14, or through finishing 9th grade- whichever comes sooner. It is at the bedrock of Banija's sports culture. In this sports mad country, many understand that it is a good way at ensuring that Banija's best athletes are funneled to sports that suit them. It is also a law that encourages an active and fit population- you build habits that hopefully you carry into adulthood.

Also, at these ages, baseball is co-ed- so both girls and boys play baseball.

Ages 11-14: Travel Ball, Club Sports

Because of the country's Youth Sports Participation Law, basically the vast majority of middle schools have a myriad of sports teams for Banijan kids to join. But if you really have talent, if you're really good- travel ball is available once you hit the U11 age group. Ban on travel ball currently means that kids are not allowed to travel more than 80 miles from their home for a game, or participate in overnight tournaments where they are required to stay in hotels. Once you hit this age group, however, the cream of the crop starts to separate. The kids who have got legitimate talent are playing travel baseball, and competing against the other elite young baseball athletes in this country.

Kids traveling everywhere. For the U13s, we even have the Little League Banijan Series- the champions of each state (Moravica is split into North and South, Busukuma has its own champion) compete for this title each year in Bolgatanga, Aksum- the mid-sized city being the traditional host of the event each year. It is a major event on the youth sporting calendar in Banija, even if it has 'only' been going on for 25 years. Who can forget Sadiiq Xoosh, in the first ever edition of the tournament, 26 years ago, mauling three homers in the championship game for South Moravica?

Ages 15-18: High School, Travel Ball

Of course, high school sports are very valued in Banija- so at this point, kids are playing for their high school teams. After that, kids are also playing travel ball if they have time- but largely, you get recruited through your play in high school ball. Travel ball leagues are age restricted- generally, travel ball leagues for 16-18 year olds are the first age group where using medal bats are forbidden- if you're good enough at that age, they want you to use wooden bats like the pros.

Just like the vast majority of high school sports in Banija, there are no national championships for high school baseball in Banija- and for travel ball either. This is mostly because the various high school athletic associations simply do not get along with one another, and cannot put down their grievances with one another for long enough to organize a Chromatik style national championship event. No politicians have put this high enough on their priority list to force people into a room to make this happen.

Ages 19+: College Ball and the Minor Leagues

And then, adulthood! Players generally go to college- for any amount of years. Then you go to the draft, get drafted, and get into the minors! From there, it works like basically every other country- get yourself in the minors, and try to grind your way up to the big leagues. Is it easy? Absolutely not. But for those who make the Show- well, it is an experience that simply cannot be beaten.

[Ko-oren]

Vajabusa: "Get us out of this group man"

Only a little bit of news trickles out of the Ko-orenite camp during the World Baseball Classic. That's by design, and the immense pressure the team and the staff are under, so it's nice when a few soundbytes do leave the compound for us, mere mortals, to hear. Pitching coach Vajabusa was very clear ahead of the home series against Solgavden: "Just get us out of this group, man" was one of just a handful of quips from the press conference in Erpuhnur, Sohlatal.

After the highly celebrated 58th campaign - the first Ko-orenite semifinal appearance since WBC 47 - spirits were high and things felt like they finally improved. That's after WBC exits to South Newlandia and Super-Llamaland, national teams that just kept outpacing us, just like their club teams outpaced ours in the LPB. So for us to break through to the final four after defeating Super-Llamaland was cathartic, even if the team ended with two series losses and a fourth place after meeting Cassadaigua and Quebec & Shingoryeo. But still, the 'old' core of players, together with a new generation shaped by playing the best of the best in the LPB showed that the Greenblues could actually go head to head with the multiverse's big teams and don't get embarrassed in the process.

After that, a new coaching staff and a renewed focus on younger players led to an expected early exit in 59. The Kytler Peninsulae eliminated us in the Round of 16.

After that, that same coaching staff and a continued focus on younger players led to an expected early exit in 60. The Kytler Peninsulae eliminated us in the Round of 16.

But that had to be that, right? With two editions of younger - and frankly better - players getting experience, callups for better pitchers ('the end of the pitcher shortage'), back to back first place finishes in the group stage, and that sense of pride and high expectations came back. There was, and very young fans might not know this, huge praise for what the team managed to do in a short while, despite the poor results. The coaching staff's leash has gotten shorter and shorter, and then edition 61 rolled around. Things couldn't get worse with a 15-21 record, the first losing record since WBC 53 (and the second since WBC 40), and the only thing that kept the staff around was the sense that - and you can quote plenty of foreign baseball experts on this as well - this was a grave injustice and the team was far, far better than the record indicated. Anything that could go wrong, went wrong.

That means that no matter what, this staff has to get this group - a group this talented - out of the group stage. At least save us further embarrassment, and then the groups were announced. More meetings with South Newlandia, and sharing a group with Ranoria, Crpostran, and New Montreal States. It was going to be tough enough to get out of the group - but still, the sense that something big was in the air was still there. Surely we've been robbed last Classic, and the two Classics before that were 'necessary damage' in order to get back to something great, right?

However, at 10-11 and an 0-3 series in South Newlandia and we've got the staff sounding anything but competitive. Vajabusa's remark might have been a single moment of weakness, maybe even a quick joke in defiance, but as that's all that the media's had in days, it says a lot. A defeated "Just get us out of here" and much of the work done to inspire some confidence in this team has been undone.

The fans have had this feeling for a while: every home game one is sold out, but games two and three gave us clear empty spots in Katahshi. But that's Katahshi: critical fans that can just turn up to the Generals and Giants if they want to tune into a win. But even Erpubehte, hosting a single game in a baseball-crazy city, has had empty sections. If the fans and the staff aren't believing - who expects the players to?

So far, ticket sales in Sohlatal have been good - and it's a series against bottom feeders Solgavden to boot. But make no mistake: anything other than a 3-0 will plummet our chances at escaping this group as Ranoria and Crpostran both look a little better poised to get a result when needed. At least our rivals for second and third place all play South Newlandia from here on out, and then it's up to us to clean up Ranoria and Crpostran in series 9 and 10.

For all of the work done in the last three years, the 'expected' losses suffered all in anticipation of something better, the selection of players 'for the future' rather than a few win-now picks, the new generation of shutdown pitchers - surely, surely it's not all about to fall apart for us, again? If so, all of the momentum the sport has gained during the LPB era, even becoming the country's dedicated summer sport for a short while, unexpectedly knocking down cricket a bit, is simply gone. The baseball stadiums built in Amahne to finally conquer the most glamorous sports market laying empty. Nobody expected this to be easy - but how incredibly difficult are we making this for ourselves?

[TJUN-ia]

After winning the last 3 series and 8 games out of nine, things were certainly looking good for the Battin' Jaguars of TJUN-ia. Now at 10-8 from 2-7, 2nd in this group from dead last, things have certainly turned around...but for Vojtěch Heyrovský and his coaching staff knew that this next series, this rematch with the Zebras of Zwangzug would be the toughest test of this "revived" squad thus far. Everyone would be gunning for taking something from this series, just avoiding the sweep would be considered "enough" all things considered...but could we do anything here?

TJUN-ia 3-4 Zwangzug
Khamis Ali Makame vs Jennifer McHare would kick off Jaguars vs Zebras II, and this one was certainly interesting, alright. Luke Jaxon took the lead in this no-DH series after a two-run bomb in the 3rd, and for a while, we kept our noses in front...until we were clawed back, slowly but surely, until they took the lead and never looked back. A 4-3 defeat certainly hurt a little bit, but we proved we could fight at the very least.

TJUN-ia 5-4 Zwangzug
A Grand Slam from Mercedes Bentancur would start Mohammad Al-Rayyan vs Justin McReal off so well, that McReal ended up being replaced in the 2nd by Dierdre Woollongong. When Luke Jaxon made it 5-0, we did start to think this was over, but a 4-run inning in the 8th meant that young Jasper Stewart did have to come in to save the day and tie this series up officially. We almost blew this one. Almost.

TJUN-ia 7-5 Zwangzug
Where to even start with Yolande Sirapui vs Samuel Tunduk? It was just a battle to the death. Almost blow by blow, we took a 2-1 lead after the top of the 5th that would end up in a straight up boxing match after the 6th, with each team responding to everything the other could do...almost. In the end, the final inning would end up being the decider - we scored 3, they needed 4 to tie us up...and they could only get 2. Trinity Shelby-Dowora was pumped up just from getting that final out, and why wouldn't she? This "revived" TJUN-ia just beat the #6-ranked team on their turf in a Best-of-3. And damn, that felt good!

So yeah...TJUN-ia is certainly back in this conversation, and with a 3-way tie at the top of this group, it's anyone's ball game from here on out. A double-header at The Diamond in The Gardens of New Washington is next on the agenda...starting with another revenge mission, against The Martian Independent Republic.

TJUN-ia is back. But can we keep this up?
GO BATTIN' JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE
S1: @Srednjaci (72) L 1-2 (5th)
S2: vs Zwangzug (6) - Rounders Field, Portside L 0-3 (6th)
S3: @The Martian Independent Republic (32) L 1-2 (6th)
S4: @Tikariot (11) W 3-0 (6th)
S5: vs Soryeon (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside W 3-0 (3rd)
S6: vs Srednjaci (72) - Rounders Field, Portside W 2-1 (2nd)
S7: @Zwangzug (6) W 2-1 (1st)
S8: vs The Martian Independent Republic (32) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S9: vs Tikariot (11) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S10: @ Soryeon (UR)

[New Montreal States]

ATROCIOUS BASEBALL PLAYED

Reformed Expos currently a dumpster fire within a larger dumpster that is also on fire, owned by a guy who used to bully the current fire marshal back when they were in second grade

EVERYWHERE EVERYPLACE ALL AT ONCE - The Reformed Expos are 1-8, plummeting from relevancy, and desperately writing to Charles Atlas after Ranoria spent three games kicking sand in their faces and stealing their girlfriends.

