[FuzzyRussianHat]

The African Second League’s Southern Conference had five teams in the hunt for the two playoff spots. At the all-star break, Pretoria and Maseru were tied for first at 53-38 while Eswatini was 51-40, Bloemfontein was 50-41, and Blantyre was 49-42. Each of those teams kept relatively the same pace into the second half of the season as well.

By the start of September, the Mad Dogs had first place at 81-55 while the Engineers were 79-57, Purple Rage 76-60, Black Wolves 75-61, and Beagles 73-63. Pretoria would go 19-9 in September, including a nine-game winning streak early in the month, pushing them into the #1 spot at 94-68. The Purple Rage earned back-to-back playoff trips, although this was the first time taking the top spot. They had the conference’s best run differential at +148. Pretoria had a 4.82 team ERA, 852 runs allowed, and 775 earned runs; all-time conference bests in the ultra-high scoring A2L.

Maseru nearly choked away their playoff spot, going 2-8 in their last ten games. However, the cushion they built allowed them to survive for second place at 92-70. Eswatini and Blantyre each finished 90-72 and Bloemfontein was 89-73. It was the Mad Dogs first playoff trip since returning to A2L in 2034.



Bukavu set the A2L team record with 333 home runs, propelling them to first place in the Central Conference at 97-65. It was back-to-back berths for the Bluefins, but their only previous time finishing first was their lone promotion from 2028. Bukavu had been back in A2L since 2036 and led A2L in 2039 with a +212 run differential. At the all-star break, the Bluefins were 57-34 with only Juba also above 50 wins at 52-39. The Jungle Cats absolutely collapsed going 27-44 on the back-end, tying for seventh at 79-83.

Of the logjam of teams around .500 at the break, Mbuji-Mayi was the standout in the second half. Their 45-26 record post-break was the best of all teams, allowing the Millionaires to claim second at 90-72. Bujumbura (84-78), Kisangani (83-79), and Kisumu (83-79) were the closest foes. Mbuji-Mayi earned its second playoff trip in three years.