The American 50 - The definitive hometown hero tournament of the United States

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Game 6 should be the New York teams against each other, it seems, just so you know. CD out.

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 5

Recap:
Another pitching gem, this time from Fenway. Both Devin Smeltzer and Rich Hill delivered four-hit shutout innings before handing over the ball to their respective bullpens. The only difference between the two sides came in the 5th, when Boston reliever Steven Hajjar gave up two runs on a Kevin Smith sac fly and Derek Tenney double. Southern New England will now advance to a matchup with Delmarva and is guaranteed of surviving this Regional as well. Boston will face New Jersey in the loser's bracket.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 6

Recap:
This all New York matchup looked over before it even started when City opener Ricky DeVito gave up three runs without recording an out. However, Richie Palacios was having none of that as the home team's second baseman hit two dingers to bring the deficit back to only one run halfway through the game. The non-metropolitan visitors, however, put its foot on the gas for a three run 6th. A deserved win for Greater New York, who almost had the whole lineup recording a hit and saw all its relievers throw shutout innings. They now advance in the loser's bracket for a matchup with Northern New England. New York City in two days will play in the first elimination game

Bracket:

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Be sure to periodically check your bracket before every game to make sure that you have the right teams matching up with each other in the relevant games according to your plan in each regional, timetxu. I really don't think you'd want to have to redo them all over again, somehow, of course. CD out.

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 7

Recap:
After starting the tournament 1-0, Boston will now have to play an elimination game against arch nemesis New York City after another 2-0 loss. Artie Lewicki was dealing for New Jersey with six one-hit shutout innings as Jason Heyward hit a two run single in the fifth. The Jersey Boys will stay in the Loser's Bracket and go on to face either Greater New York or Northern New England in the next game.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 8

Recap:
It was a true classic in Rochester as Greater New York prevailed over Northern New England in thirteen innings. For the biggest part of the game, the storyline seemed to center around Patrick Corbin throwing an absolute masterpiece. With the home team up ahead 3-0 in the 8th, it looked like an easy night for the New Englanders. Harrison Bader had other plans, though, as he hit a three-run shot to tie up the game with only one inning to play. There were no runs in the 9th, so extras were needed. Mind you, we're playing with ghost runners, but it turned out we still needed thirteen innings to find a winner. Run-scoring doubles in the 10th kept the game tied until the 13th inning when an RBI double by Nick Decker and a sac fly by Matt Batten put the visitors up for good[/. Greater New York will now face New Jersey in the next round where they will play for a spot in the Regionals. Northern New England will play an elimination game against New York City or Boston the day after tomorrow.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 9

Recap:
Game 9 brought us the first real decision of the Northeast Regional. Boston defeats arch rivals New York CIty in Yankee Stadium by a score of 4-3 and with that result, the home team is the first side eliminated out of the field of fifty. Boston started the game off well with Rhett Wiseman hitting an early two-run shot, but New York City managed to crawl back to one halfway through the game. Yankee Stadium was rocking in the 9th, when the home team opened the inning with two straight singles, but Richie Palacios hit into a double play and Allan Cerda flew out to left field. New York City finishes the tournament 0-3. Boston stays alive and will face Northern New England in the next elimination game.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 10

Recap:
New Jersey booked a sneaky win over their Greater New York neighbors and are now the third team guaranteed a passage to the Super Regionals. Justin Dunn and Anthony Kay looked like a two-headed pitching monster for most of the game but after seven combined two-hit innings, Kay suddenly ran into some control issues as he loaded the bases on a base hit and two walks before Tommy La Stella thankfully drove in two on a single. Just the fourth and final base hit of the game for the home side.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 11

Recap:
Another allround victory for Delmarva. Mike Trout hit two bombs for three RBI and Bruce Zimmermann threw seven shutout innings. Buddy Kennedy and Donovan Casey also hit homers as Delmarva has now reached the Winner's Bracket final and is now only one win away from the Regional final. Southern New England will now face New Jersey for another shot at the Winner's Bracket final.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 12

Recap:
It was a thrilling end to this elimination game as we saw the first walkoff win of the tournament with Northern New England coming back from behind and beating Boston by a score of 3-2. The Bostonians are now the second team eliminated from the tournament. Things were looking bright for the visitors after Alex Cobb threw four solid innings and Alex Powers and Patrick Ruotolo were hitless for another three. However, the Northern New England bullpen was equally impressive and kept the difference at one run before Luke Gold tied things up in the 8th. Ryan McKenna was the matchwinner with a two out, two strike base hit, driving in Brian Hart for the win and a rematch against Greater New York.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 13

Recap:
New England South will get a rematch with Delmarva after a pitching clinic in Pawtucket. Aaron Civale threw five one-hit shutout innings and his bullpen threw another four one-hit shutout themselves. Isan Diaz became the match winner in the 4th with an RBI single. New Jersey will now drop down to the Loser's Bracket for a meeting with either Northern New England or Greater New York.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 14