We're not going to talk about the failures compounding upon failures on the field, because HR doesn't like it when we start drinking this early in the day. We're just going to share some of the lowlights that our spouses, therapists, bartenders, priests and dog groomers wish we would shut up about:

- Ranoria scored 11 runs in an inning

- Étienne Jopard dropped an inning-ended routine fly ball, allowing two runs to score, and explained that it was because "I had a dream where I saw my grandfather and he was disappointed with me but wouldn't tell me"

- 11 runs! In one inning!

- A groundskeeper pulled a knife on Ulysses Angelos over an unpaid $600 canasta debt

- 15 batters! That's five whole innings worth of batters right there!

- Two innings ended with multiple Reformed Expos runners attempting to simultaneously occupy third base. In the same game!

- Barney Jetson, the Space Dinosaur, had 7 RBIs! In one inning!

- Émilien Legros-Dutour had to be pulled from a high-leverage spot after his pants split down the backslide, revealing to the world that he wears rocket-ship boxers

- Early in Ranoria's 11-run inning, Manager Porkpie Rollingford got ejected for getting into an argument with his own first baseman after the latter spilled the team's last bucket of sunflower seeds in a failed attempt to catch a foul ball that landed fifteen feet to the right of where Jules Lamoureux landed

- A copy of a seminary application in Pete McCasson's locker was leaked after he was pulled midway through the 2nd inning of a start

- When answering questions about why he got himself ejected during Ranoria's 11-run inning, Porkpie Rollingford said "the ump was calling a good game so far, and I didn't want to watch this [YOU CAN'T SAY THAT IN A FAMILY NEWSPAPER] anymore"

- André Granby is being sued over an incident involving a fire extinguisher, a hotel breakfast buffet and baseless accusations that another patron was playing trombone down the hall in the wee hours

- 11 runs. What else can you say?

Things may not get better from here, but it's mathematically impossible for them to get worse.

INSIDE: Our 5000-word special essay on whether Milchama are the Eastfield Lodge of the WBC, or the pre-WC64 Audioslavia? It was either write about this or endlessly scream in despair across the office

[Zenic]

"Now, some of you are wondering why I'm doing this instead of Coach Alamilla."

The Diamond Survivors were all seated in the home team locker room in Sabas Andréia Arriola Park a day after the end of their home series against Paradystopia. It had been the worst stretch in this World Baseball Classic as they lost 5 out of their last 6 matches including an 'unacceptable' (per Alamilla's words in private) sweep by their most recent opponent while playing in Zenic. That stretch saw Zenic drop from first place all the way down to fourth place, outside of the top three in Group D that they would need to finish in to even have a shot at the playoffs.

Kuno Erdmann Schwenke volunteered to lead the team meeting this time while Alamilla stood in one corner with a scowl on his face and the rest of the staff in the other corner. "Let's be honest. These last few games were less than desirable and well below the level of talent you all have. That's how I would put it. The skipper? Yeah, I'm pretty sure some laws would be broken if we allowed him to speak after that series." A joke that would normally attract a few chuckles was followed by silence from everyone in the locker room.

"Pitching has been inconsistent: one game we're doing well until we collapse in the end and then another game we're starting horrible before doing well to recover. And the bats have just been asleep: it's honestly a surprise that you've managed to wake up at all in any of these last 5 or 6 games. Fielding has been the lone bright spot as you've been averaging only 1 error every other game so playable balls have resulted in outs or prevented runs. So, it hasn't been all crap."

Before anyone could do or say anything in support, Schwenke continued. "But something has to change. We're going into Andso Mangis, hosting Milchama, and then ending in Drakur. We're living by the seat of our pants and it could cost us everything. We had flashes of brilliance in our first ever WBC before getting knocked out in the group stage. Then, we followed it up with a Quarterfinals run two years ago that helped people realize we're actually good at Baseball. Getting knocked out in the group stage this year could potentially cost us future superstars for the Diamond Survivors by chasing them off as they think 'so last WBC was an outlier, not the future.' And I know everyone on this staff will be damned if that ends up being their legacy." Schwenke pointed to the group as well as Alamilla.

"The question becomes do YOU want that to be your legacy?" He paused as the players began to look at each other and the staff with concerned faces. "You determine the nation's future in Baseball. You decide whether Baseball stays a lowly amateur sport or joins the likes of Futbol or Ice Hockey, heck even TENNIS, as one of the top sports to earn professional respect in the Empire. We can tell you how to win but you're the ones out on the field actually playing the game. We live and die by your play. And right now, you're playing like you're okay with dying."

"You all need to be playing like each of these last 9 games are 'do or die'. Because we can't, or rather shouldn't, be relying on other results going our way in order to make the playoffs again. So, what's it going to be?" Schwenke looked around as the players were at a loss for words or actions. Until Iuri Marcio Quijano stood up amongst the seated crowd. "'Steady and Focused, we shall thrive'. That's our nation's motto that's helped us be around for as long as we have. And so far, we've been pretty steady but not really focused. We promise that that changes today."

The mass of players stood up and were a mixture of applause and cheers as they hyped themselves up. "All right then, let's get to work," Schwenke replied as he walked to the doors and opened them so the team could get to work on righting the ship and reaching the special land of the playoffs for a second straight tournament.

Because if they can do that, they can do anything.

[Zwangzug]

Four runs have been scored with no outs.
Can we win this one? We have our doubts.
McReal hit the shower
after just half an hour
to the fans' boos and derisive shouts.

Seven innings, we stayed off the board.
Few Zebras got hits; no one scored.
But the eighth came around
and we finally found
extra-base hits that proved our reward!

So they brought in Stewart, the teen.
It turned out his slider was keen.
Ellicott swung and missed,
saw our rally desist,
and no further offense was seen.

And now for a quick little jaunt
to Tikariot, where we'll want
to win two or three,
but it's easy to see,
it's not just the houses that haunt.

[Tikariot]

Episode V.2: The Morannon Violin

The Maker

Little is known about the luthier, Declan O'Farragh, himself. No formal training records or guild affiliation. The "Morannon Piece" was the last violin he completed before he closed his workshop, without any reason stated or any record of his whereabouts after. The only mention of O'Farragh after that was in a document that only stated "He worked too long on a single piece," without any further elaboration.

Modern Examination

As so often, internet forums put together patterns and their findings led to the violin finally being studied. When the violin entered controlled custody, it was not treated as an artifact of superstition, but as a problem. The Morannon Conservatory, one of Tikariot's most prestigious music academies, did not take it lightly but assembled a consortium of instrument specialists, medical consultants, and materials analysts were brought in, initially to disprove the pattern.

The working assumption was simple: If the instrument correlates with decline, there must be a mechanism.

Material Analysis

The violin was disassembled only as far as preservation allowed under the very watchful eye of Conservatory specialists, who allowed microscopic sampling of varnish, binding adhesives, and internal sealants.

Findings:

The varnish composition was atypical, but not toxic
Trace organic compounds were present, consistent with historical resin blends
No heavy metals or known irritants in concentrations sufficient to cause harm

It was the wood itself that drew the most attention. It was dense, exceptionally so. Within the limited scope the Conservatory allowed, the materials analysts concluded that the growth rings indicated a tree that had matured slowly under environmental stress, likely in high altitude and with limited nutrients. This resulted in higher-than-average rigidity, lower internal damping and increased resonance efficiency, none of which dangerous, if anything, it all explained the instrument's exceptional tonal projection.

So, the consortium ordered advanced imaging, which revealed some more subtle irregularities:

The internal graduation was asymmetrical, but intentionally so
Reinforcement strips were placed in locations not typical for the period
The soundpost area showed micro-adjustments, as if the maker had repeatedly altered tension beyond standard tolerance

However, there was no consensus on what any of that actually meant in practical terms.

Acoustic Testing

Controlled acoustic environments were used to measure projection, frequency response, and player feedback, and the results were consistent across all players, who were reporting an effortless sustain, immediate response and a remarkable projection of sound even into far corners without losing clarity or strength. All of this is not problematic but actually desirable traits in an instrument.

The Session Protocol

Because no physical hazard was identified, controlled playing sessions were authorized to get direct feedback from musicians.

The consortium imposed strict limitations to ensure no harm would befall the instrumentalists:

Maximum duration: 30 minutes
No repeat sessions
Continuous observation
Immediate post-session reporting

Participants were selected carefully, experienced musicians, psychologically stable, medically cleared, to establish a baseline that would allow the consortium to properly study and interpret the reports.

At first, the sessions appeared uneventful.

Initial Feedback

The first group of players all filed very similar reports, detailing how the instrument ancitipated movement, created a remarkable flow and how it felt that they didn't have to correct as much but rather could follow.

One violinist noted:

“You don’t adjust to it. It adjusts to you faster than you can compensate.”

All sessions ended on time and no adverse effects were recorded.

The Subtle Shift

The lack of findings made the Consortium slightly extend sessions for the second phase, up to 45 minutes. Now, the feedback began to change consistently across the board. Players began to report that they began to get lost in the playing, a reluctance to pause between movements and that they had to consciously remove the bow from the violin rather than there being a natural conclusion.

