In the first round, the White Roses would face the Wilmington's Blue Rocks who they would easily trounce 4 games to 1 putting them into the finals against Trenton. Trenton's Giants however featured two 20+ HR power hitters. The White Roses meanwhile had lost Beard when he was promoted and despite featuring a quartet of excellent hitters (Thomas Sheehan, .329, record tying 40 doubles; future Pirates' Jack Merson, 34 2B, 16 3B, .321; and William Plate, 21 2B, 12 3B, Hoffman Stadium record .335 avg; William Street, 22 2B, Hoffman Stadium record 20 3B, .265), the team lacked any power at all (Merson, Sheehan and Street tied for the team lead with 4 HR). Trenton squashed the York White Roses, sweeping the series 4 games to none.
It turned out to be York's one chance as they sunk to 6th place in 1949 with a 66-72 record, despite a terrific but futile effort by future Pirates' Nellie King to take the team to the next level as he put up a 16-15 record, behind a fantastic 2.25 ERA in 212 innings. The White Roses still managed to draw 93,000  behind a continued show of strong fan support… 2nd in the Interstate League in attendance. 1950 would bring more of the same as York posted a 65-73 record with very little talent in the lineup except for Clayton Von Alstyne (8 2B, 11 HR, .262) who posted the only other 2 digit HR mark in Bob Hoffman's short history thus far. Bill Stratton took over Nellie King's spot as team ace and had fantastic season, missing Nellie King's ERA title by just two points as he posted a 16-9 with a league leading 2.27. James Lawler also pitched well going 11-6 with a 2.69 ERA. Attendance at baseball games across the country however were starting to dwindle fast though the 54,000 that the York White Roses drew was still 2nd in the league.