The Puzzle
John's mind was swirling as he strode to the plate in the top of the 9th inning. After all, he and his team had already squandered so many opportunities in this close game, and he knew this might be their final chance to take the lead. Previously, he had doubled, but was thrown out by trying to stretch it to a triple, grounded twice to shortstop, and walked, but was thrown out trying to steal second. His teammates had also grounded into 3 other double plays. John was considering several options for himself as a hitter, as his manager had not signaled to him any preference. He could sacrifice, and if successful, put the go-ahead run in scoring position. But, if unsuccessful, force a runner, although not at home plate, and leave it up to the next batter, the cleanup hitter. Of course, if he swung away, he could ground into a game ending double play.
John was also a very cerebral player, and was thinking ahead to his opponents turn at bat. He knew that the player at the top of the order would be leading off, and who had already reached base and scored on each of his plate appearances, scoring all but three of his teams runs. John also realized his opponents had been very efficient, scoring more runners than those that were stranded.
The cache is at:
N 42 43.(B-1)(B - A)(B - D) W 071 18.(C- E)(A)(D)
A= # of runs for John's team if he GDP
B= # of runs for John's team if he hits a HR
C= # of runners stranded by John's team after 8 innings
D= # of runs the opponents currently have
E= # of runners the opponents have LOB thus far
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.