The 2025 Co-ed Nationals are in the books. 24 teams from across multiple leagues fought it out in the four competition categories, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Three returning winners were looking to be crowned again, The Mob won Platinum in 2024, Pyros won Gold and Valley Wet Sox Silver.
Our 24 teams were divided into two groups representing the divisions, 12 from the higher divisions in their Leagues played in Platinum and Gold, whole the remaining 12 played in Silver and Bronze. Saturday would determine the final 6 in each section as we progressed to the main finals.
It became clear early on who was gunning for the Platinum title, The Mob started strong in defence of their crown, while Mi-6 matched them in the other group as they looked for revenge on loosing last year. Manchester Thunder I were also staking a claim alone with the Sheriffs from the EMSL league. In other group, Maidenhead Spartans and Barfiles dominated their group early on, while Towester Tigers, Battitude and Hurricanes lead their group.
The Mob lead the way in their group sealing top spot with a 4-1 record, close behind Thunder I on 3-1-1 with the Reading Blue Sox taking the last Platinum spot in third. Joining them, Mi-6 took top spot with a perfect 5-0 record, Sheriffs with 1 defeat came in second, while Fuzzy Duck pipped Pyros to the last place.
Spartans led the charge in Silver with a 5-0 day, Valley Wet Socks made a charge late in the afternoon to pip Barflies to second place, both making the Silver bracket. While Battitude won the battler of the three in other group, edging Tigers and Hurricanes.
Sundays round robin battle would eliminate 2 teams from each section as the competition entered the business end. We started the day with a repeat of the 2024 Platinum final as the Mob and Mi-6 met, with the same result as Mob made a statement win in their title defence. The Blue Sox also started with a win over the Fuzzy Ducks that gave them a great chance of moving into the semi-finals. Thunder I started where they left off with a win over Sheriffs, all setting up the finals games nicely. In Gold, Pyros kept their defence going with an early win, with Knicks edging Panthers, and Ashby Knights registering their first win of the weekend.
In Silver, the Spartans set their stall out with a win over the other group leaders, Hurricanes took a big step to the semi-finals beating Barflies, while Wet Sox and Tigers fought out a 6-6 draw.
Bronze was a wide open group as all teams came in with 1-1 records. The first round games here would be more critical than in any of the other groups and Hackers, Bobcats and Angels made early pushes for the semis.
The second-round games saw the main 3 from Saturday secure Platinum semi-final places as Mi-6 bounced back with a win and Thunder I and Mob also securing the wins they need. The final place would go down to a winner takes all clash between Sheriffs and Blue Sox, as Fuzzy Ducks were eliminated. Pyros secured their final 4 place with a win over Knights, Knicks all but secured their place with a win over Thunder II, that eliminated them, Panthers beat Raiders Gold that put them in a strong place, while other results meant Raiders look odds on to join them.
Spartans 100% record fell as they drew with Hurricanes, but still secure a semi-final place, Hurricane drew level with Tigers who eliminated Barflies. Valley Wet Sock defeat to Battitude put their defence in the balance as they slipped to 5th in the table.
Bronze saw the same three teams win their second-round games and 3 of the 4 semi-final places were sorted out. Falcons, Red Sock and Base Jumpers would be left to fight out the final place.
The big game in Platinum went the Sheriffs way as they Blue Sox joined Fuzzy Ducks in being eliminated, Raiders, Pyros and Panthers all won their final games to secure their places and while Knicks lost to Pyros, the other results sent them through. Silver saw the two remaining Welsh team fight out a final four place, with Hurricanes ending Wet Sox rein as Silver Champions, Spartans beat Tigers to secure top spot, but Tigers still qualified thanks to the Hurricanes result. Battitude took the final place after beating Barflies.
Bronze came down to the Falcons game, their victory over Bobcats meant they took the final place as Red Sock and Base Jumpers were eliminated.
Down to the semis. In Platinum, Mi-6 eased into the final with a win over the Sheriffs and while everyone expected a report of 2024, Thunder I had other ideas and knocked out the Mob to set up a Manchester v London Clash. Pyros returned to the Gold final again as knocked out Itchen Knicks, with Panthers their opponents as they knocked out Raiders.
Hurricanes made it two years in a row a Welsh side reached the Silver final as they edged Battitude 15-13 to set up a rematch with Spartans, who edged Tigers 16-14. These two tied in their earlier meeting, so some final was in store.
Chichester Falcons, who were on the edge of elimination a few hours earlier, defeated the top seeded Hackers in extra innings to reach the Bronze final where Angels awaited after defeating Bobcats.
The Bronze final saw the Falcons unable to repeat the feat of beating a higher seed as the Angels won 19-8 to be crowned Bronze Champions. In Silver, Spartans and Hurricanes started off at a frantic pass, 16 runs between then in the first inning. That paced couldn’t last and they only managed 10 in the reaming time with the Spartans taking the Silver Crown 17-9.
The Pyros collected their second consecutive Gold Crown as they beat the Panthers 13-7 as the first official Swindon League team couldn’t quite pull off an inaugural win. Both will be back next year.
In the Platinum, Mi-6 edged out Thunder I with one good inning as the two teams were inseparable for most of the games. Some compensation for defeat in 2024, Mi-6 are Platinum winners, with both teams also back in 2026.