Savannah Bananas vs The Firefighters at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City
Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, here we are. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Firefighters pull within two as we head to our final inning. We saw the firefighters pick up their first win in franchise history rallying in the ninth inning. This one chopped to Cox. Bridges can fly. Cox behind the back. The firefighters down to their final. Firefighters are invoking the golden batter rule. Logan Lacy is looking for a bigger swing or at least something that can extend this inning. The crowd’s jumping. The one two bounce back up the middle. Logan Lacy is inevitable. That is his third straight hit. Drew Yanesa into run at first base. Now Zachary Bridges represents the game’s tying run. A home run threat. He blast this deep out to right center. Zachary Bridges. Janesta’s getting the wave around in time. Firefighters obviously will challenge. Loy tagging out his former CPL teammate. Gut-wrenching way to lose the first game of the 2025 tour for the firefighters. The Nanders get to dance. What a finish we had last night here in Kansas City. The first game of the year for the firefighters ended in epic fashion with the Nanners defense coming through in the clutch to clinch the victory. Tonight, the firefighters look for revenge while the Bananas have their sights set on a sweep in Kaufman Stadium. It is game 34 of the 2025 Banana Ball World Tour and we bring it to you live from the city of Valins, Kansas City, Missouri, as we welcome you inside the broadcast booth with Josh Tipsky, Bo Scala. Thank you all so much for joining us on this wonderful Saturday night here in the Midwest. What a big night it is for the young sport of Banana Ball. Second game of the tour for the firefighters. And an hour after we get first pitch here in Kaufman Stadium, the Party Animals and the Texas Tailgators will be kicking off in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the first game in the history of the Tailgator. Yeah, it is a really special night for Banana Ball. Of course, we saw some great stuff from the Firefighters last night. And tonight, it’s really exciting to see all of the first that could happen for the Texas Tailgator as they square off against the Party Animals on their YouTube page. Now, getting back to things here in Kansas City. It was an awesome game. The bananas jumped out to the early lead against the firefighters. Pitched exceptionally well throughout the night, but we saw a lot of momentum going for the firefighters late in that ball game that hopefully they’re going to ride into tonight’s contest. And Bo, believe it or not, the game also came with some controversy. And I’m not talking about the play at the plate that ended at. That’s right. We had a friendly competition unbeknownsted to Kyle Jackson and Noah Bridges, but we had a YouTube poll up. Who is the darling of Banana Land? And with over,200 fans voting in, how about KJ, the Banana Ball rookie coming out victorious? I mean, maybe it’s a recency bias thing. Fans have gotten a lot of KJ this season, but we’ve also seen a lot of special things from Noah Bridges over the year. And of course, it was really cool to see them get an entrance together going out to High School Musical. It was really special between KJ and Noah Bridges. And uh I know that both of these guys are kind of excited for what might become a pretty elite rivalry this upcoming Banana Ball World Tour. Yeah, this was the definition of two worlds colliding right here. Uh Chris Sachi’s Kster collided with the ground while filming it. So, we actually might get a peek at that again here this evening. But impressive stuff. KJ has built such an impressive fan base here in his first full season of Banana Ball. And I think the love for Noah Bridges will continue to just crescendo as we get to see him back in action here in Banana League. Yeah, it’s really exciting to see both of these guys in the starting lineups for their respective teams tonight. Kyle Jackson, fantastic, had a trick play. Also a triple and a ball four sprint last night for the Savannah Bananas. And Noah Bridges was 0 for four last night but stole two bases when he was able to reach on a fieldielder’s choice. and I know he is pretty excited about trying to get his first career firefighters knock tonight against the Bananas. KJ’s back in the two-hole holding down third base for the Bananas for a second straight night. Noah Bridges back in the eight hole for the firefighters and moves from center field to right field. Yeah, it’s going to be a very exciting game. I know Bridges is a little bit more comfortable playing in right field and so that means we might also see a trick play from one of the Bridges brothers. The Savannah Bananas just finishing up their warm-up, trying to get a little twoame winning streak going after they ended their four-game skid. All of those losses at the hands of the party animals. They were dancing at the end of the night an evening ago. They dance right here and they’re about to give us a banana baby. We’ll get it on down to the field for that. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for a bananas tradition. I need everybody to get your spirit fingers up high. Both hands, spirit fingers high in the sky, feeling the vibes this evening. It is now time for a bananas tradition that started way back in 2016. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome tonight’s banana baby. McKenzie is extremely calm situation. Ladies and gentlemen, please make some noise one more time for tonight’s banana baby McKenzie. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to meet the hottest team in sports, Kansas City. Here come the fire fighters. Heat. Heat. And now the starting lineup for the firefighters. Leading off in center field, number 11, Logan Showtime Lacy. Batting second at third base, number 15, Liam Spence. Batting third behind the plate, number three, Dalton Cornet. In the cleanup spot at DH, number 911, Joe Lidle. Batting fifth, the extra hitter number 24, Dakota D McMatty. At first base, wearing number eight, Steven Collins. The left fielder wearing number seven, Mason Maxwell. In right field, number nine, Noah Bridges. at shortstop number 10, Kaden Peanut Green. And the second baseman number two, Isaac Pora. On the mound for the firefighters, number six, Austin Temple. The firefighters are led by Val Perez, assisted by Corey Pie, and Drew Yanesta. One more time for the firefighters. I need everybody. Ladies and gentlemen, I am bringing some bananas power to home plate. His name is Drake. Drake is 6 years old and he’s attempting to hit a home run against these firefighters. So, can I hear some noise for my dear friend Trey? Whoa, here comes pitch number one. Matt Wolf throwing some heat. Looks like he didn’t go. The count’s one and0. Here comes pitch number two. Matt Wolf is throwing some heat. Here comes pitch number three. And that’s strike one. I’m not sure how fair this is. Matt Wolf, you’re about the same height, but not fair. Oh, holy cow. And in between the leg strike, the count’s two and two. Whoa. Split says he’s had enough of all this and that this fight needs to be more fair. He’s going to steal that ball. Put it on the tea. And Drake has a fair fight. Whenever you’re ready, my friend. Boom. That ball’s hit hard up the middle. The firefighters cannot handle it. The ball’s kicked into left field. Drake is going to hold up at first. Psych. He’s on his way to second base. Rumbling, tumbling, stumbling his way. The firefighters are fighting each other. What’s happening? He’s rounding third base, ladies and gentlemen. There’s going to be a play at the plate. Here comes the throw hole. Can he make it? He scores. Sliding in home. Home run for Drake. Well, some questionable calls there from Vincent Chapman. Good to get the controversial ones out of the way before first pitch actually happens, though. Nice slide into home at the finish as well. Yeah, you know, you just shake off the rust before a big game and always an exciting home run hitter. Young professor letting the full capacity crowd know about the 11 rules of banana ball. We’ll give it to you in Jesse Cole form. The name of the game is banana ball and this is the fastest, most entertaining game in sports. Rule number one, win the inning, win the point. If you score the most runs in an inning, you get a point. The most points win the game. But in the last inning of banana ball, every run counts as a point. Rule number two, there is a 2hour time limit. No new inning can start when the clock hits zero. Rule number three, if you step out of the batters box, it is a strike. Rule number four, no bunting. If you bunt, you’re thrown out of the game. Rule number five, batters can steal first. Rule number six, no walks allowed. It becomes a ball for sprint. until every position player touches the ball. Rule number seven, no mound visits. Nope. Rule number eight, if a fan catches a foul ball, it is an out. In Banana Ball, everything’s in play, so you better be ready. Rule number nine, the showdown tiebreaker. If the game is tied at the end of nine innings or when time expires, it is pitcher versus hitter with one fielder and the hitter has to score. Rule number 10, the banana ball challenge rule. You, the fans, have the opportunity to challenge a ruling on the field. Rule number 11, the golden batter rule. A team can send up any batter to hit in any spot in the lineup. This is guaranteeing the best possible matchup at the end of the game when it matters most. These are the official rules of Banana Ball. The wonderful fountains spanning from right to left center field here in Kaufman Stadium. One of the plethora of reasons why this ballpark is so beloved by the Royals faithful. Been here since 1973. Fifth oldest stadium in Major League Baseball. And now we got ourselves a sheet race, a player challenge. Firefighters verse banana. Zachary Bridges and Johnny Hmel for the firefighters. Gage Borhees and Ty Jackson for the bananas. You know the rules. All five limbs have to be five limbs. Four human beings have four limbs. All four limbs