World Baseball Classic 48 [Everything Thread]

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
QUARTERFINALS - GAME 5
If you lose out of the tournament tonight, just Walk Away.

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QUARTERFINALS

#3 Banija vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Riverfront Field, Pittsennat

Game 5
The Sherpa Empire      1 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1  9
Banija                 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 0  8

The Sherpa Empire Wins Series 3-2

#4 Ko-oren vs #5 Newmanistan
@ Pickmen Park, Cemmendy

Game 5
Newmanistan            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0  8
Ko-oren                2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0  6

Newmanistan Wins Series 3-2

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS

#1 Cassadaigua vs #5 Newmanistan
@ Corps Central Park, Drawk City

#7 Nova Anglicana vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Capital Park, Metropolon

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

EIGHT IN EIGHTH SEES ROCKETS THRU

by Brianne Henry,

It didn’t seem like the Rockets were about to celebrate advancing to the semifinals against Cassadaigua for most of this game. I was reading some of the comments on our social media page during the seventh inning, and there was a lot of people choosing to spend the time criticizing Ashley Hedstrom for sticking with the young Kelsie Carmichael to pitch this game. These know-it-all’s claimed we were going to lose with no hope of a comeback, and offered a bunch of doomsday commentary on why the glory days of Newmanistan in the World Baseball Classic was over. I didn’t respond to any of them, but I did recognize some of the same names celebrating our posts about the win. Such is life in sports. As a Rockets fan, if that was you, you should know better. This team is built upon resiliency in the playoffs, just look at the championship series of World Baseball Classic 17. Down three games to none in that best of seven, the Rockets never gave up and never succumbed to the dire nature of that series. They completed the greatest comeback in World Baseball Classic history to win that series. This 2-0 deficit in this best of five is not the only time our backs have been against the wall and we found a way to win.

I will say one thing about the Kelsie Carmichael criticism too: Ashley Hedstrom absolutely made the right decision, Kelsie pitched great during this competition, and could arguably be considered our most reliable starter, game after game. All of the stat lines weren’t pretty, and on an individual basis, Hannah Lee and Cassie Burke each have had some absolute gems. Paige Norwood, too. But Carmichael has been reliable. Why would Hedstrom skip over her and pitch Hannah Lee on three days rest when Hannah did not have a great outing in Game 1? It’s something that would not have made sense. Carmichael was not terrible in this game either. Yes, she allowed two runs in each of the first and third innings, dropping us into a 4-0 hole, but she recovered, and ended up giving us six innings of work, only allowing one baserunner after the third inning. I liked that about her, and it kept the game from getting out of our control. Not a pretty stat line at the end of the day, but not a poor one, and the game was not out of hand, taking us to the eighth inning. In the eighth, everything changed!

The inning began with Sierra McKinley grounding out to third. After that, things began innocently, with Chelsea Harlow and Nicole Hoskins hitting back to back singles. Down by four, Rockets fans were beginning to get some hopes up that potential could be developing for runs to be scored. Next up would be Taylor Rethke, pinch hitting for the pitcher in the nine slot, and she would bloop a single into right field, scoring Harlow and making it 4-1. Hoskins advanced to second on the play, and we were back into the top of the order. Brooke Sauter, 0-for-3 to this point, lined a two-run double into left center to make it 4-3, and now, everyone was getting excited. During the Jenna Schuster at bat, Sauter successfully stole third. Needing one more to tie, and have the immense speed of Sauter on third, and the equally fast Schuster at the play, a squeeze play seemed to make sense. Schuster squared around to bunt, but quickly pulled the bat back, and blooped one over the third baseman’s head as they were charging in, buying the fake bunt. Sauter scored easily, and Schuster used her speed to take second. This made the situation very similar for Mikayla Larson’s at bat, especially after Schuster stole third on the second pitch of the at bat. Larson doesn’t have the same blazing speed, but is a quick one, and now the squeeze play was executed. The third baseman, Sabino Lema, was timid to charge due to being manipulated by Schuster previously, so on this play, there was no chance to get Schuster, and Larson beat the throw at first to keep the Rockets in business. Up 5-4, the team would not be content with just that. After a pitching change, Lexi Burrows doubled off the wall right to make it 6-4, with Nicole Larkin flying out to deep left for the second out, but advancing Burrows to third. Next up was Sierra McKinley, who made the first out of the inning. When you hit twice in one inning, the last thing you want to do is make two outs in it, and McKinley would make sure, 461-feet sure, that would not happen. The home run to left put the Rockets up 8-4, and were two critical runs since the Dragonflies got two back in the eighth.

The final outs of the game, with closer Katrina Payne on the mound came quickly as it was a 1-2-3 inning, but allowed us all to exhale gracefully. Newmanistan had survived, rallying from a 2-0 series hole, and a 4-0 hole late in this decisive game to advance to the semifinals to take on a long time adversary in Cassadaigua.

Semifinals- Three-time vs Six time (1) Cassadaigua vs (5) Newmanistan

Coming into the 48th World Baseball Classic, there were no active nations that have won more championships in the tournament then the Fillies and the Rockets. Newmanistan, winners of six world championships, has won more then anyone. The last title won by the Rockets was in World Baseball Classic 43, hosted by Cassadaigua. The last title won by the Filles was in World Baseball Classic 19, hosted by Newmanistan. Like the Rockets, Cassadaigua had a long period of non-participation in the tournament, but their fans are starting to get a little antsy now for the title because they have had many close calls since returning. For Newmanistan, other then World Baseball Classic 43, the only real close call was in #45, where we lost to Ko-oren. The last time Newmanistan and Cassadaigua met came in the third place series of World Baseball Classic 44. Cassadaigua took the series in five, coming back from a 2-1 deficit, but let’s face it neither the Rockets or the Fillies get amped up for a third place series. The more applicable, and only other time that nations have met since each returned from a long hiatus, came in World Baseball Classic 41, where they met in the semifinals, much like they do here. In that series, Newmanistan was down 2-games-to-1 in the best of five, and came back to win the series, and would take home the championship as well. That Classic is also “you know what” for Drawkish fans. Has that really been that long ago? Honestly, that Classic was very memorable for us too because of the intense finals between us and Super-Llamaland. In World Baseball Classic 14, Newmanistan and Cassadaigua meant in the championship series, and that would be the first title for the Fillies. The nations dominated the Classic’s “teenage years”, winning five of the six Classics combined between 14 and 19. Only Sarzonia’s WBC 18 run spoiled that streak. From 10 to 19, you could take it a little further and say the nations combined from seven out of 10 (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 19). For Newmanistan, #19 was the last Classic before we returned in #38. Cassadaigua hung around in the tournament a little longer. Despite this interconnected history, Newmanistan and Cassadaigua have never had a bitter rivalry towards one another, as it has strictly been respectful and competitive. In fact, the way the Cassadagans honored legendary manager Christina Sanders after knocking us out in WBC 19 when it was known that she would not be returning, is something that we still remember very fondly and plays a big reason in why there is a lot of mutual respect between us.

Awaiting the winner of the series in the finals is a nation that will have an interesting story, but for other reasons. Both Nova Anglicana and The Sherpa Empire are chasing their first title. The Lions of Nova Anglicana are certainly the greatest nation in this tournament to never win the championship. They have a storied history and a great national baseball program, so much so, that some people might feel obligated to double check that they have really never won a title, because that won’t believe you that they never did. The Sherpa Empire is very experienced now, but still must feel like a newbie nation here when compared to the three other nations still alive. They have gradually climbed the ladder, and have had a couple close calls to this point. If I told you that you had to pick the most logical nation to win their first title in the World Baseball Classic, but you could not pick Nova Anglicana, then The Sherpa Empire would have been the choice from most of you. It’s an interesting final four, and I am so glad that we are a part of it!

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions move on to semis, will take on Sherpas

Samantha Maxwell, Londinium Courier

It's over, Abanhfleft has been defeated and the Lions are moving on to the semifinals in the Drawkian capital city of Metropolon. Their semifinal series in Metropolon will be against the Sherpa Empire, who blew a 7-0 lead against defending champions Banija, but recovered to win 9-8 in ten innings. In the other quarterfinal, Ko-oren and Newmanistan, two heavyweights, squared off. Ko-oren looked like they would cruise to a 4-0 win before the baseball game seemingly turned into a game of crazy eights: the Rockets scored eight runs in the eighth inning. The Dragonflies could not muster a fourteen-run inning like they did in the group stage, and succumbed 8-6.

In one semifinal, we have the #1 seed and second-ranked Cassadaigua taking on #5 seed and seventh-ranked Newmanistan. In the other, it's the Lions and their #7 seed and eighth rank versus the #11 seed and sixth-ranked Sherpa Empire. One might be forgiven for thinking that the Lions-Sherpas semifinal is the "JV game" and the Cassadaigua-Newmanistan matchup is the "real final", as local betting lines seem to indicate (the winner of Cassadaigua-Newmanistan is heavily favored for the title). After all, it is the series with the higher ranks and seeds. The two teams involved also sport a whopping nine WBC titles, nearly twenty percent of all titles thus far, versus the other semifinal, which features zero championships. But neither the Lions nor the Sherpas are going to roll over and let their opponents have the championship, so, whoever advances, it should be a good series. The Lions have been waiting much longer for a championship, but the Sherpas are not likely to just stand aside and let the Lions into the finals.

The Sherpa Empire Series Preview

-The Sherpas struggled in the group stage before rallying to secure the #11 seed. They eliminated the #6 seed Free Republics 3-1 in the Round of 16 before overcoming Banija 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

-They have outscored their opponents 52-46 in their nine playoff games, an average of 5.8 runs scored/game against 5.1 runs allowed/game. This compares unfavorably with the Lions' averages of 7.4 runs scored/game and 4.9 runs allowed/game.

-The series will take place entirely on turf, a playing surface almost wholly unfamiliar to the Lions. I don't know if the Sherpas have experience with turf, but seeing as one of their stadiums is located at high altitude with high winds and snow, I doubt they will be too shocked. The turf will likely play a role in the series, especially in the infield, where the ball will play much faster.

-Manager Orlando Murray announced his starting rotation for the Sherpa Empire series: nominal #4 starter Erik Russell will take the ball in game one, struggling ace Cory Sharpe will pitch game two, #2 starter Wyatt Templeton will take the mound in game three, while southpaw and #3 starter Dan Cunningham will pitch game four if necessary. The rest days between the quarterfinals the semifinals meant that Murray could line up his rotation in the same order he's been using, but he chose not to. This is the first time Murray has shuffled his rotation all Classic, but he explained that he thinks Russell has earned the start: "He's been terrific for us so far and gives us the best chance to win in game one."

-He also noted that having Sharpe pitch in game two means he will be available for game five in a relief capacity, as well as game one of the finals, should they reach it. He also noted that it is possible Russell could be brought back on short rest to pitch game five, though he didn't rule out usual #5 starter Hank Jackson taking the ball. "If we need it, game five is going to be a sort of all-hands-on-deck situation for us," Murray explained. "We're going to use everyone we can in whatever way we think will be best." He was noncommittal when asked about Jackson appearing in any of the other games of the series.

-For my money, Jackson probably won't appear in game four if he's being considered for a game five start. If he were to appear in games one through three, here's how I'd rank the options: 1) He won't make an appearance and will either start game five or open it for a different starter like Russell or Sharpe, 2) He'll make one long relief appearance (2-4 innings), either in a hopeless blowout or in extra innings when the bench and bullpen are close to exhausted (taking advantage of his hitting skills), 3) He'll be an opener for Sharpe in game two, as they try to find some answer for Sharpe's struggles, or 4) He'll make one to two appearances of an inning or two each, essentially as a short reliever, to try to keep him from getting rusty. But we will see.

The Lions have come a long way since being swept by Kriegiersien in the first series of the WBC. They now stand three wins away from the finals, a hallowed place they have only gone twice before, or three losses away from the third-place series, a fate they know only too well. This series will show the true mettle of the Lions; they will need everything they have to win this one.

[South Newlandia]

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports -> Baseball
SNBA announces Regional Combined League as WBC Quarterfinals end

The South Newlandian Baseball Association has announced the creation of the League of German States, LGS for short. Official President of the LGS will be Bennet Krueger, and he will oversee the setup and planning for now. 8 different Nation will participate in the LGS, namely South Newlandia, Unified States ascended, North Korea VII, Capitalisimia, Broad Coast, East Democria, Western Islands of Brancaland and Dowhatyouwantia. Although they could possibly not be more different, they are all currently residing in the Union of German States and will join forces to create a league.

WBC Quarterfinals:

The final two matches to determine the remaining two semi-final teams are completed, and we know the semi-final pairings now.

Cassadaigua 3-1 Hampton Island
First seed Cassadaigua and world number two Cassadaigua was already through after 4 games. They will face world number 7 Newmanistan, the team that knocked out South Newlandia in the Round of 16.

Abanhfleft 0-3 Nova Anglicana
The world number 8 Nova Anglicana only needed 3 games to win, and will now face 11th seed and world number 6 The Sherpa Empire in the semi-finals.

