NationStates Jolt Archive

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This is the thread for all rosters, scores, and roleplay for World Baseball Classic 11. There is a discussion thread that can be used for OOC discussion. See the third page of the signup thread for some more concerning scorination.

There will be 21 signups, which means three groups of seven. Top three in each group qualify. The "worst two" third place teams will have a one-game, winner-take-all showdown in Newmanistan to make the quarterfinals. Quarterfinals and semfinals are best-of-three and the final is a best-of-five. The third place series will be a best-of-three. The participating nations are:


Group A:
Newmanistan (1) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14774330&postcount=6)
Secristan (6) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14780173&postcount=15)
Milchama (9)
Lovisa (18)
Mallatarsland (NR)
Steroga (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14780247&postcount=16)
Achtervolging (NR)

Group B:
Qazox (2) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14777414&postcount=9)
Zwangzug (5) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14780369&postcount=17)
Sarzonia (10) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14781099&postcount=21)
Yafor 2 (12) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14788094&postcount=56)
Mantwenic (NR)
Dancougar (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14773854&postcount=5)
Norwellia (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14779817&postcount=12)

Group C:
Tocrowkia (2) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14771786&postcount=3)
Taeshan (4) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14773155&postcount=4)
Liventia (8) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14783994&postcount=33)
Cassadaigua (14) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14775305&postcount=8)
Vephrall (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14778544&postcount=6)
Quintessence of Dust (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14774891&postcount=7)
The Bye (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14790280&postcount=64)

Group Winners will be seeded 1st through 3rd. From there, the remaining six teams will be seeded 4th-9th, making it possible that two teams from the same group *could* play in the 8-9 game.

Schedule: (Home teams are on LEFT)
MD1 (May 11): 1 v 5, 2 v 3, 6 v 7, Bye: 4 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14784284&postcount=34)
MD2 (May 12): 6 v 1, 5 v 2, 4 v 7, Bye: 3 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14786596&postcount=48)
MD3 (May 13): 7 v 1, 5 v 4, 3 v 6, Bye: 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14788823&postcount=59)
MD4 (May 14): 1 v 2, 4 v 3, 6 v 5, Bye: 7 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14791073&postcount=69)
MD5 (May 15): 3 v 1, 4 v 2, 7 v 5, Bye: 6 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14793338&postcount=79)
MD6 (May 16): 2 v 7, 6 v 4, 5 v 3, Bye: 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14795426&postcount=90)
MD7 (May 17): 1 v 4, 2 v 6, 3 v 7, Bye: 5 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14797263&postcount=98)
MD8 (May 18): 5 v 1, 3 v 2, 7 v 6, Bye: 4 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14799172&postcount=109)
MD9 (May 19): 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 7 v 4, Bye: 3 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14801865&postcount=120)
MD10 (May 20): 1 v 7, 4 v 5, 6 v 3, Bye: 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14804163&postcount=130)
MD11 (May 21): 2 v 1, 3 v 4, 5 v 6, Bye: 7 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14806859&postcount=140)
MD12 (May 22): 1 v 3, 2 v 4, 5 v 7, Bye: 6 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14809634&postcount=153)
MD13 (May 23): 7 v 2, 4 v 6, 3 v 5, Bye: 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14811603&postcount=163)
MD14 (May 24): 4 v 1, 6 v 2, 7 v 3, Bye: 5 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14813429&postcount=171) (stadium info and playoff schedule also here)

Playoff Schedule:
May 25th- 9th seed playoff result due to controversy (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14814978&postcount=183)
May 26th- 8 seed vs 9 seed (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14816585&postcount=188)
May 27th- QFG1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14818697&postcount=194)
May 28th- QFG2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14820523&postcount=204)
May 29th- QFG3 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14822350&postcount=209)
May 30th- SFG1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14823542&postcount=216)
May 31th- SFG2
June 1st- SFG3 (if nec)
June 2nd- FG1/3rdG1
June 3rd- FG2/3rdG2
June 4th- FG3/3rdG3
June 5th (Normal AM scorination)- FG4 (if nec)
June 5th-(Late night scorination, approx 10pm Eastern US or so) FG5 (if nec)
Times of scorination will be approx 9am Eastern US time, or 1400 GMT.

OFFICIAL GROUP DRAW ANNOUNCEMENT POST (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14778334&postcount=10)

Yes, this is going to conflict with World Cup qualifying almost to the letter, but I have to get this done by June 5th or else there will be an extended three-day off-day period.

You may now include your rosters. In doing so:
Name your home stadium(s)
Declare whether the DH will be in effect at your home stadium.
Provide a RP permissions box that looks a little something like this:

Choose my runscorers: Yes/No
Choose my lineup: Yes/No
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes/No
Godmod scoring events: Yes/No
RP injuries to my players: Yes/No
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes/No
Eject my players: Yes/No
Godmod other events: Yes/No

If there is anything else you want your opponent to be aware of, include it here as well.

We'll make it.

Awww, the smell of pine tar and well-manicured grass. The sounds of bubble-gum popping, the crunching of peanuts and of course, the crack of bat on ball. It's a sound that Nordics fans have missed, as have the players. Last time, the Nordics went undefeated in group play and advanced to the semi-finals, only to fall heartbreakingly short of the flagship event.

But the Nordics still managed to establish them selves as one of the best teams in the world. In fact, we are seeded at number two in the world at the moment. The question is no longer if the Nordics will make the second round. Nah, they have established them selves as perennial contenders now. The question is currently, how far can they go? All the way, hopefully.

"I think our expanded rotation is a good first step." Said Paul Rudolf. "The obvious advantage is, each pitcher will get more rest, and it makes us an all around deeper team. And with the new additions to the team, I truly believe I'm going to be managing the best team in the world."

-Designates WBC rookie-
Manager: Paul Rudolf
[ The manager of the Nordics baseball team for the past three WBCs, Rudolf's squad has managed to make the second round in two of those. He is often regarded as an "old school" type of manager, as he relies on the speed of his players to play "small ball", stealing bases and taking risks on the base paths. He is also known to keep his starting pitching on a tight leash, frequently pulling them if they give up anymore than three runs in less than five innings. ]
Bench Coach: Alex Cremer
1st Base coach: Albin Linder
3rd Base coach: Katrine Alberts
Pitching coach: Johann Hilgers
Hitting coach: Kathe Lohmeyer

Batting Order:
3B - Kitten Dyfuse (R/R)
[ The young Kitten has a great set of wheels, among the leaders in her league in extra base hits, infield singles (despite being a righty) and stolen bases last year. Usually not a power hitter, but can play longball every so often. ]
LF - Willhelm Dynrus (L/L)
[ Another Speed demon, and an expert at threading the needle with on the line base hits, bloopers and in field singles. Not a longball player, but he draws a lot of walks to make up for it.
SS - Jill Haviland (R/R)
[ A rarity among infielders, Jill Haviland has an excellent power stroke. She is known for her majestic, 425+ ft homeruns that come easily to her, giving her the tongue-in-cheek nickname "Princess of Pounders" Everything works for her, and her swing is regarded as one of the most beautiful in Tocrowkian baseball. She is much more than just a slugger though, and can pretty much get every type of hit from line drivers to tape measure jacks. She can also protect her strike zone fairly well. On top of that, she is a media darling with a great personality, thus making her the easiest choice for team captain. ]
CF - Dmitri Rykov (R/R)
[ Baring the nickname "Mr. Clutch", Dmitri Rykov is a man that thrives on clutch situations when a hit means a run. He lead the league in walk-off hits last year and looks to repeat this year. And as expected for the fourth hitter in your lineup, he posses significant power in his bat and he can protect the zone. ]
1B - Johnny Stryker (L/L)
[ An amazing young player, and one of Tocrowkia's, if not the worlds at this point, most prolific five-tool players. He can hit for average. He can hit for power. His speed is positively explosive on the base paths, and he's a defensive wizard to cap it all off. After his performance in WBC 9, which included his four-AB-Four HR game against Taeshan, he is often called the "spark" in the lineup for his charismatic personality with his team mates and his intimidating aura to his opponents. His nicknames include 'The Machine', 'The Catalyst', and the 'Sparkplug' ]
C - Kevin Monroe (R/L)
[ A well-rounded catcher with good defensive and terrific offensive abilities. He was elected to the WBC team after posting a .310/31 HR/112 RBI season in 2008. Due to the fact he is only 23 years old, the wear and tear his position usually inflicts hasn't caught up with him and he has good, but not blinding speed on the basepaths.]
2B - Domino Mazdrick (R/S)
[ Mazdrick's position in the order should not reflect poorly on her. She is perhaps the best "pure hitter" on the team. Excellent at protecting her strike zone, and has been developing her power stroke recently, making her a 25 HR per season player. ]
RF - Kathrin Jordan (L/S)
[ Another WBC Rookie, Kathrin Jordan also has only a year of big league experience under her belt, but won the Reich League ROY award with a .316/26 HRs/101 RBIs debut. She is essentially another lead-off hitter with great speed and good contact. She also has good power for a girl her size, and she is always a threat to steal on the basepaths. In fact, she had 57 SB's in her ROY season. Also a strong arm in the outfield. ]

Designates team captain

Pitchers:
SP - Tommy Thunder (Righty)
[ Classic power pitcher, with a 93-98 MPH fastball, 12-6 Curve, cut fastball and circle change making up his arsenal. Attacks the strike zone, especially the corners, with his fastball and uses his other pitches for outs. And having player 3rd base during high school and half of his college career, he is no slouch at the plate, either, and can hit balls and hit them deep. ]
SP - Jeanna Glaus (Lefty)
[ A sink baller by nature, Jeanna also has a 92-96 MPH fastball, curve ball and a slider to make use of. Of course her sinker is her main pitch however, which results in a lot of ground outs. ]
SP - Matthew Shaporio (Righty)
[ A pitcher with excellent control of four pitches: A 92-97 MPH fastball, an odd screwball, a deceptive splitter and a great change up. Has an odd wind-up and delivery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWPtIVEoomU&feature=related) style, which of course deceives hitters. Count on him to rack up a lot of Ks on a lineup when he's grooving.]
SP - Mercedes Gaunt (Lefty)
[ Finesse pitcher who relies on breaking pitches and off-speed pitches to win games. Throws quality strikes, and has a low walk percentage to show for it. However, her fastball, which tops out at a maximum of 92 MPH is sort of easy to hit, but due to all the off-speed stuff she mix's in, it makes up for it. ]
SP - Sofie Behm (Lefty)
[ Sofie is a WBC rookie, and only 21 years old to boot. Though she only has one year in the big leagues under her hat, it was an impressive one. She won 19 games and only lost 7, had a 3.21 ERA and struck out an outstanding 234 en route to being one of the only pitchers in MLBF history to when the Outstanding Pitcher (Reich League) Award in their rookie year. She has quite the arsenal consisting of a 93-98 MPH fastball, a cutter, a slider, a curveball, and a splitter. ]

Bullpen
MR - Jaycen Hester (Righty)
[ A former starter turned reliever late in his career. Has a four-seem fastball, a curve and a change-up. Though he used to be a fire-baller, he now relies on throwing quality strikes rather than over-powering the hitter. Good for up to two innings of effective relief. ]
MR - Kimberly Soylnt (Righty)
[ A smart pitcher that uses a two-seam fastball, a slurve, a circle change and a fork ball. Though she usually ends up working the count full and throwing a bunch of pitches, she's good for up to two innings of relief. ]
MR - Hans Koller
[ Hans really only has control of three pitches. A sinker, a two-seam fastball and a curve. His sinker is really good though, so he's often used in jams with the game on the line, like a bases loaded no outs type of situation. ]
LHP - Darrel Klitz (Lefty)
[ Used against tough lefties, obviously. Has a cut-fastball, a slider and a change up. Prefers to work lefties inside at first, and surprise them with a fastball outside for the out. ]
LHP - Anna Tavker (Lefty)
[ Again, used against tough lefties. Another junk-baller too in that she relies on a 12-6 curve, a normal curve, a slider and a palmball in order to get her target out. ]
SU - Amber Taven (Righty)
[ Amber Tavern, an impressive young woman that performs well under pressure, has an arsenal of pitches to work with. A 95 MPH Fastball, a two-seam Fastball which has good movement and has a good late break, and is extremely effective against lefties. An excellent slider, which she often uses for outs against righties, an effective curve which breaks down and away, and finally a great change up. Amber is extremely emotional, and some would say cocky, and often performs elongated celebrations after retiring the side. ((OOC: Seriously. Imagine her doing something like Jonathan Papelbon (http://faninterference.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/jonathan-papelbon2.jpg) and K-Rod (http://www.francisspecker.com/images/K-Rod.jpg) after every out she records.)) ]
CL - Jamie Von Tipker (Righty)
[ A classic closer. Unlike her set-up counter-part, Jamie is a calm and modest player, but she is extremely effective. She has command of a cut-fastball, which she throws with great effectiveness and oddly enough causes alot of broken bats. She also has a good 12-6 Curve, circle change and finally a sinker. ]

Bench:
Eva Bethge (Utility Infielder) (R/R)
[ Can play either corner-infield position, Eva is a strong defensive player used mostly in double-switcher scenarios. She can make good contact on pitchers too, but has little power. ]
Stefan Küchler (Utility Infielder) (R/R)
[ Can play either middle-infield position, Stefan is utilized as pinch hitter more often than not due to his ability to work the count in his favor. Though he has little power like Eva, he can also hit for average. He also has good speed, and is often utilized as a pinch-runner as a result. ]
C - Hoyt Klaus (R/R)
[ Hoyt has his best hitting days behind him, but he can still come up with a big knock now and then. But out of respect, and the fact he can still call a good game, he remains on the roster for his final WBC. ]
Heinz Görtz (Utility Outfielder) (L/L)
[ Can play either right or left field. He's a solid defensive player, but he can really struggle at the plate at times. When he does make contact however, he can hit the ball a long way. ]
Carmen Rein (Utility Outfielder) (L/L)
[ A young center fielder, Carmen is known for her athletic and impressive plays in the outfield and her cannon of an arm, having two gold-glove awards in her short career. Not a lot of power, but is pretty fast, making her a good pinch runner too. ]

Uniforms:
Home (http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh339/Reichtober/homeuni1.png)
Away (http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh339/Reichtober/roaduni1.png)
Alternate (http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh339/Reichtober/altuni1.png)



Stadium:
Valkryie Field (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/yankee_stadium.gif) (Modifer +1)
Capacity: 360,750
[Regarded as a cathedral of baseball in Tocrowkia, the iconic stadium has seen the Nouva Yourk Valkries hoist twenty four championships over the past one hundred years. Frequently renovated, it's life span has been well extended and it now features many modern features while maintaining an "old park" feel. ]

Dimensions
Left Field: 318 ft
Left-Center: 399 ft
Center: 408 Ft
Right Field: 314 Ft
Right-Center: 385 Ft

The Other Stuff:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my Pitching rotation Rotation: No
Godmod scoring events: A cautious yes for now
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: In the event of a brawl or something, yes.
Godmod other events: Another cautious yes for now. Stuff like charging the mound, bench clearing bawls? That's fine with me. But I don't want to see my players murdering or raping people.
DH in home park: No

Taeshan National Baseball Team
Purple Home, Blue Away Jerseys trim is other with numbs Black

Coach Jamie Stewart

Roster
Player Pos # Age Other(pitches)(hits) Hand Batting Spot
Anthony Rielas SP #1 27 Knuckler, Curve, 4 Seam, Slider Left
Zeke Peters SP #3 28 Slider, 2 Seam, 4 Seam, Change, Palmball Left
Rian Willemson SP #7 30 Slider, Change, 4 Seam, Curve Right
Coi Vecxen SP #90 26 Curve, Slider, Palmball, Knuckler Right
Victor Frun RP #45 37 4 Seam, 2 Seam, Curve, Slider Left
Goeli Hans RP #78 38 4 Seam, Slider, Palmball, Curve, Change Left
Ohmegode Frede RP #92 37 Curve, 4 Seam, Change, Slider Right
Willie Stavra RP #46 26 Slider, Curve, Sinker, Change Ambidextrous
Danny Laemen RP #25 24 Slurve, Change, Knuckler, Palmball Right
Starting Lineup
Freddy Myers Catcher #12 37 Switch Right 8th
Tadihito Shakiri 1B #2 29 Switch Right 7th
Adam Menigen 2B #22 20 Switch Right 2nd
Alexander Parea 3B #7 24 Switch Left 1st
Sol Jeeves SS #49 31 Switch Right 5th
Fier henris LF #66 34 Switch Left 6th
Riane Totalez CF #24 31 Switch Left 4th
Socki Lewis RF #14 23 Swith Right 3rd
Bench
Yeckers Flederichi Catcher #78 27 Switch Left
Corbin White IF #39 28 Switch Right
Jose Deigo IF #34 28 Switch Right
Jeb Fisher IF #8 26 Switch Left
Jay Nedved OF #29 27 Switch Left
Xeric Peters OF #83 25 Switch Left
Joel Myers OF #41 30 Switch Left
Xavier Dendes OF #93 29 Switch Right

"Nozomu Itoshiki High School... th-that's a joke, right?" The man sat at his desk with photos of the field and of the selected players, and then he looked back up at his superior. "Wait a minute, I'm coaching baseball?!"

"That's right, Schwartz," his manager replied. "The Sports Ministry's in a pinch and told me to take care of it. And you are just the man for the job."

"That's insane!" Schwartz replied. He had the look of your average salaryman. Button down shirt, black pants, the whole deal. He pushed papers for the Sports Ministry and, although the job was about as unfullfilling as they came, it was a living. "I don't even know anything about baseball! These girls... are there even enough here for a full team? I don't underst... hey, don't just leave me with this!"

His manager had already vacated the cube farm. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine!" he called. "That lacrosse or whatever did pretty good. This is like that, without netting, right?"

Schwartz looked at the national team packet in front of him and dropped his head into his hands. "ZETSUBOU SHITA!" he cried. "The weight of the bureaucracy's uninformed decisions has left me in despair!!"

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

The Dancougar Black Wings are a baseball team which exists outside of the rest of the country's sports timeline because, well, it can. It's made up entirely of high school girls and coached by an ever-pessimistic salaryman, Schwartz Seherisch.

The team plays at the Nozomu Itoshiki High School stadium, located 45 miles south of Yuki City in Kuraizawa, which has at least had the outfield extended so hitters don't walk all over it. Some bleachers are going to be set up, we're told, along the foul lines and behind the left field fence:
http://www.newhopebaseball.com/sitebuilder/images/field2-592x289.jpg

And now, the lineup. They're capable players, I suppose. They have to be if they're Dancougar's best (which may not, in fact, count for much.) They're listed in batting order, although honestly you're free to pick whatever order's convenient for you.

Juliet Sanretour
Position: 2B
Handed: Right
Personality: Juliet has a habit of falling hopelessly in love, and after doing so, she'll stalk the object of her affection. She'll go to any length, whether the guy wants her to or not, to grow closer to the person.
Name Note: Her last name comes from the French sans retour, "without return," as a reference to unrequited love.

Joy Allegray
Position: SS
Handed: Right
Personality: Joy has a positive outlook on life. Disgustingly positive. The glass is half full, toast always lands butter-side up, and the F on your exam stands for 'Fantastic!' Her worldview is sometimes at odds with reality, or even common sense, but it would be ridiculous if she let that stop her.
Name Note: Her last name sounds like allegre, Italian for "cheerful."

Kagami Mimeko
Position: LF
Handed: Left
Personality: Kagami doesn't really have one. In fact, she's usually pretty easy to overlook because she just copies the people around her. Although, her ability to switch from one set of behaviors to another, just because someone else enters her line of sight, is kind of impressive.
Name Note: The word kagami means "mirror" in Japanese, while "mimeko" sounds a lot like "mimic."

Amber Dextrous
Position: CF
Handed: Switch
Personality: Amber used to be a pretty balanced person, but once in high school, she became fractured. Now, whenever she favors her right hand, she's a sweet, gentle girl. But when she favors her left, she becomes an angry, violent person. It's most visible when batting, since when she fields, she does need both hands to catch and throw...
Name Note: From the word "ambidextrous."

Faye Toonmay
Position: 3B
Handed: Right
Personality: Faye believes that everything is predetermined, and will constantly say so regardless of what happens on or off the field. Nobody's quite sure if she actually believes that or if she always uses it in case she needs an excuse.
Name Note: When read, sounds like "fate unmei," where unmei is a Japanese word meaning "destiny."

Clarissa Voint
Position: 1B
Handed: Right
Personality: If you watched her standing near first base or in the batter's box, you'd swear she was spacing out. She seems to stare off into space and pay no attention to the world around her... until she displays a remarkable sense of what's about her. Sometimes she seems possessed, too, and that can be creepy.
Name Note: From the word "clairvoyant."

Norma Smith
Position: RF
Handed: Right
Personality: Pretty normal, much to her chagrin.
Name Note: From the word "normal," with a completely average last name to boot.

Akiko Morimoto
Position: C
Handed: Left
Personality: Akiko is incredibly shy. So shy, that we're surprised that she even leaves her house for these things. It helps that she plays catcher, because it enables her to hide behind a mask and lots of bulky padding. The weird thing is that she never takes it off.
Name Note: From the Japanese hikikomori, which means "acute social withdrawal."

Batting ninth will be whoever's pitching at the time. The team has two of them: Sarah normally starts with Abby in relief, but occasionally Schwartz will switch it up. The team does NOT use a DH at home, and on the road, the pitcher will serve that role because Schwartz doesn't understand why you need a special position for people who hit.

Sarah Propeado
Position: P
Handed: Switch
Personality: You'd think that pitching all the time would destroy you, but Sarah has it all worked out. As someone obsessed with doing things properly, she's developed a delivery that doesn't wreck her arm. For both of them. That's all well and good, but she still has to work on the "being unhittable" thing.
Name Note: When read aloud, sounds like ser apropriado, Spanish for "to be appropriate."

Abby Lenken
Position: P
Handed: Right
Personalty: Like Clarissa, Abby tends to look out of it, staring off into space or something unrelated to the task at hand. That's because she's easily distracted, and if no one thinks to yell, "Hey, you gonna throw or what?!", we could be here all day.
Name Note: Her name comes from the German ablenken, for "distracted."

Finally, the permissions box!

Choose my runscorers: Yes. Makes it hard to RP otherwise.
Choose my lineup: Yes. Not like you really have a choice, but sure. I guess you could always do the "switched roles" episode where people play different positions.
Ignore my Pitching Rotation: Yes. Choose whoever you like to start. Maybe Kagami wants to pitch today! She was watching Sarah and thought she could pull it off...
Godmod scoring events: Yes. Amuse me. Bonus points if you can work in an emperor penguin, stork, or stick dog. You're free to decide what constitutes a "stick dog."
RP injuries to my players: Yes. I guess? They're kind of superhuman anyway, so they'll be fixed or play hurt, or something.
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes. By extension of the previous.
Eject my players: Yes. Red card? Psssh! We'll play a girl down!
Godmod other events: Yes. I'm ripping off Japanese cartoons, so you ought to be afforded the same privilege.

In Newmanistan, baseball is a sport in which is dominated by women, thus we continue to send an all-female team to the WBC (which was more unique in the pre-Cassadaigua and pre-Dancougar days!). The roster consists of mostly the same players who not only won the World Baseball Championships 10, and went to the finals in WBC9. Heck, many were here in WBC7 as well. If you don’t want them to keep coming back, then start beating them! ;)

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No, as my lineup is posted here. Follow that!
Follow my Pitching Rotation: My starting pitcher for the next game will always be announced in my RP from the previous game.
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but only to the extent of saying so and so was injured. I’ll determine the severity
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes on a basis of no more then one more then you eject from your own team.
Godmod other events: No, except for weather. That you can.

Additional Information that is very important to me: Newmanistan does not prescribe to the modern day concept of pitch counts determining how long a starting pitcher is kept in for. In fact, pitch counts are not even kept track of outside of curiosity sake. Such count is not displayed on the scoreboard, so if you want to track it for your pitcher, you must do it manually. If Newmanistan has given up 3 runs or less, then the starting pitcher has gone all nine innings. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is true even if it would have been a save situation.
– Another Newmanistan trait is aggressive base stealing. Think back to the days of Vince Coleman and Ricky Henderson in their primes.

Head Coach- Christina Sanders (Southport)
Hitting Coach- Allyson Payne (North Charlotte)
Pitching Coach- Carrie Lynsder (Hampton)

Home Stadium for all Group Stage games will be the Tundra Falls Proving Grounds. The DH is NOT used.

Rotation: (pitchers bat with the same hand the pitch with)
1) Tara Stewart (LHP- South Tier) A 34-year old veteran, with a career 1.83 ERA. Her best pitch is her curve, though she mixes in an effective slider, and a fastball that you must respect. Stewart has taken to hill in big games during all of the team’s WBC’s, and is still in her prime. Despite getting a little older now, because she’s never relied on velocity, she’ll be just as strong.

2) Stacey Keisler (LHP- Southport)- The 30-year old veteran has been the most successful starting pitcher, statistically for the Rockets in the three World Baseball Classics that the Empire has participated in. She is a power pitcher and comes right after the hitter, afraid to challenge no one. Keisler is also known for being the most attractive player on the team and has used her success to also be a marketers dream. Tossed a perfect game against Lurikastan in WBC10. Has particularly amazing success against Qazox and Taeshan.

3) Courtney Lombardi (RHP- Pocono City- The 27 year old’s fastball can hit the high 90’s and she also mixes in an assortment of breaking pitches, including a fantastic slider. Courtney also pitched in the #3 spot last time. Courtney is also a pretty good hitter for a pitcher, with a career BA of .277.

4) Kristen Haynes (RHP- South Charlotte)- Due to her petite stature, Kristen does not look like she would be an overpowering pitcher. On the contrary. The 29 year old won the league’s Curtis Award (equivalent of the Cy Young) twice. Kristen’s fastball is in the low 90's, but its her ability to mix up speeds that makes her real effective. That, and her devastating splitter. She has a career 1.91 ERA.

5) Sarah Brayton (LHP- Putnam Lake)- At 25, Sarah is in her rhird World Baseball Classic. Brayton will come at you with a wide variety of pitches, but her wicked 12-6 curve seems to be her favorite. During the playoffs, she’ll be used out of the bullpen we go to a shorter rotation.

Bullpen: (Smaller then most because of the nation’s reliance on starters)
Lauren Tippett (LHP- North Charlotte)- The 28 year old will generally be used in situations where the Rockets need to pull one of their starters early, and then Tippett will go several innings. She is mainly a sinker/slider type pitcher.

Christine Stafford (RHP- Southport)- Christina made her debut in international play at the age of 29 in WBC10, and as she continues to get better, she gets another opportunity to show what she can do. She’s a hard thrower, and likely used in the middle innings when necessary.

Jessica Vauclair (RHP- Tundra Falls) - The 33 year old features everyone’s favorite pitch, the knuckleball. She will mainly be used after Keisler and Lombardi, to make batters have to adjust to a knuckler after facing the heat all game.

Set up/Short Relief: Erica Darby (LHP- Springfield)- Darby is a 24-year old makes her second WBC appearance. Initially she seemed like she would be an above average but not a superstar as a starting pitcher, but once Springfield moved her to the bullpen, she was dominant. She did not allow an earned run in a 36 inning stretch of her final 31 appearances of the regular season, and the Rockets will be looking to continue to ride this Thoroughbred.

Closer: Kristen Collins (RHP- Dover City)- Kristen, at 26, makes her debut on the national team for World Baseball Classic 11. She was a slow starter originally, but over the last three seasons she was emerged as the top closer in the country. Tosses a mid-90 fastball with a nasty cutter mixed in.


Batting Order: (throws/bats)
1) Brittany Wright- CF (R/R- North Charlotte)- Wright is everything you want in a leadoff hitter. The 30 year old has outstanding speed, and draws a ton of walks. Sadly for pitchers, it is often a 3-base walk. Wright will steal 3rd as aggressively as she steals 2nd. She has a 93% success rate, and a career .321 BA. Some may consider her to be the MVP of the team as she has really seemed to pick her game when the team needs it most.

2) Jennifer Martin- LF (R/S- Pocono City)- Martin, 24,makes her second appearance. Jennifer is more of a contact hitter then Michelle Rancourt (her predecessor), who was on the team more for her wheels. She is expected to be able to handle the pressure of playing at this level without trouble.

3) Carrie Nicolette- 2B (R/S- Southport)- Behind the speedsters is one of the Empire’s all time best contact hitters, although its not fair to label her quite as that, as she averages 15-20 HR’s a year. The 32 year old has a career .349 BA. Nicolette does a great job getting on base and allowing the big guns behind her to bring her in, a formula that has worked extremely well. She was the MVP of the most recent baseball season who’s newswire will be posted this coming weekend.

4) Rachel Crockett- RF (R/S- Springfield)- Crockett’s power must be respected. She consistently averages 40-50 HR’s per season, but unlike a lot of power hitters, she also hits for a great BA (career .320 hitter), and rarely strikes out. At times, Rachel will do a little showboating after a homerun, but its one of the reason the fans love the 32 year old slugger.

5) Sarah Boland- 3B (L/S- Springfield)- Boland has the same HR capability as does Crockett, she’s just slightly less of an all-around player, with a .316 career BA. Also like Crockett, the 35 year old is a complete show off, but at the same time is a terrific clubhouse leader, as evidenced by the fact that she was named team captain, and has produced some of the biggest HR’s in Newmanistan’s WBC history. Probably her last WBC.

6) Natalie Monroe- 1B (R/R- Hampton)- Natalie continues t0 get better and better at the domestic level, and it’s going to continue to show at the level also. Previously regarded as a player who will hit around .315 with 25 HR’s, Natalie has averaged a .338 clip and 38 HR’s over the last four years. It’ll be interesting to see how much of a bigger role she has in Qazox.

7) Sarah Conrad- C (L/S- Tundra falls)- After being on the bench for three WBC’s, the 32-yeard old backstop is going to get her first chance to start. Though she can sometimes be prone to the strikeout, it is her behind the plate ability that the coaches love. Her lifetime BA is a steady .270 and she has enough power to make an opposing pitcher have to respect it.

8) Tara Cuyler- SS (R/S- South Tier)- There is no let up in the 8 spot, in fact, it is because Sanders wants to make sure the bottom of the order is not a walk through, that Cuyler hits here and not 6th. Tara is a career .338 hitter, and can hit the ball over the fence with regularity. She is a 32-year old veteran.

9) Pitcher (w/o DH)
9) (w/ DH) Caitlin Peters (INF by trade- Putnam Lake) (R/S)- Caitlin is a speedster, and capable of leading off. When her and Wright lead off an inning, pitchers will not have a fun time. The 34-year old is strictly a contact hitter, with a career BA of .325. She has never hit more then three HR’s in a single season, and only has 24 in her eleven-year career. Doubles? That’s her thing.

On the Bench:
Rachel Becker- C- Olympia- Only the second international rookie on the team.
Jennifer Dawkins- MI (Middle Infield)- Dover City (preferred pinch hitter #1)
Stacie Gallant- CI (Corner Infield)- Loudon (preferred pinch hitter #2)
Kiersten Johnson- OF- Centralia (preferred pinch runner)
Meghann Carillo- OF- South Charlotte
Erica Hilton- Utility- Fairfield City (only first year player amongst the bench group)

Overview: This is the first Quodite entry into the WBC. The tiny nation (pop. 5 million) is better known for its exploits in skiing, rugby and field hockey, and to a lesser extent football and ice hockey. Baseball has virtually no domestic following, with only a handful of fans. There is no organized league and no professional baseball, but New Cleethorpes's two amateur teams, the Grey Sox and the Dodgers, play each other and a few other clubs from around the country. Obviously, the team ranks poorly compared to other sides and will not do well, but aims to learn through experience.

Their style of play reflects the lack of baseball knowledge: they are not sharp on tactics and can make really quite basic errors at times. Most players are picked for their athletic ability, and the team lacks 'sluggers'. As such, they try to pick up runs through getting lots of people on base and batting them in, and through stealing bases. Equally, they don't have a real power pitcher, so rely on a lot of variation in their pitching, and on good fielding to capitalise on errors. The team is young, with most in their early 20s, and has a roughly even gender ratio. Notably, even though the country has only a tiny Japanese immigrant population (~200) two players, Masami and Momoko, are of Japanese descent.

Staff:

Coach: Ryan James
Hitting coach: Yi Lu
Pitching coach: Kunigonde C. Nørgaard
Scouting director: Yukami Mizokuchi
Batgirl: Emily Andersson

Team:

Pitchers: The starting pitchers are Masami or Django (she is preferred, but cannot always play because of football commitments); Jimmy is the closer; Tal and Darrell are usually used as relievers.

Masami Tamagotchi (L/L) - New Cleethorpes Grey Sox (amateur)
Better known for her footballing skills, playing in the QuinTel Not-Really-Very-Premier League and the national team, though usually as a reserve, Masami is also a pretty good softball/baseball player. Unusually for a pitcher, she is useful in the batting lineup as she gets a lot of hits (though not usually big ones) and can run very fast around the bases. She is also very alert and fields her position very well, often stopping half-hearted attempts at base stealing. Her fastball is not the quickest but she has a lot of variations including a well disguised forkball and a sharp slider; she also throws a good shuuto, which domestic hitters find unplayable (but foreigners are probably more familiar with).

Django "Three Finger" Scheinhardt (R/S) - New Cleethorpes Dodgers (amateur)
Django suffered an unusual accident as a child that left him without an index finger. As such, he developed an unconventional pitching style. He pitches with a tremendous amount of curve on the ball, and can apply great topspin. Like Masami, his fastball is not very fast so he relies on clever variation. He is also a pretty accomplished jazz guitarist. He wears a wig that can fall off during pitching. He is a decent hitter, averaging around .200, and works a lot to improve it.

Jimmy Plant (R/R) - Artellius Kryager Memorial High School #28 (student)
The youngest player on the team, Jimmy is still in school. At home games, he tends to get chased around at the end by seniors who want to paddle him senseless as part of a school hazing before driving around town and finding a beer bust so they can get ruminate on life and explain how George Washington grew pot while listening to hair metal. He is included because he throws an excellent fastball, much quicker than most other people in the nation, and can throw a decent groundball too.

Tal Issachar (L/L) - New Cleethorpes Grey Sox (amateur)
Tal has always dreamed of playing professionally but lacks opportunities in Quintessence of Dust, instead running a sporting memorabilia shop. He was attracted to the sport after reading about Sandy Koufax: like him, he is Jewish, and left-handed. He is not just a left-handed specialist, as he has a good fastball and a decent changeup, but lacks endurance and fields his position poorly.

Darrell Welles (R/R) - New Cleethorpes Dodgers (amateur)
He is very erratic with a career record of 7 in 15, an ERA of 6.26 and one win in his last eight decisions. He's got a walk-to-strike ratio which can only be impressive in T-ball and once tore a rotator cuff drying his hair with a towel. However, on one of his good days no one can touch him. He mainly throws fastballs but can come up with some wicked breaking pitches and sliders. He is absolutely hopeless at batting and simply sticks his bat out hoping the ball will somehow hit it.

Also in the bullpen:
Benoît Labonté (SP)
Torsten Eichelberger (SP)
Marciano Escobedo Iglesias (SP)
Darda Földessy (MR)
Fulgenzia Longo (MR)
Makio Mizokuchi (C)

Catcher: Barry Pullman (R/S) - New Cleethorpes Grey Sox (amateur)
The catcher bats for .318 and catches every day. Barry is the captain of the national rugby team. A prop forward, he is built like a tank and weathers his blows with ease. Outside rugby, he is a huge baseball fan and plays for the local team when he can. He is the most knowledgeable about baseball and is considered the team captain, directing the onfield action. He is a good catcher but does not have a good arm. He is one of the team's best batters.

First baseman: Owain Meally (L/R) - Combined Veterans (amateur)
Owain is incredibly small, meaning he has a tiny strike zone and as such very rarely gets struck out, so is simply there to earn walks (or hits if it hits his disproportionately large head); once on base he is superquick and steals bases. He is instructed never to swing at the ball under any certain circumstances, but very occasionally gets frustrated and swings, resulting in either him spinning off balance, or the bat flying into the outfield, or - even more rarely - him blasting a home run that ends up killing the mother of his best friend, thus setting up a moving and unsettling tale of destiny and redemption. He loves baseball and is very knowledgeable about it, collecting baseball cards and memorising trivia. He has no arm whatsoever, and if a fly ball is hit to him will sometimes run away from it screaming in terror.
Second basewoman: Georgia "Foxy" Fox (R/L) - Highmark Giants (student)
Yet another player who fields well and runs fast on bases, but relies on getting small hits. She is the team's best bunter: she spent hours practising because she likes the word "bunt". If the game runs late, she will sometimes wander off base or out of the dugout to join in with the young people arriving for the party, and in general gets distracted easily, often listening to her iPod while fielding. Will run away if there is a bench-clearing brawl. She is also a notorious flirt.
Third baseman: Jun Zhou (R/R) - Highmark Giants (student)
Jun is a very sharp fielder, but he is not very good at batting. He plays for the University College of Highmark side. He is included to improve the team's defence. He is also the team's most argumentative player and will, at least once per game, yell "UMP, ARE YOU BLIND?!?!"
Shortstop: Amanda Jónsdóttir (R/R) - New Cleethorpes Grey Sox (amateur)
Another footballer, playing for local team New Cleethorpes Athletic, and a member of the national field hockey team, Amanda has only recently graduated from the University of West Sponson and becomes the youngest person to represent the nation in two different sports. She does not actually know a great deal about baseball and can make some silly decisions, but she is technically very skilled at fielding and baserunning. Like Masami she gets a lot of hits, but not very big ones.

Left fielder: Momoko Koumura (R/R) - New Cleethorpes Grey Sox (amateur)
Momoko is not a very good fielder, with a weak arm and is erratic under the flyball. But she is brilliant at batting, getting more doubles and triples than home runs, but still great for batting in runs with runners on base. She has a beautiful swing, and would like to play professionally some day.
Centre fielder: Joaquin Arizona (R/R) - New Cleethorpes Grey Sox (amateur)
Joaquin is one of the team's best players, but is not a professional because he is too erratic: while he can hit brilliantly, earning lots of home runs, he swings at absolutely everything so frequently gets struck out. If aliens land after a series of ominous Signs, he will be in charge of beating them up with his bat and knocking strategic glasses of water onto them. A decent outfielder, he also does a pretty good impersonation of Johnny Cash, and is haunted by the tragic death of his even more talented brother, Stream.
Right fielder: Jürgen Barthes (R/L) - Greschmeier Mountain Sports Club (semi-pro)
Jürgen is the closest thing to a professional, as he is a professional skier with Greschmeier, and is paid extra to lead the new - otherwise amateur - baseball team. He is probably the best batter in team in terms of power and control, though he is not a wonderful fielder, with a huge but rather erratic arm.

Some reserves:
Stefan Kirsch (C) - useless catcher, built like a brick shithouse
Anne Wu (I) - best fielder
Heintje Kristoffersen (I) - best pinch runner
Daryl Kumquat (O) - best at turning up late for the game roaring drunk and driving round the outfield in a stolen SUV
Eddie Sandström (O) - best pinch hitter


Batting order:

1. Owain
2. Georgia <- can swap for #8 if in bad form
3. Barry
4. Jürgen
5. Momoko
6. Joaquin <- most likely to hit a home run, most likely to get struck out
7. pitcher <- Masami and Django are quite good batters, the relievers are not
8. Amanda <- can swap for #2 if in good form
9. Jun

Home ground: The baseball pitch at New Cleethorpes Municipal Sporting Ground (located in New Cleethorpes, West Sponson, in the west of the country; one of the country's largest cities, home to its leading university, and a traditional centre of Liberal politics). Though the pitch is of regulation size it is not located in a stadium structure: we will bring in some temporary seating for the games themselves, but it cannot accommodate many fans. For games on Wednesdays and Saturdays, please try not to hit too many foul balls as it will disrupt the football matches on the next pitch over. The pitch is not in very good condition and is a bit bumpy; we recommend against too many wild slides in the sandy bit, as there may be rubbish in it. Because of its size, it has become a popular location for raves, but we don't anticipate these clashing with the games unless they go on very late. The stadium's organist, Johann Sebastian Bathtub, is a virtuoso. The visitors will always be invited to The Green Man, the famous local pub, after the game, though they don't have to come if they're tired.

Kit: The team wears all grey in the style of most other national football teams. If this clashes (which we note it does in at least one case already) then they will probably just wear casual clothes. Each player is allowed to wear their own baseball cap: some wear caps affiliated with their teams, others chose the caps of more notable foreign baseball teams that they support. The helmets are also grey.

Choose my runscorers/lineup/pitching rotation: Yes, you'll probably do a better job than me
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP/godmod injuries to my players: Yes, but only mild ones. The reason is I don't want to have to make up a lot of substitutes etc., so the injury should be slight enough that they will be able to play the next game. I will make an exception for outfield decapitations in the style of Naked Gun, but no cars running over the second basewoman.
Eject my players: I don't really know what this entails, so I guess "No"
Godmod other events: Yes
Designated hitter: No. But don't worry, there are some interesting tourist sites to keep them busy.

Admittedly, we were tempted to bring an all-male team since two people have gone all-female, but we will stick with our tradition.

We WILL use the DH at home!
Home Stadium is the 70,000+ seat Concord Heights Stadium in Concord Heights

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No, it is posted here.
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes, it is posted here.
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes only if you make it exciting!
Godmod other events: Yes as long as no one dies or is seriously hurt.

Coach- Brittany Donnels

SP- #36- Meghan Corrigan- LHP
SP- #38- Rachel Andrews- RHP
SP- #41- Morgan Klein- LHP
SP- #39- Stacey Franklin- RHP (debutant)
SP- #43- Julie Therrian- RHP (debutant)


RP- #48- Brittany Marshall- RHP- Long reliever. (debutant)
RP- #37- Kayla Belanger- LHP- Short reliever, usually just comes in to get one or two outs.
RP- #40- Adrienne Benton- RHP- Short reliever, like Belanger.
RP- #35- Katie Douglas- RHP- Mop up reliever.
RP- #34- Alyssa Markowitz- LHP- Set up reliever.
CP- #42- Katie Sanderson- RHP- Closer.

Here is our lineup with the players average numbers per season over the course of their career. All players are switch hitters, you don’t get to this level in Cassadaigua without having that ability.

1) #11- Christina Barrett- CF .337, 9 HR, 45 RBI, 104 SB
2) #4- Brittany Knowles- 2B .330, 7 HR, 50 RBI, 88 SB
3) #31- Rachel Weston- C .327, 30 HR, 115 SB, 0 SB
4) #5- Katie Sheridan- 1B .348, 55 HR, 158 RBI, 11 SB
5) #17- Elizabeth Murray- DH .329, 43 HR, 140 RBI, 3 SB
6) #18- Jennifer Branston- RF .322, 28 HR, 106 RBI, 1 SB (first time starter)
7) #6- Amanda Meyer- LF .314 33 HR, 122 RBI, 26 SB (debutant)
8) #20- Deanna Hudson- 3B .305, 12 HR, 60 RBI, 2 SB
9) #1- Michelle Driver- SS .308, 8 HR, 58 RBI, 2 SB

Where the DH is not used, Murray starts at 3B, Hudson goes to bench, and Driver bats 8th.

Bench:
#33- Casey McAbee- C
#7- Katrina Campell- 1B
#2- Stacey Kessler- 2B/SS
#6- Nicole Goddard- Utility Infielder
#15- Emily Thomas- OF
#26- Ashley Rivers- OF (debutant)

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage

2 years ago, Qazox hosted, and lost, its 4th WBC, but a chance at revenge and a return to glory, as the WBC returns to Newmanistan, where Qazox won its 2nd WBC title. Can the Pheonix become the first to 4 titles? or will Newmanistan become the 4th team to win back-to-back titles? Or will someone else take it home this time?


STARTING LINEUP: (Bats/Throws)


CF- Darren Pew: (R/R) Classic leadoff hitter, Plenty of speed and gets on base. Has an below average throwing arm in the field.

2B- Herman Doane: (R/R)The best fielder on the team, but is streaky at the plate. Has little power, but can hit it anywhere.

1B- Douglas Ellenburg: (L/R) Hits for power, but strikes out alot. Has a decent glove for a first baseman, but will drop a few here and there.

RF- Angel Monks: (L/L) 4-tool player, Can do almost everything. Has only an average range in the field and a spotty arm.

3B- Clark Petrie: (R/R) Solid glove at the hot corner. Inconsistant at the plate, but has good power.

LF- Kyle Bryon: (S/R) Like Monks, a 4-tool player, Great arm, but has no bat power. Can hit it anywhere.

C- Mickey Weatherby: (R/R) Unlike past Qazoxian catchers, he can be run on, but can handle every pitch and has some pop in bat.

SS- Johnnie Bannon: (L/L)Great glove at short, can play anywhere on infield, but struggles at times at the plate.

Pitcher: (see below)


For games involving a DH, please place the DH as the #4 batter and drop everyone down acordingly.
DH- Hank Yans (also back-up catcher): Hits the ball a mile, but strikes out alot as well. Decent enough behind the plate, and has better arm than Weatherby.

STARTING PITCHING:


#1 (LHP)- Rick Highfield: Has a 98-mph fastball, a good slider and a good changeup. Does tend to fall behind in the count.

#2 (RHP)- Glen Barter: Good fastball, good curve, a decent changeup. Tends to give up a few HR on changeup.

#3 (RHP)- Corey Delrosario: Great slider, average fastball and average curveball. Can throw a knuckleball on occasion.

#4 (RHP)- Tyle Newson: Has a good circle-change and a good splitfinger fastball, but a hanging curve which does get crushed often.


BENCH:
1B: Oliver Tyes- Good fielder at first, but liability at bat, used for defensive purposes mostly.
2B: Victor Young- Quick runner, usually a pinch runner, as bat skills are ineffective.
INF: Randy Michaels- Good overall player, but has fielding issues and is usually put in in blowouts.
SS/3B: Sean Schell: Good bat off the bench and has decent fielding, but tends to make too many errors.
OF: Annabelle Lucien: The 1st female to earn a roster spot for Qazox. Will mostly be used for pinch-running purposes, but does have a great arm in the outfield, and may be used defensively
OF: Alvin Kulesza: Best pinch-hitter on team. Works the count real well, but has erractic arm.
UTIL: Clayton Sommerfeld: A good bat of the bench, but has a dead arm and probably be used at 1st base if needed at all.

BULLPEN:
RP (LHP)- Brian Rescovich: Middle relief. Has a good slider and curve, but has a hanging fastball.
RP (RHP)- Nathaniel Schuyler: Godd setup man, has good curveball that tends to get hit into the ground.
RP (LHP)- Francis Scarbourgh: Long relief. Can go 3 innings if needed, but tends to get more ragged the longer he goes.
RP (RHP)- David Haskins: Used in mop-up role. Has decent stuff, but is wild.
CP (RHP)- Jackson Throne: Has 97-mph fastball and a 12-6 slider that lefties can't hit.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: follow the one i have.
Follow my Pitching rotation Rotation: YES
Godmod scoring events: no
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: no
Eject my players:No
Godmod other events: No
DH in home park: No

UNIS (thanks to Tocrowkia!)
Home:
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/4/4a/QazoxBBhome.png

Away:
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/7/74/QazoxBBaway.png

Alternate:
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/d/db/QazoxBBAlt.png

UNIFORM NOTE: The Alternate Uni will be used for home games against Zwangzug and Dancougar, and for road games against Sarzonia and Zwangzug.

SCHEDULE:
MD1 (May 11): vs. Mantwenic @ National Stadium
MD2 (May 12): @ Dancougar
MD3 (May 13): @ Norwellia
MD4 (May 14): vs. Zwangzug @ Pheonix Stadium
MD5 (May 15): @ Sarzonia
MD6 (May 16): OFF DAY
MD7 (May 17): vs. Yafor 2 @ National Stadium
MD8 (May 18): @ Mantenwic
MD9 (May 19): vs. Dancougar @ Pheonix Stadium
MD10 (May 20): vs. Norwellia @ National Stadium
MD11 (May 21): @ Zwangzug
MD12 (May 22): vs. Sarzonia @ Pheonix Stadium
MD13 (May 23): OFF DAY
MD14 (May 24): @ Yafor 2

National Stadium Capacity: 37,989:
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/3/37/National_Stadium.JPG

Pheonix Stadium Capacity: 58,145:
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/a/ae/Pheonix_Stadium.JPG

(the wiki page is a WIP for now...)

Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s group draw. There are 21 participants for the 11th edition of the World Baseball Classic. We will have three groups of seven, and the top three teams in each group will advance to Newmanistan for the playoffs. In the playoffs, there will be a one-game, winner-take-all showdown between the 8 and 9 seeds. The quarterfinals and the semifinals will be a three game series, and the final will be a five game set. The third place series will be a best-of-three.

During the group stage, you will play everyone in your group once at home and once away.

We know you’ll be curious about the pots, so here they are, in accordance to the recent WBC rankings.

Pot 1: Newmanistan, Tocrowkia, Qazox
Pot 2: Taeshan, Zwangzug, Secristan
Pot 3: Liventia, Milchama, Sarzonia
Pot 4: Yafor 2, Cassadaigua, Lovisa

After the 4th pot, the remaining teams had no points but we randomly grouped them anyway.

Pot 5: Mantwenic, Mallatarsland, Vephrall
Pot 6: Dancougar, Steroga, Quintessence of Dust
Pot 7: The Bye, Norwellia, Achtervolging

And the first ball up for placement into group A is..... Us, Newmanistan! The process continues until these groups are drawn.

Group A:
Newmanistan (1)
Secristan (6)
Milchama (9)
Lovisa (18)
Mallatarsland (NR)
Steroga (NR)
Achtervolging (NR)

Group B:
Qazox (3)
Zwangzug (5)
Sarzonia (10)
Yafor 2 (12)
Mantwenic (NR)
Dancougar (NR)
Norwellia (NR)

Group C:
Tocrowkia (2)
Taeshan (4)
Liventia (8)
Cassadaigua (14)
Vephrall (NR)
Quintessence of Dust (NR)
The Bye (NR)

Group Winners will be seeded 1st through 3rd. From there, the remaining six teams will be seeded 4th-9th, making it possible that two teams from the same group *could* play in the 8-9 game.

Schedule: (Home teams are on LEFT)
MD1 (May 11): 1 v 5, 2 v 3, 6 v 7, Bye: 4
MD2 (May 12): 6 v 1, 5 v 2, 4 v 7, Bye: 3
MD3 (May 13): 7 v 1, 5 v 4, 3 v 6, Bye: 2
MD4 (May 14): 1 v 2, 4 v 3, 6 v 5, Bye: 7
MD5 (May 15): 3 v 1, 4 v 2, 7 v 5, Bye: 6
MD6 (May 16): 2 v 7, 6 v 4, 5 v 3, Bye: 1
MD7 (May 17): 1 v 4, 2 v 6, 3 v 7, Bye: 5
MD8 (May 18): 5 v 1, 3 v 2, 7 v 6, Bye: 4
MD9 (May 19): 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 7 v 4, Bye: 3
MD10 (May 20): 1 v 7, 4 v 5, 6 v 3, Bye: 2
MD11 (May 21): 2 v 1, 3 v 4, 5 v 6, Bye: 7
MD12 (May 22): 1 v 3, 2 v 4, 5 v 7, Bye: 6
MD13 (May 23): 7 v 2, 4 v 6, 3 v 5, Bye: 1
MD14 (May 24): 4 v 1, 6 v 2, 7 v 3, Bye: 5

Playoff Schedule:
May 25th- 8 seed vs 9 seed
May 26th- QFG1
May 27th- QFG2
May 28th- QFG3 (if nec)
May 29th- SFG1
May 30th- SFG2
May 31st- SFG3 (if nec)
June 1st- FG1/3rdG1
June 2nd- FG2/3rdG2
June 3rd- FG3/3rdG3
June 4th- FG4 (if nec)
June 5th- FG5 (if nec)

Vephrall roster, low budget style

Starting lineup (sorry it's not sorted, I can't do that from my phone :p)
7. C - 3 - Izorigor Prorim - Knolees - bat L, throw R
4. 1B - 33 - Gackbang Scezes - Speilers - bat/throw L
8. 2B - 11 - Soscren Ochaates - Pallona (2nd pos: 1B) - bat/throw R
1. 3B - 28 - Cagenil Uambe - Moje (2nd pos: 1B) - bat/throw R
6. SS - 35 - Cliriputed Sareg - Tuffir (2nd pos: 1B) - bat L, throw R
2. LF - 16 - Gulertis Denosone - free agent (can play any OF) - bat/throw L
3. CF - 32 - Jehoepe Cuizamed - Solonds (can play any OF) - bat/throw L
5. RF - 15 - Fyls Celtuars - Netlas - bat/throw L

Starting rotation
14 - Pitski Whaariny - Solonds - RHP
7 - Seketre Rilin - Moje - RHP
34 - Mantlom Diors - Netlas - RHP
27 - Wecoisus Sarashe - Pallona - RHP
20 - Sanani Kentisesh - Meice - LHP

Bullpen (all RHP unless otherwise noted)
25 - Wendelors Thug - Solonds (closer)
21 - Slistols Cilleng - Solonds
31 - Wecoisus Filler - Siellal
13 - Freprisis Boimoks - Meice
26 - Whaariny Chezlot - Pallona
5 - Mopukest Pitski - Gloem
46 - Einy Lashnens - Penuls - LHP

Bench
1B - 17 - Cilleng Tizambuzon - Siellal (poor defense, don't put him out there unless no other choice) - bat/throw R
RF - 4 - Cuizamed Denosone - Siellal (2nd pos: LF) - bat S, throw L
CF - 6 - Rints Hesaramba - Penuls (can play anywhere in OF) - bat L, throw R
2B - 22 - Dotos Handbosm - Moje (2nd pos: 1B) - bat/throw R
C - 23 - Claspung Satossy - Netlas - bat L, throw R

Manager
9 - Sutred Fihor - Gloem

Stadium
The increasingly multi-purpose Ellime e Vephrall, capacity over 80,000 and I don't feel like trying to look it up right now

We scoff at the very idea of the designated hitter. Should one be needed on the road, it'll be C. Tizambuzon.

Please adhere to my rotation, but do what you wish with the (unspecified) batting order.

More details later.

Home stadium: Estadio Nacional de Beisbol, Tarragona, Españita.

DH: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. Not in seven million years. Don't even think about it. Hell. No.

Timeline: Summer 2011

RP Permissions Box

Choose my runscorers: YES
Choose my lineup: based on handedness or a compelling RP reason, if you must
Follow my Pitching Rotation: YES
Godmod scoring events: YES
RP injuries to my players: minor injuries only
Godmod injuries to my players: no
Eject my players: be reasonable
Godmod other events: no

Exceptions can be made through telegrams if I agree to them ahead of time.

Roster:


Ps B T Ag
Gwen Ellery SP L L 35
Marjorie Duffy SP R R 28
Isidra Alonsa SP R R 22
Luis Wilkinson SP L L 32
Artura Munárisa SP R R 27
전재선 C L L 23
Mariele Hüsch 1B L L 19
채상미 2B R R 32
Sūl Myūn-mi SS R R 38
Emmanuel Fugère 3B R R 18
Edgar Morgan LF R R 21
Sákīs Papadópoylos CF L L 29
Alexandre Binet RF L L 42
Aleksandr Karamzin 1B R R 26
Xura Inixi RP L L 44
Chris Hughes RP R R 39
Jūn Bo-hyūn RP L R 35
Wes Arnold RP R R 19
Roland Potter RP L L 40
Atxunus Imdila CP R R 42
Chris Owen CP L R 37
Bev Franco 2B R R 31
광국리 3B L R 37
Stéphane Gauthier CF R R 45
Irupe Pentove C R R 30


Against right-handed starters:

Batting order
1 채상미
2 Sákīs Papadópoylos
3 Mariele Hüsch
4 Edgar Morgan
5 Alexandre Binet
6 광국리
7 전재선
8 Sūl Myūn-mi
9 (SP)


Sákīs Papadópoylos
Edgar Morgan Alexandre Binet

Sūl Myūn-mi 채상미

광국리 (SP) Mariele Hüsch

전재선


Against left-handed pitchers

Batting order
1 채상미
2 Emmanuel Fugère
3 Stéphane Gauthier
4 Edgar Morgan
5 Alexandre Binet
6 Aleksandr Karamzin
7 전재선
8 Sūl Myūn-mi
9 (SP)


Stéphane Gauthier
Edgar Morgan Alexandre Binet

Sūl Myūn-mi 채상미

Emmanuel Fugère (SP) Aleksandr Karamzin

전재선


DH against right-handers: Mariele Hüsch
DH against left-handers: Stéphane Gauthier

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage
WBC 11 PREVIEW

Based on the viewer of QSPN.com, here is how SportsWorld sees WBC 11 shaking out:

NOTE 1: The TOP three vote getters in each group "advanced" in the tourney and are in BOLD, and are seeded based on their vote percentanges.
NOTE 2: Totals should be at 300 percent as voters had to choose Three teams to advance, the percentages are the percent of the 1,276,269 voters choosing that team to advance.

Group A
Newmanistan 96.2%
Secristan 79.2%
Milchama 71.5%
Lovisa 46.3%
Mallatarsland 5.6%
Steroga 0.7%
Achtervolging 0.5%

Group B
Qazox 95.3%
Zwangzug 80.7%
Sarzonia 56.7%
Yafor 2 31.5%
Dancougar 29.7%
Norwellia 5.2%
Mantwenic 0.9%

Group C
Tocrowkia 85.1%
Taeshan 80.4%
Liventia 77.1%
Cassadaigua 42.7%
Vephrall 13.9%
Quintessence of Dust 0.7%
The Bye 0.1%

PLAYOFFS
#8 vs #9 play-off
#8 Milchama vs. #9 Sarzonia 52.9% to 47.1%

QuarterFinals
#1 Newmanistan vs. #8 Milchama

Newmanistan in 2: 46.2%
Newmanistan in 3: 41.6%
Milchama in 3: 10.4%
Milchama in 2: 1.8%

#4 Zwangzug vs. #5 Taeshan

Zwangzug in 3: 37.2%
Taeshan in 3: 35.9%
Taeshan in 2: 16.1%
Zwangzug in 2: 11.8%

#3 Tocrowkia vs. #6 Secristan

Secristan in 3: 41.2%
Tocrowkia in 3: 37.5%
Tocrowkia in 2: 16.3%
Secristan in 2: 5.0%

#2 Qazox vs. #7 Liventia

Qazox in 3: 52.2%
Liventia in 3: 41.3%
Qazox in 2: 5.8%
Liventia in 2: 0.7%


SEMIFinals
#1 Newmanistan vs. #4 Zwangzug

Newmanistan in 3: 42.8%
Zwangzug in 3: 33.9%
Newmanistan in 2: 16.5%
Zwangzug in 2: 7.8%

#2 Qazox vs. #6 Secristan

Qazox in 3: 45.2%
Qazox in 2: 29.8%
Secristan in 3: 23.3%
Secristan in 2: 1.7%


THIRD PLACE Playoff
#4 Zwangzug vs. #6 Secristan

Zwangzug in 3: 39.9%
Zwangzug in 2: 26.4%
Secristan in 3: 25.9%
Secristan in 2: 7.8%


CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
#1 Newmanistan vs. #2 Qazox

Qazox in 5: 39.0%
Newmanistan in 5: 37.5%
Newmanistan in 4: 10.3%
Qazox in 4: 9.1%
Newmanistan in 3: 2.9%
Qazox in 3: 1.2%

"So this... is seriously it..." Schwartz stood in the locker room at the team arrayed before him. Ten girls were milling about in their uniforms. Only ten of them... didn't a baseball team normally have twenty five? Schwartz tossed aside the copy of Baseball for Dummies he'd been carrying - like that was going to be useful at this point - and walked into the room to try and get their attention. "Excuse me, everyone, I..."

The room turned completely silent as the girls all ceased their conversation and slowly turned their heads in his direction. He could feel their eyes piercing him to the bone. Oh no, not good! he thought madly. Yes, for a man to be in here at this time, surely it can't be appropriate, can it? I'll be tried and arrested, or worse! If that's the end for me, then instead I'll...!!