have to be inside the sheet at all times. And they’re off. We will be strict with the disqualifications. Ty Jackson, a veteran of the sheet race, out to a huge lead in blue. Gage Borhees in second in brown. And then both the firefighters holding up the rear. Ty looking back at the competition. Tough to look around the sheet. Starting to showboat a little bit coming into the final turn. It’s Ty then Vorhees. Oh, look out. Johnny Hmel making a late break, but Ty Jackson an emphatic victory. Hmel comes in second. Vorhees takes third. Zachary Bridges does not finish. Thrilling race. Let’s get it down to Sam Bowman. Hey, Vico Josh. I’m here with the Superman Reese Alex who has been absolutely super in MLB and football stadiums this year, hitting a home run in every single one of them. But there was loss last night. The bat that got him through it all was broken. Ree, talk to me a little bit about what you’re going through and the memories you and that bat shared. I mean, we’ve had an incredible run this season and it’s truly a tragedy, especially I didn’t even get to say goodbye. It was given to a fan before I even got a proper goodbye and so it’s a tough tough day, but I think I think we’ll we’ll recover. Now, Ree, obviously we found a new love here and I know you have a lot of memories still coming down the road with this one. Tonight’s the night that it’s got to happen if you keep the streak alive. Do you believe in in your new bat? Well, what you didn’t know is that my bat had twins. And this is just a carbon copy of my previous bat, which still has plenty of juice in it. So, watch out. Ree, any message to the fans in the outfield tonight. I hope you brought your gloves. It’s not going to be an out, but watch out. Reese Superman Alexianis and his new beauty of a bat ready to do some damage here at Kaufman Stadium. Hopefully keep the streak alive. Josh, thank you SB. Thank you for the time and insight as always. Reese selectiatis, what a torid sophomore campaign he’s been off to. Let’s take a look at the starting pitching matchup tonight. A pair of sophomores here in Banana Land. Austin Temple, the former Astros minor leager getting the second start of the tour for the firefighters and Noah Nisnik, the 2024 Banana Ball Rookie of the Year, goes for the Nanners. Yeah, this is a very exciting pitching matchup for the Bananas and the firefighters. Austin Temple last year showed flashes of brilliance, but what really eluded him was his control. He allowed sprints to 19.1% of the batters he’s faced. Something he knows he’s going to work on here in 2025. And for Noah Nisnik, the firefighter stretch of the season was when he was at his peak. He earned 10 points, only lost one. and I know he’s feeling pretty good about being able to get the ball from the jump tonight for the Savannah Bananas and hope that they can score early and keep that lead much like what we saw a night ago. NZ has been in and out of the Banana starting rotation this year. He’s been pretty consistent whether coming out of the bullpen or getting the ball from the get-go. Austin Temple a welldeserved number two starter here for the firefighters. The resume is robust and as you mentioned Josh, it’s all about keeping the ball in the zone because the arsenal is nasty that he’s got. Yeah, Austin Temple again has a pretty high velocity heater that is able to overpower batters. I think where things kind of went wrong for him a season ago was that he tried to pitch without a glove. He was using a fishing net on the mound and he found that he could not mask his pitches and that batter seemed to know what was coming out of the hand. Now hopefully that’s not going to be a struggle for him tonight. As you can see, the Banana Band and company, the cast and crew parading through the stands about to be unveiled on the field here in Kaufman Stadium. The newest addition, the calendar crew for the firefighters. It’s a goodlooking bunch of guys to be the foil to the mananas. You got Mr. January, Mr. May, Mr. August, Mr. September, and Mr. December. Those are some good months that get included as as a man born in September. I’m happy to see that represented. I don’t know how we don’t have a Mr. November. Maybe I’ll have to join the crew. Let’s toss it to Shark so that everybody gets their shine here in Kansas City. know these guys will have you jamming all night long. I need you to give a warm welcome to the world famous Bananas Pep Band. Next up, making her way down the line, royalty like no other, the one and only Princess Patacia. Ah, look at this crew. The greatest Dadbot cheer squad in all the land. You know why? They’re the only one. It’s the bananas. He’s the fastest man in Banana Land. Malachi Flash Kid Mitchell. Behind him, he is our resident bat trickster, Mr. Alex Ziggy Ziggler. Ah, look at these. Look at these abs. He’s the world’s strongest banana, the king of potassium. Oh yeah, it’s split. Next, he’s the tallest man in banana land. And in sports, it’s Dakota Stilts all Britain. Making his way to home plate, he’s got all the moves. It’s our dancing umpire, Vincent Chapman. And finally, our dancing first and third base coach. His name is Mio, the cast of your bananas. All right, Banana Nation. It looks like the cast is ready. All the players are ready. So, it’s now time for you, the fans, to get ready. So, I need everyone here to get on your feet. I need all 40,000 of you on this beautiful Saturday to get on your feet and help me welcome out six-year-old Gabby. All right, Gabby, your job is very important. Everybody on this field is warmed up for this game, but everybody in these stands, I don’t think, is quite warmed up. So, whatever you do, they all have to do. Are you ready for this? Crank it shark. Oh yeah. Get those hands together. Oh, a little Hey, baby. Gabby, little foreshadowing tonight. Keep you rolling it. Okay. How do you know this dance? It’s like from the 80s. Staying alive. Piction. You’re too young for this guy. Too young. Oh yeah. Raise your roof. G. Jump it. J. We all need a boat. We all need Look around, Gabby. You just got 40,000 people warmed up for this game. Give it up one more time for my friend Gabby. Oh, what a killer job by that youngster getting the full capacity crowd of well over 37,000 fans moving it and grooving it. Dr. Car Meadows follows her off the field and everybody please prepare your voices. The young professor struts to the mound and he shall demand them in just a moment. Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls, and potassium enthusiasts from around the world. Tonight, you and thousands of your friends here live and millions more watching at home have gathered here to witness something beyond your wildest imagination. From Montana to Savannah, from the aisle of man to Tokyo, Japan, the banana maniacs come from across the globe to witness this. This is not baseball. This is the crucible where the fastest, hungriest, and most entertaining players are forged. This is a game of the fans, by the fans, and for the fans. But this is not your granddad’s pastime. This is not just another night at the ballpark. This game is baseball by birth, fruit by name, and an absolute worldwide phenomenon. By the grace of God, this is the time for all 37,000 people here in Kansas City to get on your feet and give me your voices. Because this is the greatest show in sports. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Banana Bman Stadium. It’s time to meet the starting lineup for your Savannah Bananas. Leading off in center field, number five, Dr. The Doc Meadows. At third base, number four, Kyle KJ Jackson. Add big third, the DH number 19, Dan O. In the cleanup spot, the left fielder number 15, we call him Rack Robert Anthony Cruz. In right field, number two, Reese Superman, Alexianis. At shortstop, number six, Ryan Cox. At first base, wearing number 11, Corell Pride. Behind the plate, number three, Eric Jones. The extra hitter wearing number 18. He does it all, baby. Kenny Hosley. And at second base, number eight. He is our greatest showman Jackson. On the mound for your Savannah Bananas, number 88, Noah N. Your Savannah Bananas are managed by Tyler Gillum, assisted by Adam Vro, Vyant, Eric Fox, and Reggie Hort. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and remove your hats. here to honor America with the singing of tonight’s national anthem. Please welcome Brooke Mertz. Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light, what so proudly we hail at the twilight last gleaming, who’s broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous spy. Or the ramp parts we watch were so gallently streaming. And the rock is red. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled bender yet way for the land of the free. in the home of the brave. Ladies and gentlemen, Brock M. You are watching game 34 of the 2025 Banana Ball World Tour. What a way to kick it off. A couple A10s go flying over Kaufman Stadium. Another full capacity crowd here in Kansas City. Shout out their beloved Chiefs. And we’re about ready to rumble. Battle number two on the tour between the Firefighters and the Bananas. The Naners came out victorious. a 3-1 win on a bang bang play at the plate last night with the tying run on second. The man leading it off was going to be due up if the game continued. He had a single in that top of the ninth rally. Logan Lacy, then Liam Spence, Dalton Cornet, and Joe Lidle cleaning it up. Dakota McFaten, Steven Cullen, Mason Maxwell in the middle. Noah Bridges, Kaden Green, and Isaac Parra at the bottom. Val Perez has opted to go with the same starting lineup she used last night, albeit with some guys mixed around defensively. And the top five guys in this lineup all did what they needed to. They all had at least one hit. And you see Logan Lacy just brimming with confidence right now at the plate after three hits a night ago. And we also saw Liam Spence, Mason Maxwell, two rookies pick up their first career banana ball knocks. would have loved to know what Logan was telling all of us through the camera. Unfortunately, I’m him. Probably. Yeah, that’s probably right. Noah Nisnik is also him. He had a fantastic rookie campaign last year, the St. Louis, Missouri native, the only man here in Banana. Gets to pitch in his home state in Banana Ball for the first time. It started the season for Noanism, who’s 0 and2 on the year, but leading the tour with 42 innings pitched. Now, across his last 14 innings on the mound, he’s only allowed six hits and four earned runs while averaging three outs in 3 minutes and 23 seconds, and he was at his best against the Firefighters last year, posting a 3 and 0 record. Niz is feeling it on the bump. Here’s the defense behind him. Left to right in the outfield, Robert Anthony Cruz, Dr. Meadows, and Reese Alexi. In the infield, third to first, it’s Kyle Jackson, Ryan Cox, Jackson Olsen, and Carell Prime. While it’s Eric Jones Jr. behind the dish. How can you not have your eye on Ryan Cox tonight? Had seven trick plays last night to tie the single game banana ball trick play record. Now he is only five trick plays away from 100 in just game number 34 this season. Remarkable stuff. He ties his own record. Dr. Meadows of course sandwiched in between the two seven trick play ball games from Coxy this year. had a seven trick play affair of his own in center. And the Bananas faithful are out in masses tonight. Plenty of firefighters fans as well. We’re about to start the clock. All right, Kansas City, it’s about that time. When I count to three, I need you to yell out at the top of your lungs, start the clock. 