Banija 2-3 The Sherpa Empire (8-9)
In a truly wild game, the Sherpas overcame the world number one team, completing their second upset after defeating world number 4 in the Round of 16. They will face Nova Anglicana, the 7th seed.

Ko-oren 2-3 Newmanistan (6-8)
Newmanistan bounced back after trailing 0-2 with three straight wins over world number 3 Ko-oren. The 5th seed will now face another strong team, Cassadaigua.



Only three of South Newlandias biggest cities voiced interest in participating in the league. This disappointing turnout is most likely due to a lack of baseball infrastructure and because some cities do not exactly believe in the idea yet. The cities willing to participate are Elephant Valley, the nation’s biggest city, Ratzupalfu and Rüsselsheim.
Krueger announced the format of the league already; 16 teams will face off in 4 round-robins, making a total of 60 games for each team over one year. The top 8 teams will advance to the playoffs, which will be played in a best of 5 series. The final will be best of seven. In the next 6 editions of this paper, we will be showcasing the teams, the nations they come from, and the players of the South Newlandian teams. Stay tuned!

[Cassadaigua]

Fillies To Battle Old Foe Next,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

“She’s bluffing!” Samantha Owens immediately cried out while sitting in her luxury suite at Pickmen Park in Cemmendy, Drawkland. The national team had made the trip to the southeastern city to watch the fifth game of the Newmanistan-Ko-oren series, since it was an off day for the Fillies. The winner of this game would be the semifinal opponent for Cassadaigua, and with both teams being very dangerous in that role, this was a good opportunity to check on both team. Ko-oren jumped on the Rockets early in the game and they seemed to be on their way to a win. However, Newmanistan scored eight runs, seemingly out of no where, in the top of the eighth inning to pull ahead in the game, and they never looked back. Part of the big inning saw Jenna Schuster, one of the young roster speedsters, square around to bunt in what looked like it might be a squeeze attempt. Samantha Owens, who will pitch the first game of the semifinal series, immediately picked up on the fact that it was a bluff. As the players in the luxury box watched the play pan out, Owens simply shook her head in disappointment and grinned at the teammates that were with her. “They had no reason to squeeze it in with each of their speed and just one out. Ko-oren panicked,” she told me after about her intuition.

The stage will now be set at Corps Central Park, in Drawk City, for these two former champions to go head to head. Our drought is much longer then theirs. Of course, when you last won it in 43, you aren’t even on a real drought yet. Our team has not won it since 19, and while there were many years that we did not participate, we have been too close for a while right now. Our players and fans will only be happy with one outcome, and that is a championship trophy. It could be fitting to say our fourth title included a win over Newmanistan along the way. However, the manager, Maddie Polanco, believes in the old cliche of taking things one game at a time. “Making it to the semifinals is a tough thing to do, but this has become old hat for us, and we want to win it all. I have been a part of this team too long to not have delivered my goal and promise of bringing a championship back to Cassadaigua. Right now, our only focus is on Newmanistan. They have a great team, we all know that, plus it is obvious that they are hungry since they have underachieved in the last two Classics. Look at how they just beat Ko-oren, they are showing that they are ready to return to the top of the hill, which is somewhere they have been before, and many times.” What is the key to beating the Rockets? Polanco, “Playing every pitch like the series is on the line. They are that good, and it doesn’t matter what the score is at any time, until the game is over, they are going to have a great shot!”

No one on the team is giving much thought to the other semifinal series right now. For the time being, it doesn’t matter what happens there. A winner will emerge of it, and Cassadaigua hopes to be playing them, and not the loser of it, after the Rockets.

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
SEMIFINALS - GAMES 1 & 2
Do you want to lose tonight? No No No!

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SEMIFINALS

#1 Cassadaigua vs #5 Newmanistan
@ Corps Central Park, Drawk City

Game 1
Newmanistan            2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  4
Cassadaigua            0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2  6

Game 2
Cassadaigua            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Newmanistan            2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 X  7

Series Tied 1-1

#7 Nova Anglicana vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Capital Park, Metropolon

Game 1
The Sherpa Empire      0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0  4
Nova Anglicana         0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  3

Game 2
Nova Anglicana         1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  3
The Sherpa Empire      2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Series Tied 1-1

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

ALL TIED UP AFTER TWO

by Brianne Henry,

The first two games of the 48th World Baseball Classic semifinal between Newmanistan and Cassadaigua are complete, and each team is enjoying one win over the other right now. There is some frustration on our end of it, considering that the first game seemed to be in control until losing it late. I’ll touch on that soon, but in retrospect, it is only fitting that these two teams would have a close series. The other semifinal also sees its two nations tied up. The Sherpa Empire took the first game at Capital Park in Metropolon, 4-3; but Nova Anglicana responded with a one run victory of their own in the second game, 3-2. We will play one of those teams after our series no matter what, so it’s worth keeping an eye on, or simply watching at home.

The series featuring the two all-female teams has all of our attention, taking place at Corps Central Park in Drawk City. It is interesting that the Cassadagans do not have any form of male influence on their roster, considering that they have made a notable effort to incorporate more men on their teams in other sports. If I recall, there was a Classic, and I want to say 42 (because there’s just something about that number and equality in baseball), though fellow beat writer Chelsea Dufresne of the Concord Heights Times can correct me if I am wrong, that they did have men called up to the team. They’ve gone away from that though in baseball. We’re not one to criticize, since our baseball rosters have always been female. Here, we realize it works, so there is no call to change it. That is probably what is going on in Cassadaigua as well. The pitching duel for the first game featured a great matchup between a couple of veterans in Hannah Lee and Samantha Owens. Lee was looking for a bounce back after a tough loss to Ko-oren, and Samantha Owens was hoping to get her team started in the right direction. The Rockets picked up two in the first inning, and whenever you see a “2" in the first, most people can pretty much figure out how that happened. This one was no different. Brooke Sauter and Jenna Schuster led off with singles, and pulled off a double steal, putting them on second and third with no outs. I will say, they almost nailed Brooke at third, though, in one of the closer plays on one of her steal attempts that I have seen. Mikayla Larson grounded out to first, with Jordyn Prosser making the smart play and getting the sure out at first instead of making an attempt to get Sauter. Lexi Burrows then flew out to right, allowing Jenna Schuster to score, and the two runs were on the board. Cassadaigua got those runs back by virtue of a single run in the second and the third, to tie it up. Samantha Owens did a great job of shutting down the Rockets after the first inning, and Hannah Lee began to match her after the third. In fact, in the fifth inning, each pitcher struck out the side. After that, Newmanistan began to inch ahead in the contest, with an RBI single by Mikayla Larson in the sixth (scoring Brooke Sauter), and a solo homerun by Nicole Larkin in the seventh, to make it 4-2. Cassadaigua got one back in the seventh to make it 4-3. However, Lee held firm, and was taken out after the eighth inning, and closer Katrina Payne brought in. From there, the game went south. Cassadaigua tied it in the ninth, and won it in the tenth. Detailed coverage of how they rallied is found elsewhere on our website, or I am sure the Concord Heights Times will tell you eventually if you, for some reason, don’t want to read our annoyed that it happened take on it. Chelsea Nicolette of Southport Baseball Tonight summed it up, “The Achilles’ heel of the Rockets was exploited by a nation who knows what our Achilles’ heel is, very well.” Of course, she is referencing our bullpen.

For Game 2, the Rockets turned to a Cassie to beat Cassadaigua. She has had a better Classic this time out, and is one of the positive stories of this team unless something dramatic happens to break that. I don’t even think that will happen, as at this point, her next start is either in the title series or the third place series that neither of these teams want to take part in. She hasn’t been perfect, but she has been consistent and reliable, for a player plagued by terrible inconsistency in this tournament in previous editions, it is comforting to see. Now, the world can truly see the pitcher that Cassie Burke is with the Dover City Mountaineers, because she is dominant. Cassadaigua got Cassie for one in the top of the first on an RBI single by Cassie Daniels, bringing in Rachel Kessler. In the bottom of the first, guess what the Rockets did? That’s right, they scored two runs. Whenever a Drawkish statistician simply sees the line score immediately, and knows nothing about what happened, I am sure it is at the point where they think, “Yup, I know how they scored them.” Yup, you are correct. It goes to show how valuable it is to have not one, but two speedsters at the top of the batting lineup. There is so much they can generate, and when you put a hitter like Mikayla Larson right behind them, it is an effective strategy. The Sauter and Schuster show could go on for a while in Newmanistan, too, as don’t forget, and it is probably easy for others to do so, they are 22 and 23 years old and playing in their first ever WBC. Perhaps the previous two didn’t do the job as well as these two are doing. They are complementing one another so well and in my opinion, are the reason we are still playing. The pitching, of course, gets credit, but you need to score runs as well, and they are doing that. The 2-1 score after the first inning stayed that way for a while with Katia Tavarez matching Cassie Burke out for out. From the third through the sixth inning, neither team even managed a baserunner. Eventually, in the eighth, things would change, and it began with Nicole Hoskins in the #8 slot singling up the middle. On a sacrifice bunt, Cassie Burke moved her up to second. Back to the top of the order, it was time for Sauter and Schuster, and they each hit their second single of the game, and each pulled off the double steal again. Up stepped Mikayla Larson, and she brought them home with authority, with a 449-foot blast to left, making it 6-1 in our favor. On the next pitch, Lexi Burrows connected with a 438-foot shot to left as well, putting the Rockets up by six quite suddenly. Burke pitched the ninth as well, and finishes with a stat line of allowing just one run on four hits. Only two hits were allowed after the first inning.

Games three and four will see Madison Sullivan and Paige Norwood take to the hill against probable starters Lauren Sutter and Kayla Mason for Cassadaigua. Enjoy the games!

[Cassadaigua]

Thrilling Comeback, then a loss,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

The setting for the semifinal round in World Baseball Classic 48 for Team Cassadaigua would be the 89,000 seat Corps Central Park in Drawk City. After you have already played at Seven Stars Stadium, all of the other facilities are going to underwhelm, but this is an impressive large stadium as well, and very worthy of hosting the two teams that are playing in this series. The team arrived in Drawk City and were ready for the task at hand, and defeating an opponent who can say they have done more in the World Baseball Classic then we have. Every sport has that one nation which has mastered the competition. Baseball has Newmanistan, and with Super-Llamaland a figament of our imagination these days (and Cassadaigua’s Super-Llamaland born head coach Maddie Polanco now a Cassadagan resident year round), and Schiltzberg also no longer competing, the Rockets have a stranglehold currently on being the top active team. Can we inch one closer? That could be possible, and it would tie Cassadaigua with Schiltzberg at four titles apiece, and only have Super-Llamaland and the Rockets ahead of them.

Drawkish fans themselves bought a lot of seats, but the impressive amount of pink and sky blue in the stands as well, especially considering the longer trip to get here, proves how much this means to each country. Each fan base interacted well with the other, and there was plenty to enjoy for both in the first game with Cassadagans enjoying the ending in particular. It was mentioned in The Rocket Report that they thought it was World Baseball Classic 42 where we brought the male players on our team. That is correct, that is where it started, and they remained on the roster for the 43rd Classic as well. That did not continue afterwards, and there has not been a strong call for their addition. Some claim Maddie Polanco wanted to get more comfortable with simply focusing on the best players in the country without having to worry about a perceived quota. The edict of Queen Cassie II at the time was seen as being done to appease men’s rights activists, in particular, Male Equality Now (MEN). In other sports, men have been taking a greater role on our rosters, and that included on the recent Copa Rushmori roster where Zack Pierce became the first male soccer captain of any of our national teams, and only the second male, ever, to be named a captain of a national team. With that progress, as well as the high presence of men on the recent World Cup of Hockey championship roster, we have not seen MEN make a call for men to be a part of the World Baseball Classic roster. Some groups have questioned why we have gone all-female, but it has not been a significant call. In fact, The Rocket Report might appreciate this too, the Rockets all-female roster may provide inspiration to keep our roster all-female. Given the success of the Rockets, our leadership can point to that to justify the all-female composition of the team.

The first game saw Samantha Owens get into some early trouble, but her effective pitching after the two run first, kept Cassadaigua in the game, and they were able to quickly tie it up at two. Newmanistan pushed ahead again, and for a little while they may have thought they were on their way to a win, but in the bottom of the ninth, there would be some heroics. The Rockets opted to put in their closer, Katrina Payne, after a good effort by Hannah Lee, the 35-year old veteran. Cassadaigua was down to their last out and had their hopes on Tori Coufal, the #8 batter in the lineup. Coufal swung at the first pitch, and laced a double to get the team in business. This would create an enormous opportunity for someone on the team that would not often be able to be a large contributor. It was the pitcher spot coming up, and stepping up to the plate would be 31-year old veteran infielder Natalie Shattuck. Polanco liked the matchup, and hoped that Shattuck, who has had four hits in twelve at bats during the Classic could come through. Gratefully, she did, with a double of their own, bringing in Coufal and silencing the Rockets fans. Cassadaigua would not score again in the inning, and it was off to extras. With one out, and Rachel Kessler on first, following a single, Macy Hamel unloaded on a hanging slider, and blasted a two-run walk-off home run that clinched the opening victory. Cassadagan players greeted her at the plate and doused her with a bucket of a sports drink as soon as she touched home plate. A thrilling come from behind victory, and it could set the tone for what is expected to be a great series.