However, the most consistent effects appeared only after the sessions, not during. Participants reported back to the consortium that they experienced themselves mentally replaying specific phrases, an urge to correct or refine passages that already had been performed perfectly and, for the first time, mild physical tension in the hands and shoulders without fatigue common with overuse. The effects dissipated after a short period.

The Third Phase

Despite internal reservations and long arguments within the consortium, a limited third phase was approved. This time, the participants were allowed to play three sessions over a two-week period. Still within strict time limits and monitored. The phase was terminated early.

The reports began to become conceerning. The participants reported that they felt the urge to continue playing, that they would not play like they used to but as if the violin chose for them. What ultimately led to the termination of the phase, however, was that the physical consequences became more and more pronounced. Inexplicable fatigue, both mentally and physically. Players told the consortium that it started to feel as if the violin fed on them, their strength. They could not describe it, nor mention a particular trigger.

The Decision

Thankfully, no participant suffered lasting harm or measurable injuries. But the pattern, subtle, cumulative, and consistent, was deemed sufficient to halt the program. Permanently.

Current Status

The instrument remains in controlled custody to this day at the Morannon Conservatory. It has not been destroyed or hidden, but it was decided that the violin could not be allowed back in private possession. Students and violinists are allowed to play it, but only under restrictions. Whoever receives a permit may only play it for a short session, under strict supervision. Every session is logged to avoid the same individual returning for repeat sessions.

Part of the logs are notes by those who played it. And they are consistent with findings from the examination. They describe an ease, a flow that they have never experienced with any other instruments. They report that the violin is responsive and feels like it gives them full control over every note. However, many also state that when their time is done, they don't want to stop playing. Not necessarily because they want to continue but that it feels as if the violin makes them.

Unresolved Considerations

The violin has undergone further testing and examinations and there still is no proven mechanism that could link the violin to the decline of its players. No evidence of intent or any indication that the maker designed the violin to cause harm.

However, across the centuries, the investigators confirmed the pattern the internet sleuths had put together, that everybody who engaged with it deeply and committed to playing it did not just play it but, in a way, seemingly became part of it, as if something subtly took a hold of them.

Closing

To this day, Morannon is known as the centre for master luthiers, with nobody really being able to explain why instruments from the city seem to be more precise and more lasting than anywhere else in the nation. The Morannon violin achieved just that. It holds tone, carries sound, endures, but it also consumes. It has been confirmed that it is not in the wood or the varnish, but seemingly in the act of playing it itself. As if the refinement to craft the perfect instrument went beyond the balance between the instrument and the performer, blurring the borders. But when they realized that the line was no longer clear, it already was too late.

[South Newlandia]

Rule of Threes

South Newlandia and Ko-oren is a rivalry that is not contained to merely one sport. The two nations that share a colour scheme could have also had some memorable encounters in cricket or football (although the Ko-orenites surely have good memories of a particular Newlandian-co-hosted football event), but fate has rarely pitted them against each other there. Instead, their memorable encounters have come in two events. On the gridiron, it has been consistently the Dragonflies who have held the upper hand. Despite the memorable moniker of “Feisty Ellies” being coined in response to a strong performance against the four-time World Bowl champions, the Elephants lost even those games. It makes sense -- South Newlandia just isn’t a gridiron powerhouse.

Things have been a little different on the baseball diamond. This is the fourth time the two nations have been grouped together for a Classic, where both teams had played each other close. With a record of 10-8 all-time, the Ellies held a narrow edge. Be that in WBC48, when the fledgling pachyderms made their debut, or WBC56 (hosted by, would you look at that, Chromatika), with the Elephants coming off back-to-back WBC championships, the two sides had played each other close.

That relationship has not been like that in the playoffs, where the Elephants have beaten the Dragonflies in all three encounters, and swept Ko-oren in the last two meetings. That was WBC52 in Chromatika again and WBC56 in Chromatika again again. The Pachyderms advanced to the next round, 3-0, against their Anaian counterparts both times, where they’d notably get eliminated on both occasions.

That’s all to say, these two teams have history, especially whenever Chromatika is involved. That’s not to mention the three seasons all three nations have spent side-by-side sharing a multi-national baseball league. So, I guess it’s also to say, the number three comes up a lot, too.

In this series in the Elephant Stadium, the matchup was in full postseason form, which is to say, things went poorly for the guests. The Pachyderms got to use their best three starters, and unlike the road series, didn’t have to make their pitchers bat, and the team of Franklin Bell got to play from the comfort of leading their group. Despite that, it was the Dragonflies who got to Hailey Clark first in game one, but the Elephants were able to respond in kind against young Southpaw Baihu Sautheidin. After Joseph Mortier brought Ko-oren in front in the second inning, David Wagner (who got the start because Bell wanted more right-handed batters in the lineup) tied it back up with a two-run single in the bottom of the second, and Kevin Barros doubled to take the lead.
Hoku Falozen’s double gave Ko-oren the lead again in the fourth, but once again, the Elephants responded immediately; this time with Sofia Löfgren hitting a go-ahead two-run home run. Our old friend Wally the Win Expectancy Worm was clearly enjoying himself on this day, and he wasn’t done. Ko-oren tied it up again in the fifth, making the score 5-5, and although it took the Elephants a full inning to respond this time, they did so by batting around, plating four runs punctuated by a Kathryn King home run. That made the score 9-5, signalling that the work day was just about complete; the Dragonflies made it interesting in the ninth, getting the tying run on deck, but John Trunkman was able to settle down and lock up the 9-6 Ellie victory; a win by three runs.

Game two started poorly for Toishak Peinoinin when Sofia Löfgren decided she quite enjoyed hitting a two-run home run the previous day and she’d like to do that again in the first. Wolodymyr King pitched a strong game, allowing just two runs in 5.1 innings, and a combination of the bullpen once again pitching well and some scattered run support meant the Elephants picked up this game, too; this time by a score of five to two; also a three-run margin.

Game three ended up being the most interesting one of the bunch. Pachymderm starter Dylan Borges struggled early, while Ko-orenite ace Atsuko Paljizen was looking good on the bump. A Katsuyoshi Kenguzhen home run in the second made it 3-0, before the Elephants had gotten anyone on base.
Borges was able to get the game under control though, and the Ellies slowly got back into the game. After getting on the board in the third, Lio Fischer narrowed things further with an RBI triple, and in the sixth, Veer Murphy was able to tie things up at 3 runs apiece. By now, the bullpens were battling. Gaia Colombo and Tashiro Ishibashi traded flawless seventh innings, and despite Côme Nguyen allowing a bit more traffic, she and Eduvixe Pazos didn’t allow a run to score, either. That brought the game to the ninth, where the Elephants did not have John Trunkman available. The South Newlandian would usually be called on in this spot, but he’d pitched in each of the previous two games.

So far, this Classic, an emerging theme for the Ellies has been strong performances in games one and two, and then allowing their opponents to get one back in game three. Without Trunkman available, Franklin Bell gave the ball to Roger Weiß, who delivered. The Dragonflies opted for Vide Anabuki in response, facing the bottom of the South Newlandian lineup. Raffaele Pohl led off with a flyout, but Lio Fischer’s double got the Elephants the winning run in scoring position. Ko-orenite manager Kenichi Honda opted to intentionally walk nine-hole hitter Theo Möller, an understandable decision to get the double play set up. It didn’t work. Kevin Barros, who has generally not had a great Classic so far, made everyone forget about that by getting ahead in the count and then crushing a walk-off three-run shot to left. That secured a 6-3 win, another three-run margin, and the series sweep for South Newlandia, who remain perched atop Group B five games ahead of their next opponents -- cuddle friends Ranoria.

[Kamijiro]

Diamond IX, Vol. IV, Part V: Big In Japan

The harsh reality of Kamijiro is that it is a country that has no true identity. While each individual Department makes up a square in the cultural quilt, you'd be hardpressed to say that any of those squares really overlap outside of the obvious ones - Jirinho and Chamonix share French as a language (though Jirinho technically falls under Miraisaki's jurisdiction) and Jirō Island is a bit more relaxed in terms of the ethnicities that share it (as opposed to most other departments, there's no one dominant ethnicity and no official language).

Of course, this leads to issues of cultural exchange. What's acceptable in Miraisaki isn't acceptable in Chamonix, isn't acceptable in St. Jerome and is sometimes acceptable in Nieuw Volendam, but only on the weekends. Because of this, there's an intense distrust between the businesses and Departmental governments of each individual Department. The people are generally pretty "whatever" about everything, as seen by the fact that the Diamond IX are made up of players from every Department within the country.

One of the phrases most often cited as being a Miraisaki staple of mindset is: "できるうちに、" which roughly translates to "while you still can." The reason for this is that Miraisaki culture is very fast-paced - things won't stick around long, so if you want to do something, do it. If you want to buy something, buy it. If you want to have something, take it. Then there's the opposite in Jirō Island: "C'è tempo per cazzeggiare," which translates roughly to "there's time to fuck around."

Unfortunately, the Diamond IX decided to go with Option B versus The Batavia - it was clearly time to fuck around. Getting blanked by a team below .500 is never a good sign for a game one, even if it is an away game. The Kamijiroan bats simply fell asleep and the pitching staff got no help despite only giving up three runs total. Then in game two, the run support came back, but a poor pitching performance from starter Clarence Bartley saw them go down a 5-0 hole in the top of the third before he got yanked in the fifth following giving up his sixth earned run. A rally late on fell short, with two on being left stranded by a pair of back-to-back strikeouts from the Phaëthon twins. The Diamond IX cleaned it up in game three, but the damage was done and Banija opened up a three-game lead for group lead.