1 2 3 Showtime. Well, this place is absolutely buzzing with energy. Talked to a bunch of the players. They said this was right up there with a couple of the football stadiums when it comes to the noise factor. About a first pitch change up from No. And is Nicknik. Lacy swings through it. And a chance for the fans. Logan started the game last night with a foul out to the fans. That was on the first pitch. This time that one bobbled right through the bread basket. Well, Ty Jackson, you know, he’s a guy who speaks in a lot of hyperbole, but he noted just how loud the crowd was in Casey, was also impressed by their defense to start out the ball game. And lightning strikes twice in Kaufman Stadium. Back-to- back nights where Lacy fouls out to the fans to start the ball game. That’s a man of the people right there. Miss Nick helped out by the home state faithful. How about the snag in the catcher mitt? That’s awesome. Oh man. Excellent play by the youngster Liam Spence. Liner straight to Reese Alexiatis. A foul out to a fan. A line out. And now we get to honor our firefighter of the night. apparatus operator who has served with distinction and a member of the Kansas City Fire Department since 2008. While off duty in August 2024, Hollinger jumped into action by saving the life of a young child who had drowned by quickly starting life-saving CPR. He got a pulse back on the child within a few minutes. The child was rushed to Children’s Mercy and made a full recovery. The Kansas City Fire Department is proud and honored to have Brandon as a member of their department. So fans, bringing Dalton Cornet to the plate, give it up for Brandon Hollinger. Special moment right there. And now Daltton Cornet digs in. And with plenty of experience battling against Noisnik. Dalton just finished up his third year as a party animal. Now begins his career as a firefighter and did it in style last night with a couple hits, a hit by pitch and a run scored. He was the only man not named Logan Lacy who had multiple hits for the firefighters. And Cornet also had a lot of success against Nisnik, batting 316 against him a year ago. Ball in two strikes on the proud of Pippa passes. Kentucky. Another chance for the fans. This one extra catchable. Not snag. Plenty of height on it. Not a gimme for the fans. The Lacy foul out to start last night’s game was the only foul out to the fans all evening. And on the first pitch of the ball game, no less. They’re getting plenty of opportunities early here. That one caught in the upper deck. What an inning for Noah Nisdnik. Induces two foul outs to the fans. The firefighters go down one, two, three. In 19 games last year, the Firefighters fouled out to fans eight times. They’ve already done it three times in just a game and one inning of play. Beautiful bare-handed grab by that man in the top level here at Kaufman. And let’s get a look at the numbers here for Austin Temple, the former Houston Astros minor leager and a collegiate banana before returning to Banana Land now in his second year as a firefighter. Yeah, really exciting to see Temple return to this firefighters team. He was second on the team with six starts a year ago. had an 0 and3 record and had nearly twice as many sprints allowed as strikeouts that he recorded while allowing a team high 12 walk-offs last year. Again, he attempted to pitch without a glove last year using a fishing net, but using the mitt here in 2025 should have him feeling a lot more comfortable. Here’s the defense behind him left to right in the outfield. Maxwell, Lacy, and Bridges in the infield. Third to first, it’s Spence, Green, Par, and Cullen. Well, the man with the mask is Cornet. Firefighters wound up with five trick plays last night. It was really exciting to see a handful of guys collect their first career trick plays. Mason Maxwell, Liam Spence, and Kaden Green all getting in on that action. And of course, it’s going to be exciting to see the Banana Ball superstar Logan Lacy make his first career banana ball start in the outfield. And it’s an identical first six in the order for the Bananas as to the lineup they rolled out an evening ago. Dr. Meadows is the truly do up in banana ball. You can walk off the inning as the home team as long as you not run total more than the visitors. Of course, with a goose egg up there, Dr. could drive himself in and end the inning in one fell swoop. I would expect to see Kyle Jackson though who lurks on deck and Dan Oburst in the hole. Talked about it in the pregame show. Austin Temple a hard thrower sits 90 to 92 can touch 9495 with the fast ball as this one is dribbled to Kaden Green. Whips it between the legs. Smooth as Silk just in time to nab the doctor and it’s Peanut’s second trick play of the season as well. had just enough time to go between the legs, fielding that banana ball. And a great stretch there by Steven Coen, just keeping that toe dragged on the first base bag to make sure the trick play was preserved. Peanut officially secures the top spot all by himself with a pair of trick plays when it comes to the firefighters. One-1 count on Kyle Jackson. He is now the Nanner’s team leader with his 362 batting average. He is still the tour leader with a 493 on base percentage after reaching on two of his three trips to the dish last night. And he’s been on base on eight of his last nine plate appearances. Has also posted a fourame hit streak for his squad. We’ll get another payoff from Temple to KJ. And how about that? Good old country hard ball. Austin Temple dials up the heat, sits down Kyle Jackson. Well, that’s hopefully the change that we’re going to be seeing a lot of this season for the sophomore firefighter. Even with the count full is able to keep command of that strike zone, throw it right over the plate. And that’s just a man who really has confident in his heater. And you see it blown past KJ as Temple now misses with the first pitch bender to Oburst. KJ had reached in eight straight trips to the plate before striking out against Ben Dum in the seventh last night. And of course, the strike out you just saw against Temple, a pair of former minor leaguers. The resumes on these firefighters pitchers are robust. It’s all about adapting to banana ball where strikes are that much more of a premium. Now Temple ahead of Dan Obur one two. Look out. That one all the way to the back stop. Over trying to steal first. Throw from Cornet. Not in time. Danny Overber swipes first for the first time here in his fourth world tour. He is an intelligent banana ball player and he knew that pitch was going to sail high of Dalton Cornet. So he took off immediately. If he stutters one bit trying to get down the line, he is not going to be safe on that play. But Over able to get in with very aggressive base running. Yeah, that took a lucky bounce for the firefighters. Used his wheels a lot faster than your typical designated hitter to beat that one out. Well, again, you have to be able to read the ball well for if you’re Dan Obururst. And that’s exactly why he was able to come away with the stolen base running as soon as that ball was sailing at the plate. Defensive swing there from Robert Anthony Cruz. He’s still behind O2. Battle between former minor leaguers now. There goes Obururst in on the hands. Cruz fouls it into the stands. Not caught. Boy, you could hear the claying off the bare hand up here in the booth. I gave myself a reason to believe we could catch that one. That’s crazy. You really did? Yes. Only fell about 90 ft shy of us. You know what? You dare to dream, Josh. And that’s what I love about you. This is why I’m normally playing the infield if I’m ever just playing a pickup banana ball game or something. Swing and a miss. Austin Temple with a pair of punch outs. Blanks the bananas. We’re scoreless through one. 20 pitch inning for Austin Temple, but two strikeouts in 4 minutes and 26 seconds. And that fast ball looks lethal early on tonight in Kansas City. Talking about some banana ball basics and how perfect rule number eight, if a fan catches a foul ball, it is an out. And you can see with the two foul outs we saw in the top of the first inning, we’re up to 30 foul outs so far on the tour in total. And what a job the folks at Kansas City are are doing. They’re halfway to tying the single game record tonight. Yeah, we’ve got 180 total fan caught foul balls now. Seven have come in Kansas City and three in this series. We saw the one against Logan Lacy last night. But already in this ball game, Lacy sending this one down the third baseline. Ban with the catcher. Mitt comes away with the snag. And then we don’t discriminate against the folks sitting in the top sections here in these major league ballparks. That fan made an incredible snag to get Nisnik out of the frame