Before he could complete his thought, one of the girls smiled brightly and hopped over to him. "They told us you were coming! So you're our coach, then?" she asked. Her voice was cheerful and it calmed him down for the moment. "I'm the shortstop, Joy! Joy Allegray!"

"Ah, Allegray-san, you said?" said Schwartz, checking his notes. Sure enough there she was. The picture was accurate. Joy was a wispy girl with her brown hair cut short, and something about her smile seemed contagious. It looked so natural on her that he found that, even after seeing her for the first time, he couldn't imagine her without it. "Everyone, it's as she says. I'm Schwartz Seherisch, and I'll be the team's manager. I look forward to working together with everyone."

In short order, he'd assembled them all in front of a blackboard for their first team meeting.

"Now, then, the reason you've been gathered here is that you're the best baseball players this country has to offer for the upcoming World Baseball Classic," he announced. "You've all done very well to reach this point, and no doubt your youthful enthusiasm and abilities will contribute mightily to a successful tournament debut..." He glanced off to the side with narrowed eyes. "... is what I'd like to say."

One of the girls promptly stood up from her seat with a peeved expression. Like Joy, she had a wirey figure but her long hair was styled in an immaculately straight fashion. It was parted in the middle of her head to near perfection, and even the vein that bulged slightly when she stood up seemed to be centered. "Coach, that isn't exactly the proper way to encourage us, isn't it?"

Schwartz took his notebook and looked for this girl. "You're... Sarah Propeado?" She nodded. He faced the girls in the room. "Now, I know you're all excited for this tournament, but don't you think it's asking a little much to do so well right away?"

"That's obvious, isn't it?" Sarah responded. "Otherwise, there wouldn't be a point in even playing."

"But it's not obvious at all!" Schwartz replied. "In our group alone, there are three teams ranked in the world's top ten. You're saying that we're capable of besting even one of them?" The girls were nervously silent. "In any endeavor, there are early adopters and then the later followers. Invariably, those who obtain fame and success first set up barriers to protect that success, and make it deliberately difficult for the newcomers to duplicate it."

"But you're ignoring the beauty of Cinderella," countered Sarah. "Like when the powerful college team ends up losing to one that works hard and plays well together because they didn't rely just on their name or tradition." In her mind, she saw an overweight coach hang his head in shame while the green-clad mascot watched in horror as a team in gold ceded point after point to a group of X-ed out nobodies.

"Cinderella was always a part of the story," Schwartz answered. "She worked hard and got nowhere and only brought down the barriers by taking the same approach as the established powers!" Sarah's image continued to evolve. The media circus behind the golden team's overweight coach was now joined by an even more boisterous contingent behind the X-ed out coach, who laughed maniacally with his new-found power. Ugh... the coach had a point.

"Tradition has always been the most important part of society!" Schwartz continued, his train of thought gaining steam. "The senator who is elected simply because he's held the position for several consecutive terms, programming students who learn Visual BASIC first just because BASIC was always a starter language in the past, and soccer teams which add 'FC' or 'Real' to their names just because of well-known clubs... they're all examples of the prevalence of tradition!"

Schwartz blinked in shock, looked to the left, then to the right, and finally off into the distance. He wrung his hands and cried: "ZETSUBOU SHITA! The society which hinders progress by relying on established traditions has left me in despair!!"

Sarah was reeling from the outburst and tried to collect herself. "Isn't that going a bit far, coach?" she asked at last.

"No, once you understand this simple point, it becames all the more clear that our team is doomed from the outset!" he said. "Baseball, which is so steeped in tradition and cherishes its records and history to the point of legend, is simply unable to tolerate a team like ours! If we just show up and attempt to unseat one of the strongest baseball teams on the world, the outcry would rock us to the core. Who are these people who disrespect our history of the game? The sheer weight of baseball's past is far too heavy for us to bear!"

"The spirits of the game... you say they would be displeased?" asked a pale-looking girl with curly blonde hair. Schwartz identified her as Clarissa Voint, the team's first basewoman.

"Of course!" Schwartz answered, happy that someone had latched onto the truth. "Just as the spirits of Tundra Falls cannot accept anyone that dares challenge their past achievements and glories, so too can the spirits of baseball conspire to keep us from changing the established order of world baseball!"

"But... I don't think it's possible for things to be so bad!" Schwartz was interrupted by Joy, who'd bounced up from her seat after a long silence. Her smile was deafening. "Those people aren't trying to keep anyone out at all. They're guardians of all that is good about the game!" In her mind, the senator was elected because he knew what was best for his people, and therefore it made perfect sense for him to retain his seat. And Visual BASIC made programming fun; you could tinker for hours and build something wicked cool.

"Then the spirits would accept us if we protect the sanctity of the game?" Clarissa asked in a flat tone. She closed her eyes and her hair began to defy gravity... Schwartz took a preventative step backwards and pressed against the blackboard. "They would... our own spirit may be enough to placate them."

"We only have to try, and it'll be okay!" Joy exclaimed. Schwartz was beaten for now, but something told him that they didn't quite understand what he'd been saying at all.

--------------------------------
Dancougar Schedule:
MD1 (May 11): v Norwellia
MD2 (May 12): v #3 Qazox
MD3 (May 13): @ #10 Sarzonia
MD4 (May 14): v Mantwenic
MD5 (May 15): bye
MD6 (May 16): v #12 Yafor 2
MD7 (May 17): @ #5 Zwangzug
MD8 (May 18): @ Norwellia
MD9 (May 19): @ #3 Qazox
MD10 (May 20): v #10 Sarzonia
MD11 (May 21): @ Mantwenic
MD12 (May 22): bye
MD13 (May 23): @ #12 Yafor 2
MD14 (May 24): v #5 Zwangzug

Bidding has officially come to a close for the right to represent Secristan in World Baseball Classic 11 from Newmanistan. Unlike other teams that are formed by the best players within their nation, Secristan awards roster spots to the highest bidder for the position. Due to that, they are not necessarily the best players in the country, they just happen to be the richest. That said, these aren’t a bunch of bums off the street. In order for their bid to be valid, they had to be between 18 and 38 and pass a strenuous fitness test, and have a minimum of one year professional baseball experience.

Despite as being the runner-up in WBC 10, we still had the auction process. If you know what happened in the current World Bowl, IBC2, Di Bradini 8, etc, you'd know why.

As you have to pay a team in order to play professionally, anyone in this lineup would love to receive international offers to actually get compensated.

Head Coach: John Michaelson (57), coached in WBC8 & 10. Was outbid for WBC9.

Rotation: (Age/Throws/Bats)
Steve Jamison (30, L/L)- Hard throwing southpaw. If this spot were given out on merit, he would still be the ace. Steve is also the only player to been on all four Classic teams.

Matthew Courville (20, L/L)- The future? This young hard throwing lefthander could be another Jamison in the making. Thanks to Jamison, who helped him out in the bidding process, he is on the team for the first time and expected to make a large impact.

Jim Slattery (29, R/R)- Mixing up speeds is his strength. He has great offspeed stuff, but also a 94 MPH heater. Has appeared in the last two WBC’s, but never this high in the rotation.

Eric Strassner (33, L/L)- Also a fastball pitcher, but not as much velocity as Jamison. Eric has plenty of talent, he is just awfully inconsistent.

Johnny Carpenter (24, R/R)- Relies on a curveball/slider combination. Makes his debut on the team.

Bullpen: (Age/Throws/Bats)
Francisco Martinez (29, L/L)- THE CLOSER. Martinez also was the closer in WBC9 and 10. Generally only goes one inning, but is capable of going two. He can hit 102 MPH, and mixes in a nasty circle change.

Michael McKeon (32, R/R)- SET UP MAN. McKeon last appeared in WBC8, where he was the closer. Last time, instead of trying to outbid Martinez, he went for this role and does it again here. Wise choice. He is a closer by trade, fastball specialist, just in an 8th inning role.

Chad Jarvis (29, R/R) Short reliever. Probably a 7th inning guy when used. He has a pretty wicked cutter.

Nicholas Gillette (22, R/R) Situtational shortman. No more then one inning.

Dominick Peluso (27, L/L)- Versatile, will be used in any situation.

Randy Feinman (24, R/R)- Randy makes his debut, and not a whole lot is known about him. He had a pretty good college career at the Amherst School of Finance.

Steve Delvecchio (35, R/R)- Long reliever who has a fantastic sinker/slider combination. Despite his age, he his making his debut. He says he’s attempted to bit for a spot since WBC 7.

Starting Lineup (using DH) (Age, Throws/Bats)
1) Jason Carlin- CF (28, L/L) Speedster, prototypical leadoff batter,led off in WBC 9, and hit second last time. Also moves from left to center.
2) Jonas Kindlan- LF (22, R/S) Speedster, but too much of a free swinger to hit leadoff. Very popular with young female fans. He makes his debut.
3) Tim McMurtry- 3B (33, R/S)- Bat here in WBC9 & 10 also, good power but more of a doubles hitter.
4) Manny “ManRod” Rodriguez- RF (31, L/S)- Explosive power hitter. Would you expect anything less from someone named this? Sometimes tempermental. It’s his 3rd WBC. Insists the rumors of his steroid use are not true.
5) John Fusco- 1B (29, R/S)- In his 4th WBC, John has great power himself and his presence means you can’t just pitch around “ManRod” all day. He played a major role in our runner up finish last time.
6) Eddie Forte- SS (22, R/R)- Doubles-type hitter, has tremendous discipline. Gold-glove caliber fielder.
7) Mick O’Rourke- 2B (23, R/S)- Debutant, hits for average. Defensive wizard.
8) Eric Beaudoin- DH (33, L/S)- Has great power. Also strikes out a ton, so he is not in higher lineup spot.
9) Kip Kircher- C (30, R/R)- Excellent hitter, but could use improvement behind the plate. Starts for the first time after debuting as a backup last time.

Bench
Lenny Jackson- C (21, L/L)- Future starter, probably. His for average. Debutant.

Mike Bradley- 2B/SS (32, R/R)- Started in WBC8. Solid overall player. Does everything decently but nothing extraordinarily.

Adam Sperbeck- 1B/3B (31, L/S)- Started in WBC9. The most home run ability of any of the bench guys.

William Sutliffe- OF (21, R/S)- Up-and-coming talent, may be a five-tool player in the long run.

Other info:
Stadium: Monopoly Stadium in Amherst won the rights to host our home games.
DH?: Yes! (Because it was one more spot the SDOS could hold an auction for and make money on).

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No, it is here.
Follow my Pitching Rotation: No, we use a 5-man rotation so it shouldn’t be hard to figure out who starts.
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but I will determine how bad it is.
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes to fights, brawls, charging the mound, arrogant player or fan behavior and weather. No to anything else.

Coach: Sandeep Patel

Starting Pitchers:
Iravan Kumar (R)
Pradeep Singh (L)
Jaival Nayak (R)
Uddunath Surhato (R)
Kapoor Pattnaik (L)

Relievers:
Alizadeh Kokradi ( R)
Devdarsh Gupta (L)
Abihjay Patel (L)
Pritam Karntaka ( R)
Champak Singh ( R) - Set up guy
Swami Nabhendu (L)- closer

Batting Lineup:
1) Uttkarsh Motallzadeh- CF
2) Rishit Gupta- 1B
3) Avinash Siddharth- SS
4) Prapti Subhudhi- 3B
5) Pradeep Kumar- LF
6) Naman Shah- DH
7) Bhupad Kapadia- C
8) Ekagrah Gandhi- RF
9) Allah Naidu- 2B

Bench:
Sendeep Jitrenda- C
Soumil Gupta- 1B
Avinash Singh- 2B/SS
Sabal Panigrahi- 3B
Jaisukh Patel- OF

Home Stadium: Kumar Field. Capacity: 41,527
We use DH.

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: No

The Zwangzug Zebras, WBC 11 iteration. Numbers after the teams denote their first tournament, with a III representing the Olympic games (this is mostly for personal record keeping). Handedness is only given for international rookies--eventually it'll be there for everyone, but it's being phased in to avoid contradictions. RPers have free rein, though I'd ask you to justify any departures from the given lineup or rotation.

The Zebras are a defensively-minded team overall, eschewing many power hitters in favor of patience at the plate. Pitchers, likewise, tend more towards finesse than speed. There is no DH used at our home stadium, the Worm Hole (located in Spenson).

Manager: Maren Ruud (Gray Sox). The entire "let-the-champion-team-manager-coach-the-national-team" thing works so much better when there's a functional league. Ruud is the Zebras' first female manager, loves esoteric acronyms, and hates the entire concept of closers.

Starting rotation:
#4, Brianna Schneider, Tigers, 8 The team's fireballing ace.
#3, Norman Jakiela, Grey Socks, 10
#11, Ari Leinwand, R/R, Panthers, 11
#20, Tristan Gronosky, L/L, Bears, 11
#25, Deirdre Palomaki, R/R, Gray Sox, 11

Bullpen:
#22, Gabriel Dukart (long relief), Aurora, 10
#8, Johanna Aelink (long relief), Rainmakers, 10
#34, Arianna Shadduck (middle relief), Millers, 8
#30, Rod Kirst (middle relief), Gray Sox, 8
#26, Jerome Straugter (middle relief), L/L, Dolphins, 11
#19, Hedrick Wehrwein (middle relief), Red-Tails, 10
#45, Marco Erewhon ("closer"), Red-Tails, III The best short-term reliever generally won't come in in save situations, but instead whenever Ruud deems him most necessary.

Starting lineup:
#15, Marvin Stania, first base, Bears, 10
#12, Greta Orsulak, shortstop, Flash, 10
#33, Noah Trecarichi, center field, Worms, 8 The team's most characteristic if not necessarily best player, with a keen batting eye and good bat control.
#7, Leonid Kostelanetz, right field, Dragons, 9 A Dragons outfielder? Who used to play DH when needed? Let me guess, meh-field-good-slug. Yep, I'm right.
#17, Amos Robotham, left field, Worms, III
#16, Ken Schlemmer, second base, Wildcats, 8 Had a breakout tournament last time around, but it was probably a fluke.
#24, Brigid Hoefflin, catcher, Rainmakers, 8
#18, Amber Pastis, third base, Gray Sox, III Her pitching career ended abruptly after a freak accident last tournament, and if she wasn't on the Gray Sox I'm not sure she'd be here right now.
pitcher

Bench:
#59, Jameson Lamenc, outfield, Mustangs, 10
#5, Rufus Lievano, shortstop, Worms, 8
#6, Alison Minium, R/R, catcher, Wildcats, 11
#14, Murray Quashnock, outfield (DH if needed, batting fifth), L/R, Crabs, 11
#9, Anastasia Alperin, corner infield, S/R, Grey Socks, 11

THE ROCKET REPORT

ALL-WORLD TEAM

Pocono City- As the Rockets get set to defend their championship and the Empire gets ready to host the event, we decided to put together our first all-world team here at the Rocket Report. We tried to take all the information available to us into account in making up this team. If any international readers feel that a player was overlooked from their team, there could be two reasons for this. First being we just didn’t think they were better then the person we selected. It doesn’t mean we think you’re guy (or girl) therefore, sucks. Or second, it could just be that said player is not as well known to Newmanistanians yet. (For example, we know the players from the teams we have played more often then the ones we have played less).

Starting Pitching Rotation:
Stacey Keisler (Newmanistan)- Keisler is the best pitcher going in the World right now. She made an immediate impression in World Baseball Classic 7, and validated her career by pitching in the decisive game 3 against Secristan in the championship series. Keisler has been known to pick up her game against the top teams, including mastery of Qazox and Taeshan. Maybe one pitcher can dominate one of them. But not both. Oh, and don’t forget the perfect game she threw against Lurikastan last time, either.

Steve Jamison (Secristan)- Always seems to get the Millionaires a victory, even before their rise up the rankings. He’s a hard throwing and aggressive pitcher who’s had some good games against us, which certainly will help your prestige. Dedicated and committed to his team, as evidenced by consistently winning the auctions to be the ace of the staff. We’re sure that auction sees several different bidders.

Rick Highfield (Qazox)- Another hard throwing veteran, Highfield also has led his team to a World Baseball Classic victory. Actually, two of them. He’s certainly a stud and capable of winning every time out. He’s placed behind Jamison because he can sometimes throw more then a desirable number of pitches due to falling behind in the count, which makes Qazox have to go to the bullpen quicker then perhaps Secristan would with Jamison.

Tommy Thunder (Tocrowkia)- Thunder has a great fastball, but his ability to mix in a nice variety of pitches makes him real difficult to hit. He will tend to rack up a high number of strikeouts. He’s been the ace of the Nordics for a while now, but until Tocrowkia is in a final or wins a championship (which may be this year), we can’t put him over the other three.

Brianna Schneider (Zwangzug)- Another hard thrower, Brianna just missed being part of the Zebras World Baseball Classic 7 championship winning team, but is doing everything she can do to bring them back.

Bullpen:

Closer: Jackson Throne (Qazox)- Throne dominates lefties, but he isn’t too bad against righties, either. When you’re playing Qazox, you need to keep him out of the game, because he is pretty close to automatic.

Set-up: Michael McKeon (Secristan)- Once he was able to accept this role, he has thrived in it. The Millionaires don’t blow many leads late in games, and McKeon tossing the 8th before Francisco Martinez in the 9th has worked well for them.

Long relief: Jaycen Hester (Tocrowkia): Maybe somewhat of a consolation for us not giving the set-up honor to Amber Tavern, but Hester is wise through his years and realizes that you don’t have to throw 95 MPH to get people out. Even though he tends to be limited to two innings with the Nordics, we’re sure he’d be used longer if necessary.

Short relief: Ohmegode Frede (Taeshan): Whenever we hear his name, it seems like he’s done something good for the Purple Knights. The 37-year old veteran may be in his final season, and he would love to taste a WBC championship before he hangs them up.


Positional:
Catcher- Rachel Weston (Cassadaigua)- Most rosters have a catcher that hits seventh or lower, and several are described as being their mainly for their behind the plate ability. Then there’s Mickey Weatherby, who even a snail can a steal a base on. Enter Rachel Weston. The Dagan backstop hits third in her lineup, with excellent across-the-board numbers. Cassadaigua’s baseball team is trying to climb the ladder, and Weston will play a big role in it.

1st Base- Johnny Stryker (Tocrowkia)- One of the most exciting players in the game today, Stryker is the one who carries the hopes and dreams of the Tocrowkia faithful on his shoulders. Highlights include his 4 HR in one game effort against Taeshan as well as his run-ins with Sarah Boland. By the way, he can run and provide gold glove caliber defense, as Dover City fans have found out.

2nd Base- Carrie Nicolette (Newmanistan)- How often is Carrie driving in a run or creating a big inning for the Rockets? This is the one player in the Rockets lineup that if you took her out, the team would miss the most. Not only does she bring in the speedy players ahead of her, but she’s often on base when Boland or Crockett come up. The straw that stirs the drink, if you will. Carrie can hit home runs as well, and even steal a few bases. Certainly the best at her position in the world.

Shortstop- Jill Haviland (Tocrowkia)- Haviland is pretty much the Carrie Nicolette of the Nordics. Or in Tocrowkia, they’d be more likely to say Nicolette is the Jill Haviland of the Rockets. At any rate, these two are very similar players statistically and in what they bring to their respective teams. Both are uncommon for players of their position, so maybe it’s not a coincidence that the teams fortunate enough to have them are ranked #1 and #2 in the world. What a sweet double play combination this would be.

3rd Base- Sarah Boland (Newmanistan)- Another Rocket makes the list, but by merit, not because we are being a homer. Homer, yes, that is what Sarah is most known for, as she has produced some of the most historic blasts in Newmanistanian history. Qazox’s Clark Petrie and Secristan’s Tim McMurtry are good players, but neither are the complete package that Sarah is.

Leftfield- Manny Rodriguez (Secristan)- ManRod, or should we say WomanRoid, is the biggest gun on the Millionaires. He’s tempermental, but it seems to energize a team that sometimes might rather be counting their money.

Centerfield- Darren Pew (Qazox)- So, why Darren Pew and not Brittany Wright? This was definitely the closest competition we felt of any, at any position. Both are excellent in their roles as leadoff hitters, getting on base and stealing bases. Both will steal at will, and both hit for a great average. Take your pick, you can’t lose either. We go with Pew because we already had picked four Newmanistanians!

Rightfield- Socki Lewis (Taeshan)- Lewis is one of the best home run hitters in the game. Sometimes, it can seem like he is the only one generating any kind of offense for Taeshan, as their offense relies very heavily on this powerful slugger. He’s still pretty young, so we assume he will have more great days ahead of him.

Second Team:
C: Barry Pullman (Quintessence of Dust)- We’ve heard good things about him.
1B: John Fusco (Secristan)
2B: Ken Schlemmer (Zwangzug)
SS: Tara Cuyler (Newmanistan)
3B: Clark Petrie (Qazox)
LF: Kyle Bryon (Qazox)
CF: Brittany Wright (Newmanistan)
RF: Dmitri Rykov (Tocrowkia)

Note: Outfielders were put in any OF spot, not necessarily the spot they are in on their national team’s roster.

Head Coach: Christina Sanders (Newmanistan)

Group Draws Announced

Another Group draw hhas come and gone and ater their first non final four apperance since their first entrance in the World Basbeall Classic the Taeshan Purple Knights are looking to again reclaim what was once theirs. The right to say they were one of the best longwithstanding teams. It may take many years for the team to again lay what was once their greatest claim to the WBC title. Once being the greatest team to never win the World Baseball Classic, now many sportsfans say that is up to Tocrowkia to take that spot. The two teams of course have played numerous times against each other in the past few classics and it looks as though the Kmnights will have the perfect oppurtunity to again take back their coveted title or even take the great title themselves.

But as everyone knows nothing is ever placed right in someones laps. In what many think to b e one of the last seasons for some of the older players fans are looking to see their team make a big surge in perhaps their final year to have most of the original team members. After last nights announcement of the groups many fans were happy to see that they would have an easy first round, but that it would be just hard enough to get them ready to play agains tthe big boys in the finals. The Knights are the second highest ranked team in the group just two spots below number two in the world Tocrowkia. Others in the group include #8 Liventia, the top twenty team from Cassadaigua, and 3 unranked squads one Vephrall who has finally made their return to Baseball, and two The Bye, and Quintessence of Dust who are making their international debut's in this sport. Qod of course has played various others before. My prediction is of course that the Nordics, the Knights, and the Ladies of Cassadiagua will advance wiht Liventia only a win or two out.

Schedule
Taeshan VS Liventia @ Quarant Xa'virt Sphark Stadium*
Taeshan @ Vephrall @ Ellime e Vephrall
Bye Week
Taeshan @ Tocrowkia
Taeshan @ Cassadaigua
Taeshan VS The Bye @ Quarant Xa'virt Sphark Stadium
Taeshan VS Quintessence of Dust @ Quarant Xa'virt Sphark Stadium
Taeshan @ Liventia
Taeshan VS Vephrall @ Quarant Xa'virt Sphark Stadium
Bye Week
Taeshan VS Tocrowkia @ Quarant Xa'virt Sphark Stadium
Taeshan VS Cassadaigua @ Quarant Xa'virt Sphark Stadium
Taeshan @ The Bye
Taeshan @ Quintessence of Dust

The Future Additions to the All World Team

Just a few days ago a sportswriter from NHewmanistan had the idea to write a column on the best players around the world that you would see this year. Most notably i think is that he only mentions two Taeshani players. The Knights having played at the top level of the spectrum since entering the WBC were enthralled by this. Yes, they may not have the gallantry of all the other players around the world but most of are players are great at what they do or they wouldn't be on the team. Now yes every player that makes a national team has to be pretty good or they wouldnt have mad it, but some of these players are do credit. I do agree with many of the writers picks, actually most of them, its just that i have decided to enter 3 players not given enough international reckognition in a group i would like to name the young stars who need respect.

Willie Strava- Willie is perhaps the greatest of these unpicked players. although he is only coming into his third World Baseball Classic he is perhaps the greatest closer i have ever seen. Stravas has saved 12 games in the past two seasons. Strava of course may have the greatest advantage of all he is Ambidextrous. He is known throughout the country as having the awesome left handed curve, and he also has the devestating Change Up both ways. With his right hand Strava clocks 96. Pretty fast. He has never blown a save, and many believe he will be great throughout his playing time.

Anthony Realis- Anthony the younger brother of star Natioanl Soccer team player Jacin is the Knights ace on the staff. Anthony has been the head starte since the beginning and has won over 50 games and many of them in bigtime pressure situations. Realis is possibly the WBC leader in wins do to the lonwithstanding age of Taeshanites compared to players from other worlds. He will be around for a while longer and is expected to keep on winning.

Alexander Parea- Alexander is most notable for stepping right in after zZi Zo's injury and her later death. Parea was pegged to start years before their was even thoughts of Zo's departure from the team. Forced into the team at the young age of 22 and has pehaps the biggest offensive impact of any player to come out at such a young age. Parea may not be the next Socki Lewis, but he is perhaps the kid on the team expected to have the biggest batting average due to his speed, and uncanny knack to get the calls. He will aslo be around for awhile.

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my Pitching rotation Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Within reason; ie, if you have a bench clearing brawl, there's bound to be some ejections.
Godmod other events: Stuff like charging the mound, bench clearing bawls is fine, but that's about it.
DH in home park: Yes

Sarzonia Stars

Manager Jim Paulsen
Bench Coach Johnny Martin
First Base Coach Clem Barker
Third Base Coach Lyle Menifee
Hitting Coach Geoff Yancey
Pitching Coach Jim Wiesen

ROSTER

Starting Rotation
12 John Morgan (RHP): Woodstock Mountaineers Led the Sarzonia League in victories with 15 and finished fourth in strikeouts with 106.
22 Charlie Palmer (LHP): Portland Fishermen Known for having the best changeup in all of Sarzonian baseball, he was named the first-ever Jim Palmer Award recipient for postseason MVP after leading the Fishermen to a Sarzonia Series crown.
27 Brian Edwards (RHP): Lexington Flight Despite the Flight's last place finish in the Incorporated League, Edwards was an 11 game winner (11-5, 2.67 ERA). He doesn't strike out many and relies on a sinking fastball to get ground ball outs.
34 Brad Baxter (RHP): Nicksia Nighthawks Baxter led the Sarzonian major leagues in wins (17), innings pitched (172) and strikeouts (156). He just pitched two days before the team assembled, so he was pushed back in the rotation.
40 Ken Sutcliffe (RHP): Portsmouth Pilots Sutcliffe is the veteran of the rotation, turning 41 at the end of the season. He's known for being a heady pitcher but he can still throw the ball past hitters when he has to.

Bullpen
32 Kenny Spencer (RHP): Saugerties Streakers Spencer is arguably the best setup man in the history of the sport in Sarzonia. He has only six saves in his career, but makes a living closing the door in the eighth inning.
29 Jay Ballard (LHP): Nicksia A specialist at getting lefthanded hitters out, Ballard made only one career start in secondary school. He threw a two-hit shutout in the state championship in that start.
33 Roger Tolliver (LHP): Avalon Aeros The lefthanded long reliever for the Aeros, he led the league with most innings pitched by a reliever (79) without making a start. His 38 appearances led the league among all relief pitchers.
17 Kerry Clark (RHP): Woodstock The leader among all of Sarzonian baseball with 29 saves, Clark has a devastating curveball and fastball. He's working on developing a change up.
39 Alvin Dryden (LHP): Rypien Rhinos Dryden is the lefty closer on the national team and will alternate with Clark depending on the opponent. Dryden led his league with 27 saves.

Position Players (starters in bold
C 10 Fred Carlton: Grovesmont Gryphons Carlton is the best defensive catcher in Sarzonian baseball. Calls a great game, threw out 44 percent of opposing baserunners. His problem: He hit .227 with only two home runs.
1B 44 Hank Everly: Woodstock Led the Sarzonian League in home runs with 37 and finished tied for second in runs batted in with 105. His batting average of .269 is lower than his coaches want.
2B 8 Dewey Griffin: Avalon The sparkplug for the Aeros, Griffin led both major leagues with 44 stolen bases and nine bunt hits. He was tied for second in the league in sacrifice hits (bunts or flies).
SS 2 Chris Spontanelli: Townshend Tigers: One of the many shortstops in the Cal Ripken mold, Spontanelli led his team with 17 homers and 81 RBI. At 6'5", he's the tallest starting shortstop in Sarzonia.
3B 9 Kate Schmidt: Bristol Bears: The only female to earn a starting spot on the national team, she hit .309 to lead her team and smacked 11 home runs.
LF 19 Tyrell Gordon: Portland Set a record for most outfield assists in college or high school baseball with 133. Had only two outfield assists this season when major league teams decided not to risk running on him.
CF 23 Drew Bradley: Avalon A speedster, Bradley is known for his graceful play in center and led his league in outfield assists with nine.
RF 24 Mark Dwight: Nicksia Not much with speed or a throwing arm, but Dwight specialises in being at the right place at the right time. He led the league with a .361 batting average.

Reserves
OF 36 Skip Hale Woodstock: Hale played in a career-high 44 games for Woodstock due to injuries to other outfielders. He's known as the best pinchhitter in the league and can serve as the starting DH if that position is available.
OF 7 Tyler Hunter Bristol: Can play either corner outfielder position, but his throwing arm is arguably the worst in the league.
C 13 Mario Salvidotti Avalon: Improving as a receiver, Salvidotti led his team with 21 home runs and 89 RBI.
IF 3 Russ Fraley Bristol Handled his demotion to reserve behind Schmidt with surprising grace and honed his skills as a shortstop so he could play short, third or first. He also is learning how to play second.
IF 5 Bryan Carroll Portland Extremely valuable asset to his team, he can play any position in the infield. Could serve as the emergency catcher if necessary.

Starting lineup (with the DH)
2B Griffin
CF Bradley
SS Spontanelli
1B Everly
DH Hale
RF Dwight
3B Schmidt
LF Gordon
C Carlton

Starting lineup (without the DH)
2B Griffin
CF Bradley
SS Spontanelli
1B Everly
RF Dwight
LF Gordon
3B Schmidt
C Carlton
P

Home colours are white and navy with silver trim. Road uniform is a dark grey with navy blue and white lettering. The third uniform is navy blue with white lettering, which is used as either a home or away uniform depending on what the other team wears.

[OOC: Anyone RPing against me in the first match, please insert Bryan Carroll in the lineup at third base for that match. If there's a DH, Carroll hits ninth, while Gordon and Carlton hit seventh and eighth, respectively. If there's no DH, Carlton hits seventh and Carroll hits eighth. Paulsen's going to suspend Kate Schmidt for the first match for the reason you'll see below.]

Third baseman Kate Schmidt greeted the press assembled at Mountaineer Park in Woodstock by violently swatting her water bottle off the podium.

"We get no [expletive] respect!" she snapped. "None!" Before she was supposed to sit down and answer questions from the media, she turned around and stormed out of the room despite the Sarzonian sports information director's efforts at getting her back to sit down and answer questions from the assembled media.

Twenty minutes later, manager Jim Paulsen finally sat down.

"My apologies for Kate's outburst," he said. "She felt slighted that not a single Sarzonian was on the All World Team. She thought it was an outrage."

"Jim, don't you think you ought to inform her that the Sarzonian Baseball Federation didn't turn in the paperwork in time?"

"Not right now," Paulsen said. "She won't listen to anybody right now. Once we assemble for the team dinner, I think she'll be calm enough for me to explain that.

"In the meantime, let's discuss the group draw. Qazox and Zwanzug will be tough. We expect a challenge from Yafor 2 as well. Frankly, our group scares us to death. The two newcomer countries here give me the heebie jeebies. Norwellia are going to be good. Dancougar? That's a sporting nation if I ever heard of one. The fact they haven't sent a baseball team here before scares me."

"Why?"

"They dominate every other sport. I wouldn't be surprised if Schwartz [Seherisch, Dancougar's manager] got that team to play well very quickly."

"What about Mantwenic?"

"That's the only newcomer nation we know nothing about. Dancougar and Norwellia we're familiar with from other sports."

"What about the decision to use Mountaineer Park for all of Sarzonia's home matches?"

"It's a beautiful stadium," Paulsen said. "The capacity is pretty low compared to some of the parks we've seen." The stadium seats a total of 30,000 for baseball. "It's also a hitter-friendly park despite its dimensions since it's nearly a mile above sea level. Still, anyone trying to hit a home run to right center's going to have to give it a good poke. And the Grey Mountain in right's no picnic to hit the ball over, either."

The dimensions for Mountaineer Park are as follows: Left field line: 329 feet; Left center: 376 feet; Center field: 409 feet; Right center: 446 feet; Right field: 317 feet. The Gray Mountain in right field is a wall 36 feet high.

"Obviously, the park favours righthanded hitters."

"Obviously."

MILLIONAIRES DRAW ROCKETS

More games for the Secristan-Newmanistan rivalry are about to take place as the Group Draw has placed both teams what played in the final of World Baseball Classic 10 into group A. There is nothing wrong with that no matter who you are. For our players, it is an opportunity for revenge since they knocked us out in Qazox. For the fans, it the mystery of wondering what might happen when they play next. In Qazox we were also group mates, and had met on matchday one, and it ended up being a rather dicey game. The taunting, the gestures, and the fighting all made for a great story. When they met the second time, the game was more important for each team, and in the finals, the teams only concerned themselves with the championship. Now comes two more group stage games, on matchdays four and eleven. The matchday 11 game is in Secristan, and will be a Steve Jamison start. Finally, for the Secristan Department of Sports, it’s also a great scenario as this will obviously mean great ratings. Coming off their great run, the Millionaires are expected to be one of the top contenders again, and the SDOS was certain to not make the same mistakes they have made in the past by simply allowing a team that did well in the past version of a competition to return for the next one. This has not worked well, and proves that our players still must be financially motivated to succeed. All of our players had to bid for their spots once again, and go pretty deep in their pockets. Since many of these players do play internationally across the Penthoria, they would have more money to spend, so the roster itself does look pretty similar. This time, it cost them. The one major difference on the team is pitcher Matthew Courville, who is only 20 years of age. Courville’s fastball already hits 99 MPH (never officially clocked at 100), and he has a great curveball and slider combination. He looks like he may be as good as Steve Jamison, but he never would have had the finances to bid for a spot on the team. Thanks to Jamison, he did. “It’s like a loan. I made his bid for him out of my wallet. He will pay me back in the long term. I believe in this kid’s talent,” Jamison told us. There are no rules that keep someone bidding for a spot for another, as long as that person also meets the eligibility requirements.

Other then Newmanistan, which is far and away the most interesting opponent in our group, there is not another team that generates too much excitement. Milchama, who’s last-minute, though some may say late, declaration of entry is more well known for their soccer prowess, but they have been to a WBC final as recently as the last time it was held in Newmanistan. They’ll be a threat, and should generate quality interest from out fans. Lovisa should also draw ratings simply on name recognition, but the others, which are Mallatarsland, Steroga, and Achtervolging are not known to us. Mallatarsland has some past WBC experience, and we saw Steroga in the World Bowl. Achtervolging, though also a World Cup participant, doesn’t figure to excite many. With three groups of seven, the format is pretty similar to the World Bowl’s. Here is our schedule:

MD1: vs Milchama
MD2: at Mallatarsland
MD3: bye, as opposed to The Bye
MD4: at Newmanistan
MD5: at Lovisa
MD6: vs Achtervolging
MD7: vs Steroga
MD8: at Milchama
MD9: vs Mallatarsland
MD10: bye
MD11: vs Newmanistan
MD12: vs Lovisa
MD13: at Achtervolging
MD14: at Steroga

@ Dancougar Nozomu Itoshiki Yuki City
@ Yafor 2
vs. Qazox Estadio Nacional Tarragona
off
vs. Mantwenic Estadio Nacional Tarragona
@ Zwangzug Worm Hole Spenson
@ Sarzonia Mountaineer Park Woodstock
vs. Dancougar Estadio Nacional Tarragona
vs. Yafor 2 Estadio Nacional Tarragona
@ Qazox National Stadium Fromburg
off
@ Mantwenic
vs. Zwangzug Estadio Nacional Tarragona
vs. Sarzonia Estadio Nacional Tarragona

Dancougar will be the only nation familiar to Norwellian fans, in what is quickly becoming an inter-sport rivalry. The Black Wings first blipped the Norwellian sports radar in 2008 when the NHL team in Murray Grove named themselves after the accomplished Dancougaran internationals. The teams would go on to face each other twice in World Bowl VI, where Bill Moohim's accomplished defense would stymie the creative Norwellian system, and in a football friendly before World Cup XLVI season in which Alexandre Fréchette's Rainbow Warrior squad continued to make a name for itself with a 1-0 upset.

Baseball is a bit of an odd duck in Norwellia. Even more so than everything else, I mean. Not having been approved for government paychecks, it is a completely amateur sport here. Unlike rugby, however, where the National Rugby Union began as a fully-cohesive, nation-wide amateur league before its recent partial professionalization, baseball has no single national league and it is played mostly in the regional collective (OOC: like a state or province) of Españita. This baseball-crazy collective is awash with leagues at all levels, but the center of the Norwellian baseball world is in the seaside town of Tarragona. Tarragonenses take their beisbol seriously: Liga Unida games are televised and played in professional-quality stadia in front of thousands of screaming fans, and only the best players from all the nation's lesser-known amateur leagues have a shot at Liga Unida stardom. Despite its concentration in the Tarragona area, La Liga Unida is the de facto equivalent of a national league, and playing for one of its fluctuating number of teams is the only way to get noticed by national team scouts.

While baseball management styles vary within Norwellia, the government-subsidized (but still amateur otherwise) national team is a true co-operative. All decisions are made by consensus among the ten biggest stars, known as Core Members, with key input from Scouting Members and the rest of the roster. The team occasionally makes decisions in public meetings, open to all manner of fan input as well. Registered fans can even vote for various changes on the team's website, beisbol.no.

Coaching duties behind first and third base and in the bullpen are conducted by starting pitchers who aren't scheduled to throw that day; starting pitchers are expected to study the game intensely and develop a special instinct for game management. Finally, the other unoccupied starter acts as a figurehead for the day, interacting with umpires, sending signals to the other players on the field, and managing the lineup while hopefully achieving something close to consensus as quickly as possible in the dugout when strategic decisions need to be made. This style of game management can lead to annoying delays when players disagree on strategy; at some point, the Bench Lead is expected to read the split of opinion and mix it with his or her own game instincts to make the decision on their own.

Most baseball business is conducted in Spanish, so visiting players, coaches, umpires and fans are advised to purchase the Norwellian Spanish Baseball Phrasebook at an airport newsstand or at el Estadio Nacional before doing anything official in Tarragona. However, most Norwellians are at least reasonably competent in both English and Spanish, so English speakers should be understood in casual conversation, and English can be used in the shops and at the hotels and restaurants if necessary. Tarragonenses appreciate any attempt at Spanish, though, and will shower you with affection if you make a show of stumbling through your sentences.

The pitching and coaching rotation has been announced for the opening game at Dancougar:


Starter: Gwen Ellery
Bench Lead: Marjorie Duffy
Bullpen Lead: Isidra Alonsa
First Base: Artura Munárisa
Third Base: Luis Wilkinson

We will use the Against Righties starting lineup for Dancougar; we feel it packs more power and leaves us well-suited to handle their reliever.

The New Cleethorpes Enquirer
Unorthodox coaching methods aim for results

After several years in the wilderness, Quintessence of Dust's 4th place finish in the 12th Rugby World Cup was a reminder to a sceptical domestic audience that we don't totally suck at sport - though the subsequent blow-out in the football World Cup is proving a necessary antidote to any confidence the performance may have inspired. Nonetheless, few Quodites will be banking on the national baseball team to achieve wondrous results in the 11th World Baseball Classic - espcially given few Quodites realize we even have a national baseball team to begin with!

Few Americans have migrated to Quintessence of Dust over the years and of the major American sports, only ice hockey has any sizeable domestic following - although it is the Northern Scandinavian immigrants primarily responsible for that. Baseball is all but unknown outside the West, but now a series of baseball games featuring some leading international opposition - including potential WBC title challengers the Tocrowkian Nordics - will be staged at the New Cleethorpes Municipal Sporting Ground.

Some have taken the decision to host all of Quintessence of Dust's home games in New Cleethorpes as an attempt to ameliorate the perceived slight of having none of the football World Cup qualifying matches in the West, but it is more likely a realistic assessment of the general popularity of baseball. New Cleethorpes is able to support two full domestic teams, and the entire rest of the country barely able to muster up the same between them. Furthermore, the MSG is probably the only full-sized facility in the country, pending the controversial approval for construction of "Dodger Stadium" in Highmark City.

The national squad features some surprise selections. Masami Tamagotchi, who featured as recently as yesterday in the national football team, will be the team's starting pitcher; rugby captain Barry Pullman squatting behind the plate; and field hockey star Amanda Jónsdóttir fielding at shortstop. Organizers are hoping the presence of some minor sporting celebrities better known for their exploits elsewhere may hope boost attendances at the matches.

They have also brought in an unusual coaching staff. Head coach Ryan James has no prior knowledge of baseball, but is renowned for the moistness of his gums, allowing him to spit freely and frequently, supposedly a key attribute in any coach. He has spent his time preparing by watching baseball-themed episodes of South Park and The Simpsons, but failed to find Field of Dreams at the DVD store, instead settling for The Bodyguard and Swing Vote. He has since divided his time between coaching the team and practising a falsetto version of "I Will Always Love You" while working out a reform for the national healthcare system.

Hitting coach Yi Lu is in charge of teaching the players how to hit the pitcher when charging the mound. The predominantly right-handed team have been instructed to lead with the left so that they get a sucker punch in once the pitcher is dazed. He is also in charge of organizing the celebrations in the unlikely event any of the batters hit a home run: this will consist of running round the infield screaming "GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!" in increasingly hoarse voices. Pitching coach Kunigonde C. Nørgaard is also a novice to baseball, but is working closely with the pitchers to improve their secret weapon, the "oblivion ball", which consists of hurling a fastball into the batter's nuts and then running like fuck.

Yukami Mizokuchi is the only member of the coaching staff with any baseball experience, having founded the New Cleethorpes Grey Sox himself. His name has given rise to the baseball phrase "The Mizokuchi Line", consisting of the batting average below which is considered unacceptable for selection to the national squad (in his case, .00001). He is in charge of finding new talent, and then advising them to try their hand at a sport where they actually have a chance of winning competitive honours. He is also in charge of trying to get the team's best players out of this godforsaken hellhole.

Quintessence of Dust begin with two home games, starting with fellow newcomers "The Bye", who failed to make much impression here in the RWC but may prove a trickier proposition at baseball - we really have no idea - followed by the incredibly tough fixture against the Nordics. They play away against Liventia and receive Vephrall before a bye day. Captain Barry Pullman says the team are "looking forward to the challenge".

Woodstock Daily Mail

Schmidt suspended for three matches after run-in

By Ryan Calvin
Daily Mail Staff Writer

Sarzonian third baseman Kate Schmidt has been suspended for the first three matches of the 11th World Baseball Classic after she and Manager Jim Paulsen got into a screaming match. Paulsen originally informed Schmidt that she was suspended for the opening match against Zwanzug. That led to the argument between Schmidt and Paulsen.

"Kate has been suspended for three matches due to conduct detrimental to the team," Paulsen said. "We originally intended to suspend her for one match due to her actions at the press conference yesterday, but her response to that decision forced our hand."

Several telephone calls and e-mails to Schmidt were not returned by press time.

Schmidt originally became enraged when no Stars players were included on the All World team named by Newmanistanian media. She lashed out, saying the Stars received no respect in spite of their No. 10 ranking.

First baseman Hank Everly was more diplomatic.

"We'd have liked to have seen at least one Stars player on that team," he said. "But we understand that many of the countries involved have a baseball pedigree. We don't, as yet."

As for the Stars lineup, Paulsen said that utility infielder Bryan Carroll would start at third base in Schmidt's place. In the two away matches, during which the Stars will not have a designated hitter available, catcher Fred Carlton will hit seventh and Carroll will hit eighth. In Sarzonia's home opener against Dancougar, leftfielder Tyrell Gordon will hit seventh, while Carlton will hit eighth and Carroll will hit ninth.

"Kate shouldn't have done that," said Carlton, who quickly earned a reputation for speaking his mind. "Because of her, we'll be out of whack for the first three matches of this tournament." Schmidt will be available for Sarzonia's home match against Qazox on Matchday Five. Paulsen wouldn't commit to starting her in that game.

"I'll make that decision when the time comes," he said. He wouldn't rule out keeping her on the bench for another game or two following the suspension.

"We will not comment," Schmidt's agent Bora Scott said.

"And the eleventh meeting of the Watchers Being Conniving will now come to order!" Ambrose looked excitedly throughout the roof of his apartment building as if expecting it to go away from order.

"I don't think there's much to worry about, Ambrose," said Douglas.

Ambrose sighed dejectedly. "Maybe we need a new acronym."

"I'll get on that," Douglas nodded thoughtfully. "Is the draw up yet?"

"Yeah, I got it right here..." Ambrose pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. "Stupid home teams being on the left. Anyhow, Sarzonia come here first."

"They any good?"

"For their second tournament, yeah. Mantwenic next."

"Never heard of them either."

"Zwangzug played them in World Baseball Classic Seven...took ten innings, but we won."

"And matchday three?"

"A bye."

"Just a normal bye?"

"Is there any other kind?"

"There's a country called The Bye, catches its opponents off-guard. I think."

"Ooh! When do we get them?"

"You've got the schedule."

"Oh yeah. So, Qazox are next."

"No introduction needed."

"Nah, they've got new uniforms for playing us though. Less serifs."

"...Okay, then who?"

"Yafor 2."

"Nice. Zwangzug teams had a .508 winning percentage during the interleague games against Yafor 2, so that's a good sign."

"Then Norwellia."

"Why have I never heard of these teams?"

"Because we haven't caused any international havoc for, like, two decades?"

"Like two decades, or two decades?"

"Don't know, don't think we actually have a time line."

"That's good."

"Anyhow, by their lineup alone, they speak about everything but Spanish. And...um, they also speak a lot of Spanish."

"Where does it all end?"

"Dancougar. Well, hopefully Newmanistan, but before that--"

"I was speaking figuratively, but okay."

"Anyhow, Dancougar's a corrupt dictatorship, I think, whose baseball team is a bunch of high school girls."

"Hmm."

"Yeah. You just get to work on the acronyms."

(ooc to Newmanistan: What will be the TIEBREAKERS?)
and WIKI PAGE (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11) IS up

Nordics honored

For a team that had to work for long and hard years to build a reputation for themselves on the international stage, the honor could not feel greater to all four Nordics players named to the All-World Team by the defending champion in Newmanistan. Jill Haviland, Johnny Stryker, Tommy Thunder & Jacen Hester. Different men and women by their very origins, by the paths they each took to make the show, and by as simple of things as the fact they each play for different teams.

Yet they are united on the Nordics team, and now they are also united in the pleasure they feel in being in being named to the All-World team. Team Captain and WBC Hall-of-Famer Jill Haviland was first to speak with us about the subject. "It feels...awesome, to be recognized like that." she began. "To be picked as the best at my position, in the whole wide world? Wow. I'm really glad that my peers think so highly of me."

36-Year Old Jaycen Hester, who's career 287-110 win-loss record and 3.72 ERA, along with 72 saves in his new role as reliever easily make him a first-ballot MLBF Hall of Famer had this to say: "I've had a lot of awards in my career, but this is one of the biggest and I really do appreciate it." The other pitcher named to the All-World team is separated by nearly a decade in age, 26 year old Tommy Thunder who all ready has an impressive 146-79 win-loss record and a 3.82 career ERA commented "There are a bunch of great starters out there, in fact I'm on the same team as three of the greatest starting pitchers I know. And so, to be chosen out of all those greats is a real honor that is not lost on me."

And finally, the youngest of them all is 24 year old Johnny Stryker. He all ready has 214 career homeruns, 433 career RBI and 80 stolen bases to his credit. His .336 average is the highest among active position players in the MLBF. His name is Johnny Stryker, and he had just three words to say after being told he was named to the All-World Team.

"Awesome. Thank you."

No ads on important posts.

(ooc to Newmanistan: What will be the TIEBREAKERS?)

Yes, the tiebreakers. Wouldn’t want another WBC7 miscommunication.

2-way tie:
H2H
Run Differential
Runs Scored
Run Differential per 9 innings
Runs Scored per 9 innings
Tie-breaker game (if needed would be scorinated immediately)*

3 or more way-tie:
H2H amongst each other. (Whenever one team clears the others in a tie, that team “wins the tiebreaker” and the criteria returns to the top of the list amongst the other teams).
Run differential amongst each other.
Runs scored amongst each other.
Run Differential, total.
Runs Scored, total.
Run Differential, per 9 innings
Runs scored, per 9 innings
Tie-breaker game (if needed would be scorinated immediately)*

*- Tie-breaker games would take place in Newmanistan with a coin toss to determine who was home.

Liventian WBC roster:

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No - it is prescribed below. You may however make use of pinch hitters/runners (max two a game, unless in a non-DH situation)
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes - Follow it exactly, please
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes - but they should not miss more than one game
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

The designated hitter is used for all Liventian home games. Games are played at Shocker Stadium in the capital Orean. Dimensions left field line 331, left field 351, left-centre 377, deep centre 406, right-centre 383, right field 369, right field line 340.

Pitching rotation:
SP1 Ben Nichols, the team's ace. Throws a four-seamer, a forkball, a circle change and a knucklecurve. Not on pitch counts and usually completes games in which he has allowed three runs or less. Throws right, bats right.
SP2 Patrick Stephenson. Throws a four-seamer, a cut fastball, a slider and a sinker. Usually goes seven innings or more. Southpaw pitcher, bats left.
SP3 Matt McDonald. Throws a two-seamer, a slurve, a changeup and a splitter. Good for six innings or more. Throws left, bats left.
SP4 Oli Todd. Throws a knuckleball, a slider, a 12-6 curveball, and a relatively slow four-seamer. Usually good for at least six innings. Throws right, bats switch.

The bullpen should be called on only when the team is losing by more than 5 runs, or when winning by less than three (and Nichols is not on the mound).

LRP Charlie Watson. Throws a four-seamer, a sinker, a splitter and a curveball. Good for four innings at most. Throws left, bats left.
MRP Liam Donaldson. Throws a two-seamer, a slider and a changeup. Good for up to two innings. Throws right, bats right.
MRP Sean Nelson. Throws a four-seamer, a knucklecurve, a sinker and a forkball. Good for up to two innings. Throws right, bats right.
SU Neville Laroque. Throws a power four-seamer, a cutter, and a circle changeup. Set-up man, only enters play when Nichols not on mound and game is close (two runs in either team's favour) in the eighth inning. Throws right, bats right.
CL Sebastian Hopkins. Throws the fabled Eephus pitch (not always with great accuracy and control, but when he's on his mark it's unhittable at 55 mph), as well as a power four-seamer. Only use when up by three or less in the ninth inning and starting pitcher is no longer on mound. Throws right, bats right.

LINEUP/POSITIONS
Lineup (*League leader)

LHP, no DH
Order Pos Name B T Regular season totals/Notes
01 2B Wade Purglove S R AVG .348, 137 H, 79 R, 70 RBI, 8 3B*, .441 OBP
02 CF Julian Atwood L L AVG .287, 96 H, 79 R, 44 RBI, 42/7 SB/CS*
03 1B Wayne Tope R R AVG .317, 28 HR, 79 R, 83 RBI, .594 SLG
04 LF Darren Ashley L L AVG .352, 37 HR*, 83 R, 100 RBI, .701 SLG*
05 RF Luca Orping L L AVG .338, 11 HR, 89 R*, 71 RBI, .526 SLG
06 3B Ryan Turry R R AVG .271, 22 HR, 54 R, 84 RBI, .573 SLG
07 C Brendan Poore L R AVG .297, 18 HR, 65 R, 68 RBI
08 SS Luke Clayton S R AVG .260, 15 HR, 62 R, 72 RBI
09 P Pitcher's slot

BENCH
LF Brad Tretheway L R AVG .319, 21 HR, 71 R, 66 RBI, .507 OBP*, 1.146 OPS*
RF Bert Bazley L L 41/8 SB/CS, USE ONLY AS PINCH RUNNER
2B Steven Lucking L R AVG .373, 126 H, 67 R, 66 RBI, 7 3B, 1.013 OPS
1B Lucas Shoreland R R AVG .369, 121 H, 63 R, 43 RBI
CF Phil Uttley R R AVG .294, 30 HR, 79 R, 105 RBI*, .581 SLG
C Frank Brindley R R AVG .253, 17 HR, 42 R, 55 RBI

LHP with DH
Order Pos Name B T Regular season totals/Notes
01 1B Lucas Shoreland R R AVG .369, 121 H, 63 R, 43 RBI, .420 OBP
02 LF Brad Tretheway L R AVG .319, 21 HR, 71 R, 66 RBI, .507 OBP*, 1.146 OPS*
03 SS Wayne Tope R R AVG .317, 28 HR, 79 R, 83 RBI, .594 SLG
04 DH Darren Ashley L L AVG .352, 37 HR*, 83 R, 100 RBI, .701 SLG*
05 3B Ryan Turry R R AVG .271, 22 HR, 54 R, 84 RBI, .573 SLG
06 CF Julian Atwood L L AVG .287, 96 H, 79 R, 44 RBI, 42/7 SB/CS*
07 RF Luca Orping L L AVG .338, 11 HR, 89 R*, 71 RBI, .526 SLG
08 2B Wade Purglove S R AVG .348, 137 H, 79 R, 70 RBI, 8 3B*, .441 OBP
09 C Brendan Poore L R AVG .297, 18 HR, 65 R, 68 RBI

BENCH
RF Bert Bazley L L 41/8 SB/CS, USE ONLY AS PINCH RUNNER
2B Steven Lucking L R AVG .373, 126 H, 67 R, 66 RBI, 7 3B, 1.013 OPS
SS Luke Clayton S R AVG .260, 15 HR, 62 R, 72 RBI
CF Phil Uttley R R AVG .294, 30 HR, 79 R, 105 RBI*, .581 SLG
C Frank Brindley R R AVG .253, 17 HR, 42 R, 55 RBI

RHP, no DH
Order Pos Name B T Regular season totals/Notes
01 CF Julian Atwood L L AVG .287, 96 H, 79 R, 44 RBI, 42/7 SB/CS*
02 2B Steven Lucking L R AVG .373, 126 H, 67 R, 66 RBI, 7 3B, .448 OBP
03 1B Wayne Tope R R AVG .317, 28 HR, 79 R, 83 RBI, .594 SLG
04 LF Darren Ashley L L AVG .352, 37 HR*, 83 R, 100 RBI, .701 SLG*
05 RF Luca Orping L L AVG .338, 11 HR, 89 R*, 71 RBI, .526 SLG
06 3B Ryan Turry R R AVG .271, 22 HR, 54 R, 84 RBI, .573 SLG
07 SS Wade Purglove S R AVG .348, 137 H, 79 R, 70 RBI, 8 3B*, .441 OBP
08 C Brendan Poore L R AVG .297, 18 HR, 65 R, 68 RBI
09 P Pitcher's slot

BENCH
LF Brad Tretheway L R AVG .319, 21 HR, 71 R, 66 RBI, .507 OBP*, 1.146 OPS*
RF Bert Bazley L L 41/8 SB/CS, USE ONLY AS PINCH RUNNER
SS Luke Clayton S R AVG .260, 15 HR, 62 R, 72 RBI
1B Lucas Shoreland R R AVG .369, 121 H, 63 R, 43 RBI
CF Phil Uttley R R AVG .294, 30 HR, 79 R, 105 RBI*, .581 SLG
C Frank Brindley R R AVG .253, 17 HR, 42 R, 55 RBI

RHP with DH
Order Pos Name B T Regular season totals/Notes
01 2B Steven Lucking L R AVG .373, 126 H, 67 R, 66 RBI, 7 3B, .448 OBP
02 SS Wade Purglove S R AVG .348, 137 H, 79 R, 70 RBI, 8 3B*, .441 OBP
03 1B Wayne Tope R R AVG .317, 28 HR, 79 R, 83 RBI, .594 SLG
04 LF Darren Ashley L L AVG .352, 37 HR*, 83 R, 100 RBI, .701 SLG*
05 3B Ryan Turry R R AVG .271, 22 HR, 54 R, 84 RBI, .573 SLG
06 DH Brad Tretheway L R AVG .319, 21 HR, 71 R, 66 RBI, .639 SLG
07 RF Luca Orping L L AVG .338, 11 HR, 89 R*, 71 RBI, .526 SLG
08 CF Phil Uttley R R AVG .294, 30 HR, 79 R, 105 RBI*, .581 SLG
09 C Brendan Poore L R AVG .297, 18 HR, 65 R, 68 RBI

BENCH
RF Bert Bazley L L 41/8 SB/CS, USE ONLY AS PINCH RUNNER
SS Luke Clayton S R AVG .260, 15 HR, 62 R, 72 RBI
1B Lucas Shoreland R R AVG .369, 121 H, 63 R, 43 RBI
C Frank Brindley R R AVG .253, 17 HR, 42 R, 55 RBI
CF Julian Atwood L L AVG .287, 96 H, 79 R, 44 RBI, 42/7 SB/CS*

Whatcha say? Time to play ball? Let's do it! MD1 cutoff.

Group A: (Home teams on left)
Newmanistan 4-1 Mallatarsland
Secristan 5-2 Milchama
Steroga 3-2 Achtervolging

Group B:
Qazox 2-0 Mantwenic
Zwangzug 4-1 Sarzonia
Dancougar 1-3 Norwellia

Group C:
Tocrowkia 6-3 Vephrall
Taeshan 3-4 Liventia
Quintessence of Dust 3-2 The Bye

Tables after MD2

Steroga wins

The Sterogan international baseball team won their first ever game at home over Achtervolging by the score of 3-2. Iravan Kumar pitched great going eight innings and allowing just two runs on five hits to get the win. Swami Nabhendu gets a save. We scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a double by Pradeep Kumar. In the seventh Avinash Siddharth hit our first ever home run that broke a 2-2 tie. Achtervolging scored both of their runs in the sixth inning. Achtervolging is an unranked team like us so this may have been easier game to win. Our next game is at home against the number one ranked team in the world, Newmanistan. We will end up playing them in this and the World Cup on the same day and will probably lose both but maybe we can get an upset in one at least.

The light from the plasma TV at the team hotel in Woodstock flickered. The trouble for third baseman Kate Schmidt was that the rest of the team was in Spenson at the Worm Hole.

Meanwhile, Schmidt, arguably the best Stars player, was sitting in front of the tele watching her Stars battling the world's fifth ranked team without her. She was serving the first match of a three-match suspension because of her outburst at the Stars Media Day, then her confrontation with Manager Jim Paulsen.

With Woodstock Daily Mail columnist Ryan Calvin in Spenson, another reporter was dispatched to sit next to Schmidt. He was cooking up a feature on the Stars sudden drama queen, and wanted to see her reaction to watching a match on the tele that she would otherwise play in.

"Batting eighth, the third baseman, from the Portland Fisherman, number five, Bryan Carroll." She fidgeted with the remote control, tempted to mute the sound. She wanted badly to hear her name, her number, her team called in the seventh spot in the batting order. But she knew because of her inability to control her emotions, her day wouldn't arrive yet.

Carroll stared out toward starting pitcher Brianna Schneider as first baseman Hank Everly took a cautious lead from second base. Catcher Fred Carlton took an even shorter lead at first base as Carroll took a deep breath. The Stars trailed 4-1 in the top of the seventh and they had their first sustained threat of the evening, but Schneider already fanned Tyrell Gordon and Drew Bradley with 96-mile per hour heaters.

"Time!" Carroll called out, moving his right hand from his bat.

"Time!" the Liventian plate umpire called out. Carroll stepped out briefly from the batter's box, inhaled and exhaled slowly, then slowly stepped back in.

"He's nervous," Schmidt said, staring at the tele. "She's going to try to get ahead of him with a fastball on the inside corner." Seconds later, her comment was confirmed when the broadcaster intoned, "striiike with a fastball. Inside corner of the plate. Ninety-five miles per hour."

"She's been dealing all match," said the colour analyst. "If it weren't for Everly hitting that third-inning bomb, she'd be working on a shutout."

"He really let her power do most of his work for him," the play by play guy agreed. "Now the 0-1, slider grounded foul."