In other news, Atsuji and the Narakugai guys have stopped showing up to practice, citing safety concerns caused by the sheer number of people showing up to try to get autographs.

"All it takes is one guy pretending." Atsuji said.

The team is trying to find alternative arrangements. In the meantime, the three of them have taken up residence at Lucian's manor outside of Croydon, which has enough fencing and hedges to prevent any would-be intruders from getting near to them while they practice on his lawn. Lucian's taken to pranking the three of them, though. With those three still scared shitless about the whole "that guy might be an actual honest-to-God vampire" thing, he's taken full advantage by pretending to be Dracula (also known as wearing a cape) and speaking in that thick accent that's stereotypically vampire-y. This is, without a doubt, the first time they've ever seen Lucian actually trying to be funny. It's bizarre to them, but apparently perfectly in character to those he spends time with in the off-season.

The rest of the team still practices at the field on Jirō Island, with Adélaïde Mignault pitching her first ever 98-mph pitch (she's convinced she'll be the first woman to ever hit 100). Joaquim and Devyn's plans to strike it rich with Devyn's dispensary are still ongoing. The Phaëthon twins are still bickering every day but they both swear it's from a place of love. The team chemistry is still clicking on like nobody's business, it's really just a question as to whether or not they'll end up winning anything during this era of the Kamijiroan Diamond IX - they think it's possible. But not if they play like they just did against The Batavia.

[Milchama]

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

Team Needs for MBL and How do we Deal with the end of LPB?

So while we've talked about it on a national team level about the end of the LPB, we now have reached our first domestic offseason without a LPB which means, of course, many more free agents and people looking to change teams. It also means that players who would have looked to the LPB first before moving to the MBL are now looking to the MBL (or maybe even the MLB) for spots and games leading to real questions from the clubs. Banija pushed but Milchama readily agreed that they wanted the MBL to be international and not just based in their nationalities. For example, there is no limit on the number of foreigners in a team, in a game, etc. The idea was that the sport was already popular and so to limit competition is much worse than the alternative of getting the best baseballers (baseballists?) into the league.

That leaves all the teams in a conundrum, what to do about your lineup? Do you try to sign South Newlandians? Do you go for the other stars of the LPB? Or do you stick with what you have and assume it's good enough? Do you even have the money or ability to do that? Let's look at what each team needs and work from there.

Alexandria Ships - We'll start with the runner ups, the Ships. They were lucky to make the playoffs winning an incredible one game playoff over the Phalanx and that comes down more to hitting than pitching. So they probably want another hitter but it's hard to say who because everybody really stepped up in the playoffs for the most part so who is the person they want to throw overboard? Some are saying 2nd baseman Hayden Flartoonik and the repromoted Karakorum Horses have shown interest so look for that potentially to go down, the other option might be centerfield but we'll see if that happens also.

Alexandria Commies - Marius McNeesh is retiring from all competitive baseball as one of the best Milchamian players of all time which means that the Commies now have a first base job open. They have openly said they want Tal Ted from the Forts to come over but Ted, despite growing up in Alexandria, has become a big fan of living in Tel Chittor and has said he wants to remain. That means the Commies get to go shopping for what has been, historically, their most glamorous from McNeesh to legendary players during the Isolation like Etay Quackamarn and Zahav Flairley. There is a Commies loan player in Kesem Aviram who was playing in the MLB with the New Troy Walls but the Commies seem to want a more experienced option. They are looking at several teams first baseman from the LPB but expect more later as they go from "kicking the tires" to "actually trying to sign some guys"

New Sparta Phalanx - The Itay Gashka era has come upon us as the always cuspy player Gashka has broken through to become the starter for the Phalanx which gives them an extra bat in Eitan Gomez who they plan on trading for pitching depth. 3rd and 4th starters Jean Levi and Sarah Goldberg were disappointing last year and were a major reason why the Phalanx were in a playoff to begin with. The Phalanx want either some young guns or nations known for pitching like Liventia. The first base market looks extremely interesting this year with the high performance teams so look for a lot of new first baseman across the entire Milchamian half of the league.

Tel Chittor Forts - The Forts face a major decision this year, after breaking all the records last year with a ridiculous 124 wins, the Forts were always going to regress, it was not expected that they would regress to out of the playoffs which makes this year a make or break year for them. Do you run it back with mostly the same group of players who won two straight Magen Ikhakas in a row or do you attempt to refresh to keep going? The big thing the Forts need is pitching depth, both Gideon Wainwright and Neta Rothsens, old Warriors standouts, have retired meaning they need two back of the rotation starters. In addition, they seem to be looking to a third baseman with incumbent Heraldry Barker looking to make moves to another team. Prospect Hannah Honnenun is knocking at the door and the Forts do prefer to promote from within. There's a lot of uncertainty in Tel Chittor these days so expect a lot of moves from the Forts.

Karakorum Mongols - The other Karakorum team. The Mongols had a surprisingly good year last year to finish for the first time in their history in the top division. The team is looking to kick on and mostly needs help on the pitching side. However, with so many good first baseman available, they are trying to swing a trade for Eitan Gomez from the Phalanx and are looking to improve basically the entire bullpen. It's a tough road for the Mongols but expect them to look to Banija in particular to fill their holes as they seem to like something about the Banijan style of play.

New Babylon Pirates - Pirates fans are in revolt, the Erez Goldman signing has basically been a bust since they have not built a team around him. That led to the GM, President of Baseball Operations, and manager being fired. The Pirates fans also managed to call for early elections for the board and a reform slate of candidates won, promising two things: 1. more free agent signings and 2. building a better infield. Second baseman Sayed al-Bayer and third baseman Hershel Valk have already been told they will not have guaranteed starting jobs next year and to look for new teams. Elise Helfand has been hitting the weight room to bring up her power so that she can improve her average and even Goldman was told that he was expected to work on his fielding. The Pirates are also looking at new corner outfielders from the LPB in particular to improve. The new board explicitly said that they want to "win the offseason" at a bear minimum so expect a lot of changes in New Babylon.

Akkad Libraries - Lucky to survive with a worse run difference than the newly demoted Pioneers, the Libraries need help in a lot of areas. However, since Akkad is generally not considered a great city to live in, at least by Milchamian standards, the Libraries are looking at loanies, youngsters, 2nd division standouts, and 2nd tier foreigners to improve their roster. Only the NTers and Quebecois import ace Hong Seok Joh are guaranteed starting jobs next year and the Libraries have already said they are open to trading all star closer Taylor Tailor for better just about anything else. They know they were lucky last year and GM Grover Hok said that he expects to be better next year or else the Libraries will probably be relegated. They have managed, just barely, to survive this long, let's see if the Libraries can do it another year.

Karakorum Horses - Now a yo yo team, the Horses want to stick around and their main way of doing so is to attempt to raid, in true Mongol fashion, the other recently relegated team in New Ashur. While New Ashur was unlucky to go down, they do still have 3 Zwangzugian internationals as well as a very good Quebecois player, the Horses will attempt to get most, if not all, of those players from New Ashur as a result of relegation. Additionally, the Horses are looking at getting some blocked prospects to help them out. Karakorum have already signed Tel Morlin standout Tali Hollands to be the new shortstop and is close to getting Hershel Valk from the Pirates as well. The Horses will not be shopping for the stars but they are looking at an improved bullpen, a new left side of the infield, and some hopeful improvement, especially from rightfielder Itay Gaviron will give them enough to avoid the continuous bounce.

So what are the big things to note?
1. Bullpens everywhere need improvement
2. First base is going to look interesting as a lot of teams are transitioning between first baseman, look for a lot of new blood in those positions.
3. New Babylon is going to act drunk which is going to affect a lot of other teams.
4. A lot of teams, much more so than last year, are looking to make moves and the demise of the LPB is going to mean more teams looking for more people. Not sure what that will mean overall but it won't be great for the teams who don't normally get star players.

This is definitely going to be a hot stove this year! Bring it on.

[Chromatika]

Chromatika will host its first major tournament since the translation to the pocket plane/dimension when the World Baseball Classic makes its return to Chromatika after the Group Stage. Thirteen venues have been selected for this event, and though the teams that used to call those venues home don't all play in the reformed league any longer, the stadia remain in working condition for the teams to use.

The Round of Sixteen will take place in eight cities: Sanar (Vipers' Den), Lanar (The Range) Knetyohai (KnetyoDome), Shantarr (The Sting), Hanai (The Headquarters), Felswyr (Field of Flames), Larhai (Field of Legends), and Rhoni (The Barracks). The Quarterfinals will be played at Myana (Merfolks Moor) and Urrheddiao (Knight's Tale), the two cities getting two series apiece. The winners will then head to Chromia, where the Field of Comets and the Diamonds in the Rough will host the Semifinals, with the Championship Series being held at National Stadium.

With baseball starting to make a resurgence in the country, the amount of money that had to be spent to make sure that these stadia are ready to host World Baseball Classic series have been in the hundreds of millions of NMS. Thankfully, the Chromatik Sporting Commission received lots of major donations for this endeavor, and even the Chromatik government seemed to be more on board than not when it was mentioned that the stadia would also serve as community centers and disaster relief coordination centers going forward, especially in smaller cities where such kinds of infrastructure isn't readily available.

As the Yesopalithan magicians continue to pour in their magic into the pocket plane/dimension, Chromatika is starting to look and feel a lot more like it used to - weather is starting to occur, the water being poured beyond the edge of land is starting to resemble more of an ocean, and things look like they are looking up. There have also been talk about what it would cost for Chromatika to remain in this pocket plane/dimension instead of being shifted again, but that isn't a decision that they've had to seriously consider, yet.

