Ciego de Avila claim Cuba Elite Baseball League 2025 title

Ciego de Ávila Tigres swept Las Tunas Leñadores in the best-of-seven final series to claim the Cuba Baseball Elite League 2025 title.

The Tigres, who succeeded Matanzas Cocodrilos in winning the title, won games one and three 11-1 and 9-5 at home at the José Ramon Cepero Stadium, while clinching games two and four at the home of Leñadores - Julio Antonio Mella Stadium - 6-3, 6-4.

Veteran additions to the Tigres roster proved instrumental. Dennis Laza (41) homered in each game of the final, and international baseball icon Frederich Cepeda (45) was honoured as the series MVP.

The Results

Tigres-Leñadores 11-1
Leñadores-Tigres 3-6
Tigres-Leñadores 9-5
Leñadores-Tigres 4-6

Ciego de Avila manager Danny Miranda, who was the starting first baseman for Cuba's gold medal team at the Athens 2004 Olympics, commented: "I didn't like the rubber match, we committed too many errors. Still, I'm delighted with the win. Winning as the manager feels different from winning as a player. Our next goal must be winning the Serie Nacional."

Ciego de Ávila led the 40-game regular season and eliminated Havana Industriales (4-1) in the semifinals. Las Tunas finished second in the regular season (one game back) and eliminated Santiago de Cuba (4-2) in the semifinals.

WBSC Premier12 veteran Yoelkis Guibert (Santiago) was the Elite League leading hitter with a .426 batting average and 13 home runs. Yunier Batista Ramirez (Ciego de Ávila) had the best earned run average, 1.88.

The Elite League featured the top six finishers of the 63rd Cuban National League (Serie Nacional). The 64th Serie Nacional will open in September and run through January 2026.