"Why are you swinging at that?!" Schmidt screamed. She knew she would have taken that 0-1 pitch since she knew the scouting report most likely told Schneider that Carroll had trouble with the slider. "Now you're in an 0-2 hole! Unbelievable!"

"Schneider checks the runner at second, comes set. The 0-2 pitch, swing and a ground ball to the shortstop."

"Fuck!"

"Should be an easy play, over to first and the side is retired. No runs, two hits, no errors and two left on. We go to the bottom of the seventh and it's Zwanzug 4, Sarzonia 1."

"How does it feel watching the match and knowing you can't help the team right now?"

"It's frustrating," Schmidt said. "You watch these games and you just know how you'd handle these situations if you faced them, and you know you can't do anything about it."

"Have you talked to Paulsen since your suspension was announced?"

"Not yet. He's told me we both need to calm down after yesterday. I'm going to go talk to him tomorrow when we play Dancougar."

"What are you going to say to him?"

Schmidt drew in her breath and exhaled, much like Carroll did.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's taken me a while to realise that we haven't had the length of time some of these countries have in the World Baseball Classic. But having said that, I still stand behind the tenor of my remarks, which is that we're not respected."

"Do you think the team has to earn it?"

"I thought we did when we battled Tocrowkia to a three-match series," Schmidt said. "That said, we're going to play like a team on a mission. I just hope I haven't cost us a chance to play in the knockouts."

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Norwellia 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 8 1
Dancougar 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 1

The smell of hot dogs in the air, the roar of the crowd, the feel of fresh-cut grass underfoot... none of it at the home opener!! There were probably three hundred people, tops, who even knew that Dancougar had a baseball team, and although there wasn't that much seating available at the Nozomu Itoshiki, it still created a pretty bleak atmosphere. Concession lady hadn't even shown up, so the food shack was unmanned and unstocked, forcing many to the nearby convenience mart.

And to top it off, Norwellia was winning late in the game. Schwartz hung his head in the dugout as his team at least tried to keep it close. If they went into the bottom half of the inning still down just a run, they might be able to force extra innings. Maybe. They hadn't had a hit since Kagami drove in Juliet back in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Sarah was in trouble. Her switch-pitching had been effective early, but she was far from untouchable. She just didn't have that much velocity on her fastball, and superb control was only getting her so far. Now she had runners on the corners with Binet coming up. Binet had gotten on base each of his previous three at-bats, so Sarah was seriously considering a walk.

Schwartz thought he ought to go out and have a chat with her. He put his hand on Abby's shoulder. "Time to warm up, I guess," he said. He then went over to the mound where Sarah was looking frazzled. But her hair remained impeccable.

"That's it for me, then?" she asked. "I think I can get him with a slider inside..."

"I don't even understand what that means," said Schwartz, "but I think the best way to deal with him is to show him something different. It seems like he has you figured out, so Abby will be a good change of pace."

"Oh, I see, so throw him a real curveball!" replied Sarah.

Schwartz was confused again. "No, no, that won't work at all, he singled last time you did that!" he said. "Anyways, I'll be replacing you, so..." He turned back to the dugout to wave on Abby, who he expected to see throwing balls into the practice net he'd set up off the side. Instead, she was lying in the grass next to a black cat with a box of Cracker Jacks.

She rolled over and waved at Schwartz and Sarah. "I found a KITTY!" she exclaimed.

Schwarz sighed. "I see... in that case, throw him the curveball." Sarah did exactly as she'd been instructed and threw a proper inside curve, which Binet tagged to drive in Norwellia's third run.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Vephrall 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 5 0
Tocrowkia 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 6 9 0

WIN:
Tommy Thunder (1-0)
HRs:
Jill Haviland 1 (1), Dmitri Rykov 1 (1), Johnny Stryker 1 (1), Kevin Monroe 1 (1)

In the opening game of the 11th edition of the World Baseball Classic, The Nordics have once again triumphed and hopefully set the tone for all the days to come. Thunder struck out the side on 9 pitches, and it seemed as if in the blink of an eye the Vephrall squad was back on the other side of the ball. Though Vephrall starting pitcher Pitski Whaariny seemed he would also have a strong 1st when he got the first two hitters out on ground outs, that illusion was shattered when Jill Haviland and Dmitri Rykov hit back-to-back solo homeruns to left.

Thunder would continue to cruise through the opposing lineup until the third when Gackbang Sceze and Soscren Ochaates both hit doubles, which allowed Sceze to score. However that run was replaced in the bottom half of the same inning when Johnny Stryker cranked a solo shot of his own into right-center, while WBC Rookie Kevin Monroe did the same in the 6th. Stryker added another RBI to the list as well when he drove in Dmitri Rykov on an RBI Double in the 7th, and Rykov returned the favor in the 8th. All in all, a fine game and a fine victory.

Purple Knights Falter In Opener

Its pretty bad when you cant even win a big opening game at home in front of 200,000 screaming fans who have been waiting half a year for the World Baseball Classic to begin again. The Purple Knights number four in the world got off on the wrong foot yet again and will need to fight for all their wins that they can get from here on out. They fell in their big home, and season opener to the players from top ten country Liventia. The Liventieneese team came out and beat the Knights in a close yet so far 4-3 game.

As the score staes the Knights lost 4-3. It shows that the Knights are just not good enough to put enough points on the board to win. The Liventians only put a 2 spot up in the 3rd, and another in the 6th by playing great smallball. The powerhitting speedsters of Taeshan only got three home runs from their two powerkings. Socki Lewis gave the Falcons the early one nothing lead with his bomb in the 1st. In the fourth Alexander Parea made it 2-2 with his only homerun. Finally in the ninth when they needed two score only two runs Socki Lewis slammed one over the wall, but then pinch hitter Yeckers Flederichi ended the game with a strike out. The Liventian closer sealed the deal and the Knights just were not good enough.

JAMISON LEADS MILLIONAIRES

Secristan opened up their World Baseball Classic qualifying stage with a game against Milchama, who’s better late then never strategy was out to come to Monopoly Stadium and hand the Millionaires a loss to start things out. This was an important game for each side, pitting the second and third overall ranked teams in the group. After we bombed out in the World Bowl, failing to rebound all the way from a slow start, the players knew the importance of this game. The Stadium had been quickly converted from a football field after the semifinal World Bowl match between Newmanistan and Taeshan, and it will see football played here again next when the final of World Bowl 6 is played out. Fortunately, the Millionaires baseball team is on the road following this game until matchday five. With Steve Jamison on the mound, Secristan was confident they could get a good result, and despite giving up a first inning run, he was in good form. Milchama’s 1-0 lead was short lived as in the bottom of the second, leadoff doubles by Manny Rodriguez and John Fusco, followed by an Eddie Forte single, make it 2-1 Millionaires. In the fourth, a solo shot by Rodriguez put us up by two. Jamison settled in, and only allowed one hit from the second through seventh innings. Two insurance runs that followed the seventh inning stretch, courtesy of a two-run double off the bat of Fusco made it 5-1, and with Jamison on the mound, the lead seemed insurmountable, even when Milchama put together three straight two-out singles together to close to 5-2, the game never seemed in doubt. Jamison was taken out after the 8th inning, allowing just the two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out eight. Francisco Martinez sat down Milchama in order in the 9th to pick up the save and give Secristan the big opening day win. The Millionaires will be on the road for a little bit now, traveling to Mallatarsland, who had their bye today, before we have a bye of our own. Our bye is right before the game in Newmanistan, which could be of some benefit, and then we travel to Lovisa before concluding the first half of the schedule with home encounters with Achtervolging and Steroga.

Purchases of the pay-per-view telecast were pretty strong given that there was some healthy competition for the sports fans’ dollar. The World Bowl games, even though we have long since been eliminated still are attracting some fans since the games are being played here, but the big competition was the World Cup qualifying game in Capitalizt SLANI. Maybe if the soccer team was playing someone like Lemetel, this wouldn’t have been much competition, but the showdown with SLANI was highly anticipated. Katie Simpson, our SDOS rep, tell us that, “With all the international sports going on today, we were able to make quite a bit of money. The soccer game was our biggest earner, but the baseball game drew well too. Jamison starts always see a spike in purchases. A lot of fans chose to purchase both, which helped our cause. I reckon there were a lot of people who weren’t that productive at work or called in sick today so they could watch these games. A good day all-around for us, and it looks like we’ll have a decent number of sales for the contest with Mallatarsland.” The game against Mallatarsland, a nation with past WBC experience will mark the debut of Matthew Courville, a 20-year old southpaw that many consider our next Steve Jamison, including Jamison himself. So much so that Jamison actually placed Matt’s bid for him.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 1 vs. Mantenwic

Newmanistan mentioned him as one of the All-World Team, and sure enough, Rick Highfield responded with a no-hitter, the 4th in Qazox WBC history. Only a 3rd inning walk to Mantenwic's SS kept Highfield from a perfect game. But thier pitcher grounded into an inning-ending double play, and Highfield retired the final 18 batters, 11 via strikeout on the way to a team record 16 on the day.

Up next is a pair of games on the road, starting in Dancougar.

LINESCORE

LINESCORE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Mantenwic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Qazox 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Rick Highfield (Qazox) 9 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 R, 1 BB, 16 K's, 94 pitches

"I think," Ambrose grinned, "I might just have wrecked havoc with the WTB antennas. If I pulled it off, it could take two whole matchdays to fix!"

"Yeah," Douglas rolled his eyes, "it's gonna be horrible without coverage of the bye and Mantwenic. Are they any good?"

"Considering that they couldn't manage a hit against Rick Highfield, I don't think so."

"My point ex--wait, a hit? Did he pitch a no-hitter?"

"Mmhmm."

"And who is he?"

"Some pitcher from Qazox."

Douglas raised his eyes. "This might actually be difficult."

"We get their number four starter."

"How was Schneider?"

"Fine. One run through eight innings."

"Don't tell me Ruud brought in Erewhon?!"

"No, actually she gave Rod Kirst an inning."

"We were winning though, right?"

"Oh yeah. Um...RBI double for Robotham, Amber Pastis got a nice little sacrifice bunt."

"Glad to see she's good for something."

And now, Meice Journal baseball writer Thug Hahnea gives us his...Notes from Left Field.

6:45 am. Rose from bed and started getting ready to head to the stadium for the team's opening game against Tocrowkia. First my standard breakfast of bacon, eggs, and sausage, then shower and such.

7:55 am. Running a little late. Early start for the game today, 1:05, and I need to stop at the office first.

9:20 am. Reached Ellime e Vephrall, though I must say I'm surprised by the empty parking lot. And my eyes may be playing tricks on me, but it looks like the stadium's in football configuration!

9:45 am. Ellime e Vephrall groundskeeper tells me he isn't aware of any game today. This is very strange.

10:10 am. Got in touch with WBC organizers in Newmanistan. They're telling me the game is actually in Tocrowkia today. I ask how that's possible, as the game is listed as Tocrowkia v Vephrall. This being baseball, that would make Vephrall the home team, correct? Organizers say I am indeed not correct.

10:20 am. I decide to stick it out, as I'm convinced the organizers themselves must be wrong. The home team is obviously listed second, for the same reason that the home team bats in the bottom of the inning. And even if I am wrong, it's not like I can get to Tocrowkia on such short notice.

11:30 am. I'm still the only one in the stadium. I have a bad feeling about this.

1:00 pm. VTV broadcast of the game begins. Live in Tocrowkia.

1:10 pm. Received phone call from Journal informing me I've been fired. Crap.

4:25 pm. Game ends, Tocrowkia wins 6-3. And I guess my job search begins.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS BEGIN TITLE DEFENSE

Tundra Falls- Two years ago, we were workin’ on a dream. We’ve since realized that dream, and now go for two in a row and to have the honor of doing so in front of our home fans once the playoffs begin. The rankings now confirm what many Newmanistanians have always felt about the team, that we are indeed the number one team in the world. When you have that in the great sport of baseball, why work yourself up over something that takes place on a field that gets called a pitch anyway? The timing of the World Baseball Classic and with the Rockets in the title game of World Bowl 6 has allowed most of our people to simply shrug off the latest World Cup failures. Tara Stewart was on the mound. The cracks of the bat were returning once again. It was time to play ball.

Mallatarsland is more then just a hard nation name to spell, and they have some World Baseball Classic experience, although we really haven’t seen it as only once (number 7) have we played in the same one. We were ready to welcome them back, and hope they enjoy their time here, and may they pull off wins that will help us in the standings once again. (Let’s see who out there can recall what they did for us in WBC7 without us mentioning). But things are different now. They need to find their place in the baseball world again, and we have rocketed, no pun intended, to the top spot quickly. If there was any concern that the team would have a championship hangover, it was erased in the bottom of the first inning. Brittany Wright, leading off, send a perfect drag bunt down the first base line. She stole second, and advanced to third on a fly out by Jennifer Martin. All-world 2B Carrie Nicolette drove her in with a double, and Rachel Crockett liked what she saw so much, she wanted to do it too, driving in Nicolette with a two-bagger. In the third, Newmanistan made it 3-0 as Brittany Wright hit a one-out triple and scored on a single by Martin. No hangovers tonight, at least not right now. Tara Stewart was dominating the Mallatarsland bats, making them as anemic as the Rockets offense in the World Cup. They did get one in the fifth, as their third baseman sent a hanging slider over the left field fence, but that would be all the visitors would have to cheer about. Briefly, perhaps, they thought they could get back in this game, but Stewart was on her game, and was simply not going to allow that to happen. In the eighth, a little bit of insurance as Sarah Boland doubled in Carrie Nicolette, who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning. This made it 4-1, which was the ultimate final. It was a great game for Stewart. Though not a no-hitter, we’ll take a complete game, with just one run on five hits, and 12 K’s. The matchday one win, something we’ve been able to do in baseball without much problem, gets us on the right foot, and the team should be in good shape as they head to Steroga for their next game.

Coach Christina Sanders and World Cup coach Nelson Yaschter have agreed to have the teams share the same flight to Steroga. Both teams are playing in the upstart nation tomorrow, and we are hoping that our World Cup players can take some kind of inspiration from being on the same flight as our defending champions so they can get going on their traditional second half frantic charge. For the baseball team, it’s just business as usual. Hall of famer Stacey Keisler pitches against Steroga.

TalkBaseball.qd
A website. For talking. About baseball.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
BYE 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 1
QOD 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 3 9 0
Quintessence of Dust won their first ever international baseball game at home at the New Cleethorpes Municipal Sporting Ground. Although attendance was sparse, the 405 spectators still managed to delay the game by 48 minutes when they got confused about the rules and invaded the pitch following a home run, only to find out it was a foul ball. Coach Ryan James was delighted by the victory, believing it showed the confidence he'd put in his young team was worthwhile: "Wait - did we win? Are you absolutely sure? I think I'd better go check there hasn't been a clerical error."

The 3-2 victory over The Bye was a close thing, however. At 3-1 going into the 8th the home team looked to have the advantage, but reliever Tal Isaachar was introduced for the left-handed lineup - only for The Bye to swap in a series of right-handed pinch-hitters, who mustered a run off him to bring the scores back to tantalisingly close. The Quodite pinch-hitters couldn't reply off The Bye's closer, and young Jimmy Plant walked his first batter, but Jun Zhou and Amanda Jónsdóttir combined for a double play, and then Plant struck out his final two men for the save.

The highlight of the game came in the 2nd innings, with some fans still taking their seats - only to shoot out of them as Joaquin Arizona launched a 423ft homer into the stands to take the lead. The Bye replied with an RBI triple, and then the game went scoreless until the 5th innings, when Quintessence of Dust grabbed two thanks to another Zhou-Jónsdóttir partnership. The young hockey star hit a single left of the shortstop, then Zhou, who had an unexpectedly good night at the plate and may have solidified his place ahead of better hitters thanks to his accompanying confidence in the field, drove her in, before Owain Meally, who The Bye's pitcher found it impossible to register strikes against, in turn drove him in.

Several other players had good nights. Though Georgia Fox failed to get a hit, her fielding was impeccable, pulling off a particularly stunning catch to dismiss the best batter of The Bye. Later, she pulled off a stunning dark blue number with black pumps and a silver choker. Captain Barry Pullman, named as a reserve to an informal World All-Star Team, was allowed to run in a double from an error at 3rd base. And Meally managed to steal a base, before being caught out at a second attempt.

But the undoubted star was Masami Tamagotchi, who pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits, one run and one walk off 25 batters for an ERA of 1.29, striking out ten players. She will be rested against Tocrowkia, with Django "Three Finger" Scheinhardt earning his debut cap.

Runs: Arizona, Jónsdóttir, Zhou
Homeruns: Arizona
Runs batted in: Arizona, Zhou, Meally
Stolen bases: Meally

The now-infamous Black Cat offensive having shut down the Dancougar bullpen, the Norwellians have carefully removed Esquina, also known as la mascota in a double-meaning pun ("the pet" and "the mascot"), from the clutches of, well, the entire home pitching staff, and secreted her away to Yafor 2, and are proud to announce the end of this sentence.

As is the custom of la selección nacional, the previous game's starting pitcher will spend a relaxing day waving like a maniac behind first base. Last game's coaching staff will shift upward, the first base coach hunkering down behind third base, the third base coach supervising the bullpen, the bullpen coach taking a turn as Bench Lead in preparation of their upcoming start, and the previous Bench Lead stepping up to the mound.

In Yafor 2:

Starter: Marjorie Duffy
Bench Lead: Isidra Alonsa
Bullpen: Luis Wilkinson
Third Base: Artura Munárisa
First Base: Gwen Ellery

The Rainbow Warriors will field the same lineup from the Dancougar victory against the mystery Yaforian squad.

Brittany’s Space

Good morning, Cassadaigua! It’s time to get started in the World Baseball Classic! Just about everyone else has already gotten started, but it is now our turn. Why is it that every time our country enters one of these competitions that has a bye day, that we have our bye on either the first matchday or the last matchday? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage to have your bye day be on matchday one? When you do, you really only have one true bye day, and that’s your second one, which is right at the halfway point. These teams that have their bye in the middle portion of the schedule get to feel the effects of their bye day more. Then again, we have our ace on the mound now, while our opponent will have their #2 starter on the mound. Being a matchday behind most opponents will allow us to have the better pitching matchup more often then not. By the time we get to #5 and it would be #1 for the opponent, we will likely have evened up with them. So I guess it all balances out in the long run.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am Brittany Knowles, and I play second base for the team, batting second in the lineup behind Christina Barrett. We are here getting set for the World Baseball Classic as the 14th best team in the World, according to some ranking poll. We are the fourth overall seed in a group that will send three teams to the playoffs, which will be held in Newmanistan. Our chief rivals in the group will be second-seeded Tocrowkia and fourth-seeded Taeshan. It seems of late that we cannot escape Taeshan in any of our groups. Liventia, the eighth-overall seed will also be a formidable opponent. The teams we are ranked ahead of are Vephrall, Quintessence of Dust, and The Bye. The Bye is who we play after the bye. Members of our World Bowl team seem to want us to run up the score against Vephrall, something to do with how they beat us out on point differential in football and want to make sure that we do not allow that to happen either. We will need to win the games against the newcomers, even though they look to be a tough threesome. A split, minimum, will likely be needed against Liventia, and then we will needed to see what we can do with Tocrowkia and Taeshan. I hope you all enjoy the baseball, and here’s to hoping we make it into the final field of nine and not be close number ten like we were in football again!

And now, matchday 2. Let's cut this thing off.

Group A
Steroga 1-3 Newmanistan
Mallatarsland 2-5 Secristan
Lovisa 3-2 (11 inn) Achtervolging


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 2 0 10 4 6
Newmanistan 2 0 7 2 5
Lovisa 1 0 3 2 1
Steroga 1 1 4 5 -1
Milchama 0 1 2 5 -3
Achtervolging 0 2 4 6 -2
Mallatarsland 0 2 3 9 -6


Group B
Dancougar 3-6 Qazox
Mantwenic 0-4 Zwangzug
Yafor 2 5-1 Norwellia


Group B W L RF RA RD
Zwangzug 2 0 8 1 7
Qazox 2 0 8 3 5
Yafor 2 1 0 5 1 4
Norwellia 1 1 4 6 -2
Sarzonia 0 1 1 4 -3
Dancougar 0 2 4 9 -5
Mantwenic 0 2 0 6 -6


Group C
Quintessence of Dust 1-5 Tocrowkia
Vephrall 3-4 (10 inn) Taeshan
Cassadaigua 2-0 The Bye


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 2 0 11 4 7
Cassadaigua 1 0 2 0 2
Liventia 1 0 4 3 1
Taeshan 1 1 7 7 0
Quintessence of Dust 1 1 4 7 -3
The Bye 0 2 2 5 -3
Vephrall 0 2 6 10 -4

Esquina will be benched after utterly failing to captivate the Yaforian bullpen.

Rotation vs. Qazox at el Estadio Nacional:
Starting pitcher: Isidra Alonsa
Bench Lead: Luis Wilkinson
Bullpen coach: Artura Munárisa
Third base coach: Gwen Ellery
First base coach: Marjorie Duffy
Black cat: Papito

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 5 8 0
QOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0

WIN:
Jeanna Glaus (1-0)
HRs
Kitten Dyfuse 1 (1), Johnny Stryker 1 (2)

Matchday 2 saw the Nordics cruise to yet another victory against yet another WBC new-comer, Quintessence of Dust. Though the Nordics looked somewhat off-balance in the small New Cleethorpes Municipal Sporting Ground during batting practice, being used to playing in stadiums of titanic proportions in their homeland they quickly shook it off. Kitten Dyfuse lined the second pitch of the game over the left-field wall for a lead-off homerun and right away the Nordics were on top. Johnny Stryker crunched a two-run dinger in the 5th, and the Nordics also scored twice more thanks to RBI doubles by Domino Mazdrick and Willhelm Dynrus in the following innings.

On the mound, Jeanna Glaus was almost invincible. In fact, until Joaquin Arizona bombed one over the left-field wall for a home run, she was carrying a no-hitter. Though she was disappointed it was broken up, she still pitched a great game. Matthew Shaporio is looking forward to taking the rubber for the Nordics next game, against another WBC new comer the Bye.

Purple Knights Win In 10th

It may have taken more then the avergae ammount of time to win the game, but the Knights still did it. Taking on an old opponent in the like of Vephrall who have not been in the World Baseball Classic in quite some time the Knights after a first game loss still were not up to speed and almost let another one slip away into the breach of losing. ?In the end though with a single swing of the bat the Knights were pulled to five hundred and they elimanated their negative run differential. It may have been a close one, but in the end the Knights were really just giving a great show to the many Vephralleese fans who came to the stadiumn to see their gallant team.

The second game of the season was as close as the first one. After losing in 9 to Liventia last week the Knights came into this game rabid for a victory. In the end after hours of fighting they were able to do it. In the 3rd both team scored their only regulation points. In the top half Socki Lewis singled home runners Fier Henris, and Alexander Parea. Laster hew would score on a pop fly after he stole second and made it to third on another sacrifice play. In the bottom half of th einning Zeke Peters was a little wild for the only runs he let in all game. In the 7th the Manager took him out after a nice game. Ohmegode Frede pitched 1 full inning, and Danny Laemen did as well. In the tenth the fans got some free baseball, but as the inning only lasted 20 minutes it wasn't much. On the first pitch of his bat Adam Meigen brought back memories of his mother with a slam over the deep left fence. Willie Strava closed the latter half of the inning for his first save of the young season.

Arlington Moon-Tribune
Zebras march on

The Zwangzug national baseball team cruised to a four-nothing victory in Mantwenic for their second win in as many games of the eleventh World Baseball Classic. Noah Trecarichi drove in the only run that Norman Jakiela would need with a single in the third inning, with Marvin Stania coming into score, but the Zebras would tack on three more runs. A sixth-inning rally saw Trecarichi and Leonid Kostalanetz cross the plate, while Greta Orsulak led off the eighth with a double and eventually scored on a Kostalanetz single.

Mantwenic, for their part, were swinging for the fences early on but to little avail. In the later innings, however, they began stringing baserunners together. Their greatest threat came in the bottom of the eighth; while the leadoff hitter ground out, Arianna Shadduck allowed a walk and a single to put Mantwenic runners on first and third with one away. In came Hedrick Wehrwein, who duly induced a double play; Ken Schlemmer to Orsulak to Stania.

Wehrwein's teammate in the intimidating Noh Weir bullpen, Marco Erewhon, is yet to see action, and won't until, at earliest, the game with Qazox on matchday four. Maren Ruud seems so far resistant even to use him in the bullpen during the first two games, but will that backfire if his first competitive pitch of the tournament is in a jam at Pheonix Stadium? We'll find out soon enough.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Qazox 0 0 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 6 11 1
Dancougar 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 7 1

W: Barter 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 K
SV: Throne 1 1/3 IP
L: Propeado (0-2) 5 1/3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 K

"Propeado in a bit of a jam, runners on second and third, one out, top of the fifth. Wings down 2-1 and need some pitching here. The one and one to Weatherby, BIG swing on the slider, nooooo, one and two."

The fans ears were ringing, and so were Schwartz's. The idiot calling the game had somehow managed to switch on the entire public system as opposed to just the radio feed, and as a result, the crowd were being treated to live play by play with awful feedback and grainy pinging, grainy audio.

"He's on the ropes, you can do it!" shouted Joy. "Let's see the high heat!"

The announcer trudged on. "Weatherby flied out his last time up, stranded a runner. One ball, two strikes, the pitch, it's high, and Weatherby launches one, deep into right center field! It's going back to the wall... outta here, a three-run home run for the catcher, Mickey Weatherby! The ball just hung up over home plate, and her fastball's only low eighties, that was asking for trouble! It's 5-1! Call her a Welsh lass, because she just served up a tater!"

Sarah's forehead vein bulged as she turned to the booth. "Not Welsh, Irish! Irish potatoes!" she all but screamed. "If you're going to insult me, at least do it properly!"

After Qazox scored again to make it 6-1 in the top of the sixth, Schwartz once again trudged out to the mound. Sarah sighed and let the ball sit in her glove.

"That time?"

"Looks like it."

"And Abby is...?"

"I watched her in the cage myself, so I think she's... whaaaa?!" Schwarz did a double take when he looked back. Abby was bouncing up and down on the back of some large animal running up and down the first base line. The umpire was yelling something unpleasant while Clarissa just stood there with her eyes closed.

"I found an ox!" Abby cried happily.

"How the hell does this happen two games in a row?!" cried Schwartz. "It's like you're instantly bedazzled by anything cute related to the opposing team!"

"Huh?" asked Sarah. "Isn't she just easily amused by anything?"

"There's a clear and disturbing pattern developing here," said Schwartz, using his finger to adjust the eyeglasses on his face. "And it's not just Abby. People all over this stadium, and even in Dancougar itself, are having their attentions grabbed. It's not just kittens and oxen... it's bobblehead dolls and T-shirt cannon girls and prizes in snack boxes..."

Abby was still riding around on the ox and the umpire was signaling that play should continue. Eventually they managed to drag her off the ox to complete the inning. Schwartz sat back down in the dugout and tried to process his thoughts. Then, as Abby turned the third out, sending the girls jogging towards the dugout, it hit him. It was so obvious!

His eyes flashed open. He looked left, then right, then off into the distance. He wrung his hands and cried out: "ZETSUBOU SHITA! The society which shields the mind from unpleasant truths with cuteness has left me in despair!!"

(snip)
Finally in the ninth when they needed two score only two runs Socki Lewis slammed one over the wall, but then pinch hitter Yeckers Flederichi ended the game with a strike out. The Liventian closer sealed the deal and the Knights just were not good enough.

OOC to Newmanistan: I am officially protesting this RP for not following my RP permissions box. I'm not sure what action if any you'll take but I'm pretty annoyed. I asked explicitly for my rotation to be followed. My ace is not to be pulled if he's allowed three runs or less and he's not on pitch counts, so I fail to see how my closer would be on.

As a result, you will note that in my RP below, I have not followed Taeshan's RP, at least on my pitching end. The run scorers and the innings in which they scored have not changed, but my STARTER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PULLED. Also, as it is not stated in Taeshan's roster post, I'm assuming no DH is used in Taeshan as his roster lineup does not have one.

IC:
Dominant Nichols earns Liventians win
TAESHAN— Liventian starter Ben Nichols produced the goods in a shock 4-3 victory away in Taeshan.

Nichols allowed just three runs on three home runs and pitched a complete game to help Liventia see off the much-favoured home side, while the offence pitched in to help Nichols to a 4-2 lead in the sixth that was never relinquished.

Liventia's first three batters, Wade Purglove, Julian Atwood and Wayne Tope, who combined for 237 runs scored in the Liventian regular season (not including interleague play with Zwangzug and Yafor II), all failed to find a way on base, with Purglove grounding out to third and Atwood and Tope both falling foul to the K.

In the home half of the first, Nichols easily retired the first two batters before Taeshani power man Socki Lewis drove a hanging knucklecurve deep to right-centre. Thankfully for the Liventians' ace, he got out of the inning on the very next pitch, which induced a ground ball out.

There would be no scoring again until the third, when the bottom of the order came up. Catcher Brendan Poore, who hit .297 in the regular season and had the best batting average amongst catchers in the league, led off the inning with a ground-rule double after a fan reached over and caught a ball which had bounced in fair territory. Shortstop Luke Clayton moved him over to third with a sacrifice bunt before pitcher Nichols flew out to right and brought Poore home on the sac fly.

Purglove stepped up to the plate once again and tripled down the right field line, and was brought home after Atwood singled up the middle. The inning ended prematurely, however, when Atwood was thrown out trying to steal second.

Taeshan brought home the game-tying run on a solo shot in the fourth by Alexander Parea but by the time Liventia began the sixth inning, Nichols had struck out seven in five innings. Up stepped Luca Orping, whose 89 runs scored in the regular season led the league. He doubled before stealing third on the very next pitch, which went to the backstop. Ryan Turry then struck out to bring Poore back to the plate, and the catcher singled in the infield, holding Orping at third. Clayton smacked another infield single to load the bases to bring the pitcher, Nichols, back to bat.

With Orping inching slowly off third towards home, Nichols laid one down and brought the right-fielder home on the squeeze play, with Poore and Clayton both moving up a base. Purglove then singled into shallow left with a pop fly, bringing Poore home but stranding Clayton at second. At this point the Taeshani bench went to the bullpen, and the move proved effective, with Tope striking out to end the inning.

Nichols would continue to dominate until the ninth, when he allowed one last home run, which proved inconsequential. His complete game brought him to 1-0 for the tournament with a 3.00 ERA, with a career-high 14 strikeouts. Liventia had a bye day on MD2, and will host Quintessence of Dust (1-1) on MD3 at Shocker Stadium.

LINE SCORE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
LIVENTIA [AWAY] 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 7 1
TAESHAN [HOME] 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 0

WP: B. Nichols (1-0, 3.00 ERA)
LP: A. Rielas (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

OOC to Newmanistan: I am officially protesting this RP for not following my RP permissions box. I'm not sure what action if any you'll take but I'm pretty annoyed. I asked explicitly for my rotation to be followed. My ace is not to be pulled if he's allowed three runs or less and he's not on pitch counts, so I fail to see how my closer would be on.

As a result, you will note that in my RP below, I have not followed Taeshan's RP, at least on my pitching end. The run scorers and the innings in which they scored have not changed, but my STARTER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PULLED. Also, as it is not stated in Taeshan's roster post, I'm assuming no DH is used in Taeshan as his roster lineup does not have one.


OOC:
Taeshan, please be a little more attentive to the RP permissions set forth by your opponents. A few teams, such as Liventia as well as myself are very particular, but also straight forward with how they want their pitching staff to be used. Following this guideline is just as important as say, following a "no red cards" guideline in the World Cup.

I'm going to let this stand as a warning, as it is a first offense (for this competition). I would have advised Liventia to do exactly as he did, to RP the game as he saw fit and his account of the game will be considered the official summary. Perhaps, Tae, you could go back and make what would probably be a simple edit to your RP to match it up.

Yaforite Firebugs

No descriptions, atm, because I'm rushed (as indicated in the WCDT, I'm too pressed for time to post really anything), but Norwellia's "mystery Yaforian lineup" irritated me enough to toss the Yaforite lineup out there. There are no in-depth descriptions to the players but, for the batters at least, some things should be gleaned from the statistics given. I'll edit in descriptions maybe tomorrow (though that's doubtful - I'm going to see some colleges after AP testing ends on Friday, so I won't have any free time until Sunday).

For batters, the line is: GPA (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/statpages/glossary/#gpa)/ISO (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=iso)/SPD (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=Speed+Score)/LD% (http://firstinning.com/?page_id=5)/UZR (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/uzr-on-fangraphs). Just to clarify, GPA measures all parts of a player's game on a scaling method of BA (I decided to use it over wOBA since the scaling is easier for the average fan to get - the latter is scaled on an OBP scale), ISO measures power, SPD measures speed, LD% is the percentage of balls a player hit on the screws (and can be used for a preliminary BABIP approximation, which is why it is listed), and UZR measures defensive prowess (due to small sample size, it is an ineffective statistic for pitchers and catchers, so it is not listed for them).
For pitchers, the line is: FIP (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/statpages/glossary/#fip)/WHIP (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=WHIP)/LD% (http://firstinning.com/?page_id=5). Just to clarify, FIP measures a pitcher's prowess overall, WHIP measures the number of base-runners, and LD% is the percentage of balls the pitcher threw that were hit on the screws (as well as offers a possible BABIP calculation).

The Yaforite style of play is simple. All of these players will take tons of pitches. All of these players will play good defense. Fundamentally sound, but, on the flip side, not very risk-taking, either, so expect games where the number of extra base-hit percentages will just be really low. The manager is Durahan Cimorran, of the Cirad Blaze, who is very aggressive with his pitching changes, but not aggressive with batting.

No DH in Yafor 2. Don't care about RP permissions - do whatever you want, even killing my players.

Starting Lineup (Team, Position, Throws, Bats)

Torasir Katahur (Indigar Horsemen, CF, L, L). .294/.188/8.1/23%/13.8. A real speedster, he doesn't have much power in his bat, but has enough ability to beat out hits quickly that he keeps up his BABIP. Look for him to get on base (like the rest of this team) and stretch singles into doubles with his speed. Plays a very plus center, but he won't run a lot when on base - Yaforites aren't really into that and this managerial staff isn't either.

Alanis Demoravin (Chelmar Flame, 3B, R, R). .314/.242/4.2/22%/17.2. One of the more aggressive players on the side, Demoravin has enough power in his bat to warrant being pitched around (if so slightly), but his defensive abilities and his hit-and-run abilities are why he has been selected to the squad (and why he is batting in the second position). He's not slow, but definitely not fast either.

Algerin Makuur (Uharan Otters, RF, L, L). .324/.296/2.3/24%/8.5. Probably the best power hitter in the Grand Democratic Duchy, Makuur is the guy with the ability to hit jacks any time of the game. He strikes out a ton for a Yaforite and his range in right is somewhat suspect, but his sheer power-hitting abilities take him to this position in the team.

Arrin Jarridan (Uharan Otters, SS, R, S). .357/.248/6.7/27%/14.9. The best pure player on the team, the experienced Jarridan comes off possibly his best ever career season. From the left side, he's a slash hitter, with a high average and a fair number of extra-base hits, from the right, he's a dead pull hitter with lots of power.

Naran Cleeson (Cardarel Gazelles, 1B, L, L). .320/.237/4.1/20%/10.2. Cleeson, the captain of the Cardarel side, is a battle hardened competitor. He's got a fair bit of power and a large amount of hitting ability all around - no single ability seems to be appropriate for him, but he's athletic for a first baseman, and uses that to his advantage.

Adahale Averen (N'samri Heights Fire, 2B, L, S). .337/.230/4.8/14%/11.4. Sometimes, Averen is probably the guy who can't get excellent contact on the ball. Known for his awkward swing (his hands reach all the way up to the top of his helmet), he has a quick bat and an ability to splay the ball to wherever is necessary.

Jagarin Marian (J'kar Ice, LF, R, R) .341/.218/4.3/25%/9.6. He gets on base a ton, which is why multiple teams attempted to grab him right near the end of the trading deadline. Marian's abilities kept J'kar somewhere near a reasonable finish for much of the season and while he wasn't awarded with victories, he managed to hold the line on the value front.

S'taraan Amiordin (N'samri Heights Fire, C, R, S). .317/.223/2.2/17%/NA. While his statistics don't seem dazzling in comparison to his teammates, Amiordin's a catcher, so his abilities won't be near those of his teammates. He doesn't have as much power as other foreign catchers, but gets on base at a rather nice clip, and can lash the ball to all fields.

[pitcher. Pitchers hit in the Yaforite league, so most can average a GPA of around .230-.280, so they might be able to get on base sometimes. On days with a DH, Onoharan is added into the ninth spot.]

Bench (Team, Position, Throws, Bats)

Haridas Jurahan (Cardarel Gazelles, OF, L, L) .296/.224/7.2/18%/14.2. Very fast outfielder.
Jasin Onoharan (Uharan Otters, 2B-SS-3B, R, R) .324/.231/5.8/14%/11.0. Utility man who's the best bench hitter.
Syran Alengor (North Ajer Blizzard, C, R, R) .285/.264/1.5/9%/NA. Power-hitting catcher.
Ronian Harerin (N'samri Heights Fire, OF, R, R) .291/.223/4.6/17%/9.5. Backup outfielder at all three positions.
Kalin Marahatan (N'samri Heights Fire, 1B-3B, R, L) .301/.235/2.8/19%/7.6. Backup corner infielder who gets on base.

Rotation (Team, Pitches, Bats)

Gerrin Aladan (Uharan Otters, R, L) 2.12/1.01/14%. Aladan is clearly the best pitcher in the Grand Democratic Duchy. The rightie throws a fastball (mid to upper ninties), a slider (varies in speeds from the mid seventies to the upper eighties), and a straight change (in the low eighties). The combination, especially with the last, his strikeout pitch, makes him un-hittable on days that he is "on".

Niorda Kaharin (South Ajer Titans, L, L) 3.30/1.22/17%. The leftie's big skills involve a fastball (mid to upper ninties), a breaking-curve (in the upper sixties), and a cutter (mid to upper seventies, thrown primarily to lefties). It is the speed of the fastball that makes him such a good pitcher, as he can survive mainly on two pitches most of the at-bats he has.

Jugaan Karreldur (Pylos Winter, L, L) 2.94/1.27/19%. The leftie is mainly a sinker-splitter pitcher - he throws to contact and, as a result, gets a fair number hit hard. However, he'll also get a lot of ground-ball outs and double-plays - take him as the pitcher who it is difficult to get extra-bases against.

Sameris Delovinde (Cirad Blaze, L, L) 2.96/1.11/14%. The last of the four starters is Delovinde, who throws a fastball (mid ninties), a slider (low eighties), a curve (mid sixties), and a straight change (upper seventies to low eighties). It is the last pitch that makes him the ace of the Cirad staff - it is not only dynamic against right-handers, but also dangerously difficult to hit.

Bullpen (Team, Pitches/Bats, Long Relief (LR)/Short Relief (SR)/Closer (CL))

Harinior Jugarin (Cardarel Gazelles, R, LR) Fastball (high ninties), curveball (mid seventies) and backdoor straight change (mid eighties).
Turan Asmaharish (Indigar Horsemen, L, LR) Four-seam fastball (high ninties), two-seam fastball (low ninties), and slider (low eighties).
J'gaan Deloran (N'samri Heights Fire, R, LR) 3.13/1.15/16%. Fastball (high ninties), curve (mid seventies), and slider (upper seventies).
Simor Rentar (Cirad Blaze, R, SR) 2.76/1.01/14%. Fastball (high ninties), and changeup (low seventies to mid eighties)
Kaior Ajaran (Uharan Otters, L, SR) 2.45/1.13/11%. Fastball (mid ninties), curveball (mid seventies), and splitter (mid eighties)
Farenis Teloran (Cirad Blaze, L, SR) 2.41/1.02/12%. Fastball (mid ninties) and curveball (mid sixties to high seventies).
Tyrius Validor (Uharan Otters, R, CL). 1.91/0.84/8%. Fastball (upper ninties to triple digits), slider (mid seventies to low eighties) and cutter (low eighties).

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 2 @ Dancougar

Through 4 innings, Dancougar's Sarah Propeado dueled Glen Barter, allowing just 2 runs on an error and a double by Darren Pew in the third. But after Clark Petrie and Kyle Bryon singled to lead off the 5th, Mickey Weatherby slammed a 3-run Homerun over the right center field wall to make it 5-1 and chase Propeado from the game. While Barter would only last 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and walking 3 and striking-out 7; the Qazox bullpen held off any Dancougar attempt to rally late, when Jackson Throne retired the last 4 batters to earn the save, after Nathaniel Schuyler walked Kagami Mimeko and Amber Dextrous reached on a throwing error by Johnnie Bannon putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out in the bottome of the eighth.

Up next is a trip to Norwellia, which might be a trap game, considering that a home game against Zwangzug looms afterwards.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Qazox 0 0 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 6 11 1
Dancougar 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 7 1

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Mickey Weatherby (Qazox) 3-4, 3-run HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs scored

THE ROCKET REPORT

KEISLER STRUTS HER STUFF

Steroga- Last World Baseball Classic, Stacey Keisler took care of a weak Lurikastan lineup in our second game perfectly, tossing only the second perfect game in WBC history. Needless to say, this got many Newmanistanians wondering if she could do the same thing against Steroga, a nation making their first ever appearance in this, and pretty much across the board in all main competitions right now. After all, our World Cup qualifying team was also in Steroga. But Steroga did win on opening day, and probably had some kind of confidence coming into the game. After all they see the World Cup results too and probably figure we could choke just as easily in this.

Leadoff batter Uttkarsh Motallzadeh put an end to any thoughts of a perfect game right away with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. After Keisler got out of the inning with no further damage, this was probably a blessing in disguise. Now Stacey could be Stacey, and no unreasonable desires of the fans would be considered any longer. Pradeep Singh was on the mound for the Sterogans and looked very good, retiring the Rockets in order in the first three innings. Don’t know if any EBL scouts were in attendance, but if so they may have been impressed early by the southpaw. In the fourth, Newmanistan finally got on the board as Jennifer blooped a one out single into left center field. Steroga could have gotten out of the inning as Carrie Nicolette bounced a routine grounder to short that was bobbled by Avinash Siddharth. A would be inning-ending double play was now first and second and one out, and Steroga was about to find out that you don’t normally get away with giving the Rockets extra outs in an inning. Rachel Crockett laced a double into left field to score both Martin and Nicolette, to put us up by two. Singh did get out of the inning, but in the sixth, the Rockets would add another, again generated by Jennifer Martin. With two outs, Jennifer Martin hit a double off the left field wall, and would score on a single by Carrie Nicolette to make it 3-0.

Stacey Keisler was cruising, and with the lead, it didn’t appear as though the Rockets were going to squander this lead. In the bottom half of the seventh inning, Steroga put together three straight two-out singles with Pradeep Kumar the one getting credit for the RBI. The next batter, Naman Shah hit a deep drive to center, but a speedy Brittany Wright was able to track it down to end the inning. With the side retired, pretty much everyone felt that Steroga just had their chance. Keisler made sure of it, sitting down the bottom of the order in the 8th and the top of the order in the 9th to earn a complete game. She allowed just five hits and the one run, walking none, and fanning ten. Jennifer Martin was the batting star for the Rockets, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. To his credit, Pradeep Singh pitched well for Steroga. Perhaps some EBL scouts will take a look at his second start when it comes around. The Rockets will head to Achtervolging next and look to improve to 3-0 with Courtney Lombardi on the mound. Achtervolging is winless so far, however both of their losses have been by just one run. This will also be the first home international baseball game for Achtervolging’s national team, so we will have to be very careful because this is the recipe for a trap game, especially with Secristan following it.

Here's the cutoff for matchday 3.

Group A
Achtervolging 3-5 Newmanistan
Mallatarsland 3-1 Lovisa
Milchama 4-3 (10 inn) Steroga


Group A W L RF RA RD
Newmanistan 3 0 12 5 7
Secristan 2 0 10 4 6
Lovisa 1 1 4 5 -1
Milchama 1 1 6 8 -2
Steroga 1 2 7 9 -2
Mallatarsland 1 2 6 10 -4
Achtervolging 0 3 7 11 -4


Group B
Norwellia 1-2 (10 inn.) Qazox
Mantwenic 1-5 Yafor 2
Sarzonia 2-4 Dancougar


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 3 0 10 4 6
Yafor 2 2 0 10 2 8
Zwangzug 2 0 8 1 7
Norwellia 1 2 5 8 -3
Dancougar 1 2 8 11 -3
Sarzonia 0 2 3 8 -5
Mantwenic 0 3 1 11 -10


Group C
The Bye 2-7 Tocrowkia
Vephrall 4-3 Cassadaigua
Liventia 4-1 Quintessence of Dust


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 3 0 18 6 12
Liventia 2 0 8 4 4
Cassadaigua 1 1 5 4 1
Taeshan 1 1 7 7 0
Vephrall 1 2 10 13 -3
Quintessence of Dust 1 2 5 11 -6
The Bye 0 3 4 12 -8

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 0 0 0 4 1 0 2 0 0 7 8 0
The Bye 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 4 1

WIN:
Matthew Shaporio (1-0)
HRs:
Dmitri Rykov 1 (2), Jill Haviland 1 (2)

Another WBC debutant nation, and another rough welcome from the Nordics who went to work right on the Bye, out-scoring them 7 runs to 2 on MD3. The high-charged Nordics offense had to wait four innings for their first runs, but boy were they big. Back to back singles by Dyfuse and Dynrus followed by a fielding error on a ground-ball by Haviland allowed Mr. Clutch Dmitri Rykov to step up on a bases juiced, no outs situation. And as always, he delivered by cranking a 1-1 changeup 470+ FT for a monster grand slam.

While an RBI double by Kevin Monroe added another one in the next inning and Haviland added a two-run dinger in the 7th, the story was equally impressive. Shaporio pitched a strong 8 innings, only allowing two runs on four hits while striking out 11 batters. Next up, the Nordics return home to face a Taeshan team that has actually struggled so far in the WBC. Mercedes Gaunt will get the ball in the home stand, as the Nordics hope to send a message to Taeshan.

Now this is what it was all about.

Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded with two out in a tie ballgame. Katie Sanderson had clearly been disgusted with herself after Cliriputed Sareg's RBI single earlier had caused her to blow the save. Now was her opportunity to at least send it to extras.

Fastball taken outside, and the count was full, 3-2.

This would be it. All or nothing. Sanderson threw another fastball.

And it crossed the plate about an inch and a half below the batter's knee.

As the Wolves dugout cleared to meet Sareg, who'd just been walked home as the winning run, bringing the home side's record up to 1-2, he had only this to say.

"I think the Dagans are really starting to dislike us now." Sareg grinned and made his way back to the home locker room for the victory celebrations.

Apology To Our Readers

First we at the Inquirer would like to issue an apology to the many Liventian fans around the world and are own. Two weeks ago we issued an error in our report from the game against Liventia which we lost. Apparently are reporter became so intoxicated during the game due to the unbelieveabilaty of the action on the feild and his recent divorce. We have put that writer into a recooperation program at ourhome office. The error was that he falsely reported to us that in the ninth inning the Liventian team put in a Closer, and not kept their starter in as they had done. We are so sorry to all of the people who were affecte dby this claim.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Dancougar 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 9 2
Sarzonia 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 8 0

W: Propeado (1-2) 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 K
SV: Lenken (1) 2 IP, 1 ER, 2 K
L: Palmer 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 K

"People are often unnerved by the world around them!" Schwartz declared. "Any why wouldn't they be? That unpleasant reality provides a massive burden, especially after the carefree nature of childhood has conditioned them to avoid difficulty. Therefore, anything that looks pleasing would naturally provide the escape they're looking for!"

"God, you're still saying that?" said Amber, who grabbed the bat with her left hand and walked over the warm-up circle. "Give it a rest, already. Nobody cares about your crazy theories."

"I-I care..." Juliet mumbled from the end of the bench. "I mean, it's a fair point! Haven't you ever noticed how car companies use attractive models to distract people from how poor the gas mileage is? And that's on top of all the trouble they go through to just make the car itself look good."

"She's right, and that's just one example!" cried Schwartz. Hearing his praise, Juliet blushed and leaned back to hide behind Akiko. She was sitting on the bench still in her full catcher's gear, making it easier for Juliet to leave Schwartz's field of vision.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" Amber, remembering that today's opponent was a lefty, switched the bat to her right hand for practice swings. Her demeanor instantly cooled. "Coach?"

Now that it had been a couple games, the change didn't catch Schwartz off guard. He waved it off. "Ah, it's nothing, nothing," he said. "And yet... it's everything." He reduced his tone so only those on the bench could hear. "Women, as well as men, can use good looks to their advantage. They can hide their inner flaws and cruelty from the outside world, which only judges them on their pleasant appearance."

"I see it all the time when I go to buy stationary!" added Norma. "Riosan will put a smiley face on anything. You see how cute it is and ignore the fact that you're paying double when a simple notepad would do."

"Aha! That..." Schwartz turned his head to the side with a sigh. "That's normal, isn't it?"

Norma waved her arms. "Don't say 'normal'!" she cried.

"Sad puppy eyes used to win favors," Schwartz continued. "A beautiful dress hides the sweatshop behind it. The mindless string of movies which cater to girls who wish to be princesses..." A crack of the bat. A groan from the crowd. Schwartz turned back to the game and saw Amber's hit clear the fence for a home run, bringing Joy home and extending their early lead to 3-0. Joy flashed a peace sign as she bounced into the dugout, and Amber followed close behind. Schwartz gave her a pat on the shoulder to congratulate her, but turned blue when he saw that she was holding her batting helmet in her left hand.

Her neck creaked as she turned his way, eyes narrowed brow furrowed. "Don't touch me," she hissed. Schwartz leapt backward instinctively and hit the wall. "I'll sue!" She tossed the helmet aside and sat on the bench with her arms crossed.

"Come to think of it," said Sarah. "Didn't the same thing just happen to that girl who got busted for steroids? It seems like now that they're tagging McAllister, all sorts of things are coming up."

"I heard of that... Amanda-san, wasn't it?" Schwartz said. "At the press conference, all she did was throw them a smile and present that childish innocence... 'It's just Mandy being Mandy!' And with a laugh from the crowd, the issue is dismissed!!"

"I find it unnerving that witches, goblins, and vampires are often softened by the media," mumbled Clarissa, her hair slowly rising. "It creates the impression that they have their own minds and personalities, making us wholly unprepared for the impending rise of the ni..."

"You're not supposed to actually take that stuff seriously!" cried Schwartz, breaking the trance. "And you're supposed to be on deck!" Listlessly, Clarissa rose from the bench and grabbed a bat. The umpire's howl announced that Faye had been dismissed, so that was two gone.

"Mmmm, but I don't think it's a bad thing at all!" exclaimed Joy, who had been mostly silent since returning to the dugout. "If everyone was able to expose the natural beauty of things, then that would make things better for everyone!"

"But that's not even what's happening!" Schwartz replied. "The beauty being exposed is unnatural! Unnatural!"

"But beauty is beauty, isn't it?" asked Joy.

"My beauty is natural!" said Juliet, poking her head out from behind Akiko. She was about to lean forward to give him a good look at her profile before she realized what she'd said, blushed again, and hastily ducked back. Schwartz decided it would be prudent to ignore that.

For the first time, countries will have the chance to play official games against The Bye, instead of just having games against our country while you were supposed to be resting:


Starting Lineup:

1- Arnold Lexotan (CF - R/R) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills
8- Gallen Couch (2B - R/L) - Hotel Blankets
5- Marino Unconscious (1B - R/R) - Cemetery Tombs
2- Benito Sofa (RF - L/L) - Restroom Sofas
33- Pierre Mattress (3B - L/R) - Shelter Yawns
19- Alan Tired (LF - R/R) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills
10- Henning Chairs (C - L/L) - Bedroom Vacations
51- Yuki Snore (SS - R/L) - Home Suites
66- Mikhail Logoff (DH - R/R) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills


Starting Pitching (in order):

9- Uller Hotmilk (RHP) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills
23- Horace Waking (LHP) - Floor Barracks
7- Jenny Slept (RHP) - Hotel Four-Poster Beds
13- Ganshdwlpt Zzzzz (LHP) - Travel Reliefs
50- Artmidis Meditate (RHP) - Cryogenic Sleepers


Bullpen:

41- Libia Drool (RP - RHP) - Hotel Blankets
3- Franken Apnea (RP - RHP) - Shelter Yawns
11- Nem Nap (RP - LHP) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills
93- Carlos Estafa (RP - LHP) - Cryogenic Sleepers
75- Borkes Alarmclock (CP - RHP) - Travel Reliefs


Bench:

4- Tamisa Fellasleep (1B - L/R) - Comfort Pillows
30- Dejan Dawn (2B - R/R) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills
20- George Ronc (INF) - Bedroom Sleeping Pills
84- Mark Overslept (SS/3B) - Hotel Four-Poster Beds
12- Gabrielle Restplace (OF) - Cryogenic Sleepers
17- Asso Eyelid (OF) - Hotel Blankets
28- Mervin Nosound (UTIL) - Hotel Blankets


RP Permissions: complete freedom

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 3 @ Norwellia

Just as every feared, Qazox was looking ahead to the matchup with Zwangzug on Friday night, and it almost bit them in the ass. Trailing 1-0 with 1 out in the ninth, Norwellia's Isidra Alonsa was just 2 outs away from one of the bigger upsets in WBC history, when Herman Doane slapped a double down the line scoring pinch-hitter Clayton Sommerfeld. Qazox would score again in the top of the 10th, on a double from Kyle Bryon, which scored Clark Petrie and Jackson Throne pitched a perfect 10th for his 2nd save of the Classic.

Now Zwangzug cmes to town in a showdown of unbeaten teams, though Qazox has a 1/2 game lead in the standings.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 8 0
Norwellia 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Isidra Alonsa (Norwellia) 8.1 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 1 R, 11 K, 1 BB

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated, and is linked to in the QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage portion of my header)

THE ROCKET REPORT

UNEXPECTED BATTLE BUT STILL VICTORIOUS

Achtervolging- We described this as a possible trap game, and that’s exactly what was happening. A look up at the out of town scoreboard in the fifth inning, with Achtervolging up 3-0 showed that Norwellia was clinging to a 1-0 lead over Qazox. What in the world was going on here? Two of the best teams in the world were being stunned by a newcomer to the WBC, though Tocrowkia was comfortably taking care of business.

Five innings in the book, and the three-run blast in which the #8 batter hit off of Courtney Lombardi still loomed large, and Courtney was still agitated by it. With a runner on second and one away, Sanders had her intentionally walk the #7 batter in the lineup. The light hitting person to come to the plate next didn’t seem to be a power threat. Courtney missed with the fastball, a dead toss with no movement, and if you do that in the WBC, any hitter at this level can send it over the fence, and such was the result. We’d get it back, or so we thought. This pitcher from Achtervolging was either doing a terrific job, or the Rockets just weren’t up to playing tonight. They loved this in Achtervolging, and they had everything to play for as this was their first ever home game for their international team in a WBC. In the top of the 6th, pitcher Courtney Lombardi blooped a single into the outfield to lead things off, which then put her even in hits with the amount of combined hits that the rest of the batting order had. Maybe this was the wakeup call. On the first pitch Brittany Wright saw, she doubled down the left field line, and had it not been for the ball jumping over the fence, making it a ground rule double, this would have been three. Jennifer Martin flew out, but then Carrie Nicolette drove in Wright to make it 3-2. That would be it for the 6th, but somewhat of a message was sent that the Rockets weren’t quite out of this.

Lombardi got through the bottom of the 6th in order, and Newmanistan went back to work. Natalie Monroe led the 7th off with a single, but two outs later, she was on second and the nine slot was up again. Lombardi would not hit as Sanders opted for pinch hitter Jennifer Dawkins. Dawkins would deliver with a double into left center to score Monroe to tie the game up at three. Wright flew out to center to end the inning, but with the game tied, the Rockets had new life. That other upset looming was now in a tie situation too as Qazox rallied in the 9th. Neutral fans wanting to see upsets were starting to see what makes top ranked teams be top ranked teams. They won’t go quietly, and in the eighth inning, Newmanistan took their first lead of the ball game. With two down, Rachel Crockett sent a curveball a long way, well over the left field fence to make it 4-3, and in the ninth, Natalie Monroe sent a pitch over the right field wall to make it 5-3. Elsewhere, the other favorite one won in Norwellia. The top teams took care of business, surviving rough “trap games”.

For the Rockets, Lombardi gets a no-decision. She went six innings, giving up 3 runs (all earned) on 8 hits, walking three and striking out 8. Jessica Vauclair pitched the 7th. The winning pitcher ends up being Erica Darby, who pitched the eighth, and Kristen Collins picked up her first international save in the ninth. Next up for the 3-0 Rockets will be 2-0 Secristan in Tundra Falls with Kristen Haynes on the mound. We shouldn’t have to tell you to expect a great one!

NEXT UP: NEWMANISTAN

The time would have been better spent scouting Newmanistan. The Millionaires had the day off, and the Rockets were playing Achtervolging, so with them being our next opponent that’s what they should have been doing, anyway. We still have to play the nation with the long “A” name as well. Maybe they could have been checking out Lovisa, or Steroga. Instead, the minds were on celebrating the gem tossed by 20-year old future phenom Matthew Courville pitched against Mallartarsland. Secristan won the game 5-2, and Courville tossed eight innings and allowed just a mere run. Mallatarsland scored a meaningless run in the ninth off reliever Johnny Carpenter in his debut. Following the game, the team explored the streets of Mallatarsland, and didn’t seem all that impressed, so they made their way to a nightclub. Steve Jamison reminded his teammates that no one was to pull a Tom Mitchell, because the laws are different here, and they do not protect the upper class. Reports have it that the team partied well into the night, and the most difficulty they had was making it in time for their morning flight back home. “I had no idea where I was,” said John Fusco, “Some chick drove me to her apartment and when I woke up I had no idea where in this country that I was. Unfortunately, she was too much of a ditz to know how to drive me to the airport, so I had to actually flag down a taxi. It was absolutely disgusting and the driver smelled horribly. The broad didn’t even know a number of a proper limo service I could have called. People actually travel like this in these filthy things, I asked the driver, and it seemed to offend him. He seemed amazed by my 500-rusa tip though, I guess that's considered alot to someone like that.” Michael McKeon missed the flight altogether. “Yeah I was out and had a great night. Next thing I know it’s one in the afternoon and the flight was long gone. Then none of these damn places could charter a private jet for me on such short notice so I had to fly a commercial airline that had no first class services. It was disgusting and I had to sit in a middle seat between two obvious losers. I definitely learned my lesson.” Coach Michaelson opted not to punish McKeon because, “His experience in having to be on a commercial plane, in coach, and in a middle seat, was worse then anything I could impose as a punishment.”

After the day off, and putting both positive and negative experiences behind them, the Millionaires will be in Tundra Falls for hopefully the first of many times during the World Baseball Classic. The Secristan Department of Sports reports the expected, that purchases of the pay-per-view telecast are high, actually placing ahead of the group stage games from World Baseball Classic 10, though not at the level of our final series with the Rockettes. Jim Slattery will be on the mound looking for redemption. He was the losing pitcher in game three of the finals last year.