Instead, life goes on - the eastern half of Myana Island rebuilt except for the scarred memories of the populace, the people from the translation still missing in the ether, and a country filled with the understanding that they don't really have a tie on anywhere else right now, and the only reason why they have a lifeline in the previous world at all is the fact that a permanent gate spell links Freedom's Altar and Chromia.

When faced with such realities, sports are a lifesaver - and one of the best things that Chromatika realized from the very beginning was this very fact. Every NMS spent to renovate or further sports is a NMS spent on the Chromatik populace - and such ventures will never result in total failure as long as the people's lives are emboldened.

[Loyo]

Pordazi Passes Torch to Young Closer from National Pantheon

Kuma Pordazi, longtime closer for Saint Yoosan’s and national team mainstay (WBC 57 - WBC 61) finally passed the torch to a new star. Eris Pandovska met Pordazi at a Marble Hill Radicals game before Peter Ajoba released his call-ups. National team media officials reported that the two discussed challenges in the national team’s performances in tense moments, with Pordazi specifically recalling giving up four runs in a 10th inning, 2-6 defeat to Banija in the WBC 60 group stage.

Pordazi was insistent with the decision to move forward with Pandovska, appealing to former manager Chase Min-Son on her behalf before WBC 61 selection. While Min-Son did not select her, Pordazi was successful in convincing Peter Ajoba to make the decision before WBC 62. “When I saw the intensity… It reminded me of my pitching coach, John Leung. Great control and composure," said Ajoba, who accompanied Pordazi to a game between the Pantheon and Baek-Hyeonic church. "It’s something of an art to watch her close out a game.” Pordazi also praised Dai Gracie, the National Pantheon pitching coach. “I don’t know how she’s able to maintain sanity in that place, but she’s done an excellent job in developing that team’s pitching. Straight up and down the organization.”

National Pantheon has also provided the national team with offensive talent, the most well-known and prolific being designated hitter Nika Vulkae and 1st baseman Jose Crowman. The church is known for its massive cathedral/baseball stadium, which dominates the skyline in Baisu City, a relatively young city that has been struggling with economic hardship in recent years, as young workers are leaving the city for the opportunity in nearby Sayosona.

Loyo's pitching lineup has changed dramatically, with many longtime starters retiring at the end of Loyo's disappointing showing in WBC 61. "It was time for new blood, at every level," said 1st base coach Jimi Fiazzo, who retired from the national team after WBC 60. "As a sunshine tiger, you play until you give out. When you give out, you guide those that come next."

Retired Pitchers from WBC 60

SPs: Seung Hawoo, Kyla Maccz, Amon Zao
RPs: Falco Wissan, Ari Mun
CP: Kuma Pordazi

Series 8 Starting Lineup: @ Equestria
Tea Huishan, 1B is out with an arm strain until Series 9 @ Haltoria.
Players without L/R are switch hitters

SS: #6 Rosa Stadler, L, 29
CF: #41 Zhao Shuchun, 26
LF: #29 Jenna Albardoux, R, 31
DH: #23 Mago Gold, L, 22
1B: #44 Rocky Troyani, R, 27
3B: #24 Aden Colosi, R, 27
RF: #15 Zaida Moraviza, R, 24
2B: #50 Xinyi Tang, R, 30
C: #33 Jackson Free, R, 27
(PITCHER SPOT for non-DH games)

SP Game 1: #5 Chang Guangda, R
SP Game 2: #7 Rei Uno, R
SP Game 3: #16 Emre Conversos, R

[Dhemixia]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Columbus Dominion(Est.1873)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandra Graham and the Outbox drive-thru

Schedule:

Series 1: vs. Nusandara W 2-1
Series 2: @ Liventia L 1-2
Series 3: vs. Abanhfleft W 3-0
Series 4: @ Chromatika W 2-1
Series 5: vs. Drawkland L 1-2
Series 6: @ Nusandara W 2-1
Series 7: vs. Liventia L 1-2
Series 8: @ Abanhfleft
Series 9: vs. Chromatika
Series 10: @ Drawkland

If you have both functional arms and a pulse, the Dhemixian NT could be your next career! No, really. The Serpents are truly scraping the barrel at this point. This is the best baseball talent Dhemixia has to offer, all on one field, and the bullpen is too caught up in playing charades to actually not let up 5 runs in a tie game in the ninth. More specifically, Alexandra Graham cannot resist blowing a save in every opportunity she gets. This is the third time this tournament it's happened, and with how much she did it in LPB, I'm honestly surprised she hasn't retired yet. Good news for her, though, the Outbox outside Brigantine Park is hiring.

The good news for the Serps: at least it wasn't a sweep. They still haven't been swept entering the Abanhfleft series (practically punching wood), and yet the Dhemixians sit on the outside looking in. The fifteen-inning thriller in game two secured the second series win for the Liventians and moved them up to second, knocking the Serpents below Chromatika in fourth before they'd claw game three back to crawl within one game of third. Arguably the funnier part about that, they were losing at the stretch of game three and had to rally to end up winning by 3. The whole series, Dhemixia only led for a cumulative 8.5 innings of the 32.5 that were played. Despite being only eight spots higher in the multiversal rankings, Liventia was just dominant in both series.

Up next, the Serpents are at Abanhfleft, but the out-of-town scoreboard will be a lot more important. Chromatika's at Liventia, meaning neither team can hold their lead over the Serps while the other does. That is, if the Dhemixians even win the series. Last time it was a sweep, but the whole landscape of the series could have changed drastically had game one fallen the other way. Terry Hjalmarsson delivered a generationally aura-filled game-tying homer to send it to extras before St. James sent the fans home in the eleventh, but the Serps were down to their last out in the ninth until the two runners got on to set the stage for Hjalmarsson. Abanhfleft is clearly capable of beating the Serpents, especially at their place, meaning Neil McCarthy absolutely needs every win he can get in this series. The last two are Chromatika at home and then Drawkland away, the latter of which is a sweep, so this is really their last chance at a massive jump.

If the Dhemixians want their first group stage escape since WBC 59, the time to act is now.

[Chromatika]

Cutoff for Series 8. Time is starting to run out!

---

Blue teams have won the group
Green teams have qualified for the playoffs
Red teams have been eliminated

Group A

Game 1
Haltoria                                    0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2
Eshialand                                   0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 X  5

Natkr                                       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Quebec and Shingoryeo                       0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 X  4

Loyo                                        0 1 4 1 1 0 0 0 0  7
Equestria                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2
Game 2
Haltoria                                    1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Eshialand                                   0 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 X  5

Natkr                                       0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0  4
Quebec and Shingoryeo                       3 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 X 10

Loyo                                        0 0 0 3 3 2 0 0 0  8
Equestria                                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Game 3
Haltoria                                    1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Eshialand                                   1 0 3 0 0 1 1 2 X  8

Natkr                                       0 0 0 2 1 0 2 2 0  7
Quebec and Shingoryeo                       3 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0  6

Loyo                                        0 1 0 0 1 3 2 0 0  7
Equestria                                   0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Group A                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Quebec and Shingoryeo   24   18   6   166   84  +82
2 Eshialand               24   17   7   124  101  +23
3 Loyo                    24   13  11   132  120  +12
4 Equestria               24    9  15    99  145  −46
5 Haltoria                24    9  15    88  121  −33
6 Natkr                   24    6  18    94  132  −38

Group B

Game 1
Solgavden                                   0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0  4
Ko-oren                                     0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 4  7

South Newlandia                             2 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 0  9
Ranoria                                     0 0 1 0 0 1 4 5 X 11

New Montreal States                         0 4 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 10
Crpostran                                   0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  5
Game 2
Solgavden                                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Ko-oren                                     0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 X  5

South Newlandia                             2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  4
Ranoria                                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

New Montreal States                         1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0  5
Crpostran                                   1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Game 3
Solgavden                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Ko-oren                                     0 0 3 0 0 2 0 1 X  6

South Newlandia                             0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0  3
Ranoria                                     0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 X  5

New Montreal States                         0 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 0  7
Crpostran                                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0  4

Group B                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 South Newlandia        24   18   6   134   81  +53
2 Ranoria                24   14  10   118   99  +19
3 Ko-oren                24   13  11   127  110  +17
4 New Montreal States    24   12  12   112  124  −12
5 Crpostran              24   10  14   122  141  −19
6 Solgavden              24    5  19   104  162  −58

Group C

Game 1
The Martian Independent Republic            0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0  5
TJUN-ia                                     0 0 2 0 2 0 0 4 X  8

Zwangzug                                    2 2 0 1 4 0 0 3 0 12
Tikariot                                    1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  3

Srednjaci                                   2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  4
Soryeon                                     0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  3
Game 2
The Martian Independent Republic            0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
TJUN-ia                                     1 1 0 0 3 1 1 0 X  7

Zwangzug                                    0 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 1  8
Tikariot                                    0 1 0 0 2 0 0 6 X  9

Srednjaci                                   0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 1  6
Soryeon                                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Game 3
The Martian Independent Republic            0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0  5
TJUN-ia                                     5 0 1 7 1 1 1 0 X 16

Zwangzug                                    2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Tikariot                                    2 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 X  8

Srednjaci                                   2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  5
Soryeon                                     0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Group C                             Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 TJUN-ia                            24   15   9   128  100  +28
2 Tikariot                           24   14  10   113   91  +22
3 Zwangzug                           24   13  11   129  109  +20
4 Srednjaci                          24   12  12    96   98   −2
5 Soryeon                            24   11  13    81  102  −21
6 The Martian Independent Republic   24    7  17   102  149  −47