If we win the series, Game 2 will not be one that is included in the highlight reel of it. It was not a badly played game for most of it, but Katia Tavarez could not keep the two at the top of the lineup for Newmanistan from, once again, getting a pair of runs, turning a 1-0 early lead to a 2-1 deficit. The pitchers, Tavarez, and Cassie “why aren’t you Cassadagan” Burke, sitting batters down one by one. Somehow, Cassadaigua was going to have to find a way to generate a run, but they were unable to. In the bottom of the eighth, the Rockets made sure that they would not a low a repeat of game one, and have us get the one run to tie it up, as they scored five in the inning. A frustrating moment, and Cassadaigua went quietly in the ninth. How does Cassadaigua pull ahead in this series? Maddie Polanco tells us the plan, “We have to shut down Brooke Sauter and Jenna Schuster. Newmanistan always does this. They lull you into thinking you have to get through their pitchers, and while you still do, the top of their order is deadly when it is clicking. We have to shut that down! There are battles to win, but when they are getting on base, you are seeing the batters behind them become more productive. That’s a great plan to win a game, and we must shut it down.” I asked Lauren Sutter, who will pitch game three, how she plans on doing that? “All I can say is don’t get intimidated. It is tough when they are clicking, like Maddie said. Things can cool off, so we have to do that. Despite their past accolades, they have a young team who probably isn’t feeling much pressure right now.” Cassadaigua’s leadoff batter, Katelyn Martini feels her and Rachel Kessler could do the same thing, “Giving them a taste of their own medicine would be great. I like how they play, since that’s how I also play, and I do think that Rachel and I can get it done, too.” It doesn’t have to happen, and with the series all square, these next two games are critical.

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions move on to semis, will take on Sherpas

Samantha Maxwell, Londinium Courier

Whew. The first two games of the semifinals are over, and we are right back where we started. In the semifinal matchup between the Lions and the Sherpa Empire, each team won one game. Orlando Murray pulled out the old cliche after game two, "It's a whole new series now. Instead of a five-game series, it's now a three-game series. And we intend to win. We're taking it one game at a time right now." The Lions' win in game two was critically important, as it prevented them from going down 2-0, which would likely have ended in the third-place series.

For game one, Erik Russell took the mound for the Lions. He's pitched well, both in the group stage and the playoffs, and Murray wanted to reward him. He took on the Sherpa Empire's Kami Akunjee, and things started off well. Russell pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, and Jerome Duplantier hit a solo shot in the bottom of the second off Akunjee to put the Lions up 1-0. But in the third, catcher Pei Tan led off with a single and Akunjee sacrificed him over to second base. Shortstop and leadoff hitter Kencha Qureshi then laid down a perfect bunt, surprising the Lions and earning a bunt single. With runners on third and first, Russell thought he had Qureshi picked off, but the umpire ruled it a balk instead, scoring Tan and moving Qureshi up to second. Murray came out to argue for quite a while, and narrowly avoided ejection, but looking at the replay, the call seemed fair. The third baseman, Tandi Ojha, then took advantage of a frustrated Russell to whack a double into the left-center gap, scoring Qureshi and giving the Sherpas the lead. This was followed by second baseman Yawei Qu doubling to right-center to make it 3-1, which was followed by a mound visit from pitching coach Greg Richardson. Russell settled down to retire the next two batters via strikeout, but the Lions trailed. Matthew Gilbert singled home Casey Wheeler in the fourth to draw the Lions to 3-2, but Russell gave up a solo homer to Tianling Qiao in the sixth to make it 4-2. He departed with a line of 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, a valiant effort, but far short of what he's shown us in this Classic. Akunjee departed after the eighth, having allowed two runs in eight innings, an excellent performance. Urkyen Bharadhwaj entered to face Wheeler, Jake Bryan, and Gilbert in the ninth. Wheeler struck out, but Bryan coaxed a walk. After an eleven-pitch battle, Gilbert struck out, but a dropped third strike by Tan that rolled away let Bryan move up to second. With two outs, Jerome Duplantier drew the second walk of the inning to put two runners on. Marc Dufors then walloped a double off the center-field wall, scoring Bryan. Only a strong relay from Qiao to Qu to Tan prevented Duplantier from scoring. Murray then pinch-hit Curtis Hughes for Trevor Goodwin, but his fly ball was caught a few steps shy of the warning track by Qiao to end the game in disappointment.

The Lions employed the same opener strategy they had used in game one against Abanhfleft, trying to get Cory Sharpe beyond the first couple of innings, where he had typically struggled. Last time, it ended in disaster as Sharpe surrendered five runs in three innings after entering in the fourth. This time, he entered in the third. Hank Jackson had given up a two-run homer to Qiao in the first before retiring the side in order. This was after Tommy Moran singled, stole second, and scored on Casey Wheeler's one-out double to open the scoring. Protecting a 2-1 lead, Sharpe did an excellent job. He set down the first fifteen batters he faced, striking out seven of them. In the eighth, Gilbert led off with a single and stole second. Duplantier singled and Dufors hit a sac fly to tie the game at two. Trevor Goodwin drew a walk and surprisingly, in a tie ballgame, Murray left Sharpe in to bunt both men into scoring position. With two outs, Tommy Moran hit a rocket of a line drive that ricocheted off an outstretched Qureshi's glove, scoring Dufors. Goodwin barely made it to third before the Sherpas had recovered, but the Lions led 3-2. Sharpe opened the eighth by walking right fielder Geli Ananthan, the first baserunner he'd allowed, but he got Tukti Sahu to ground into a double play before striking out Tan. He came out for the ninth, a bit of a surprise since you might expect closer Zach Kelley in the ninth inning of a close game, but he struck out Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa, the pinch-hitter in the ninth, before allowing a one-out double to Qureshi. Then Kelley entered. His hard two-seamer yielded a chopper to the right side from Ojha that moved the runner up, but got the second out. After eight pitches, his ninth pitch, a hard slider, got Qu to swing through it and ended the game. After two thrillers, the series was tied again at 1-1.

These next two games are critical. Two wins in a row, a simple two-game winning streak, could decide who makes it to the finals and who probably loses to Cassadaigua or Newmanistan in the 3rd place series. Whoever loses in game three will be behind the 8-ball. Wyatt Templeton will try to make sure that's not the Lions, while Dan Cunningham hopes to be able to close out the Sherpas and send the Lions to the finals. That would be a feather in his cap after he has struggled so far in the playoffs.

Some thoughts and around the Classic

-Boy, is it big here in Metropolon. It has over 20 million people living here, which is about twice the size of the entire population of Nova Anglicana. It feels so crowded, whether you're walking, taking the subway, or sitting in the stadium. But that's the price of progress, I guess.

-Capital Park, the baseball stadium, holds 85,000 spectators. That's larger than a Nova Anglican baseball and basketball stadium put together, and you could even throw in a hockey arena in some cases. They say the crowd advantage plays up here, but neither team seems to have won the Drawkians' favor quite yet.

-It's also a non-retractable dome, so it feels much more like baseball being played in a hockey arena. The lighting system is fine, but give me natural light, fresh air, and the outdoors any day.

-Girl power is on display in the other semifinal, as Newmanistan and Cassadaigua have both brought all-female teams. This contrasts to the all-male sides of the Lions and the Sherpas.

-Newmanistan coughed up leads of 2-0 and 4-2 en route to a 6-4 loss in game one. They have to be disappointed about that, and the bullpen is a noted weakness of the Newmanistan team. They obviated that weakness in game two, with Cassie Burke pitching a four-hitter as the Rockets broke out late for a 7-1 win. We'd expect nothing less than a hotly contested back-and-forth for that series between nine-time WBC winners.

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
SEMIFINALS - GAMES 3 & 4
Is it time to Ramble On to the finals?

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SEMIFINALS

#1 Cassadaigua vs #5 Newmanistan
@ Corps Central Park, Drawk City

Game 3
Newmanistan            0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2
Cassadaigua            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  5

Game 4
Cassadaigua            1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Newmanistan            0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1  3

Series Tied 2-2

#7 Nova Anglicana vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Capital Park, Metropolon

Game 3
The Sherpa Empire      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Nova Anglicana         0 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 X  7

Game 4
Nova Anglicana         1 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 1  6
The Sherpa Empire      0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Nova Anglicana Wins Series 3-1

EDIT: forgot to change Game numbers

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

TWO MORE THRILLERS

by Brianne Henry,

It was anticipated that the semifinal series between our Rockets and Cassadaigua would be intense, and after four games, we can say it is living up to its billing. After four games, there is no series winner yet, and each team can probably say that they are fortunate to still be alive, on hand, while also saying that could have taken care of business already in the series, on the other. When two heavyweights meet, you hope for something like this, and while our hearts may have a hard time coping with the ebbs and flows of the series, it has certainly been entertaining. On the other side of the tournament, Nova Anglicana advanced to the finals after taking out The Sherpa Empire. My predictions that I made at the beginning of the tournament have played out very well, and I did call the Lions to make it to the final. I also predicted Cassadaigua to eliminate Newmanistan in five games. I never said my predictions had to be completely perfect. I can be wrong on that one.

Game 3 in Drawk City, a great venue with the seas of sky blue and pink found throughout. Reports have it that the two fanbases are interacting well with one another. Each of them know how to act in a series like this, and abide by the slogan of “act like you’ve been there before”. For this game we saw the hard throwing 31-year old Madison Sullivan pitch against 32-year old Lauren Sutter, so certainly a couple of veteran pitchers who have been there before and each trying to get their first World Baseball Classic trophy. For the first time in the series, Newmanistan did not score a first inning run, but it was not easy for Sutter. Brooke Sauter grounded out to third, and was out on a bang-bang play at first base. The next batter, Jenna Schuster was robbed of a hit by Rachel Kessler on a nice looking leaping grab. While Mikayla Larson was retired, Lexi Burrows hit a ball deep to left that was caught at the wall by Katelyn Martini, who’s speed (she stole 96 bases in Cassadaigua this year), allowed her to get to the ball just in time. With just a little more luck here and there, the Rockets could have scored in the first, but it would be Cassadaigua. Martini, and those 96 stolen bases speed (remember when the Pocono City Capitals signed the last Cassadagan speedy leadoff batter? Someone see if you can bring her to Newmanistan, too!), hit an infield single, and proceeded to steal second and third. Hey! We’re supposed to do that! Rachel Kessler grounded out to short, and Nicole Larkin, knowing there would be no play at the plate, wisely threw out Kessler instead. That run stood and stood. Both Madison Sullivan and Lauren Sutter pitched wonderfully, and the Rockets were only able to get one hit through five innings. With one out in the sixth, Madison Sullivan stepped up to the plate and made just enough contact to bloop a single into right-center. With the top of the order now coming up, and trailing by a run, the urge to pinch run for Sullivan must have been strong, but Ashley Hedstrom couldn’t do it. Brooke Sauter struck out and that made the situation even more difficult. Jenna Schuster, in a 12-pitch at bat, drew a walk, and moved Sullivan over to second. Next up, the RBI machine Mikayla Larson, and she singled up the middle, and Sullivan was waved home. Martini’s throw from center was accurate, but Sullivan would beat the throw to get the tying run. Everyone in the dugout had to be holding their breath, however, because it was not easy to have to see your pitcher slide into home plate like that. Fortunately, it proved to be a non-issue, and Sullivan remained in top form when she was back on the mound. She would go all nine, as did Lauren Sutter, but with the score 1-1, both would have to settle for no-decisions. Cassadaigua brought in closer Roxanne Gomez in the 10th, and it seemed like Chelsea Harlow might be the hero, with an RBI double scoring Sierra McKinley that made it 2-1. Katrina Payne now came in the game to close it out. She didn’t. And man, she really blew it big. Taylor Bryant’s grand slam sent everyone home, and handed the Rockets a tough loss.

With the way the team lost game three, it was hard to swallow that we were now facing a deficit in the series, but the last two times these teams met in a series, the team that was down 2-1 after three games ended up winning the series in five. Plus, like in the Ko-oren series when we dropped the first two games, the team played well enough to win the games they lost, so there was no reason to change anything. Now, the team would pin their hopes on Paige Norwood, while Cassadaigua would start Kayla Mason. The two pitchers would be strong, but it would be Cassadaigua scoring a single run in the first once again, utilizing the speed of Katelyn Martini. Here, we see the difference in why we score two in the first often, and they score one. We have two speedsters at the top of the order, they only have one. Norwood kept the Dagans at one, and got help in the fourth inning when Lexi Burrows doubled in Jenna Schuster, who had singled and stolen second previously in the inning. In the seventh, the Rockets went ahead by a run, thanks to a Sierra McKinley RBI-single, driving in Nicole Larkin, who had doubled in the at bat prior. Norwood had shut down the Fillies since the first inning, and would remain in the game in the top of the ninth to finish it off and even the series. It’s typical for the Rockets to leave the starter in during this situation, and made even more obvious considering closer Katrina Payne surrendered a grand slam in the prior game. Unfortunately, the Fillies manufactured a run to spoil the start of Norwood, at least temporarily. In the bottom of the ninth, it would be Newmanistan’s turn to have walk off heroics, as Nicole Larkin would be the hero of the day, connecting on a home run to left, giving the Rockets the 3-2 win. Since Norwood was still the pitcher of record, she does still get the win.