Brittany’s Space

After our second game in the World Baseball Classic, we have a record of 1-1, and are in a tie for second in the group. Now, I know the way we lost to Vephrall yesterday is fresh on your minds, but let me start with the good news. Meghan Corrigan pitched a beauty against The Bye, and we won 2-0. So far The Bye is 0-3, and it doesn’t look like they will be the sleeper of the group, but it is still pretty early. Meghan was very excited to get her first start out of the way and she really feels as though we can become quite a force in the world of baseball and she was determined to get us rolling from the gate. I must admit that when I first saw the lineup of The Bye, I really started to get tired; so much in fact that I had to have an extra cup of coffee to get me going. I don’t think that Meghan had this problem with the way she was putting their bats to bed. She gets the complete game shutout and scattered four hits and struck out fifteen! Our runs, as you know, were in the third and the sixth innings, with nothing more then stringing some hits together. I didn’t really have anything to do with either run, having gone 0-for-3 (plus a walk) in the game. Maybe I should not have had that extra cup of coffee. Now, Vephrall, and it was a blown game. We like the people of Vephrall, but their sports teams lately have really gotten on our nerves, and like them winning a qualifying spot on point differential in the World Bowl over us (and the alleged Arrozan point-shaving), it wasn’t that they beat us, it was the way they beat us. We jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, and I picked up a single to lead the inning off. After all-world catch Rachel Weston singled, a double Katie Sheridan brought us both in. Katie later scored on a single by Jennifer Branston. Rachel Andrews was in control, but Vephrall slowly chipped away, scoring one in the bottom of the seventh and the eighth innings. Not to worry, on came Katie Sanderson to close it out. Sadly, after she blew the save following an RBI single from Cliriputed Sareg, she began to fall apart. A bloop single by Izorigor Prirom and then hitting Soscren Oschaates on an 0-2 pitch. That really is what seemed to frustrate her. Then the walk to Claspong Satossy that did us in. Katie thought she had strike three and barked at the umpire briefly before Rachel Weston settled her down at the mound. Weston knew it was low as did all of us in the infield.

This was never going to be easy. Despite what the rankings say there is no such thing as a sure thing. Vephrall has successful teams in other sports, in particular, soccer. As we know also, they have a strong football team. Nothing less should be expected from their baseball team and we got reminded of that. Now we must put this game behind us, because it’s a long schedule and we are just getting started. Liventia is our next opponent, and it will be in Concord Heights. The games against them figure to be critical in determining who gets that third spot, so we have no time to mope over how we lost to Vephrall.

What will matchday four have in store? Find out soon. RP cutoff.

Group A
Newmanistan 5-6 Secristan
Lovisa 4-2 Milchama
Steroga 3-1 Mallatarsland


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 3 0 16 9 7
Newmanistan 3 1 17 11 6
Lovisa 2 1 8 7 1
Steroga 2 2 10 10 0
Milchama 1 2 8 12 -4
Mallatarsland 1 3 7 13 -6
Achtervolging 0 3 7 11 -4


Group B
Qazox 4-1 Zwangzug
Yafor 2 2-5 Sarzonia
Dancougar 4-3 Mantwenic


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 4 0 14 5 9
Yafor 2 2 1 12 7 5
Zwangzug 2 1 9 5 4
Dancougar 2 2 12 14 -2
Sarzonia 1 2 8 10 -2
Norwellia 1 2 5 8 -3
Mantwenic 0 4 4 15 -11


Group C
Tocrowkia 1-3 Taeshan
Cassadaigua 3-2 Liventia
Quintessence of Dust 1-5 Vephrall


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 3 1 19 9 10
Cassadaigua 2 1 8 6 2
Liventia 2 1 10 7 3
Taeshan 2 1 10 8 2
Vephrall 2 2 15 14 1
Quintessence of Dust 1 3 6 16 -10
The Bye 0 3 4 12 -8


3-way tie sorted via H2H between teams: Cassadaigua 1-0; Liventia 1-1, Taeshan 0-1

Lefty Stephenson stymies Quodites

Orean, LIVENTIA— Liventia today improved to 2-0 in Group C of the World Baseball Classic after a 4-1 win at home to Quintessence of Dust with left-handed starter Patrick Stephenson on the mound.

Stephenson, who became the second Liventian pitcher in a row to throw a complete game, held the Quodites in check for eight straight innings of perfect pitching and defence before three consecutive hits in the top of the ninth ended his perfect game and shutout.

On the other side of the ball, the Quodites' lefty starter Tal Issachar suffered at the hands of the Liventian batting order, allowing four runs on six hits in 5.2 innings for an ERA of 6.35.

Lead-off man Lucas Shoreland, who did not play against Taeshan, hit a double to right in the first inning and left fielder Brad Tretheway, who was also left on the bench in Taeshan, followed with a ground-rule double down the left field line which brought Shoreland home.

In the fourth, designated hitter Darren Ashley, whose 37 home runs led the league, smashed a three-run home run off Issachar to drive home catcher Brendan Poore and Tretheway to build up a 4-0 nothing lead.

Stephenson continued his pitching magic on the mound, giving the Liventian bullpen their second straight game off, before the late barrage from the Quintessence of Dust offence saw the Quodite catcher and captain Barry Pullman drive home Owain Meally, only to himself be thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple to end the game.

LINE SCORE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
QUINTESSENCE OF DUST [AWAY] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0
LIVENTIA [HOME] 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 — 4 9 0

WP: P. Stephenson (1-0, 1.00 ERA)
LP: T. Isaachar (0-1, 6.35 ERA)

(OOC: Cassadaigua RP to come)

Unearned runs cost Liventia third win

Concord Heights, CASSADAIGUA— Playing for the first time this World Baseball Classic in a DH park away from home, Liventia seemed out of touch with everything as their bats and gloves let them down in a tight 3-2 loss to Cassadaigua.

Righty Morgan Klein started the game for the Cassadaiguans, the first time this classic Liventia has faced a right-handed starter. Steven Lucking, who had the second-best batting average in the league at .373, led off but ended the day 1-for-4 with only a single in the seventh.

A righty-lefty matchup usually suggests a classic in the making, and early signs showed promise. Through the order the first time around, neither team had mustered a single hit or even reached base. In the bottom of the fourth, however, Liventian starter Matt McDonald came high and inside on a pitch to Brittany Knowles which nearly drilled her in the helmet, but missed her and the catcher's glove to send ball four to the backstop.

The close call forced the home plate umpire to issue a warning to both benches and to McDonald. Knowles stole second, and catcher Rachel Weston lined out to right, moving Knowles to third. Third baseman Ryan Turry then made a poor throw to first on a ground ball from Katie Sheridan which would have been the third out, and was charged with the first of two Liventian errors.

Knowles scored on the next hit by DH Elizabeth Murray, chalking up an unearned run. Sheridan moved to third on the play, and the next batter up Jennifer Branston doubled her home before Murray was thrown out at the plate, but the damage had been done with two unearned runs.

Murray argued the call at home for a while but gave up and the pitcher's duel continued into the seventh, when on the strength of two solo shots from first baseman Wayne Tope (regular season 28 HR) and DH Brad Tretheway (regular season 21 HR) Liventia tied it up.

McDonald seemed to have the control going into the bottom of the seventh but he quickly loaded the bases with two outs, and was pulled in favour of Sean Nelson, who walked the very next batter to allow the game winning go-ahead run (charged to McDonald) before he struck Michelle Driver out to get out of the jam.

Klein himself was withdrawn to start the eighth, and Liventia would fail to get a single hit against the Cassadaiguan relief pitching, with the game ending 3-2. Not for the want of trying, with McDonald's stellar performance, but unfortunately not enough.

LINE SCORE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
LIVENTIA [AWAY] 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 2
CASSADAIGUA [HOME] 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 — 3 6 0

WP: M. Klein (1-0, 7 IP, 2 ER, 4 HA, 2.57 ERA)
LP: M. McDonald (0-1, 6.2 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 HA, 1.42 ERA)
SV: K. Sanderson

After Sarzonia dropped its second match of the World Baseball Classic, some of the players in the Stars clubhouse grumbled that manager Jim Paulsen should have rescinded third baseman Kate Schmidt's suspension after the loss to unranked Dancougar.

However, only shortstop Chris Spontanelli had enough nerve to actually say something to Paulsen.

"She's serving all three matches and that's that," Paulsen said. "She needs to learn there are consequences for her actions."

Secretly, Paulsen began to worry. If the Stars had dropped to 0-3 after their match against Yafor 2, he would have a big problem on his hands. His intent was to keep Schmidt on the bench for the Qazox match back at Mountaineer Park, but if the Stars were 0-3, he knew he might have a clubhouse mutiny on his hands.

Fortunately for Paulsen, the Stars defeated Yafor 2 by a 5-2 score. Substitute third baseman Bryan Carroll broke his 0-for-9 slump to begin the World Baseball Classic by going 2-for-3, including a two-run double in the top of the fourth that turned a 2-0 Yafor 2 lead into a 2-2 tie. Catcher Fred Carlton singled up the middle to bring Carroll home and put Sarzonia ahead 3-2.

That set the stage for third baseman Hank Everly. He hit a tape measure homer down the left field line with Spontanelli aboard to give the Stars a 5-2 lead in the top of the sixth. That was enough to make a winner of Brian Edwards, who scattered eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two.

That meant Paulsen was able to bring in closer Alvin Dryden in the bottom of the ninth. Dryden breezed through the top of the lineup in order to notch his first save of the World Baseball Classic and improve Sarzonia to 1-2.

"We needed that," Paulsen said as he walked up to the microphone in the media room. "We needed to win a match we weren't necessarily expected to win after losing a match we probably were slated to win on paper."

"What's Schmidt's status for tomorrow's home match against Qazox?"

"Her suspension ended after tonight's match," Paulsen said.

"Is she going to be back in the lineup?"

"I'll make that decision when the time comes. Next question."

Paulsen wanted to make it crystal clear that he wasn't going to broach the Kate Schmidt subject tonight. He would discuss matters on his own terms. Tomorrow, after the match.

Truthfully, he hadn't made up his mind yet. He wanted to have a final meeting with Schmidt first. If she showed enough genuine remorse, she would be back in the starting lineup. If not, he would keep her on the bench, possibly only inserting her as a pinch hitter if he felt the situation warranted.

As for Schmidt, he knew she was eager to put her uniform back on and get back out there. But would she realise that she wasn't any bigger than the team? That was the question Paulsen wanted an answer to.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Mantwenic 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 2
Dancougar 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 4 10 2

W: Propeado (2-2) 8 IP, 3 ER, 5 K
S: Lenken (2) 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 K
L: you know, that guy 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K

"I've been meaning to ask..." Schwartz began. Sarah had just marched off the field and plopped down on the bench, fanning herself with her cap. She'd gotten out of a jam and kept Mantwenic from adding to their 3-1 lead, and since Faye was leading off, she might avoid having to bat this inning. "Isn't your arm tired at all?"

"Huh?" Sarah responded. "Tired how?"

"It's just that..." Schwartz said, reaching for his copy of Baseball for Dummies, "according to my manual here, the strain caused by overarm pitching should wear you out considerably even with four or five days of rest. But we have no rotation, so you should be..."

"If you're so concerned, why not start Abby?" asked Sarah. Schwartz looked over to the far end of the bench, where Abby was crouched by the water cooler. Every now and then she'd pull the tab to start the water, then she'd push it back and dive under the spigot to try and catch it in her mouth before it hit the ground. On success, she'd move farther away and try again. It must have been a game she'd invented.

"Even if you say that..." Schwartz sighed. He'd figured out that if he wanted her to warm up for relief, he had to start poking her three innings before she was needed. They're just too completely different...

"And anyway, there's no problem, since I've developed a rigorous training regimen that's helped me develop a pain-free delivery!" said Sarah.

Schwarz pumped his fist with joy. "Aha, as expected of Miz Propeado!" he exclaimed.

"But it doesn't end there..." Sarah continued. "I've worked hard to develop my control, as well. Soon, I'll be accurate to within ten millimeters of any catcher's initial glove position, and once I've discovered the secrets of that Finch's speed, I'll have surpassed them ALL!" She tilted her head and laughed heartily.

Schwartz froze in his fist-pump victory position and his face visibly fell. You say that, but... you're losing the game... he thought.

The inning was looking good for the Wings, who started a rally and got the home fans back into it. Faye doubled and then advanced to third on a sacrifice fly. Norma singled to drive in Faye, and Akiko walked to put a couple on. But Sarah was no hitter, and she quickly struck out. The tying run remained on second base as Juliet stepped up to the plate.

"I'm counting on you, Miz Sanretour!" called Schwartz. "Just keep your head up and do your best!"

Juliet strode up to the plate. In her mind, his words played out a bit differently. "Dearest Juliet, no matter what happens, I will always love you. But drive in the run... and I shall be yours!" She tightened her grip on the bat and concentrated as hard as she could, driving the first pitch into left field. Norma raced home and Akiko waddled over to second base and stopped there, forcing Juliet to hold up at first. She smiled to herself. I did it! Coach will praise me for this, without a doubt!

"Things are looking up at last!" said Schwartz. "Although... I can't imagine how Miz Morimoto expects to run in that catcher's equipment..."

"Why is Juliet squirming so much instead of watching the game?" asked Kagami.

"I have no.... aaaah, don't let him pick you off!!" Juliet had strayed from the base and was too busy fantasizing about how her effort would be congratulated. As a result, she'd been the victim of an embarrassingly easy pick-off, and the inning was over.

She stood dejected off the bag, a single strand of hair frazzling out against gravity. My... where will my praise go now?!

Purple Knights win big Game

It was game 4 of the 12 game season for the Purple Knights and they were set to take on Tocrowkia in the first game of a two game series with the Nordics who will look to be the team that truies to stop the Knights from being in the top four again. Game one in Tocrowkia went to the Knights though as the easily defeated a less then mediocre presentation from the Tocrowkian offense, but a good enough defense that kept the game close throughout. In the end though the slim lead that the Knights had was just enough to give them their second win of the year.

The first runs of the game were scored in the 2nd inning. Socki Lewis homored, bringing home Fier Henris. In the bottom of the inning the Tocrowkian scored their only run of the game with a homerun by one of their fielders. The Nordics of course could not string together a lot of hits after that as Rian Willemson was on yesterday with 7 strikeouts. The Knights would add a run in the 7th when Jay Nedved dribbled a single that brought home Freddy Myers from third. Willie Strava got the save.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Taeshan 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 5 0
Tocrowkia 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0

LOSS:
Mercedes Gaunt (0-1)
HRs:
Johnny Stryker 1 (3)

Today was not the day to be on top of the world. Both Tocrowkia and Newmanistan dropped games to familiar opponents in Secristan and Taeshan in MD3. Admit it, Nordics fans. You were expecting the Nordics to go undefeated in group play again, well forget about it now. Though it may be a blessing in disguise, as now the Nordics don't have to live up to any unrealistic expectations. And let's face it, despite sliding a bit after the last WBC, Taeshan is still a tough opponent.

The High-charged Nordics offense could only muster one run, a solo homer off the bat of Johnny Stryker in response to Taeshans three all game. In fact, as they always do, the Knights had tons of trouble containing the Catalyst. He had four of the Nordics five hits, 2 singles and a double to add to his homerun. "It was a tough loss, and obviously we want to get back at them." Paul Rudolf said. "But as always you have to put these tough losses behind you and look forward to tomorrow." Tomorrow, the Nordics take the field against Liventia. It'll be a game to watch for sure, as WBC Rookie Sofie Behm takes the mound.

Arlington Moon-Tribune
Four the lose

A four-run inning (the second, frustratingly) at Zwangzug's expense saw the Qazox Pheonix keep up their winning streak in the eleventh World Baseball Classic. Secristan, who had a bye at the same time as Zwangzug did, are also perfect at 3-0.

While international rookie Tristan Gronosky set down the side in the bottom of the first, Angel Monks began the barrage with a double off the 387-feet sign in left field. Clark Petrie brought his A-game, winding up three for four, and drove in Monks. Kyle Brian struck out, but Mickey Weatherby singled to move Petrie to third. Johnnie Bannon hit a bloop single over Greta Orsulak to score Petrie, though pitcher Tyle Newson flew out to Noah Trecarichi in center field. Darren Pew got a hit and Weatherby came in, but Herman Doane grounded out to Amber Pastis (who almost overthrew the bag, potentially setting Qazox up for an even bigger inning).

Newson, last in the Qazox rotation, had an easy job protecting the lead, wisely avoiding his erratic curveball in favor of an effective circle change. The Zebras did manage a run in the sixth inning; Noah Trecarichi drew a leadoff walk, and after Amos Robotham's single, Ken Schlemmer singled to drive Trecarichi in. Brigid Hoefflin grounded to second, however, for an inning-ending double play.

Asked afterward about the game, Gronosky rebutted the idea that the stress of international action had gotten to him. "Of course I can handle pressure. The Phoenix...er, whoever we played...they're a very good team." (He's probably right on the first point, having won the Northeast Division playoff.) The Zebras fall to 2-1 in Group B, tied for second with their next opponents, the Firebugs of Yafor 2.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 4 vs Zwangzug

A 4 run second inning outburst, sparked by a deep double by Angel Monks, was more than enough for Tyle Newson, whose circle change baffled Zwangzug for 5 innings, until they broke though in the 6th. But solid defense behind Newson, and a 3rd consecutive 1-2-3 save by Jackson Throne ended it.

Now after a trip to Sarzonia, who beat previously unbeaten Yafor II 5-2 today, and the Pheonix can rest for a couple of days before coming home to take on Yafor II before the end of the 1st half of qualifiers.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Zwangzug 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 0
Qazox 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 4 10 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Tyle Newson (Qazox) 8.0 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 1 R, 7 K, 3 BB

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated after MD 6...)

THE ROCKET REPORT

ANOTHER REGIONAL CLASSIC

Tundra Falls- We may have lost, but there is no denying that once again, Newmanistan and Secristan had themselves another entertaining game in World Baseball Classic action. On the mound for the Rockets was Kristen Haynes, and she was be opposed by Jim Slattery. However, neither of these two would be the story of a ballgame that saw both teams be able to get hits and score runs. The end result is a 6-5 victory for our neighbors, but getting there was pretty fun.

Secristan got on the board immediately as leadoff batter Jason Carlin singled up the middle, and then stole second. He would be brought in on a single by Jonas Kindlan to make it 1-0 Millionaires. Haynes got Tim McMurtry to ground into a double play before Manny Rodriguez came up to the plate. If Manny was hoping that the media’s steroid focus towards Jeremy McAllister would have him off the hook to not be jeered by the Tundra Falls faithful, he was sadly mistaken. Several taunts were screamed out towards the Millionaires slugger, even though he has never been found guilty of anything. When WomanRoid popped out to third, the fans gave him a standing ovation. The Rockets got the run right back in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Carrie Nicolette, who drove in Brittany Wright, who also singled. It was 1-1, and the game was on. Secristan had a reply as well, as in the top of the second, with one away, Eddie Forte doubled into the right center-field gap, and was brought in on a single from Mick O’Rourke, but this lead would be short lived. Sarah Boland and Natalie Monroe led the bottom half of the inning off with singles, and would both be driven in on a double by Tara Cuyler. Slattery got out of the inning, but now the Rockets were in front, by the score of 3-2.

For a little while, the pitchers were more effective, but in the fifth, John Fusco put the Millionaires back ahead with a two-run shot over the left field fence that also scored Kindlan. It would be the last inning for Kristen Haynes, who seemed quite upset with her performance. But just as Secristan may have thought they were getting some momentum in the ball game, back game Newmanistan in the bottom of the sixth. With two away, Rachel Crockett hit a double down the line that was barely fair, and was driven in on a single by Boland to tie up the game at four. This would be the end of Slattery’s day, and after six innings, we had a game on our hands that could go either way. Lauren Tippett had entered the game for Newmanistan to start the sixth and was kept out there to start the seventh inning as well. If she could get through it, Sanders could go to Erica Darby in the 8th and try to close it out with Kristen Collins in the 9th, should the Rockets be in front. But Secristan would score in the seventh, and it all came rather innocently. With one away, Jason Carlin drew a walk, and advanced to second on a fly out from Kindlan. Had this not been the speedy Carlin, it’s unlikely that another runner would have been allowed to tag and test Rachel Crockett’s arm. It was a close play, but Carlin was in there a second or two before the ball reached Cuyler. The aggressive decision to send him paid off when Tim McMurtry singled on a 3-2 pitch. Carlin, who was running on the play, scored easily, and Secristan was back up by the score of 5-4. But not so fast! In the bottom of the seventh, the Rockets struck right back. Caitlin Peters, pinch-hitting in the nine slot, singled with one away. Brittany Wright then hit a routine ground ball to short that is normally a double play, but Brittany was hustling, and with her amazing speed, she beat the throw to first to reach on a fielder’s choice. Like Carlin’s hustle in the top of the inning, this proved to be big when Jennifer Martin doubled off the right field wall, and now the game was tied again, at five runs apiece. With it tied, Sanders opted for Christine Stafford to pitch the 8th as opposed to Erica Darby, and this may have been a mistake. She retired Manny to lead off the inning, but then came John Fusco, who sent a fastball long, deep, and gone, to make it 6-5. It was his second of the game, so we don’t know what he was doing on his bye day, but whatever it was, it really seemed to help him out for this game. He seemed to be playing angry over something. With the way this game had been, we were confident that the Rockets would respond to this as well, but the 8th-9th inning combination of Michael McKeon and F-Mart took care of business and allowed Fusco’s bomb to hold up as the game winning hit.

So now the Rockets fall to 3-1 in the group, and are a half game behind Secristan. The sky blue and white will held to Milchama next to play the team that eliminated us in the semifinals of World Baseball Classic 8. Rockets-Warriors always seems to be exciting, though we could never really put a handle on why exactly. Both teams will be wanting a win, as the Rockets do not want to drop two in a row, and Milchama could be sitting at 1-3 with a loss. Sarah Brayton will get the start for Newmanistan.

Couple extra errands to run this morning but now I'm all set and ready to do some cutting.
MD5 Cutoff.

Group A
Milchama 2-6 Newmanistan
Lovisa 2-5 Secristan
Achtervolging 2-1 (13 inn.) Mallatarsland


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 4 0 21 11 10
Newmanistan 4 1 23 13 10
Steroga 2 2 10 10 0
Lovisa 2 2 10 12 -2
Achtervolging 1 3 9 12 -3
Milchama 1 3 10 18 -8
Mallatarsland 1 4 8 15 -7


Group B
Sarzonia 6-4 Qazox
Yafor 2 1-5 Zwangzug
Norwellia 4-2 Mantwenic


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 4 1 18 11 7
Zwangzug 3 1 14 6 8
Sarzonia 2 2 14 14 0
Yafor 2 2 2 13 12 1
Dancougar 2 2 12 14 -2
Norwellia 2 2 9 10 -1
Mantwenic 0 5 6 19 -13


(In the 4-way tie right now, all are 1-1 in H2H vs the others. So we went to RD amongst each other. Which was YAF +1, SAR +1, DAN 0, NOR -2. YAF & SAR then sorted by their H2H result from MD4. Would have been more fun to figure out if this was at the very end).

Group C
Liventia 3-4 (11 inn.) Tocrowkia
Cassadaigua 3-0 Taeshan
The Bye 2-1 Vephrall


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 4 1 23 12 11
Cassadaigua 3 1 11 6 5
Liventia 2 2 13 11 2
Taeshan 2 2 10 11 -1
Vephrall 2 3 16 16 0
Quintessence of Dust 1 3 6 16 -10
The Bye 1 3 6 13 -7

Schwartz and his team stood on the field and looked around for any sign of fans, officials, or the opposing team. But no one came, and they were alone. The only other people at the sports complex were the local kids on the next field over kicking a football around.

Schwartz checked his watch and then looked at his notice from the Sports Ministry. "I thought we were playing The Bye this week, because everybody does according to the Dancougar News!!" he said. "But perhaps, instead, we have A Bye, which is different, because only Group C plays The Bye..."

Sarah's forehead vein bulged. "Argh, if you're going to call us out here, at least check the schedule properly!" she exclaimed.

"But this is a good thing!" said Joy. "Now that we're all here, we can keep up our strength with a no-holds-barred practice session! We'll be able to beat anyone once we master our fiercest opponents..." Then, with a deep voice: "... ourselves!!" She smiled brightly as she said it, which added to the mood, not necessarily in a good way.

Clarissa smiled. "If that's the case, I can conjure our most..." she began, but Schwartz cut her off.

"No special summons!" said Schwartz. "The baseball field negates them, plus you don't have the requisite sacrifices in play anyway."

Clarissa looked down at her Oh-Gi-Yu duel disk. "Wait, since when were we...?"

Schwartz continued without missing a beat, having discarded his own. "In any case, we should carry on with practice as we always do. We'll begin with some light jogging around the outfield." The girls took off, although noticeably lagging was Akiko, who was still in her catcher's equipment. Schwartz walked over towards her and maintained his pace with her fastest jog. "Um... Miz Morimoto..." he said.

"Oh... uh, hi coach," she replied softly. "Is something wrong?"

"Well... it's just that..." Schwartz began, fumbling over his words, "is there a reason why you never take off your gear? It really hinders your performance as a batter, and..."

"But coach..." Akiko answer. "If I let the day star reach me, I'll wither away..."

Knights Lose In Shutout

"How's it going?"

"Great! We won 5-1."

Ambrose glared.

"Well, okay, not great, but there's lots of good acronyms to pick up from a Yaforite game. OPS, you know, the works."

"Not those kinds of acronyms, you idiot, that's the Maren Ruud kind of acronym!"

"So what am I supposed to be doing?"

"Coming up with things that spell stuff as acronyms."

"Oh, you mean like WHIP?"

"Yes, exactly!"

Douglas picked up the third page of a Kerlagrad Courier from last week (the front and back cover had fallen off and blown away). "STEROGA."

"What?"

"Strikeouts over earned runs plus opponent's games ahead."

Ambrose blinked. "Isn't that..."

"Here, I'll do the math." Douglas's eyes began to flicker. "Okay, so Deirdre Palomaki, right? Struck out...how many people did she strike out?"

"Just four. Well, three."

"One of them twice, yeah. But she only gave up the one earned run."

"It was the Firebugs."

"Four over one is four, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then plus the correction factor, see, it only works in small groups like this. But Yafor 2 and Zwangzug are pretty comparable-"

"5-1, Douglas."

"-I mean, they were tied going into today, so that's actually a zero."

"Douglas-"

"So Palomaki's STEROGA is a solid four. Not bad at all! She's not really a power pitcher, see, so-"

"Steroga is a team, Douglas, in group A."

"Yeah! So it spells something out."

"Let's have a little bit less of the sabermetrics and more plotting, okay?"

"Fine," said an obviously crestfallen Douglas. But he was soon to perk up again. "Hey, isn't sabermetrics a weird acronym?"

"Only in Az-cz. Get to work."

For the first time since the 11th World Baseball Classic began, third baseman Kate Schmidt donned her uniform, her spikes, et. al and made her way to the dugout. It had been a difficult three-match suspension for Schmidt.

By Stars manager Jim Paulsen's rules, Schmidt wasn't even allowed in the ballpark during the suspension. She was turned away at the players entrance to Mountaineer Park in Clyburn, a mountainous outer suburb of Woodstock. Ballpark security soon gathered around to ensure that Schmidt didn't try to even walk into the ballpark with a ticket.

Now, she was not only inside the park, but in uniform. She'd missed the opening night ceremony prior to Sarzonia's 4-2 defeat to Dancougar, and her name was not even announced with the other players. She found out that Paulsen would not etch her name into the starting lineup for tonight's match against world No. 2 Qazox.

She sat on the far end of the bench nearest to home plate in Sarzonia's dugout on the first base side. Meanwhile, Paulsen took his seat at the far right end, closest to first base. The two had a brief, but terse meeting in which they discussed the issues behind the three-match suspension. Paulsen told her at the meeting's conclusion that she would not be in the starting lineup.

When substitute starting third baseman Bryan Carroll lined a double to the gap in left center field to start the bottom of the third, the dugout erupted in applause except for two people: The ever thinking Paulsen and the sulking Schmidt.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Carroll singled past a drawn-in infield to cut the Qazox lead to 4-3, bringing up second baseman Dewey Griffin's spot.

"Schmidt, grab a bat," Paulsen said. "Griffin, take a seat." Schmidt walked up to the plate and took a practice swing as she heard the Mountaineer Park crowd cheering wildly for her.

Take a deep breath, she thought before stepping into the batter's box. She waved the bat once, twice, looked out at the Qazox pitcher, then put her right hand out and said, "Time!"

"Time!" the Newmanistanian umpire called out. She glowered at the Qazox pitcher, then stepped back into the batter's box. Pheonix relief pitcher Nathaniel Schuyler peered in, checked Carroll, then delivered. Schmidt swung.

"Swing and a miss!" the announcer exclaimed. "Fastball on the inner half."

Damn it! Schmidt thought. Thought I had that. She glared back at Schuyler, waved her bat once, twice, thrice, then was ready. He delivered a curveball. She swung."

"Swing and a drive to deep left field, going, going GONE! The Stars take the lead 5-4 on Kate Schmidt's first home run of the World Baseball Classic!"

The dugout erupted and Schmidt accepted the congratulations of her teammates, the coaches, and even a smiling Paulsen. The Stars would tack on one more run before Alvin Dryden worked a one-two-three top of the ninth for Sarzonia's second-consecutive victory.

The victory improved Sarzonia's record to 2-2 and sent a signal that Schmidt and the team were back.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Tocrowkia 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 8 0
Liventia 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 0

WIN:
Jamie Von Tipker (1-0)
HRs:
Jill Haviland 1 (3), Dmitri Rykov 1 (3), Kevin Monroe 1 (2)

This game was supposed to be Sofie Behm's big night. The young ace, ever since being drafted out of Hilde University made her intentions clear, the day she stepped on a AA minor league field. "I'm going to pitch on the WBC team for my nation." she never lost sight on her vision, either. Through her time in the minors she always looking forward to her goal. In her break out year, it was always in the back of her mind. "I kept thinking, will this one more strikeout land me on the Nordics roster? Or how about the fact my ERA just dropped by two points? Or the fact I won the outstanding pitcher award?" Sofie said in a pre-game interview. The young ace had pushed her away to the top, over some other names many Tocrowkians would have liked to see on rotation as well.

"I never let that got to me. I mean sure there were people that have more experience than me that might have deserved to be here, but I was elected to this team for a reason and I wanted to prove it." she finished. How tragic is it then that her first appearance in the WBC resulted in a no decision? In a hard fought battle in which both pitchers dueled hard, the game was pushed into extra frames. Though the Nordics gave Sofie an early lead off a Jill Haviland solo homerun in the 1st, and then a Dmitri Rykov two run bomb in the 4th, the Liventian squad fought back and launched a couple of shots out of the yard of their own. From then on, it seemed as if neither team could string any hits together. Sofie finally departed after pitching 8 1/2 innings, striking out 9 and walking none. In stepped Jamie Von Tipker for the first time in the classic.

"Obviously, the last few games we've won have been non-save situations, so we haven't needed Jamie." Paul Rudolf commented. "But now we did, so I called her in." Jamie had a short conversation with Sofie before she handed the ball over. "I told her, she did a good job. She deserved the win and I wasn't gonna blow this for her." Jamie said. And with a firm slap on the rear by Tipker, Behm went to the bench. Tipker held Liventia in check, pitching three perfect innings while Kevin Monroe hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 11th. "Sofie was disappointed. Who could blame her?" Rudolf commented after the game. "But," Behm injected. "I'm just glad I put my team in a position to win."

Purple Knights On A Destruction course

Four games into the new year and unlike what many people predicted after the group draw the Knights find themselves at 500 and on the outside looking in at the contenders. when the number 4 team in the world has the same mount of loses as wins you know that something is wrong with the tea,. Even this early in the season many sportsfans may have predicted alittle bit of a slump coming into the season due to a few months of inactivity, and not playing together for those months. Still many fans had believed that the Knights were good enough as a tea. They aparently arent. They were shutout in their last game 3-0 to Cassadaigua, Cassadaigua. It is looking bad for the Knights and the days to come arent looking better.

At number four in the world the Knights don't seem to be up to what they used to be. For six years before last year the knights had found themselves at least in fourth place every single season. Last year the Newmanistan Rockets knocked the Knights out to the semis and they weren't even given a chance to make it back. It was never close, abought as close as they've been doing this year,. Many fans are worried about are team, and we can only hope someone clears them up in the weeks to come. It is painfull to watch them right now.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 5 @ Sarzonia

Leading 4-3 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, Sarzonia's Kate Schmidt, in her first at-bat after serving a 3-game suspension, slapped a pinch-hit 3-run Homerun to left to give the Stars a 6-4 come from behind win.

Now with a day off before the Yafor II match, Qazox must find a way to put this loss behind them and prepare for the Yaforites.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 10 0
Sarzonia 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 x 6 12 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Kate Schmidt (Sarzonia) 1-1, 3 run PH-HR in the 8th

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated after MD 6...)

THE ROCKET REPORT

WIN WITH STUNNING EASE

Milchama- The only time that Newmanistan has not been to a World Baseball Classic Final came in the 8th such event, which was also eventually hosted by us. That year, the Rockets were ousted in the semfinal by Milchama, who went on to lose to Qazox in the championship series. Though Newmanistan did win the third place series, the two nations took to the field in Milchama, with the Rockets looking to do two things. First, show off their shiny new #1 ranking in the world to a nation that has had our number in many different sports, and secondly, to avenge our loss to Secristan in our last game. With Sarah Brayton on the mound, Newmanistan entered the contest with a record of 3-1, and Milchama was at 1-2. A win would be important for the Warriors, but the Rockets weren’t in a charitable mood. The end result is a 6-2 win for Newmanistan, and they never really were threatened.

Getting off to a good start was important as well, and Brittany Wright blooped the first pitch of the ballgame into rightfield for a single. However, the ball was misplayed by the rightfielder, and this allowed Wright to take second on the play. This was perhaps an omen of how the day was going to go for the Warriors. Jennifer Martin was walked, unintentionally, and the fans were getting anxious. Carrie Nicolette then snuck a grounder between the first and second baseman, allowing Wright to score the first run of the game. This all led to the big blow, not a home run, but a 2-run double off the bat of Rachel Crockett that went off the left field wall. Martin and Nicolette crossed the plate, and the Rockets were up 3-0 before Milchama could even record an out. Consecutive fly outs by Sarah Boland and Natalie Monroe were enough to score Crockett in from second, and the top of the first didn’t end until Newmanistan had put up a 4-spot in the inning. Sarah Brayton was pitching well for the Rockets, shutting down the Milchaman bats without too much trouble. She did allow a lone single in each of the first three innings, but nothing would ever come of them. The Warriors got two more innings out their starting pitcher, but after throwing 40 pitches in the first inning, he was obviously laboring, and they thought their best option would be to see what someone else could do. In the fourth, Milchama got to Brayton once as their #6 and #7 batters hit back-to-back doubles to give the fans something to cheer about for a brief moment, but again, Brayton kept the inning from getting out of control.

Finally, in the sixth inning, Newmanistan got some more runs on the scoreboard and put away any thoughts that Milchama may have had that they could pull this game off. Sarah Conrad and Tara Cuyler led the inning off with singles, and they would advance their position on a sacrifice bunt from Brayton. With first base open, the Warriors elected to intentionally walk Brittany Wright to try and set up a double play. After a strike out of Jennifer Martin, it looked like they may get out of the jam, but they had to survive Carrie Nicolette’s red-hot bat. Like her first inning hit, the ball was not hit hard, it just found a hole, this time up the middle allowing Conrad and Cuyler to score on the hit. Tara’s speed, sometimes overlooked with the deserved hype that Brittany Wright’s speed gets, is what allowed Cuyler to score from second. Wright got to third, and Nicolette advanced to second on an ill-advised throw to the plate. Rachel Crockett then came up and got all of a curveball, hitting it deep to dead center, but the ball remained in the yard, caught by the centerfielder at the warning track to get out of the inning. Sarah Brayton wasn’t going anywhere either, even if she did allow a solo HR in the bottom half of the sixth inning. She was going to go the distance, determined to finish this game off, and she took care of business. Milchama went down with little fight in the seventh and eighth inning, before getting a couple singles in the bottom of the ninth with two already gone, enough to get Christina Sanders to pay her a visit on the mound. The visit worked, Brayton calmed down, and struck out the next batter.

The line on Sarah Brayton will read a complete game, allowing nine hits, walking two and striking out ten. Both runs that she allowed were earned. Carrie Nicolette was the offensive leader on the night, going 3-for-5 with three singles, a run scored, and three RBI’s. Newmanistan will now have a day off, and will next be in action at the Proving Grounds to take on Lovisa. The Silent Assassins are presently 2-2 after losing to Secristan today. Christina Sanders says there will be no team-organized “scouting” of other action, and the players will have a well-deserved day off. The Lovisa game will also conclude the first half of qualifying in the World Baseball Classic.

WIN OVER LOVISA

After a 73 minute rain delay, the Millionaires took to the field and defeated Lovisa by the score of 5-2, making Secristan the lone undefeated team in the World Baseball Classic at the present time, improving to 4-0. The inconsistent Eric Strassner pitched well for the Millionaires, allowing just a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning during his seven innings of work. He did walk five, but also picked up 8 K’s. Secristan scored two runs in the top of the third inning on a double by Jason Carlin. Prior to Carlin’s at-bat, the bottom of the order did a good job getting on base as both Eric Beaudoin and Kip Kircher hit singles. Lovisa tied the contest in the fourth, taking advantage of two Secristani errors in the inning, one by Mick O’Rourke and the other by John Fusco. The errors occurred on consecutive plays and each with two outs so when the next Lovisa batter hit a double, the two runs came across the plate unearned but at the time, very significant. It would not be until the seventh when the Millionaires would break the game open as Tim McMurtry, Manny Rodriguez, and John Fusco, hit three doubles in a row to score two runs, and in the eighth, a solo HR by Kip Kircher put Secristan up by three runs. Michael McKeon pitched the eighth to pick up another hold, and Francisco Martinez was great once again, and picked up the save.

The Secristan Department of Sports said that the rain delay would have no effect on the amount of pay-per-view purchases, since game purchases had already been made. Calls to the SDOS office during the delay from advertisers wishing to air during the extended period were non-stop, and allowed the SDOS to pick up some unplanned revenue. “Rain delays can have some benefit to us. I don’t know how many fans continued to watch, but when fans have to buy the game, the decision to turn away isn’t as easy as it would be in these countries that televise sports for free. Where is did affect us a little bit, was our inning-by-inning customers, but the hit wasn’t too bad, and was well offset by the extra advertising revenue that we picked up.” The Millionaires will be home next and face a struggling Milchama side. The Warriors are only 1-3, but we will need to be careful, because they are still a top ten side overall and therefore very dangerous.

Brittany’s Space

A huge win for us last night no matter how you look at it. Playing one of the better baseball teams in the world, we came through with a 3-0 win over Taeshan at Concord Heights Stadium. Taeshan was in our group during World Baseball Classic 10 as well, and we played very well against them, getting a 5-3 victory over them in our first meeting, before we lost in thirteen innings in the second game. Since we feel that we are a better team now then we were two years ago, there was nothing about Purple Knights that really intimidated us. Stacey Franklin was going to make her international debut in this game after having an impressive first two years for her club team here in Cassadaigua. Stacey is a studious right-hander, and spent a lot of time preparing for the likes of people such as Socki Lewis. Stacey felt good, because she usually doesn’t give up a lot of homers, being a sinker/slider type pitcher. Her groundball to flyball ratio is about 68% in terms of getting batters to hit in on ground. We thought she’d be effective against someone like Lewis, but we didn’t know how well she would stack up against the rest of their lineup. Her confidence picked up the first time she faced Lewis and got him to strike out. She actually only allowed one hit through her first five innings, and simply looked very comfortable as she was doing it. We got one run in during that time, taking advantage of an error by Tadihito Shakiri to score Deanna Hudson in the 8th inning. In the 6th, I lead things off with a double. On the 3-1 pitch, I was sitting on a fastball, and got it. I wasn’t on base very long since Rachel Weston singled on the first pitch that she saw to right, and I was able to score on the play. Katie Sheridan kept it going with a double that scored Rachel, and now we were up 3-0. And Stacey was cruising. In her first game at this level, she gives us a complete game shut out and a three-hitter over one the best teams in the world. She struck out 13, including Socki Lewis every time she faced him.

It’s too early to spend to much time looking at the group standings. Things are pretty closely packed together, and certainly we expect Taeshan to be a force when all is said and done here. Liventia will be tough to beat out as well, and even Vephrall has shown some promising signs, even though The Bye caught them napping. This is all behind Tocrowkia, which is the best-ranked team in the group, but they will have a lot of work to do if they want to finish there. Our next two games will be on the road; first coming in Quintessence of Dust, and then in Tocrowkia. At halfway, we’ll have a better feel for how this group is looking.

This is your Saturday Morning dose of RP cutoff.

Group A
Secristan 3-0 Achtervolging
Steroga 2-7 Lovisa
Mallatarsland 0-5 Milchama


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 5 0 24 11 13
Newmanistan 4 1 23 13 10
Lovisa 3 2 17 14 3
Milchama 2 3 15 18 -3
Steroga 2 3 12 17 -5
Achtervolging 1 4 9 15 -6
Mallatarsland 1 5 8 20 -12


Group B
Zwangzug 6-1 Norwellia
Dancougar 1-3 Yafor 2
Mantwenic 2-4 Sarzonia


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 4 1 18 11 7
Zwangzug 4 1 20 7 13
Sarzonia 3 2 18 16 2
Yafor 2 3 2 16 13 3
Norwellia 2 3 10 16 -6
Dancougar 2 3 13 17 -4
Mantwenic 0 6 8 23 -15


Group C
Taeshan 5-1 The Bye
Quintessence of Dust 2-3 Cassadaigua
Vephrall 0-4 Liventia


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 4 1 23 12 11
Cassadaigua 4 1 14 8 6
Liventia 3 2 17 11 6
Taeshan 3 2 15 12 3
Vephrall 2 4 16 20 -4
Quintessence of Dust 1 4 8 19 -11
The Bye 1 4 7 18 -11


All ties sorted by their H2H results where applicable. Sorted by RD if they have yet to play.

Handily defeated

Steroga was blown away by Lovisa this afternoon in the fifth game of World Baseball Classic action. The final score was 7-2 and it was a pretty embarrassing outcome because we thought that we would be better coming off our bye day. Kumar Field was sold out as well and the team could not give the fans much. That ended up meaning nothing as Lovisa scored five runs in the second inning off of starting pitcher Kapoor Pattnaik. He did not help himself in the inning as he walked three batters. Lovisa then tacked on runs in the fourth and sixth innings off our bullpen. Alizadeh Kokradi pitched the last three innings and did not allow a hit but the game was well in the books by that point. The Sterogan runs game in the fifth inning on a two-run triple by Rishit Gupta. It didn’t have much significance other then giving our fans something to cheer about for a few minutes. Steroga is tied for fourth place now at 2-3 with Milchama and our next game will probably be a tough one as we go to Secristan to play a team that is undefeated.

Inning nine. Alexandre Binet had driven in 채상미 for Norwellia's only run, and that was back in the third inning. Brianna Schneider seemed to be doing well, but with over a hundred pitches, Maren Ruud was ready for a change.

If only the bullpen was so inclined.

"Kirst!" she hissed into the bullpen phone, "get in there."

"Yeah, he's sort of busy right now," giggled Johanna Aelink.

"Dare I ask with what?"

"There's a cat-"

The manager sighed before her reliever could finish the sentence. "Hasn't he heard about the feline flu?"

"The what?"

"It's spreading from, uh, let's go with Aguazul. Somewhere that speaks Spanish, just make it up."

"What? Rod, hold on, coach says there's some sort of cat flu..."

Thirty seconds later, Rod Kirst was firing a warmup toss into the Worm Hole backstop.

Brigid Hoefflin dug it out, wondering whether to tell Rod that he wasn't in any immediate danger. Which was better--having him panic or simply ready to bean their manager? She decided on letting things stand...and preparing to call lots of changeups.

Sūl Myūn-mi walked on four pitches, and Brigid changed her mind. "Listen," she whispered, "there's no cat flu."

"There isn't?"

"No. You're letting yourself get beat by a bunch of commies who try to psych you out by setting a cat in our bullpen. Please don't."

After a quick consultation in the opposing dugout, veteran Stéphane Gauthier strolled to the plate and promptly grounded into a double play. 채상미 flew out to Amos Robotham, and it was all over.

Maren reached for the dugout phone.

"What now?" complained Johanna.

"Just say something to me so I have an excuse to not deal with anybody." The "floating not" frustrated some political extremists but was currently in vogue in Maren's home of 102d...for a while, anyway. "Rod's heading this way and he doesn't look happy."

"Um...let's see. Uh, Marco's really bored because he doesn't have anything to do."

"Well, we haven't needed him for a while."

"He wants to know if we can keep the cat?"

Maren sighed. "No."

Purple Knights Rebound With Win

Game 5 of the season and the Knightswere set to take on the Bye. Unlike erlier when the Knights had a Bye the Bye was an actual team who came to play. Or well the came to not play as it was. The Knights defeated them 5-1 to get back above 500 with just one game versus the Quintessence of Dust left on their first half of the season. The Knights won their 3rd game behind Ace Anthony Rielas who after a first game loss was ready to rebound with his Knuckler and his fastball. The Knights won mostly because Anthony kept the Bye of the scoreboard most of the game.

The Bye though was the first team to put up a point though with a solo homerun in the first and it looked like the Knights were back on the track to losing, but it was not so, throughout the rest of the game Reilas through a no more runner. The Knights took the lead in the third with a Sock Lewis tow run homer with Fier Henris on base. He would add another 3 in the 7th with his blast with Alexander Parea, and Fier Henris on base making the final score 5-1.

Prior to the bottom of the first inning of the fifth match of the 11th World Baseball Classic for the Sarzonian national baseball team, third baseman Kate Schmidt put her glove on her left hand and felt it. She had her uniform on, neatly pressed, eye black under both eyes.

Finally, it was go time. She walked up the steps slowly, deliberately, almost as if she wanted to ensure that she didn't trip and fall on the last step. Finally, when she'd reached field level, she took off in an all-out sprint toward her position. For the first time in this latest edition of the World Baseball Classic, Schmidt was in the starting lineup.

Sarzonia left two runners on and Schmidt on deck and didn't score against Mantwenic in the top of the first. Schmidt would get the chance to lead off the top of the second inning.

"C'mon Sut!" Schmidt yelled out to starting pitcher Ken Sutcliffe, who was starting the match despite Sarzonia's having a bye on Matchday 2. The rest of the Stars rotation went as originally scheduled. "Three up, three down, let's go!"

"No outs! shortstop Chris Spontanelli called out. "Play's at first!" The leadoff batter swung at Sutcliffe's first offering, a fastball tailing in and smacked a hard one-hopper to Schmidt. She corralled it, then fired to first.

"Out!" the Tocrowkian first base umpire called.

"What? He was safe!" the Mantwenic first base coach argued. Before long, the Mantwenic manager was out arguing with the umpire. Within seconds, the dark clad Reich umpire pirouetted and raised his right arm with his fist clenched except for the index finger.

"You're outta here!"

Before long, the crowd hissed, booed and called out, "bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!"

It took several minutes to restore order. When it finally happened, Mantwenic scored two runs in the inning, but Schmidt snared a sharp line drive off the bat of the eighth place batter to hold the home side to two runs.

Schmidt led off the second inning with a double, which resulted in a four-run second inning. After that, both pitchers locked down their respective opposing lineups. The result gave Sarzonia a 3-2 record, good for third place in Group B. More importantly, the Stars now enjoyed a three-match winning streak as opposed to the two-match losing streak they had to start the campaign.

There's a saying that winning is a great salve. It certainly has worked wonders on the relationship between Stars manager Jim Paulsen and Schmidt. Prior to Matchday 4, the two didn't speak. After this latest victory, they were sharing a laugh in the clubhouse.

As the Nordics enjoy an off day, and prepare for an up coming match against Cassadaigua, we here at TSPN have decided to take a look at how things have stacked up thus far in this World Baseball Classic. Now, let's take a look at the groups...

Group A:

This group has been full of surprises. The defending World Champions behind a 5-0 Secristan team, the only undefeated team left in this addition of the classic? The Rockets can never be counted out though, and we predict they'll eventually rebound and take control of the group. Milchama, who have fallen behind Lovisa but won their most recent game handily are certainly the underachievers of the group, but are still the best candidate to take the third play-off spot.

Group B:

Despite their early flame out in the last addition of the Classic, the Phoenix are still in control of the group, despite having scored fewer runs than Zwangzug. Qazox taking home the group title isn't a done deal by far, and they'll have to do all they can to hold off a hard-charging Zebras squad. Finally, the Stars after a mediocre showing their first few days seem to have finally returned to form. You're kidding your selves if you think that the lack of Kate Schmidt's bat in the order didn't hurt the Stars, but they've done a good job playing catch up. If Schmidt can avoid any further suspensions, Sarzonia will be a factor in Group B.

Group C:

Here we find our beloved Nordics in first with a 4-1 record. Despite not being able to repeat the undefeated feat they had in WBC 10, they are still the strongest team in the group. However, a strong Cassadaigua squad cannot be counted out as a threat. Hell they are ahead of Taeshan, whom has been (put nicely) mediocre to this point. Liventia may well pack it in ahead of Taeshan if they can't turn things around, and do it in a hurry.

LAWSUIT FILED; TEAM REMAINS PERFECT

A class action lawsuit was filed against us last night due to our error in our last report in which we said that our next game would be against Milchama. This was inaccurate, and our game was actually against Achtervolging, and many people are not pleased with our error. Kevin Jackman, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of 257 people claims that we, “Deliberately declared that our next game was against Milchama because that would interest more people into buy a pay-per-view telecast against a country that few of us can spell and pronounce, let alone have an interest in watching them play baseball.” The lawsuit adds that our report, “is fully to blame. The news media has an obligation to correctly report the facts to the upper class, so that those who have the ability to make such purchases and no time to actually check the schedule for ourselves in our busy lifestyles, will know who are playing.” The amount of the lawsuit is 53,199 Rusas, which is the 69Rusa purchase price times the 257 people, then multiplied by three for “punitive damages.” We will be challenging the lawsuit in court with our law firm of Browne, Greene, and Whyte as we refuse to take any blame for your purchase of the pay-per-view. We do not control the ordering service, but when selecting your game, it does name the opponent, and the fact that it said Achtervolging should have clued you in that something was wrong here. Additionally, we’ve already played Milchama and the first half isn’t over yet, so why would we be playing them again? It is not known if there are more people out there other then these 257 who purchased the game because of our error, but if so and they join this class action suit or file another one, that we will defend our interest. Furthermore, we will not be firing anyone for this clerical error. This isn’t Dancougar. The Secristan Department of Sports reports that purchases were within their level of expectation for the game and Katie Simpson, our SDOS rep, says “I do not believe that your error had much effect on the purchases. When a game is ordered, our clerks at the office will always clarify what you are ordering, and in this case, a baseball game against Achtervolging. The people in the class action lawsuit are just trying to be opportunists.”

As for this game against Achtervolging, which was at home, the Millionaires cruised to their fifth victory in five games in the World Baseball Classic, making them the only undefeated team at this present time. Johnny Carpenter made his international debut and pitched very well, picking up the nine inning complete game shutout. With all the hype that surrounded the debut of 20-year old Matthew Courville, Carpenter may have been lost in the shuffle. He did not walk anyone either, and struck out 11. He allowed only five hits in the victory. The Millionaires picked up single runs in three separate innings. In the second, it was an RBI single from Eddie Forte that drove in Manny Rodriguez, who had doubled. Then it was the lead that doubled in the fourth when ManRod hit a solo HR measured at 451 feet. In the eighth, Kip Kircher hit an RBI single that scored Mick O’Rourke, who had drawn a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch earlier in the at-bat. Achtervolging seemed had no answers for any of our offense, and their batters as we mentioned were dominated by Carpenter. The first half of qualifying will conclude now at Monopoly Stadium against Steroga. That is correct, we double and triple-checked the schedule just to make sure we got that opponent right. If mentioning the nation of Steroga doesn’t excite you much as an opponent, perhaps you will be interested to know that our ace, Steve Jamison will be on the mound for this game. That should drive some interest. Steroga is 2-3, and perhaps has an outside shot at the third spot, but I wouldn’t put any money on it.

Brittany’s Space

Getting to 4-1 wasn’t easy, but we are there now and we will be closing out our first half with our most difficult matchup to this point, playing Tocrowkia on the road. Not to mention, the Nordics will be fresh having had their bye while were involved with a nail biter against Quintessence of Dust. After that game, we will have our bye, in what is really our only true bye of qualifying. When you also had one on the first day, it’s hard to really say it meant anything. I’m a little tired right now, the flight to Tocrowkia was long, and I need to catch a quick nap before we begin our practice for the game this afternoon, so I am going to be short with this. The best part about this game is that our ace Meghan Corrigan will be on the mound. She tossed a shutout over The Bye, and is ready for the significant upgrade in the caliber of opponent in which she will be facing. However, we will also have to deal with Tommy Thunder, who was named to the all-world team. We’ll be facing the heat all day and will have to take advantage of any opportunity we might get to score a run, because someone like him won’t give you much to work with. It’s also good when you face a starting pitcher like this if you get runs on them early, because once they get in their groove, it can be lights out.

The win over Quintessence of Dust was a hard fought 3-2 victory in which we rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the top of the 9th to get the victory. Julie Therrian had pitched well in her debut, going eight innings and allowing two earned runs. She walked four batters, three of the free passes being issued to Owain Meally, and each were critical. On each walk, Meally stole second, and then scored on an RBI single when they executed the hit and run to perfection. In the ninth, against their closer Jimmy Plant, we put some hits together. Plant got the first batter out, but then hits by Amanda Meyer and Deanna Hudson got us rolling. A sacrifice from pinch-hitter Stacey Kessler moved them to second and third with one out. Christina Barrett was then walked to bring up yours truly. I could see that Plant seemed a little nervous, so I was patient to wait for a pitch that I knew I could hit. I believe it was dead fastball in which I hit to left. I knew they were playing me to pull the ball, so that’s where I was trying to get it. I was able to do so, and drove in the two runs. Katie Sanderson then came in and closed the game out, getting the Quodites in order. Well, now it’s time to take a nap, so I can be fresh for practice, and then our game this evening.

MD7 cutoff, right here, right now.

Group A
Newmanistan 3-1 Lovisa
Secristan 2-1 Steroga
Milchama 7-4 Achtervolging


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 6 0 26 12 14
Newmanistan 5 1 26 14 12
Lovisa 3 3 18 17 1
Milchama 3 3 22 22 0
Steroga 2 4 13 19 -6
Achtervolging 1 5 13 22 -9
Mallatarsland 1 5 8 20 -12


Group B
Qazox 7-3 Yafor 2
Zwangzug 4-2 Dancougar
Sarzonia 4-3 Norwellia


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 5 1 25 14 11
Zwangzug 5 1 24 9 15
Sarzonia 4 2 22 19 3
Yafor 2 3 3 19 20 -1
Norwellia 2 4 13 20 -7
Dancougar 2 4 15 21 -6
Mantwenic 0 6 8 23 -15


Group C
Tocrowkia 2-1 (12 inn.) Cassadaigua
Taeshan 5-1 Quintessence of Dust
Liventia 6-2 The Bye


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 5 1 25 13 12
Cassadaigua 4 2 15 10 5
Liventia 4 2 23 13 10
Taeshan 4 2 20 13 7
Vephrall 2 4 16 20 -4
Quintessence of Dust 1 5 9 24 -15
The Bye 1 5 9 24 -15


All two-way ties sorted by H2H results between them.
3-way tie in Group C sorted by H2H between the teams: Cassadaigua 2-0, Liventia 1-1, Taeshan 0-2.

Purple Knights Win Again

we have come to the end of the first half of this years Group Stage at the World Baseball Classic. After 7 weeks of play the Knights find themselves in a 3 way tie for second. They need to find a way to crack into the top two of the tie or like know they'll be the first team on the outsied looking in. After 6 games the Knights find themselves sitting with a 4-2 record. After last night the Knights will be looking to get in some quality practice time before the next game, and the second half. They will need it if they hope to make an impact on this years tournament.

Last nights game was against Quintessence of Dust and for the second time in a row the Knights rifled off an easy 5-1 victory over a team they were far superior due to their newness to the international stage, and its pace. The Knights made easy dust of the Quincers taking a 4 nothing lead in the first with A Socki Lewis Grand Slam. The Dusters would score only 1 game the rest of the game as would the Knights on Alexander Parea solo homer so in the end it was enough to win. The Knights just really toyed with the dust pitchers and a spiked their batting averages on the day, but kept it close by hitting into two outers all game.

When the World Baseball Classic began, Sarzonian national team manager Jim Paulsen seemed to be on the verge of losing his team. He'd suspended star third baseman Kate Schmidt for three matches following a tirade and actions that could only be described as insubordination.

The suspension did not go over well with the team, as many players including shortstop Chris Spontanelli privately questioned Paulsen's decision to extend the suspension to three matches. Actually, Spontanelli went into Paulsen's office and directly questioned him on it.

"You're going to lose the team," he warned Paulsen.

After Sarzonia lost its second consecutive match to open the 11th World Baseball Classic, Paulsen began to think. He knew he had to continue Schmidt's suspension through a tough match against Yafor 2. Otherwise, he'd look weak. But he also considered unofficially continuing Schmidt's suspension through keeping her in the dugout for Matchday 4.

Had the Stars lost their third match, that would have been impossible. If the Stars were 0-3, he knew he'd have an outright revolt on his hands. If they lost that match and dropped to 0-4, he knew the next phone call he'd receive might be the one that summoned him to the office.

However, the Stars started winning. They won the final match of Schmidt's suspension, then won again when Schmidt hit a pinch hit jack that propelled the Stars to a victory over world No. 2 Qazox. Now the Stars finished against newcomers Norwellia with a 4-3 victory that gave Sarzonia a four-match winning streak. It also moved Sarzonia into the ninth position among all 21 World Baseball Classic teams.

There are still seven matchdays remaining. Sarzonia still has a tough matchup at Mountaineer Park against Zwangzug before an away fixture to newcomers Dancougar. They still have an away match to Qazox and a home fixture against Yafor 2 left to play. The road won't be easy.

At least the Stars will go in within realitic striking distance. They'll go into that stretch on a roll after Opening Day starter John Morgan threw an impressive seven innings, allowing one earned run and five hits while walking one and striking out six. The eighth inning proved to be an adventure as relif pitcher Kenny Spencer gave up two runs on four hits and a bases loaded hit batsman while only getting one out. Kerry Clark had to come in to bail Spencer out and did so by striking out the next two batters with the tying run just 90 feet away.

Alvin Dryden came in on a day when Paulsen wanted to give him the night off and threw 27 pitches, loading the bases. However, he then drew a page from the long ago book of Don Stanhouse, striking out the side to preserve Sarzonia's 4-3 victory. The crowd of 27,846 in Mountaineer Park cheered as the last strike whizzed by the final batter.

Yes, the road is long. Paulsen will likely have to hope lefty starter Charlie Palmer can guile his way through eight innings before turning matters over to Kerry Clark. But at least now he can concentrate on baseball and not a potential crisis of management.

From his seat by the left-field foul pole, Douglas squinted at the Black Wing infield. "Are they trying a shift?" Juliet Sanretour was playing a bit too close to second base.

"Stania's the best runner on the team." Ambrose nodded knowingly at the runner taking his lead off of first. "They need an extra backups in case he tries stealing."

"Sure," said an unconvinced Douglas, "or else she's looking at the third base coa-oh." Noah Trecarichi sent a line drive into the overlarge gap, and Norma Smith chased it down. Stania sprinted around second, sliding into third what looked like a fraction of a second ahead of the throw from the seats by the left-field foul pole. The Sarzonian umpire concurred. Faye Toonmay gave a hopeless shrug as she tossed the ball back to Sarah Propeado.

Leonid Kostelanetz stepped in, taking the first pitch for a strike, fouling the second one off, and taking the second for ball one. The next pitch was sent deep to left field--"I got it," Ambrose boorishly teased--before Kagami Mimeko came up with it. Stania came in to score the first run of the game.

"This is going to be a long game," Ambrose muttered.

"Yeah." Douglas glanced down at Propeado. "And it'll be even longer if Anastasia Alperin pinch-hits..."

"Maren Ruud send up Alperin instead of Pastis?"

"Okay, this is going to be a short game."

Ambrose glanced around the stadium. "Still plenty to do...there's lots of potential here."