Group D

Game 1
Zenic                                       0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 1 0  6
Andso Mangis                                1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 1  7

The Kytler Peninsulae                       0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  4
Drakur                                      0 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 X  6

Milchama                                    0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  6
Paradystopia                                0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Game 2
Zenic                                       0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 2  6
Andso Mangis                                1 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 X  7

The Kytler Peninsulae                       0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1  5
Drakur                                      0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2

Milchama                                    0 0 7 0 0 1 1 0 0  9
Paradystopia                                0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0  5
Game 3
Zenic                                       0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0  7
Andso Mangis                                2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  6

The Kytler Peninsulae                       0 2 2 1 0 0 0 3 1  9
Drakur                                      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Milchama                                    1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 3  8
Paradystopia                                1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0  5

Group D                  Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 The Kytler Peninsulae   24   17   7   131   87  +44
2 Milchama                24   16   8   152   82  +70
3 Paradystopia            24   12  12   107  116   −9
4 Zenic                   24   12  12   115  109   +6
5 Andso Mangis            24    8  16    99  148  −49
6 Drakur                  24    7  17    72  134  −62

Group E - Series involving Chromatika was scored by Zwangzug

Game 1
Dhemixia                                    0 0 0 0 3 2 1 3 0  9
Abanhfleft                                  1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1  4

Nusandara                                   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Drawkland                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 X  3

Chromatika                                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0  3
Liventia                                    0 0 2 2 0 1 2 1 X  8
Game 2
Dhemixia                                    1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 1  7
Abanhfleft                                  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  3

Nusandara                                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Drawkland                                   1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 X  5

Chromatika                                  3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Liventia                                    2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  4
Game 3
Dhemixia                                    0 0 2 0 0 4 0 2 0  8
Abanhfleft                                  0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2  4

Nusandara                                   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Drawkland                                   0 3 1 1 1 2 0 0 X  8

Chromatika                                  1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  4
Liventia                                    1 0 0 2 0 2 3 0 X  8

Group E                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Drawkland              24   17   7   133   84  +49
2 Liventia               24   16   8   116  112   +4
3 Dhemixia               24   15   9   151  120  +31
4 Chromatika             24   13  11   124  117   +7
5 Nusandara              24    8  16    97  127  −30
6 Abanhfleft             24    3  21    87  148  −61

Group F

Game 1
Kamijiro                                    1 2 1 2 0 0 5 0 0 11
United States of Devonta                    1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Valentine Z                                 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
The Authority of the Underwater Cities      1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2  7

Banija                                      0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Batavia                                 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Game 2
Kamijiro                                    2 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 1  7
United States of Devonta                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

Valentine Z                                 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0  4
The Authority of the Underwater Cities      3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 X  6

Banija                                      1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 0  6
The Batavia                                 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Game 3
Kamijiro                                    1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  4
United States of Devonta                    0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0  3

Valentine Z                                 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Authority of the Underwater Cities      0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 X  4

Banija                                      4 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 3 11
The Batavia                                 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3  6

Group F                                   Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Banija                                   24   22   2   157   67  +90
2 Kamijiro                                 24   19   5   147   77  +70
3 The Batavia                              24    9  15   126  148  −22
4 The Authority of the Underwater Cities   24    8  16    92  148  −56
5 Valentine Z                              24    8  16   125  132   −7
6 United States of Devonta                 24    6  18    89  164  −75

Current Third Place Table (Top four to playoffs):

E3 Dhemixia                24   15   9   151  120  +31
C3 Zwangzug                24   13  11   129  109  +20
B3 Ko-oren                 24   13  11   127  110  +17
A3 Loyo                    24   13  11   132  120  +12
D3 Paradystopia            24   12  12   107  116   −9
F3 The Batavia             24    9  15   126  148  −22

[Drawkland]

7,000

History of the Hit Record - The Contender - Glenn and Gelia - The New Fire - Shooting For 6 - Vow Renewal - Chasing .400 - A Pleasant Surprise - Jamming the Blues - Lingering Questions - Oh Brother - Beach Bums - Bargaining with Bellator - The Corps Trio

Brian Morton kept his promise. Not that it was a true promise, Lane Kavana merely hoped it was. He felt almost boyish to be celebrating his plan coming to fruition, but it was hard not to feel happy about his perceived best-case scenario remaining a real possibility. Lane had received a contract offer from the Bellator Cavaliers, his old team, and assurances from the manager Jerry Pearson that he could get ‘consistent’ playing time. It was still unclear just how consistent that playing time would be.

Lane did feel a little bad about depending on nostalgia to get him into a good situation. The Cavaliers would be more willing to give him more chances, in theory. He could reasonably reach Titus Kash’s record with an every-other-day starting schedule, but he didn’t just want to reach that record. He wanted to be the founder of a club that may never have another member. He needed nearly everyday playing time to make that happen.

The good thing about Bellator was the familiarity. Beyond the longer leash Lane expected to get, the field itself was advantageous. The Cavaliers played at the Bellator Batting Grounds, an old but well-kept venue that served as a home to both baseball and cricket. Both sports were played on the same pitch with few modifications, which meant the outfield was oblong and spacious. Lane loved this back when he was a younger player with boundless speed. The gaps were huge, making doubles and triples common possibilities. While home runs became more difficult to the alleys or dead center, there was a twenty-foot stretch from each foul pole that served as a sort of short porch for parking pushed or pulled line drives as homers. It was by far the park where Lane had played the most, and that was part of the reason he’d had so much success in his career.


[Silvy]

There was one issue with Bellator. Lane wasn’t worried about the team’s playoff expectations. He wasn’t even considering the potential for his own failure. He had a mission, and as he felt at the end of the season with the Hammerheads, he knew he would stop at nothing to achieve it. The real issue was the talent elsewhere on the roster. Lane was glad to be on a DL team who had the DH at their disposal … unfortunately the Cavaliers really already had a guy who was content to be a nearly full-time DH.

Lane wished that the World Baseball Classic happened that offseason. There was the second Eight Nations Shield to enjoy, but that Base Corps roster was smaller and didn’t have the players Lane wanted to talk to. That’s all Lane really wanted – a chance to speak with the two members of the Cavaliers lineup who also spent time with the Base Corps. A way to smooth things over and make sure there was no ill will.

Though Lane still felt optimistic as he arrived in Cemmendy for that season’s spring training, there was an air of trepidation as he entered the Cavaliers facility. It wasn’t dissimilar to how he felt at the Base Corps training camp ahead of WBC 57, when Lane was waiting to see if a specific man would be appearing. That man was Tyler Silvanus.

The two-way star had butted heads with Lane at that very Corps camp. At the time Silvanus was a transcendent hitting and pitching sensation and had just secured his name as one of the PBL’s best hitters in recent memory. Silvanus believed that the older Lane was attempting to make some run at him, since Lane had won DL MVP in a season where many believed the award should’ve gone to Silvanus. There was a tense engagement at batting practice, but manager Glenn Sutton had a talk with both players to ensure that intentions were known and priorities aligned.

Both players were more civil after that talk, and breaking the Round of 16 curse that same tournament went a long way to creating good vibes around the Base Corps team. This was a different situation, though. Lane was stepping onto Silvanus’s turf, coming to his domestic team wanting DH starts when Silvanus normally occupied that spot. There was a potential for their heads to butt once again.


[Neighbors]

Whether by accident, optimistic ignorance, or deliberate pot-stirring, Lane walked into the locker room at the Cavalier spring training facility and noticed that his locker was placed right next to Tyler Silvanus. The two-way player normally had his locker located at the spot directly in between position players and pitchers. It just so happened that Lane’s locker was directly adjacent on the position player side. Lane’s other neighbor happened to be Alex Gates. He wondered if their status as national teamers together had something to do with that placement.

Silvanus wasn’t there when Lane arrived, though. It looked like the locker was already in use, but the titan himself was nowhere to be found. Lane dropped his equipment bag down and started unloading it. He still had some pieces and trinkets from his days on the Cavaliers long ago. Most likely none of them would be used since newer pads, guards, and gloves were available, but he figured it could bring some good energy for the season.

“Ah!” A voice rang out while Lane stowed away a few bats. “The old man has finally arrived to try and pull rank!”

“Morning, kid.” Lane chuckled, turning to see Tyler Silvanus approach. “Looks like the old man was up and at ‘em earlier than you.”

“Think again.” Silvanus lifted his hand, which was holding his pitching glove. “Early morning bullpen.”

“Got me.” Lane replied. He examined Silvanus’s face. There was no smile, but was there a hint of mirth in his gaze? “I would’ve expected you to be in the cages.”

“I think my swing’s in a good spot. Routine maintenance doesn’t require as much tinker time. Don’t want to overthink things when you’re the best hitter in baseball.”

“Best hitter in baseball worried about a supposedly washed old man using tenure to steal his position?” Lane said, raising a brow.

“There’s nothing I need to worry about.”

“You’re the one who said something about pulling rank.”

“I said ‘trying’ to pull rank,” Silvanus corrected. “It’s called ridicule. You being pathetic has nothing to do with me.”

“Me personally, I’m terrified of losing my job.” Alex Gates suddenly chimed in from Lane’s left. Neither Lane nor Silvanus had noticed Gates arriving a few moments earlier. “A switch hitter who can only sprinkle singles and foul pole wraparound homers? My job in the lineup is absolutely getting stolen.”

“My bad.” Lane laughed. The tension was muted immediately. A little self deprecation never hurts. “Don’t forget the occasional double down the line!”