Three of the four games have now been decided in walk-off fashion. This is becoming a series for the ages.

Game 5 is next, and the Rockets will pin their hopes on young Kelsie Carmichael much like they did in the deciding game against Ko-oren. The bullpen has not been used much in this series, so if necessary, we can keep that in the back of our minds. Cassadaigua will likely go with Desiree Plummer, their number five starter as well. In Cassadaigua’s first round series against Drawkland, it was reported that their ace, Samantha Owens, does not do as well on short rest, so because of that, I would not expect their manager Maddie Polanco, who is said to be very much in tune with statistics like that, to go with Owens over Plummer. I have to agree, because I see a lot of similarities between Carmichael and Plummer. Each have been effective, and were named to the team for a reason. I can’t wait for this fifth game to begin. What will these two teams have in store for their final act after the three thrillers (and one rout in our favor) so far?

[Cassadaigua]

Big Game Upcoming,
by Katelyn Martini- Outfielder

With one game to go in the semifinal series, I want to thank all of the loyal Cassadagan fans who have made their way to Sonnel and Drawk City to watch us play baseball. It is incredible to see so many of you showing your national pride and waving the pink flag proudly. I also want to thank all of the fans from Newmanistan that made the trip. All of you have made the atmosphere for this series something special. For us on the field, it means so much to play in this game and to hopefully win the Classic. It is something that we dream of as kids in a nation where the tournament is a very big deal. That, naturally, also applies to our opponents, as well as Nova Anglicana, who have already found their way to the championship series. Seeing all of you in attendance serves as a reminder of what it also means for our country. The World Baseball Classic is coveted tournament, and if we could win it for the fourth time, and inch one closer to Newmanistan’s record trophy haul, that would be special for all of us. I do see the passion of the Newmanistanians, they want their seventh. On TV, and something I want to see in person, the hopes of the Nova Anglicana fan base is also something we all feel. Can you imagine, participating in so many tournaments, and continually having success as they do, only to not win a title in any of them. I can feel for them. In every Classic, you can see how much it means to fans, but this one takes it to another level, because not only did fans have to leave the country, they also had to leave the planet. That’s dedication, and I thank all of you, no matter what nation you are supporting of those remaining, for that.

Our sights are set now on the Rockets and this has been a real battle. Think about it, three of these four games have been won on a walk off. Taylor’s grand slam in Game 3 is truly a remarkable highlight and something we want to play over and over hopefully while also calling it pivotal in a championship that we are aspiring to win. Even the game that ended up 7-1 was 2-1 until the eighth inning, so it’s not as if that was a rout from the start. Game 3, simply amazing. It started off pretty well for us, and for me personally. I didn’t make great contact on the Madison Sullivan heater, but it was enough, and I took off as fast as I can down the baseline and was able to beat the throw. I am not shy about stealing bases, as we all know here, and after stealing second, I was confident that I could take third as well. After all, why let the Newmanistanian runners Sauter and Schuster have all the fun. Scoring on a ground out put us up, but we would not know then how long that run would have to hold up. I saw a piece in The Rocket Report mention how my predecessor on this roster, Jenna Bailey, ended up leaving Cassadaigua to play professionally in Pocono City. While I have no plans on leaving Cassadaigua, I do like how the Newmanistanian system places such a high emphasis on base stealing and overall speed on the basepaths. I don’t know why some nations or teams get away from that. There are leagues now where if you steal 50 bases in a 162-game season you will lead the league. I always find it funny, when watching one of their telecasts, say in game 125 of the 162 game season, when a baserunner with 37 SB’s up to that point is on base and they talk about him being a major threat to steal a base. No, he isn’t. Not if he has stolen a base in less then a quarter of the games he has played in. Sorry. You have to respect his speed, obviously, but a major threat? No, not happening. That’s what I try to be, and in Cassadaigua you will see stolen base totals approaching 100 with regularity. In Newmanistan, they are very aggressive. Those are major threats to steal a base.

Fine, sorry about that tangent, but I do love to defend what I do, because in many aspects it is a grossly underutilized aspect of the game. The 1-0 lead held up until sixth, where we gave up an annoying little blooper to the pitcher. That’s dangerous, and while we worked hard to get out of the inning, we could not keep them from tying up the score. Some people have mentioned that our catcher, Danielle Trufant, should have blocked the plate, and forced Sullivan to run into her, in hopes that it would throw Sullivan off of our game. That’s not the way we play the game, so not going to happen. Briefly in the top of the tenth, we fell behind, but a great moment was coming for our team. Myself and Rachel Kessler led off the inning with singles, and advanced a base on a Macy Hamel sacrifice. That brought up Cassie Daniels, who drew a walk. With the bases loaded, it was up to Taylor Bryant. With one out and me as the lead runner, she didn’t have to crush the ball, but why chance it? An emotional grand slam, sending us into an intense state of jubilation! We could have lost this game, and were close to it, but victory would be attained, giving us the lead in the series!

The fourth game saw us have the potential to advance to the finals, and we were able to jump on Paige Norwood in the first inning, with me against stealing a base. I wish we could have got more, and like we saw in the third game, we were unable to generate any more offense. No runs in the second through the ninth in Game 3, and no runs in the second through the eighth in Game 4. That is not usually the way to win a game, but Kayla Mason was pitching extremely well, and keeping us in the game. The got one in the fourth and the seventh, so they were up 2-1 and we needed to find something within ourselves to get that equalizer. They were keeping Paige Norwood in the game for the ninth, because while they will want to get Katrina Payne’s confidence back, this is not the time to do it. We finally broke through, getting back to back doubles from Taylor Bryant and Jordyn Prosser to tie the game! As exciting as that was, and hoping that we would see Payne in extras again, we would not be able to get that far. Nicole Larkin ended our hopes and tied the series.

As we look forward to this fifth game, with Desiree Plummer taking the mound, I know people throughout the universe are excited. Back home, I have heard of the bet that Stacie Houston, our championship NSSCRA driver has with Newmanistanian driver Bryan Harrison as they get ready for a big race. The game will have universal appeal, and it is an honor to be participating in it. As intense as this has been, there is still one more series to go. We’ll worry about Nova Anglicana if we win, but the focus is only the Rockets right now.

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
SEMIFINALS - GAME 5
R. U. Ready 2 Rock? Time to find out who our second finalist is ...

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SEMIFINALS

#1 Cassadaigua vs #5 Newmanistan
@ Corps Central Park, Drawk City

Game 5
Newmanistan            0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  9
Cassadaigua            0 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 11

Cassadaigua Wins Series 3-2

THIRD PLACE SERIES

#5 Newmanistan vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Hydrogen Cyanide Field, Drawk City. Best of 5.

WBC 48 CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Cassadaigua vs #7 Nova Anglicana
@ Seven Stars Stadium, Centivar County. Best of 7.

[Cassadaigua]

Survival, and on to the final,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

The semifinal series against the Rockets of Newmanistan lived up to its billing and then some, and now the task for Team Cassadaigua is to rein in the emotions of the dramatic victory and overall intensity of that series, because one more strong opponent awaits. And it’s an opponent who is very, very, hungry to finally win their first World Baseball Classic title. Perhaps it is a good thing that they will be playing Nova Anglicana without any time for rest, because they won’t have to think about the reality of what happened against the Rockets.

The script of this classic semifinal was set between two nations with a lengthy history in the tournament, and have played each other in a final before. That was, however, a very long time ago. Since returning, the nations have had a couple meetings against one another, with each team winning one of the series. However, it could be said that Newmanistan won the important one, as it was the semifinal before they ultimately won the World Baseball Classic 41 title. Now, we can hope that we will have the same result in our final, after the semifinal win. Our recent series win against them was in a third place series, and that is not something that we get all excited for. This clash saw our team, who has been making the semifinals in recent Classics, and even made a final, against their team, who has had a couple of disappointing Classics in a row, by their standards. Three of the four games went down to the wire, and were won in a walk off. The other game was closer then the eventual 7-1 final that came of it, as it was 2-1 going into the eighth. What kind of craziness could we expect to finish this off? Well, we got it. While the seas of pink and sky blue were very apparent, many neutral Drawk fans (although by this point many probably had chosen a side), got an incredible taste of what makes baseball so great, and what makes this tournament so great for two nations that have combined for nine titles.

Game 5 started very well for us. It would be the first game of the series that did not have either of the teams score in the first inning, as the two pitchers, Desiree Plummer and Kelsie Carmichael looked to reward their coaches for the confidence they had in them. As both are the #5 starters of their teams, each manager had a decision, and at least one person in their ear trying to convince them to pitch the ace of the staff on short rest. Neither manager would so that, as both seemed to be of the belief of using the pitcher that got you this far. Plummer was very good early on, while the Fillies eventually figured out Kelsie Carmichael as the younger pitcher tried to go through the batting order for the second time. After Desiree Plummer struck out the begin the third inning, Katelyn Martini tripled into the right field corner to get the Dagans in business. All Rachel Kessler needed to do was hit the ball moderately deep into the outfield to bring her in, and that’s what she did. In the fourth, Cassadaigua got more offense going. It started with Cassie Daniels and Taylor Bryant leading off the inning with singles, and Jordyn Prosser driving each of them in with a double to put the Fillies up 3-0. Danielle Trufant hit a single of her own to extend the lead to four. The Rockets went to their bullpen after the fifth inning, and that’s always good news for the opponent. In the bottom of the sixth, Taylor Bryant hit a solo home run, and the Cassadaigua lead was now 5-0.

Up by five, some fans may have wanted to breath a sigh of relief and start making their plans to return to Seven Stars Stadium in Centivar County. Most fans knew better, as after all this Newmanistan team was a team that scored eight runs in the top of the eighth after being held scoreless up to that point in what was their Game 5 win over Ko-oren. Desiree Plummer had cruised through the lineup for the most part, allowing just three hits over the first six innings. Therefore, there was no reason to think that disaster was about to strike. However, with their cleanup batter, Lexi Burrows, leading off the inning, everything began to unravel. Burrows led the inning off with a solo home run. So, while that was tough, we still had a four run lead. However, while Cassadaigua figured out Carmichael the second time they saw her, Newmanistan seemed to have Plummer figured out the third time through the batting order. That effectiveness was gone, and Newmanistanian players continued to reach base, and the lead was sliced and sliced. The inning began with no one warming up in the bullpen, and since Maddie Polanco was hopeful after the Burrows home run that things would not snowball, it was not until Sierra McKinley reached base that Polanco got Sophie Calhoun warming up. Catcher Danielle Trufant tried to stall with a couple trips to the mound, and Polanco did that as well to allow Calhoun time. By the time Sophie got in the game, the lead was down to 5-4, with just one out and Nicole Hoskins on first. Brooke Sauter, the notorious base stealer drew a walk to make matters worse, and then Jenna Schuster singled in Nicole Hoskins. The inning could have been worse, but Calhoun got out of it without further trouble.

The five run lead. All gone. Polanco would go to the bullpen again for the eighth inning, calling for Becca Fisher, but she would not do well. Lexi Burrows actually led the inning off again, and while she did not homer, she did start the inning off with a base hit. Newmanistan managed three hits in the inning, getting two runs, and putting them in the position to win, now. It was supposed to be an advantage to get to the Rockets bullpen, but this time, they were holding up.

Into the bottom of the ninth, the Fillies still trailed. Cassadagan and Newmanistanian fans each prayed for a positive outcome, and in came Katrina Payne, the closer for Newmanistan. She had a terrible Game 3, but Ashley Hedstrom had to show faith in the person that she declared as their closer. Surely, Payne would be a lot better this time out. Rachel Kessler was retired to lead off the inning, but Macy Hamel doubled into the left field gap to put us in business. Cassie Daniels struck out, bringing up Taylor Bryant. Now, with this at bat, Katrina Payne could completely redeem herself for giving up the grand slam to Bryant in Game 3. It would be a fitting end for her and for the Rockets to punch their tickets to Seven Stars Stadium. Vindication called. So did deja vu. On a 2-1 pitch, Bryant got a hold of a fastball and lifted it a long way, over the left field fence stunning Payne and the Rockets, and tying the game at seven. No way did that really just happen. But yes, yes it did.

