Cuba launches 65th National Baseball Series with new zonal format

The 65th National Baseball Series (SNB) in Cuba has commenced, featuring 16 teams organized into a new zonal format. To address the country's ongoing economic and energy crisis, the tournament has been restructured into Western and Eastern zones to optimize logistics and reduce fuel consumption. Each team will play a reduced schedule of 44 games during the regular season, down from 75 in recent years.

The Western zone is divided into Group A (Pinar del Río, Artemisa, La Habana, and Isla de la Juventud) and Group B (Mayabeque, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, and Villa Clara). The Eastern zone consists of Group C (Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, and Las Tunas) and Group D (Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo).

In the opening matches, the defending champions, Cocodrilos de Matanzas, secured a 6-0 shutout victory against Cienfuegos at the Victoria de Girón stadium. Other early results include Industriales defeating Pinar del Río 5-1, and victories for Artemisa, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Granma, and Santiago de Cuba. New technical regulations have also been introduced, including a 20-second pitch clock.