“Exactly. I’m the only one here who hits the ball like a real man.” Silvanus stretched, not-so-subtly curling his arms to pop his biceps a bit. If he was any bigger he’d probably be able to play linebacker. “My employment status has never been safer.”

“There’s a bit of gas left in the tank, kid.” Lane scoffed. “We’ll see who’s laughing by the All-Star Break!”


[Mindset]

There was still an air of competition between Lane and Silvanus, but it wasn’t one of toxicity. Silvanus was pretty clearly hitting well enough to be the nearly-every-day designated hitter, but he took full advantage of the rest days granted by the manager following each of his pitching starts. In the early season, every time Silvanus wasn’t the starting DH, it was certainly Lane instead. While Silvanus wasn’t actually worried about losing the consistent DH appearances, he did feel a certain drive to make sure he was never lagging behind Lane in offensive production, just for good optics.

It turned out to be easier said than done for Silvy. Lane also felt the spirit of competition. Every time Silvanus went out and had a good at-bat, Lane was enticed to follow that with an even better AB. Gates joined in on the friendly rivalry. The trio of Base Corps stars often hit 2-3-4 or 3-4-5 in the Bellator lineup. It looked like Lane’s tear at the end of his Akkor Beach season wasn’t just a fluke. He wasn’t exactly batting .400 now, but it was still in the upper 300s. At that point it would be stupid to not have him in the starting lineup. At most Lane was getting one rest day a week.

Obviously Silvanus smoked both Lane and Gates in the slugging department. Lane hadn’t heard this many “weight room!” comments since his high school teammates were chastising each other’s lack of power. This came to a head partway through a second-month homestand in Bellator, in a game where Lane had two hits bounce off the top of the outfield wall for an eventual double rather than landing as home runs.

“That’s the second time in a row you’ve missed a homer!” Silvanus teased once Lane trotted into the dugout at the conclusion of the inning. Lane had been stranded at second base. “A solo shot would’ve provided some helpful run support.”

“Nah, we’re fine.” Lane chuckled as he stowed his helmet and sliding glove in his dugout cubby hole. “You’ll just bail us out with a three-run jack in a couple innings. Besides, I actually prefer a good double.”

“You’d rather hit a double than a homer?” Silvanus scoffed, following Lane as the veteran moved to grab his glove from the bench.

“Oh yeah. Doubles require more skill.” Lane put on his glove, squeezing it closed a couple times out of habit. “Homers are boring. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have real defense to play.”

“That man ain’t right,” Silvanus muttered as Lane jogged up the dugout steps and out towards left field. For some reason, that statement stuck in his head.

After the subsequent scoreless frame sent the Cavaliers back to the dugout for the bottom of the inning, Silvanus couldn’t help but bring it up to somebody else. “Yeah, he said they’re boring. What kind of freak would think that?”

“I’ve heard him talk about that before.” Alex Gates replied, unbothered. “He’s really into the batter vs pitcher matchup thing. He thinks it’s more of an ‘own’ to hit a double instead.”

“That’s dumb. It makes no sense. What pitcher doesn’t hate getting taken deep?”

“They all hate it. I’m sure you do too.” Lane suddenly appeared from behind the pair, stepping up to the bench on the rail alongside Silvanus. “But I personally like the double better. It’s more exciting. More challenging. Gets your blood pumping, adds more excitement than a regular single. There’s stakes in the play, the defense has to try and make a throw, there’s anticipation for making the run. It’s a better expression of skill on all sides of the diamond.”

“Wouldn’t a triple be better then?” Gates asked curiously. “It’s like a double but with even more intrigue, by that logic.”

“Nah.” Lane shook his head dismissively. “Too much luck involved for a triple. You either have to hit it in the perfect spot or rely on a minor defensive error that doesn’t get recorded as one. You do have to have speed and good decision-making to make it work, but it hardly reflects on your skill as a hitter.”

“I still don’t get this crackhead logic.” Silvanus shook his head visually. “A homer is pure skill. You just got the best possible result against the pitcher.”

“Not really.” Lane disagreed immediately. “A vast majority of home runs come off mistake pitches. That’s not a pitcher’s true skill. Most of the time they’ll admit it was their fault, and the hitter was just taking advantage of the lack of challenge. It’s still good to punish mistakes, but again, that’s not a true expression of your batting prowess.”

“You’re insane.”

“Am I though? Walk with me here,” Lane continued, unperturbed by Silvanus’s bewilderment. “Anybody can run into homers nowadays. All you Three True Outcome guys know how to do is swing for the rings and hope the ball is an obliteratable spot. That’s not really impressive in the grand scheme of things, and you pretty much have to rely on mistakes or weaker stuff. What truly angers a pitcher is when they throw their best stuff against you and you still manage to drive it into the gap. It shows a mastery of the craft. More skilled than a fluke single, less lucky than a big hack homer. Only the truly elite hitters can do this.”

“A true philosopher king …” Gates said with a mock reverent whisper. He even fake bowed a couple times in Lane’s direction. Of course the dedicated contact hitter would feel the same way.

“A true psychiatric patient.” Silvanus shook his head in disgust. “Buddy, I AM a pitcher, and I’ve never felt whatever made-up shit you’re talking about.”

“Search your feelings. You know it to be true.” Lane said, whipping his head around a second later. He thought he heard somebody talking near the dugout’s fourth wall.

Whether Silvanus truly internalized Lane’s line of thinking or merely felt that it was rude to make fun of a guy who may or may not be legitimately mentally ill, it was hard to say. Either way, the two-way man made fun of the old man a lot less frequently following that conversation. It was hard to make fun of a guy when their team looked like they’d take their division without much trouble just two months into the season, especially since Lane was legitimately contributing to their success at the plate.

All the while, those doubles and singles and occasional laser homers added up. Lane was putting together more multi-hit nights than hitless ones. By now everybody knew what he was up to. Titus Kash’s record drew ever closer. Some thought it would take all year for Lane to inch towards that 6,870 total. Instead it looked like there’d be a legitimate chance of Lane reaching that mark before the All-Star Break. Only some truly extraneous circumstances would stop him at this point.

[Ko-oren]

Season 32 Regular Season - Halfway

*                         W    L   W/120    RF    RA    P   DIV  Pos   Playoff    GB    Home   Away   TER   AMA   DES   AVI   KGI   STA   ECH   FUR   NIT   FER   ARA   KGE
1   Teragaseki Originals 36   24   0,300   249   205   60   North  1   Div Round   0   27-15   9-9    0-0   2-1   0-0   3-3   0-0   3-3  10-8   6-3   0-0   1-2   9-3   2-1
2   Amandine Wanderers   36   24   0,300   280   247   60   West   1   Div Round   0   15-9   21-15   1-2   0-0  10-8   0-0   1-2   8-4   0-0   4-2   2-1   4-5   0-0   6-0
3   Desierto Challengers 33   27   0,275   288   257   60   West   2   Wildcard    3   11-7   22-20   0-0   8-10  0-0   1-2   4-2   4-5   1-2   0-0   0-0   7-5   5-1   3-0
4   Aviansola Admirals   32   28   0,267   262   212   60   South  1   Div Round   0   20-13  12-15   3-3   0-0   2-1   0-0   6-6   2-1   0-0   0-3  10-8   0-0   2-4   7-2
5   Katashi Giants       32   28   0,267   243   243   60   South  2   Wildcard    0   15-9   17-19   0-0   2-1   2-4   6-6   0-0   0-0   1-2   0-0   3-6   4-2   3-0  11-7
6   Santa Teresa Stars   30   30   0,250   259   258   60   West   3               6   16-14  14-16   3-3   4-8   5-4   1-2   0-0   0-0   2-1   0-0   0-0   9-9   1-2   5-1
7   Echizen Dragons      30   30   0,250   232   224   60   North  2               6   18-15  12-15   8-10  0-0   2-1   0-0   2-1   1-2   0-0   5-7   3-3   4-2   5-4   0-0
8   Furune Bees          29   31   0,242   268   276   60   North  3               7   19-14  10-17   3-6   2-4   0-0   3-0   0-0   0-0   7-5   0-0   3-3   1-2   9-9   1-2
9   Nitoya Silvers       29   31   0,242   239   245   60   South  3               3   16-20  13-11   0-0   1-2   0-0   8-10  6-3   0-0   3-3   3-3   0-0   2-1   3-0   3-9
X   Ferrovente Whales    28   32   0,233   247   273   60   West   4               8   13-17  15-15   2-1   5-4   5-7   0-0   2-4   9-9   2-4   2-1   1-2   0-0   0-0   0-0
Y   Arakura Knights      23   37   0,192   213   278   60   North  4              13   13-17  10-20   3-9   0-0   1-5   4-2   0-3   2-1   4-5   9-9   0-3   0-0   0-0   0-0
10   Katashi Generals    22   38   0,183   209   271   60   South  4              10   9-18   13-20   1-2   0-6   0-3   2-7   7-11  1-5   0-0   2-1   9-3   0-0   0-0   0-0

Exactly as we all predicted, our team in first place is... the Teragaseki Originals? For exactly the first time in a decade or more, the orange Ethena team finds itself in first place and the fans and players are as surprised as we are. They didn't exactly enter the season with the expectation to be good or make the playoffs, but now it's looking like a real possibility, 6 games ahead of their division rivals. And let's be real, who in the north would win this division anyway? The Dragons are likely still the best team in the North despite their roster taking multiple steps back, and both the Knights and Bees are not poised to make a run either. Perhaps it's the Bees' turn to do something - but no, Margaret herself decided that this year, it's the Originals who get a break from generational suck, at least for the time being. At the same time, their record is carried by having a lot of home games (32 at home, 18 away) so naturally they'll trend down a bit as they make up their away trips. We're expecting the Bees or Dragons to jump into that gap - but the main challenge will be 'will the Northern division champion break .500?'.