Recap:
Northern New England is the third team eliminated from the American 50 after a painful loss in Pomona. Greater New York took an early lead, but the New Englanders equalized pretty soon after that and with Ian Anderson throwing another masterpiece, the visitors certainly looked most threatening. They managed to get runners in scoring position nearly every inning, with even a first and third occupied with no outs situation in the 7th. Unfortunately, they didn't convert a single opportunity. And you know how the old saying goes: if you don't take your chances, your opponent will. Jake Miednik came in relief and gave up a five-spot on four hits and a walk while recording only a single out. Vito Friscia was the big man for the home side as he hit a three-run shot in that infamous inning and finished the night with four RBI. Greater New York will advance in the tournament and face New Jersey in a Game 10 rematch.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 15

Recap:
Delmarva had started the tournament with two impressive wins but in Game 15, they were completely silenced by the Southern New England pitching staff. The trio of Devin Smeltzer, Jeff Hoffman and Tommy Kahnle took a combined no-hitter into the 8th inning, which was broken up by the lone Delmarva hit of the game. The lone discussion will continue to be why Devin Smeltzer was pulled after five perfect innings, but it did not prove to be costly for the visitors, who will now host Delmarva again in a Game 16 tomorrow night in Pawtucket.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 16

Recap:
For the third straight game, Southern New England treated their opponents to a shutout. What's even more impressive is that, with no starter available for this game, the full nine innings were thrown by the home side's bullpen. Josh Walker was the unlikely hero by going five innings with Dominic Leone and Tommy Kahnle throwing two perfect innings each to close out the game. Quite the result, given Delmarva's hard-hitting meat of the order. Delmarva now drops down the Loser's Bracket 2 to face the winner of Greater New York at New Jersey. Southern New England moves up to the Regional Final and will only need one more victory to claim the Northeastern crown.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 17

Recap:
Two outstanding pitching performances by both starters on display today. George Kirby and Artie Lewicki were near-perfect over their innings of work. The difference maker of the game was Colin Morans solo shot in the 7th to give Greater New York an away victory over New Jersey. The home team finishes the Northeast Regional in 4th place. Greater New York will now advance for a matchup with Delmarva in Baltimore.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 18

Recap:
Delmarva took revenge for the double shutout by pummeling Greater New York thirteen runs to two. The home team took an early, insurmountable 5-0 lead in an error riddled 1st inning. Four of those five runs were unearned. Player of the game was Gavin Sheets, who is proving to be a worthy player to hit after big names like Mike Trout and Paul Goldschmidt. The Delmarva DH went 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI. The home side's bullpen held Greater New York to only two runs to reset the rotation for the final showdown with New England South. Delmarva will need to beat them twice to take the Northeast Regional crown. The New Englanders will only need one win to do the same. Greater New York finishes the Regional in third.

Bracket:

[RMc]

I'm not sure what the point was in having 50 teams if they weren't going to represent the 50 states (i.e. each state has its own team), especially if you were going to shoehorn them into eight regionals. Why not have 48 or 64 teams, so that every regional has the same number of teams?

Anyway, carry on.

[Timetxu]

Originally Posted by RMc

I'm not sure what the point was in having 50 teams if they weren't going to represent the 50 states (i.e. each state has its own team), especially if you were going to shoehorn them into eight regionals. Why not have 48 or 64 teams, so that every regional has the same number of teams?

Anyway, carry on.

It mostly grew organically tbh. I wanted to start off with 50 States. When I found out there weren't enough players in the database for that project, I started looking for a map that had the US divided into 50 equal parts. I found a map that followed state lines as well as possible, so I was satisfied with that. 48 or 50 doesn't make that much of a difference in that regard. I understand the "shoehorning" concern, but I've noticed quality is so concentrated among a couple of teams that I don't really worry teams being left out. Especially with the Top 4 of every Regional advancing. Basically, the Regional phase is just to see what all teams are like and gather some stats before the "actual" tournament starts in the Super Regionals.

64 teams was always out of the question because there aren't enough players. In some regionals I've already had to tinker with positional restrictions because there weren't enough positions filled.

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 19

Recap:
Those two shutouts must have unleashed something in the Delmarva clubhouse, because after taking it out on Greater New York, Delmarva crushed New England South with nearly the same scoreline. Home starter Jack Patterson had nine players reach base and four score while only recording six outs. That set the tone for Delmarva as the visitors scored runs in six of the first seven innings. It was another great day for the meat of the Delmarva lineup. Paul Goldschmidt reached base all six trips to the plate, the numbers 2 through 4 of the lineup hit a homer while Gavin Sheets went 2-for-3 and scored his 8th and 9th RBI of the Regional. On the pitching side, Bruce Zimmermann had a quality "start" as he followed Ron Marinaccio with 6.1 two run innings. It's gonna be a winner-takes-all game in Pawtucket tomorrow.

Bracket:

[Timetxu]

NORTHEAST REGIONAL
GAME 20

Recap:
The fifth matchup between Southern New England and Delmarva ended in a 6-2 win for Delmarva which turned out to be the definitive chapter in the Northeast Regional Saga. The visitors took the Regional title on the back of an early 3-0 lead that expanded to 4-0 halfway through the game. There was a little scare when reliever Jeff Singer immediately gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Smith and the lead was cut in half, but the lead was quickly restored by a Max Kaufer two-run single with the bases loaded. It was a rare platinum sombrero for Mike Trout, but Paul Goldschmidt did deliver for the visitors. The Delmarva first baseman hit two doubles and brought in four of the six runs.

Bracket: