2025 NBBA World Series Recap: Indy Thunder Turns the No. 2 Seed Into a Perfect Championship Run

The 2025 NBBA Beep Baseball World Series brought 19 teams to the Greater St. Louis area for a tournament shaped by high expectations, major movement in the standings, the return of Taiwan Homerun and some of the most difficult weather conditions the World Series had faced in years.

The tournament was played in Edwardsville and Caseyville, Illinois, after unexpected venue changes forced organizers to adjust plans.

Then came the heat.

The heat index reached as high as 113 degrees during the week, requiring schedule changes to keep the tournament moving safely.

Through all of it, one team never lost.

Indy Thunder entered the World Series ranked No. 2 and completed an undefeated tournament to win the championship, finishing an overall 26-0 season.

Behind them, Indy Edge moved from the No. 3 seed to second place, while top-ranked BSO Philly Fire finished third.

The top four seeds ultimately occupied the top four positions, but not in the order anyone expected.

And farther down the standings, several teams made significant moves.

Thunder Takes Over the Top Spot

Indy Thunder arrived at the World Series ranked second behind defending champion BSO Philly Fire.

Thunder was placed in Pool B with Chicago Comets, Oklahoma Lookouts and St. Louis Sirens.

By the end of the tournament, Indy had done something no other team accomplished.

Thunder went 8-0.

Indy scored 169 runs while allowing 88, producing a tournament-best plus-81 run differential.

The offense was relentless, but one of the most impressive numbers was the team's ability to consistently put the ball in play.

Thunder finished with a 90.7 percent contact rate, the best mark among the 19 teams.

The individual numbers reflected that dominance.

Zach Buhler produced a historic tournament, scoring on 90 percent of his at-bats and earning Offensive MVP with a .900 batting average.

His performance established a new World Series batting-average record.

Thunder also placed Cody Jeffers and Gerald Dycus on the Offensive All-Tournament Team.

And the pitching combination of Jared Woodard and Darnell Booker again finished at the top of the World Series rankings.

By the end of the week, the No. 2 seed had become the champion without losing a game.

Indy Edge Moves From Third to Second

Indy Edge entered the World Series ranked third and came within one position of the championship.

Edge had one of the toughest opening pools.

Pool C included No. 3 Indy Edge, No. 8 Boston Renegades, No. 13 BCS Outlaws and No. 18 Boston Strong.

Edge emerged from the week with an 8-2 record and finished second overall.

Statistically, the performance was championship-caliber.

Edge scored a tournament-high 187 runs, 18 more than Indy Thunder, while allowing 115.

Their plus-72 run differential ranked second in the tournament.

Edge also finished with an 85.4 percent contact rate.

Nick Mulherin was one of the biggest individual stories of the tournament.

Mulherin batted .800, finishing second in the offensive rankings, while also earning Utility Defensive MVP with 5.000 putouts per game.

Corey White added a .743 batting average and joined Mulherin on the Offensive All-Tournament Team.

The third seed ultimately moved up one position and finished as the 2025 World Series runner-up.

Philly Falls From No. 1 to Third

BSO Philly Fire entered 2025 as the defending World Series champion and the No. 1 seed.

Because the tournament had 19 teams, Philly's Pool A included Cleveland Scrappers and Austin Blackhawks along with a bye position.

The Fire remained one of the tournament's strongest offensive teams.

Philly finished 5-2, scored 116 runs and produced a plus-27 run differential.

Their 84.4 percent contact rate was also among the tournament leaders.

But unlike their undefeated championship run in 2024, Philly did not make it through the 2025 tournament without a loss.

The defending champions ultimately finished third.

It was still another top-three World Series finish, but the championship moved from Philadelphia to Indianapolis.

Gateway Stays Right Where It Started

Gateway Archers entered the tournament ranked fourth.

They finished fourth.

But that does not mean their week was uneventful.

Gateway went 6-2 and produced some of the strongest team statistics in the entire tournament.

The Archers scored 112 runs while allowing only 52, giving them a plus-60 run differential.

Only Indy Thunder and Indy Edge finished with larger margins.

Gateway also posted an 86.9 percent contact rate, second only to Thunder.

Defensively, the Archers earned the World Series Spotter Award.

Orlando Gonzalez, Shayy Morris and John Walker combined to produce a 63.64 percent team defensive percentage.

Marc Morris added a major individual honor by earning Short Field Defensive MVP with 6.857 putouts per game.

The Archers entered fourth and left fourth, but their numbers showed just how close they were to the teams above them.

Oklahoma Makes One of the Biggest Jumps

The Oklahoma Lookouts entered the World Series ranked 12th.

They finished sixth.

That six-position jump was the largest improvement by any team in the upper half of the final standings.

Oklahoma finished 5-4 while scoring 95 runs and allowing 93.

The Lookouts were one of the teams that significantly outperformed their position entering the tournament and moved from the bottom half of the seeds into the top six.

Their run was especially notable because they began in Pool B with eventual champion Indy Thunder along with Chicago Comets and St. Louis Sirens.

By the end of the tournament, the No. 12 seed had climbed past six teams.

Chicago Climbs Into the Top Five

Chicago Comets also made a significant move.

Chicago entered ranked ninth and finished fifth, a four-position improvement.

The Comets went 5-4 and scored 82 runs during the tournament.

Their path began in the same pool as No. 2 Indy Thunder and No. 12 Oklahoma Lookouts, two teams that would eventually finish first and sixth.

Dustin Youngren also provided one of the tournament's rarest moments by hitting one of only four home runs recorded during the World Series.

Chicago's fifth-place finish was the best result among the teams that entered the tournament outside the top eight.

BCS Outlaws Jump Five Spots

BCS Outlaws began the World Series ranked 13th and finished eighth.

Their five-position improvement was another example of how much the middle of the field changed during the week.

BCS finished 4-5 and had to navigate Pool C with Indy Edge and Boston Renegades.

The Outlaws also produced one of the tournament's most unusual defensive highlights.

Alex Quick recorded a double play, a rare accomplishment in beep baseball.

Quick later earned additional recognition by tying for second in the Midfield defensive rankings with 2.667 putouts per game.

New Jersey Goes the Other Direction

While several teams climbed, New Jersey Titans experienced the largest fall among the tournament's highest seeds.

New Jersey entered ranked fifth.

They finished 14th.

The Titans were placed in Pool E with No. 6 Bayou City Heat, No. 15 Minnesota Millers and No. 16 New York Bombers.

New Jersey still finished with a winning 4-3 record and a plus-15 run differential, scoring 69 runs while allowing 54.

Those numbers make the final placement particularly interesting.

A team that won more games than it lost and outscored its opponents still fell nine positions from its pre-tournament ranking.

It was another example of how bracket timing and individual losses can dramatically change a team's final placement.

Taiwan Returns and Finishes Exactly Where It Started

One of the most anticipated stories of the 2025 World Series was the return of Taiwan Homerun.

Taiwan had not competed at the World Series since 2018.

They returned as the No. 7 seed and were placed in Pool D with Gateway Archers, Atlanta Chaos and Tyler Tigers.

After seven years away, Taiwan finished exactly where it entered.

Seventh.

Taiwan went 5-3, scored 93 runs and allowed 67, finishing with a plus-26 run differential and an 82.5 percent contact rate.

The team's return was about more than the standings.

Taiwan received the World Series Sportsmanship Award, and longtime pitcher Leo Lin and catcher Chen-Kuang Wang were recognized during the Hall of Fame ceremonies at the awards banquet.

Vincent Chiu also earned Midfield Defensive MVP with 3.125 putouts per game.

Wolf Liang was named Male Offensive Rookie of the Year after batting .613.

After a long absence, Taiwan returned and immediately established itself again as a top-seven World Series team.

Other Teams on the Move

The final standings looked very different from the rankings entering the tournament once the top four were removed.

Bayou City Heat entered sixth and finished ninth.

Boston Renegades entered eighth and finished 11th.

Cleveland Scrappers entered 10th and finished 12th.

Austin Blackhawks entered 11th and finished 10th.

Minnesota Millers moved from 15th to 13th.

New York Bombers remained close to their original position, moving from 16th to 17th.

Tyler Tigers entered 17th and finished 16th.

Boston Strong entered 18th and finished 18th.

St. Louis Sirens entered 19th and finished 19th.

The biggest upward movements belonged to Oklahoma, BCS and Chicago.

The largest fall belonged to New Jersey.

Four Teams Separate Themselves Statistically

The final standings tell one part of the story.

The team statistics tell another.

Indy Thunder finished 8-0 with 169 runs and a plus-81 run differential.

Indy Edge went 8-2 while scoring a tournament-high 187 runs and finishing plus-72.

Gateway went 6-2 and finished plus-60.

Philly went 5-2 and finished plus-27.

Those were the same four teams that occupied the top four seeds entering the World Series.

The order changed, but the preseason rankings correctly identified the four teams that would separate themselves from the field.

Thunder simply emerged as the best of them.

Buhler Makes World Series History

Zach Buhler's tournament deserves its own place in the 2025 story.

The Indy Thunder hitter finished with a .900 batting average, earning Offensive MVP and establishing a new NBBA World Series record.

The rest of the Offensive All-Tournament Team included:

• Nick Mulherin, Indy Edge, .800
• Christian Thaxton, Boston Renegades, .800
• Cody Jeffers, Indy Thunder, .743
• Corey White, Indy Edge, .743
• Gerald Dycus, Indy Thunder, .739

Thunder and Edge combined to place four players among the six offensive honorees.

Mulherin's performance was especially impressive because he also earned the Utility Defensive MVP award.

Defensive Stars Across the Field

Marc Morris of Gateway earned Short Field Defensive MVP with a 6.857 putout average.

Minnesota's Evan Van Duyne finished second at 6.125.

Vincent Chiu of Taiwan earned Midfield MVP at 3.125.

Alex Quick of BCS and Kalari Girtley-Jackson of St. Louis tied for second in the middle at 2.667.

Zephyrin Victor of Atlanta earned Deep Field MVP at 2.000.

Jesus Concepcion of Austin finished second in deep at 1.857.

Nick Mulherin completed his outstanding two-way tournament by earning Utility Defensive MVP with a 5.000 average.

Woodard and Booker Lead the Pitching Rankings

Indy Thunder's success was not limited to its hitters.

Jared Woodard and catcher Darnell Booker earned the World Series Pitcher/Catcher Award with a 9.35 percent strikeout rate.

It continued one of the longest and most successful pitcher-catcher runs in modern NBBA history and gave the eventual champions another major award.

Rookies Make Their Mark

Three rookies received major recognition in 2025.

Wolf Liang of Taiwan Homerun earned Male Offensive Rookie of the Year after batting .613.

Tanveer Ahmad of the New York Bombers earned Male Defensive Rookie honors with 5.000 putouts per game.

Raysa Rondon of Bayou City Heat received the Female Rookie Award.

Their performances added another group of names to the World Series record book.

Four Players Go Deep

Home runs remain one of the rarest plays in beep baseball.

Only four were recorded during the 2025 World Series.

• Dustin Youngren, Chicago Comets
• Kyle Lewis, Indy Thunder
• Zach Buhler, Indy Thunder
• Zion Prince, Gateway Archers

Two of the four belonged to the eventual World Series champions.

A World Series Tested by the Heat

The competition itself was only part of the 2025 story.

Unexpected field-complex changes created challenges before the tournament began.

Then extreme temperatures arrived.

The heat index reached 113 degrees, forcing the tournament committee to make schedule adjustments while trying to safely complete the event.

Despite those challenges, all games were completed.

MindsEye and Lighthouse for the Blind St. Louis served as co-hosts for a second consecutive year, while the communities of Edwardsville and Caseyville provided facilities and volunteers.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville also opened its facilities to teams.

The St. Louis Cardinals continued their partnership with the NBBA, with mascot Fredbird throwing a ceremonial first pitch.

General Wilson performed the national anthem before the championship game.

The week also included the Women of Our League exhibition and the Kids of Our League try-beep baseball clinic.

The Northeast Dynamic Divas won the 2025 WOOL game.

Recognizing Service and History

The World Series awards banquet again provided an opportunity to recognize contributions extending far beyond statistics.

John T. "JT" Herzog received the Jim Quinn Award.

The 2025 Hall of Fame recognition included players Bill Belew, Jeff Dell and Ron Watson, pitcher Kim Crossan and catcher Michael "Uncle Mike" McGuire.

Additional recognition was given to longtime contributors including Cora McKiernan, Kathi Ross, Bill Baumgartner, Billy F. Stapleton and Karren Lykowski.

Taiwan's return also added another historical element to the week, with Leo Lin and Chen-Kuang Wang recognized during the Hall of Fame ceremonies.

Looking Toward 50

The 2025 World Series was the final tournament before the NBBA's 50th anniversary celebration, and it ended with Indy Thunder completing a perfect 8-0 run to the championship.

The week tested teams and organizers with extreme heat and unexpected venue changes, but all 19 teams made it through the tournament and added another chapter to the league's history.

With Indianapolis on top, attention turned toward Aurora, Illinois, where the NBBA would return to the Chicagoland area in 2026 to celebrate 50 years of beep baseball.

In 2025, the story belonged to Indy Thunder.