Only One Team Wins Triple Grand Slam in First Session of 2026 Vegas Worlds

Sept. 1, 2026

Suncoast 55s of Florida was one of 12 teams in the Men's 55+ Major Plus division. They won the USA National Game, but took second place, just short of a Triple Grand Slam. Photo by Clover Schultz.

By Donna McGuire
Softball News Report

Men’s 55+ and 60+ teams launched the 2026 Senior Softball-USA’s World Championships in Las Vegas with close-game fireworks, a Triple Grand Slam title and the crowning of eight division champions.

In addition, 12 Eastern and Western national teams clashed at Las Vegas-area ballparks to determine six USA National Championships.

“This first session of 55+ and 60+ Men’s divisions saw a surge in the 60+ AAA division, with 44 teams, and the 55+ AAA division with 40 teams coming from throughout America and Canada,” said Terry Hennessy, Senior Softball USA’s chief executive officer.  

Escape Fire/Ancell of Minnesota captured the coveted Triple Grand Slam title in the 30-team 55+ Major division. To earn the special award, a team must first win an Eastern or Western national championship. Then it must win the USA Championship game in Las Vegas before also winning the division. The larger the bracket, the more difficult the feat.

In this case, Escape had never won Worlds let alone played for a Triple Grand Slam. Plus, on championship Sunday, the Minnesotans had to play four in a row in the Nevada heat.

Carrying 19 players helped, co-manager Dave Irvin said.

“It was a fantastic journey for our guys,” he said. “The key was having a long roster of well-balanced players.”

The top four hitters compiled a .786 on-base average while the bottom three hitters led the team in home runs, Irvin said.

When the final fly ball settled into the glove of a nervous right fielder, Escape’s players mobbed each other as if they’d just won the World Series.

“We had guys in tears before we reached the dogpile,” Irvin said. “We just stood around pinching ourselves for the next hour. We couldn’t believe it happened.”

Overall, Session One’s 174 teams played more than 550 games over four days across 28 diamonds starting Sept. 17. Sunny days bathed them daily with temperatures climbing near 100 degrees.

The Men's 55+ AAA and 60+ AAA divisions had the largest number of teams, with 44 and 40, respectively. Photo by Clover Schultz.

Close games abounded in the 60+ Major division, where one run decided one-third of the 78 pool and bracket games played. That included 17 walk-off victories in the bottom of the final inning.

One run also decided a quarter of all 60+ AAA games. 

Division winners earned trophies, free Josten’s rings and berths to the 2027 Tournament of Champions. They also grabbed bragging rights as a champion in the world’s largest slow-pitch tournament, with 650 teams playing this year across four sessions.

Session One results:

Men's 55+ Major Plus: Third-seeded BPA Sports of Pennsylvania (player photographed below) raced through a 12-team bracket in unstoppable fashion, winning every game by at least 15 runs. Including seeding games, BPA went 6-0 while bashing 41 homers. It held opponents to an average of 10 runs a game while putting up an average of 26. Top-seeded Suncoast 55s of Florida finished second after winning three elimination games. Fifth-seeded MC Improvements of Wisconsin captured third. FattBoyz 55 of California took fourth. USA National Champion game: Suncoast 37, Gold Nation Hustle of California 22.

Photo by Clover Schultz.

Men's 55+ Major: Top-seeded Escape Fire/Ancell of Minnesota (photo below) captured the Triple Grand Slam by winning the USA Championship game before also winning the overall 30-team bracket — but the final step took two extra games. Runner-up and seventh-seeded NOP Softball of Oklahoma edged Escape 21-20 in the winner’s bracket final, which sent previously unbeaten Escape into the elimination bracket. Escape defeated the third-place NW Jokers of Washington 16-12 to earn a rematch with NOP. After Escape won the first title game 22-18, neither team could pull away in the if-needed championship game, which Escape won 25-22 to finish 8-1 overall. Escobar Body Shop of Texas finished fourth in the 15-team division. USA National Champion game: Escape Fire/Ancell of Minnesota 29, L.A.F. of California 11.