in 2 minutes and 8 seconds. It’s a good reminder that no matter how high your seat may be, you can make it out in a banana ball game. Two of the three fouls we’ve seen in Kansas City have come from fans in the upper deck. Four, five, and six in the lineup for the firefighters. Joe Lidle in the cleanup spot. Takes the first offering wide from Noah Nisnik. That one to the back stop. Lidle thought about it. Stays in the box. Both feet have to leave the box for it to count and as an attempt of stealing first. And as soon as that happens, it’s a force out. Widle is going to float that one over the head of a leaping Jackson Olsen. and his second hit of the series. Yeah, nice to see he laced one pretty hard to Ryan Cox at shortstop that wound up becoming a base knock. Now two for his last two at the plate and the firefighters with the leadoff man on in the second. Dakota McFaten fooled on the change up. Nisnick a three- pitch mix. Fast ball high 80s, low 90s. on the change. You just saw his best pitch and a curveball as well. Now going to dance with Olsson Cox and Meadows, his supporting cast. Gator raises the outside corner. Pitcher pitch and a quick check on Lidle. caught last night. Gets the half night off as the DH here this evening and can really run for a catcher. He was perfect in his three stolen base attempts last year across a 19 game season. That is pretty spectacular from a guy primarily handling the catching duties. The big thing you have to focus on with Joe Lidle and sometimes reel in is the aggressiveness and to wait for his next trip to the dish. But when he hit the homer that started this crazy run in Tampa, the fan singoff was still still going there. That’s a call you like to get. Well, all in preparation for the bananas, but I find myself on a pitch. It’s the It’s the letter of the law. I get it. But it’s always fun to see a Gold Glove All-Star World Series winner take a swing in a game and Vince took that at least one of those away from us. I know. But we can’t change the past. Hos had a great time out on first base and pitching. Oh my gosh. Almost right through the hands. Looked pretty good. I had never seen a fan catch a baseball until tonight. How about that? My first time seeing it. Wow. That’s pretty impressive with how illustrious your career has been in Banana Land. It’s tough to nab him in Savannah though. Nice front door bender there. Ball and two strikes on Reese Alexi. 56 and seven in the order here for the Nanners. Boy, shades of Tampa Bay right here. Alexi, we talked about it on the pregame show. This guy has homered in both MLB stadiums, all three football stadiums we’ve played in this year. So he would really like to check Coughit Stadium off on the list. And that is a beautiful 2-2. Called strike three low and away. He’ll have to wait for his next trip to the dish. But when he hit the homer that started this crazy run in Tampa, the fan singoff was still still going there. That’s a call you like to get. Well, I tell you what, if we’re going to blister 92 mph plus fast balls on the black like that, I think a lot of guys are going to be going back home or to the dugout without getting that swing they want to get in. ball is painted. Jeremy, how often do you find yourself throwing these days? I throw as often as humanly possible. Twice weekly if I can. All in preparation for the bananas, but I find myself on a pitcher mound all over the world. So, I got to be in shape. Even at 46, I got to try to keep that arm going. That’s pretty special, man. You don’t look a day over 35. Wow. I feel about 75 years over at 35, but thank you very much. 3-1 count here on Ryan Cox. Fantastic fourth world tour he’s having. Hitting 322 and reaching base at a 402 clip. That’s paint once again. I think technically this would count as my third world tour, would it not? Oh yes, heck yeah. Definitely. Liner right back up the middle and a back handspring catch. Logan Lacy in his center field debut here in Banana Land. Well, what a doozy. I will give him eight for difficulty, but he did not stick the landing, so I’m going to have to dog him just a little bit at the end, but nonetheless, acrobatic. He debuted that play at third base a year ago. This is his first start in center field in his banana ball career, and it looked like that was just textbook for him to be able to do that back handspring. Well, let me tell you the fans here. I saw him at third base today warming up. So, he was taking all of his ground balls at third base, and he has some wizardry over there. So the fact that he can take it to center field doesn’t really surprise me one bit. Lot of tricks in his back pocket. Two balls and no strikes on Carell Prime. Another battle between former minor leaguers Prime from the Rockies farm system, their organizational player of the year in 2014. Prime shoes. That’s what I get excited about. That man has converted some beautiful John Morant shoes from the cleats and he looks the part. Lifts this one a mile high out to shallow right. Par called off by Mason Max. Oh, Noah Bridges behind the back. First triple of the tour. Are you kidding me? Beautiful stuff and a point earned for the firefighters. A pretty perfect second inning for the firefighters. Two runs, their first point, and two trick plays from Noah Bridges and Logan Lacy. Now it’s time to go down to the field from Prince or Peasant. We’re going to put their skills to the test musically. Here we go. Hit it, Shark. All right, Patrick. A whole new world. A dazzling place I never knew. Give it up for Patrick, everybody. He might just be Banana Land’s next princess, but Andrew, do you think you can beat that? Let’s hope so. All right, Shark, hit it. Let’s go, Andrew. under the sea. Darling, it’s better down where it’s better. Take it from me. All right, Andrew, that was pretty good. But he’s just in. I’m hearing that we have a third contestant for Banana Land’s Next Princess. Welcome out, Tinsley. Everybody, Tinsley, do you think you can beat these guys? Yeah. Let’s go, Shark. Let it go. Let it go. Amazing job, Tinsley. Give it up for Banana Le. Impressive work from Tinsley and company down there. Cowboy Kyle Liix, the new man on the mound for the Nanners. and they trail by a point entering the third. Cowboy Kyle entering the game for the 10th time this season took the loss the last time out in Nashville, Tennessee where he surrendered seven runs, six of which were earned to the party animals across just an inning and 2/3. But he has certainly been unlucky this season as the earner on average should be around 5.03 according to a few advanced metrics. Kaden Green bounces one to Kyle Jackson. Boy, a late transfer between the legs, a high throw. And Reggie Ligins said Kaden Green’s out. He said Prime got a tag on him. Christian Dearman emphatically firing the water in the air, letting the world know that this is challenged. The firefighters went one for two on their challenges last night. Yeah, that’s going to be overturned. Jeremy Guthrie with us in the booth. You get to be a part of this crew. I think you’re okay with us overturning this as well. Yeah, certainly. What a great effort. Goes out for it. Knows he’s got to make the tag. Can’t quite get to it. That’s why you got the replay. Made made for a much better game. Thank you, Christian Dear, for the fire hose. I like the challenge system. They had to pull that into the other levels of baseball, right? Wouldn’t that be fun? Maybe spray the umpire with it if you want to challenge home. At some point, I’m sure it’ll get up to the bigs. Well, they got the splash zone in Baltimore. I know you guys will be going here very soon. I’m fired up for Camden Yards. I wonder if the splash zone will be a part of the festivities. O2 count on Isaac Parra holding down the 10 hole. Bottom of the order, trying to feed the top for the firefighters. And this could be two. Fielded between the legs. Cox behind the back. Glove flip. Hey, Gorilla Prime at first gets the throw from Olsen behind the back. Double trick play, double play. There he goes and totally redeems himself. Great snag behind the back. And it all starts with a great play from Ryan Cox. A nice easy glove flip behind the back for trick play number 96 this season and sealed off with impressive stuff from Carell Prime at first base. Just the 10th time he started at first base this year. Well, if you haven’t seen it before, you are looking at the greatest to ever do it at shortstop position or any position for that matter. Yeah, Ryan Cox is something else. Logan Lacy, a deep drive down the left field line and it drifts foul. Some debris on the field. Didn’t distract Coach Rack even for a second. He avoids firefighters in the corner there. He’s unshakable. And Kyle’s going to get the crowd involved here. Surprised you never pulled this one out throughout your big league career. Go. Hey, the night is still young. Oh, beautiful slider. Backs right up. Lacy down swinging. And thanks to the twin killing, Luig faces the minimum. We’ll get it on down to Jolie Chabala to honor our Bananas Poster family of the night. We’ll be back up in the booth with Jeremy Guthrie just after this. Across the United States, there are over 400,000 children and teens in foster care without a permanent home. Look around. That’s enough to fill Kaufman Stadium 11 times with children and teens experiencing foster care. To raise awareness and support this community, we created Bananas Foster, the official nonprofit of Banana Ball. Our organization is dedicated to celebrating the foster care community while educating and inspiring others to get involved. Tonight, we are celebrating the Barnes family. Katie and Michelle have been a licensed foster family for the last years. In that time, they have welcomed 30 children and teens into their home and adopted six into their family forever. Tonight, we are celebrating two birthdays of the kiddos in their family, as well as the seventh adoption in their family forever. Fans, please help us celebrate the Barnes family for everything they do in the foster care community. Another huge shout out in store for the Barnes family as we welcome you Back inside the booth with Josh Tipsky, Jeremy