Moving into extras, Cassadaigua brought in their closer, Roxanne Gomez, who had also struggled in this series. Not in the same way that the Rockets closer felt pain, but it wasn’t all roses for Roxy. In the 10th, the Rockets put their closer off the hook thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Mikayla Larson. She had been so great for Newmanistan in the playoffs, and now she could be the hero. Now, Gomez was the scapegoat, retreating back to the dugout after eventually getting the third out, fearing that the game would be over, and that we would be playing The Sherpa Empire next, instead. Newmanistan turned now to Brittany Overton from their bullpen, as the short reliever is listed as also being a closer at home. A wise choice, and if she could close this out, then maybe the Rockets would consider giving her the closer role on their team. With 8-9-1 coming up for Cassadaigua, Newmanistan had to like their chances, and it started well when Danielle Trufant and pinch hitter Brianne Salvador were retired. The pressure of the moment now laid in the hands of Katelyn Martini, the player who instigated the three run fourth with a triple. It was her only hit of the game up to this point, but she would deliver here with a double, and once again, there was hope. Rachel Kessler singled her in, and once again, we were all tied up. Each team was stepping up big!

From the 11th, 12th, and 13th innings, the two fan bases prayed that their bats had more heroics left in them, but each saw the bullpen of the opponent shut them down. The game drew on and on, and as that happened, the chances for unlikely heroes began to emerge. Sierra Ogletree had pitched great out of the bullpen, and remained in the game for the 14th, which was her fourth inning of work. The needed innings out of her, and they got them, but in that inning, Newmanistan came through with a run, on back to back doubles, each coming with two outs, from Sierra McKinley and Chelsea Harlow. It was now 9-8 in favor of the Rockets, and now they hoped that the third time would be the charm in keeping us off the scoreboard. That would not be the case, as pinch hitter Katrina Pavlovsky delivered a two-out double, driving in Jordyn Prosser, who had initially singled to start the inning. It looked like Newmanistan might get out of it, but they would not. Once again, and for the third time, Cassadaigua needed to score while facing elimination, and they would do exactly that.

On to the 15th inning now, and on the mound for Cassadaigua was Crystal Walsh. The bullpen was used heavily in the series, and there was starting to become the possibility that Samantha Owens might have to start warming up if this trend continued. Hopefully, Walsh could give them successful innings, and she was good in the 15th, tossing a 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the inning, Newmanistan would look to Heather Doran. She was only on the team, according to their roster information, as a lefty specialist, but with the game going on and on, their bullpen was also become depleted. Recall, they had to go to it earlier since Carmichael only gave them five innings. Rachel Kessler led the inning off with a single, and advanced to second on a fly out from Macy Hamel. Next up, Cassie Daniels, with the Rocket killer (or just the Katrina Payne killer), Taylor Bryant awaiting on deck. This time, Taylor would not get a chance to be a hero, because Cassie Daniels took care of it. Doran’s curveball didn’t break much, and Daniels made her and the hopes of Newmanistan pay, sending it a long way over the left field fence. A dramatic two-run homer, sending the Fillies to play the Lions in Centivar County. After jumping around and celebrating the win at home plate, many Cassadagan players had the look of a sense of relief that they had advanced, other then wanting to celebrate. Many players took the time to also shake the hands of the Rockets players, and wishing them well.

Sometimes, we can overuse the word epic. But here, in the semifinals of World Baseball Classic, that word might not be strong enough. This series, was legendary. There’s more work to do, and thankfully the scouting staff will have done their due diligence to have the team ready for Nova Anglicana. They’re hungry for their first title, but after winning like this, our Fillies should not be bet against.

[Nova Anglicana]

Lion's Roar

A SportsWorld Weblog

Lions are finals bound!
by Omega Lion



About how I'm feeling right now.

The Lions are through to the finals! Can you believe it? This is the third finals appearance for the Lions, and first since WBC 44, where they lost to West Phoenicia. How'd they do it? Well, by righting the ship on the pitching front. After a rocky start in the playoffs, the Lions conceded a mere eight runs in four games against the Sherpa Empire, capped by Wyatt Templeton and Dan Cunningham's single-run efforts in games three and four of the series. Templeton tossed a complete game for his one-run outing, being backed by two two-run homers by first baseman Jake Bryan in a 7-1 win. Meanwhile, in game four, Dan Cunningham, who had struggled so far in the playoffs, tossed five innings of one-run ball before being pinch-hit for in a two-run sixth that essentially sealed the game. Four innings by Clay Wilkerson, Rex Boyd, Charlie Bowers, and Jon Klein finished off the game and sent the Lions to the finals.

But who will the Lions be facing? Well, as luck would have it, it's the #1 overall seed, the number two in the world, and the team that has looked more like a juggernaut than any other team this Classic, Cassadaigua. The Fillies have had a lot of success this Classic, with the best record in the group stage, defeating the hosts in front of 250,000 screaming fans, taking down a top-10 team in Hampton Island with ease in the quarterfinals, and defeating six-time champs Newmanistan in the semis, including rallying from deficits of 7-5, 8-7, and 9-8 to finally win 11-9 in fifteen innings. I have to point out that the Rocket Report's Brianne Henry was remarkably prescient, predicting this very matchup in her playoff preview. One only has to hope that her prediction of Cassadaigua defeating our Lions is actually incorrect. Let's take a look at some of the reasons to be optimistic about the Lions' chances, and some reasons to think things will go the other way.

Reasons for optimism

They're due: The Lions have competed in twenty-one World Baseball Classics (this is their twenty-first) and have never won. That's quite a long time to have competed at such a high level and never won. Plus, it's the third time the Lions have been to the finals, so, third time's the charm, right?

They're fresh: The Lions didn't play a single extra inning in any of their four games against the Sherpa Empire. With the extra day of rest, and only playing thirty-six innings, the Lions are rested and ready to go. Comparatively, Cassadaigua played a ten-inning game in game one, a ten-inning game in game three, and a fifteen-inning game in game five. Those extra seven innings will wear on the Fillies' pitching staff, and especially the fifteen innings right before the finals. If the Lions can get to the Fillies' bullpen, then they might be able to blow things wide open.

Wyatt Templeton and Erik Russell: Wyatt Templeton is the hottest thing going right now. At 3-0, 25 IP, 1.44 ERA in the playoffs, he is white-hot. Erik Russell stumbled a bit in the semis, but he still pitched very well in his first outing and in the group stage. Manager Orlando Murray has confirmed that he will go with a rotation of Sharpe (with Jackson as the opener), Templeton, Russell in game three, Cunningham on full rest in game four. That should start the Lions off well.

Jake Bryan: The veteran first-sacker has played incredibly well, knocking homers and driving in runs, as well as playing a dependable first base. It seems like not a game or series recap goes by without his name being prominently mentioned. If the Lions are going to beat Samantha Owens in game one, he will be a big factor. But don't expect Owens to shy away from pitching to the Lions' slugger. The Fillies went right at Midnight, the black bear with the big bat for Hampton Island, and they pretty much shut him down.

Reasons for Pessimism

The Lions' history: Let's face it; if the Lions have competed in twenty-one WBCs and never won, what's the reason to expect them to win here? I don't necessarily think of them as chokers, per se, but what's the reason for optimism? This is the best national team Nova Anglicana's got, and they've never won. If you want to be super pessimistic about it, Cassadaigua has been waiting for almost thirty Classics to win (WBC 19 was their last title), so they've been waiting even longer then we have for a win.

Cassadaigua's history: The Dagans are the only team in the multiverse (AFAIK) to have won a WBC, World Cup of Hockey, International Basketball Championship, and football World Cup. And they've won a World Bowl to boot. That's a nation of champions. The Fillies know how to win. They expect to win. If our guys don't have the same resolve, they're going to get stomped.

The atmosphere: Apparently Seven Stars Stadium, where the finals will be played, can hold 250,000 people. That's a quarter of a million. That's like 2.5% of Nova Anglicana's entire population. None of our boys have ever played in a stadium that big. It's going to be a challenge to just get used to the noise and the size and everything. And I don't know too many Nova Anglicans that can afford space travel and the price of a ticket. They say [Prime Minister] Hal Blackwood's going to be there for a couple games, but that doesn't make up for the lack of a significant cheering section. Plus Cassadaigua's used to it. They played and defeated the hosts there in the Round of 16, so they've seen the worst the building has to offer and they've overcome it. One can only hope that the Drawkians transfer their allegiance to the Lions because they hate the Fillies for knocking out their team. But don't count on it.

Maddie Polanco: Lastly, there's the Fillies' manager. Maddie Polanco is a long-time veteran of the WBC, having played for the Super-Llamaland Tigers, then been a bench coach during their WBC 40 championship, and having been the Fillies' skipper since WBC 41. She played amazingly for a baseball-crazy and outstandingly successful nation, then was a title-winning coach, and has now guided the Fillies to a #2 ranking in the world and the finals of the WBC. She's a steady hand, but not afraid to take risks. There have been no complaints from the locker room and few public criticisms of her decisions. She will make the right decisions; if the Lions win this series, it won't be because of unforced errors from Polanco and her finely-tuned Cassadaiguan machine.

It's going to be really tough. But I think the Lions can do it. We've been waiting long enough for a title, and they've played really well since the opening sweep. There's been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears shed for the Lions to get this far, and nobody is ready for it to stop just yet. I'll be watching intently; you watch too and keep up with our blog. I feel bad for the WJHC squad, since everybody will be paying attention to this. That makes it all the more important for them to bring a championship home.

More from Lion's Roar
Young Lions will face Nova Roma in WJHC playoffs
WBC Retrospective: The Lions' past two finals appearances
What to do about Hank Jackson

(OOC: Logo at top shamelessly cribbed from Pride of Detroit, Detroit Lions blog. The opinions expressed above are the opinions of the writer and not necessarily indicative of the opinions of Nova Anglicans or the user behind Nova Anglicana.)

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

A TOUGH DEFEAT

by Brianne Henry,

An amazing 15-inning thriller is in the books for Game 5 of the semifinals against Cassadaigua, but it sees the opponent win the game, 11-9. With the win, the Fillies take the series in five games and will advance to the championship series against Nova Anglicana. Newmanistan will head to Drawk City to play The Sherpa Empire in the best of the rest series.

I’m not here to talk to you about the consolation series. That will come and go as the Rockets players play out the games that they are instructed to play. Maybe, they will win. However, the lessons of the series against Cassadaigua will be that much stronger. There were questions concerning this team, as don’t forget they underachieved significantly in the last two Classics. This was a much needed rebound for the sky blue. From the group stage’s early lead, to the late slump that made us wonder if we were going to choke, our Rockets did show some resiliency. They played well in the playoffs, beating an aspiring first time nation, then a recent nemesis to get to the semifinal. We have answers now. Brooke Sauter and Jenna Schuster are still just 22 and 23 years old. They are going to be doing this for a while. Mikayla Larson was amazing, and the rest of the lineup really clicked. We got good pitching from the starters. The bullpen, always our nemesis was the way to beat us again. It is likely that Katrina Payne will not be back. Manager Ashley Hedstrom had to stick with her, though. Payne was not awful all the time, and in fact she was very effective at times. Against Cassadaigua, she was not. Maybe she could be brought back as a short reliever, but expect to see changes in the bullpen. Another answer that we got in this Classic was that Ashley Hedstrom is indeed a good manager. Some people thought her job was on the line in this Classic, and if we underachieved again, it would have been. However, the team got far, and did a lot of things right.

There will be two years before we do the World Baseball Classic again. What we know is that this was an important building block after taking a couple steps back recently. We’ll be back, alright.

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
CHAMPIONSHIPS - GAMES 1 & 2
The Cass-Newman series Burnt Down the House ... can the championship compare?

---

THIRD PLACE SERIES

#5 Newmanistan vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Hydrogen Cyanide Field, Drawk City.

Game 1
The Sherpa Empire      1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  5
Newmanistan            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Game 2
Newmanistan            0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 1  7
The Sherpa Empire      0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  4

Series Tied 1-1

WBC 48 CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Cassadaigua vs #7 Nova Anglicana
@ Seven Stars Stadium, Centivar County.

Game 1
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  3
Cassadaigua            0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2

Game 2
Cassadaigua            3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2

Series Tied 1-1

[Cassadaigua]

More Work To Do,
by Maddie Polanco- Manager

After our thrilling win over Newmanistan, I was asked by a lot of people how it would be possible to be ready to begin another series with the stakes that are even higher. I have been through a lot in the World Baseball Classic, but I must say that the series against the Rockets may be at the very top of the most intense series that I have been a part of, both as a player with Super-Llamaland. The last game caused both myself and the Newmanistan manager, Ashley Hedstrom, to go deeper on our roster then we typically would, looking to find the answers. They never said die, and neither did we. That’s how they have won many championships, and it is how we have won many championships. You want to celebrate, and you have to at least a little bit. But as great as that was, there is still more work to do. We have a very hungry group of Lions awaiting us now. They have taken their own path, and want to win their first title. As a nation, Nova Anglicana has done a lot of great things for the sport, and they are worthy of calling themselves a champion. It is something that they have never attained in their history, so how do we bounce back and get ready to start this all over again?

