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The European Second League’s Western Conference was quite competitive with the top four teams finishing within three games of each other. Luxembourg took first at 97-65, repeating as the top team in the standings. Nantes and Stuttgart were both next at 95-67 and Marseille was 94-68. The Trappers earned their first playoff try since 2019 and the Silver Sabres earned repeat trips. Both were among the few teams that have never been promoted once before. The Musketeers also earned repeat playoff berths.

Brussels was the first team out at 89-73, falling five games short of the last wild card. Close behind were Toulouse (88-74) and Cardiff (86-76). The Beavers earned their first winning season since getting relegated for 2022. The Toads notably bounced back after an abysmal 51-111 in 2024. The Crew now have six straight winning seasons with nothing to show for it.

Luxembourg and Marseille advanced out of the Double Round Robin both at 4-2, while Stuttgart (3-3) and Nantes (1-5) remained stuck. The Lancers then cruised to a Western Conference Championship sweep of the Musketeers to earn their promotion back to the European Baseball Federation’s Elite Tier. Luxembourg had been down in E2L since 2015 and hadn’t gotten back above .500 until 2023.



Tbilisi led all E2L teams at 105-57 atop the Eastern Conference, earning repeat first place finishes. The Trains allowed the fewest runs in all E2L at 472 and led the conference in runs scored at 711. Vienna was a solid second at 96-66 for their first playoff trip since getting relegated for the 2017 season. It was then a tight three-team battle for the remaining two spot

Advancing were Kyiv (91-71) and Sofia (90-72), while Bratislava (89-73) was the first team out. The Kings hadn’t posted a winning season since 2017 and were in their third year back down in E2L. The Spikes grabbed their first playoff berth since their relegation for 2019. Although short, the Blue Falcons did end a five-year run of losing seasons. The next nearest contenders were Gothenburg at 84-78 and Vilnius at 83-79.

Sofia took first in the Round Robin at 4-2, while Kyiv and Tbilisi were both 3-3 and Vienna was 2-4. The Kings advanced over the Trains to the Eastern Conference Championship via the tiebreaker. In a seven-game classic, the Spikes outlasted Kyiv 4-3 to guarantee Sofia’s return to the EBF Elite for the first time since 2018. In the Second League Championship, Luxembourg defeated Sofia 4-2.





However, the EBF Elite in 2025 had the rare instance of five teams losing 100+ games, meaning five teams were promoted/relegated. This meant that the conference champs Luxembourg and Sofia would advance, as would the semifinalists Marseille and Kyiv. The fifth spot went to Tbilisi as the top record among the remaining playoff teams. For the historically solid Musketeers, they earned promotion after a seven-year stint in the Second League. The Kings spent three years in their second run in E2L. The Trains escaped after their second E2L stint took eight seasons.

Other notes: Western Conference Pitcher of the Year Alexander Hamann of Stuttgart had a 19-6 record, 1.58 ERA, and 283 strikeouts; posting only the second Triple Crown pitching season in E2L history. Vienna set an E2L team record with 208 stolen bases. Kyiv pitcher Andrej Andrejko set a bad record by allowing 42 home runs. Lyon’s Steed Garcia became the first pitcher with 3000 strikeouts in E2L.