JAMISON WINS UNEXPECTED PITCHING DUEL

The first half of the World Baseball Classic qualifying is complete, and there is just one team that was able to go undefeated: Our beloved Millionaires. At 6-0, the Millionaires have shown that they were no fluke two years ago when they advanced to the WBC Championship series and are looking to get back there once again. Steve Jamison has been a big part of that, and the ace took to the mound against Steroga this evening. There was some grumbling that the team was “wasting” a Jamison start, and that we should have skipped over him to pitch our next game, which will be in Milchama. Yes, seriously, our next game is against Milchama. An inspired Iravan Kumar of Steroga was determined to get his team a win and pull off a major upset. No one really knows right now who that third place team will be in group A, and a win for his team would have moved upstart Steroga to 3-3 and in a tie for third, which would have to be a positive step for the rookie nation. Kumar shut down the Millionaires, tossing five perfect innings, leaving the crowd at Monopoly Stadium stunned over what they were watching. The good news was that Steve Jamison was on his game as well, even though Steroga did score in the fourth inning when Prapti Subhudhi got all of a fastball that got too much of the plate. It was the only mistake that Jamison made all night, but the fans had to be wondering if that was going to hold up. Secristan finally got a hit in the sixth, but nothing else, and with the score still 1-0, it seemed as though we had an upset in the making. Someone had to step up, and with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Tim McMurtry singled up the middle. It seemed like a routine play and Kumar did not seem too bothered, but like Jamison, he was about to make his one big mistake. A fastball that got too much of the plate to Manny Rodriguez. That was very costly as the ball was rocketed out of Monopoly Stadium, measured at 465-feet to give the Millionaires a 2-1 lead. For Kumar and Steroga, that was all she wrote. Once again, the best 8-9 duo in the game came out of the bullpen and shut down the Sterogans from making any comeback effort. Michael McKeon struck out the side in the eighth, and Francisco Martinez struck out two of the three batters he would face. Our fans may have expected an easier win, but they will take this either way. It was a strong Sterogan effort, and if they play like this more often, they could have a shot at third in the group.

The Secristan Department of Sports reported sluggish pay-per-view sales for the game, and believes if it wasn’t for Steve Jamison on the mound, that sales could have hit an all-time low. This was blamed on the significant competition for the sports fans dollar from the World Cup qualifying match against Capitalizt SLANI, which was widely viewed. Katie Simpson, our SDOS rep tells us we need to look no further then that, “The competition was too great. The games were at different times, but because the soccer game was highly priced in comparison to other soccer games, those who chose to view it seemed to decide they would not add a baseball game against an unknown nation to that expense.” Secristan’s game against 3-3 Milchama will be a tough road test, and we will get to see what young Matthew Courville is made of. He made his impressive debut against Mallatarsland earlier, but the Warriors are a much stronger opponent.

Brittany’s Space

A strong game against Tocrowkia, but we were unable to win it, falling in extra innings by the score of 2-1. I think that everyone expected Tommy Thunder and Meghan Corrigan to have a pretty good pitching duel between them, and that’s what we saw. Meghan had success against their sluggers early, including the likes of Jill Haviland and Johnny Stryker. Unfortunately, Thunder was doing the same to us, and I was having a hard time facing his curveball. He gets a lot of credit for his fastball, and justifiably slow, but his curve is downright evil to batters. We got one run off him, coming in the top of 6th inning when Rachel Weston and Katie Sheridan hit back to back doubles, but they tied it right back in the bottom of the inning. The way we had contained their big bats, it was a little frustrating how they scored it. Domino Mazdrick bloops in a single, and then an another single by Kathrin Jordan, before Kitten Dyfuse brought them both in with another single. Still, Meghan was doing a great job and got out of the inning without any further damage. We hung around until the 12th inning, when Monroe won the game for them with a double that scored Dmitri Rykov, who had doubled. The hit came with two outs, and after an intentional walk to Johnny Stryker. So, it’s a 2-1 loss, and it drop us into a three-way tie for 2nd. But hey, how about that World Cup team!

We have our bye coming up, our first and only "during competition" bye, and we are excited to get the break. I think we have earned it!

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Cassadaigua 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Tocrowkia 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1x 2 5 0

WIN: Jamie Von Tipker (2-0)

A thrilling pitching duel today against the likes of Cassandaigua. Tommy Thunder & Meghan Corrigan certainly rattled sabers, raking up K after K on each others lineup through their strong stars. In fact the only runs would come in the 6th inning, when both teams finally managed to string some hits together. Thunder departed after eight strong innings, raking up 11 K's. However, his offense was unable to get him some runs so the game dragged on into extra frames. Twelve innings in all, in fact. You can bet there will be some tired eyes in the office tomorrow night, Tocrowkia.

Jamie Von Tipker was again perfect in relief, striking out four while WBC Rookie came through in the clutch in the bottom of the 12th with a game winning double that brought in Dmitri Rykov. All in all, a good competitive game, if not a tiring one. The Nordics will take what rest they can before they go up against WBC new comer Vephrall for the second time.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS KNOCK OFF LOVISA

Tundra Falls- The Rockets defeated Lovisa last night by the score of 3-1, improving the team’s record to 5-1, and continuing to show that they intend to do what it takes to defend their title. The first half is over, and Newmanistan is not in first place in the group, but who cares? The Rockets weren’t in first place at the halfway point two years ago either, proving the old adage, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Not that there is anything wrong with the way the Rockets have started their campaign. All of the Rockets wins have had varying degrees of comfort, and the game that was lost to the Millionaires was a seesaw battle that could have gone either way.

Tara Stewart, who was victorious on opening day took to the mound against Lovisa the day after she made a major announcement. Over the bye day, the 34-year old left hander announced that this will be her final World Baseball Classic. This was surprising, because she still seems to be on top form, but in her statement, Stewart told reporters that, “It’s time for me to move on and allow someone else to have the opportunity to the Empire. South Tier fans should not worry, I have no intention on retiring now, I just think there are plenty of pitchers out there who deserve this chance. I’ve been grateful for what I have been able to do, and I will look to continue and help us win back to back championships.” Most of the fans at the Proving Grounds were aware of her announcement and gave her a long standing ovation when she took to the mound to pitch. It’s not her last start, but the ovation was in response to what she has achieved thus far. The Silent Assassins of Lovisa could not solve her early, managing only a pair of singles through the first five innings. Meanwhile, Lovisa got a pretty solid start from their pitcher as well, but he was still pitching from behind because of a first inning run in which he surrendered. Brittany Wright led off the inning with a single, and managed to steal second. Then, nothing more fancy then a groundout by Jennifer Martin that moved her to third, and a sacrifice fly by Carrie Nicolette would bring her in.

The game was moving along at 1-0 for a while, until the Rockets had another breakthrough. Natalie Monroe led the bottom of the fifth off with a single, but after a fly to Conrad and a ground out to Tara Cuyler, Monroe was stuck on second with two outs and the pitcher, Tara Stewart coming to the plate. Lovisa looked as though they would get out of the jam until Stewart was able to make contact and bloop a single over the head of the second baseman and allow Monroe to score from second. It’s always fun to see a light-hitting pitcher, which Stewart is, come up and get a big hit, and she received another standing ovation. An inning later, Newmanistan struck again. With one away, Carrie Nicolette extended her WBC-hitting streak to all six games with a single up the middle, and she would score on a double by Rachel Crockett. This put the Rockets up 3-0, and the sky blue and white was surely in the driver’s seat now. Unfortunately, Stewart’s shutout bid was spoiled in the eighth when the Silent Assassins strung a few hits together to bring in a run. It was otherwise irrelevant, the threat was quickly extinguished and the Rockets cruised to the 3-1 win. Tara goes all nine, allowing one run on seven hits. She walked two and struck out ten.

Stacey Keisler will be on the mound for the Rockets in our next game, which will be in Mallatarsland. They have struggled in their return to WBC action, with a mere 1-5 record, and are at the time, not a threat in Group A. Christina Sanders was asked if she felt she would be wasting Keisler on a weaker opponent, but there is no reason not to have her out there as the following two games are against Steroga and Achtervolging. It is possible that the Rockets could then skip over Sarah Brayton to pitch Tara Stewart against Secristan, but that’s a little far down the road at this time.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 6 vs. Yafor 2

After a day off to ponder the loss to Sarzonia, Qazox came back home to face Yafor 2. A 7-3 win, sparked by a pair of 2-run HR by Angel Monks, sees the Pheonix at 5-1 and ahead of Zwangzug by only the virtute of the H2H win. The 2nd half of qualifying begins with a trip to Mantenwic, before home games against Dancougar and Norwellia. A win in all 3 games would all but assure Qazox a trip to Newmanistan.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Yafor II 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 0
Qazox 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 x 7 14 1

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Angel Monks (Qazox) 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 runs

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated ASAP! thanks)

(ooc: Congrats to the current Unoffical World Champs: Secristan for their 2nd reign and 4th game as UWC...)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Yafor 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 9 1
Dancougar 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Dancougar 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2
Zwangzug 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 8 0

"Hmmmm..." said Schwartz, making a note in his pad. "Starting Abby against Yafor 2 did not help, and switching back to Sarah to play Zwangzug also resulted in a loss. Conclusion... rotating pitchers is a useless strategy!"

"If you're going to run a weird test like that, make sure to test the variables properly!" cried Sarah.

"It doesn't seem like it's the pitching that's the problem, so much as it is our inability to produce runs," said Amber. "We have a team ERA of three. That's not bad."

"Only three?" asked Schwartz, surprised. "How will that help us all in old age if there's this many of us?!"

Amber stared blankly at him. "Do... do you even know what I just said?"

"In any case, I'll defer to Miz Dextrous since she's driven in more runs than anybody. It seems like we need to run some more batting drills," said Schwartz. "Let's take a look at our tape from the previous two games and see what we did wrong."

"But... there isn't any," replied Clarissa. "Nobody ever bothered to report on us since the bye."

Schwartz got a panicked look on his face.

"Now that you mention it," continued Norma, "I'm not sure that a comprehensive recording of any of our games even exists. I've only ever seen bits and pieces of coverage, and most of it's just us talking with coach about stuff unrelated to the game."

Schwartz's palms started to sweat. He tried to remember any reporters at the games, or cameras, or even bloggers. None came readily to mind.

"That's not really the best way to grow baseball in Dancougar, is it?" Sarah said. "If nobody knows we're playing, how can they support us? The basketball team's never done anything notable, and their coverage has been pretty bad."

At last, it made sense. Schwartz's eyes grew big, and he glanced left and right before staring into the distance. He wrung his hands and cried: "ZETSUBOU SHITA! The society that buries its failures by ignoring them has left me in despair!"

The second half begins with this RP cutoff.

Group A
Mallatarsland 0-8 Newmanistan
Milchama 5-3 (11 inn.) Secristan
Achtervolging 2-3 Steroga


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 6 1 29 17 12
Newmanistan 6 1 34 14 20
Milchama 4 3 27 25 2
Lovisa 3 3 18 17 1
Steroga 3 4 16 21 -5
Achtervolging 1 6 15 25 -10
Mallatarsland 1 6 8 28 -20


Group B
Mantwenic 1-7 Qazox
Sarzonia 2-4 Zwangzug
Norwellia 2-5 Dancougar


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 6 1 32 15 17
Zwangzug 6 1 28 11 17
Sarzonia 4 3 24 23 1
Yafor 2 3 3 19 20 -1
Dancougar 3 4 20 23 -3
Norwellia 2 5 15 25 -10
Mantwenic 0 7 9 30 -21


Group C
Vephrall 4-2 Tocrowkia
Liventia 2-3 (10 inn.) Taeshan
The Bye 0-2 Quintessence of Dust


Group C W L RF RA RD
Taeshan 5 2 23 15 8
Tocrowkia 5 2 27 17 10
Cassadaigua 4 2 15 10 5
Liventia 4 3 25 16 9
Vephrall 3 4 20 22 -2
Quintessence of Dust 2 5 11 24 -13
The Bye 1 6 9 26 -17


All ties sorted by H2H results.

((OOC: Wow...just wow...))

All right, we're not even going to bother to post a box score for this one. Seriously. It's that pathetic. Maybe it was the extra inning game, or maybe the Nordics just took one for granted for once and paid for it. But none the less they dropped a game 4-2 to Vephrall. The Nordics dug them selves in a four run hole early and could never quite come back for it. Jeanna Glaus gets the loss, and the Nordics drop the group lead to Taeshan based on H2H results.

"I'm going to ask everyone right now not to panic. This is baseball, and sometimes upsets do happen." Paul Rudolf said after the game. "There is no reason to believe we can't rebound and take the group lead again. We just need to put this one in the rear-view mirror and drive forward. Our match against QoD tomorrow will give us the chance to do just that." That's right, the Nordics will be taking on QoD in their next home game. Matthew Shaporio will get the rubber and he makes no small matter of the task at hand. "I've got to go out there and get us the win, no question. But I've been in these situations before so I understand how important it is, and how to work under pressure."

Purple Knights Get all the Right Scores

In an amzing week of baseball the Purple Knights have somehow found themselves catupulted to the group lead after many a strange occurence. In game one of the week Vephrall stunned Tocrowkia 4-2 in a shocking game. Then due to Cassadaigua's inactivity this week when the Knights pulled of the 3-2 extra inning win in Liventia the Knights were pulled even with the Nordics and because in game one between the Nordics and the Knights the Knights won, based on head to head the Knights have found a way to pull themselves from a dire fourth position to a good looking 1st position. Only time will tell if they can keep it up though.

The Knights and the Liventians kept it close as in game one. Both pitchers performed masterfully with only Knights starter Rian Willemson being taken out in the bottom of the tenth sop Willie Strava could get his third save of the season. The Liventian pitcher was in all game, although it was looking bad in the first when Socki Lewis and Alexander Parea hit back to back homers off of him. Though he seemed to settle in masterfully, and would do well enought to keep it close long enough for the Liventian offense to play some decent offense to get their two runners in. The K nights though would win it on a bad pitch which Lewis slammed over the fence in the top of the tenth. This was followed by Strava's save and the Knights final win.

When Sarzonian national team manager Jim Paulsen walked out to home plate with his lineup card in his right hand, Kate Schmidt was not on it.

It wasn't a new beginning of a suspension. It wasn't Schmidt being recalcitrant. She'd spent most of the morning on the can.

"I'm having my period," she said. "It's a bad one, too."

Bad enough that she felt woozy at the time the rest of the Stars took to the field for pre-match warmups. She went up to Paulsen and shut the door to his office.

"Skip," she said. "You're going to have to take me out of the lineup."

"Why? What's wrong? You look like you're going to throw up."

"I'm having my period, and it's a nasty one," she said. "I can't go tonight. I should be OK for tomorrow's game."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should go see the trainer?"

"I will once I'm done here."

"You're done, Kate. Hope you feel better."

That forced Paulsen to rewrite his lineup card. Gone was Schmidt. In came Bryan Carroll to play third base. When the Stars took to the field, Schmidt wasn't even in the dugout. She was spending her time with assistant trainer George Belmont in the clubhouse.

She missed a match that was anything but a tour de force for the Stars. Carroll grounded out twice and struck out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. First baseman Hank Everly's tape measure blast to deep left centre was too little, too late. The defeat snapped Sarzonia's four-match winning streak and ensured that Zwangzug won both matches against Sarzonia.

"Kate wasn't available to play," Paulsen said at the post match conference. She was a little bit under the weather. She should be fine and back in the lineup against Dancougar."

"Would you say the bye comes at a good time, then?"

"To say the least."

The television announcers of Zebra games had never achieved the fame of their radio counterparts, probably due to the former's competence. "Now batting for the Stars, number five, Bryan Carroll."

"He was the one that killed the rally last time around, right?" asked Douglas.

"Whuh?" Ambrose muttered. He was kneeling on a map of Atlantian Oceania whose northern corners were refusing to lie flat.

"On the first matchday, Sarzonia were putting something together and then he grounded out."

"Oh. Yeah," Ambrose squinted dazedly as An Blascaod Mór rolled on top of Sorthern Northland.

"Figures," said Douglas. "Who knows, maybe today he'll--" He cut off as Hedrick Wehrwein, facing his second batter, delivered a curveball. Carroll sent it down the third base line, but it was foul. "Oh and two."

"Come on." Ambrose abandoned the map and wandered over to the TV. "Bases loaded."

"Yep," Douglas nodded. Wehrwein delivered, and Carroll struck out swinging.

"Great, pitcher next."

Fred Carlton stepped up to the plate. "Sarzonia use the DH!"

"Oh. Yeah."

"Are you okay? You seem out of it."

"I'm fine!" Ambrose said. "Just...busy."

Carlton flew out to Greta Orsulak, and the would-be rally was thwarted.

"We go to the seventh, it's the Zebras four, Stars one."

The game went to the seventh. Douglas went to the couch. Ambrose went to his map. And anywhere else that the Watchers Being Conniving (or whatever they were calling themselves by then) went is a story for another time.

[OOC: Zwangzug, we use the DH in our home park. This match has been played in Mountaineer Park, which is Sarzonia's home park. The pitcher most certainly does NOT hit in Sarzonia's home matches.]

(OOC: Thanks! I will fix that when/if I get the chance--can't now.

Edit--fixed now.)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Dancougar 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 11 1
Norwellia 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 6 1

W: Propeado (3-3) 8 IP, 2 ER, 7 K

The girls were putting together a rally in the third, already up 2-0 thanks to Akiko and Juliet. Juliet had all but danced into the dugout when the second inning was over, hoping to hear Schwartz gush about her magnificent RBI single, but apparently he hadn't seen it because he was still troubled by his most recent despair. Clarissa was up with Amber and Faye already on base.

"It's as the old saying goes, 'If a tree falls into a forest and nobody's around, does it make a sound?" Schwartz asked. "Sports teams which perform poorly are sold to business men who move them someplace where people will care. Until then, they languish in mediocrity and obscurity!"

"You're just being silly," Mimeko said. "Just because nobody knows about things doesn't mean they don't happen. Things happen all the time that go unreported!"

"Without direct observation, we cannot be certain that such events transpired!" declared Schwartz. "Don't you know about quantum mechanics? If nobody sees us play, can they even say for sure that we've played? We exist as a range of possibilities. A team that's won no games. A team that's won all of them. A team that races sausage people in between innings!"

"But we've observed each other," said Sarah. "Isn't that enough?"

Strike three! Clarissa was gone for the first out of the third, so now it was up to Norma. She stepped up to the plate while Akiko waddled into the batters' box.

"Come to think of it... nobody's ever observed Akiko, have they?" asked Schwartz. "How can we even be sure there's a girl under all that equipment? Behind that mask?"

"Akiko is Akiko," replied Clarissa. "I've divined her presence from the beginning."

"Can that really be considered observation?" asked Schwartz.

"There are more dimensions to this universe than are immediately apparent," whispered Clarissa, a dull glow eminating from her eyes. "I have seen countless realities and dismissed just as many. Through our will, the universe takes shape. We are here, now. And Norma is about to drive in Amber."

With her proclamation, the crack of the bat announced a hit. A hush fell over the Norwellian crowd as Amber crossed home while Faye slid into third. That made it 3-0 and there was still just one out in the top of the third.

"Wow, that's amazing, Clarissa!" cried Joy.

Schwartz turned off to the side to sulk. "Pssh, in a game and a universe that are based almost exclusively on probability, a proclamation like that barely counts as observation."

Juliet was about to lean forward and tell Schwartz that he could directly observe her all he wanted, but thought better of it and slid back. Akiko tagged a pitch deep but it was snagged for the second out, but it was enough to bring home Faye to make it 4-0.

THE ROCKET REPORT

KEISLER DOMINATES MALLATARSLAND

Mallatarsland- It was no contest. A game that most people expected Newmanistan to win became exactly that as the team cruised to a victory over the once-stronger Mallatarsland by the score of 8-0. It brought back memories of the Rockets rout over Lurikastan in the group stage in which Stacey Keisler pitched her perfect game. She wasn’t perfect, as the home team did manage four hits off of her, but that didn’t change the dominant nature of her performance. It was a complete game shutout for Keisler, lowering her ERA in WBC 11 to 0.50. She walked nobody and sent sixteen batters back to the dugout shaking their heads after they struck out. It didn’t need to be perfect, but it was dominant.

The Mallatarsland faithful were hoping that their team could get the second half of qualifying off on the right foot. This is a nation, that despite not attempting to qualify in the last three, expects to be more competitive then what they have shown. Instead, the fans would see how far they have fallen, as a nation that was a newbie the last time they participating gave them a solid 8-0 spanking. Newmanistan was retired 1-2-3 in the first inning, but in the second the bats got going. Rachel Crockett laced a single to left, and Sarah Boland followed it up with a single of her own. Natalie Monroe was able to bring them both in with a double down the right field line, and she would advance to third on a ground out by Sarah Conrad. Up next would be Tara Cuyler, who singled up the middle to score Monroe and give the Rockets a three-run lead. Keisler would sacrifice Cuyler over to second, and Brittany Wright would bring her in with a single to make it 4-0. That’s not where it ended, as Wright would steal second, and advance to third when the catcher’s throw wound up in centerfield. Jennifer Martin kept the inning going with a single to make it 5-0, and Carrie Nicolette singled after her. Up again in the inning came Rachel Crockett who hit a ball deep to left, that would be caught to end the inning, but not before five runs had crossed the plate.

Five runs for Stacey Keisler figured to be more then enough, and with the lead, she pitched confidently. That lead would be pushed to 6-0 when Sarah Boland sent the first pitch of the top of the third over the center field fence. With Keisler sitting down Mallatarsland batters one after the other, including a stretch where she struck out seven straight, we all knew which way this game would go. The Mallatarsland bullpen did a pretty good job keeping the Rockets from extending their lead over the middle innings, but it didn’t really matter much. In the seventh inning, even that went by the boards. Tara Cuyler led off with a double, and advanced to third on a Keisler sacrifice. Then a triple by Brittany Wright and a sacrifice fly by Jennifer Martin extended the lead to its eventual final of 8-0. The only question at this point was whether or not Keisler could hold on to the shutout, and with the way Mallatarsland was whiffing at her pitches, that seemed as inevitable as the outcome. Sure enough, the game would end 8-0, and a very well played game by the Rockets. Newmanistan is now 6-1, and move into a first place tie with Secristan, who were defeated by Milchama in extra innings by the score of 5-3. Next up for the Rockets will be Steroga at home. This is a fitting and almost ironic opponent that should remind all Rockets fans in attendance of the great way in which the Empire qualified for the World Cup, at long last, since Steroga was the nation that was defeated to finish that off.

Nelson Yaschter, the coach of the football team, and admittedly not the biggest baseball fan, will throw out the first pitch. Courtney Lombardi will throw the pitches after that.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 7 @ Mantenwic

Corey Delrosario had a no-hitter thru 6 innings, but gave up back-to back doubles in the bottom of the 7th to break up the shut-out, but Qazox cruised to the 7-1 victory over Mantenwic, behind a 4-5 performance from Douglas Ellenburg, who knocked in 4 runs and was a HR shy of the cycle.

Up next is Dancougar, at Pheonix Stadium, where a sell-out crowd is expected for the game. Limited standing room only seating will be available 35 minutes before the first pitch, scheduled at 6:40 pm QST.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 7 16 0
Mantenwic 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Corey Delrosario (Qazox) 9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 1 BB

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated after MD 10)

COULDN’T WE HAVE PLAYED ACHTERVOLGING?

The perfect qualifying run for Secristan came to an end last night against Milchama on the road, falling to the Warriors 5-3 in 11 innings. Several Secristani citizens are blaming the Qazox media for the loss claiming that they jinxed us prior to the game. Secristan fell to 6-1 and Milchama improved to 4-3 in a result then can be described as somewhat unexpected, but shouldn’t be considered an upset. The Warriors are a top ten team and hungry for wins after a slow 1-3 start. They’ve done that by registered win number three in a row. The pressure may have been picked up at home because following their soccer team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup, it would be a double whammy if the baseball team failed to advance past the group stage as well. A few days ago, we inaccurately reported that we were going to play Milchama when we instead played Achtervolging, so after this game, maybe we should have played that team with the hard to pronounce name. The Secristan Department of Sports was unfazed by the loss, as Katie Simpson tells us, “We didn’t think they would go undefeated. If anything, this will make the group stage games a little more meaningful.”

We were excited about Matthew Courville’s second start, but first against a good opponent. He pitched alright, getting seven innings of work in and allowing three runs. Milchama opened up a 2-0 lead in the third, then after a Tim McMurtry home run make it 2-1 in the top of the fifth, the Warriors got it right back in the bottom of the inning. Secristan got two runs in the top of the seventh on a two run double from McMurtry, but that would be it. John Michaelson had used the top two relievers, Michael McKeon and Francisco Martinez to pitch the 8th through 10th innings, and went to Chad Jarvis in the 11th. After recording the first two outs, Jarvis walked a batter and then gave up a two run home run, a shot that gave Milchama the win. Our next game will be against Mallatarsland, whom we should beat, and then we will have our bye before hosting the Rockets.

It's time for the cutoff of MD9.

Group A
Newmanistan 5-2 Steroga
Secristan 6-1 Mallatarsland
Achtervolging 1-2 Lovisa


Group A W L RF RA RD
Secristan 7 1 35 18 17
Newmanistan 7 1 39 16 23
Lovisa 4 3 20 18 2
Milchama 4 3 27 25 2
Steroga 3 5 18 26 -8
Achtervolging 1 7 16 27 -11
Mallatarsland 1 7 9 34 -25


Group B
Qazox 5-3 Dancougar
Zwangzug 5-1 Mantwenic
Norwellia 3-2 (13 inn.) Yafor 2


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 7 1 37 18 19
Zwangzug 7 1 33 12 21
Sarzonia 4 3 24 23 1
Yafor 2 3 4 21 23 -2
Dancougar 3 5 23 28 -5
Norwellia 3 5 18 27 -9
Mantwenic 0 8 10 35 -25


Group C
Tocrowkia 6-0 Quintessence of Dust
Taeshan 4-3 Vephrall
The Bye 3-6 Cassadaigua


Group C W L RF RA RD
Taeshan 6 2 27 18 9
Tocrowkia 6 2 33 17 16
Cassadaigua 5 2 21 13 8
Liventia 4 3 25 16 9
Vephrall 3 5 23 26 -3
Quintessence of Dust 2 6 11 30 -19
The Bye 1 7 12 32 -20


All ties sorted by proper tiebreakers where applicable.

Purple Knights Win In A Close contest

Even though at the end of the game the scoreboard said the Knights had fought the players knew they had just gotten away with yet another amazing victory. Only two game this season have the Knights games not been within 2 runs, both of those game were against new teams to the sport. Everyone seems to have the Knights number this year and yet another team got close to dialing in and hitting the knockout punch. The Knights barely escaped from last nights home game with a 4-3 win over Vephrall.

The game begin with a negative ten degrre temperature. The field was sheet rock ice and the ball was going everywhere it possibly could in the windless air. No balls were going to be knocked down by a wind, but their would be know win to sail them out on that day. The Knights go lucky, down 3-0 in the 8th and 3-2 in the ninths bottom innings alexander Parea hit a ball barely over the wall in the 8th scoring Adam Menigen, and in the ninth with two strikes and 2 outs socki Lewis connected on the walk off homer giving the Knights a literally breathless win when he and fier Henris made it home in the sparching conditions.

The first pitch of the game was lined into left field. By the time Amos Robotham tracked it down, the Mantwenic shortstop was safe on first.

"There goes the no-hitter," Douglas laughed.

"Well, technically speaking...oh, I get it," Ambrose laughed.

"Yeah, Qazox managed one and two-thirds against them."

"Of an inning?"

"No-hitters. Have you been following the tournament at all?"

"Of course I have! Zwangzug are six and one, they've beaten all the lower seeds, one of them twice, and lost to Qazox, who are first seeds."

"Okay, fine, just wondering."

Ambrose stared at the television screen, seemingly irritated but more accurately wired, on-edge. He stared at it until the third inning, when Amos Robotham's double scored Noah Trecarichi and Leonid Kostelanetz. Then he got up.

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

And the next time they met, the Zebras had pulled away, winning 5-1.

"The Zebras won 5-1," said Douglas.

Ambrose shrugged. "They were so much better than Mantwenic."

"You stopped paying attention after the third inning!"

"You haven't been watching every game, either!"

"I have a job! I have a life!"

"And I have plans. Bigger than Mantwenic."

"You could have stayed and you know it. Doesn't anything we believed in matter to you anymore?"

"Of course it does." Ambrose stepped back, offended. "But unlike you, I know what we can do about it."

The New Cleethorpes Enquirer
Panic sets in as baseball hysteria grips nation

Quintessence is in the midst of a major epidemic - of baseball fandom. The tiny nation, a historical geopolitical backwater whose puny defensive capabilities have been offset only by the total absence of anyone considering it worth invading, has, according to WA Ambassador Joyce Merrywether, former National Security Advisor, suffered a greater security threat in its last 72 hours than ever before in its history as members of the missile defence station Piper Alpha took the national defence system offline so they could use the station's computers to sim a baseball game on the wildly popular Filthy Bunt game selling out of every shop in the country, while President James Dwight devoted two thirds of his second state of the union address to explaining the infield fly rule to confused members of Congress. The speech was widely hailed as his most successful ever.

Despite competition from the football World Cup, interest in the World Baseball Classic has soared, with the tiny New Cleethorpes Municipal Sporting Ground packed beyond capacity on home matches, the last two of which have seen the overflow watch the games from adjacent fields where large display screens were set up. The national domestic league, Minimal League Baseball, has seen fan interest sharply spike despite its routinely terrible standard of play, while players in the national team - even as they have sunk to second last in the division table, with little hope of making it to the playoffs - are being treated like republicans. [Domestic use only: foreign editions might use the phrase 'treated like royalty', which has unfortunate connotations in the Democratic States.']

It's not all fun and games, though. The QBS sports website has struggled to cope with the sudden demand for baseball statistics, and was deluged by complaints after ranking batters by batting average only. "What good is that?" screamed one angry emailer. Senator Rasool ur Ra'ahmah bin Siratum Mustaqeem of the Islamic People's Party publicly admonished QBS in a special Senate hearing, alledging that "the inattention to line drive percentage clearly demonstrates the racialist bias of the QBS staff". Their efforts to reddress the issue led to further problems when all 14 members of the office were hospitalised with what Doctor Leo Spaceman of the Artellius Kryager Memorial Hospital #4 called "one of the worst headfucks I've ever seen".

Several members of staff clashed over whether to use the metric "Runs Created" or "Base Runs", culminating in an inter-office battle that spilled over when members of the QBS accounts department under the influence of excessive doses of Bill James stormed the impromptu fort set up by Base Runs loyalists, viciously beating them with chair legs and daubing "DICE is not a meaningful improvement on Component ERA!" on the office walls in their blood.

Things went downhill when the website's chief statistician burst in, screaming "I don't understand the difference between GPA and OPS!" before dousing himself in petrol and running round the building ablaze. He was eventually put out by the Sudoku Editor and three photo captioners, and suffered only minor burns.

Not everyone is so happy about the situation. Prime Minister Erica Ornan dubbed the trend "a fad that is all too typical of our nation's tendency to indulge in short-term crazes", citing the widespread popularity of fad diets and constantly changing tastes in fashion. Secretary of Sport Alfred Cynus also appeared non-plussed: "Baseball - is that the one that's like rounders, but for boys?" He nonetheless agreed to play in an Executive-Congressional All-Star game, to be umpired by members of the Supreme Court (including Chief Justice Warren Warren at First Base.)

The craze is believed to have begun when members of leading sports IRC channel #balloffoot began discussing baseball, eventually reading up on Internet articles written by Yaforites and Zwangzugians. After writing a series of articles on the nation's most popular blog site, He's Had An Absolute Holocaust, the trend began to spread, and quickly the nation was engulfed.

It's still early days for Quintessential baseball, though, as evidenced by their results in the WBC, where they have lost to everyone except The Bye, and failed to ignite the tournament with any particularly brilliant displays. Some appear to still be getting to the grips with the game: "Why isn't Benicio del Toro sitting in the stands with a wry smile?" asked one confused fan. "Where are Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover?"

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Dancougar 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 8 3
Qazox 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 5 8 1

L: Propeado (3-4) 4.2 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 K

"There are plenty of other instances of things being purposefully obscured," Schwartz said. "Tourist attractions are notorious for this! The area around the hotels are cheerful and safe, but as soon as you wander off the beaten path, it's at your own peril. Run-down neighborhoods, corruption... all kept happily out of sight by vigilant governments in need of public relations and money!"

Of course, only Abby was nearby to listen to his raving, as the team was busy fielding. Sarah had gotten herself into a proper jam. With runners on the corners, she attempted to burn through one batter with an inside slider. Instead, he connected, but the ball looked like it would skip up into Juliet's waiting glove.

Except not. She misjudged the path of the ball and it bounced off of her glove and popped into the outfield. It would be ruled an error. Instead of a double play to end the inning, Qazox had two on with one out... and the score was tied.

Juliet's face was streaming tears on the inside. My precious play... coach is going to scold me now, she thought. Maybe he wasn't observing! If he didn't see it, it never happened, right? Our rosy future together may still exist in this world!

Schwartz buried his face in his hand and then looked over at Abby. She wasn't even paying attention, and was instead trying to balance sunflower seeds on her nose. There was another hit and a cheer went up as one more run came around. The next batter reached on another infield error, this time by Faye, and suddenly a one-run lead had become a two-run deficit. Schwartz turned away so he wouldn't have to watch. "Perhaps this is something that shouldn't be observed, after all..." he murmured.

Sarah managed an out but surrendered another run, making it 5-2. Having seen enough, Schwartz got up from the dugout and walked over to the mound. Sarah sighed and prepared to hand him the ball. "I suppose we could have expected this; they scored six on us last time," she said. "How are you going to get Abby out here this time?"

"Careful observation," Schwartz began, "has helped solve the problem." He motioned to the grass where a trail of candies had been carefully placed leading from the dugout to the mound. Sure enough, there was Abby crawling along and picking them up as she went.

Sarah's face twitched. "I... guess that works..." she mumbled.

The following is an excerpt from the Yaforite baseball blog Rantings on Baseball.

Good job there, boys. No really, I enjoy games where we look bad.

Well, that's a bloody great way to mess up a great outing. I mean, you've got your ace on the mound, you're coming into the game with a real shot at advancing to the next round, for the first time the nation is actually watching the national baseball team (don't get me started on how the World Cup team abandoned a formula even Septentrionians agreed was a winning one for the nonsense that they tried and failed at. I mean, Newmanistan qualifying over us? That's disgraceful), and you go ahead and throw the game in the eighth. Good-freaking-job.

It was a great outing by Gerrin Aladan. One of those outings you really wish you had again so that you could avoid screw up (LIKE LAST TIME). 7 2/3rds innings, 14 strikeouts, no walks (!?), two hits (one of which was a monstrous home run by Norwellian left fielder Edgar Morgan) and a lot of weak ground balls. He really looked in control and it's the walks number that really seems startling - Aladan's had his control issues in the past (and on the national stage), so for him to avoid walking any of the Norwellian side was really a bit of a plus for the night. At least, a plus until Rentar spoiled it all, but whatever.

Not to take away from the Norwelllians, either, of course. Isidra Alonsa was magnificent, allowing two runs in nine innings of work. She had her issues, allowing eleven baserunners in those nine innings and getting out of jams pretty much every inning, but those eleven strikeouts match up well with the previous. She was helped out by quite a display from a normally patient side - the Firebugs swung at some 27% of first pitches, quite a shameful display from a side that knows better. Yes, Alonsa was hitting her spots (throwing first-pitch strikes to all but three batters in those nine innings), but that's no excuse and one could tell that many of the side were unprepared from the break in her secondary pitches.

The offense was stymied, but not in the baserunner department. Just in the RBI one, which isn't all that bad because BA w/ RISP is nonsense anyway ("hitting in the clutch" always sounded like "hitting with a cluck" to me), but doesn't help the runs scored areas. You know, the ones that win games. Demoravin, Cleeson, and Marian all had good nights, going 2-4 with two doubles and a walk, 2-3 with two walks and a run scored, and 2-4 with a triple, a walk, and an RBI respectively. If only the guys in between had been able to get bat to the ball. It's all well and good if you're going to walk six times in a game, but if none of those walks come around to score, you've failed in your duty.

Both runs coming in the fifth, of course. Cleeson with the leadoff single, Marian with the one-out, RBI triple, and Amiordin with the sacrifice fly. That's not to say that we didn't get our chances elsewhere, but that's all that came around and, in terms of the scoreboard, is all that matters. Speaking of things that aren't on the scoreboard, how about Quintessence of Dust? That country appears to have finally caught the disease; according to an article in the "New Cleethorpes Enquirer", "interest in the World Baseball Classic has soared". Thankfully it's not stupid, uneducated interest; "The QBS sports website has struggled to cope with the sudden demand for baseball statistics, and was deluged by complaints after ranking batters by batting average only. "What good is that?" screamed one angry emailer. [A politician] publicly admonished QBS in a special Senate hearing, alledging that "the inattention to line drive percentage clearly demonstrates the racialist bias of the QBS staff".". That's great for a new nation. Hopefully their players take note - they'll get better, that's for sure.

I would recommend that QoD citizens who might read this blog note that it's not really an analysis-type-of-dealie - head over to Thinking Factory of Baseball (formerly Primer of Baseball) where I, along with some of the other statistical geeks around, chat about GB/FB ratios in relation to stadium size, look at UZR and FRAR and argue about which one is better, look at GPA, OPS, and wOBA ratios, chat about - I'm going to stop name-dropping now. Anyway, head over there for statistical chat.

I've been beating around the bush for a little while and I think it's time to come clean, at least more clean than I have been. We blew the game in the eighth, tied it up, and then lost it. I've been avoiding it, but here goes. First two guys (bottom of the order and top) get out easily. Then trouble for Aladan. Sákīs Papadópoylos doubles. Mariele Hüsch is hit by a pitch. And you have Morgan, the home-run hitter, and owner of another two fly balls, both of which should have gone out. That's it for him and the Cirad Blaze wingman Simor Rentar comes in. Don't get me wrong - I love Rentar; his fastball has glorious heat - but he's a two-pitch pitcher and I'm of the opinion that we needed something new. Maybe Validor, maybe not - it's the eighth, he's pitched a lot. I'm a fan of leftie, here, (probably Ajaran) - change it up, confuse Morgan, change his eyesight.

Anyway, Rentar pitches two strikes, a ball, a ball, and then a powerfully-hit single to score Papadópoylos. That's the tie. And, in the eleventh, there's the loss, too. It's Asmaharish, Indigar's star, but a journeyman before this year. It's clear why. A single to Binet to start the inning. Gets the next two guys (not before Binet steals a base - what is up with Asmaharish's move? It's like it doesn't exist or something. Wait. It doesn't.) and then faces a pinch-hitter. Aleksandr Karamzin. First pitch swinging, golfs it to the wall in right, and it's the end of the game. I'm not totally upset (that's a lie, I'm terribly upset), but that was just a great piece of hitting. Good pitch - low and outside - but he just gets under it and drives it to the right-center field gap.

What irritates me is that we can't shut the door. This is supposed to be an all-star bullpen, and we can't shut the door. We're stopped after five, and they just shut the door. We can't. We're a pitching side, for Ravantur's sakes, and we can't shut the door.

That's all.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 8 vs. Dancougar

Thanks to 3 Black Wing errors, 2 in the bottom of the fifth, Qazox improved to 7-1 and have all but clinched a playoff berth, as they are 2 1/2 games ahead of 3rd place Sarzonia and 3 1/2 ahead of 4th place Yafor II.

Up next is Norwellia and with a win and losses by both Sarzonia and Yafor II, the Pheonix will make the playoffs with 3 games left in the qualifiers.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dancougar 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 8 3
Qazox 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 x 5 8 1

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Kyle Bryon (Qazox) 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs, 2 doubles

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated after MD 10)

THE ROCKET REPORT

FOOTBALL ACHIEVEMENTS CELEBRATED IN WIN

Tundra Falls- Nelson Yaschter, the coach of our World Cup team who calls Cafundeu home likely never stepped on a pitching mound before. He may not even have known what such a mound was until he took the Rockets job in the middle of World Cup 45 qualifying. Though whoever gave him the crash course in pitching did a good job. Nelson’s ceremonial first pitch would have been a strike, hitting the inside corner of the plate. It was a day to celebrate Newmanistan’s first World Cup qualification. There was post-qualifying friendly against Secristan also at the Proving Grounds. Oh, the joy of the Proving Grounds, isn’t it? Kickoff of the friendly was scheduled immediately after the final pitch of the baseball game. All of the football team was on hand for the start of the game, although they were gone by the fifth inning to prepare for a game of their own.

Picking this game to celebrate their achievement wasn’t a mistake. For the opponent in which Newmanistan defeated to qualify for the World Cup was Steroga. Today’s World Baseball Classic opponent, was Steroga. Poor Steroga just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with us. You may remember back in the first half when each Newmanistanian team was due to play Steroga on the road, that the teams opted to share the same plane. Hopefully the success of the baseball team could rub off on our then 1-0-3 football team. The football Rockets won five of their last six following that.

Eventually, all the pomp and circumstance was over, even though the football players were signing autographs along the concourse for the first five innings before they went to their training session. It was time to play ball, and Rockets fans showed off their new taunt. “Ster-oh-goids!” Obviously, this is completely unfair to any of the Sterogan players, who actually appear to be very hard working and honest athletes, but with all of the hype in the Empire that steroids have gotten, the name similarities just could not be passed up. Courtney Lombardi was on the mound, and opposed by Jaival Nayak. Newmanistan fed off the emotion and got one run across the plate in the bottom of the first inning as Jennifer Martin, who had singled, was brought in on a double by Carrie Nicolette. In the second, the Rockets scored another as Sarah Conrad singled in Natalie Monroe who had doubled. Two runs in two innings with nothing that would make the highlight reel, just good fundamental baseball. Steroga got one back in the top half of the third inning on a two out single by Uttkarsh Motallzadeh, scoring everyone’s favorite baseball-playing Gandhi to make it 2-1. However, Motallzadeh was thrown out attempting to steal second base. A bit of ill-timed aggression we felt.

It stayed 2-1 until the sixth as the fans were just waiting for the Rockets to break the game open. Nayak had pitched well, but also seemed a little fortunate as the Rockets left two runners on base in each of the third and fifth innings. With one down, Carrie Nicolette found room between the shortstop and third baseman to place a single, and then Rachel Crockett reached on an infield single. With the infield at double play depth, the slow roller caught them off guard, and a high throw from Siddharth forced Gupta off the bag, which helped, too. Sarah Boland flew out to the warning track, but the runners tagged up and advanced. Steroga opted then to walk Natalie Monroe to pitch to Sarah Conrad, but Nayak was struggling, and walked Conrad as well to bring in a run. Steroga went to the pen and brought in Abihjay Patel to face Tara Cuyler, but he would not get the job done as Cuyler doubled off the left field wall, scoring Crockett and Boland. Had the runner on first been anyone other then Sarah Conrad, she probably would have scored as well. At any rate, it was now 5-1. In the eighth inning, Steroga pulled one back on an RBI-double by Pradeep Kumar to make it 5-2. Even though the Rockets traditionally keep their starting pitchers in, coach Sanders opted to go to the closer Kristen Collins in the ninth, simply because she hasn’t been used much yet. Collins shut down Steroga and saved the 5-2 win. Courtney Lombardi went eight in the win, giving up two earned runs, walking three and striking out eight.

Newmanistan is now 7-1 in Group A, and in a tie with Secristan. They are two of four teams with 7-1 records, as there is a tie in Group B with Qazox and Zwangzug also being at that mark. The Rockets will remain home against Achtervolging, a game in which Kristen Haynes will start. Coach Sanders then gave a tremendous shot of confidence her number #5 starter Sarah Brayton by saying she will take her regular turn in the rotation for the game that will follow at Secristan. There was some speculation that the Rockets would skip over her and start Tara Stewart there, but that will not be the case. Stewart will go against Milchama as planned, then the Rockets will have the off-day. Don’t expect Stacey Keisler to pitch in matchday 14 against Lovisa unless the game has meaning. While there would have been quite a bit of logic in skipping over Brayton with the way the rotation would work, Sanders says that the pitcher deserves to have her starts just like anyone else.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
QOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tocrowkia 2 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 6 10 0

WIN:
Matthew Shaporio
HRs:
Johnny Stryker 2 (5), Jill Haviland 1 (4)

Last time the Nordics faced off against QoD, the Nordics nearly no-hit them. Well, with Matthew Shaporio on the mound today they came back and completed the feat, and the second no-hitter of the Classic was born. Matthew Shaporio breezed through the line up all game long. Meanwhile his squad got him some early runs. Johnny Stryker belted a two-run shot in the bottom of the 1st, and he repeated in the 5th when he hit a three run bomb to deep right center. Jill Haviland added some insurance in the 7th with a solo-shot to left center.

But back to the story on the mound. Shaporio was truly masterful, pitching six perfect innings. Shaporio did lose Owain Meally to a questionable walk in the 7th, when the Sarzonian umprie ruled a fastball that looked to be on the inside corner a ball. The Tocrowkian crowd booed and jeered, but Shaporio shook it off and was satisfied with the fact he still was working a no hitter. He pitched all nine innings, struck out 16, and walking only the one. A truly amazing effort from the young pitcher tonight, one that won't forgotten.

BACK ON TRACK

After losing their first game of the World Baseball Classic, the Millionaires bounced back and did away with a Mallatarsland squad that seemed rather overwhelmed. Secristan is now 7-1 in the group while Mallatarsland fell to 1-7 after a 6-1 victory. A recent rash of no-hitters (two already?) and/or huge strikeout totals might make the final line of Jim Slattery not look all that impressive in comparison. The 29-year old right-hander was only able to toss a complete game. He surrendered a whole six hits and even allowed a run. He walked a batter and was only able to strike out eight. Despite not having the gaudy pitching line, Slattery was happy with his performance, “I was able to change speeds effectively and my offspeed stuff was really working tonight. I had some of their batters really baffled. They made some contact but many times were either way out in front or behind, allowing us to get a rather easy out. It’s too bad they got the fourth inning run, but I think and hope that our fans out there will be happy with my performance tonight.” We are, Jim. For the Millionaires, Manny Rodriguez did not play due to having an undisclosed injury. Sources close to the team say it may have been a slight groin pull during batting practice. His replacement, Adam Sperbeck picked him up, going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run and three RBI’s. John Fusco also added a bomb and two RBI’s in what was a complete performance from the entire team. Coach John Michaelson said of the performance, “It’s nice to see a guy like Adam be able to step up and get big hits for us. We had fifteen hits in the ball game and even though we left too many runners on base, we won comfortably. I’m not worried about the men we left on because this hasn’t been something that has plagued us much. It’s not a trend.” He was very happy with Slattery too, “This guy doesn’t get enough respect. He’s very businesslike. He’s never going to make an all-world team, or oust Steve Jamison from the top of rotation, but is very steady, consistent, and he knows his role. I’m sure that nearly every team in the World Baseball Classic would welcome Jim with open arms to their rotation.”

The Secristan Department of Sports reports that viewership of the game was moderate and within their window of expectation. “This wasn’t going to be a big money-maker, but it did good. The average bid price at the stadium was a little better then we thought it would be at 31 rusas, even though that is a low number when looking at the grand scheme of things,” said Katie Simpson, our SDOS rep. The Millionaires will have their bye now, and take on Newmanistan after it.

Cutting off RP for the tenth time this WBC.

Group A
Newmanistan 4-1 Achtervolging
Lovisa 4-6 Mallatarsland
Steroga 3-1 Milchama


Group A W L RF RA RD
Newmanistan 8 1 43 17 26
Secristan 7 1 35 18 17
Lovisa 4 4 24 24 0
Milchama 4 4 28 28 0
Steroga 4 5 21 27 -6
Mallatarsland 2 7 15 38 -23
Achtervolging 1 8 17 31 -14


Group B
Qazox 8-2 Norwellia
Yafor 2 5-0 Mantwenic
Dancougar 4-5 Sarzonia


Group B W L RF RA RD
Qazox 8 1 45 20 25
Zwangzug 7 1 33 12 21
Sarzonia 5 3 29 27 2
Yafor 2 4 4 26 23 3
Dancougar 3 6 27 33 -6
Norwellia 3 6 20 35 -15
Mantwenic 0 9 10 40 -30 E


Group C
Tocrowkia 6-3 The Bye
Cassadaigua 4-2 Vephrall
Quintessence of Dust 2-6 Liventia


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 7 2 39 20 19
Cassadaigua 6 2 25 15 10
Taeshan 6 2 27 18 9
Liventia 5 3 31 18 13
Vephrall 3 6 25 30 -5
Quintessence of Dust 2 7 13 36 -23 E
The Bye 1 8 15 38 -23 E


All ties sorted by proper tiebreakers where applicable.

Even with an extra day off between Sarzonia's home loss to Zwangzug and their fixture against Dancougar, third baseman Kate Schmidt still wasn't feeling well enough to start. Thus, Bryan Carroll again got the start at third base.

With the baseball newcomers leading 4-1 in the top of the seventh, Carroll broke a 2-for-18 slump with a single to load the bases. He looked into the dugout after taking off his shin guard and handing it to first base coach Clem Barker where he saw a wiry figure emerge with bat in hand.

Manager Jim Paulsen sent in Schmidt to pinch hit for the pitcher's spot. She waved the bat a couple of times before stepping into the batter's box, then peered out at relief pitcher Abby Lenken.

As Lenken began to get set, Schmidt pulled her right hand off the bat and thrust her arm toward the Norwellian umpire.

"Time!"

"Time!" he called out. Schmidt then made a kissing motion with her lips and a loud noise to suggest she wanted to plant a wet one on Lenkin. This confused the relief pitcher, who started to stare at Schmidt before catcher Akiko Morimoto called time and ran out to Lenkin with the ball. She stood in Lenken's sightline, then handed her the ball and ran back behind the plate.

Lenkin kicked and fired, sending Schmidt diving into the dirt with some chin music.

"Ball one!" the Norwellian umpire called out. Schmidt stood up, dusted herself off, then stepped back in the batter's box. The next pitch came in and Schmidt swung. It was a breaking ball that didn't break. Actually, it didn't break until the ball cleared the fence in left field for a grand slam homer.

Schmidt's pinch hit slam turned the game from a 4-1 Dancougar lead into a 5-4 Stars lead with one swing of the bat. Before long, Schwartz slowly emerged from the dugout and took Lenkin out of the game. He then signaled to rightfielder Norma Smith to come in and pitch the rest of the way.

The move soon proved embarassing ... for first baseman Hank Everly. He struck out swinging at a 54-mile-per-hour fastball for the third out of the inning. Fortunately for him and the rest of the Stars, they could laugh about it after the game. Kerry Clark notched his first save of the World Baseball Classic and the Stars improved to 5-3 with a victory.

When asked about Lenken's distraction, Schmidt said she flirted with the Black Wings hurler.

"Anything to give my team a little edge," she said. Before long, however, shortstop Chris Spontanelli came up behind her and slammed her face with a creme pie. Everly then sneaked behind the reporter and did the same to him.

Those are the kind of things you can get away with when your team wins.

Upset victory

Steroga pulled off what will be considered an upset by the rest of the world by defeating Milchama by the score of 3-1 and making things very tight in Group A behind the two frontrunners Newmanistan and Secristan who have pulled away from everyone else. Steroga is now only half a game outside of the third spot which could see the team qualify out of the group. His Majesty Lord Singh is most happy with the performance of the team as they are doing better then both the football and the soccer teams did. Coach Patel thinks that the team can be a sleeper in this fight for third place and beat out both Lovisa and Milchama as this win gives him and the team a lot of confidence. It was unlikely because starting pitcher Uddunath Surhato had to leave the game in the third inning after straining a muscle in the elbow of his pitching arm. Pritam Karntaka came to his aide and pitched four super innings of relief only allowing one run. The big hit for us came in the second inning when designated hitter Naman Shah hit a two run home run. In the eighth we added insurance on a double by Bhupad Kapadia that scored Pradeep Kumar who had been hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.

Purple Knights Ready For Nordics

Week 10. The second bye game for the Purple Kights. The two bye weeks have gotten the Knights ready for their two biggest games of the season against Tocrowkia. In game one held in Tocrowkia the Knights defeated the Nordics 3-1 behind some masterfull pitching. Game two is at home, and after winning game one many redict that on the icefieldas of their homeland, the Knights will be able to pull another upset and find themselves back ontop of the group with a defeat of the Nordics. The two coldest places are fighting again, and hopefully the Knights can freeze the Nordics again.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 9 vs. Norwellia

Qazox is all but assured of a trip to Newmanistan following a 8-2 win sparked by a 5 RBI day and a cycle from Qazox lead-off hitter Darren Pew. Pew lead off the game with a rare HR, just inside the left field foul pole. Pew then doubled and was stranded in the 2nd, grounded out in the fourth, and singled home a pair of runs in the sixth. Only a triple shy of the 4th cycle in Qazox WBC history, Pew slapped a deep shot that bounce off the center field wall and just managed to slide under the tag of Emmanuel Fugère and was treated to a standing ovation by the sellout crowd of 37,989, as the final two runs of the game came around to score.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Norwellia 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0
Qazox 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 x 8 18 2

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Darren Pew (Qazox) 4-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated!)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Sarzonia 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 5 8 1
Dancougar 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 8 1

L: Lenken (0-2) 0.2 IP, 2 ER (+2 inherited runners scored)

For six innings, Sarah had been superb. She was hoping to duplicate their road upset of the Sarzonians with a home win, and in the top of the seventh, it was looking good with the team up 4-1. But then came the rally. Everly singled to start the inning, which wasn't bad. But then Sarah walked Mark Dwight on four straight pitches, her normally impeccable control failing her as the umpire clamped down on pitches which hugged the extreme edges of the strike zone.

They were coming up on the bottom of the lineup, so Sarah tried to shake it off. Bryan Carroll was in a big slump, too. But Schwartz, for some reason, decided that Sarah was in trouble, so he trotted out to the mound with Abby in tow.

"You're pulling me now?!" Sarah asked. "I've got this."

"We seem to have worked ourselves into a situation similar to the one we faced against Qazox," Schwartz replied. "Given a lead but facing pressure from the favored team, we folded. Rather than repeat history, I choose to avoid it. I shall change the future by replacing you now rather than later."

"You're the manager," sighed Sarah, handing him the ball and jogging to the bench. At first, it looked good. Abby retired Dwight but gave up a single to Carroll, who broke his slump by loading the bases. But then she fanned Carlton to bring up the pitcher to bat... unless...

"That's...!!" cried Schwartz.

Kate Schmidt. Always outspoken and never one to shy away from a challenge. Two outs and the bases loaded, down by three runs on the road. She licked her chops and made a kissing motion at Abby, who turned her head sideways and raised one eyebrow, confused. She just stared at the limber Schmidt, who seemed to exude confidence with her stance.

"Time!" called Akiko, as she jogged to the mound. "Abby, what is it?"

Abby puckered her lips and made the same smacking noise that Schmidt had. "Whatsh thith mean?" she asked.

Under her mask, Akiko blushed. Probably. "That's... errr..." she fumbled. "Juliet!!" she called. The second baseman jogged over. "You've made that motion behind coach's back before... what did you mean by that?"

"I... err... ehhhh...." Juliet said, turning bright red. "Kiss, you know? Right here..." She placed her finger on her lips.

Abby smiled brightly. "Oh, I get it!" she cried. "I'm ready, now!" They all returned to their positions. Schwartz and Sarah looked on to see the results of their conference. Abby reached back, kicked her leg out, and let loose the high heat. It nearly took Schmidt's head off, and she was lucky that Akiko managed to get up and block it or all runners were prepared to scramble for the next base.

Schwartz and Sarah's jaws dropped as the umpire issued a warning. Schmidt looked unfazed. Actually, her eyes seemed to burn even brighter as she resumed her stance. "There, I've sent my feelings clearly!" declared Abby, as Juliet buried her face in her glove. "Now, then..." She uncorked her next pitch, which Schmidt eyed the whole way. She waited for the ball to do something crazy. It had to, right? It had come out of Abby's hand so slowly... no, it really was just a slow pitch.

Four hundred and twelve feet later, Sarzonia had a 5-4 lead.

Schwartz's jaw remained dropped and then he banged his head off the water cooler. "History wasn't changed!" he sobbed. "Destiny has dealt us a cruel hand!"

"I told you, I was fine!" replied Sarah.

Schwartz, with a trickle of blood running down his forehead, quickly returned to his original position with the lineup card in hand. "As I've removed you, I cannot bring you back into the game," he began. "But the players on the field can be swapped freely, yes?"

"Huh?" asked Sarah. "Yes, but I can't see how that can..."

Schwartz rose up out of the dugout. "Abby! Go switch with Norma, play outfield for a bit!"

The vein in the middle of Sarah's forehead bulged conspicuously as she started waving her arms madly, yet symmetrically. "Coach, we want them to score fewer runs, not more!" she cried. "If you were going to make a tactical change, do it properly!!"

"I've got a feeling this will work!" Schwartz said.

Well... Sarzonia did fail to score any more runs despite Schwartz rotating in various field players to pitch a few outs at a time. But the Wings were unable to come up with any more hits, either, completely losing their early form to Sarzonia's capable staff of relievers.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
The Bye 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 6 0
Tocrowkia 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 6 8 0

WIN:
Mercedes Gaunt (1-1)
HRs:
Dmitri Rykov 1 (4)

As the WBC progresses, every win is important no matter who it's against. The Nordics racked up another big win today as Mercedes Gaunt gave up just three runs, a quality start for the veteran. And though the Bye got on the board first with an RBI double, the Nordics responded soon enough courtesy of a three-run shot to left-center by Dmitri Rykov. The Nordics would score three more times and eventually won the game 6-3. The Nordics improve to 7-2 over all and are set to take on their biggest rival, Taeshan.

"It does not need to be said that we have a big road game coming up." Paul Rudolf said after the game. "But Sofie is going out there and she knows how important this in." That's right folks, the fate of Group C rests on the young shoulders of WBC Rookie Sofie Behm. "I know what I have to do, and I'm going to do it the best I can." That's that, folks. Turn in tomorrow for what is sure to be a thrilling match up.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ANOTHER RATHER ROUTINE WIN

Tundra Falls- The one thing about being the top ranked team in the world is that you can seem to just roll out wins seemingly at will. Even a game that’s closer then most, still seems rather routine, such as last night’s win over Achtervolging. The Rockets rolled to a 4-1 victory that wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring as much as it was businesslike, but a win is a win, and the team will now look towards Secristan, who looks to be the only real threat in the group, and the only team that has been able to beat the sky blue and white thus far. Of course, the level of difficulty will increase significantly once the playoffs start, unless we end up playing Taeshan. In that case, it will probably be just as routine.

It was a little chilly for baseball, with well below average temperatures this time of year for Tundra Falls, but it’s not as if we’re talking about typical Taeshani weather. Kristen Haynes was on the mound and had things on cruise control for much of the afternoon, allowing only five hits as another Rockets pitcher record a complete game. Three of those five hits came in the seventh inning, in which Achtervolging was able to put three singles together and manufacture a run. At that point though, Newmanistan was well in front by the score of 4-0, and once that threat passed with just the lone run scoring, the statisticians were ready to add another one to the win column for our team. The Rockets got on the board immediately, scoring a run in the bottom of the first when Jennifer Martin singled in Brittany Wright. Wright had drawn a walk (a big no-no to any pitcher listening), and made it a three base walk by swiping two bases. In the second, another run for the Rockets was put on the board as Sarah Conrad singled in Natalie Monroe, who had a double. Another run in the third, and it was that Brittany Wright person again, as she blooped a one out single and stole second. She was on her way to stealing third, but as Jennifer Martin hit a single to right, she was able to score on the play. Three innings in the book, three innings with the Rockets putting a one on the scoreboard. In the sixth, came another single run, this on a long drive off the bat of Natalie Monroe that cleared the left field fence by about 25-30 feet, easily. The blast was later measured at a 444 feet, fitting for the eventual final score.

All in all, it’s another day at the office. Newmanistan takes care of business and improves to 8-1, and are now ½-game ahead of idle Secristan. Tomorrow we will have a first place showdown between the teams, which will have some importance, because the winners of the groups are automatically seeded first through third, and the winner of group A figures to be looking at no worse then a two seed at the moment. Sarah Brayton is on the mound for the Rockets, with the Secristani pitcher yet to be announced. They mentioned in one past report that it would be a Jamison start, but according to our schedule, it would not line up that way, so we’ll have to get clarification from them. He would be going on three-days rest since they had the bye, so it may be their intention.

http://www.natlenq.co.len/sports/wbcxi/blog_adams/

A blog by former Orean Shockers closer Jerome Adams on the 11th World Baseball Classic, at which Liventia is participating. Adams is writing for the National Sports Enquirer on all things Liventian baseball.