Well, it starts with the pitching. In starting this series off with Samantha Owens and Katia Tavarez, you get two players who were able to focus on Nova Anglicana once they clinched after the fourth game. They weren’t going to be used against the Rockets, so all of the time we spent preparing for Newmanistan, they were reading up on the Nova Anglicana hitters, and they have some great ones, as we have seen. No, I didn’t tell them to prepare for The Sherpa Empire just in case we lost, either. There is a big difference in the third place series and the championship series when it comes to the importance of it, so if they needed to alter their plan after the fact, then we could arrange that, but for them, it was all about Nova Anglicana. Even Lauren Sutter and Kayla Mason were in on the scouting of the Lions, since they were not going to pitch in the fifth game, either. It was a little interesting with the way that game played out, because I might have had to start thinking about using Samantha Owens as a reliever in the fifth game if the game kept going on an on, and she would have been ready to pitch. It would not have been ideal for her, and I would have had to move Katia up to start the next series, but we did not would have to worry about that in the long run.

With the pitching addressed, there was no reason to have any concern about us not being ready to go right back out there after the emotional win. Our hitters had a tougher job, because staring at us in the first game would be Cory Sharpe, who is known to go after batters with a fastball, but his slider is also a deadly pitch. He mixes in other pitches well, such as a strong cutter to lefties. They would use the opener strategy for the game as well. I have talked about my opinion of the opener in the past, like it in domestic play a lot, but not as convinced on it in international play. Thankfully, we have a great group of scouts who were assigned to watch that series and could give a crash course to our players who just played a long game, one that was very emotional to survive, then made the trip to Seven Stars Stadium.

The game seemed to start very well, too, as Cassie Daniels and Taylor Bryant led the second inning off with singles, Taylor’s being a double that put us up 1-0 against the opener, Hank Jackson. He eventually settled in, and we needed to then adjust to Cory Sharpe when he came in. Meanwhile, Samantha Owens was doing a great job giving us a chance to pull this out. I think she knew from the start that we would really be leaning on her in this game to come up big for us, and she was doing just that. Through the first six innings, she had allowed just two hits, and struck out nine as we held the two run lead. In baseball, things can turn suddenly, and that would happen in the seventh. There were no warning signs for it, other then the fact that a team of Nova Anglicana’s caliber is not going to give in. Their big gun, Jake Bryan would lead the inning off, and got his team in business with a leadoff double, part of five hits that they pieced together in the inning to get three runs. I had bullpen activity, as you saw, and was going to make a change in the inning if Nova Anglicana got another hit. Samantha did get out of the inning, but the damage was done. In our dugout, there was no give up and no feeling of defeat. After what we did against the Rockets, they were ready to do some last minute heroics once again. The minds were in the right place, but we could not get anything going.

I fielded a lot of questions from reporters on whether or not we were ready for the game. When you break down this game, I think it is pretty clear that we were ready to play. Samantha pitched well and put us in the position to win the game. We scored a couple of runs, but it was not enough. However, because we only scored two runs, some were wanting to suggest that we were flat because of the emotional semifinal. I was shown some footage that our batters had of ugly swings when facing Cory Sharpe was in the game. Those swings were not ugly because we were not ready. They were “ugly” because the man has a nasty slider. I’d like to see some of these reporters try to hit it. The bigger problem I think is that some of these reporters, and I don’t refer to anyone at the Concord Heights Times, who covers us very well, but I don’t think that some of these reporters are ready for the series. I know it was emotional to beat a team like Newmanistan, and given the seeding of Nova Anglicana, you don’t think they are as good. That’s a bunch of hogwash, they are damn good team who have played exceptionally well to get here, beating very good teams along the way.

In the second game, we got on the board quickly, and it is always nice to get those early leads. Kaitlyn Martini’s leadoff double got us going, and extra base hits by Rachel Kessler and Cassie Daniels got us two runs, with Jordyn Prosser bringing in the third with a single. Wyatt Templeton has been a dominant pitcher in the Classic coming in, and boasted a 1.44 ERA coming into the game, so we know we had our work cut out for us. He will probably tell you that he was off with the location of his fastball in the first inning just enough that it allowed us to get those hits, and that would be a good assessment. He also relies on his slider, and he missed on the Cassie Daniels at-bat in particular. However, what makes a pitcher great is how they bounce back after a tough inning and he was able to do that. We didn’t get another baserunner aboard until the seventh, so credit him for his rebound after the first. For us, Katia Tavarez pitched extremely well, especially in the early innings, not allowing a hit until the fourth. The Lions clawed their way back, and this included a solo home run by Jake Bryan in the sixth with two outs. I had to stick with her though, she had been real good, and I know that she loved it when I told her to keep going out there. She would give us eight innings, and we picked up some insurance in the ninth on Macy Hamel’s solo home run, our first of hopefully many more home runs in this series. Roxanne Gomez closed out the win.

With two games played in the series, we know this is going to be just as intense. It is fun to be back here at Seven Stars Stadium and now not have as many people rooting against you. It’s been a while since we ousted the host nation, so there has been some time to win back some of them. This is now a best of five. Thank you for your support! By the way, I want to thank Stacie Houston and everyone associated with our NSSCRA team. I am glad that our game five win against the Rockets pumped you up to get that big win in Vilita. Beating a Vilitan on the last lap in a race run in Vilita itself was certainly exciting for you and for all of us! Once we’re done, we’ll be following you and the others more. But for now, more work to do here!

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions earn a split versus Fillies in final

Samantha Maxwell, Londinium Courier

Two games down, and the finals of WBC 48 are tied 1-1. The way this series is going, it won't surprise anyone if it takes seven games to resolve this clash of titans. On the one side, the three-time champs, the juggernauts of the Classic, Cassadaigua. On the other, the hungry Lions of Nova Anglicana, not newbies for a long time, a consistent top-10 team, but still never champions. The two sides exchanged body blows in the first two games of the series and this matchup of heavyweights will see more big hits to come.

For game one, Hank Jackson took the mound as an opener for Cory Sharpe, as he had in the previous two series. In the quarterfinals, it ended in disaster, as Sharpe surrendered five runs in three innings. But in the semis, he pitched 6.1 innings of nearly perfect baseball (just two baserunners) in a Lions win. This time around, it was much closer to the result in the semifinals. Jackson toed the rubber for the first two innings, and in the first, he had his fastball-curveball combination working, as he struck out Katelyn Martini and Macy Hamel. But in the second, he ran into some trouble. Cassie Daniels and Taylor Bryant led off the inning. Daniels and Bryant are both incredible power-speed combo players, and Daniels' sharp single to left was followed by Bryant thumping a first-pitch curve into the left field corner. It rattled around down there, and by the time Casey Wheeler could dig it out, Daniels had sped around third and was digging for home. She scored easily and it was 1-0. With the power those two ladies possess, it's lucky the Lions were down just 1-0. Although Jackson retired the next three batters in order, the Fillies would make that one run stand up until the seventh. Cory Sharpe pitched quite well, tossing four innings and striking out eight batters. The Fillies hitters appeared to have trouble with the slider, and Sharpe used that to his advantage. They did touch him up in the sixth, with Macy Hamel doubling home Rachel Kessler after Sharpe walked Kessler. But those were the only two baserunners allowed by him.

In the seventh, with Sarah Owens having yielded only a pair of singles and a walk to go with nine strikeouts through six innings, Jake Bryan strode to the plate. Bryan has been a monster in the Classic and, on a 2-2 pitch, he mashed a fastball that just missed being a homer by about two feet, but clanged off the wall and sent him to second with a leadoff double. Matthew Gilbert followed by singling to right, putting runners on the corners for Jerome Duplantier. But Duplantier whiffed, and with a double play, Owens could escape with the 2-0 lead intact. Marc Dufors dug in and, diving at the outer part of the plate on a 1-2 pitch, blooped a single into left field to score Bryan and cut the deficit to 2-1. Owens bounced back to get Trevor Goodwin to fly out to right, but the speedy Gilbert tagged and moved up to third on the play. Kelvin Hill pinch-hit for Sharpe, and his sharpe line drive that bounced just in front of Martini scored Gilbert and tied the game. At this point, manager Maddie Polanco had already gotten a reliever up in the bullpen, but confidence in her pitcher and surely the extra innings logged in the semifinals contributed to her decision to leave Owens in to face Tommy Moran. Moran would hit a long single to right-center, and although Tori Coufal cut it off brilliantly and made a nice relay, Dufors dove in safely at home to make it 3-2. Owens would strike out Mills on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to quell the threat. The sizzling fastballs of Cody Brock and Charlie Bowers set the Fillies down in the seventh and eighth, and Zach Kelley employed his hard slider to good effect in the ninth to close out the game.

Game two did not start or end so fortuitously for the Lions. Wyatt Templeton has been on fire in the Classic, but Martini and Kessler greeted him with back-to-back doubles to put the Fillies up 1-0 right out of the gate. He recovered to exploit Macy Hamel's weakness to the slider and strike her out, but Cassie Daniels hit a sinking line drive on a 1-2 pitch that Matthew Gilbert's diving attempt couldn't quite grab, and that set her up to score Kessler and arrive at third with a standup triple. Taylor Bryant would hit a comebacker that Templeton easily handled, but Jordyn Prosser's single drove Daniels in to make it 3-0. When asked after the game what went wrong in the first, Templeton had this to say: "Location, location, location. It's the same in pitching as in real estate. I was trying to spot my fastball on the outside corner and backdoor those first two hitters, but it bled into the middle of the plate and they whacked it. For the cleanup hitter, my slider just backed up on me. I meant it to dive down and out of the zone, but it hung up just a little too much. Really frustrating to have her 1-2 like that and then make a bad mistake. But these girls are great hitters. They don't miss mistake pitches, and I really let the team down today."

He maybe was a little too hard on himself, as he mowed down the Cassadaigua lineup in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, not allowing a baserunner until Prosser drew a one-out walk in the seventh. His final line was 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, which is a bit of a tough loss. The Lions were mostly baffled by Katia Tavarez for the first four innings. A hit and a walk was all they had managed going into the fifth. Marc Dufors hit a solo homer in the fifth, and Jake Bryan's two-out solo shot in the sixth pulled the Lions to within 3-2. Tavarez would only allow one more hit in the seventh and eight combined and depart after eight with a line of 8 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Jon Klein pitched a scoreless eighth, but Vic Fleming gave up a solo homer to Hamel in the ninth to make it 4-2. The Fillies' closer Roxanne Gomez would strike out Bryan on six pitches, and Gilbert and Duplantier grounded out softly to end the game. After two thrillers, the series was tied again at 1-1.

In the other semifinal, the Sherpa Empire blanked Newmanistan 5-0 in game one before the Rockets rebounded to defeat the Sherpas 7-4 in game two. Both teams have to be bitterly disappointed that they didn't make the finals, but that series is going to be a barnburner, I can tell. Newmanistan has to be especially disappointed after coming so close and losing in 15 innings to Cassadaigua. I heard that the two games were well-attended, so it doesn't look like those two giants of the sport won't be taking it seriously. I know the real show is here in Centivar County, but two top-10 teams battling it out to win some glory after falling short is a heck of a storyline too. Goodness knows the Lions have been there often enough.

With two games down and a 1-1 tie, these next two games are incredibly important for the Lions and the Fillies. In game three, we'll see Erik Russell take on Lauren Sutter, with Russell looking to bounce back from a disappointing semifinal effort. In game four, Dan Cunningham will look to build on his strong semifinal performance against Kayla Mason, who herself tossed some brilliant innings in the semifinals against Newmanistan. A split of the games keeps things even, gives both teams hope that they have the best chance to win. If either side wins both games, the dynamics of the series change immensely.

If the Fillies are up 3-1, a sense of the inevitable begins to develop on both sides. Cassadaigua have been here before, and they know the feeling of winning and how to win. Down 3-1, it's going to weigh on the Lions. Thoughts like "We've never won before," or "Here we go again" may start to develop. They will need the strength of desperation to rally if they are down 3-1. On the other hand, if the Lions go up 3-1, then avoiding overconfidence will be the key. Cassadaigua isn't going to roll over, and they don't want to lose to first-timers. They will play with all the strength and experience and confidence they have. The Lions will need to dig deep and finish them off, without letting off the gas pedal at all. They can't think they've got it in the bag until they've won that fourth game. As the old saying goes, "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical." The ability of manager Orlando Murray and bench coach Marcellus Maloney to keep the Lions players on an even keel emotionally, to encourage and inspire them, will make the difference in this series. Let's hope it's the Lions who come out on top.

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
CHAMPIONSHIPS - GAMES 3 & 4
Your fans Need You Tonight ... you better deliver!

---

THIRD PLACE SERIES

#5 Newmanistan vs #11 The Sherpa Empire
@ Hydrogen Cyanide Field, Drawk City.

Game 3
The Sherpa Empire      0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2
Newmanistan            1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

Game 4
Newmanistan            1 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0  5
The Sherpa Empire      0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0  3

Newmanistan Wins Third Place, 3-1

WBC 48 CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Cassadaigua vs #7 Nova Anglicana
@ Seven Stars Stadium, Centivar County.

