2019 Desert Classic - 55s, Twins Win Titles

The San José MSBL had another strong showing at the annual Desert Classic in Palm Springs. The tournamnent, held January 19-21 over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, saw San José teams win titles in the 25+ National and the 55+ American divisions.

San José 55s Win 55+ American

The San José 55s, co-managed by Dave Meier and Jim Hadley, captured the 55+ American Division Championship at the 2019 MSBL Desert Classic in Palm Springs over the MLK holiday weekend.

The 55s defeated the top seeded Sacramento Royals 7-6 in the title game. Sacramento had MSBL World Series Hall of Famer Gary Stonebrook on the mound in the championship game.

San Jose closer Mike Pramuk pitched out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the 9th inning to preserve the win. Pramuk was aided by consecutive fielding gems by 3B Nolan Smith as the San Jose 55s earned the title in their first tournament ever as a team.

The 55s had defeated powerhouse Team Victory 16-10 in the semifinal game earlier in the day to advance to the finals. The amazing 55s went 2-1 in the round robin portion of the event and entered the playoffs as the #2 seed.

Congrats to the San Jose 55s - first tourney - first championship!

Santa Clara Twins Win 25+ National

The Santa Clara Twins defeated last year's title holder, the San José Giants, in the 25+ National Division Championship game.

The Twins had a slow start to the tournament going 0-2 in the first two games including losses to two other San José teams, the Marlins and the Giants. The Twins came back to finish 2-2 in the round-robin and won the head-to-head tiebreaker vaulting them into the Championship Game against the Giants.

The Giants finished 3-1 in the round-robin and had a bye to the Championship Game.