Guthrie, the banana ball legend. And how about this? This is a banana hot dog. It’s going to start following us around here. Gus, you want to try this thing? I’ll try it. Banana hot dog. Yeah. Before you head back down, Josh, get in there. Yeah. Looks like it’s going to be here in Kaufman. It’ll be with us at Angel Stadium next year. And this would be a pretty good pre- pitching snack. I feel like this could be some good fuel in case you want to get back out there on the bump. I’ll go tell Gillian Bro, I’m ready to go. I got a banana hot dog in me. I love it. Gus, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you guys. The legend right there, Jeremy Guthrie. I would expect he will be pitching later on tonight. Yeah, I would I would think so. If I was a betting man, I I might put I might put my life savings on it, you know. I I try not to anymore. Nolan Daniel, the new man on the mound for the firefighters. Another legend of Banana Land. Three years as a collegiate nanner. This is now his second campaign with the firefighters. The Dublin, Georgia native taken the mound. Pitched in nine games last season for the firefighters and still has a 15% strikeout ratio in his banana ball career. Very impressive stuff for Daniel. It’s going to be all about his control on the pitcher mound and being able to dial down the ball force sprints. Surprisingly, he has seen more sprints in his banana ball career than when he was a collegiate banana. Josh, your rating on the banana hot dog that is it’s it has a very high uh score in my opinion. I’m probably giving that a 9.7. All right, I’m trying it now. It’s I mean it’s a messy caramelized bun, banana, chocolate syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream. And I think I got everything. I touched all the bases. Yeah. Whoa. That folks is the sound of pure enjoyment. Mama mia. Here comes DJ. It’s right now. You must be going down. We got a lot of high school musical involved in Banana Land. I mean, we saw it last night with KJ and Noah. Can’t quit it. It’s only fitting that Eric Jones Jr. is the next man up. And I can’t quit this banana hot dog. I took another two bites while EJ was coming up to the dish. What’s your favorite part of it? M the bun, I think. But like it’s all really important. None of it would work without the rest. I thought it would be possibly too mushy, but it’s not. No, the structural integrity is impressive. You need a sturdy bun for that. And and you get that with this. Really nice. Swinging three 0. EJ lifts this one out to right center. And Logan Lacy on the run will haul it in. Well, that’s a smart play for Logan Lacy. The firefighters are not up any runs here in the inning. He’s got to drift over into right center field to make the catch. He doesn’t exactly get enough time to plant himself to try a trick play. So, he opts just to make sure that he records the out and gets Daniel a quick one at that. Yeah, especially to start the inning. Keep Nolan in the catbird seat. That one is off the end of the bat from Danny Hosley. Nice. And Maxwell with the routine play just like that after three balls to start the outing from No, he’s dialed in and one out away from a one two three inning and gets to square off against a former teammate and Jackson Olsen back in 2023 on this banana squad last season. Olsson hitless against Nolan. That one off the glove. Daniel scampering off the mound bare hand first not in time. It’ll be an infield single for Jackie and we’ll get it down to the young professor. Ladies and gentlemen, Yod enlisted in the United States Army in 2009 and served in Afghanistan with the fourth infantry division out of Fort Carson, Colorado in 2010 and 2011. In late September of 2010, while on foot patrol, Gudet’s unit was struck by an IED and as a result, he sustained hearing loss and a traumatic brain injury. He earned his combat infantry badge and was awarded a Purple Heart for his injuries and an Army Commodation Medal with Valor for his selfless action that assisted in saving the lives of two fellow soldiers. He was cleared and returned to service. But just 6 months later, while on another patrol, Kday stepped on a landmine resulting in the loss of his right lower leg. He was then awarded his second Purple Heart and sent stateside to rehab in San Antonio, Texas. Kday worked hard on his recovery and medically retired from the United States Army in August of 2012. He currently lives in Brookfield, Missouri with his wife Kate and their four children, Harley, Gage, Alana, and EMTT. They’re here with us tonight. And that’s because coming to bat for your Savannah bananas. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome retired US Army Sergeant Lonnie Go Day. What a moment for Lonnie God Hey, the inning winning run is on first and the guy who played his last baseball in high school in Louisiana swings through a fast ball. It’s a good look at stance and we’ve got contact. One, two, count and the fan clapping increases seeing the contact there from GDay behind in the count. But again, I think Daniel probably just going to stick with the heater here. Spoiled steady diet of fast balls. Go starting to find the swing. This one deep down the right foul and off the netting. I’ll tell you what, if he peppers any foul ball into the seats, you’re going to hear fans yelling at one another, imploring them not to catch the foul ball. This one into right field. Ly go day. Are you kidding me? Heat. Heat. USA had one shot, one at bat in his banana ball career. He made it count. He battled and battled and lines one to right. shows off the speed and USA chance reverberating through Kaufman Stadium. Man who is likely going to finish his banana ball career batting 1,000. What a special moment and very cool of the firefighters. Isaac Par getting that ball to Lonnie Goodday to commemorate a really memorable hit. One of the most memorable we have ever seen in this sport. Important for the Bananas. 20 count now on Kyle Jackson. Lonnie pushes the inning winning run into scoring position. And now Nolan Daniel, one bad one away from losing this inning. Only had two quick outs in to start it. Gets the outside corner. Put that one low. Kyle Jackson earns the walk-off sprint. And the Bananas have tied this game at a point each. Fifth ball four sprint for Kyle Jackson with runners in scoring position this season. He’s the walk-off hero, but really it belongs to Lonnie Goodday for the opposite field single after a six pitch battle with Nolan Daniel that leads to the Bananas netting their first point on night two in Kansas City. Absolute onions. Grew up in Louisiana. Ended up in Florida for high school where he finished up his baseball career. Gets a couple purple hearts. Comes to Banana Land and sets up the inning walk-off for KJ in the third. We’re tied. And it’s time for Pacio and the boys to dance. This is my birthday. Heat. Heat. Excellent work for Macio with Ty Jackson and Jared Donaldelsson. Threeman wrecking crew and they give way to Cowboy Kyle who’s out for a second inning of work faced the minimum thanks to a double play and then struck out Logan Lacy here in the point in the third now has two three and four in the lineup. Liam Spence, Dalton Cornet and Joe Lidle. We’ve seen the strikeout rate jump up for Cowboy Kyle as of late this season. And a big part of that is because he’s throwing from a slightly lower arm slot as he delivers the first pitch straight into foul territory. Nice effort by the man right along the railing trying to catch that foul ball in a bucket hat. One-1 count on Spence who lined out his first time. Smoked a ball but straight to Alexi and right. No, no, no. Vincent Chapman’s going to dust off home plate, shake his money maker a little bit, a lot a bit. We’ve got a Vincent Chapman lookalike in the stands tonight. He may look the part, but there’s only one man on planet Earth who can dance like that. And oh my gosh, the crew is on fire right now. There he is. He’s got the right hat. The beard’s color of blue is off just a kid. Yeah, but you’ve got to you got to commend that guy for the beard that he’s grown. Yes, very similar. Shape of the body and beard is so key. Spence spoils a front door slider. Banana Ball rookie at the dish facing off against a man in his eighth year here in Banana Land. Spence, what a battle. Has worked a one-tw count to three and two. ends up earning his first career sprint. Picked up his first hit yesterday. He’s aboard to lead off the fourth. The tape shows that this should be one of the strong points of Liam Spence’s game. A patient hitter, a guy with a very contact first oriented approach. And some of his routines include hitting solely breaking balls off of pitching machines, but also practicing fouling off unhitable pitches and those with two strikes. It’s a key reason why he was able to draw the ball for sprint to start the fourth against Kyle. Now, Daltton Cornet steps in. Foul out to a fan his first time. Spence comes to us from Jalong, Australia. after spending his Jos couple years at Central Arizona College ended up at University of Tennessee where he was a superstar and further to your point Josh about I think we’re going to see Spence on the bags a ton a 471 on base percentage across his two years in Knoxville. and also a career 350 hitter throughout his time in college. And now he’s showing off the wheels, swiping second base against Eric Jones Jr. Didn’t see a ton of those throughout his college or professional career. Not known for the speed. Smart time to run though. There he’s in scoring position. Two- two to Cornet. Smoked foul. Great battle between guys who have been slamming heads against each other since the 2022 tour. Luke and Cornet have seen a ton of each other. Kyle victorious here. A rare strikeout for Daltton Cornette. Well, again, you saw him going to that slightly lower arm slot. He said it’s kind of sidearm, but not quite. And you saw it awfully effective as that pitch started to trail off at the bottom of the strike zone and get Cornet to swing through it. Really excellent execution. Now Joe Lidle. A big part of the reason Kyle changed his arm slot is because of guys like DC3 who had just seen him too many times