Game 3
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0  5
Cassadaigua            1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3

Game 4
Cassadaigua            5 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 12
Nova Anglicana         1 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 0  7

Series Tied 2-2

[Cassadaigua]

Still tied up,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Two games into the championship series of World Baseball Classic 48, the intensity of the semifinal series had begun to wore off as the new task of beating Nova Anglicana has set in. Those two games showed that this was going to be a very intense battle as well. It might not need the walk off heroics, but it would have plenty of drama. If you looked at how the first two games went, each teams had their moments in each game. In game two, we were fortunate to get on Wyatt Templeton in the first inning, because he really mowed us down thereafter. With all of the games being played here at the beautiful Seven Stars Stadium, there are no off days in this series. You just keep going out there, hoping that everyone is 110% physically and ready to take care of business. Two games can become four games quickly, and now this series becomes a best of three, with everything all tied at two games a piece.

In the third game, Lauren Sutter and Erik Russell would pitch for their respective teams. He’s a 26-year old pitcher with an expansive arsenal of pitches, which even include a knuckle curve. You don’t see that all that much at this level as the amount of pitchers that can really toss that effectively are not common. During the group stage portion, Russell was 3-2, and began the playoffs consistently with those numbers, and was rewarded for that effort by Orlando Murray with the task of tossing game 1 against The Sherpa Empire in the semifinals. He was not terrible, but could have been rattled for a questionable balk call in the game that saw Murray say his piece emphatically, but the patient umpire allowed him to do so. I thought the call was technically correct in accordance to the rule, but sometimes it can be frustrating as those calls always seem to come out of nowhere. Though his end stat line was, like I said, not terrible, for any pitcher at this level in a big game, it will seem that way. Therefore, the Fillies needed to be mindful that they had a pitcher on the mound with plenty of rest and ready to redeem himself. As for Lauren Sutter, she threw a gem in Game 3 against the Rockets in the game that ended with Taylor Bryant’s first Payne-ful blow, the walk off grand slam.

It was a good pitching duel, therefore for game three and the Fillies were able to get to Russell a little bit early, utilizing the speed of Kaitlyn Martini who lined a shot into the left center field gap, putting herself on second. Rachel Kessler drove her in with a single, and it was 1-0 in favor of the Team Cassadaigua. The momentum continued in the bottom of the second, when catcher Danielle Trufant hit a solo home run off of Russell to extend the lead to two. However, Lauren Sutter, after starting well initially, ran into trouble in the fourth, conceding three runs, with the biggest damage done by Marc Dufors who delivered a two-run double. Thankfully, the Fillies got the run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Cassie Daniels. With the game tied at three, we had a battle on our hands. Cassadaigua hoped that things could settle down in the game, but allowing two runs in the sixth would do them in. Maddie Polanco stayed with Lauren Sutter, as after all she only had the one bad inning up to that point, but it might be a decision that she regrets. In that situation, it is typical for the starter to still be in the game going into the sixth in Cassadaigua, so it was nothing unusual. Sutter would not get out of the inning, and walked directly to the clubhouse in frustration. Afterwards, she told reporters that, “I just hated the fact that I was not able to get the job done for my teammates today. So much is riding on this game, and that is not the result I wanted. I missed pitches in that inning. I felt fine, I just missed them, and there is no room for that in this series.” Cassadaigua made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with one out, making many wonder if more walk off heroics were up our sleeve but the threat ended when Jordyn Prosser grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, sealing the win and the series lead for the Lions.

Therefore, Game 4 was key. Kayla Mason would get the start for Cassadaigua against Dan Cunningham, a 27-year old who’s mostly known for his outstanding curveball. He was good in the semifinals, so hoped to continue that momentum. Mason pitched well in a losing effort in Game 4 against Newmanistan. She didn’t have much run support that day. Today, her teammates made sure that script would be different. Katelyn Martini started the ballgame off by lining a single up the middle, and would steal second base. She would ultimately score on a Rachel Kessler single, so in a way this game was starting off the same way the first did. Things would change a little bit from that game, as the hits kept coming. Cunningham’s location in the first two at bats was fine, but he hung a curveball to Macy Hamel, and she made him back with a long bomb to left to make it 3-0. He would retire Cassie Daniels, but surrender a soft bloop single to Taylor Bryant. The next batter, Jordyn Prosser, tried to atone for grounding into the double play to end the prior game, and hit a two-run shot to center to put the Fillies up 5-0. This allowed Kayla Mason to take to the mound with more then twice the run support she got in her semifinal outing, but the Fillies weren’t done. Orlando Murray looked to Clay Wilkerson for the second, but Kayla Mason led the inning off with a single, immediately firing up the Cassadaigua dugout. Martini followed that up with a double, and scored on Rachel Kessler’s single to make it 7-1. Wilkerson got out of the inning thereafter, and was back to start the third. This would not go well. Jordyn Prosser and Danielle Trufant led the inning off with singles, immediately getting action in the Lions bullpen. Tori Coufal struck out, and Kayla Mason sacrificed them each over a base. Kaitlyn Martini was intentionally walked, and Murray made the pitching change at that point. Rachel Kessler lined her third hit in three innings up the middle, driving in two, and making it 9-3. Macy Hamel singled to bring in Martini, and with runners on the corners, Cassie Daniels doubled them both in, making it 12-3.

Amid all that run scoring where the three runs that Kayla Mason allowed, so it was conceivable that Maddie Polanco would take her out earlier then normal if the Lions began to chip away, but it held up, for the most part. Nova Anglicana’s sixth inning run did mean the end of Mason’s day, and while it is not a pretty stat line for her, it was more then enough. Sandra Quinones pitched the seventh and gave up one, and Crystal Wash allowed two in the eighth, seeing the lead cut to 12-7. For the ninth, Maddie Polanco wasn’t going to mess around with lesser used relievers any longer went to normal set-up/eighth inning reliever Tara McGuinness to finish off the Lions in the ninth, and she would toss a 1-2-3 inning. After the game, Polanco was more then pleased, “A great game, getting the early lead. We can’t forget that we did allow some runs today, too, even though we always seemed to have a big lead. That showed that our opponent not going to go down easily, not that we would have expected anything differently.”

Game five will see Desiree Plummer go to the mound, and she has been the started of two decisive game five’s so far in the playoffs, including a game right here at Seven Stars Stadium. She knows a thing about pressure, but this time this gave five, with the series tied at two, will not be the clincher. It will, however, be very decisive.

[Nova Anglicana]

Series remains tied, Murray to keep rotation as is

Samantha Maxwell, Londinium Courier

Two more games down in the WBC 48 finals, and we're right back where we started. The Lions clawed the Fillies of Cassadaigua to take a 2-1 series lead, but the Filles thumped the Lions in game four to tie the series right back up at two games apiece. It's been a back and forth battle that continues to be anyone's series. If you're looking for reasons for optimism, the Lions are following a win-loss-win-loss pattern. If that were to continue, they would win game five, lose game six, and win game seven for the championship. But if anything is certain in the WBC, it's that nobody knows who will come out on top.

In game three, Erik Russell took the mound, looking to have a better outing than his 6 inning, four-run effort against the Sherpa Empire in the semifinals. But the Fillies weren't going to make his job easy. He made it through a rocky first four innings, allowing a leadoff double and RBI single in the first, a solo shot in the second, and an RBI single in the fourth. He did recover to pitch two scoreless innings and departed after the sixth with a quality start (6 IP, 3 ER) under his belt. His opposite number was the 20-game winner, lefty Lauren Sutter. Sutter yielded only a single hit through three innings, a two-out single in the first by Casey Wheeler. In the top of the fourth, though, the Lions were able to get things going. Luke Mills drew a leadoff walk, and Wheeler got the better of Sutter again, with an inside-out swing on an inside fastball resulting in a line drive base-hit to right field. With runners on first and second, Sutter settled down, striking out lefty slugger Jake Bryan for the second time, and getting Matthew Gilbert to hit a lazy fly to Katelyn Martini in center. With two outs, Jerome Duplantier strode to the plate, trying to get on base somehow and cut the Lions' 2-0 deficit. He fell behind 1-2, but he got around on an off-speed pitch that just barely missed its spot. The resulting line drive screamed over a leaping Jordyn Prosser at first and curled just fair inside the right-field foul line. Duplantier pulled into second and the lead was cut to 2-1. Marc Dufors, taking advantage of a shell-shocked Sutter, hit the first-pitch for a ringing double off the wall in right-center, giving the Lions a 3-2 lead.

After Cassie Daniels' RBI single in the fourth tied the game up, the Lions' next chance to strike was in the sixth. Wheeler continued to bedevil Sutter, drawing a leadoff walk, and on a 3-2 challenge fastball, Jake Bryan finally got the upper hand on Sutter, sending it to the wall in right-center for a double. Although Sutter would strike out Matthew Gilbert, Duplantier again was a thorn in her side, singling to score Wheeler and chasing her. She stormed off the mound and was clearly and demonstrably upset with herself, an understandable reaction in such a close series. Marc Dufors hit a sacrifice fly to score Bryan and make it a 5-3 Lions lead. After Russell was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, Rex Boyd and Charlie Bowers pitched two perfect innings to get it to the ninth for closer Zach Kelley. Kelley was shaky early, walking Rachel Kessler and giving up a sharp single to Macy Hamel. He did get Cassie Daniels on a 2-2 high fastball, but lost Taylor Bryant when a 3-2 pitch just missed the outside corner. Credit Bryant for being able to take such a close pitch; most hitters don't have that kind of an eye. After a mound visit from pitching coach Greg Richardson, Kelley fell behind Prosser 2-1. His next pitch was a 97 MPH two-seamer that Prosser sent bounding back up the middle, but Tommy Moran, always known as a defensive maven, scooped it up and made a nice back-handed flip to Mills for the first out, then Mills' strong throw got Prosser on the back end to end the game and send the Lions home with a win.

Game four was not so great for the Lions. Dan Cunningham took the mound and, while he had pitched well in the semis, his other two playoff starts did not inspire confidence. He would be bitten by the homer bug in this outing, to devastating effect. Katelyn Martini started the game by singling, stealing second, and scoring on a Rachel Kessler RBI single. Then Cunningham hung his famous curveball to Macy Hamel and it was in the seats. Three batters in, three-zip. Although Cassie Daniels struck out, Taylor Bryant blooped a cutter in on the hands just between Luke Mills, Tommy Moran, and Matthew Gilbert in shallow center field to reach with one out. Another badly placed curveball resulted in another two-run homer, this time from Jordyn Prosser, making up for ending the game last night. After the first, Murray pulled Cunningham in a surprising move. When asked why, he replied, "Dan's bread-and-butter is his curve. If his curve isn't working, then all sorts of other things have to be wrong, too. It was better to go with a fresh arm."

The fresh arm of Clay Wilkerson didn't make a whole lot of difference in the second. He allowed a leadoff single to the pitcher, Kayla Mason, and then Martini doubled to put two runners on. When Rachel Kessler singled, it was child's play for a player of Martini's speed to score from second, and the two runs made it 7-1. Wilkerson would get out of the second and Murray tried to stretch him out for the third inning as well after the Lions put two runs on the board via a Duplantier two-run homer. Back-to-back singles got Vic Fleming up in the bullpen. A strikeout and a sacrifice later, Martini was walked intentionally and Fleming entered. The intentional walk drew some criticism, but Murray defended it, saying, "Clay was gassed out there. We didn't feel good about Vic versus Martini, and so we walked her to get the platoon advantage against Kessler." The results were not pretty. A two-run single from Kessler, an RBI single from Hamel, and a two-run double from Daniels to make it 12-3. Fleming's line ended up being 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, though it should have been a lot worse, as the first three runners were charged to Wilkerson's account. Aaron Spencer came in for the fourth and ended up pitching five scoreless innings, soaking up a lot of innings that will make it a bit easier for Murray to go to his bullpen in game five if needed. The Lions did make it somewhat of a game, tallying four runs across the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, including a two-run shot from pinch-hitter Cliff Garner in the eighth, but the outcome was never in doubt after the third inning, and the Fillies cruised, 12-7.

In the other semifinal, Newmanistan closed out the Sherpa Empire to win the third place series. In game three, the Sherpas rallied from down 2-0 to tie the game, only to see the Rockets take the lead right back and defeat them 3-2, while in game four, five runs in the first five innings helped the Rockets withstand a late Sherpa rally to win the game 5-3 and take the series. Congratulations to the Rockets on their win, though I know they'd rather be playing the Lions in the finals. Both teams have had a Classic to be proud of.

These last three games will decide the series, the championship, and who gets bragging rights for the next WBC cycle. Cassadaigua's Maddie Polanco is taking it one game at a time. She's announced that Desiree Plummer, the Fillies' usual #5 starter, will take the mound for game five of the finals. Although there have been some questions about Plummer, she's been more than capable. She pitched six excellent innings against a strong Newmanistan lineup before collapsing in the seventh. Let's hope her performance against the Lions will be more seventh inning than first through sixth.