One wonders what exactly we'll have to do to get out of this tough, tough spot we find ourselves in. At 5-3 our record is hardly poor, but as of right now it's not good enough to see us through to the quarterfinals. While Liventia has the 8th best record in this WBC, Group C is arguably the most competitive and as of now 5-3 is only good enough for fourth in the group, not good enough to qualify.

Here's the thing, though. Only once all Classic has the Liventian pitching staff combined to give up more than three runs, which came in a 4-3 extra-inning loss to Tocrowkia. That also means all four starting pitchers on the Liventian staff have two quality starts each. And all four starters hold earned run averages under 3.00 (and three of them have sub-2.00 ERAs) and WHIPs under 1. That's impressive.

Let's look at some statistics regarding our starters. Ace Ben Nichols threw a complete game against Taeshan allowing three and then tossed a gem of a complete game no-hitter against Vephrall, tarnished by two walks and an error by Wade Purglove. That's a 1.50 ERA with a WHIP of 0.33, which is rather impressive, most people would say.

Patrick Stephenson, the impressive southpaw who pitches for Ad’ihan's Olympique Protectorat Baseball, followed Nichols in throwing two straight complete games, allowing just three earned runs for a 1.50 ERA. His total domination over Quintessence of Dust in a 4-1 win and over The Bye in a 6-2 victory saw him rack up a WHIP of 0.44.

Matty McDonald might've taken the loss against Cassadaigua on Matchday 3 but given that two of the three runs came home unearned after a two-out error, one could hardly call that a poor outing. McDonald then went nine innings against Taeshan allowing two runs — only to see Sean Nelson lose the game in the tenth on a two-run home run. Nine walks and hits, and three earned runs, in his two outings means McDonald holds an ERA of 1.72 and a WHIP of 0.57.

Then there's Oliver Todd. Todd struggled early in his first start against Tocrowkia, but held on for eight strong innings of three-run, six-hit ball. And in the team's most recent victory, Todd helped his own cause by smashing a grand slam home-run — the first ever by a Liventian pitcher in international competition — in the sixth against Quintessence of Dust in a 6-2, four-hit no-walk complete game. When even the team's fourth starter holds an ERA of 2.65 and a WHIP of 0.59, starting pitching clearly isn't to blame.

In fact, the four starters have a combined WBC 11 record of 5-1, an ERA of 1.83 and a WHIP of 0.48.

And consider that Liventia has scored the second-most number of runs in Group C — 31 — you can't look at the offence either. Quite clearly Mike McKay needs to take a long, hard look at the bullpen, which while being used only sparely in this Classic has already lost two games for the team.

Missing out on the quarter-finals would be a big shame for the team ranked 8th in the world, and would probably also drop them further down the rankings. Even worse would be the knowledge that teams with worse records than them qualified for the playoffs simply by being in easier groups to overcome.

Mike McKay's unlikely to use that as an excuse though. He knows he needs to shore up his bullpen, as do most of the Liventian coaching staff and every single sofa coach at home.

Team ace Nichols (2-0) takes to the mound tomorrow against Cassadaigua (6-2) in a must-win game at Shocker Stadium, as a loss would in all likelihood make qualification hopes even smaller. Let's just hope Nichols dominates on the mound tomorrow — I wonder what the odds are on a third straight complete game...

WBC 11, RP Cutoff 11.

Group A
Secristan 1-2 (14 inn.) Newmanistan
Milchama 4-3 (11 inn.) Lovisa
Mallatarsland 1-3 Steroga


Group A W L RF RA RD
Newmanistan 9 1 45 18 27 Q
Secristan 7 2 36 20 16
Milchama 5 4 32 31 1
Steroga 5 5 24 28 -4
Lovisa 4 5 27 28 -1
Mallatarsland 2 8 16 41 -25 E
Achtervolging 1 8 17 31 -14 E


Group B
Zwangzug 5-2 Qazox
Sarzonia 0-1 Yafor 2
Mantwenic 1-4 Dancougar


Group B W L RF RA RD
Zwangzug 8 1 38 14 24
Qazox 8 2 47 25 22
Yafor 2 5 4 27 23 4
Sarzonia 5 4 29 28 1
Dancougar 4 6 31 34 -3
Norwellia 3 6 20 35 -15
Mantwenic 0 10 11 44 -33 E


Group C
Taeshan 1-3 Tocrowkia
Liventia 6-2 Cassadaigua
Vephrall 3-4 Quintessence of Dust


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 8 2 42 21 21
Cassadaigua 6 3 27 21 6
Liventia 6 3 37 20 17
Taeshan 6 3 28 21 7
Vephrall 3 7 28 34 -6 E
Quintessence of Dust 3 7 17 39 -22 E
The Bye 1 8 15 38 -23 E


Tiebreaker Notes:
Sarzonia-Yafor 2 Group B: H2H split; therefore comes down to run differential.
H2H amongst teams in 3-way tie in Group C: Cassadaigua 2-1, Liventia 2-2, Taeshan 1-2 (CAS & TAE will play in MD12)
Vephrall-Quintessence of Dust: H2H split; therefore comes down to run differential.

Kate Schmidt had gotten used to being the lightning rod of attention for her team. From her controversial suspension to her pinch hit heroics, Schmidt has lived a World Baseball Classic that has made her almost bigger than the rest of the team.

She experienced the dark side of that attention in last night's match against Yafor 2. She booted a routine ground ball that allowed a fleet Yaforite runner to reach first base, then threw an attempt to retire that runner into center field past a sprawling shortstop Chris Spontanelli. The run scored on the play, resulting in the only run for either team as Yafor 2 defeated the Stars 1-0 in front of a disappointed 30,178 at Mountaineer Park in Clyburn.

The Woodstock Mountaineers home field creaked with something akin to disapproval when Schmidt, the final hope for her team, struck out looking at a breaking ball from the Yaforite closer. She went 0-for-4 and as she started removing her batting gloves, she heard a scream from an outraged fans.

"Girls shouldn't play baseball with guys!"

She was used to boos. She had accepted her lot in life as the most controversial Stars player. It came with the territory. But sexism did not. After all, she was the best third baseman Sarzonia had to offer. She knew Manager Jim Paulsen didn't have her on the team, let alone in the starting lineup, if she weren't. She also knew her team had her back, as was evidenced when first baseman Hank Everly emerged from the dugout.

"Shut up!" Everly bellowed at the fan. He then climbed into the stands and directly confronted the miscreant.

"Say that again to my face you snivelly little motherfucker," Everly said, towering over the 5-foot-8, 165 pound ragamuffin with his 6-foot-3, 205 pound muscular frame. To prove his point, Everly then grabbed the kid by his shirt and pulled him high into the air. Meanwhile, Paulsen contacted ballpark security, who were fast on their way to the scene.

"I said, say it to my face you snot-nosed punk!" Everly said. By that time, security arrived. When he saw them, Everly simply dropped the kid, who staggered backward into a seat.

"What's going on here?" the lead guard, a 5-foot-11, 185 pound man with arms of steel and stark blue eyes to match said, looking at Everly. By then, Paulsen arrived with Schmidt.

"This ... individual made a sexist remark to Kate Schmidt," Everly said, trying hard to restrain himself from beating the punk to within a millimetre of his life.

"Is that true, sir?"

"Uh," the unruly fan began before noticing Everly's scowl and the other two guards positioning themselves between the first baseman and the fan. "Yeah, I did."

"And why is that?"

"Girls shouldn't play baseball," he said.

"Really?" the guard said. "I'll have you know my daughter is all district at Robert VI High School. She's pitched to a 0.78 earned run average and has won all 12 of her games. She can also throw a fastball that some of these guys can't catch up to.

"I suggest," he continued. "That you not come back to Mountaineer Park or attend any Stars matches from here on out. In fact, I can have a court order within the next 10 minutes. If you agree to leave and not come back, we'll be done here. But if you break that vow, you'll have far more problems on your hand than an angry first baseman. Capisce?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now follow me."

The other two guards surrounded the punk kid as the lead guard put his right hand on the kid's right shoulder. Schmidt would soon have to answer to her committing both Sarzonian errors, leading to the lone Yaforite run. She'd have to answer to making a hard luck loser of Brad Badger. She'd have to answer for her oh-fer at the plate.

It was the dark side of being a celebrity. Now she realised full well that she'd have to live with the bad as well as cherish the good.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 0
Taeshan 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0

WIN:
Sofie Behm (1-0)
Save:
Jamie Von Tipker (1-0)
HRs:
Johnny Stryker 1 (6)

The score is deceptive of what ended up being complete and total domination of the Purple Knights in their second meeting. Ironically, the score was the same as the first time, only reversed. But with Sofie Behm on the mound and the fate of the entire division up for grabs, the young woman showed no fear and instantly struck out the side in order after the Nordics were set down. She cruised through out the affair, intimidated by nothing the Knights through at her. "I don't care about their history, or how good they supposedly are. I'm going out there and doing my job." Behm said before the game. And did she ever. She struck out 10, including striking out Socki Lewis not once, not twice, not three times, but four! That's right people, Lewis will be wearing the sombrero till his next at bat.

Now on the other side of the ball was The Catalyst, Johnny Stryker. Even before the game some groups had given him the nick name "Knight Killer" for his stellar performance. "I eat Taeshan pitching for breakfast." Stryker boasted. "Oh, and hey you know what? For every hit I get tonight, I'm going to donate five million Assairugrads to a Taeshani charity of Jamie Stewarts choice." He added. Stryker had a 498+ ft monster shot that scared thge upper decks in right. With a big grin, the Catalyst mockingly pointed at the Purple Knights pitcher and applauded his blast. Next time up he again unloaded one into the gap and brought home Jill Haviland, who had doubled and Stryker got on his horse to third. Stryker pumped his fist in the air and again had some words for the pitcher, but was ordered to cool it before things got out of hands.

Next time up, Stryker lined one down the left field line showing just how good he is to any side of the field, and Stryker ended up at second with a double. Were we seeing something special brewing for the Catalyst once again? We'd have to wait a few more innings to see, but yes, we were. Next time up he worked the count full and...squared around! A bunt to Alexander Parea! Tough play, he scoops it up and...no! Stryker's safe at 1st and he had just batted for the cycle. After the game, Stryker had this to say.

"Well, Stewart's got his money. I hope he puts it to good use. Oh, and I'm gonna go ahead and give the Purple Pansies...oops! I mean Purple Knights pitching staff each an autographed baseball card of yours truly." Stryker then turned to the Taeshani dug out and mockingly saluted. "Ciao, losers." And after going back to his hotel room, Stryker made good on his promise and transferred the 20 million assairugrads to Stewart's bank account, to donate to any charity he so wishes.

((OOC: All right, that's enough cycles and no hitters from me, I swear. But seriously, I was always planning on Stryker batting for the cycle eventually, so when Qazox did it I felt like he had beat me to the punch. :p ))

Purple Knights Burned

It is their third loss of the season. I myself think we should have one but some jerk by the name of Johny Striker likes to hit the ball for Tocrowkia so know we find ourselves in fourth in the Group and on are way to make it our first ever no advancement out of the Group Stage. Socki Lewis was struck out 4 times on the day, but Alexander Parea kept them from being shutout by taking a 9 sum mile per an hour pitch over the left field fence and into the screaming fans. In the end though the Knights lost at home and know need to hope they can perform miracles.

Arlington Moon-Tribune
Zebras take group lead

The Zwangzug national baseball team moved to the top of Group B after defeating Qazox 5-2. They now have a half-game lead over the Phoenix, who have not yet had their second bye.

Zwangzug scored first, with Ken Schlemmer singling in Leonid Kostelanetz, but the Pheonix took their only lead of the game when Angel Monks' booming double scored Herman Doane. The Zebras tied it up, however, when Greta Orsulak drove in Marvin Stania (who had walked and stolen second). There was more to come; after Noah Trecarichi reached base, Kostelanetz homered off a poor Glen Barter changeup. Barter made way for Brian Rescovich, who kept the score there; Tristan Gronosky pitched seven innings and earned the win for Zwangzug, avenging the team's only loss to date.

Maren Ruud noted afterwards, that the group was far from settled, with only winless Mantwenic eliminated so far, but described the performance as encouraging and of the quality she expected later on. The starting lineup hasn't seen much alteration so far, though Alison Minium did remain in yesterday's game after pinch-hitting for Gronosky. With Brigid Hoefflin expected to retire relatively soon, Minium could be a breakout performer in a position where, Eric Steen's contributions to the WBC 7 title notwithstanding, to say nothing of Don Abuanza's Olympic...

...never mind.

And Anastasia Alperin is seeing about as much action as Marco Erewhon...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Dancougar 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 4 9 1
Mantwenic 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1

Dancougar's Three Stars
1. Sanretour 3/5, 1 R, 1 RBI
2. Propeado W (4-4), 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
3. Voint 1/3, 1 HR, 1 BB

Sarah stared intently at the dugout with squinted eyes, her forehead vein starting to pop out whenever Schwartz stirred in his seat. He was trying to be a manager with confidence in his pitcher, but dammit, wasn't this the same situation as the past two games?! Mantwenic were down 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, but they'd started the inning with a pair of hits to put runners on first and second with none out.

Schwartz's head was screaming to make a pitching change. History was going to repeat itself! Sarah gritted her teeth and almost growled at him, and with a start, he shifted back to his original seat and crossed his legs, whistling casually. Abby was sitting, oblivious, at end of the bench making an assortment of faces at a wallet-sized photo of Kate Schmidt.

It's a well-established trend that we'll surrender the necessary runs within the new few innings, most likely all at once, Schwartz thought. Or is that just exaggerated because there are so few games played in the qualifying stage as opposed to a regular season? Nobody bats an eye at a two-game losing streak. Those are almost expected.

A strikeout by Sarah. One down.

Schwartz hunched over and held his head in his hands, still thinking. "To lose in the same fashion two games in a row, though, in a short season such as this... perhaps this is significant. As significant as a cycle or a no hitter... and wait, these have also occurred! The rarity of these events has not precluded their happening."

A pop up that advanced the runners to second and third, but a long throw by Norma held the runners. Two gone.

He looked up at Sarah, who must have sensed his line of sight, because she immediately turned to face him. Clarissa gulped, as she could sense a dark aura surrounding Sarah. The spiritual flames leapt higher and burned darker with each moment, and Schwartz turned away again as if nothing was wrong. But he was sweating bullets.

"Indeed, the non-zero probability of any event means that they must not necessarily occur, but rather that they must not not occur!!" He stood from the bench and planted a foot firmly outside the dugout. Sarah, paying him no attention, burned the batter for a second strike. "Yes, specifically because there is nothing to stop us from not surrendering four runs in this inning to once again lose the game, I cannot simply sit by and allow the improbability of the event prevent me from acting against it!" He pointed dramatically at Abby and clenched his other fist. "ABBY!"

"Strike three, batter's out!" The crowd moaned as the chance to crawl back into the game was squashed. Sarah jogged to the bench and gave Schwartz a pat on the shoulder as she passed. He was standing in the same pose with an embarrassed look on his face.

Brittany’s Space

The daily routine of the World Baseball Classic can really take a lot out of you. Every day you have to look at new opponent with new pitchers to study and be ready to be at top form. It’s been a little bit now since I last gave you an update on what is going on with the team, and I apologize for that. We’ve been in pretty high spirits during the second half as we rolled off wins against two of the weaker teams in the group from The Bye and Vephrall. The win against Vephrall was pretty important, because they had beaten us already, and they had caught Tocrowkia off guard as well. Even though they are not doing good as a whole, they have shown the ability when they are on top of their game to be able to beat anyone. From there, it looked as though we were cruising a little bit and we got a reality check at Shocker Stadium, falling to Liventia by the score of 6-2. The loss dropped us back into a three way tie with Liventia as well as Taeshan.

We always try to say we are just as or more prepared for a game then our opponents are, but it was clear today that Liventia was far more ready to play. They jumped out of the gate quickly with their two first innings runs, and added another in the second and fourth to immediately put us in a 4-0 hole. Stacey Franklin, who tossed a shutout in her debut against Taeshan, did not have the break on her curve that she needs too, and Liventia was able to take advantage of that. She only went those four innings before we opted for reliever Brittany Marshall, who did a fantastic job. Ben Nichols is the ace of the Liventia staff, and was coming off a complete game no-hitter against Vephrall, with an impressive WHIP of 0.33. We got to experience first-hand how he’s managed that, as we only got two hits in the first five innings. In the sixth, we made him and Liventia have to briefly sweat it out. He got the leadoff batter, but then Christina Barrett and I hit singles, and we would score on a double by Rachel Weston. Katie Sheridan then got a single and he walked Elizabeth Murray to load up the bases. Then came that amazing diving grab by Wade Purglove, who then simply had to flip the ball to the shortstop covering second to double up Sheridan. Little did we know then that we weren’t going to have another baserunner for the rest of the game. Nichols shut us down and went the rest of the way. Liventia picked up two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to put us away for good. Now we look towards Taeshan in a critical game for us. A loss there can put us in a hole as we still have one more game against Tocrowkia as well.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 10 @ Zwangzug

Zwangzug took a 1/2 game lead atop Group B over the Pheonix, when Leonid Kostelanetz lifted a 2-run HR over the left field wall on a 3-1 Glen Barter changeup, that broke up a 2-2 tie in the 5th inning.

The loss prevents Qazox from clinching a playoff berth, though they only need a win in either one of their final 2 games. Next is a rematch against Sarzonia, who had handed the Pheonix their only other loss of the tourney.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0
Zwangzug 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 11 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Leonid Kostelanetz (Zwangzug) 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 Runs scored

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated next after the qualifiers are completed)

((OOC: LOL. Three no hitters and two cycles all ready.))

(ooc: Well when only 6 or 7 teams consistantly RP it tends to happen)

(OOC: I’m going to stay the Jamison pitched as you had mentioned he would way back when even though I don’t have it lining up that way, although I can see how it could work).

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS CLINCH QUALIFICATION

Amherst, Secristan- There was nothing routine about this one, but after fourteen innings of seeing great pitching, it would be Newmanistan sending the home crowd away disappointed. However we are certain that the game was well worth the amount of money they bid for their seats. Not backing down from a pitching matchup that would see us face Secristani ace Steve Jamison, coach Christina Sanders showed tremendous confidence in #5 starter Sarah Brayton. Her teammates all backed the decision, and Sarah was honored for the start. “I’ve been skipped over a couple times in the past two World Baseball Classics, and in the playoffs been put in the bullpen. I can always accept that, but here when they could have gone to Tara Stewart, and where it may have been more logical to go with Tara Stewart to set up our playoff rotation, they gave me the ball anyway. A little thing like that meant a lot to me.” Brayton said. Of the move, coach Sanders declined to call Brayton a #5 starter. “We have no #5. We have a 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E,” said Sanders, tossing out a cliché, but we’ll accept it.

Sarah Brayton was pumped up for the game, and maybe a little too excited when she walked the first batter she faced. Not to worry, on a perfectly timed pitchout, Sarah Conrad threw out Jason Carlin attempting to steal second. Such a subtle little thing in the grand scheme of things, this play seemed to settle Brayton down quite a bit. The Millionaires did not get a hit until the fourth inning when Tim McMurtry smacked a double off the left field wall. Though that particular pitch was hit hard, the next batter, WomanRoid, hit a lazy fly ball to shallow left-center, reeled in by shortstop Tara Cuyler. On the other side of the field, Steve Jamison was also pitching well. The hard throwing left-hander was giving our batters fits, including making Carrie Nicolette look bad twice. He seemed to enjoy that, because if you recall the brawl between our teams on MD1 of WBC 10, it was an incident between Nicolette and Jamison that ignited everything. Jamison’s strike out of Nicolette in the fourth concluded that inning, and he made a few extra fist pumps. Nicolette noticed, and pointed her bat at Jamison and lip-readers tell us that she said, “It’s not over asshole!” to him. In the top of the fifth, Jamison’s first pitch to Rachel Crockett forced her to duck out of the way of the high heat. The Sarzonian umpire looked carefully at Crockett and Jamison but saw that Rachel had no real reaction to it, so he did not respond. The next pitch to Crockett got sent a long way, 438 feet over the right field fence to put the Rockets up 1-0. In the dugout, Crockett and Carrie Nicolette underwent an elaborate fist pumping home run dance to celebrate. Coach Sanders was the one who broke it up. Jamison surrendered hits to Sarah Boland and Natalie Monroe, but they were mere singles, and he would eventually get out of the inning.

After the inning, the home plate umpire went over to the Newmanistanian dugout and ordered them to “cool it”, and then went over to the Secristani dugout and did the same thing. By now, WBC officials are aware that they need to keep the emotions of these not only bitter international rivals, but regional rivals in check, and the Sarzonian crew was right on top of it. Sarah Brayton was having too much fun to get involved in all that. This was her game and about showing what she could do, and because of this, the tension that was starting to build, would simmer down. She got out of the sixth, and then the seventh with minimal troubles, and the Rockets still were holding the 1-0 lead. Jamison was aware that the next aggressive mood by a pitcher needed to be by Brayton, or else he would surely get tossed, so he too, refocused on the matter on hand. In the eighth, with one away, the #8 batter, Eric Beaudoin blooped a single to right, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice by catcher Kip Karcher. Up now was Jason Carlin, and Sanders and Conrad went to the mound. “Do you wanna walk him?” was the likely question. Brayton shook her head no. They went for Carlin, who would line a double down the left field line to tie up the ball game. It was a frustrating turn of events for Brayton, who had dominated.

After nine innings of play, the score was still tied at one, and both starters had made their way to the showers. Had this been in Newmanistan, Brayton undoubtedly would have received a very loud standing ovation for her effort. Francisco Martinez worked the 10th and Michael McKeon the 11th and 12th for the Millionaires, and they got the job done. Kristen Collins threw the 10th and 11th with Erica Darby tossing the 12th and 13th for the Rockets, and they also were fantastic. Nicholas Gillette worked the 13th for the Millionaires, before they turned it over to Randy Feinman for the 14th. DH Caitlin Peters, 0-for-7 in the game to this point, singled to lead the inning off. Arguably the second fastest player on the team behind Brittany Wright, Peters stole second. Newmanistan then played small ball. Wright sacrificed her over to third, and then came a suicide squeeze. Jennifer Martin laid down the bunt perfectly, and Secristan had no play but to go to first. With the lead, Newmanistan looked to Christine Stafford to finish it off, and she would.

With the victory, Newmanistan improves to 9-1 and becomes the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals. The Rockets have announced changes to the rotation now as to not use Stewart and Keisler in pointless games. Long reliever Lauren Tippett will start tomorrow against Milchama. The Rockets then have a bye and then will pitch COURTNEY LOMBARDI against Steroga. She will be on three days rest. This will then free up Tara Stewart and Stacey Keisler to be able to go in games one and two of the quarterfinals and not have to do so on shortened rest. If a third game is necessary, Lombardi will NOT be put back out on three days rest. Instead, #4 (or 1D) pitcher Kristen Haynes will get that start.

(OOC: That’s right Jamison pitches. It’s three days rest and this game is/was just a bit more important then the Lovisa game).

MILLIONAIRES LOSE WHILE WORKING OVERTIME

For a while, it looked as though emotions may boil over. Steve Jamison had been engaged in a pitching duel with Sarah Brayton who seemed to be at least partially motivated to show that she could do things the more well-known Rockettes pitchers could do. There is a rivalry here as everyone knows, and the players at the forefront of this rivalry are Steve Jamison and John Fusco for us and Carrie Nicolette and Sarah Boland for them. As Jamison got Nicolette to look stupid swinging early at an offspeed pitch it pumped him up as it is always nice to make a big rival look bad. Carrie took exception to this like the whiner she is, and pointed her bat as she walked back to the dugout and said something. Why she would do this when Jamison had just made her look foolish is beyond us, but Carrie Nicolette is the biggest baseball playing crybaby in the world. Though of course, she will openly taunt people when things go her way. When Kate Schmidt blew that kiss to the Dancougar pitcher, she probably remembered how Nicolette did the exact same thing to Jamison after she hit a home run, which in turn had Steve aim for her head in her next at bat. Jamison may have been going for Rachel Crockett’s head in her first at-bat of the fifth inning, but we don’t know for sure as Steve does like to bring the brush-back pitch out of his arsenal quite often. On the next pitch, Crockett got the better of him with a solo shot, which led to a ridiculous dance in the Rockets dugout between Nicolette and Crockett that even their own manager needed to break up. What needed to happen for this to develop into a bigger brawl was for Brayton to throw at someone too. However, she was too afraid of the big bulky men in which she was pitching too to try such a thing and nothing more came of anything. Getting back to baseball, the Millionaires showed their resiliency by tying the game up at one in the eighth inning as Jason Carlin picked up a clutch RBI single. Afterwards, Newmanistan prevailed in the battle of the bullpens, winning by use of the squeeze play (one of the most exciting plays in baseball) in the top of the 14th. The Millionaires had no response in the bottom of the inning.

The Secristan Department Sports announced that it will be selling “Nicolette is a baby” merchandise in the next home game which is tomorrow against Lovisa. If you can’t make the game and wish to buy something online then feel free to go to our website or the SDOS website. Jerome Young of Ocala put together a brilliant T-shirt picture showing Carrie Nicolette and Kate Schmidt blowing kisses, and underneath the caption: Lovers? Fitting, as Schmidt is probably the second biggest crybaby in baseball. Missing a start because it was her time of the month? Never heard that being a problem for any Cassadagans. The level of purchases for the game was fantastic, and the average bid per seat was 155 Rusas, a high number, although average for showdowns on the diamond with the Rockettes.

" 'And in the morning comes...
No one does it like you...' "

"Turn off that racket!"

"It's Department of Eagles"

"Shut up"

"Why?"

"I don't know"

"Ok then"

" 'And in the morning comes...
You don't need to ask an alibi...' "

"So even with that racket how about them Warriors?"

"They suck, they didn't even qualify for the World Cup, crap team all around"

"No the other Warriors"

"Who?"

"The baseball team"

"They still have that WBC thing."

"Yeh"

"Who do we send?"

"Mostly AAA guys and other nobodies to give other teams a chance"

"Good for us, it's nice to win all the time but after 3 in a row just winning all the time would become boring"

"Exactly, so we let others have a chance"

"Yep"

"Anyway how are our scrubs doing?"

"Not bad 5-4 and in third place"

"Really?"

"Yeh"

"That's pretty good, how many teams advance?"

"3"

"Right on the cusp"

"Yeh"

"So then let's hope they can advance and Milchamian sports don't suck as much as we think"

"Yep"

"Come on you Warriors!"

Nichols pitches unprecedented third straight complete game

OREAN— Ben Nichols, Liventia's World Baseball Classic 11 pitching ace, set a new national team record yesterday when he pitched his third consecutive complete game in the team's 6–2 defeat of Cassadaigua.

Nichols allowed two earned runs on six hits and one walk and was backed up by the offence providing two runs each in the second, fourth and eighth innings, improving his WBC 11 record to 3-0 and the team's overall record to 6-3.

Nichols' earned run average worsened 17 points to 1.67, while his Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched ratio rose to 0.48 from 0.33, still very impressive in any starter's books.

Currently third in the group and tied with Cassadaigua and Taeshan, who play each other on Matchday 12, Liventia know they will remain third for at least one more matchday regardless of their result away to group leaders Tocrowkia, as they have a substantially better run differential than both Cassadaigua and Taeshan.

Patrick Stephenson (2-0, 1.50 ERA) takes to the mound in Tocrowkia, where he will bid to follow Nichols' footsteps by pitching a third straight complete game. If he succeeds, he will pitch the Liventians' eighth complete game this Classic.

And the beat goes on.... MD12 cutoff

Group A
Newmanistan 5-3 Milchama
Secristan 4-0 Lovisa
Mallatarsland 4-2 Achtervolging


Group A W L RF RA RD
Newmanistan 10 1 50 21 29 Q
Secristan 8 2 40 20 20 Q
Milchama 5 5 35 36 -1
Steroga 5 5 24 28 -4
Lovisa 4 6 27 32 -5
Mallatarsland 3 8 20 43 -23 E
Achtervolging 1 9 19 35 -16 E


Group B
Qazox 3-4 (10 inn.) Sarzonia
Zwangzug 6-2 Yafor 2
Mantwenic 3-2 Norwellia


Group B W L RF RA RD
Zwangzug 9 1 44 16 28 Q
Qazox 8 3 50 29 21 Q
Sarzonia 6 4 33 31 2
Yafor 2 5 5 29 29 0
Dancougar 4 6 31 34 -3
Norwellia 3 7 22 38 -16 E
Mantwenic 1 10 14 46 -32 E


Group C
Tocrowkia 4-2 Liventia
Taeshan 2-1 Cassadaigua
Vephrall 5-1 The Bye


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 9 2 46 23 23 Q
Taeshan 7 3 30 22 8
Liventia 6 4 39 24 15
Cassadaigua 6 4 28 23 5
Vephrall 4 7 33 35 -2 E
Quintessence of Dust 3 7 17 39 -22 E
The Bye 1 9 16 43 -27 E

Brittany’s Space

When you shut down Socki Lewis, you’re usually going to beat Taeshan. Unfortunately, this was not true. Julie Therrien was back on the mound for us for her second start but the Purple Knights would definitely pose a greater challenge then Quintessence of Dust ever did. Therrien shut down Lewis, giving the slugger another 0-for-4. Lewis struck out all four times in his last game against Tocrowkia, and Julie was able to continue that streak. In his first at-bat, Lewis struck out looking. In his second, he went chasing a splitter in the dirt for strike three, and in his third at-bat, he was well behind a fastball, striking out again. Finally, he ended his personal consecutive strike out streak by making contact with the ball. It was a pop up on the infield caught by first baseman Katie Sheridan. She also had success with Alexander Parea, keeping him to an 0-for-4 as well. You would have thought we would have won this game, but we did not. In the bottom of the second, Taeshan got a two-run homer from Tadihito Shakiri with Fier Henris on board. Henris had singled. I don't know who those guys are either as we haven't heard about them much. Those would be the only hits Therrien would allow in her eight innings of work. Unfortunately, we generated absolutely no offense, except for a couple of sixth innings hits by Jennifer Branston and Amanda Meyer. Amanda’s double drove in Branston. Sadly, this was all we were able to manufacture in this game. The offense just hasn't been there in the last two games for us, and it is really hurting us. It all made for a pretty frustrating afternoon for us.

The loss dropped us to 6-4 and into a tie with Liventia for third place. It will come down to run differential with us and them and right now that doesn’t look as though it will be favorable to us. Our final two games are at home, the first being against Quintessence of Dust before we welcome in Jill Haviland and the Nordics. Liventia’s schedule looks good for them as they close at home against Vephrall, and then at The Bye. Taeshan, who we could win a tiebreaker with, closes at The Bye and at Quintessence of Dust. I know that doesn’t all look good for us, but keep your heads up! We’re not gonna let up until the very end!

When third baseman Kate Schmidt slid awkwardly into second base on a failed hit and run attempt in the bottom of the seventh inning, the gasps from the Stars dugout were audible.

The team's trainer came sprinting out to check on their star hot corner ace. After a couple of minutes, they found she was able to continue. However, she and manager Jim Paulsen quickly decided that discretion was the better part of valour. They sent Bryan Carroll in to pinch run for her.

That decision seemed to backfire on the Stars in the top of the 10th inning after Alvin Dryden blew a save attempt for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. Carroll faced a bases loaded, one out situation and looked foolish on two breaking balls. Closer Jackson Throne decided to throw another one. However, this one hung a little bit.

Carroll swung ... and lifted the ball to deep left center. Centerfielder Darren Pew chased the ball down and caught it. First baseman Hank Everly, standing at third base, was well aware of the scouting report on Pew, so he did something he normally never would have dared. Since he was already standing on third base, he decided to make a run for it. As he expected, Pew's throw was a little late and a little off line. Everly plated the fourth run for the Stars.

With that, righty closer Kerry Clark got up for the second time to warm up. He knew Paulsen would call on him in the bottom of the 10th. His instinct proved correct when Paulsen sent up Skip Hale to pinch hit for Dryden. After Hale flied out to end the top of the 10th, Clark trotted in.

Twelve pitches later, the Stars had a sweep of the two-match series against Qazox. More to the point, the Stars became the first team to defeat the Pheonix in a home match in the 11th World Baseball Classic. The irony of defeating the world's second ranked team twice while being swept by the fifth ranked side was not lost on Paulsen.

"That's baseball," he said with a chuckle. "Hard game to figure out sometimes."

"What's Schmidt's status?"

"She turned her ankle a little bit. We took her into the clubhouse as a precaution. If this had been Game 5 of the championship series, she would have stayed in the game. But at this stage, we wanted to make sure she was healthy."

"What was her reaction?"

"She agreed with me."

"Would you say you're past the suspension situation now?"

"I, uh, we'd like to think so, yes."

Tocrowkia chase lefty Stephenson early, but fail against bullpen

TOCROWKIA— It appears the World Baseball Classic 11 Liventian bullpen heard the words of Jerome Adams in the National Sports Enquirer. After Liventia's left-handed starter Patrick Stephenson (2-1, 3.15 ERA, 0.80 WHIP) was pinch-hit for in the top of the third inning, the Tocrowkian offence totally collapsed, only mustering one hit and one walk in the remaining six innings of the game.

However, by then, the damage had been done. After Stephenson threw over the head of star Jill Haviland in the top of the first with no on and two out, the Tocrowkian offence took their revenge by blasting Stephenson with four runs on seven hits and one walk in two innings, including two two-out runs in the first.

When he came up to bat second in the third inning, Mike McKay pulled Stephenson in favour of fellow southpaw Charlie Watson, who threw the next four innings of no-hit ball, with only one baserunner allowed on a walk. Liam Donaldson finished the last two innings, and while he too kept the home side to just one hit, the Liventian offence had an off-day and could not do enough to pull the team back into it.

Stephenson's calamitous breakdown was shrugged off after the game by head coach McKay, who said the decision to pinch hit for Stephenson with Phil Uttley, who then stayed in the game replacing Julian Attwood in centrefield, was "totally down to Paddy."

McKay told reporters that Stephenson had told him he did not feel right out on the mound, and that perhaps he needed an extra day of rest. Stephenson threw 41 pitches in his two innings of work, so McKay agreed to pinch hit for him.

After the game, McKay announced that Matt McDonald (0-1, 1.72 ERA) would take to the mound against Vephrall as scheduled, but that the starter for the final group game against The Bye — scheduled to be Oliver Todd (1-0, 2.65 ERA) — was still up in the air, leaving open the possibility for Stephenson to pitch again.

McKay also announced that should the team have to take part in the 8-9 playoff, ace Ben Nichols would start the one-off game, and if the team then qualified for the best-of-three quarterfinals, the starter not used against The Bye would lead the series off.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
LIVENTIA [AWAY] 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 0
TOCROWKIA [HOME] 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 8 0

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Liventia 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 0
Tocrowkia 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 0

WIN:
Tommy Thunder (2-0)
SAVE:
Jamie Von Tipker (2-0)
HRs:
Dmitri Rykov 1 (5), Kevin Monroe 1 (3)


Coming off a huge win against the Purple Knights, The Nordics managed to sweep the series with Liventia and secure their fourth playoff berth in as many WBCs. It was a good thing they got some runs early too, including two home runs, one by Dmitri Rykov and the other by WBC rookie Kevin Monroe because the Nordics could not crack a solid Liventian bullpen through out the rest of the game. However, Thunder pitched an excellent game giving up only two runs on four hits, striking out 9 in the process. Jamie Von Tipker secured her second save of the classic, and overall it was a good game for the Nordics.

Afterward it was all high-fives and hugs on the field as over three hundred thousand fans performed 'the wave', happy that their team had earned a trip to Newmanistan to compete for a title once more. "Now we get to enjoy our bye, and finish off group play with a game against Cassadaigua. Just because the door is open to the next round for us doesn't mean we're gonna slack. We're going to finish this stage of the classic strong." Paul Rudolf said after the game.

Blogogrammar!

Zwangzug won 6-2 against Yafor 2, clinching a playoff spot. Also clinching from Group B was Qazox, although it lost to Sarzonia.

Zwangzug got off to a fast start against Niorda Kaharin's fastballs, with Marvin Stania scoring first and Orsulak following him in within that first inning. Amos Robotham had two RBIs. For Yafor 2, Arrin Jarridan got two slash hits against Palomaki, scoring a run.

So now what? With trips to Tarragona and Kuraizawa to finish out this part of things, Ruud can afford to start Alison Minium, Murray Quashnock, and company...and probably should. Yafor 2, though, must outdo Sarzonia and Dancougar to go through. It's a tough task, and its starting rotation can't do as it did today. That said, Durahan Cimorran was fairly quick to yank Kaharin for Harinior Jugarin. In my opinion, that's what must go on occurring for Yafor 2 to qualify.

URLs at which you might want to look (automatically found)

*Thinking Fictionally About Sports
*Marty's Musings
*Anaro zoo criminals still on lam
*What if...

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 11 vs. Sarzonia

Sarzonia put their name on an elite list, becoming only the 4th team ever to sweep a group stage series from Qazox, winning in 10 innings 4-3. The loss delayed the Pheonix a chance to clinch a playoff berth, but 10 minutes after the game ended, then the scoreboard showed the Zwangzug win over Yafor II. That win by Zwangzug all but clinched the group title for Zwangzug and clinched a WBC playoff berth for Qazox, though not in the fashion they usually clinch.

The big blow of the day came in the top of the 10th when Hank Everly ran on Darren Pew's brilliant over-the-shoulder catch of a Bryan Carroll fly-ball. Kerry Clark came in for an ineffective Alvin Dryden, who allowed Qazox to tie the game up at 3 after giving up a double to Pew and a slap single by Herman Doane with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth. Jackson Throne, who has been almost unhittable this WBC, struck out Fred Carlton, then gave up back-to-back singles to Everly and Dewey Griffin, before walking Chris Spontanelli on a controversial called ball four. Then came the sac Fly by Bryan Carroll, and Throne was taken out. Clark struck out Clark Petrie and Kyle Bryon before getting PH Hank Yans to fly out to deep right field to end the game.

Now once again, Qazox has to use its off day to recover, this time from back-to-back losses. Tyle Newson will pitch in the finale against Yafor II, keeping Rick Highfield and Glen Barter on schedule to pitch Games 1 and 2 of the quarterfinals.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Sarzonia 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 11 0
Qazox 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 8 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Hank Everly (Sarzonia) 2-5, double, 2 Runs scored.

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated next after the qualifiers are completed)

EXCLUSIVE

After two straight 0 for fours Socki Lewis has been benchened by team Manager Jamie Stewart for the Knights last two games and their final last ditch attempt at qualifying. Lewis has not hit in 10 at bats, his worst streak ever. He has been hitting the cages, but Stewart said that untill he gets his swing back he will not be starting a game, and the Knights need him. Tadihito Shakirir hit a homer in their win on Friday, but they only won by a single run and the Knights offense is looking bleak. Jay Nedved one of the speedsters off of the Taeshani bench will take over inthe coming days in Right Field.

Schwartz checked his watch. He'd told the players they could show up late for the off-day workout if they wanted. He didn't want to heap the pressure on them with two games left and the most outside of outside shots at qualification. Or maybe it was because he'd already given up. In either case, he checked again. After 1 PM. Perhaps this was pushing it.

"This is it?" Schwartz turned and saw Sarah walk onto the field from behind the backstop. "I thought more of us would be here by now."

"What do you mean 'by now?'" asked Schwartz.

"That's obvious, isn't it?" Sarah replied. "Normally, five minutes later is considered acceptable for anything, and almost expected. In our case, we run a morning and an afternoon session. 'Come late' properly translates to 'optional morning session.'"

"I-it does?" Schwartz said in surprise.

"Don't tell me you're in a leadership position without even knowing that!" Sarah sighed.

"She's right, you know." Akiko waddled onto the field and did some crouches behind home plate.

"Ah, Miz Morimoto!" Schwartz said, acknowledging his catcher's appearance. One by one, the other players emerged from the parking lot and made their way to the field. "Hmm, I was completely unaware that this was a standard," he said. "I'll have to make a note of it."

"Sorry I'm late!" Schwartz turned as he heard Juliet's approach and did a double take. She was wearing a knee-length skirt and a white blouse with a small black jacket and matching purse. Her hair was done up in a bun and her face was almost completely covered in makeup. They all stared at her.

"Uh... Miz Sanretour?" Schwartz asked. "Or maybe... I shouldn't ask?"

"You said to come late, so what did you... oh. Oh my..." she blushed. "I've done something embarrassing again, haven't I?"

Minutes later, she was in uniform and the team had gathered at the pitcher's mound for a conference.

"Now, then, our next matches are against Yafor 2 and Zwangzug, which we need to win both to have any chance of finishing in the top three," Schwartz said. "And since Yafor 2 is directly ahead of us, a win helps us that much more. However..." He lowered his head. "It's kind of impossible, don't you think?"

"That's not proper motivation!" cried Sarah.

"No, it's actually the ultimate motivation!" Joy replied. "Our playoffs begin now! Win or go home!" She clasped her hands together and got all starry eyed. "Just think, the impossible story of the underdogs playing together for the first time. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, and all of a sudden..." In the deepest voice she could muster: "You got an angel wit' you right now."

"Well... the fact that we've won more road games than home is kind of disturbing, but proves that we can get results," said Norma. "If that's the case, then maybe if we only practice..." At that point, she fell on her knees and sobbed. "... Then why did we skip the morning session if we needed that much help?!"

"I said you could," Schwartz replied, "so isn't that attitude normal?"

"Don't say 'normal!'" she cried.

"No, I shouldn't," Schwartz said, "because being normal negates our chief weapon against impossibility."

"Which is?" Kagami asked.

"Ignorance!" Schwartz answered with vigor. There were confused looks on faces. "We've taken the same tired approach throughout our first ten games. Well, now we need to be radically different. We have to simply ignore everything we know about baseball and just play however it feels right."

"I'm not sure that's going to help," Sarah said. "Coordination is as important as individual skill. If everybody's just doing what suits them at the moment, we'll never be able to compete as a team."

"That's what they want us to do!" cried Schwartz. "Our opponents are expected us to play in a certain manner, so the natural response is to do something different. Think outside the box. Break down barriers. Be innovative. These are phrases which are thrown around but rarely acted upon. However, if we simply ignore what we've learned about international baseball when we play these next two games, we will be different by design."

"Coming from you, that almost sounds like leadership..." Sarah replied. "I guess I'm impressed."

"Good, then let's begin our conditioning!" Schwartz said. "One-legged baserunning, let's go!"

SMOOTH REBOUND

The Millionaires showed no ill-effects of having been defeated in a marathon 14-inning game as Eric Strassner tossed the fourth no-hitter of the World Baseball Classic. Not really, but for Lovisa, it may have felt like he did. Lovisa did get three hits off of the historically inconsistent pitcher. Perhaps it is time for us to stop saying that about Eric, because his last start, which was also against Lovisa was nearly as dominant. He also had a strong tournament two years ago in World Baseball Classic 10, so let us starting giving this man his just due. Strassner had shed that label with age and has become a very good pitcher. Even though he was held back a day for the Millionaires to pitch Steve Jamison against Newmanistan instead, coach Michaelson insists that Strassner has the full confidence of the team, “Eric certainly has my full support. We went with Jamison against Newmanistan because of his history against them. It wasn’t meant to be a matter of disrespect towards Eric at all.” Strassner originally was frustrated by being skipped over as before the game against the Rockets, he had told us, “I wish I could be having my turn against them,” but later changed his tune to say, “Steve always gives us the better chance to win, so I understand the move. I just wanted to be in the big game. All pitchers went to be on the mound for a big game against a rival, and that’s all I meant by my comment.” Michaelson advised Strassner to take it out on Lovisa, and that he did. In addition to allowing only the three hits, he only walked two batters (which is good for him), and struck out eleven, and went all nine innings. The complete game was probably the most important statistic, because the bullpen, especially McKeon and Martinez threw a lot of pitches in the marathon against Newmanistan. He didn’t necessarily have to shut out Lovisa as the offense gave him plenty of run support. The Millionaires loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, and then saw then be cleared by a 3-run double off the bat of Manny Rodriguez. Right away, the message was delivered. Another run was added in the fifth inning on an RBI single off the bat of Jonas Kindlon, scoring Kip Kircher, which would finish off the Secristani scoring, and the 4-0 score would serve as the final.

The Secristan Department of Sports was strangely quiet after the game, so we couldn’t get any information out them. We heard that the Lovisan Flu may have spread around the office, a condition which briefly affects one’s ability to speak.

Will MD13 be lucky or unlucky for you? Find out soon. This is the cutoff.

Group A
Achtervolging 3-7 Secristan
Lovisa 3-2 (12 inn.) Steroga
Milchama 4-2 Mallatarsland


Group A W L RF RA RD
Newmanistan 10 1 50 21 29 Q
Secristan 9 2 47 23 24 Q
Milchama 6 5 39 38 1
Lovisa 5 6 30 34 -4
Steroga 5 6 26 31 -5
Mallatarsland 3 9 22 47 -25 E
Achtervolging 1 10 22 42 -20 E


Group B
Norwellia 1-5 Zwangzug
Yafor 2 2-3 Dancougar
Sarzonia 5-0 Mantwenic


Group B W L RF RA RD
Zwangzug 10 1 49 17 32 Q
Qazox 8 3 50 29 21 Q
Sarzonia 7 4 38 31 7 Q
Yafor 2 5 6 31 32 -1 E
Dancougar 5 6 34 36 -2 E
Norwellia 3 8 23 43 -20 E
Mantwenic 1 11 14 51 -37 E


Group C
The Bye 0-6 Taeshan
Cassadaigua 4-1 Quintessence of Dust
Liventia 5-2 Vephrall


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 9 2 46 23 23 Q
Taeshan 8 3 36 22 14
Liventia 7 4 44 26 18
Cassadaigua 7 4 32 24 8
Vephrall 4 8 35 40 -5 E
Quintessence of Dust 3 8 18 43 -25 E
The Bye 1 10 16 49 -33 E


Tiebreaker Notes:
– Lovisa swept the H2H series with Steroga.
– Yafor 2- Dancougar tie will be broken on RD (H2H was tied)
– Liventia- Cassadaigua tie will be broken on RD (H2H was tied)

In the possible event of a three way tie in Group A, the first tiebreaker of H2H amongst each other is enough to separate the teams: Lovisa 3-1, Milchama 2-2, Steroga 1-3. Steroga's hopes require a Lovisa MD14 loss to Newmanistan and then make up the RD in a tiebreaker with Milchama.

For the reference of those in Group C, if there is a 3-way tie for second, the tiebreaker to be used is RD against one another. You are 2-2 in your H2H against each other. That RD is:
Liventia (+3), Cassadaigua (-1), Taeshan (-2).

For the Sarzonian national baseball team, tonight was the John Morgan show.

The Sarzonian righthander dominated Mantwenic, scattering three hits and one walk in a complete game shutout of the World Baseball Classic debutants, striking out 10 in Sarzonia's 5-0 victory.

However, before the game, catcher Fred Carlton groaned. Each of Morgan's warmup pitches prior to the top of the first was either way off the mark or had little on it. There was no hint in warmups that Morgan would be anything other than batting practice for Mantwenic.

He peered in for the sign and nodded. Bringing his left leg up, he kicked and fired.

"Striiiiike!" the Newmanistanian umpire called after the fastball sizzled into Carlton's glove at 95 miles per hour. Carlton's eyes bulged widely as he transferred the ball from his catcher's mitt into his right hand.

The 0-1 pitch was a beautifully thrown curveball. Strike two. That scene was repeated for the first 11 hitters, as all of them went down. Five ground balls. Two fly balls, including one to the deepest part of Mountaineer Park. Four strikeouts. Finally, a bloop single ended any thought of a no-hitter. However, Morgan set down the next hitter with a nasty slider.

Offensively, Hank Everly singled in two runs in the bottom of the first. Kate Schmidt doubled in two more in the bottom of the fourth. Chris Spontanelli hit a solo home run down the left field line for the final run in the bottom of the fifth. From there, the bullpen and pitching coach Jim Wiesen could have taken naps. Morgan was so on point that Carlton didn't even visit the mound once.

One hundred one pitches later, he had his complete game shutout. The Stars clinched a spot in the World Baseball Classic playoffs. Paulsen said he would consider his options now that the Stars were preparing for the playoffs. However, he likely would start righthander Brad Baxter on three days rest if the Stars play in the eight vs. nine game. However, if the Stars earned at least a seventh seed, Baxter would get the full four days.

None of that mattered on this night, however. The Stars could celebrate a victory and a promise of at least one more match to come.

"Okay, let's try this again," said Rufus Lievano. "No queremos que..."

"No kay-ray-mose kay," echoed several members of the Zebra bench.

"...haya ningún gato..."

"...ah-yah nin-gune gah-toh..."

"...en nuestro..."

"...en new-es-trow..."

"...bolígrafo de toros."

"...bow-lee-grah-foe day toe-ros."

"Irregular subjunctive," Rufus smirked. "That'll impress them enough for us to get by."

"Bolígrafo de toros?" said Murray Quashnock skeptically. "Really?"

"Just go with it! Also, since when do you know Spanish?"

"Since seventh grade...no, sixth."

A mix of approving nods and skeptical eyebrows replied to him.

"Why does everyone always give me that face?"

"Because..." Rufus awkwardly began.

"Because you're the DH," Anastasia Alperin jumped in. "You're supposed to be one-dimensional."

Maren Ruud interrupted. "Quashnock, grab a bat, you're in right today. Lievano, time to lead off again."

Once they were gone, Anastasia stood up. "We should probably be teaching the actual relievers this sort of thing."

Later, Murray managed only one hit, but earned a nice grass stain almost catching Edgar Morgan's double. With one away, Alexandre Binet grounded to second base. Ken Schlemmer scooped it up and tossed it over to second for what might have begun an inning-ending double play, but Rufus missed the throw. Morgan later came around to score for the hosts' only run of the game.

But Brianna Schneider fought back and went the distance. The bullpen was not needed, and everyone agreed that was probably a good thing.

This advertiser does not sponsor Brittany's website.

Brittany’s Space

Katie Dupree called me up this morning and told me how much this looks like the World Bowl. If you don’t know Katie, she was our blogger during the World Bowl. Everything looks as though it’s coming down quite the same way. Twenty-one teams, three groups of seven with the top three teams advancing and Cassadaigua ends up fourth in a competitive group, with a record that was better then other third place teams. Fittingly, two of the teams in our World Bowl group were Taeshan and Vephrall, and they filled two of the top three spots. Taeshan is ahead of us, but the Vephrese team has not been nearly as competitive. Tocrowkia has won the group, and the Purple Knights are a game ahead of us. We are tied with Liventia for third place, and it will eventually come down to run differential between us. Sadly, it is highly unlikely that we will make up that 10-run deficit especially when our final game is against Tocrowkia and Liventia plays The Bye. It would be nice if Liventia saw “The Bye” on their schedule and thought they actually had the game off, so they wouldn’t make the trip to the nation of sleepers and have to forfeit. That’s probably the only way that game will result in anything but a Liventia victory. We must beat Tocrowkia to have a chance, and that will not be easy as they are an outstanding ballclub, but we did take them twelve innings in a 2-1 loss on the road, so we feel that we can get the win we need. In order for us to qualify, knowing we won’t make up the run differential to Liventia is for Group C to finish in a three way tie. This means that Taeshan must lose to Quintessence of Dust on the road. The Quodites, are 3-8 and huge underdogs but maybe they have one final stand in them.

It would be easy to look at all this and dismiss our chances. The situation is out of our control, whether we win our final game or not. This isn’t going to stop us from being at our best against Tocrowkia. We will go all out for the win, because it would be devastating to have been flat for this game, lose it, and then find out that the Quodites actually did beat Taeshan. If this is our last game, I would like to thank everyone out there for reading and for your support of our team and for all Cassadagan sporting teams. Hopefully we will still have more games, and this isn’t a final goodbye. But if it is, thank you. We’ll be back for the next one, wherever it may be.

Slight chance

With one game to go Steroga still has an opportunity to advance out of the group stages but needs a lot of help. First they must help themselves by winning against Secristan at home. Kumar Field is sold out for the game and people all throughout the country will be tuning into the game in which they can watch freely and hope that our small country can pull of a giant upset. The Millionaires as they call themselves look like that have clinched about all they can at this point so maybe our team can catch them by surprise. Sadly, we lost to Lovisa today by the score of 3-2 in extra innings. The loss spoiled a great comeback in which we battled back from 2-0 down in the ninth to send the game into the extra innings led by a two-run double by Avinash Siddharth which was just fair inside the right field line. We kept it close until Lovisa got a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. His Majesty Lord Singh is very pleased with our baseball team and points out that Steroga, and not someone like Dancougar or Vephrall is the only newcomer that still has a chance to qualify on the final day. Our performance has exceeded anything we did in the World Bowl, Baptism of Fire, or World Cup qualifying. It's a longshot but it is better then no shot.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Dancougar 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 8 2
Yafor 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 1

Dancougar's Three Stars
1. Juliet Sanretour 2/5, 2 RBI, HR
2. Faye Toonmay 1/3, RBI, BB
3. Abby Lenken (W 1-2) 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 K

They'd done it. The crazy fools had actually done it. A road win against Yafor 2 pulled them to 5-6, so if only they could get help from...

Schwartz leaned his head against the door to the locker room. He had an overall look of gloom on his face. "Sarzonia played Mantwenic," he said. Well, shoot, that said everything.

"Eeeeeeeeh?!" cried Sarah. "You mean we're still eliminated?!"

"Yes, we now have no chance of catching them for third place," said Schwartz. "All that's left is to play Zwangzug."

"They're in contention for a one seed, aren't they?" asked Amber. "If that's the case, we can't expect to catch them off guard."

"They'll probably try to pour it on so they get some tiebreakers," said Sarah. Her face tightened as she clenched her fist. "That's all right, then. I'll accept their challenge once again!" Clarissa, across the room, gulped and scooted backwards, almost into her locker.

"Actually," said Schwartz, adjusting his glasses, "I thought I would let Abby start the game."

Sarah remained frozen in her pose before deflating onto a bench. "Aaah, my motivation was just broken..." she sobbed.

"I think we're being way too gloomy about this entire thing!" said Joy with a smile as wide as the room. "We've beaten some good teams in this tournament and gotten some priceless experience that we can use in the future!"

"But what good will that do us when we're clearly a step behind everybody else?" asked Sarah. "As long as we're a team this small, playing with a coach this clueless, what can we accomplish?"

"Gah, she actually came right out and said it!" exclaimed Schwartz, taking a step back.

Joy closed her eyes and then threw a peace sign. "Because a pure heart is the difference between an outside chance and a sure thing!"

MILLIONAIRES GET WIN #9

Secristan continues to roll through qualification, picking up their ninth victory against only two losses in a 7-3 victory over Achtervolging, the nation in which has taken up a residence in the cellar in Group A. At this stage, it looks like Secristan is destined for a second place finish, which means they will be in the battle of the best second place teams, otherwise known as the 4-5 game. That looks like it will probably be a revenge-minded Qazox, or Taeshan if the Pheonix lose their third in a row. The Millionaires could still win the group, but would need a Lovisa win over Newmanistan. If the planets aligned correctly for that to happen, and we defeated Steroga in our final game, it is quite possible that we could make up the run differential deficit. This would put us as the #2 seed. The top-seed looks too far out of grasp as Zwangzug is also 10-1, and would have a greater run differential for us to overcome. How about those Zebras by the way? Is any team flying under the radar more then Zwangzug right now? As for the game, it ended up being a comfortable victory even though Achtervolging toiled with the idea of an upset briefly. John Michaelson put #5 starter Johnny Carpenter on the mound, and he was making only his second international start. The first one was a complete game shutout against Achtervolging at home, and he would get to know the Achtervolging batters again. The home team took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off of him as they sent seven batters to the plate and had four singles in the inning, and it wouldn’t be until the third before the Millionaires had a response. Tim McMurtry hit a two-out double that scored both Jason Carlin and Jonas Kindlon that tied the game up, and in the fourth the Millionaires took a 3-2 lead as John Fusco led the inning off with a home run over the left field fence. Originally, this was ruled a foul ball by the Taeshani umpiring crew, but Michaelson had them go to review. Haven’t seen a lot of instant replay use this World Baseball Classic, but it only took them a minute to get the call right and declare it a home run. The lead was short lived as Achtervolging tied it up a three in the bottom of the inning, making us wonder if we were going to choke up this game for a while. It stayed 3-3 until the seventh, when we were able to put a 4-spot on the board. Three doubles in a row by Kip Kircher, Jason Carlin, and Jonas Kindlon accounted for two-runs, then Tim McMurtry drove in Kindlon with a single. Manny Rodriguez then hit a double to score McMurtry and the lead was up to 7-3. Chad Jarvis had been warming up, so he figured to be used in the bottom of the 7th even if we did not take the lead, and Steve Delvecchio and Randy Feinman pitched the final two innings. The Millionaires finish qualifying with a road game in Steroga. Jim Slattery will be on the mound.

The Secristan Department of Sports, first we must say, seem to have recovered from their bout of Lovisan flu enough to report that purchases of this pay-per-view, and for the final game against Steroga have been very sluggish. Leading up to these games, to approximately the loss against Newmanistan, the purchases had been quite high, but now the fans seem to be suffering from “these games are meaningless” syndrome, and are looking ahead to the playoffs. “We can’t seem to generate much interest for the Steroga game,” SDOS rep Katie Simpson told us, “our team has played well and there really isn’t much more out there that they have to play for. It’s an important game for our opponent, so I imagine that John will have the guys ready to play and that this will be a good game, but the people just don’t seem to be motivated much by that. We’ve decided just not to pursue it any longer, and just let the sales fall where they may.”

RP Cutoff for MD14!

Group A
Lovisa 1-6 Newmanistan
Steroga 3-5 Secristan
Achtervolging 0-4 Milchama


Group A W L RF RA RD
Newmanistan 11 1 56 22 34 Q
Secristan 10 2 52 26 26 Q
Milchama 7 5 43 38 5 Playoff
Lovisa 5 7 31 40 -9 E
Steroga 5 7 29 36 -7 E
Mallatarsland 3 9 22 47 -25 E
Achtervolging 1 11 22 46 -24 E


Group B
Yafor 2 2-5 Qazox
Dancougar 1-2 Zwangzug
Norwellia 1-8 Sarzonia


Group B W L RF RA RD
Zwangzug 11 1 51 18 33 Q
Qazox 9 3 55 31 24 Q
Sarzonia 8 4 46 32 14 Q
Dancougar 5 7 35 38 -3 E
Yafor 2 5 7 33 37 -4 E
Norwellia 3 9 24 51 -27 E
Mantwenic 1 11 14 51 -37 E


Group C
Cassadaigua 4-3 Tocrowkia
Quintessence of Dust 0-5 Taeshan
The Bye 1-4 Liventia


Group C W L RF RA RD
Tocrowkia 9 3 49 27 22 Q
Taeshan 9 3 41 22 19 Q
Liventia 8 4 48 27 21 Q
Cassadaigua 8 4 36 27 9 Playoff
Vephrall 4 8 35 40 -5 E
Quintessence of Dust 3 9 18 48 -30 E
The Bye 1 11 17 53 -36 E


Tiebreaker Notes:
A- Lovisa over Steroga due to H2H sweep.
B- Dancougar over Yafor 2 on RD. (H2H was split)
C- Tocrowkia over Taeshan on RD. (H2H was split)
C- Liventia over Cassadaigua on RD. (H2H was split)


Tomorrow’s Game:
The Battle over who should be 9th- Milchama vs Cassadaigua @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds

Tuesday's Game:
(8) Sarzonia vs Milchama or Cassadaigua

Quaterfinals: (beginning Wednesday)
(1) Newmanistan vs TBD (Series @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds. Newmanistan is home team for games 1 & 3)

(2) Zwangzug vs (7) Liventia (Series @ Pocono City Stadium. Zwangzug is home team for games 1 & 3)

(3) Tocrowkia vs (6) Taeshan (Series @ Loudon Stadium. Tocrowkia is home team for games 1 & 3)

(4) Secristan vs (5) Qazox (Series @ Putnam Lake Stadium. Secristan is home team for games 1 & 3).