coming over the top. He needed something different. It’s one of the very interesting things that some of these pitchers have to endure throughout their banana ball career. Especially the bananas and party animals after playing each other for so many years. You have to learn how to reinvent yourself. Batters usually don’t struggle with that, but the pitchers certainly do. That one fouled away. Ball in two strikes on the firefighters DH. And I would say you can do that in a plethora of ways. You can obviously change the way in which you deliver the ball, but you can also change the way in which you sequence batters as Kyle has his one-two pitch laced into center field. But no trouble for the doctor Dr. Meadows with a behind the back snag in center field. Trick play number 75 this year. Second on the ball game for Dr. Guy makes it look so easy. That thing was smoked. Now DMac digs in. Spence still on second. Two away. Jam shot. Dr. racing in making the call and behind the back. Backto- back trick plays to end the frame. Gutsy decision there. A run scores if Meadows doesn’t pull off the trick play. Meadows takes a bow to cap off a two trick play inning for the Bananas. And it is a second scoreless frame for Cowboy Kyle Luig as you get one more look at that fantastic play from Meadows. the best to ever do it in the outfield in our young sports history. Aging like a fine line. Time to Hey, baby here in KC. Here we go. Going to climb it out. Here we go. All right. I need you guys to sing, too. Can you sing for me? Here we go. Come on, Casey. Let’s get louder. All right, keep clapping. We’re going to shuffle down. Oh, y’all look so good tonight. Everybody get those hands up cuz here we go. One more time as hard as you can. Wonderful hay babying from the folks here in KC. Three and a half innings in the books here. We’re less than 10 minutes away from first pitch in Albuquerque. Let’s check in with Drake Tolico. Josh, uh, cool time for a live check-in. Getting my last two things done before we go live on the Party Animals YouTube channel. First headline game of the animals season here in Albuquerque against the brand new Texas Tailgators. Their initial game in franchise history. It’s going to be insane. Head to the Party Animals YouTube channel. I’ll see you there. Just one last thing to do before we go live. See you guys. Guess it maybe wasn’t the best time to check in with Drake, but he’s a pros pro and a permable. He is a permable. Caught the guy in the bathroom. He was He was ready to give us a great report. Hey, that’s a barrel. Alex Ziggler to the gap. He throws the helmet away. He’s not happy with two. He wants three bases. Alex Ziggler a triple. An ambush against Javon Ray. And the Nanners have the inning winning run 90 ft away. Even Split went out to give Alec Ziggler a high five for the first triple of his banana ball career. And a rude welcome for the firefighters. Rookie Javon Ray now taking over on the pitcher mound. Infield in against Robert Anthony Cruz who fouls the first offering off. Javon’s got a five pitch offering fast ball in the low 90s. works in a two seam circle change, curve ball and slider. Back up the middle, knocked down by Ray. That is an inning saving play for now. Javon showing off the athleticism. Well, Daniel had the ball peppered back to him last inning against Jackson Olsen. is not able to make the play, but Ray, you see, just able to slap that one right down in front of him. Scramble off the mound quickly and record the out. Not surprising to see him so nimble. He’s a former football and basketball player in high school. With Reese Alexiatis up, the firefighters go to a fiveman infield. And Ree can’t hold up on the slider. So just Lacy and Bridges in the outfield. Maxwell comes in. from left. Struck out looking his first time. Now, Javon Ray a ball away from losing this inning. This is where Banana Ball is so punishing for pitchers. He dials up a strike. Healthy swing and a miss from Alexi. There’s only two men out in the outfield, so Alexi just figured he’d try and swing for the fences. at least poke it out to the outfield so Ziggler could tag up on a possible sacrifice fly. The battle will run at least seven pitches as Alexiatis fouls off the payoff. Fast balls up and Reese Alexiatis will earn the inning winning walk-off for the Nanners. His 10th inning ender of the tour. Bananas up 2-1. Four innings in the books and they are dancing to celebrate. Mio leading the charge as Baners honor his call to get it pumping. Let’s get it on down to the field of Marshall Shill. Going to be strong, but there’s a rumor that there’s kids around here think they’re stronger than us. So, we’re going to take our own Vietnam against our competitor Payeyton. Come on out here. And we’re going to do a push-up contest. Oh my. He took his shirt off. All right, gentlemen. Are you ready? Are you ready? Go. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. All right, Kansas City, I want you to tell me who won this competition. Was it big? Was it B? Let’s go. What an upset. Ben Dumb toppled in the first ever kid push-up contest. And a new man on the mound. Gage Borhees takes over for the bananas. Steven Cullen’s going to be the first man to swing it. Attention, please. that’s entire life has been centered around a team from team USA women’s baseball joining banana ball last year and is a longtime member of the Corpus Christi fire department. Val once said that what drew her to the fire station were the similarities to being in a locker room with her teammates. She’s competed on the field and battled to save lives in her field. Tonight, we are proud to announce that after 10 years of service, she is retiring from the Corpus Christi Fire Department and trading in her boots for banana ball as the fulltime head coach of the firefighters. Kansas City. Let’s hear it for Val P. A cool moment, one Valerie Perez did not see coming. And a welldeserved tip of the cap to Val as this one is punched deep out to right center. Sliding catch. Reese Alexiotis absorbs the contact with Dior. Comes away with the end one to start the fifth. Spooky play as Alexiotis and Meadows were sliding into one another, but you could tell kind of from the jump here in Kaufman Stadium. That was Alexiotis with a much better jump and read on that banana ball and with enough speed to break over into right field and make another sensational grab. Not only has the arm impressed all season, but he has certainly played gold club caliber defense. flip catch Dr. Meadows. Back-to- back sparkling plays from the Ners’s outfield to get the fifth inning going. It begins with a web gem and the next pitch is a snowcoed back flip grab from Dr. Meadows. His fourth trick play tonight. Well, after his good buddy Ryan Cox tied their shared record with seven trick plays in the ball game. Looks like the doctor took it personally, he’d like to try and repeat the performance or one up it. Carell Prime behind the back transfer over to Gage Borhees and a quick and wild frame to start Gage’s evening. One of the fastest innings of Gage Borhees career. A 1 minute and 24 second frame for the right-hander. And now, of course, it’s time to get you guys a kiss off. Naturally, kissed in front of 37,000 people, and you have to determine who did it the best. So, let’s start with the couple I have over here to my left. What are your names, guys? Eric. Heidi. Eric and Heidi. How long have you guys been married? Two years. Two years. All right. Well, let’s see what you guys got. Give us a little little something something. Oh, did you did you see the foot there? That was cute. Not that great. You’re they’re booing you, but that was two years. All right. Next up, what are your names, guys? Chelsea. Kendall. Chelsea and Kendall. How many years for you guys? 10. 10 years. Okay. Little experience. Let’s see what you guys have to show our crowd. Oh my. Oh, easy. Easy there, Tiger. All right. And last up, this couple. What are your names, guys? Mary Kay. Mary Kay and Jeff. Jeff, how long have you two been married as of today? 50 years. 50 years. Well, let’s see what you two have to show these folks. Hey, what? Oh my goodness. Oh, no. Oh, we have to vote. All right, fans. Is our winner the 2-year couple? Is it the 10-year couple or is it the 50year couple? Give it up for our winners of the Kiss Off. Oh, big shout out to Mary and Jeff Olrich, the victors of the Kissoff and grandparents of Zack Frangelo’s girlfriend. How about that for a connection? 50 years of love. Another big shout out to Mary and Jeff. Got a quick look at the resume of Javon Ray. An unceremonious beginning to his banana ball career. Alex Ziegler ambushed him and notched a triple that ended up leading to the Reese Alexiottis walk-off sprint. Now Javon’s got Cox Prime and EJ and Ryan Cox out to right center and a back handspring catch just with one hand of assistance. Logan Lacy. That guy is made of rubber. Well, we saw Jay Goth a little tough on Lacy for not sticking the landing on his first trick play. This one looked an awful lot better and he had time to get himself planted as he ranged into right center that time. That’s why he’s able to come away with trick play number two on his night. Nice slider there from Ray to jump ahead of Prime. And he’s a head 02. That was filthy. Javon out of Douglasville, Georgia. Actually started at the University of Tennessee where he was teammates with his current firefighters third baseman Liam Spence was back in 2021. Transferred to Georgia Southern where he finished out his career with Jason Swan. Trick pitch and it’s going to be poked out to right center. Noah Bridges behind the back for a second time tonight. He’s perfect on his two trick play attempts. Once again, it’s another inning where both Lacy and Bridges come away with trick plays for the firefighters. And he seems to be reading the ball an awful lot better in right field tonight. Good stuff from Bridges and Ray to have Prime out in front of the breaking ball there to induce soft enough contact. Second straight former minor league hitter for Javon Ray to try and navigate through. Eric Jones Jr. ahead 200 and the bat starting to heat up for the Savannah Banana’s