Lions manager Orlando Murray, on the other hand, has elected to reveal his pitching rotation for the last three games (including game seven if needed). He will stick with the opener strategy for game five, with Hank Jackson taking the mound for the first few innings and Cory Sharpe coming in to pitch the bulk of the game. Wyatt Templeton will toe the rubber for game six, and Murray will hand the ball to Erik Russell for game seven if it gets that far. This represents a conscious play by Murray to try to take control of the series. By bringing in his #1 starter on short rest for game five, he hopes to take the lead and then use the man who has probably been the most reliable playoff starter, Templeton, to close things out in game six. It's also a statement of trust in Erik Russell. Even though he didn't pitch amazingly well against the Sherpa Empire or Cassadaigua, he's been solid and to hand him the ball for a second time in the series shows that Murray appreciates his work.

When asked about his decision, Murray said, "We're just continuing our rotation as we've been doing since the quarterfinals. Hank's done a great job opening up for us, and Cory only tossed four innings in game one. It might be short rest, but he only had a short outing. I feel confident that continuing our strategy is the path to victory. I have complete confidence in all of our starters to do the job we need them to do." Cory Sharpe was confident about the Lions' chances in game five: "My arm feels good. I'm used to throwing a lot more innings than I have been, so I'm more than rested. Going on three days' rest doesn't bother me. Hank and I are a great team and I know our hitters are going to back us up. We've got to pick up Dan [Cunningham] and get those girls back after game four. We all want to win, real bad."

Murray also said that, depending on the length of their outings in game five, Jackson and Sharpe could be available if needed in game seven. He didn't commit to using Dan Cunningham in that capacity, only saying, "Dan will pitch if we need him to. We've got a lot of great pitchers on this team, but in a championship series, it's all hands on deck." Cunningham has likely been banished to the back of the bullpen given his disastrous game four outing.

This next game will tip the scales, putting one team a game away from victory and the other on the brink of defeat. Who will come out on top? Only the players can say for certain.

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
CHAMPIONSHIP - GAME 5
Catch the spirit of the game, and maybe it'll lead you to the title!
(Early cutoff since both remaining nations have already RP'd)

---

WBC 48 CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Cassadaigua vs #7 Nova Anglicana
@ Seven Stars Stadium, Centivar County.

Game 5
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Cassadaigua            0 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 X  6

Cassadaigua Leads Series 3-2

[Cassadaigua]

Up by a Game,
by Kaitlyn Martini, Outfielder

This has been an incredible journey now in the 48th World Baseball Classic. Starting in a group stage that feature a historic rival of ours in Saintland, and capturing that title in the way that we did. It earned us the top seed for the playoffs, thanks in large part to everyone playing well. Many of us have played together before as we are a veteran group. I know one of the worst kept secrets within this team is that it might be the last Classic for several players. No one wants to talk about that, because no one can predict where they will be in two years, but surely there will be some turnover. For the ones that do opt to retire from international play after this Classic, more then likely they have been a part of the team for several Classics. They have been close. So, agonizingly close. For them, the history of us winning three Classic in the past is something they will appreciate, but individually, they are no different then the players on Nova Anglicana, the nation that has never won the title for a longer stretch of time. Our veterans want that piece of hardware to put an exclamation point on their international career. It could mean that they go out on top. That would be the best way to leave this scene, should they choose to do it.

One of those players who might choose to make this their last Classic is Taylor Bryant. Our 33-year old left fielder has been such an amazing component of this team. Looking at the short term, naturally, we know what she did against Newmanistan. The grand slam walk off, and the huge game tying home run in the fifth game that sent us to extra innings. Those games will be the two most memorable ones, but she has been a valuable producer throughout this Classic. She knows what it is like to lose in this, and deserves the opportunity to call herself a World Baseball Classic champion. It is not just her bat that does the talking, but she is also a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. Playing next to her in the outfield, I know how she never takes a pitch off, and is always ready to come up with a big play. Off the field, she is very studious. Knowing her as I have now, I can tell you that she is all in on her game preparation. I’m younger. Right now, I am not looking at this at being my last Classic. The only way it will be is if I get hurt or something happens to my level of play. I will never take things for granted, and one of the things that both Taylor and manager Maddie Polanco have instilled in me is to keep working hard every day, but cherish what you have while you have it.

It was a gorgeous day for baseball in Centivar County for the fifth game, and that loyalty and passion that I see from the Cassadagan fans in attendance never ceases to amaze me. I can’t imagine the expenses that some of you of made to come down here. I know that there were several corporate sponsors of our team, such as Five Star Mobile, who gave away ticket packages to fans at random to come out here, handling all of the travel costs. I know that Brattleboro Tech gave away 50 ticket packages to alumni of the school. Thanks to that support, we have fans from all walks of life that were able to come out here, not just the ones with money, and I really appreciate that too. Coming out here can be an amazing experience that would have never been possible. Who could not want to play in front of such loyal fans? The Drawkish fans have been great, too, with many of them a little nicer to us now at Seven Stars Stadium then they were when we played in the first round. They were always hospitable, but it is great for some of them to be on our side now. I know how the saying goes, that having the team that eliminated you ultimately win the title can validate and make your own season look a lot better. Of course, some people also will root against you because you eliminated their team, we hear them too. I am glad to hear the passion of both sides because that is what these games should be.

This game saw us have Desiree Plummer as the starting pitcher, and the last time she was on that pitching mound she was tossing the clinching game for us against Drawkland. She’s started two game fives so far in the playoffs, and handled each of them very well. This game five did not come with pressure of being do-or-die, but it was definitely pivotal. It will only serve to help Desiree, who has clearly earned her role as being one of the top five pitchers on this team. She pitched extremely well to start, and we were able to give her some run support in the bottom of the second inning on Tori Coufal’s two-run double. Good to see her stepping up on this team, proving that everyone on our lineup is doing their part. That came off of Hank Jackson, their opener, and afterwards they went to Cory Sharpe. He would be tough on us again. That slider of us is not an easy pitch to hit, and he has mastered how to use it effectively. Desiree contained the Lions through five, but was not perfect as we saw in the sixth. Fortunately, we got the lead right back in the bottom of the inning on Cassie Daniels hitting that towering home run to left. It is important to bounce right back after giving up a lead, especially when it was a shutout before you conceded the runs. The opponent is often full of energy that they tied up the game, that to give it up in the opponent’s next turn at bat can deflate a lot of that momentum. It also tells your own pitcher that we got your back. She came back out in the seventh and took care of business, and we were able to open it up in the eighth a little bit. It felt good to be a part of that inning, picking up the RBI on the sixth run. Maybe not the most important run that we scored on the day, but everything mattered. I like how Maddie Polanco stuck with Desiree after that, sending her back out for the eighth before having Becca Fisher finish it off. This will mean that our bullpen is well rested, especially closer Roxanne Gomez, should we need it.

So, here we are, with a three games to two lead. It’s an advantage, but you never count your rubber chickens before they hatch. One more triumph is needed, and we know that for game six, Nova Anglicana is going to play one of the best games that they could ever play. We’ll have to be ready for that, but I am confident that we will. You may never, ever, be this close to a World Baseball Classic championship again in your career. For one side, they may have never done it before in their nation’s history, but on our side, we have never done it in all of our lifetimes. The kids that I met behind the dugout that traveled from Cassadaigua don’t care if you told them we won it way back when. They have heard the stories, but they want to see it with their own eyes. That’s what makes it special. With the series lead, Samantha Owens is back on the hill. Show us your support, no matter what planet you are on. Let’s make this an amazing day with memories to cherish for a lifetime. Take care of business now, and don’t fall back on the fact that there would still be a game seven. Time to get it done!

[Nova Anglicana]

Lion's Roar Chicken's Roost

A SportsWorld Weblog

It's do or die time
by Omega Lion



Me, busily preparing a sacrifice for tonight's game.

You may have noticed a couple cosmetic changes around the site. For example, the header is now a rooster instead of a lion and the name of the blog is now Chicken's Roost instead of Lion's Roar. You may have also noticed some non-cosmetic changes; for example, my complete and utter breakdown now that the Lions baseball team is one game away from elimination in the World Baseball Classic. So why have things changed and what is the Chicken's Roost plan to do something about it?

Game five of the WBC finals took place yesterday evening. I was glued to my TV, so I saw Murray continuing the opener strategy that worked pretty well in game 1 of the finals and in the semifinals. Things started off well enough, with Hank Jackson retiring the pesky Katelyn Martini on a grounder that she nearly beat out, then a pop-up from Rachel Kessler, and a strikeout of Macy Hamel. Steady as she goes. But Cassie Daniels and Taylor Bryant had leadoff singles to put runners on. Real nervous at this point. I stopped breathing through a paper bag when Jordyn Prosser flied out and Danielle Trufant struck out, but Jackson made me go back to it when Tori Coufal sneaked a ball with a lot of english on it just past Jake Bryan that rolled over near the right-field stands. It was just softly hit enough and rolled for just long enough for Jerome Duplantier's throw home to be a tad late to get Bryant, and it was 2-0.

I started feeling better when Murray pulled Jackson and went to Cory Sharpe. My wife was able to convince me to come down off the ledge with some salty dulse chips (so gooood) and the reminder that Sharpe had only allowed one run in four innings with eight strikeouts the first time he saw the Fillies. And he did pitch well, setting them down in order in the third and fourth and only allowing a single hit in the fifth. He even had five strikeouts to boot in those three innings.

But through five innings, Desiree Plummer had basically shut down the Lions: a single in the first, a single in the second, and a walk in the fourth and that was it. Fifth starter, my ass. She's a bona fide star and it's a crime she hasn't gotten the recognition she deserves in this Classic so far. But we finally got to her in the sixth! Tommy Moran led off and worked the count hard, fouling off pitch after pitch before working his way into a ten-pitch walk. Luke Mills absolutely tattooed a 1-0 fastball, sending it bouncing off the wall in left-center. Moran might have scored had the ball not gotten there so fast and Martini not fielded the bounce off the wall well and immediately gone into her relay. A bit of delay either way, and it would have been 2-1. As it was, Casey Wheeler knocked one almost to the wall that Martini hauled in, but not in time to stop Moran from scoring from third or Mills tagging from second and moving up. I had such faith that Jake Bryan would keep the line moving, but he swung through a 1-2 off-speed offering and there were two outs. Matthew Gilbert was up, and he was hitting from his weaker right side. I had to reach for my paper bag again when he went down 0-2. But he hit one seemingly off his shoetops for a single into left, scoring Mills, tying the game, and briefly restoring my sanity.

I say "briefly" because in the bottom of the inning, the power fastball claimed Kessler and the sweeping slider took down Hamel, but Cassie Daniels had seen the slider one too many times, and it just wasn't quite as sharp as usual. The result? A 430-plus foot homer to left. Just a massive homer. And we were down again. Things only got worse in the seventh. Sharpe came back out for that inning, but Jordyn Prosser led off with a homer and Danielle Trufant followed with a solo shot of her own. Murray came out and got Sharpe after that one. In came Rex Boyd to try to keep things close, but he gave up an RBI single to Katelyn Martini before getting out of the inning. It was all over after that. 6-2 the final, not especially close.

So what are we going to do about this? Well, in the sporting multiverse, there is only one thing to do: call upon the name of Margaret, and ye shall be saved. Everyone knows I can be found in the church on Sundays, but at this point, I'm about ready to sell my soul to Margaret. Not my firstborn, though, I love her to death and there isn't going to be any Rumpelstiltskin-style ish going on here. Fortunately for me, the only thing Margaret requires is the sacrifice of a rubber chicken. I went down to the local big-box, buy-anything-and-a-bag-of-chips store, and found one. I invite all of you to join me in doing the same. Take a nice, sturdy, sharp knife and just whack that chicken's head off. Really go at it. Helps to get out some frustrations. I also suggest saying a few words. I went with:

Ah Holy Margaret, how have they offended, that thee to judge them, hath in hate pretended?
By foes defeated, by thine own rejected, oh most unlucky.
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon them?
Alas, my treason, Margaret, hath undone them.
'Twas I, oh Margaret, I did not follow them, I made them lo-ose.
For me, kind Lions, was thine WBC, thy opening sweep, and thy first half struggles.
Thy playoff ru-un, and thy finals chances, for my delighting.
Lo, the rubber chicken, for the Lions is offered,
the fan hath sinned and the club hath suffered.
For our atonement, while ye nothing heedeth, Margaret interce-ede.
Therefore, cruel Margaret, since I cannot bribe thee,
I grovel before thee, and will ever praise thee,
Think on this chicken, my most humble offering,
not my lack of fandom.

I can't do it alone, so get those chickens and let's engage the luck goddess! It won't be easy; Wyatt Templeton is taking on Sarah Owens. Owens is their ace, so it will take every ounce of strength and cunning the Lions have to defeat her. And even then, there's still game seven.

But for game six, Sweet Lady Margaret, let's you and me play Three Hours and Seven Minutes in Heaven tonight.

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(OOC: Logo at top shamelessly cribbed from Pride of Detroit, Detroit Lions blog a random Google Image. The opinions expressed above are the opinions of the writer and not necessarily indicative of the opinions of Nova Anglicans or the user behind Nova Anglicana.)