Semifinals: (best-of-three)
@ Tundra Falls- Newmanistan or Sarzonia or Milchama or Cassadaigua vs Secristan or Qazox
@ Pocono City- Zwangzug or Liventia vs Tocrowkia or Taeshan

3rd Place Series @ Loudon Stadium (best-of-three)

Final @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds (best-of-five)

Here are the stadiums: (OOC: I am not a fan of applying real world stadium pics to stadiums in Newmanistan).

1) Tundra Falls Proving Grounds- Capacity 65,000 (football/baseball field)- Sacred land. The site of essentially every final which has been hosted by us. http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Tundra_Falls_Proving_Grounds
Dimensions: LF: 372ft, LCF: 385ft, CF: 406ft, RCF: 385ft, RF: 372ft.

2) Pocono City Stadium- Capacity 92,000 (62,000 for baseball)- A modern state of the art facility. Pocono City is in the southeastern corner of the Empire, on the shores of both the Penthoria River and the Gulf of South Thumbria. As the capital of the Empire, if you were coming here on a vacation, there would be lots do with many historic sites. The locals tend to be very intelligent sports fans and in neutral competitions, tend to side with the team that is most true to the fundamentals of the game.
Dimensions: LF: 359ft, LCF: 371ft, CF: 396ft, RCF: 385ft, RF: 367ft.

3) Loudon Stadium (aka “The Jungle”)- Capacity 85,000 (58,000 for baseball)- A traditional but modern stadium, its seats do a great job in making you feel like you are part of the action. The city is located in the Northeast, also on the Penthoria. Traveling “soccer” fans may be interested in checking out the Newmanistanian Soccer Hall of Fame while in Loudon. Loudon natives in neutral contests tend to just relax and enjoy the game and let the traveling supporters be the rowdy ones. “The Jungle” nickname is due to the fact that the local club teams are the Loudon Leopards.
Dimensions: LF: 332ft, LCF: 350ft, CF: 375ft, RCF: 349ft, RF: 324ft.

4) Putnam Lake Stadium- Capacity 58,000- The stadium has seen major renovations in recent years including the addition of 10,000 seats in order to meet demand, though it’s not as modern as the ones listed above it. As a city, Putnam Lake, a southwestern city, is rather small. The fans however, are extremely passionate and loud. Since it is a smaller city, in international games, the vast majority of those in attendance come to loudly support the underdog.
Dimensions: LF: 381ft, LCF: 399ft, CF: 418ft, RCF: 402ft, RF: 390ft.

On behalf of all of us in Newmanistan, we would like to welcome the nine teams and their fans bases to the empire. We'd also like to thank those who's WBC-run has come to an end for your participation. A couple of hard-luck people going home now, but we must move forward!

Lefty Charlie Palmer toed the rubber and peered in for the sign. The Stars went quietly in order in the top of the first.

Palmer was still starting, but several Stars were given the night off. A makeshift lineup greeted the Norwellians in their home stadium for Sarzonia's final World Baseball Classic qualifying match.

Clearly, the Stars didn't need this match. Whether they earned the eighth seed or the seventh seed was essentially out of their control. A defeat would simply ensure that they would be the ninth seed. It was simply a chance for manager Jim Paulsen to give players who normally didn't play a chance to start.

Dewey Griffin started at second base and led off like he'd always done. Centerfielder Drew Bradley hit second, followed by third baseman Kate Schmidt, hitting third for the first time in the Classic. Following her was rightfielder Skip Hale, meaning that Paulsen would sacrifice a dangerous bat for pinch hitting purposes. Mario Salvidotti would work behind the plate and hit fifth, getting his dangerous bat into the lineup. Bryan Carroll would get a start at shortstop, meaning he would stand next to the woman he'd substituted for earlier in the classic. Tyler Hunter would get a start in left field and hit seventh, while Russ Fraley got his first start at first base.

It was an opportunity for Paulsen to thank everyone for working their tails off, by giving deserving players such as shortstop Chris Spontanelli and first baseman Hank Everly a day off. It also gave him an opportunity to see what the subs could do.

However, after the game, no one could stop talking about Palmer. The crafty lefty kept Norwellia off balance all game, changing speeds and throwing breaking balls to get the more aggressive hitters to swing at bad pitches. For the more patient hitters, he'd use that assortment of slow stuff to get ahead and force them to hit the ball at fielders, all of whom made plays.

He even got one hitter lulled to sleep on his breaking balls and change ups, only to blow an 85 mile per hour fastball by for strike three. It was one of just three strikeouts for Palmer, who went the distance to give the Stars bullpen another night off.

Offensively, Kate Schmidt was Sarzonia's key player, going three for four with two doubles and a tape measure three-run shot. She finished the day with five RBI and the Stars got pretty much everything they wanted from their 8-1 victory over Norwellia.

Now, for the second consecutive World Baseball Classic, the Stars would match up against Milchama in a one-off playoff matchup. Brad Baxter, ostensibly the fourth starter, but really Sarzonia's top pitcher, would get the call on three-days rest. Paulsen would go back to his team's third starter if Sarzonia advanced to face top seeded Newmanistan. If the Stars lost to Newmanistan, John Morgan would pitch Game 2 on three days rest.

But right now was not the time to get ahead of themselves. They had a match to prepare for in Tundra Falls. And, they hoped, they had momentum on their side.

WBC over for us

The World Baseball Classic is all done for Steroga as we did not get the results that were needed for us to crack the top three. We lost to Secristan 5-3 in a game that looked good for a while as we lead 3-1 after seven but a four run eighth innings by the Millionaires gave them a victory and us a tough defeat. It would not have mattered anyway because Milchama defeated Achtervolging. It was a good performanace for us and our people are proud.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - R H E
Zwangzug 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0
Dancougar 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 1

Dancougar's Three Stars
1. Dextrous 1/4, HR
2. Lenken (L 1-3) 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K
3. Sanretour 1/4

"I suppose this is what you call a pitcher's duel, then," said Schwartz. Abby, surprisingly, was doing well against the group leaders, and the only real difficulty she'd had was surrendering a two-run shot to Marvin Stania back in the fourth.

Now, if only his team could hit.

The home fans were waiting for something. Anything. Four of the team's five victories had come away from home somehow. Joy led the inning off with a single, which was nice, but then Kagami hit into a double play. Ugh. That brought Amber up.

"Ah, Miz Dextrous!" called Schwartz. "Why don't you tackle this one lefty?"

"Are you sure?" Amber asked from the warmup circle. "I respectfully submit that I would do better against the pitcher if I bat right-handed." Her voice was so soft it almost melted into his ears.

It was a shame to give that up, but he was running out of options. "I insist," Schwartz said again. "Bat lefty this time."

"If you say so, coach..." Amber replied, switching the bat into her left hand. She turned and walked towards the batter's box.

"Remember, Miz Dextrous, left-handed!" Schwartz called again.

Amber whipped around angrily and pointed the bat at the dugout. "I got you, I got you!" she snapped. "I said I'd do it, right?!" Schwartz sat back down on the bench, pleased with his strategic move, while a visibly disturbed Amber took out her frustrations on the first pitch she saw. It popped over the right field fence to make the score 2-1. Schwartz looked at the rest of his lineup... now how could he motivate them?

Before he could do anything, Faye struck out looking, and the inning was over.

"That pitch was right down the middle!" said Schwartz. "You could have at least tried swinging..."

Faye coldly placed her helmet on the bench and grabbed her glove. "The universe told me that I was to strike out," she said. "Who am I to challenge that?"

We'd also like to thank those who's WBC-run has come to an end for your participation. A couple of hard-luck people going home now, but we must move forward!

With the game now over, there were brief goodbyes before the players went their separate ways to await the next WBC. Joy tried to fire up their spirits by suggesting that the team make a music video to commemorate their time together to the musical tune "It's a Hard Knock Life." She was predictably shot down.

"Scoot over."

The Nozomu Itoshiki High School bleachers had seen plenty of action during the tournament--though little from the home team--but the final game might have been the most awkward yet. Douglas edged closer to the field, fighting to keep the metal squarely under him. They'd only paid for two tickets, but were now beginning to regret that.

"Hey, I can't see," called the fan behind him.

"Sorry." Douglas shifted his "Long Live Empire!" sign over to the end of the row.

"Just put it down until the third out," suggested Ambrose. "I don't think there's going to be a lot of stand-panning."

"Everybody in Zwangzug has to have seen us by now, right? I mean, there's not a lot of people to get in the way."

"Exactly! But yeah, we can hold off on the sign. For now."

Douglas nodded nervously, glancing down at it. "Dancougar is an empire, right?"

"Kingdom." The guy behind them rolled his eyes. "Are you two from Zwangzug? What are you doing?"

"Close enough," Ambrose said to Douglas. Turning around, he answered, "Yes. And we're making a statement--"

Distracted, Ambrose missed Marvin Stania send the ball down the left field line. Kagami Mimeko dashed over, right to the foul line.

"And now we're out of the inning." Douglas reached for the sign.

Left unattended, the emperor penguin they had "liberated" from the Sestview Zoo for the purposes of insulting their homeland on statewide television reached out, and Mimeko had no play. The ball landed on the penguin. Foul.

Stania sent the next pitch over the fence.

((OOC: Wow again. 0.o ))


TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 3
Cassadaigua 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 5 0

LOSS:
Jeanna Glaus (1-2)

Though the Nordics lept out to an early lead in the game, three straight fielding errors, one by Haviland, one by Mazdrick, and the last by Dyfuse in the same inning on what looked to be routine ground balls lead to the Nordics giving up the lead, and Rachel Weston would later swat a deep home run to right that would prove to be the game winner. It was a frustrating night, but as always Paul Rudolf was eager to shrug such a game off.

"These games happen. They happen to everyone." He explained. "We have just get over them. We've had some very frustrating losses served to us before, and let's face it. They were playing in front of their home crowd for perhaps the last time, so they had a lot to play for." He finished. When asked about her infielders performance, Jill Haviland shrugged. "It was ugly, but it hasn't been a common theme in the classic to this point. I would have been concerned if it was, but it's not. We just have to forget about it. After all, we have a big series in Newmanistan against Taeshan coming up." None the less, one can bet the Nordics are going to spend a little extra time in fielding practice the next few days.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Game 12 @ Yafor II

With the group title and a top seed gone, but still qualified for the playoffs, Qazox used most of the bench in the game against Yafor II. Little used Randy Michaels doubled down the right field line, scoring three in the top of the ninth to break a 2-2 tie and give Qazox the #5 seed.

Getting the #5 seed means a match-up with Secristan in the next round. Secristan knocked out Qazox 2 years ago in the same round. So the Pheonix will look to avenge the loss on their home soil, but in Newmanistan, whom they would face in the Semifinals, if they win against Secristan.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 5 13 0
Yafor II 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Randy Michaels (Qazox) 2-5, double, 2 RBI

(OOC: The Wiki page will be updated soon.)

Due to misinterpretations discussed on the Discussion Thread about who would advance, and what I intended to say being poorly phrased as I look back at it, it has been determined that an extra game will be played to determine the 9th place team.

The 9am scorination therefore, will feature Milchama against Cassadaigua. The winner will then play Sarzonia. The top 8 seeds all now have an extra day off.

For more on this discussion and the misinterpretations, please refer to the discussion thread, and any additional (OOC) discussion concerning this game should also be held there.

LATE RALLY PREVENTS UPSET

An inspired Sterogan team was doing all that they can to try and get the third spot. For them, it did not matter if Milchama was beating Achtervolging, and in fact they probably never really paid attention to that score. Nor did they probably wonder if a Cassadagan win would create some kind of controversy. Devdarsh Gupta had been pitching a gem, and the surprisingly energetic crowd was excited about the eventual upset. Through seven, the Millionaires had only put together two hits, one a home run by Jonas Kindlon, a rare shot for the left fielder. Gupta got the first batter out in the 8th, but gradually the Millionaires were able to show the upstart Sterogans that baseball is a nine-inning game, and that this team was going to fight until the very end. Mick O’Rourke and Eric Beaudoin each had innocent singles, and would advance a base on a passed ball. Steroga then elected to intentionally walk Kip Kircher to load up the bases. The next batter, Jason Carlin hit a double play ball to second, and Steroga played it cleanly, but the hustling leadoff batter beat the throw to first. O’Rourke scored on the play. With runners on the corners and two away, Jonas Kindlon blooped a single to left field that tied up the ball game, and the wind was out of the sails now for the home team. Tim McMurtry followed it up with a double that would score two and now it was Secristan up by two. After retiring Manny Rodriguez, Gupta slammed his glove down on the dugout bench in frustration, likely wishing that they could have turned the double play on Carlin. Michael McKeon and Francisco Martinez worked the 8th and 9th to secure the victory for the Millionaires, and the team will finish group play with a record of 10-2. They will head to Putnam Lake, which was obviously done intentionally by the Newmanistanians to try and limit a possible home-region advantage we would have by making the series be on the West Coast of Newmanistan. Still, expect Secristanis to make the trip in abundance. Qazox will be the opponent, and we will be looking to serve them up another quarterfinal series exit.

The Secristan Department of Sports reports that late sales of the game against Steroga were higher then expected, and thus made the game be rather profitable. Why this was, no one really knows, but perhaps with the game coming on a national holiday more people were at home to watch the game.

I see an empty box thanks to adblock. But you may not, so....

Brittany’s Space

After the game against Tocrowkia, which we won by the score of 4-3, we all saw the score of Taeshan vs Quintessence of Dust and knew that was the end. We had battled hard in the World Baseball Classic down to the last day, but like the World Bowl, we were stuck in a competitive group and could not crack the top three. When I got home I had planned to relax for a while and then go out to dinner with some of my friends who wanted to cheer me up knowing that I would be in a disappointed mood. Then came the phone call. It was coach telling me that I needed to get to the Concord Heights Airport immediately because we were all flying to Tundra Falls. I didn’t see the point of going there, it would only be frustrating to see the teams that had qualified and I didn’t really have any desire to watch any of the games in person. I would check the scores on the internet, or maybe watch a game on TV, but not in person. I thought it was a joke when Coach told me about the loophole in scheduling that apparently the Cassadagan Baseball Association brought up to the organizers. She had to convince me, and it wasn’t until I checked a couple sites online and had some reader comments to my blog already that were asking for my opinion about that I realized this was all very real. We were not eliminated and we were going to Tundra Falls to play Milchama. Talk about being brought back from the dead!

We all arrived at the airport to catch a last minute flight to Tundra Falls, and now here we are. They’ve been talking about it here too, about how this error occurred. I will be honest with you and will not lie for the sake of convenience. I did see it as the top three teams in the group were the ones that qualified and everyone else went home. There will be questions now about our legitimacy in the playoffs, especially if we defeat Milchama. The winner of that game then plays Sarzonia, and the winner of that game plays Newmanistan. We know we’d hear it from the crowd if we got all the way to the series playing the Rockets. Then if we beat them? I will stop here and keep from getting carried away. It’s pretty interesting that we are playing Milchama too since our soccer team knocked them out of the World Cup. Going on emotions, we have an advantage. They may feel slighted while we feel recharged. If we beat them, they may just want to declare war against us, but at least they’ll have learned how to spell the name of our great country.

Find out soon who the scorinator believes should have been the 9 seed.........

And it has spoken....

Milchama 2-4 Cassadaigua

For RP purposes, Milchama is "home".

Tomorrow: (8) Sarzonia vs (9) Cassadaigua @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds

Manager Jim Paulsen was standing as his team began its pre-practice stretching routine. His coaches were in the midst of preparing for the one-off fixture against Milchama, while he wanted to ensure the players were ready physically as well as mentally.

Then, he heard a mobile phone ring. Irritated, he yelled out, "who brought their phone to training? You know the rules!" Then he heard it again. He realised where it came from.

His pocket. Sheepishly, he looked at the phone's caller ID. Raising an eyebrow, he opened it and said, "Paulsen."

"Jim, this is Matt Spencer."

"Matt, I know it's you. What's going on?"

"We've got a change in schedule."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"World Baseball Classic organisers have decided to create a second play-in match for the right to play us as the eighth seed. Thus, we won't be facing Milchama tomorrow. Not only that, but we might not face them at all."

"I don't follow."

"Cassadaigua had a better record than Milchama."

"But they came in fourth by tiebreakers. Liventia earned third place in Group C."

"I know, but the way the playoff language was worded was confusing to several of the baseball organisations. It was decided that Cassadaigua would get a match against the Warriors."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The Stars will get an extra day off. That means Brad gets his normal rest."

"Where's the new 8-9 match going to take place?"

"Same place as it was originally. Tundra Falls Proving Grounds."

"Wow."

After a few more moments to discuss logistics, Paulsen hung up the phone. By now, he was aware of several players looking up at him expectantly."

"Lady and gentlemen," Paulsen said. "We're not playing Milchama. At least not yet."

"Do what?"

"WBC organisers have decided to have a one-off playoff between Milchama and Cassadaigua for the right to play us in the 8-9 match."

"You're kidding. That means we might not face Milchama at all."

"Correct. It also means we'll get an extra day off, so Brad can start on normal rest. If we win and face Newmanistan, we'll start Morgan on three-days rest."

After the stretching got finished, Paulsen convened his coaches. After a meeting where confusion reigned supreme, the coaches to a man agreed that an extra day off would be a good thing for the team.

Purple Knights In Playoffs

Two weeks ago the Knights were not assured of a spot in the 11th world Baseball Classic's finals, although it should not have been in doubt because up next were the two worst playing teams in the Group. This was prooved when the Knights put up six on the country known as the Bye, and game two was against Quintessence of Dust which was as easy as the first and the Knights won the game 5-0.

In the first game without socki Lewis the Knights came out hitting the ballat a slow pac pace, but in the end ruled the hitting on the day. Alexander Parea made it 3-0 in the 3rd, with Jay Nedved and Fred Myers on base at the time. In the fifth Adam Menigen scored Neved on a triple that barely stayed in the park but bounced high off the fence. Menigen would later score when Socki Lewis would come in later in the inning to pinch hit for a slightly high Riane Totalez and pound the ball hard over the very same fence.

Though Lewis was able to break out in the eralier game when the Knights faced off again Quintessence of dust, Manager Jamie Stewart kept true to his word and was probally really just resting Lewis in a game that would most likely be easy to win as the Dusters have openly admitted to not knowing much about the sport. Infact even though the game was very important all of the players that had backups that could play and were ready were rested. Coi Vexcen got his third start of the season after the other 3 pitchers had and for the second time in a row the Knights pitcher was on. Parea would bring home all the runs with two swipes of the bat on two straight homers in at bats in the third and the fifth one a two and the second a three dinger.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS CLAIM TOP SEED

Lovisa- Qualifying came to an end with the Rockets taking on the Silent Assassins of Lovisa on the road, and doing away with them by the score of 6-1. The top ranked team coming into the tournament and defending champion showed the world that they are a major threat to repeat, especially with the rest of their games now on their home turf. Newmanistan awaits the winner of Sarzonia and Cassadaigua in the 8-9 game. Cassadaigua? Didn’t they finish fourth in their group? Indeed they did, but poor wording of the intended guidelines for playoff qualifications from the Newmanistan Baseball Association created enough confusion to schedule an emergency game between Milchama, who should have been in that game, and Cassadaigua, who had somewhat of an argument to play in it as well. This gaffe forced NBA President Josh Ryan to resign. “I should have proof-read better. When we send out those rules to the participating nations, you must be clear and thorough with everything you say. I thought that I had been but I guess not.” No, Josh, you weren’t, and as pointed out by a few national baseball associations, a statement fairly could have implied that a fourth-place team would get in. Enter Cassadaigua, who played Milchama last night to solve this debate. The Dagans won, in a game in which the Warriors were probably doomed in from the start considering how the Dagans would feel brought back to life and the Warriors would feel ripped off. So it’s the Dagans and the Stars and Josh Ryan will be heartily rooting for Sarzonia.

As far as this game against Lovisa was concerned, Courtney Lombardi went the distance on three days rest, allowing one run on six hits. She walked two and struck out eleven, including six of the first seven batters in which she faced. If Newmanistan’s quarterfinal series was going to go three games, Lombardi was going to be skipped over in favor of 1D starter Kristen Haynes as to not have Courtney pitch on three days rest again. Now with the extra off-day created by the gaffe, Lombardi would get her full rest, and therefore will pitch in game three should one be needed. Tara Stewart and Stacey Keisler are still planeed to pitch the first two games. Newmanistan jumped on Lovisa with a four-spot in the first inning, scoring all four runs before Lovisa could even record an out. Brittany Wright led off with a single, and stole second, and Jennifer Martin was walked. Carrie Nicolette then ripped a double into left-center field to score both of them, before a shot by Rachel Crockett cleared the left field fence to make it 4-0. You may remember the home run dance between Nicolette and Crockett in the game against Secristan, and in response to that, they pretended not to look at each other and sat back down on the bench with no emotion. The rest of the Rockets bench was in on it, all sitting down as if Crockett had struck out. You could tell by all the laughter in the dugout that this was all pre-arranged, and eventually they stood up and traded high-fives. Lovisa scored a run in the fourth, but single runs by the Rockets in the fifth and sixth innings put the game away. Natalie Monroe had an RBI double in the fifth, and in the sixth it was Brittany Wright’s triple with two outs that drove in Tara Cuyler. Brittany thought about stretching this into an inside the park home run, but stopped halfway down the third place line and retreated when she realized how strong of a throw to the plate the right fielder had made. Had the ball hit the cutoff man, Wright likely would have been caught halfway.

There you have it, the 11th win for Newmanistan in twelve games of qualifying, and now they wait to find out who their opponent will be. The Rockets will be at the game in the skyboxes above the third baseline and will sign autographs for a couple hours up to the start of the game, but once the game begins, the players will not be available for autographs.

Brittany’s Space

We were playing baseball again as a national team. That alone was an amazing feeling even though we weren’t sure we were supposed to be here. There are some people out there who don’t like how everything has played out and think that the game they should have been watching should have been the Warriors of Milchama against the Stars of Sarzonia. They could still see it, but Milchama would have to beat us. On the first pitch of the game, we knew exactly what the Warriors thought about this matchup as their pitcher tossed the ball at Christina Barrett’s head. She ducked out of the way of the fastball and the umpire immediately warned him and the Milchama bench. He could have thrown the pitcher out of the game, and this probably would have set a record for the shortest outing of any starting pitcher in the World Baseball Classic. It definitely would have tied it. The umpire’s talk with the Milchama manager seemed to be all the umpire needed to hear for the game to continue. Our bench made sure we knew what that conversation was all about, and the umpire told us that they wanted to let us know what they thought about playing the game, but after the pitch they would get back to business. They could have done this in another way, because if that 90+ MPH fastball plunked Christina in the head, it could have been a serious injury. After the top of the first, our pitcher, Morgan Klein, did the same thing to their leadoff batter on her third pitch. The Milchama dugout did not like this, and the batter charged the mound and went at it with Klein. It wasn’t a big fight or anything but I think a few punches were landed. I was at my second base position at the time and I ran towards the mound, but didn’t get involved with anything. Morgan was tossed and so was the Milchama hitter. Coach Donnels was rather upset by this, because Milchama got nothing for initiating everything that happened when they threw at Christina.

Things settled down only temporarily, and we scored twice in the second inning on a two-run double from Jennifer Branston that came with no one out. Jennifer then was shoved to the ground for no reason by their shortstop and the benches emptied again. Jennifer got up and landed a few nice rights to their shortstop. Both of them would get ejected as well. This would be the end of the hostilities as they seemed to realize they had to win this game. Still, we extended the lead in the fourth with two more runs, thanks to a two-run home run from Rachel Weston. Filling in for Morgan Klein, Katie Douglas did a great job. You may remember that Katie was a starting pitcher for us back in World Baseball Classic 10, so we knew she could give us a lot of innings. She gave us seven, and only allowed one run in that stretch, striking out eight and walking only one. Milchama got a run in the eighth to make it 4-2, but as you saw, Katie Sanderson closed the game out in the ninth.

So here we are, and we know what Milchama thinks about us now. Maybe there is a rivalry brewing with them or maybe this will all die down and nothing more will ever happen. That doesn’t matter now. What does is that we are moving on and our focus turns to Sarzonia. The Stars are a very good baseball team, and this is going to be a good game. If we know one thing about them, it is that they are not likely to play as dirty as the Warriors did today. With a win, we move on to play Newmanistan.

One 8-9 Game result coming right up....

Sarzonia 5-4 (11 inn.) Cassadaigua

Quaterfinals: (beginning Wednesday)
(1) Newmanistan vs (8) Sarzonia (Series @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds. Newmanistan is home team for games 1 & 3)
(2) Zwangzug vs (7) Liventia (Series @ Pocono City Stadium. Zwangzug is home team for games 1 & 3)
(3) Tocrowkia vs (6) Taeshan (Series @ Loudon Stadium. Tocrowkia is home team for games 1 & 3)
(4) Secristan vs (5) Qazox (Series @ Putnam Lake Stadium. Secristan is home team for games 1 & 3).

Qazox & Secristan take note:
You will be competing in the newly finished Samseong Stadium @ Putnam Lake as the first game ever to take place at this facility.
http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=319#p23562

Well, it's play-off time again in the WBC. It's an atmosphere that Nordics fans have gotten used to and cherish, but there is always the lingering question of how far will they go? Last year, a team that debuted in the same WBC as Tocrowkia won the big one, that team of course being Newmanistan. The Rockets are now the number one ranked team in the word, while the Nordics are the number two. Last year, the Rockets were also ranked number two. "We're still subscribing to our mindset of one series, one match at a time." Paul Rudolf said during batting practice Tuesday.

"We have to face a very tough opponent to open up. We split the H2H with the Knights in group stage, so we have to be careful." He would later go on to say. "But we're feeling confident. Everyone in the clubhouse knows we're a good team, and Taeshan knows it too. They know we put all of the cards on the table every single time we take the field. As I've sad many times before, we treat every single game like it's the championship clinching game. There's no reason to believe we can't do this." Rudolf said, with his trademark confident half-smirk.

We then took the field with the players to get some comments. As we did, we noticed a heroic sounding song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf5UkdCh5Bw&feature=related) playing through out the empty stadium. If it had been an actual game it would have seemed a little out of place but in this case, it was oddly fitting. After all, if the Nordics managed to pull this off they would be heroes to billions of people. We managed to catch a few comments from Jill Haviland first off. We asked her how her team was feeling. "Confident." she replied. "We've been here before, so we're used to the pressure. It helps that we're up against a familiar opponent too. We know how to beat Taeshan, so that's useful."

Next we caught up with the Catalyst. Johnny Stryker, and we asked him his game plan against the Knights. He just shrugged and with an enigmatic smile said "Just play. That's all there is to it." and then Sofie Behm, who's masterful game against Taeshan propelled the Nordics to the seizure of the group title. "I'm definitely enjoying the classic so far, I'm so honored to be on this team with such great players, especially on the playoff stage." she said with a bright smile. "I wouldn't trade this experience for the world."

Purple Knights Face Nordics

You may have heard of wars before, but the one between the Knights of Taeshan and the Nordics of Tocrowkia is a very different theater of play. The two countries are known as being home of the ice, land of the freeze. Remember to bring your coats whenever your ticket says bound to either of these to nations. Youcan only hope though in Baseball that it will be a warm enough atmospere to watch because these to are very good and it is very hard to beat either of them on a diamond shaped field covered in grass and sand. The two will play each other for at lkeast the third and fourth times this season and if that is not enough possibly a fifth. In the earlier two games the first in Tocrowkia and the second in Taeshan they beat eachother in front of their home fans 3-1. In these final games, the opening round of the playoffs they will both look to make yet another advancement to the finalfour. Last year the Rockets of Newmanistan ruined the Knights longstanding 8 or so year run in the final four rivaled by few team, now the Knights are looking to get back their swagger and winanother game for their country.

First baseman Hank Everly didn't get all of it.

However, he got just enough of a tailing fastball to send an opposite field fly ball to left. Dewey Griffin tagged up and raced home, diving in head first to beat the tag and give Sarzonia a 5-4 victory over Cassadaigua in 11 innings.

Starting pitcher Brad Baxter worked eight innings, but took a no decision after allowing a three-run home run to Jennifer Branston in the bottom of the eighth. Manager Jim Paulsen went out to talk with Baxter and was going to pull him for lefty closer Alvin Dryden, but Baxter said confidently, "I got this."

Dryden worked the ninth while set up man Kenny Spencer pitched the 10th and 11th innings. In the bottom of the inning, Griffin reached first on a hit by pitch then stole second. A walk and a Chris Spontanelli ground ball to the first baseman put two runners in scoring position for Everly.

"I didn't get good wood on it," Everly said of the pitch he hit for the match-winning sacrifice fly. "We'll take the win, however."

Paulsen said his team would not have retaliated against Cassadaigua for the hit by pitch after they played a bruising contest with Milchama that resulted in two hit batsmen and four ejections.

"The only kind of retaliation I wanted was Hank's," Paulsen said. "Nothing good can come of headhunting for its own sake."

Sarzonia (9-4) will now face Newmanistan (11-1) in the quarterfinals. John Morgan will start Game 1 of the best-of-three series on three days rest.

"We respect the Rockets, but we don't fear them," said third baseman Kate Schmidt. "We expect them to be hostile. In fact, we hope they will be."

(wiki page is updated.. The link is somewhere else on this thread...)

The Secristan Department of Wagering has placed the following odds on various World Baseball Classic situations:

Newmanistan vs Sarzonia – Who wins and in how many games?
3:2- Newmanistan in 2
2:1- Newmanistan in 3
5:1- Sarzonia in 3
20:1- Sarzonia in 2

Zwanzug vs Liventia- Who wins and in how many games?
3:1- Zwangzug in 3
4:1- Liventia in 3
6:1- Zwangzug in 2
20:1- Liventia in 2

Tocrowkia vs Taeshan- Who wins and in how many games?
2:1- Tocrowkia in 3
5:2- Taeshan in 3
4:1- Tocrowkia in 2
5:1- Taehan in 2

Secristan vs Qazox- Who wins and in how many games? (Since this Secristani based, Secristani odds are naturally lower)
1:1- Secristan in 3
3:1- Secristan in 2
4:1- Qazox in 3
10:1- Qazox in 2

Other events:

Newmanistan’s Stacey Keisler records 10+ K’s in her start:
1:5- Yes
4:1- No

Sarzonia’s Kate Schmidt has a catfight with a least one Newmanistanian:
1:5-Yes
5:1- No

Newmanistan’s Carrie Nicolette and Sarzonia’s Kate Schmidt kiss one another:
1:9- No
5:1- Yes

Zwangzug’s Brianna Schneider records 10+ K’s in her start:
1:5- No
3:1- Yes

Liventia’s Ben Nichols records a WHIP of 0.75 or lower in his start:
1:2- Yes
3:1- No

The Zwangzug vs Liventia series will be very LAZY. As in, the lowest scoring of the first round.

1:2- No
5:1- Yes

Socki Lewis will account* for 50% or more of Taeshan’s runs.
1:9- Yes
7:1- No

Johnny Stryker will account* for 50% of more of Tocrowkia’s runs.
1:2- Yes
4:1- No

Out of 10 randomly picked neutral Newmanistanians, six or less don’t know anyone on either of these teams other then Socki Lewis or Johnny Stryker:
1:2- No
2:1- Yes

John Fusco will drive in more runs then Manny Rodriguez:
1:2- No
2:1- Yes

A Qazox player will do something typically rare in baseball:
1:5- Yes
3:1- No

Should Secristan win, Qazox will complain that we bought off the umpires.
1:2- Yes
2:1- No

Should Secristan win, we actually did buy off the umpires.
1:5- No
3:1- Yes

*- Accounting for the run refers either the player scoring it, or driving it in.

Let the Playoffs begin with this RP cutoff

"Home" Teams on Left
Newmanistan 3-5 Sarzonia
Zwangzug 3-2 Liventia
Tocrowkia 5-2 Taeshan
Secristan 4-1 Qazox

All winning teams, obviously, lead series 1G-0.

(OOC: Sarzonia, since you will probably RP first, Tara Stewart started this game for us. Stacey Keisler pitches game 2 and Courtney Lombardi pitches game 3 if necessary).

Purple Knights Open round of 8 With Loss

One game into the first round of the eleventh World Baseball Classics Playoff and the Knights look like they are ready to pack their bags and go home.since they arrived in Secristan they have all looked peachy, probally some rich mans disease of the people of Secristan who are all about money but compared to other's their lives are actually quite bad do to having to many material things. The Knights in front of the few fans in the crowd, well few to Taeshani standards, fell 5-2 to the Nordics of Tocrowkia and are now looking at possibly bowing out after only two playoff games and possibly they may only barely finish with an above .500 record. Its awful.

Theres not much you can say to describe last nights game. Johny Striker made Taeshaniace Anthony Reilas look bad hitting two homers off of hime in the 1st and third, he accounted for all of their runs on the day. Reilas would be relieved after the 6th for the rest of the game by Ohmegode Frede. Socki Lewis scored one of the Knights two runs on the game with a Solo Homer in the 6th, and in the ninth the Knights followed anAlexander Parea solo with three straight ground outs to end the game. Knights number two Zeke Peters.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Taeshan 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 5 0
Tocrowkia 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 0

WIN:
Tommy Thunder
HRs:
Johnny Stryker 2 (8)

It's become one of those generally accepted, obvious facts of life. Just as the sky is blue, the grass is green, the Purple Knights cannot contain Johnny Stryker. In an affair in which the Knights never lead, this was never more obvious. Stryker made an immediate impression in Newmanistan when he walloped a 3-2 fastball over the left field fence for a 444+ ft A-Bomb in the first and followed up the feat in the third with a three-run jack to right that was probably around the 460+ ft range. Stryker relentless taunted the Knights staff with each homerun trot, but was of course ordered to cool it by both the Umpires and Paul Rudolf.

On the other side of the ball, a strong pitching performance by Tommy Thunder, with 10 K's and zero BB's followed by a strong defense made sure the Knights never really had the chance to catch up. Thunder did get pounded for two solo shots, but went all 9 innings. After the game, the Nordics were all high-fives again. "We had everything working for us." Paul Rudolf said after the game. "But we're aware Taeshan is going to give us a fight to the end, so we're going out there guns blazing tomorrow to hopefully finish this off." Jeanna Glaus will get the start tomorrow with a second straight trip to the semi's on the line.

[CENTER]Purple Knights Open round of 8 With Loss

[COLOR="purple"]One game into the first round of the eleventh World Baseball Classics Playoff and the Knights look like they are ready to pack their bags and go home.since they arrived in Secristan they have all looked peachy, probally some rich mans disease of the people of Secristan who are all about money but compared to other's their lives are actually quite bad do to having to many material things.

(Somehwat OOC: Actually, I hope you're team came here to Newmanistan, instead. If they're going to Secristan, then I'm gonna have to have them forfeit for not being at Loudon Stadium).

The Kerlagrad Courier
The Link: WBC Special

1. Kate Schmidt was suspended from the Sarzonia stars after complaining about how...
a. No Sarzonian was named to The Rocket Report's "All-World Team"
b. The Stars' playoff schedule was rearranged at the last minute
c. The team's most famous player bats seventh and/or eighth

2. In their first World Baseball Classic, Norwellia have already made a name for themselves and their mascot, the...
a. Housecat
b. Bull
c. Emperor penguin

3. A lawsuit was filed in Secristan after...
a. A media report incorrectly identified the team's next opponent
b. The Lovisan Flu shut down the national sports department
c. Their second game against Newmanistan lasted 14 innings for the price of 9

4. James Dwight, president of Quintessence of Dust, used his state of the union address to explain...
a. The infield fly rule
b. Some anti-slavery movement or something
c. How this weird dude is going to crack down on radic--wait, where'd he go?

5. Ambiguity in the tiebreakers is bringing back memories of WBC 7. This is great news for...
a. Cassadaigua, who got to play beyond the group stage despite finishing fourth
b. Sarzonia, who got to beat an easier opponent in the 8v9 game
c. Zwangzug

6. Zwangzug finished the group stage as second seeds for the playoffs...
a. Having allowed the fewest runs of any team
b. Having scored the most runs of any team
c. Despite not recording a no-hitter, cycle, or otherwise noteworthy achievement

7. Fans at Pocono City Stadium were impressed by...
a. Noah Trecarichi's batting eye
b. Ben Nichols' endurance
c. Amber Pastis' sacrifice bunt

The hours leading up to Sarzonia's matchup against world No. 1, defending world champion and top seeded Newmanistan were hell for John Morgan.

He'd pitched in big matches before, but for some reason, playing in front of a hostile crowd at Tundra Falls Proving Grounds was especially nerve wracking for the Stars hurler.

He stared into the mirror on the wall of the visiting team clubhouse, trying hard to look imposing. However, he couldn't do it for long. Within a matter of seconds, the team's trainer raced out.

"Morgan, you OK?"

He knew the real answer. So did Morgan himself. However, it wasn't going to keep Morgan from starting this critical fixture. He wouldn't allow Manager Jim Paulsen to keep him on the bench.

What would his options be? Morgan wondered. He knew what the likely choice would have been: Start Ken Sutcliffe. Their fifth starter. Charlie Palmer was already planning to pitch on three days rest if needed. Brian Edwards was being held for a potential Game 3 in the event of a Stars loss in Game 1.

None of that would matter. Morgan pitched seven innings, allowing three runs, two of them earned. His control was sterling, but his fastball was at least four miles per hour slower than normal. Instead of trying to strike guys out and challenge them high and tight, he pitched to contact. He struck out two batters, but induced 14 ground ball outs.

He would pitch against Tara Stewart, who struck out the side in the top of the first, punctuating the accomplishment with a fist pump and a gesture toward the Stars dugout. Bad timing. Third baseman Kate Schmidt glared out at Stewart and yelled at her. The Tocrowkian umpire quickly stepped in and warned both teams.

"She showed us up," Schmidt said, explaining her challenge of Stewart. "It was bad sportsmanship." Even though the benches didn't clear after the top of the first, the tension definitely was present the rest of the match. When Morgan threw up and in to rightfielder Raquel Crockett, the partisan Rockets supporters booed loudly. Manager Christina Sanders screamed, "throw him out!"

"Quiet or I'll throw you out!" the Tocrowkian home plate umpire yelled back. He took his mask off and walked menacingly toward the Newmanistanian dugout, leading to a brief argument before he turned around and put his mask back on.

Then in the top of the second, first baseman Hank Everly decided he'd once again take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately for Stewart, she hung a 0-1 slider over the plate. Everly swung and smashed the pitch deep over the 385 foot sign in left center field for a 1-0 lead. A strikeout and a walk followed, sending Schmidt to the plate. She delivered a shot just over the outstretched glove of leftfielder Jennifer Martin and barely over the 372-foot sign in left field.

Shortstop Chris Spontanelli would get the measure of Stewart in the top of the fourth inning, hitting his first home run of the World Baseball Classic to give Sarzonia a 5-2 lead. That would be it for the scoring until closer Alvin Dryden gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth, but the Stars still had the all important one game to none series lead.

"Brian Edwards will start Game 2 of this series," Paulsen said at the post-match press conference. The Stars now had the opportunity to close out the Rockets as the "home" team in spite of playing in front of hostile Rockets supporters.

"Let's be real," Schmidt said. "This is not going to be a home match by any stretch of the imagination. We're playing all three matches in front of their supporters, staying in their hotel rooms."

For Everly, the team's challenge will be facing the no-hit wonder Stacey Keisler.

"She's been phenomenal," Everly said of Keisler. "However, we're going to have to take our best shot since she's going to give us hers."

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
QuarterFinals Game 1 vs. Secristan

Once again the Millionaires seemed to have Qazox' number. A 4-1 win for Secristan, and it wasn't that close. The only saving grace for the Pheonix were the 3 double-plays they turned, in the 3rd, 5th and 6th innings, all of which ended innings in which Secristan had the lead-off batter double. A 3-run HR by Manny “ManRod” Rodriguez in the first off of Rick Highfield, who has really struggled with his control this WBC, gave the Millionaires the only lead they would need. Rumors are Highfield has a torn labrium in his shoulder, which needs surgery. The other Secristani run came on a sac fly from Mick O’Rourke in the 4th.

Jim Slattery went the distance, only giving up 4 hits and one run, an RBI double by Angel Monks in the 8th, scoring Herman Doane. Qazox' hopes are resting on Glen Barter who will face Eric Strassner.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 0
Secritan 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 x 4 12 0

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Manny “ManRod” Rodriguez (Secristan) 2-3, HR, 3 IBB, 2 Runs scored, 3 RBI.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

AND ANSWERS to Zwangzug's Questions:
1- A
2- A
3- A
4- A
5- A
6- A
7- C
(probably got at least 3 wrong... LOL)

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS BAFFLED BY STARS

Tundra Falls- Sarzonia had defeated Qazox twice during the group stage, so to have expected them to be intimidated by their surroundings at the Proving Grounds, would have been nonsense. The Rockets were fired up, but as the game went on, it seemed as if Newmanistan was feeling quite a bit of pressure from their own very lofty expectations. Defending champions, ranked number one in the world, and on your home field, that should be a recipe for success, especially against a team that had to play in the preliminary round. Not the case. Not tonight, anyway. But Newmanistan has been in this situation before, in fact, it’s happened more often then many people may realize, and they have consistently been able to come back.

The crowd was loud to start the game and Tara Stewart was feeling the energy. Dewey Griffin, take a seat. Drew Bradley, go join him. Chris Spontanelli, you too. She struck out the side and the crowd was rocking, and Stewart pumped her fist a few times in celebration. Then she got too excited as she looked towards the Sarzonian bench and appeared to mock Spontanelli’s swing at her curveball. The temperamental Kate Schmidt yelled something out and the two seemed to be about to get engaged in a war of words before the Tocrowkian umpire broke them up. The umpire then went over to have a word with Christina Sanders, which seemed understandable at first but as Christina told us post-game, “The fact the my response was simple ok when he told me to settle my team down wasn’t good enough for him. He just carried on about it.” In the bottom of the first with Carrie Nicolette on second and two away, John Morgan went head-hunting, knowing Rachel Crockett is a our biggest home run threat. Crockett ducked under the high fastball, which Morgan claimed slipped out of his hand. Sanders wanted an ejection, but the umpire brushed it off, ahead frustrating the coach, and that frustration carried over into the bench, as a whole. It was obvious to the Rockets this was intentional, since first base was open and it could be another way of “intentionally walking” Crockett to set up a force play.

It carried over to Stewart, who got sloppy in the second, surrendering a home run to Hank Everly. A walk and a strike out later, Kate Schmidt, greeted with a loud chorus of boos, delivered a 2-run homer just barely over left field fence to make it 3-0 despite a great effort by Jennifer Martin. The Rockets closed to 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning as Tara Cuyler singled with one away and moved to second on a sacrifice. Brittany Wright then doubled in Cuyler, stole third and scored on a Jennifer Martin single. Morgan would retire Carrie Nicolette, but not before giving her chin music as well. Nicolette kept her composure but gave Morgan a long glare before stepping back into the batters’ box. Carrie would be retired on a line out to third, suitably fielded by Kate Schmidt on a nice leap. The Rockets wanted to get momentum back, but the immediate response by Sarzonia in the fourth, getting a 2-run homer by Chris Spontanelli was a brutal dagger to the heart. Stewart would leave after the blast and be relieved by Sarah Brayton, the normal #1E starter who gave the Rockets 3 1/3 innings of near-perfect relief. Morgan and the Sarzonian bullpen did their thing other then a seventh inning RBI-double by Natalie Monroe which was rather meaningless after Sarah Conrad fanned with two down.

Now, the Rockets are down, but certainly not out. The #1B starter, Stacey Keisler, will take to mound and as good as her career has been, she has been known to particularly rise to the occasion when the Rockets backs are against the wall. Just like they are right now.

SLATTERY, MANROD PICK UP JAMISON

The day started like any other for Steve Jamison as the ace of the Millionaires staff prepared for his start in game one. He had ample rest and was able to go, and we thought we had mentioned that he would be our game one pitcher in the series against Qazox. At 8am, he received a terrible phone call. His father, Randy, had passed away. If it were not for Randy’s wealth as well as providing young Steven a proper upper-class childhood, then it is unlikely that Steve would have the money to have bid for his first WBC spot, the one that got his career moving. It doesn’t matter how rich or how successful one may be, losing your own father is a terrible experience and we are sorry for the loss of the Jamison family. Randy Jamison, 60, had made the trip to Putnam Lake to watch his son pitch, and he passed away in his hotel room. John Michaelson debriefed the team, and told them that Jamison would not be able to make the start as he needed to be with his family. Many of the players also knew Randy Jamison making them also saddened by the terrible news. The logical replacement for Jamison would have been the #2 pitcher, Matthew Courville, but he was feeling a bit under the weather. He was willing to pitch, and Michaelson was going to go with him until Slattery spoke up and said that he wanted to pitch the game. Slattery had pitched the MD14 game against Steroga and was scheduled to pitch game three of this series if it would be necessary. Thanks to the extra day in the schedule created by the Cassadaigua vs Milchama game, Slattery could pitch on three days rest, since everyone had a travel day between MD14 to get to Newmanistan. The coach wasn’t sure about this, but Slattery really wanted to do it and the coach accepted.

The rest of the team also wanted to win for the Jamison’s. There was a somber mood, but also and excited one as the Millionaires got on the board early. Rick Highfield was not at his best, and he appeared to be laboring immediately. Later reports have mentioned that he may need to undergo surgery on his shoulder. With two on, Manny Rodriguez slammed a Highfield fastball over the left field fence and the coin jars were rattling as Secristan took a 3-0 lead. After rounding the bases, ManRod stood on home plate and pointed up to the sky, something that he never does. After that, he appeared to explain to the Qazox catcher the reason in which he did that in case the Pheonix players were not aware of Randy Jamison’s passing. With rampant showmanship and retaliation going on throughout this World Baseball Classic, ManRod wanted to be sure that Qazox understood that he was dedicating the home run to Randy, and the catcher acknowledged it with an accepting nod. The Millionaires added another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Mick O’Rourke, a ball that may have only been 10-feet shy from being an incredibly rare home run for the second baseman. Secristan had some other opportunities in the middle innings, but could not cash in. In the eighth, Jim Slattery lost his shutout bid, but what a great game he tossed. That run was the only run he allowed on just four hits as he went all nine innings, striking out seven. Coach Michaelson said, “This was truly a heroic effort by Jim today given the circumstances. Everyone on this team did a great job.”

Fans will want to know now if Steve Jamison will pitch game two. With his father’s funeral not until Friday, Jamison has declared that he will indeed take the mound. “It’s what my father would have wanted me to do,” he said. It would serve as a great ending to this series if the Millionaires can rally around Jamison. For now, the team isn’t thinking about returns on investments and their stock portfolios, it is all about doing it for Steve and Randy.

Here's your cutoff, find out soon who may have advanced and who may have survived.

"Home" Teams on Left
Sarzonia 1-4 Newmanistan (series tied 1-1)
Liventia 3-5 Zwangzug (Zwangzug WINS series 2G-0)
Taeshan 5-6 (10 inn.) Tocrowkia (Tocrowkia WINS series 2G-0)
Qazox 4-3 Secristan (series tied 1-1)

Tocrowkia and Zwangzug will meet in the semifinals. The winners of tomorrow's game threes will meet in the other semifinal.

(probably got at least 3 wrong... LOL)Haha, it's not that bad. As per the RL counterpart (http://www.theloopnow.com/?cat=7), A=correct, B=plausible, C=punch line. That said, both A and C are correct for #6, all of the above may well be right for #7, and #5 is TBD. :p

Arlington Moon-Tribune
Hard Nocks for Liventia as Zebras progress

Zwangzug swept Liventia to progress to the semifinals of World Baseball Classic 11, where it will face Tocrowkia. The second game was a 5-3 Zebra victory, despite Patrick Stephenson's complete game.

Murray Quashnock, making a rare start, led off the second inning with a double. Amos Robotham flew out, Ken Schlemmer walked, and Brigid Hoefflin singled to drive in Quashnock for the game's first run. "Pocono City is a great place to play ball," Hoefflin said later. "It's always a privilege to compete internationally and a thrill to travel the world." (Or else she was talking about her professional team's interleague overachievement...) After Amber Pastis grounded into a fielder's choice, Marvin Stania drove in Schlemmer. Greta Orsulak was retired, but the Zebras had seized momentum that would last throughout the day.

The next inning, Noah Trecarichi got a leadoff hit and Quashnock was to send him home. Liventia would not score until the fifth inning, when Darren Ashley drove in Brad Tretheway and Wayne Tope to make it 3-2. The Zebras added some insurance runs in the seventh, when Leonid Kostelanetz and Robotham crossed the plate. Liventia's ninth-inning rally brought home Wade Purglove but otherwise fell short.

Up next lie the Nordics, who halfheartedly defeated the Zebras in all three meetings between the teams: last tournament's third-place series and the final game of the second group stage in WBC 9. This time around, the Nordics have a five-starter rotation, and swept Taeshan to return to the semifinals.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Tocrowkia 1 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 6 11 0
Taeshan 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 10 0

WIN:
Jamie Von Tipker (3-0)
HRs:
Jill Haviland 2 (6), Dmitri Rykov 2 (7), Johnny Stryker 1 (9)

For Taeshan and it's Purple Knights, it's broomsday. For the Nordics, the quarter-finals couldn't have been any sweeper. In front of a mixed crowd containing equal parts Nordics and Knights fans, the two teams traded blows in an exciting game that turned to extra innings. The offense of both teams got roaring early when Jill Haviland jacked a solo-shot in the top of the 1st. However, the Knights got one back in the bottom half when Socki Lewis played long-ball as well. Right away, we heard cries of "Here we go Knights!" from the Taeshani loyal where as the Nordics chanted "Nordics! Nordics Nordics!" and waved rally towels and brooms with wild abandon

The score remained that way until again in the top of the third, Dmitri Rykov crushed a 3-1 curveball into the center-field stands for a titantic homerun. But again, the Knights would get one back when Alexander Parea swatted a ball over the right field fence for a dinger. Haviland and Rykov went back-to-back in the 6th for their second home runs each, however Socki Lewis would go deep again to get one back in the bottom of the same inning and Tadihito Shakiri would hit a clutch two run bomb that sent the game into extra innings. Amber Tavern and Jamie Von Tipker provided some yeomans work out of the pen, with Tavern pitching the 7th and the 8th, only allowing one hit where as Tipker pitched the 9th and the 10th perfectly.

The Catalyst Johnny Stryker had been limited to just three hits in the game including a double. But as he is bound to do against Taeshan, he came through and crushed a solo bomb in the 10th that proved to be the game winner. Now the Nordics go on to face a familiar opponent in the Zebras, and they likewise will face a familiar opponent: Matthew Shaporio to start the series.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
QuarterFinals Game 2 vs. Secristan

Steve Jamison, who was the original starter for Game one, until his father passed away earlier in the day, came out looking to pitch Secristan into the WBC semifinals on prue emotion alone. Qazox countered with Glen Barter, who has battling a sore left quadriceps this WBC. Jamison looked sharp early, stiking out 5 of the first 7 batters he faced, but a bloop double by Johnnie Bannon, followed by an infield bunt single by Barter, allowed Darren Pew to come up. Pew, who is hitting only .218 this WBC, stoked a solid triple to dead center field, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park HR. But the dam had broke, and two innings later, a Kyle Bryon HR made it 3-0 Qazox as Jamison left after only 4 1/3 IP, and giving up 7 hits.

Leading 3-0 and having allowed only 2 hits, Barter looked like a sure fire winner in the game, until back-to-back-to-back doubles with 2 out in the top of the 8th from Jason Carlin, Jonas Kindlan and Tim McMurtry chased Barter. In came Jackson Throne who got ManRod swinging to end the inning. In the top of the 9th, Throne got John Fusco and Eddie Forte to fly out to left, bringing up PH Adam Sperbeck. Sperbeck slapped the first pitch he saw from Throne over the right field wall tying the game up at 3-all. It was Throne's 3rd blown save ever, but Qazox would have his back.

In the bottom of the 9th, Hank Yans came in to Pinch-hit for Throne and on a 3-1 pitch from Michael McKeon, sent the Pheonix fans home happy as Yans bounced a shot off the right-field foul pole, giving Qazox a 4-3 walk-off win.

Now its a Game 3, with Qazox sending Corey Delrosario against Secristan's Matthew Courville. Can Qazox carry the momentum of a walk-off into Game 3, or will Secrsitan once again find a way to send the Pheonix home without a title?

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Secristan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 9 0
Qazox 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 11 0
NOTE: 1 out when winning run scored.

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Darren Pew (Qazox) 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 SB, 2 RBI.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS FIGHT BACK

Tundra Falls- “Daddy, why are we hitting in the top of the inning?” was the question my son asked me immediately. It was going to be a long day as surely many other young Newmanistanians in the crowd were wondering the same thing. The Rockets were the road team, yet playing at the Proving Grounds. Us adults could understand why it was, but after training your children that the home team always hits the bottom of the inning and then telling them that the Rockets were not home when they actually were is well, confusing to them. One of my co-workers told his four-year daughter when she asked the same question that Sarzonia was a small town in the suburbs. Whatever works, I suppose. What was not confusing was the importance of this game for Newmanistan, having lost the opener of the series and being on the brink of a sudden early elimination. Fortunately, Stacey Keisler was on the mound.

The showmanship began early. After Sarah Boland fielded her third base position, she took a sheet of paper and taped it to the bag. Naturally, Kate Schmidt, had to be curious and picked up the paper and read it. We are told that what was on this sheet of paper was our very own “All-World” team from the beginning of the tournament in which Boland was named the starting third baseman, and Schmidt was excluded (in fairness to us, had the Sarzonians had their roster in before publication time, Schmidt would have been our backup 3B). Kate was not too thrilled about this in a press conference and flipped out, causing manager Jim Paulsen to suspend her for three games. Boland, who played the featured role in the escapades with Johnny Stryker in World Baseball Classic 10 is never one to back down from this kind of thing, and certainly she did this with the intention of getting in her head. Boland was due to hit second in the inning, so when she came to the plate, she deliberately pointed her bat at Schmidt and got some kind of gesture in return. Boland then doubled, and fittingly advanced to third on a ground out by Natalie Monroe. Boland and Schmidt exchanged some words but it appeared to be more jovial then anger between the two. Boland then scored on a single by Sarah Conrad to make it 1-0. Tara Cuyler followed up with a double to put Newmanistan up by two, and then a back breaker; a double down the left field line by pitcher Stacey Keisler of all people to make it 3-0 in favor of the Rockets. When Keisler returned to the mound she was in great form, and only surrendered two hits in the first five innings. The Stars got one back in the sixth, but an immediate response by Newmanistan in the top of the seventh restored the three run advantage. It came thanks to a solo home run by Natalie Monroe, and the Rockets seemed well on their way.

Stacey Keisler calmly finished off Sarzonia, allowing just the one run on seven hits, walking one and striking out ten, including Schmidt twice. Tomorrow, the teams will be back at it in a crucial game. The winner goes on, the loser goes home. Well, the Rockets would already be home, but that’s not the point.

Cutoff for Game 3..... who's moving on....

"Home" Teams on left
Newmanistan 6-3 Sarzonia (Newmanistan WINS series 2G-1)
Secristan 3-4 Qazox (Qazox WINS series 2G-1)

Semifinals: (best-of-three)
@ Tundra Falls- (1) Newmanistan vs (5) Qazox
@ Pocono City- (2) Zwangzug vs (3) Tocrowkia

Newmanistan & Zwangzug are home team for games 1 & 3, making Qazox & Tocrowkia home for game 2.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS SHOOT DOWN STARS

Tundra Falls- Their backs were against the wall, but maybe they just wanted to make this a little more fun for everyone. After losing the first game of the series pretty soundly, Newmanistan responded well in game two with a 4-1 victory and had Courtney Lombardi on the mound for the decisive third game. On the mound for Sarzonia was Charlie Palmer (OOC: I’ll correct this if wrong), who was originally going to go in the second game for the starts until their manager Jim Paulsen opted for a last minute switch and put Brian Edwards on the mound.

They say that Newmanistan should have an advantage in these games, always being home, while a team like Sarzonia is made to sleep in hotel rooms far away from their homeland. In the first two games of the series, we didn’t really think home field advantage made that much of a difference, but it was certainly evident tonight. The Proving Grounds was rocking, and the Rockets were a composed group. Dewey Griffin led the game off with a single, but then made a terrible mistake. He would be picked off at first two pitches later, and any momentum he wanted to give his team, he instead gave to the Rockets and gave the crowd all the more reason to cheer. When the second batter, Drew Bradley, doubled to left center, the pickoff was more costly to the stars. Chris Spontanelli then hit an infield single, and runners were on the corners with just one out. The Stars were hitting the ball, but Hank Everly could not deliver in the clutch, instead grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Three hits for the Stars in the top of the first, and nothing to show for it. With the game still scoreless in the top of the second, Mark Dwight and Tyrell Gordon picked up singles, and Kate Schmidt drew a walk (unintentional). So now the bases were loaded and no one out. Fred Carlton fans, as does pitcher Palmer. Griffin had a chance to redeem himself, and hit the ball hard, but lined it right into the glove of Carrie Nicolette. Side retired, still no score. In the third, Sarzonia finally was much more efficient. With one down, Spontanelli singled and scored on a two-run home run off the bat of Hank Everly to make it 2-0 Sarzonia. After three: 2 runs, 7 hits, no errors for the Stars and all zeroes for the Rockets.

In the bottom of the fourth, Newmanistan finally broke through. Brittany Wright and Jennifer Martin led off with singles, and then put together a double steal. Next came Carrie Nicolette who blooped one into shallow right, enough to score Wright. Rachel Crockett lined out to short, and Sarah Boland struck out, making Sarzonia think they were going to get away with this. However, Natalie Monroe would hit a triple down the right field line, scoring Martin and Nicolette to give Newmanistan the lead. Sarah Conrad singled her in to make it 4-2 in favor of the Rockets, and that Newmanistanian swagger was back in the building. Even a top of the 6th home run by Katie Schmidt that closed the lead to one could not dampen the mood, as the Rockets had a response. A two-run double by Crockett, with Martin and Nicolette aboard, made it 6-3. From there, the bullpen took over. Courtney Lombardi did give up eleven hits in six innings, and allowed 3 runs. Erica Darby shut down the Stars in the 7th and the 8th, and Kristen Collins picked up the save in the ninth, allowing only one single.

You can book it as a 6-3 win for the Rockets and now the team will be prepared for Qazox, who did away with the Millionaires in the third game of that series out in Putnam Lake. The starting pitcher for Newmanistan will be Kristen Haynes. There’s no reason to think that Haynes cannot pick up a win for the Rockets at all. The game two starter is unknown at the moment, and according to the coach, it will depend on whether or not the Rockets win game one. If Newmanistan wins, look for Sarah Brayton start. If Qazox wins game one, Newmanistan will skip over Brayton and look to Tara Stewart. The other semifinal features Tocrowkia and Zwangzug in Pocono City.

This so-called business did not pay anything to be on a press release.

QAZOX ADVANCES DESPITE SEVEN ERRORS

Qazox players have accomplished many spectacular feats. Yesterday, they add what is surely a dubious record, committing seven errors in one ballgame, and before you criticize the official scorer, all were clearly deserved. Four of them came in one inning, the second which not coincidentally was the inning in which the Millionaires scored their three runs. Douglas Ellenberg was responsible for three of them. He then made another error in the fourth, but the Millionaires could not capitalize. Single errors were committed in the sixth and seventh innings, but again Secristan could do nothing with it. As hard as Qazox tried to lose this game, they put together three runs in the top of the sixth, and a single run in the ninth to win by the score of 4-3. It was the second consecutive game in which Qazox won the game in the ninth. Secristan had five hits in the ballgame, and made no errors, but sadly didn’t score enough. Matthew Courville pitched eight innings, giving up six hits and allowing three earned runs, walking two and striking out six. Francisco Martinez pitched the ninth and gave up one run on two hits with no walks. All in all, the Secristan Department of Sports seemed somewhat satisfied with the performance of the team, but they really would have liked to have had that semifinal showdown with the Rockettes.

(ooc to Secristan: 7 Errors? LOL I can Rp that..)