all-time leader in home runs. Saw him swing on a three 0. His first time up. That’s a pitcher pitch. And EJ will take the sprint. Our turnaround first, then taps the brakes. All seven firefighters behind the pitch red catcher touch the ball in short order. We saw their sprint defense already in mid-season form last night. They gunned down Bill Loy trying to get two bases. And now Flash who scored the inning winning run in the third. Pinch running for Jackson Olsen. Going to step in for Jones Jr. Smart move by the Bananas getting towards the bottom of this lineup. It’ll roll around and Malachi will be able to run again for this squad. And he’s got burning speed. So the Bananas could get a quick run and another point if Hosley could gap this banana ball. He goes for the gap, but too much air underneath it. Logan Lacy making the call in the catch. And Javon Ray with a nice bounce back inning. Puts up a goose egg and keeps the deficit at just one for the firefight. Boy, what a ball game had three years ago to the day back in Savannah, Georgia. Banana Fest 2022 with Old Split leading the charge and a mly crew of collegiate bananas who have now joined the fry in the Banana Ball era. All of them led by Tyler Gillum who had no idea he was about to lead the Coastal Plane League Bananas to a second straight Pettit Cup. These are the boys who were playing in that ball game. It was debuts for everybody except for Ty Jackson. And what’s really special is that all six of these guys are now represented on the four teams in Banana Ball this season. Stanley and Justice getting to suit up for the tailgator for the first time tonight. And we’ve seen some special stuff so far from Kaden Green. Two trick plays already in this series. And of course, Armando Baser on the Party Animals had his signature game in Nashville two Saturdays ago. Good reminder that Mondo, Justice, and Stanley are all doing battle right now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can check that game out on the Party Animals YouTube channel. And of course, Gage Borhees, you can watch him right here. And he gets to match up against one of his old teammates in Kaden Green. Oh my god. The banana ball gods shine upon us here in KC. You can’t make that up. Where’s Ty Jackson? What can we say about him? Kaden Green honored as the Dunkin Donut batter tonight. Morris against his former collegiate bananas teammate. Starts him with a nice slider for strike one. Peanut goes down on strikes. The full capacity crowd gets donuts courtesy of Duncan. He’s ahead 2-1. Make it 3-1. And on the hands on a couple hops. Cox between the legs. fumbles the exchange and cannot take care of his counterpart. Well, he had seven trick plays last night to tie a single game banana ball record, but he also has three trick plays missed in this series. And you see the ball squirting out of the glove way too much on that exchange. Cox trying to flip it up to himself, make it easy, and instead the banana ball winds up away from him as Isaac Par is into the box and trying to keep the inning rolling with the slap hit that he introduced a season ago. I think there was a nice catch down there in the dugout suite. If it was clean, that should have been a bow out to a pit. Par working on his slaphitting ability. I don’t know what it is about shortstops for the firefighters, but par the primary shorts stop last year. Green of course early on has filled the role both games for the firefighters this year. They have a knack for reaching on errors or trick plays missed. This one bounced to Kyle Jackson and I would rule that an infield single person. I would also rule that an infield single. Yeah, slow chopper. The intent for Isaac Parr is to be out of the box incredibly quickly, which he was. It’s going to be a tough play for Jackson to make either way. And Green, of course, with great speed was already in at second. Yeah, there’s no chance for a force there. So, now to the top of the order, Logan Lacy digs in. Par led the Firefighters last year, reaching on errors or trick plays missed nine times across 19 games. Peanut has reached on three trick plays missed across a game and a half so far in his firefighters career. Well, sometimes in the game of the of the game of banana ball, when you put it in play, good things happen and get to take advantage of some costly defensive miscues. And this is really the first time the firefighters have threatened since the second inning of play as Lacy sprays this into left field. And all of a sudden, the bags are juiced with nobody out for the firefighters. Well, for a second straight ball game, Logan Lacy goes foul out to fan strikeout single. He continued his night with a double and a single. We’ll see if that trend is the same tonight. What a spot here for Liam Spence. Base is loaded. Infield in for the Nanners. And that one smoked down the left field line. Hooking foul. Spence is lined out. Reached on a sprint his last time. He is a key part of the firefighters diabolical plans for banana ball domination this year. It’s absolutely rad across their prime season. Two two count. Hey, there’s Ty Jackson. Floated out to center. Dr. Meadows backpedaling will tip it up. Grab the trick play. Kaden Green actually waited for it to fully be caught. He could have taken off as soon as it hit the glove. And now runners at the corners, one run in. And Shark will take over. Kansas City from 2012 through 2015 and holds the record for most consecutive starts without a loss. and he’s a 2015 World Series champion with your Kansas City Royals. Make some noise for Jeremy Guthrie from the booth to the field in a crow hop strike one on Dalton Cornet. Liner over the leap of Prime. DC3 drives in par Lacy is going to stop at third. Cornet motoring into second with the RBI double. Tough start for Jeremy Guthrie. And those runs still on the line for Gage Borhees as well. It’s a big extra base hit for DC3. And now you got to look at the numbers for Jeremy Guthrie across his banana ball career. Been appearing in his seventh game and has averaged three outs in 4 minutes and 7 seconds. And he’s going to give us a 622. The crowd loves it. And a foul ball from Joe Lidle who’s offers up on the two seed. I mean, you have to expect nothing less from a man who leads all former major leaguers not named Bill Lee in appearances in banana ball history. Wow, that was a good looking pitch. Guthrie wanted the call from Vincent Chapman. Idol just got a piece of it. Back up the middle. Joe Lidle comes through. Lacy scores. Cornet station to station and a bunch. We’re going to get our firefighters run celebration here. You’ll see the full finish piece on the firefighter social media pages. You only got to see the grand finale. You don’t get to see the setup. Celeto drives in a run for a second straight night to start his third world tour. And now Dakota McFaten in year number five. The Bananas have decided to switch up the defense. Infield no longer in. Cox and Olsson at double play depth hoping that Guthrie can induce something on the ground. It’s able to allow them to turn two. and do something on the ground right there. Bouncer right off the heel of DMAP. Got word from Albuquerque that Jonathan Lutters just completed the first trick play in Texas Tailgator history. He was the betting favorite. Think he’s going to have himself a fantastic banana ball career. Really impressive Arsenal out of Satan Hall. You had to like one of the two guys up the middle for the tailgator. Either returner Jordan Hussein who was on the party animals last year or Looters as Guthrie tries the 360 spin trick pitch and Dalton Cornet shows off his speed breaking towards home and sliding in safely for a fourth firefighters run. No mercy at all for the 13-year big league vet. now officially a banana ball veteran trying off a trick pitch strikeout and past the dive of Kyle Jackson into left field. The firefighters are finding the holes against Jeremy Guthrie. It’s backto-back ground ball ground ball singles from Lidle and McFaten. And now Steven Cullen’s going to come in from the crowd. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. You big BG’s guys out. I’m a big fan of Dwight Drew, Michael Scott and company actually uh doing a little staying alive CPR. Surprised we didn’t see a reenactment of the face of the CPR dummy being cut off. All right. Oh, bobbled. We’re looking to tie a banana ball record for foul outs to fans. The next one would do it. All three of them have gone against the firefighters so far tonight. There were three of the first four outs that the team hit into. Look out, boys. My goodness. Nice play by Daltton Cornette down there. protecting a photographer. And that should be an out. Jackson Olsen making an emphatic call and tries to go behind the back. That’s okay. He’ll just grab the force at second. That’s pretty high banana ball IQ from Olsson. Situational awareness. That is for sure. Olsson noting that if he doesn’t make the catch, the runner is not even trying to lead halfway from first or he will get doubled up. So, you’re not really going to get penalized if you come up empty. Runner at third’s not going to try anything. So, the Bananas still come away with the out, albeit without a trick play. There is your fourth foul out to a fan tonight. Mason Maxwell fouls out to the upper deck and we have tied the banana ball record. Jeremy Guthrie and Dudes induces the record tying foul out. Nice catch by that young lady. And how incredible that he told us that was the thing he felt like he still had to do in his banana ball career. It finally happens in game number seven. And now it is time to go down to the field for a whole new world. I say go. The dads are going to run out and they’re going to be dragging these little guys behind them on their magic carpets. They’ve got to follow the track on the infield dirt and make it across the finish line. The first pair to make it there wins. Hold on tight, little guys, because we’re going in three, two, one, go. There they go. Jared and Beckham in the lead. Oh my goodness, they are going so fast. The turn. Boom goes the Dynamite. A close race all the way around. Get another Jared and Becca winners