The South has the Admirals currently in first over the Giants on run differential, after tying them on wins and losses (32-28) and head-to-head (6-6), with the Silvers a couple games down, and the Generals (!!!) in last not just in the division, but even the entire league at 22-38. That's not exactly what they were thinking going into this season: sure, they might not have thought to overcome any of the powerhouses in the west, but at least within the division they should be evenly matched? But what we're seeing is the Giants co-leading the South by 10 games over their city rival Generals. The entire vibe in the city is that it might actually be the Giants' year, not something that often rings true but if the Giants want to do anything to the historic imbalance between the two Katahshi teams, this is their window. The Aviansola Admirals, then, have a good offence and a great defence, perhaps a bit more home than away games, but there's no reason to assume they're going to fall back by much. The most important stat is their record over the Generals (7-2), making a 10-game swing between the two teams that'll be hard to overcome. The Nitoya Silvers exist in limbo: nothing they do amounts much to the standings in the end, but they're not last, at least.

Then there's a thing to draw attention to: the difference between the best and worst teams, after 60 games, is just 14 wins. In fact, the entire west sits in an 8-game band. Discounting the bottom two teams, there's eight wins separating 1st to 10th. We told you it was going to be close this season.

But there's one place that's an exception, if that. The West tears through the league at record pace with temas in 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, with the two 'small' teams - the Wanderers and Challengers - rivaling each other for supremacy in the group and the first overall seed later on. The Wanderers boast an incredible 21-15 on road games - that's why they're called the Wanderers, in the spirit of teams that used to play all of their games away - but their 15-9 at home is nothing to scoff at either. The tiebreaker between the two for now is a 10-8 advantage for Amandine, and they also have an 8-4 lead over Santa Teresa, perhaps the most important stat of them all to make sure that the Stars don't have another otherworldly comeback in their arsenal to claim the division again. The Challengers have made their home a fortress as well (though not to the extent of the 27-15 (!!) Originals at home) but they have a losing record against Amandine and Santa Teresa. The Whales, for now, need not apply though they're really only a series out of a playoff spot, as are the Stars.

Then the prediction for the rest of the season: The Originals, with their many home games (and pretty much only series against lower teams: they've played five series total versus teams in the top six, and 15 series against bottom six teams!) it's almost inevitable that they're going to regress to the mean. That opens up the north for the Dragons and Bees, and we expect one of the two to win the division and the other one to sit out the postseason: the north simply isn't very good right now. The South is probably going to the Giants, with the Admirals in contention for the postseason, and we do see the Generals maybe clawing back into the playoff conversation. The West, then, is on pace to secure first seed and two wildcards, but whether the Whales or the Stars take that last wildcard is anyone's guess. Look for more series between the Wanderers and Challengers: those all feel like Final previews.

[Zenic]

4 out of 6.

That's the minimum amount of their remaining games Zenic needed to win to even have a chance at finishing in a qualifying spot. And the best way to do it would be by winning the series against Milchama at home and then doing the same against Drakur on the road. Ideally, back-to-back winning sweeps would be preferred as it would guarantee qualification in almost all scenarios. If there was any time for Zenic to get it together and string some wins together in this back half of the schedule, now is exactly when they needed to do so.

There was some good news as they managed to keep pace with Paradystopia as both nations sat at 12-12 after 8 series. Further good news that worked in Alamilla's squad's favor was that despite the losses, Zenic had managed to retain a positive run differential while Paradystopia was running at a negative run differential. Considering that all the third place teams that were currently in a qualification spot had positive run differentials and the results that happened during Series 4, Zenic had a much better chance of finishing in 3rd and making the playoffs as the third or fourth best 3rd place team as three out of the four teams in top spots were only one game above Zenic and Paradystopia.

Alamilla looked over Series 4 again, just to be safe. During that series, Zenic traveled to Arrosia to take on Milchama and somehow won the series 2-1, splitting the first two games before winning the rubber band match, Meanwhile, Paradystopia hosted current group leaders The Kytler Peninsulae and lost the series 2-1, letting their Rushmori opponents take the first two games before finally winning the last game to salvage some dignity. Alamilla found that ironic since now, Zenic were the ones looking to salvage their dignity and get back on track.

At the moment, the skipper was unsure of how to do that. The last time these two squads face other against each other, Zenic hit fast, hard, and early to win Game 1 only to get shutout in Game 2 and then Zenic hold on for the close win in Game 3. Good news was that Zenic had proven that they could win in any way they needed to. Bad news was that having a specific strategy was a lot easy to train than just saying "be ready for anything and everything". You want your players to be versatile but let that be their backup plan and not their main plan.

Alamilla and the staff's goal for this upcoming series was to find a working strategy that they could follow and win the series, two out of three or a full sweep. 15-12, or even 14-13, heading into the final series in Drakur were much more comfortable, or workable, scenarios than 13-14 or worse. Could Alamilla get the players focused again like they had been in the first half of the schedule?

He wasn't sure if he could but he was going to raise hell trying to do so.

[TJUN-ia]

The Battin' Jaguars of TJUN-ia are, without a shadow of a doubt, the talk of the town. 2-7 to 12-9, with a road sweep of Tikariot and a 2-1 win in Zwangzug included, and you've got yourself, as of this moment, one of the biggest turnarounds in TJUN-ian sporting history. Vojtěch Heyrovský, managing to pull this one off, even by now, has been a joy to watch thus far...but, as we all have to remember right now, the job is not yet. Nine more games remained on our schedule, three more series before we can even think about what our ambitions or dreams are. We don't know what will lie ahead, but we do know what we have to do...take things one game at a time. So let's do that.

The Martian Independent Republic 5-8 TJUN-ia
The Field of Dreams in The Gardens of New Washington was finally awake for a doubleheader to end the home slate of the Battin' Jaguars, starting here against The Martian Independent Republic. JoJo McAlbo would kick off this series, and this one would essentially be a game where the Martians got something, only for us to respond with precision. Oh, they took the lead in the 2nd? Ok, here's Idelys DiOrio with a 2-run bomb to take the lead. They tied things up in the 5th? How about another 2-run bomb, this time from Zingisa Mtyanda? Oh no, they took the lead in the 8th? Read my lips: Fernando Rodrigo Viera Grand Slam. And that's how this game ended up as an 8-5 win!

The Martian Independent Republic 1-7 TJUN-ia
Peter Glendinning started this game and, to his credit, he did a very good job, only conceding the one run and basically closing shop for the rest of his time on the mound. This game was a simple breeze, with everyone seemingly clicking in the right way, and the 7-1 scoreline seemed to reflect that fact. The series was ours with a game to spare, which is always nice.

The Martian Independent Republic 5-16 TJUN-ia
And then we committed a bit of a war crime against Martian kind in the game Khamis Ali Makame started. Five runs in the 1st inning and seven runs in 4th would make it 13-0 before halfway and make the rest of this game an exhibition in baseball readiness. The fact that we conceded 5 runs in 8th and were able to simply shrug it off as "eh, we still lead by 10" is just crazy. You don't see scorelines like 16-5 often, but this chaotic contest secured our 3rd sweep of the campaign.

15-9, that sounds better...but a key series is to come up next.
It was the Owls of Tikariot that started it all, us sweeping them, causing our current rise. Now, we must meet again, now as the Top 2 in this group.

The Gardens will be ready for a fight. Time for this timeline to go full circle.
GO BATTIN' JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE
S1: @Srednjaci (72) L 1-2 (5th)
S2: vs Zwangzug (6) - Rounders Field, Portside L 0-3 (6th)
S3: @The Martian Independent Republic (32) L 1-2 (6th)
S4: @Tikariot (11) W 3-0 (6th)
S5: vs Soryeon (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside W 3-0 (3rd)
S6: vs Srednjaci (72) - Rounders Field, Portside W 2-1 (2nd)
S7: @Zwangzug (6) W 2-1 (1st)
S8: vs The Martian Independent Republic (32) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington W 3-0 (1st)
S9: vs Tikariot (11) - The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington
S10: @ Soryeon (UR)

[Srednjaci]

World Baseball Classic 62

SET THE FIRE TO WARM UP !

Reporter : Zoran Treković

In the shadow of the Winter Olympics, another major competition is taking place, and that is baseball. Baseball is one of the sports in which we have never made a name for ourselves and in which we are far behind the rest of the world. But that does not mean at all that we are not capable of surprising someone and heating up the atmosphere in the group.
Tikariot, TJUN-ia, Zwanzug are far better teams and that is clear to everyone, but we managed to beat TJUN-ia and thereby upset their plans. As the competition progresses, our team also moves away from the top of the group.
In our first competition at Baseball Classic 51, we were eliminated in the group. Out of 30 matches, we won only 7 of them! We were the last in the group.
At Baseball Classic 56, we were second to last in the group. Out of 30 matches, we won 13 of them! Great progress is visible.
We came to WBC 58 with a completely changed team. Our national team had to go through a process of rejuvenating the team. This was reflected in the results at the end. Out of 20 matches played, we won 5 times and lost 15 times.
But at the next WBC competition, our team was one year more experienced and better coordinated. At that competition we achieved 4 wins and 6 losses. We played much better and more concretely. We became a very difficult opponent for everyone.
When we look at our past performances and games, we have to say that we are playing our best at this WBC!