Men's 55+ AAA: This 40-team division split into two pods before the final four unbeaten teams and eight elimination-bracket teams came together Sunday at Big League Dreams Softball Complex. Midwest Storm/Onyx/S&C Sports of Illinois started as the 11th seed in the American Pod before reeling off six consecutive victories, capped by a 19-13 championship triumph over Lokahi of Arizona, which was the American Pod’s 12th seed. Lokahi lost twice on championship Sunday to Midwest Storm, which went 7-1 overall and never trailed in the title game. Cryowrx 55 of Oregon, which started as the National Pod’s eighth seed, placed third. The National Pod’s 10th seed, Running Late 55s of Arizona, captured fourth. USA National Champion game: 805's 55s of California 30 (photo below, white USA jerseys), Maryland Classics 29 (photo below, red jerseys).

Men's 55+ AA: Seeded fifth of seven teams, WA Hard KnoX of Washington (photo below) won its bracket games 19-18, 19-9, 24-23 and 19-15 to capture the division. Top-seeded Longshoremen 55 of Virginia lost twice to Hard KnoX and finished second. Third-seeded Synergy of Indiana placed third. The fourth-seeded Friars 671-Team 55 of Guam took fourth. USA National Champion game: Longshoremen 28, WTP/Short Porch of Washington 14.

Men's 60+ Major Plus: Sixth-seeded County Heating & Air of California (photo below) averaged 33 runs per game, exploded for 28 in one unlimited-run inning alone, and double dipped top-seeded Dudley Lightning 60s of Missouri 28-15 and 30-23 in the title games. The finale had to be called after five innings after the Arroyo Grande Softball Complex lights went out. County Heating finished 6-2 overall. Dudley went unbeaten until the championship games. The fifth-seeded Minnesota Merchants 60 took third in the seven-team division. Seventh-seeded Tough Monkey/Onyx/Elite of California nabbed fourth. USA National Champions: Hawaii Five-O (no game).

Men's 60+ Major: Unbeaten and third-seeded RockNLegends 9/ Short Porch of Texas (photo lower left) prevented the top-seeded Top Gun Warriors of California from earning a Triple Grand Slam by slamming the door 23-22 in a see-saw title game. RockNLegends held opponents to 16 or fewer runs five times while racking up seven victories during its championship run. The Top Gun Warriors lost only twice — both times to RockNLegends. Sixth-seeded Pacific Enterprises of Washington started bracket play 3-0 before finishing third in the 24-team division. Eleventh-seeded E&E Metal Fab Inc/Jerich Company of Pennsylvania won six consecutive elimination games before finishing fourth. USA National Champion game: Top Gun Warriors 16 (photo lower right), Sullivan Contracting of Pennsylvania 7.

Men's 60+ AAA: This 44-team division split into National and America pods before the final 12 teams came together on championship Sunday. The Warriors 60, a California team that started as the second seed in the National Pod, defeated its opponents 12-7, 23-8, 21-19, 25-18, 18-16 and 19-15 to claim top honors. Wicked Slice Pizza of Connecticut started as the top seed in the American Pod and finished second after losing twice to Warriors. Top Gun Fury/ Written in Red of California won six elimination games to finish third. Caffe Versuvios/Nasti Softball of Florida won three elimination games to finish fourth. USA National Champion game: Sacramento Flash 27 (photo below), Wicked Slice Pizza of Connecticut 17.

Men's 60+ AA: Eighth-seeded So Cal Riptide 60 of California (photo below) won its first three bracket games before losing the winner’s bracket final 30-16 to eventual runner-up Pelley Stix of Ontario, Canada. Riptide defeated the third-place team Spin Tees of Washington 24-21 before double dipping Pelley Stix in a pair of one-run thrillers, 21-20 and 22-21. In the first game, Riptide gave up seven runs in the bottom of the seventh before securing the final out. In the second game, Riptide scored seven runs in the seventh for a walk-off championship victory. Boys of Summerlin of Nevada finished fourth in the 10-team division.