[FuzzyRussianHat]

Six teams were within six games of the top spot in the European Second League’s Western Conference. The #1 spot was Valencia at 95-67 for their third straight playoff berth. The Vandals had been back in E2L since 2028. The other three playoff spots had a three-way tie at 93-69 between Belfast, Lisbon, and Rome. The first teams out were Brussels (91-71), Paris (89-73), and Manchester (87-75).

For the Brewers, it was their first playoff berth since 2030 as they tried to end a 17-year stay in E2L. Both the Red Wolves and Clippers had their first playoff berth since entering their current E2L stints. That started in 2033 for Rome and 2028 for Lisbon. Suffering relegation to European Tier Three was Ruhr at 55-107, eight games worse than the nearest foe Bordeaux. The Railhawks were the 2035 ET3 runner-up, only lasting one season in E2L.

In the Double-Round Robin, top seed Valencia fared best at 4-2 to secure a promotion, returning to the European Baseball Federation’s Elite Tier for the first time since 2027. Belfast and Lisbon tied at 3-3 with Rome at 2-4. The Brewers and Clippers had split their meetings, but Belfast had the tiebreaker to make it back to EBF for the first time since 2019. Since 2016, Belfast had been in E2L all but in 2018-19. The Brewers then rolled to 4-0 sweep of Valencia in the Western Conference Championship.



Leipzig dominated the Eastern Conference field at 102-60 for their third straight playoff berth. The Lumberjacks had been back in E2L since 2032. Second was Copenhagen at 95-67, their first playoff berth since returning to E2L two years prior. The remaining playoff spots were Varna at 90-72 and Naples at 88-74 with Sofia (85-77) as the first team out. The Vigilantes got only their second playoff trip of their current 16-year E2L stint. The Nobles had only just gotten relegated the prior season.

Firmly in last place was Lviv at 58-104, a rough bottoming out for the Lunkers. They had been a regular E2L playoff team in the last decade and had gotten promoted to the Elite Tier for 2035. Lviv had gotten immediately relegated back to E2L, then fell even further down to European Tier Three.

#4 seed Naples was the top team in the Double Round Robin at 5-1, getting promoted back up for the second time in four years. Copenhagen and Varna were both 3-3 and top seed Leipzig struggled to 1-5. The Vigilantes had the tiebreaker over the Corsairs for Varna’s second-ever promotion. Their only prior EBF stint was from 2016-20.



The Nobles outlasted the Vigilantes 4-3 in the Eastern Conference Championship. Naples then bested Belfast 4-1 to secure the Second League Championship.



Other notes: Skopje’s Apostolos Anazimenes became the third in E2L history to win Pitcher of the Year thrice.



The Hague dominated European Tier Three at 109-53 for their first-ever promotion up. Nottingham at 97-65 got the #2 spot, holding off Newcastle (93-69). The North Stars escaped after only one year in ET3, having gotten demoted after a ten-year run in E2L. The Hackers flattened Nottingham with a 4-0 sweep for the Third League Championship.