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
QuarterFinals Game 3 vs. Secristan

The 2nd inning proved amost fatal to Qazox as Doulgas Ellenburg's iron glove at first base allowed 3 unearned Secristani runs to cross the plate. John Fusco, Eddie Forte and Mick O’Rourke all reached on consecutive errors by Ellenburg, loading up the bases for Eric Beaudoin, who flied out to right field, but that too was dropped by Angel Monks, his first error in over 9 years at any stage of play. That allowed 2 runs to come in, and saw O'Rourke to third. A double-play ball from Kip Kircher scored O'Rourke, and that would be it for Secristan.

Qazox rallied with 3 in the 6th, starting with a bloop single by Corey Delrosario, which was followed by doubles from Darren Pew and Herman Doane. After Ellenburg struck out for the 3rd time in the game, Monks made up for his error in the third with a sharp single up the middle to tie the game.

In the bottom of the 6th, Oliver Tyes came in for Ellenburg, who was rightfully booed. Tied at 3-3 in the 9th, Secristan suprisinggly brought in Francisco Martinez, who promptly gave up a double to PH Annabelle Lucien. Lucien stole third and came home on a ground out from Darren Pew. Jackson Throne closed out the ninth, despite walking two batters, as he got Jonas Kindlan swinging to preserve the 4-3 Qazox win.

So Qazox and Newmanistan, ranked #1 and #2 in the world, will meet in the Semifinals. Everything seems to favor Newmanistan. They are at home, Qazox will either have to pitch Glen Barter on 2 days rest or use the bullpen in Game two, against most likely Tara Stewart or Sara Brayton. The Game 1 Starters will be Tyle Newson vs. Kristen Haynes.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 4 8 7
Secristan 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 5 0
NOTE: The 7 team errors in a game are a WBC record, as is Douglas Ellenberg's 3 errors in one game.

QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Corey Delrosario (Qazox) 8 IP, 0 ER, 3 runs, 5 hits, 11 K, 2 BB, 1-4, run scored.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

Headfirst, fearless

It's Friday morning. Before most people have are even awake, while the sky is a hazy blue and the sun has just started to peak over the horizon, the satisfying sound of a ball meeting the sweet spot of a bat echoes through out the derelict stadium. It's a bomb that lands five or six rows up in right center-field. The man who hit it, the Catalyst Johnny Stryker takes a step back to take a swig of his energy drink and shuffle his MP3 player before he steps back in. Meanwhile, Jill Haviland leads the rest of the team on a jog around the park. Soon Stryker trades off to Rykov, and joins the jog. Then Rykov trades of to Mazdrick, and so on and so on until everyone has gotten their turn in the cage.

It's 5:57 AM and there's no denying that some players are still red-eyed, not even fully awake. Yawns are seen here and there. They're all dressed in team issued "Nordic Nation" hoodies, air-flow sleeveless jerseys and sweatpants. Soon batting practice ends and each player fields their positions for fielding practice. Ground balls are scooped up flawlessly and flipped to third, home, second and 1st. Fly-balls are tracked down with precision and thrown to the cut-off men. Paul Rudolf is hanging out in the pen, watching each hurler take some practice. Matthew Shaporio takes some pointers from both him and pitching coach Johann Hilgers on how to deal with the Zebra's lineup. It isn't an unfamilar foe for Shaporio, but they just want to make sure he's ready.

While the Nordics do everything they can to prepare on the field, they also do everything they can off it. Edmund Jedele, the priest who leads the Nordics clubhouse church service confirms this. "They're always in here, of course. But they've been coming to me a lot by them selves, all of them. Johnny, Jill, Dmitri...Tommy, Matt...pretty much everyone." he said when we asked him. He was still setting up his small in-club chapel. It was modest, containing only a few pews and only a small podium. But had all the essentials one would need for worshiping the Lord in Heaven, Jesus Christ. "They just want insurance that God is with them on a personal level before they take the field." He said. "They're hungry to bring our country they're first title. I think we all want that. And they have a good chance..."

"One game at a time." Paul Rudolf reminded us. "It's worked for us before...just focusing on what's in front of us. One game, and then after that, one game..."

Let the semifinals begin! G1 cutoff....

Newmanistan 5-3 Qazox (Newmanistan leads series, 1G-0)
Zwangzug 1-3 Tocrowkia (Tocrowkia leads series, 1G-0)

Arlington Moon-Tribune
Shaporio paralyzes Zebra bats

The national baseball team has seen more than enough of Tocrowkia's Matthew Shaporio. His unconventional windup stymied Zwangzug yet again in the first game of the eleventh World Baseball Classic semifinals; ironically, the only Zebra to score, Noah Trecarichi, only reached base on a walk before Leonid Kostelanetz drove him in with a two-base hit. The Nordics scored three runs to win the opener.

It began with a Jill Haviland single in the fourth inning. Dmitri Rykov, with a chance to drive in the first run of the game, worked the count to 2-2 and fouled off two more before slicing a double into right field. Johnny Stryker's single doubled the score. Though Zwangzug pulled within one, Domino Mazdrick singled Stryker in for an insurance run.

"Deirdre [Palomaki] pitched well against some very tough opponents, but tomorrow's another day and I'm sure Brianna [Schneider] will do her best," Maren Ruud said afterward, while Amos Robotham was less diplomatic. "That guy's crazy. Whatever he's doing works, though." Indeed; Shaporio remains perfect against Zwangzug. (We must also make a correction from our last edition, in which we omitted to mention all of Zwangzug and Tocrowkia's past meetings. They also faced each other in the WBC10 group stage; the first game was a 3-1 extra inning victory for Tocrowkia...which Shaporio started.)

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0
Zwangzug 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0

WIN:
Matthew Shaporio (2-0)
SAVE:
Jamie Von Tipker (3-0)

Game one of a short best-of-three series. Matthew Shaporio delivers yet another masterful outing against the Zebras, and the Nordics are now just a heart beat away from their first final appearance. Matt showed no fear and went right after the Zebras hitters, striking out two in the 1st and the side in the 2nd. Leonid Kostelanetz drove in the lone Zebra's run in the 3rd with an RBI double, but that would be it as Shaporio was lights out for the rest of the game. The Nordics took the lead with an dramatic three-run 4th.

Haviland started it off mundanely enough with a sharp single to left. And then Mr. Clutch Dmitri Rykov came through yet again with a double, which scored a hustling Haviland from 1st. The Catalyst Johnny Stryker ripped a base hit of his own, and promptly stole second. Domino Mazdrick would end up driving him in with a single, and the Nordics had the lead. A brilliant game by Shaporio, strong defense an an excellent 9th by Jamie Von Tipker preserved the lead. After the final out, Nordics fans began to chant "One more win! One more win!". Indeed, the Nordics need only one more win to advance. The Nordics take the field again tomorrow, determined to win and preserve their perfect record against the Zebras. And even more determined to get a ticket to the big show.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
SemiFinals Game 1 vs. Newmanistan

It was the showdown everyone was waiting for, and it didn't dissapoint. A combined 3 errors, 2 hit batsmen, 8 runs, 9 walks and an a pair of ejections, and that was all in just the first 2 innings! And Qazox didn't have a hit in either inning!

Qazox got the ball rolling, as Kristen Haynes walked the first 2 batters she faced, Darren Pew and Herman Doane. Douglas Ellenburg got Qazox 2 runs on a rare dropped fly ball by Jennifer Martin, giving Qazox the early lead. But a ground ball DP by Angel Monks, a walk of Clark Petrie, and a strikeout of Kyle Bryon ended the threat.

Tyle Newson didn't far much better as he walked Brittany Wright, then plunked Jennifer Martin, accidently, putting runners on 1st and 2nd, After a Wright steal of third, a sac fly from Carrie Nicolette scored Wright, but the throw home, by Herman Doane, sailed over the head of Mickey Weatherby allowing Martin to advance to third. Back-to-back walks to Rachel Crockett and Sarah Boland loaded up the bases for Natalie Monroe, who struck out bringing up Sarah Conrad, who blooped a single over the head of Doane, scoring Martin, After a pop-out by Tara Cuyler, the first inning was done, but the strangeness would continue in the 2nd.

Mickey Weatherby was buzzed by 2 straight fastballs from Haynes, which made the Sarzonian umpire warn both benches about beanballs. Weatherby would walk, as would Johnnie Bannon, giving Haynes 5 BB's in just 1+ inning of work. After Newson struck out, a throwing error from Sarah Boland on a fast moving grounder by Pew; allowed Weatherby to score, but Bannon would be thrown out trying to advance to third, on a frozen rope from Rachel Crockett. A Daone pop-up would end the inning, with Qazox up 3-2,

In the bottom of the 2nd, Kristen Haynes would lead off, and on the 2nd pitch to her, a high fastball got away from Newson, which prompted the Umpire to eject him. Weatherby turned around and jawed with the Ump for a bit, and then he too was tossed. In came Francis Scarbourgh, who was scheduled to start Game 2. Scarbourgh would walk Wright, give up back-to-back doubles to Martin and Nicolette, the former scoring Haynes and Wright, the latter scoring Martin; to give Newmanistan a 5-3 lead. Haynes would carry a no-hitter into the 5th, before a double by Hank Yans broke that up.

So once again Qazox finds itself behind 0-1 in a best of 3 series. Glen Barter has to go on just 2 days rest, and will most likely face the Rocket's ace Tara Stewart.


LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 1
Newmanistan 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 5 8 2


QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Kristen Haynes (Newmanistan): 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 runs, 5 hits, 8 K's, 6 BB, 0-3, 1 run, 1 HBP.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

Nordic Fever

"Behind every play, a nation..."

That's been the unofficial motto of the Nordics baseball squad for three classics now, and it is a fitting one for the nation of Tocrowkia. On an international level, one must expect every teams fan-support to be truly awesome. However it must be admitted by every team out there that there is something...phenomenal about the Nordics fan-base. As baseball fans, the Tocrowkian people spend most of their time divided by cities, caps and uniforms. Bundial and Nouva Yourk, the most infamous rivalry in all of MLBF. The cross-town animosity between the Archers and the Macabres of Ancheron city...all are buried as the classic begins. Jill Haviland of Nouva Yourk has no problem all of a sudden turning plays with Domino Mazdrick of Bundial. And Dmitri Rykov of the Archers has no problem going back-to-back with Johnny Stryker of the Macabres.

And the fans are the same. People so used to berating and mocking each others teams can suddenly stand side-by-side with each other and root for their country. Rather it's a group of shirtless frat boys with "D-I-N-G-E-R" written across their bare chests waving rally towels, teenage girls whose hearts throb at the very mention of the name "Johnny Stryker" and jump up and down, squealing like children on Christmas day at every big play, or a family of six holding up "K" signs for Tommy Thunder, or heck, even just the random weirdo holding Jill Haviland's swimsuit issue of Spriche magazine over the rail begging her to sign it, it's all the same.

One doesn't even need to go to ballpark to see the support this team gets. Peak your head into any 9-to-5 office the last few weeks, and instead of Oxfords and ties you'll see air-flow Nordics jerseys and caps. Kindergarden classes fill up with little Johnny Strykers, Dmitri Rykovs, Jill Havilands and Jamie Von Tipkers every day at 9:30 AM. Elderly Matthew Shaporio's and Willhelm Dynrus's also knit custom Nordics quilts, the proceeds of which go into financing the research of Alzheimers decease nation wide. Little league ballparks across Tocrowkia are filled with cries and boasts from proud mothers and fathers that their son and daughter will be on the WBC roster some day.

One Matchday 1, one fan perhaps summed it up best with his sign. It read:


"We are Nordic Nation."

THE ROCKET REPORT

HAYNES OVERCOMES SLOW START TO LEAD ROCKETS

Tundra Falls- Ball four, take your base. Ball four, take your base. The first two batters of the ball game were put there by Kristen Haynes, who’s curveball was breaking either way too much or not at all. She tried the fastball, and missed as well, and Qazox had the first two men on. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when Haynes did throw a strike and got batter Douglas Ellenburg to fly out, Jennifer Martin flubbed the play. There would be no excuses about the sun, or misjudging the ball in the air, she simply did not squeeze the ball properly when it hit the pocket of her glove, and it bounced out. The uncharacteristically alert baserunners Darren Pew and Herman Doane each scored on the play as Martin went to retrieve the ball, although Ellenburg only made it to first, and was erased on a double play. Then came walk number three, before an eventual inning ending strike out. Down 2-0 in such a horrific manner, the Rockets needed to respond quickly, and thanks to Tyle Newson, they were able to do this. He walked Brittany Wright, which is always a no-no, but before she could steal second base, Newson plunked Jennifer Martin. Wright then stole her base, and scored on a sac fly by Carrie Nicolette, with Wright advancing to third on a throwing error, but at least they would have six fewer errors today then they had against Secristan. Newsom then walked Rachel Crockett and Sarah Boland, but was able to get Sarah Conrad to strike out on an ill-advised swing at what would have been ball four. Then came Tara Cuyler, who after all this excitement, recorded the first actual hit of the game, a bloop single that could only score Martin. Qazox got out of it, and after a weird first inning, both teams had 2's on the scoreboard.

If Rockets fans were hoping the sloppiness from the sky blue and white was over with, it wasn’t. Haynes walked the first two batters of the second inning as well, and barked a little bit at the Sarzonian umpire about his strike zone before Sarah Conrad could calm her down. Newsom was surely upset about his strike zone as well, because all of the sudden Haynes got some calls on the corner when he just happened to be at the plate. He stared at the umpire after striking out as if to say, “you better give me that too” to him. Sarah Boland committed the second error of the game for the Rockets, overshooting Natalie Monroe. She hesitated after fielding the grounder and seem flustered by Carrie Nicolette’s lack of being at second base in time to get the force play there (in what could have been an inning ending double play), and knew she had to rush a throw to get the speedy Darren Pew and threw it over Monroe’s head, allowing Qazox to pull back in front, 3-2. Some fans may have thought the “E-5" was a little harsh given the circumstance, but it was the right way to score the play. Fortunately, Qazox was unable to add to this lead, and that zero under the “H” column seemed awfully weird. Haynes led off the bottom of the second inning and she was hit by a pitch. Surely, in the umpire’s mind, this was a response to Newsom’s mannerisms when Haynes struck him out and he immediately tossed him and then told Mickey Weatherby to go join him in the showers (though not together) when the catcher began to argue. The Rockets medical staff attended to Haynes to make sure she was ok and she was. Newsom’s biggest mistake is that this may have “woke her up”, but more on that later. Francis Scarbrough, slated to start game 2 had to come in on an emergency basis, and walked Brittany Wright. Then we had some runs score in a conventional manner as Jennifer Martin drove in two with a double, and then scored a run of her own when Carrie Nicolette doubled her in. This gave Newmanistan a 5-3 lead, and if you thought this would be the final score with the way the game started, we’d have thought you were crazy.

Being hit by the pitch got Haynes back in the game, and she refound her control. The first few Qazox batters tested it, to see if she would continue to struggle, so she got a lot of called strikes in the third inning especially. With her curveball now hitting the plate, and the game finally settling down, Haynes was on top of her game, and even though Scarbrough was doing very well for Qazox, the 5-3 lead on the scoreboard continued to hold up. Briefly, some of our more long-term thinking fans may have been wondering if this would be one of the most unusual no-hitters in the history of baseball before Hank Yans delivered the first Pheonix hit in the 5th inning. They would get four more, but three double plays by the Rockets infield in three consecutive innings, the sixth through the eighth quickly erased those base runners. Haynes remarkably ended up going the distance despite the five walks, she struck out eight and none of the runs she allowed were earned.

Newmanistan will now look to finish off Qazox, and it will be Sarah Brayton on the mound. Coach Christina Sanders hinted that Brayton would start if we won, as she continues to show her confidence in the pitcher, refusing to call her a #5 starter, and instead the #1E starter. This is logical, because if Newmanistan were to win game two, they could start the finals with Tara Stewart. If a game three was needed, Stewart would go in that game, which would have either the final or third place series start with Stacey Keisler, and that’s not a bad thing either. Skipping over Brayton would mean Stewart and Keisler in this series, which could keep their roles limited in the final. Having won the first game allows Sanders to have this choice, and it will be Sarah Brayton in game 2, opposed by Glen Barter who only will have two days rest.

Time for yet another RP cutoff....

Qazox 2-3 Newmanistan (Newmanistan WINS series, 2G-0)
Tocrowkia 2-1 Zwangzug (Tocrowkia WINS series, 2G-0)

And so we have it, Rockets vs Nordics in Final. The finalists (and the 3rd place game teams) will get a much deserved day off since tomorrow was originally reserved for now unnecessary Game 3's. Could have moved the series up a day, but why bother. Clinch early, you deserve the rest.

Knock.

Motionless on his couch, Douglas was dimly conscious of Brigid Hoefflin swinging and missing.

Knock knock.

The Tocrowkian fans' dull roar grew that much louder.

Knock knock knock.

"Open up! It's me!"

Douglas stumbled to his feet, walked over to the door, and opened it.

"What took you so long?"

"Didn't know who you were. Could have been the police."

"Well, that's why there's this little peephole thing."

"Yeah, but then they could have seen me!"

"It's just me."

""Just" you? Sorry, you're not that humble."

"Hey now."

"I've been fired, Ambrose! I haven't been able to show up to work because, let's see, I was halfway around the world, handing victory to Zwangzug in the process, not to mention I'm wanted! Pretty impressive for "just you"."

Hoefflin's bat shattered under the force of a Jamie Von Tipker cutter. The pitch itself was popped up to Kevin Monroe, who settled under it and made the catch.

"More time to watch the WBC, huh?"

"Do you have a place for me to stay when I can't pay the rent? And answer carefully, because you don't want me in your apartment."

"You're being melodramatic. It'll be fine."

"In what sense? A thousand-check fine? What's the penalty for breaking into a cage, stealing a penguin, and...and whatever else we did?"

Ambrose shrugged. "I'm not planning on finding out."

"I hadn't been either. Look, we're too old for this."

"You just don't know how the time dilation works."

"You don't either."

Amber Pastis grounded out to Jill Haviland. Over to Johnny Stryker. Game over.

"Look, I'll make this up somehow, I'll find a way, I promise..."

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS GOING BACK TO FINAL

Tundra Falls- Only one team remains in the way of Newmanistan’s bid to successfully defend their championship after the Rockets recorded a 3-2 victory over Qazox, sweeping the two-game set. Also winning in two games were the Nordics of Tocrowkia, so now the World awaits the best-of-five series between the teams to see who will be crowned champions of World Baseball Classic 11.

To get there, the Rockets were able to beat Qazox by the score of 3-2 behind a great pitching performance from Sarah Brayton. It was another vote of confidence by coach Christina Sanders for her #5 starter as you may recall Sanders would not skip over Brayton to pitch a critical group stage game against Secristan when it would probably have been more logical for her to do so. We’ve mentioned this several times, but Sanders refuses to call Brayton a #5 starter, firmly believing that she has the top five starters in the Empire, and they are all aces. Brayton accepted the challenge and went all nine, giving up just two earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out seven. She cruised through the early innings, and allowed only a single off the bat of Herman Doane in the fourth over her first five innings of work. In that time, Newmanistan was able to put two runs on the scoreboard. With one away in the top of the third, Brittany Wright doubled and stole third. Jennifer Martin popped out weakly to first, but not before Carrie Nicolette drove her in with a single. An inning later, Sarah Conrad left the yard with a 428-foot blast over the left field fence to make it 2-0. All things considered, Glen Barter gave his country a terrific game tonight as circumstances forced him to have to pitch on two days rest, and in the bottom of the sixth, it looked like briefly, his teammates were going to come through for him. With one down, Darren Pew doubled down the left field line, and stole third, then scored on a fly out by Herman Doane. But the Pheonix had more in the inning as Douglas Ellenburg singled and scored on a double Angel Monks, and just like this game was all tied up at two runs a piece.

Christina Sanders breathed a deep sigh of relief when the Rockets were able to get out of the sixth inning without completely surrendering the lead because she was confident that her team could win a battle of the bullpens if it came to that. Barter took the mound in the seventh, but clearly began to tire, walking two batters in the inning, before Qazox brought in Nathaniel Schuyler maybe a little earlier then they would have wanted to, but Schuyler was on his game, striking out the side the close out the seventh. In the eighth, he was strong as well, getting the first two batters in the innings. The third batter, Rachel Crockett, would come through for the sky blue and white with a bloop single, bringing up Sarah Boland. A frozen rope to right center went off the wall, and then a fortunate bounce off the wall allowed Boland to get a triple out of it, and Crockett came in to score. The next batter, Natalie Monroe, hit a ball all the way to the warning track, but an amazing diving catch by Darren Pew kept the Rockets from scoring another run. The Pheonix just could not solve Sarah Brayton, who pitched the 8th and 9th without allowing a single Qazox player to reach base.

So now just two teams remain. Will the Rockets be able to successfully defend this championship? The pitching rotation for Newmanistan for the first three games will be Tara Stewart, Stacey Keisler, and Courtney Lombardi. Kristen Haynes would probably still start in her normal spot if there is a game four, and should there be a game five, that’s still up in the air again. But after Brayton once again made Sanders vote of confidence pay off, maybe Sarah, the #1E, not the #5, starter on this team would be given the chance as well. It should be a good series, and we know that Nordic Nation is hungry for the championship.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
SemiFinals Game 2 vs. Newmanistan

A dissapointing sweep by Newmanistan sees Qazox having to face Zwangzug again this time for 3rd place.

Glen Barter went 6 1/3 solid innings on two days rest, but it wasn't enough as Nathaniel Schuyler let it get away from him in the 8th, and Sarah Brayton closed out the Pheonix by retiring the side in the 8th and 9th innings sending the Rockets to their 3rd championship series.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Newmanistan 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 8 0
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 6 0


QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Sarah Brayton (Newmanistan): 9 IP, 2 ER, 2 runs, 6 hits, 11 K's, 1 BB.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Zwangzug 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Tocrowkia 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 x 2 5 0

WIN:
Mercedes Gaunt (2-1)
SAVE:
Jame Von Tipker (4-0)

It had to happen eventually, and at 10:21 PM it did. The Nordics are going to the finals, and how sweep it is! Nothing was guaranteed in the Nordics playoff run thus far. They went up against a tough Taeshan squad, a team that had managed to win on their homeground in group play. But they out-hit and out-pitched the Purple Knights and swept them away. And then they went up against another familiar foe in the Zebras, and remained perfect against them in their all time head-to-head record. They gave the Nordics a fight to the end, but they just couldn't pull it off.

Mercdes Gaunt pitched a masterful game, allowing only one run on three hits. The lone Zebra's run came off a Leonid Kostelanetz RBI double. But it was lights out from then on, and the Nordics put up two on the board thanks to Kevin Monroe and Kathrin Jordan RBI doubles. Jamie Von Tipker entered the game and finished it off, inducing a strikeout, a pop up and a ground out and sending the Nordics to their first final in their history. No mob-scenes on the mound, just high fives and hugs and fanny-pats as the Nordics now look ahead to their series against the defending champions, the Rockets of Newmanistan.

Adjust your calendars!

Why? Because there is a new month. It's the only way to settle this odd situation. What odd situation? Well...it's supposed to be summer, but the nation is gripped in a aura of play-off excitement that usually only rolls around in October. From where does it come? Well, in case you've been living under a rock, the Nordics are going to the WBC finals with a chance to bring a title to the Tocrowkian Reich. Therefore, we'll just go ahead and call the month Reichtober. And the only team that stands in the way of giving this month a perfect ending is the defending champions, The Rockets of Newmanistan.

They met only once in both teams inaugural WBC, the 7th edition which resulted in a Rockets victory. They did not meet again for two whole Classics until finally they saw each other again, in the semi-finals of the WBC 10. The Nordics took the Rockets to the wall, but fell just short of the finals in a heart-breaking loss. And now here they are again, this time on the biggest stage of them all. Newmanistan is here for the third time straight, and fourth time in franchise history. The first time they faced Zwangzug. Will, now they're finito, toasted by the Nordics. Then they faced Qazox, and the Rockets just swept them. They won they're first title off of Secristan, but they went out with barely a whimper in the quarterfinals. Newmanistan has faced a different opponent in every final series they've played in, oddly enough.

It's weird, it really is. For two teams that debuted in the same classic and are currently ranked #1 and #2 in the world, they hardly ever see each other. Well, until recently anyway. When you think of rivalries, one most be tempted to call the Millionaires the Rockets biggest rival, after all they come from the same region and they met in the WBC 10 numerous times, including the final. There even some bench-clearing antics. Or maybe Qazox would be a candidate for Newmanistans chief rival, both teams established baseball powers and having met several times in the playoffs. But the Phoenix is such an impersonal juggernaut, it'd be hard to call them just one teams rival. They're everyone's rival. Taeshan, Newmanistan just dominates. No rivalry there. And on the Nordics side of the coin, the teams they face never seem too passionate about playing just them. Two teams we play with great regularity, The Zebras and the Firebugs, are without a victory against us in their history. Not much of a rivalry either. Oh, and the Nordics have also enjoyed an extended period of success against Taeshan as well. Hell, we torpedo'd them in the quarterfinals, and before that in WBC 9. Poor poor Taeshan...

So...could the Nordics be the Rockets chief rival? At first glance, it doesn't make sense. Sure, Johnny Stryker's antics with Sarah Boland are amusing but nothing too serious. But just look deeper. Both teams entered the scene at the same time, both have established them selves as perennial contenders. They are the top two ranked teams in the world. They are almost perfect thematic foils for each other, and they're going head to head. Starting game one is WBC rookie Sofie Behm, who makes no small thing of the pressure on her shoulders. "It's important. Real important that I go out there and do my best and set the tone for the series. Tommy [Thunder] is following me up in game two, so I just want to set the tone for him." At first glance starting a WBC rookie against the Rockets is crazy, but Paul Rudolf explains. "It'll allow me to send Tommy out there against Keisler, and Jeanna out there against Lombardi. Very smart match-ups both on paper and proven. I want this title just as much as anybody, and I wouldn't do anything to endanger it."

May the finals begin. And that 3rd place thing, too. Cutoff time.

Final:
Newmanistan 4-6 Tocrowkia (Tocrowkia leads series, 1G-0)

3rd Place:
Zwangzug 1-4 Qazox (Qazox leads series, 1G-0)

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 6 8 0
Newmanistan 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 6 0

WIN:
Sofie Behm (2-0)
SAVE:
Jame Von Tipker (5-0)
HRs:
Kitten Dyfuse 1 (2), Jill Haviland 1 (7), Johnny Stryker 1 (10)

Going up against the defending champions, the Nordics showed no fear and took game one, showing the Rockets, and the World, they are ready for this title. Some instant-offense was generated when lead-off hitter Kitten Dyfused worked the count 3-1 in her favor and then swung on Stewarts slider, driving it deep down the left field line for a 395+ ft big fly. The Nordics were on the board, and showed anybody in their lineup could crack the veteran Stewart. Though the side was retired after that without much further damage, it was was only a preview of things to come.

Sofie Behm wanted to start out strong...unfortunately, the Sarzonian umpire's strike zone was seemingly the size of a cracker jack box for the young southpaw. She ended up walking Brittany Wright. And is so often the case with the Rockets lead off hitter, she promptly stole second and was driven in on sharp single down the right field line by Jennifer Martin. Behm would strike out Nicolette, and induced a ground-ball double play from Crockett to get her self out of the inning. Still, she was visibly spooked after the scary first inning as she was heading back to the dugout. Next inning, top of the second. Leading off was Johnny Stryker, whom recently began to play in Newmanistans domestic league, winning the 'Foreigner of the Year' award in his first year.

Stryker would end up hitting a seeing eye knock between first and second. Now as everyone knows, Newmanistan is famous for it's aggressive baserunning, and somebody with Stryker's wheels could thrive in such an enviroment. The Catalyst in his first few seasons produced about 30 stolen bags a year, but after playing in Newmanistan he's raised that average to about 40. Newmanistan certainly rubbed off on him, and he showed that by promptly taking off and swiping second on an outside pitch to Kevin Monroe. He then swiped third on a called strike on the inside, and was then driven in by a Kevin Monroe groundout. Again the Rockets would get out of it without any further damage.

There was a scary moment turned highlight-reel play in the bottom half of the inning when Sarah Boland hit a long, high fly ball to deep center that could have tied the game...if anybody else but Dmitri Rykov was playing center. Rykov climbed the center field wall and brought the ball back into play, replacing the cheers of Rockets faithful with groans and transforming the gasps of Nordics fans into wild cheers. Natalie Monroe and Sarah Conrad joined Boland on the bench after back-to-back strikeouts. Nordics retired in order in the top of the third, and then came another scary inning for Behm.

Tara Cuyler hit a blooping single into right, and after a successful sacrifice was moving into scoring position. Wright hit a sharp liner up the middle, but had one taken away from her with a nice diving play by Jill Haviland who looked Cuyler back to second. Jennifer Martin hit one between second and third which scored Cuyler, and was later driven in her self by a Nicolette RBI double to left. Paul Rudolf, Jill Haviland and Johnny Stryker paid a brief visit to Behm on the mound before the game resumed and Behm again got her self out of the inning.

Kitten Dyfuse would again get a piece of one in the top of the inning 4th, but a nice diving play by Jennifer Martin got her and took away extra bases from the speedy Kitten. Willhelm Dynrus drew a walk, and up came the Princess of Pounder. Stewart got the count to 2-and-2 before Haviland unloaded on a high fastball, driving it 420+ FT over the left field wall for a go-ahead homerun, but that would be all the offense the Nordics could muster for a couple of innings. In the fifth, Nicolette came through for her team in the clutch when with 2 out, she crushed a pitch to right center for a positively titanic 450+ft homerun. Behm gave up a walk and a single after that, but again managed to wriggle out of trouble.

One of the bigger moments of the game came when after a Dmitri Rykov double, Johnny Stryker swung at an 3-2 fastball and crushed it 475+ ft homerun. Stryker took a slow trot around the bases with his right fist raised. As he rounded third, he pointed at Boland and grinned, but did nothing else. Jaycen Hester, Amber Tavern and Jamie Von Tipker came in and pitched the 7th, 8th, and 9th respectively and allowed only one baserunner, a single against Hester from Wright that the Rocket's couldn't do anything with. The Nordics now have a great chance to build on their lead in the series with their Ace Tommy Thunder taking the mound, but he will be up against perhaps the best pitcher in all of Newmanistan. Get ready for a pitchers duel in game 2.

Arlington Moon-Tribune
Fourshadowing?

Their first meeting this tournament was a 4-1 victory for Qazox, and the first game of the third-place series was as well. Rather than confine their runscoring to one burst, however, the Pheonix scored in four different innings (stranding plenty of runners in the process, of course!). Darren Pew led off with a single, scoring on Angel Monks' double and crossing the plate once more in the sixth inning. By then, Mickey Weatherby had long since come in. In the eighth, Clark Petrie's solo homer into a seat that had been folded down for baseball made it 4-1. (Zwangzug's run came in the fifth, when Ken Schlemmer drove in Leonid Kostelanetz.)

Despite the arguable irrelevance of the third-place series, Norman Jakiela denied that motivation was a concern. "It was a tough outing, but the fielders were really there to back me up." Despite struggles at the plate, Greta Orsulak started one double play and was part of another. If recent history is any guide, though, Zwangzug may well turn it around tomorrow; they beat Qazox in their second matchup this tournament.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Third Place Playoff Game 1 vs. Zwangzug

The first time they met this WBC, Qazox won 4-1, and as so it happened, that was the score of Game 1 of the 3rd place playoff. Qazox stranded 11 runners, 6 in scoring position in a game that could have been a blow out. But timely defense by the Zebras kept it close. Corey Delrosario picked up the win, giving up only 6 hits.

With a depleted staff, Qazox will use the bullpen, specifically Francis Scarbourgh in Game 2, as to allow Glen Barter full rest in case of a Game three. Tyle Newson will most likely be used as a set-up man in case of a save situation late in Game 2.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Qazox 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 4 13 0
Zwangzug 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 0


QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Corey Delrosario (Qazox): 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 run, 5 hits, 8 K's, 0 BB.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

THE ROCKET REPORT

NORDICS TAKE OPENER

Tundra Falls- Newmanistan’s bid to successfully defend their championship, and to do so on home turf, got on the wrong foot tonight as the Nordics of Tocrowkia continued their unbeaten playoff run with a 6-4 victory in a well-played game by both sides. However that fact is certainly only relevant if you root for Nordic Nation.

Both teams put a run across the plate in the first inning, sending the message that each were ready for this series. For the Nordics, this message was immediate as Kitten Dyfuse sent a Tara Stewart pitch deep over the left field fence for the 1-0 lead. This may have brought back bad memories for Stewart from how World Baseball Classic 9 started for her when she injured her shoulder on the second batter she faced in the first game. Fortunately, only her confidence was briefly hurt by the bomb, and she got out of the inning, and quickly saw her teammates get that run right back. One of the biggest no-no’s in interregional baseball is “Do Not Walk Brittany Wright.” However, even Sophie Behm tested this theory by putting Wright aboard (although that 3-1 pitch did appear to get the corner), and it again became a two-base walk as she stole second. Jennifer Martin responded with a single and we were all tied up. The Nordics had a response as Johnny Stryker led off with a single and stole both second and third. This was probably a little surprising to some of the Nordics fans in attendance, but Stryker, who plays for Dover City, has enjoyed more green lights with the Mountaineers to steal bases, and playing in the Proving Grounds certainly got his confidence up to do so again. He would score on a ground out by Kevin Monroe.

Down by a run again, the Rockets were also ready to strike back. Sarah Boland got all of a Sophie Behm pitch, but hit it to the deepest part of the field. The ball also had a lot of hang time, allowing Dmitri Rykov to track it down and time a fantastic leap over the fence to bring it back into the yard. Taking off the sky-blue tinted glasses, this was a fantastic catch by the center fielder, and you will be seeing it on highlight reels for the rest of this Classic, and perhaps beyond. However, this was only short-lived, as the Rockets would take the lead an inning later. Tara Cuyler led off the bottom of the third with a single, and advanced on a sacrifice by Stewart. An out later, Jennifer Martin singled to bring in Cuyler, who would then be driven in by Carrie Nicolette as the second baseman slapped on RBI-double to left field. The excitement of the game carried over as the teams traded long balls. Jill Haviland’s 4th-inning home run was a two run blast since Wilhelm Dynrus had previously reached with a walk. Like Behm in the first, this umpire was simply not giving anyone the outside corner of the plate, but at least you can say he was consistent. Tocrowkia was now up 4-3, but the Rockets had an answer in the bottom of the 5th as Carrie Nicolette lifted a Sophie Behm curveball that had no movement over the fence in right center field fence for a solo shot. There we were, after five innings, tied at four. Each team trading powerful punches, which is exactly what should be expected in the finals.

The game had remained tied at four, and Christina Sanders opted to bring in Christine Stafford to relieve Tara Stewart in the 7th inning. Tara had not been at her best, and this wasn’t a surprising move although there is bound to be a few “talking heads” who are going to play Monday morning quarterback and question this decision. We won’t. This was the right move. Hindsight is always 20-20. Stafford just did not get the results that Rockets wanted, giving up a double to Rykov and then threw a pitch to Johnny Stryker that we are not sure if it has landed yet. It was measured at 475-feet, we are told. Stryker’s two-run homer gave the Nordics the 6-4 lead, and they would hold on to that score. Stryker was excited by the blast and again did his fist-pump when he approached Sarah Boland, but nothing other then two exchanging a grin, came of it. Both know that this is not the time for extracurricular antics.

The loss puts Newmanistan in a one game to none hole, but will have Stacey Keisler on the mound. If you think she’s been good in group play, but she has a sub-1.00 ERA in the finals. She will be opposed by Tommy Thunder, so the Nordics will take their best shot at her. I wouldn’t expect another 6-4 final.

What will take place in the game 2's? Find out soon....

Final:
Newmanistan 4-2 Tocrowkia (series tied 1-1)

3rd Place:
Qazox 2-3 (11 inn.) Zwangzug (series tied 1-1)

THE ROCKET REPORT

WE’RE ALL TIED UP

Tundra Falls- Newmanistan took advantage of a fourth out to perfection, and with some later heroics, were able to defeat the Nordics of Tocrowkia by the score of 4-2, and now the series is all even at one.

The game was billed as a likely pitching duel between two of the best pitchers in the league, Stacey Keisler on our side, and Tommy Thunder on their side, and each of them got off to a fast start. You will recall that in the first game of the series, both of the teams scored runs in the first innings, but that was not going to be the case tonight. Keisler sat down the Nordics in order in the top half of the inning, with Thunder matching her, stride for stride. Each recorded two strikeouts in the first inning and one more in the second. Inning number two was more of the same, as neither team could get a runner on base. Keisler cruised through the third inning as well, still keeping the Nordics hitless, and the pitching duel was underway. In a game like this, you need to take advantage of even the slightest mistakes by your opponent, and in the bottom of the third, Newmanistan was able to do that. Thunder retired Sarah Conrad and Tara Cuyler to start off the inning, and was well on his way to getting the third out of the inning. In fact he did, he struck out Stacey Keisler, after all. It perhaps, takes a pitcher to realize that if the catcher does not properly handle a third strike, that you need to immediately bolt to first base, even if the ball is still right in front of him. Catcher Kevin Monroe could not hold on to the heat by Thunder, and Keisler knew just what to do. It would have been an easy out if Monroe made the routine play, but his throw to first baseman Johnny Stryker seemed to sail as high over his head as did his homerun sailed over the fence in the first game. Credit Keisler for the hustle, and she took second on the error. Then came Brittany Wright, who blooped a single into rightfield, and allowed Keisler to score from second. Wright knew that Monroe might be a little rattled with his throwing, so she took off immediately for second on the first pitch to Jennifer Martin, and to third on the third pitch. Martin then singled up the middle to score Wright and give the Rockets a 2-0 lead. Thunder fanned Carrie Nicolette for the final out of the inning, and Monroe held on to the ball this time.

Thunder rebounded and pitched very well afterwards, but Stacey Keisler was doing her thing, sitting down the Nordics, allowing just one hit in the first six innings. In the top of the seventh though, Tocrowkia finally had a breakthrough. With one away, Jill Haviland laced a double into left center field. After Rykov flew out to left and advanced the “Princess of Pounders”, up came Johnny Stryker. The first pitch he got all of, but fortunately the ball arched foul at the last moment. Rockets fans breathed a deep sigh of relief, but Stryker would deliver. Not a home run, but an RBI single. Then came Kevin Monroe, wanting some redemption, but he would strike out. Domino Mazdrick came up with the big hit when the team needed it, a triple into the rightfield corner, and this game was all tied up at two. A fantastic leaping catch by Tara Cuyler prevented a Kathrin Jordan liner from going into left and ending the inning.

The game was tied at two, and the pitchers would not budge. Each were throwing their very best. Newmanistan needed to pull off this game, and in the bottom of the ninth, they came through. With one out, Carrie Nicolette singled up the middle, and advanced to second when Rachel Crockett flew out to left. Then came Sarah Boland to the plate, and what happened next will become one of the biggest moments of this World Baseball Classic. A long two-run homerun to dead center at the Proving Grounds. In dramatic, walk-off fashion, the Rockets had evened up this series! And of course when Sarah rounded first, she was sure to pump her fist right in celebration right in front of Johnny Stryker, and this time it was Stryker who could simply smirk over it. Stryker 1, Boland 1. Nordics 1, Rockets 1. It’s getting good. Courtney Lombardi pitches for Newmanistan in game three.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 1
Newmanistan 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2x 4 5 0

LOSS:
Tommy Thunder (3-1)

The Nordics undefeated play-off run came to an end after a 4-2 loss to Newmanistan. The Rockets were able to avenge their own two run loss to the Nordics in the series opener, and now the Nordics hope to rebound as they become the 'home' team. It was ambitious, but simply not realistic to think we could sweep the defending champions. After all, the Rockets did not get where they are today with out a little thing called 'Resiliency'. However, the Nordics have shown them selves capable of rebounding time and again from tough losses, so let's just forget about it for now.

The game it self was everything one could hope for with the two clubs Aces on the mound. Both teams had to take advantage of the rare opportunities they got with their baserunners, and the Rockets certainly did that. When Kevin Monroe's wild throw awarded the pitcher second, they were groans of disappointment from the Nordics faithful in attendance. Plays like that simply have to be made. Wright made the Nordics pay for the error and scored Keisler on an RBI single. Wright, as she always does ended up on third and was plated by a Martin single. The Nordics got out of the inning, but found themselves trying to play catch up for the rest of the game.

The Nordics finally plated some runs of their own in the 7th. Following a Jill Haviland double, Dmitri Rykov advanced her to third with a fly out. Some excitement came as Stryker came within inches of tying the game up with one swing of his bat, but the ball dipped foul at the last moment. Now if Stryker had been somebody like Socki Lewis, he would have been rattled about the near-miss homer and likely have made an out. But just as many would say that the Nordics are a more complete team than Taeshan, so too is Stryker a more complete player than Lewis. If he couldn't play longball, he'd play smallball. RBI single, 2-1 Rockets. Kevin Monroe wanted some redemption, but he fanned. However, the Nordics found an unlikely hero in Domino Mazdrick. She laced one into right for a triple, and the score was evened up.

After a Nicollete single in the bottom of the 9th, up came Sarah Boland. Now as many know, according to the Empire this would be her last WBC. And oh, if it is, what a fond memory she'll have, what fond memories she created for her fans. In baseball, great players like Boland never truly lose their edge. It may get dented, chipped and dirty from year of wear and tear, but it's always there. Boland proved that to be true as she hit a shot heard 'round the world to left for a dramatic walk off homerun. Rockets fans began to serenade the name of their beloved hot-corner operator. Jeanna Glaus will have the rubber on game three, hoping to help her team rebound from this tough loss.

Marco Erewhon stood up. It was time to go on-deck.

Maren Ruud shook her head, turning it as she did turning the lineup sheet. She glanced away too quickly to be strategizing; she was only double-checking that everything was how she thought it was. The Zebras were running out of hitters.

Murray Quashnock was tapping his bat against the ground. Maren passed him by. "Grab a bat."

Anastasia Alperin's eyes flickered upwards. She complied.

Marco shook his head. The one time that their manager was smart enough to rise above the petty intranational rivalries, it was for third place. It didn't matter.

Except...except he had been in the game. Call it arrogance, but Marco knew he wouldn't have been busy if it wasn't important.

Whatever happened, someone else would pitch the bottom of the eleventh. Which was fine by him. He'd gone two innings, somewhat more than he was used to and far more than he'd done for most of the tournament. Game two against Tocrowkia, there in the eighth, that was his chance. And he'd shut them down, but it wasn't enough.

Amber Pastis popped it up. Mickey Weatherby backtracked and made the catch.

Anastasia took the first pitch for a strike. She took the second one for a ball. The third was fouled off.

Maren turned to the telephone.

The fourth pitch was poked into right field. Angel Monks tried to come up with it, but Ken Schlemmer was tearing towards the plate. 3-2 Zwangzug.

Rod Kirst pitched a perfect bottom half for the save.

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Third Place Playoff Game 2 vs. Zwangzug

For 10 innings, the bullpen gave 100%, They just ran out of gas in the 11th as Murray Quashnock dropped a Game winning single in front of Angel Monks, scoring Ken Schlemmer. Qazox went down 1-2-3 at the hands of Rod Kirst.

Marco Erewhon went 10 innings, striking out 14 and allowing 9 hits, but couldn't get that 3rd run until the 11th. Qazox' Francis Scarbourgh went 4 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits, those two runs coming on a bloop double by Ken Schlemmer. For the next 3 innings, Brian Rescovich shutout the Zebras allowing just 2 hits in that span. Jackson Throne pitched the 8th and 9th innings, retiring 6 of the 7 batters he faced, leaving just Nathaniel Schuyler and David Haskins left. Schulyer would come in in the 10th, but had to be lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 10th, leaving only Haskins.

Haskings, making only his 3rd appearance in this WBC, walked two, and gave up 2 hits, earning the loss.

The only good news is that Glen Barter will go in game 3.

LINESCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Zwangzug 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 11 0
Qazox 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0


QSPN.com Player of the Game:
Marco Erewhon (Zwangzug): 10 IP, 2 ER, 2 runs, 9 hits, 14 K's, 4 BB.

(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

Who's gonna take the 2-1 lead in the final?
Who's gonna have a shiny 3rd place trophy? Find out soon.... cutoff time.

FINAL:
Tocrowkia 4-3 Newmanistan (Tocrowkia leads series 2G-1)

3rd Place
Zwangzug 2-1 Qazox (Zwangzug WINS series 2G-1)

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Newmanistan 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 0
Tocrowkia 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1x 4 6 0

WIN:
Jeanna Glaus (2-2)
HRs:
Dmitri Rykov 1 (8), Hoyt Klaus 1 (1)

Game three proved to be just as exciting for both sides as the previous two meetings. In a short Best-of-5 series, game three is perhaps just as important as game 1, when the seriesi s tied. Because it allows one team to take the lead for the remaining two games, building confidence at the same time. The Nordics marched out out to the Proving Grounds as the home team tonight and did just that, taking Game 3 and becoming all the more confident for it.

Jeanna Glaus has somewhat struggled in this edition of the classic, but she had her sinker working well again and when you're as good as she is with this pitch, that's all you really need. She retired the Rockets in order on groundouts to start the game. The Nordics got her some run support right away as Kitten Dyfuse led off the home half with an infield single. Willhelm Dynrus hit a sharp liner into center, Dyfuse tried for third and made it in safe and Dynrus advanced on the throw to third. With runners at second and third it was proving to be a scary first inning. Haviland almost got all a Lombardi fastball, but the sharp, high drive died on the warning track. Dyfuse tags, scores. Dynrus tags, advances to third. 1-zip in favor of the Nordics.

Though the side was fortunately retired after this thanks to a nice leaping play on a ball up the middle by Cuyler which held Dynrus at third and got Rykov at first, and a Johnny Stryker fly out, the Nordics had shown the world that they were much more than a team of sluggers whom relied on the longball. They were a complete team with baserunning skills that had many different ways of plating runs. Rudolf's overall strategy was finally shining through, which many Nordics fans finally took note of. After all, when you have guys raking up ten strikeouts and guys hitting 475+ homeruns, it's easy to forget about such things.

The Rockets however got the run back in the second. Rachel Crockett hit a slow dribbler up the 3rd base line that Kitten Dyfuse had to barehand to Stryker and the throw ended up just late. Crockett reached on the infield single. Credit Crockett, she hustled all the way knowing it would be a tough play. Sarah Boland then blooped one over the heads of Haviland and Mazdrick, and the Rockets had runners on second and first with no one out. Glaus would get the ground ball she needed finally when she got Natalie Monroe to hit one to Haviland. Flip to second, to first. Double play, but now Crockett's at third. Sarah Conrad hit a sharp liner up the middle, and Crockett scores. Tied at 1 a piece. Glaus gets out of it without further damage, though.

The Nordics got another run, a nicely manufactured one at that, in the bottom of the third. Kathrin Jordan hit a single to left, got bunted over by Glaus, and took third on passed ball to Dyfuse. Dyfus flew out, and Jordan scored as a result. 2-1 Nordics. Lombardi would get out of it without any more dents though, and in the top half of the 4th after a Jennifer Martin single, Carrie Nicolette again came through in the clutch for her team when she slapped a two run homer for the go-ahead. Looking at the post-game box-score one would not be able to tell how ridiculously hard fought this game was on both sides. Maybe not one for the ages, but damn close in our humble opinion.

The Rockets would hold onto the 3-2 lead until the eighth when with two out, Dmitri Rykov, who makes a living creating dramatic moments in the clutch he clubbed a solo homerun to left which tied the score and sent Nordics fans into a frenzy. They had been laconic since the Nicolette homerun, and this was just the type of thing to put some life back in the crowd. Talk about some late inning Super Heroics. We'd see more of that later, but we didn't know that now. The Nordics then went down leaving the score tied.

Some more tense moments between the Rockets and the Nordics came in the eighth. After striking out Carrie Nicolette to start the inning, Amber Tavern pumped her fist and pointed at the Rockets infielder in celebration. Nicolette had some words of her own for the flamboyant set-up pitcher on her way back to the dugout. Tavern also got Crockett to swing and miss and jubilantly jumped off the mound with a fist pump, slapping her glove and telling Crockett to "Go Sit down!". Some more words exchanged before she finally got a ground out from Boland to end the inning. The Rockets brought in their own closer, Erica Darby. She got Stryker to fly out and Kevin Monroe swung and missed. After fanning Monroe, Darby turned to the Nordics dugout and did her own impression of Tavern's celebration in the top half. Amber, perhaps the most passionate and express member of the Nordics seemingly flew from the dug out to have her say to Darby. ((OOC: Seriously. Imagine her doing this, exactly like Papelbon (http://i43.tinypic.com/242zuzd.jpg))) now before things got out of hand, the umpires ordered Tavern to cool her jets and reminded her she was lucky not to get ejected for coming onto the field.

After that, Darby got Jordan on a pop out. Those old-fashioned types that disapprove of show-boating surely appreciated the fact that Jamie Von Tipker was coming in to hold the Rockets in place. Now she may not have made the All-World team, but Tipker has been truly phenomenal recently. She has not allowed a single base-runner in the entire Classic, in fact, the last base runner she allowed was all the way back in the 10th WBC one one of the matchdays in group play. If the likes of Zwangzug, Taeshan, and Sarzonia could not crack Tipker, how could the Rockets? They could not, and Tipker retired the side in order. As is the case with Tipker, she did not pump her fist or taunt the Rockets players. She just gave an enigmatic smile, breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to the dugout.

Score still tied at 3. Bottom of the 9th. Just in case the game drags into extra frames, Rudolf let Tipker bat for her self. She popped out to 3rd. Dyfuse retired on strikes. Paul Rudolf signals time and decides to pinch-hit Dynrus, wanting to if at all possible avoid extra frames. In steps Hoyt Klaus, hall-of-fame catcher. He's swatted 524 homers in his career, and hit .314 and is by all accounts the greatest offensive catcher all time in Tocrowkian baseball history. He's lost some of power, lost some of his speed. But like Boland in game 2, he showed that the greats never truly die. They may fade with time, they may get slower. But that skill is always there. On a full count pitch, he hit a high line driver that would carry....out! Walk-off home run to end game three! Klaus was greeted by jubilant team-mates around homeplate, and Nordics fans, like Rockets fans the night before, serenaded the name of their beloved back-stop and were literally rolling in the aisles. "One more win!" was the chant that echoed from Nordic Nation. "One more win! One more win!"

One more win. One more win, and Nordic Nation has it's first title. Matthew Shaporio, who tossed a no hitter will be taking the mound tomorrow. Nobody expects him to throw another no-hitter, but everyone expects him to finish it off. One more win....one more win...

There was time to watch it all.

He saw Glen Barter walk Noah Trecarichi and Amos Robotham's double off the left-field fence. He forced himself to see Darren Pew cross the plate after Douglas Ellenburg's hit. But he cheered unashamedly when Brigid Hoefflin sliced a single and Robotham scored. He stared intently as Arianna Shadduck faced the Pheonix. One away.

Kyle Bryon grounded to Ken Schlemmer. He seemed to grip the ball oddly tightly, but it was only for a second. Schlemmer flipped it to Greta Orsulak. She whirled and threw to first. Marvin Stania leaned over, keeping his foot on the bag. Double play.

It took a moment for the victory to sink in, as if it could have only happened after another batter. One out at a time. And then, Douglas realized that the Zebras had won.

He got up emotionlessly and turned off the TV. The knocks came minutes later. Someone had been waiting until the game was over.

"Do you want a job," called Ambrose, "or not?"

Douglas glared through the peephole.

"Just let me in."

He opened the door but stood in it.

Ambrose handed him a stack of paper. "They'll give us an advance, I think."

"Who are they, and why are they willing to hire us?"

"They don't seem particularly concerned about our record, or deserved record. They did ask if we were prone to incomprehensibility, misogynism, incompetence, or generally being boring, but we're not any of those things."

Douglas flipped to the final sheet of paper. "Ambrose," he said, "what the bleep?"

QSPN.com/WBC11 Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic_11)
Third Place Playoff Game 3 vs. Zwangzug

We lost 2-1, as the bullpen imploded once again.

Qazox' needs for WBC 12: Perhaps a change to the new-fangled 5-man rotation and depth in the bullpen.

Qazox' Biggest question mark: Is the injuries to Rick Highfield enough to make him retire?

Qazox' Best Strength: Team speed. With Darren Pew only 24, and quite a number of NQBLers possibly joining the squad in 1960, (ooc: in Qazox this took place in 1958, with WBC's every 2 years), Qazox will finally give up the ghost of waiting for the 3-run HR and manufacture runs, like the Rockets and Zebras do.

Qazox' Biggest Weaknesses: Other than the Bullpen, a solid fielder at first base and accurate arms in left and center field.

Qazox has to re-tool, as hope it takes soon, or else they could fall the way of Milchama and Taeshan, and be relegated into the middle of a quickly improving pack.


(OOC: The Wiki page is updated)

Will the Rockets come back and force a game 5, or will they be partying on the streets of Tocrowkia all night?

Newmanistan 2-4 Tocrowkia (Tocrowkia WINS series 3G-1)


And so it ends. Nordic Nation is a Championship Nation. Congratulations to them, and thanks to everyone for your participation.

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Newmanistan 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0
Tocrowkia 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 x 4 6 0

WIN:
Matthew Shaporio
SAVE:
Jamie Von Tipker (6-0)
HRs:
Johnnny Stryker 1 (11)

Starting spreading the news. At 10:48 PM, the Nordics have ascended to a position that only five other nations before them have. The Rockets of Newmanistan gave them a fight to the end, and gracious as either victor or vanquished, we take our caps of to them. They won last year because they are a championship caliber team if there ever was one, but let's face it. After they won, we knew it was our turn. And we weren't going to let anyone, not even the defending champs stand in our way.

The game it self saw the Nordics take an early lead in which the Rockets could only tie. Shaporio retired the Rockets in order in the first, and the Nordics manage to take a one-zip lead after Kitten Dyfuse hit a double into left and was later driven in on a Jill Haviland single. Rockets retired in the second without a baserunner, and the Nordics plate one more after Kevin Monroe shakes off the ghosts of his past in the finals and hit a double, later to be driven in by Domino Mazdrick, but that would be it as the Nordics couldn't string together any more hits. Nordics up 2-to-nothing, and the wave started to go through the Nordics fans in the crowd. It didn't stop until the end of the game. Everyone had a sense that the time was finally upon the Nordics. Victory cast a long shadow over the Proving Grounds that day. Nordics fans and players alike could almost reach out and touch it, they could feel it's heat and almost bask in it's glow.

Rockets finally managed to mount some baserunners on back-to-back singles from Wright and Martin in the 3rd. However, Nicolette lined out to Haviland and she managed to tag Wright whom had wandered a little far off the bag, and the Nordics got themselves out of the inning. Nothing for the Nordics in the bottom half either. Boland hit a one out double, and was later driven in on a Monroe single. Okay, not problem. We're still up after all. Shaporio managed to induce a ground ball for the double play he needed, and it was over like that. The next inning, Sarah Conrad had a double her self, advanced to third on a fly-out by Cuyler, and Haynes blooped one to center for a RBI single.

That was it though, as Shaporio was totally lights out after that. The Nordics got one back to take the lead again when Willhelm Dynrus drew a walk, stole second and third and got in on a double by Jill Haviland. In the 7th, Johnny Stryker made the lead two runs when he hit a dramatic solo homer to right center, a blast estimated in the 429+ Ft range. Stryker trotted around the bases, fist raised in pride and joy. He simply nodded to Boland as he rounded third, and Shaporio departed the next inning. He struck out eight, and was charged with two runs, a good game from the young pitcher. Amber Tavern knew she had a job to do, and that was get her usual three outs. She fans Boland. Five more outs. Ground-out from Crockett, four more to go. Sarah Conrad gives one a ride that could have tied it on a warmer night, but Dynrus makes a nice running grab at the warning track. Three more to go, and the Nordics went in order in the 8th.

Jamie Von Tipker comes in to close it out. Works the count 1-2 in her favor to Cuyler, and gets her to a high pop up to shallow left. Haviland ranges back and hauls it in, and they are two outs away. Rachel Becker pinch hits, but Tipker strikes her out. Two down. Nordics fans were on their feet as Wright stepped up to the plate, one more chance to go. She fouls off a sinker, 0-1. She lays off an outside curve ball from Tipker, 1-1. Tipker throws her the cutter, and it shatters Wright's bat. Brief pause here as the Rockets get her a new bat and clear the debris from the field. It's 1-2 and the Nordics fans are on their feet. Ralley towels waved, and there were a few whistles, but otherwise silence. Another cut-fastball that oddly enough snapped Wright's bat as well, but this ball chops up in front of the mound. Tipker deftly dodges the shards, and fields the ball her self. She meets the charging Wright three quarters of the way to first and applies to a tag.

A brief pause, and then it was like Nordic Nation cheered at once. Game over! Nordics are world champions! Stryker runs forward and embraces Tipker between 1st and the mound. Mazdrick runs up and joins the hug, as does Monroe and Haviland and Dyfuse forming a dogpile. Rykov, Jordan and Dynrus run in from the outfield and jump on in. The bench gives Paul Rudolf a gatoraide bath before they jump out of the dugout and join the dogpile. Bullpen empties and they're in it too while the Rockets watch from their own dugout. Nordics fans in the stands went nuts as Rockets fans left the stadium. Back home in Tocrowkia, fireworks were going off over every major city as Tocrowkians partied in the streets. Fittingly, a total lunar eclipse occurred six minutes after the Nordics won the title.

The victory tune (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuTA4jlpWA) that Paul Rudolf had chosen if his team won tonight played through out the Proving Grounds, and was the melody ever suiting for the atmosphere. One of euphoric relief and joy as the Nordics were presented with bubbly and sudzies and began to spray each other with beverages as the Rockets finally began to leave their own dugout, the reality sinking in. The Nordics dominated in their play-off run, 7 wins to 1 loss. It really was destiny it seems. The rout they took to the finals was oddly suiting. They bumped off Taeshan whom pounded them in the Nordics debut in the WBC 7. They then took out the Zebras, the eventual winner if the 7th Classic. They then took on the Rockets who also debuted in the 7th Classic and became a power right away. But the Nordics slowly climbed the ladder, and it's fitting that after Newmanistan wins the title, that the Nordics do the same. The fact that they did so against the defending champions just makes things sweeter.

Crowds in the hundreds of millions are expected to greet the Nordics as they return to Nouva Yourk tomorrow for a long-awaited victory parade. The regular MLBF season is about to begin, and the Nordics players will all go back to their own teams. Domino Mazdrick and Jill Haviland won't be turning double plays anymore, and Dmitri Rykov and Johnny Stryker will go back to being the franchise players of their crosstown teams. But nobody will forget what they did here in Newmanistan.

We'll see you in WBC 12. From all of us here at TSPN media, we congratulate our team, the WBC 11 Champions, the Nordics!

Series Composite Box:

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tocrowkia 3 3 1 3 0 1 5 0 1 16 24 1
Newmanistan 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 13 22 0

Congrats to Tocrowkia, now comes the hard part...DEFENDING IT!

For giggles the newly updated Unoffical World Champions list from WBC 11:

...
Newmanistan 8 (WBC10 Finals Game 2- WBC11 MD4) 4 games (UWC going into WBC11)
Secristan 2 (WBC 11 MD4- MD8) 4 games
Milchama 7 (WBC 11 MD8- MD10) 1 game
Steroga (WBC 11 MD10- MD13) 2 games (first timer!)
Lovisa (WBC 11 MD13- MD 14) 1 game (first timer!)
Newmanistan 9 (WBC 11 MD 10- Qtrs Game 1) 1 game
Sarzonia 2 (WBC 11 Qtrs Game 1- Qtrs Game 2) 1 game
Newmanistan 10 (WBC 11 Qtrs Game 2- Finals Game 1) 4 games
Tocrowkia 5 (WBC11 Finals Game 1- Finals Game 2) 1 game
Newmanistan 11 (WBC 11 Finals Game 2- Finals Game 3) 1 game
Tocrowkia 6 (WBC11 Finals Game 3- ???) 2+ games (CURRENT UWC)

This will also mark the final WBC hosted on Jolt, as WBC 12 will be hosted on the NSfourms.