of a whole new world. That’s a fun brand new promotion right there. And a sight for sore eyes. Dakota McMadden who is the Banana’s go-to guy on the One City World Tour for showdown situations. continues to show off his two-way abilities, takes over on the bump for the firefighters. Well, he still has four showdown shutdowns in five opportunities, a lifetime, and believe it or not, collected the first save in firefighters franchise history when they picked up their first win as a franchise. Steak pitched in six games last season, averaged four three outs in four minutes and six seconds, but did have as many ball force sprints as he did strikeouts on the pitcher. Mound got Jackson Olsson in the 10 hole. Then back at the top, Meadows and Kyle Jackson waiting to hack. Long run here and Liam Spence can’t make the play. He’s moved from third base to left and then Jackson Olsen is going to end up on third. The official scoring decision. My rule seven. I agree. Spence not an everyday outfielder. Didn’t get the best route. Kind of made it a tougher play than maybe it had to be. Ends up clinging off the glove. The good news for the firefighters, they’ve got a lot of leeway here with the four-run cushion, trying to knock this game up at two points each. And Dr. Meadows up the middle. Noah Bridges has shifted over from right to center showing off the cannon. No reason for Olsen to risk it. Anders need two more guys to reach before they can think about tying the frame. And now Dalton Malden is going to pitch hit for KJ. Yeah, it’s a tough arm to try and score on with Noah Bridges in center field. You saw it was pretty good throw home and that was a big reason why back on the 2023 World Tour, the Bananas often had Bridges as the defender in showdowns for them. Well, looks like Dakota McFaten has the slider working. Couple uncomfortable swings from Baldin. He’s behind 02. Why fix what ain’t broken? Goes back to it. Reggie Ligins says Dalton able to hold up on that one. Right back to it. That one skips away from Cornet. Olsson trying to score and the throw is wild. Now that was a gutsy decision. It’ll pay off for Olsson and the Nanners. Still a three-run deficit though in the sixth. Again, DMC doesn’t really anything to sweat on the pitcher mound. Now up three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Instead, just needs to focus on continuing to try and spin those sliders against Daltton Malden and hope he can collect his first punch out this season. From no balls and two strikes to a full count. And that’s a broken bat. Slow tapper Logan Lacy on the run behind the back catch. Look out, Steven Cullen. I don’t know if he held the bag when he caught it or if he tagged out Dalton when he got the hug, but Malden back to the dugout either way. Just appeared to be a throw that took Lacy a little bit up the line or not, or Colon, I should say, a little bit up the line. does look like he was able to keep the toe dragged on that bag and just unfortunately at the end had the slight collision with Dalton Malden as Dan Oers swipes first base for the second time in tonight’s ball game. How about the production from the three hole? Their designated hitter has stolen first twice and their bat trickster in hisstead in the third in the fourth rather blasted a triple out to left center. He’s the first man to steal first twice in a single game this season. We can’t forget he had six back on the 2023 World Tour, which was tied for the most in a single season, right? Still is with Dakota McFaten, who’s on the mound. The pair of them both had six in 2023. Tanner Thomas repeated their performance last year. And a slow tapper to Cullen. He’s going to bare hand it behind the back flip. T-Mac showing off the athleticism. That is a big boy bounding over to first base and putting up a one-run inning, an unearned run at that. The Firefighters tie the game at two points each with three innings to play. Another look at the trick play as McFaten earns the point. And we will honor all our service members, both past and present, here at Kaufman Stadium. and we’ll get it down to Sam Bowman. Hey, Bo. Josh, I’m here with Bananas pitching coach and lifong Kansas City Royals fan Adam Byron. Now, coach, I imagine for you this atmosphere coming to a place where you had one of your first fans first moments, George Brett, the memories here must be overwhelming that you just can’t think about anything else. I tell you what, here’s the only thing I’m thinking of. You mind if I hold this? Have you seen our pitching yet tonight? We had a former big leager, Jeremy Guthrie, on the mound who was basically throwing like slices of pizza up there for little children to eat. Like last night, no walks. You figure that would carry over to tonight. And I know what you want to know. You want to make me cry. I want to talk about them pitching. Hard-hitting journalism. Let’s try that one. Yeah, coach. That’s great and all, but I mean, just look at this crowd, the atmosphere. Win or lose, you just got to be happy, right? Yeah. Yeah, he just threw another ball on the mound. I mean, I don’t know if that is the game plan for tonight that I wasn’t clued in about, but it’s just we’re just throwing ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball after ball. Uh, well, coach, uh, sorry if I got you a little emotional there. Coach Josh, I think it’s better to get back to you now. Thanks, SP. Thank you for the candid thoughts, Adam Byron. Well, those those balls a bit redundant, huh? Some would say Andy Archer trying to change the tone of his pitching coach as he takes over for Jeremy Guthrie. Zo and three here in 2025. And Archer has allowed 11 earned runs in his last two outings. His RA went from 4.34 to 6.62 entering play tonight. as he surrendered five home runs in that span and 13 total hits. But Death Valley at Clemson was partially to blame for that. Archer has been pretty great in Major League Parks this season. Great stuff in Miami and also in Atlanta. Two balls in strike on Noah Bridges. Bottom three in the order. Kicking off the seven. Make it three and one. Kapper off the end of the back. Full count on Bridges. Kaden Green on deck. Isaac Parra in the hole. Archer goes right after Bridges. Sneaks a fast ball by him. And a good start to Andy’s evening. Tough to see for Noah Bridges. Again, the one mark you’ve got on his game is that he has a 24% strikeout rate across his career. If he can just figure out how to cut down on that, he’s due for a lot of success in banana ball as he has all the tools you’re looking for in a guy. Pop up off the bat of Green and Ryan Cox called off by Robert Anthony Cruz. Four guys there. Rack makes the play. Couple quick outs here for Archer as we’re approaching the 32minute mark on our 2-hour timer. Fernandez haven’t had a game that hasn’t reached the ninth inning since the 2023 World Tour. The firefighters only one of their 19 games played last year. The two-hour timer ran out in the eighth. That was against the Party Animals. nearly made it to the ninth, but Reese Hampton worked to sprint off Penny and the clock ran out. He was running around the bases. There is the drag. Gosh, that looked a lot like a bunt. I got to be honest. We’re going to call it a slap hit. And Isaac Parra has reached backto back times now with that approach. Well, you’ll take whatever from Isaac Paris. He’s able to get out of the box again incredibly quickly. So much pressure on defenders as this one goes through the glove of Andy Archer, but Malden charges and fires. No. KJ Jackson fires quickly over to first base and records the final out of the top of the seventh for Andy Archer. 2 minutes and 40 seconds on the board. Get another look. That one through the five hole for Archer, but KJ going from the hot corner to second base and showing off his defensive abilities. Wonder who could be in that barrel there. Trick pitching cloud Matt. Oh, that’s a surprise. They never would have expected the pride of joy, Oklahoma, Matt Wolf, to be inside that rodeo clown barrel. Wolfie on his fourth world tour, second with the firefighters, the man who inspired the logo for the Banana Ball Championship League, a legend of the sport and always brings a bucketload of entertainment on the bump. Had a 1 and one record last season across games with the Bananas and the firefighters. posted a 4 minute and 2 second average MPI across the year as well, but struggled with control. 10 ball four sprints and five hit by pitches and allowed six walk-offs in eight appearances with the firefighters. So, playing as the away team was certainly tricky for Wolfie. The world’s tallest hitter, Dakota St. Oh, Britain. This is Banana Ball at its best. Our game’s most entertaining pitcher against our game’s most entertaining hitter, Matt Wolf, vers Dakota Albertton. And Stilts has the torpedo bat out there with him. Good luck sawing this guy off between the legs pitch off the end of the bat and it ends up being a number over to Cullen who grabs the trick play. Does Wolfie get a trick play as well? I am not sure. Neither am I. It’s my ass. Well, we’ll never know. Just some questions don’t deserve an answer, you know. I’m just kidding, folks. We’ll check it out after the game. 360 pitch in on the hands. Another chopper to Cullen. Bare hands it. Bounces it to Wolf who just barely beats Cox to first. Steven Cohen’s been pretty special for the Firefighters as of late. Had two trick plays in the last inning for them. now has two here in the seventh as he’s using a lot of different things in the arsenal. Received one behind his back, then had two transitions and then comes away with a bounce pass to retire Coxy. But when he breaks off a slider that grazes the black of the plate after doing the 360, that is just unfair. pulls off another 360 pass balls below the knees of the 6’5 Carell Prime. Poundforpound, the most accomplished hitter in this Bananas lineup. Seven years of minor league baseball will do that. It’s really a luxury for this team as he get the jump throw and on a couple hops, Isaac Parra showing off the trick play ability. throw not in time though. Prime with the hustle able to beat the rap like the attempt for Isaac Bari. You see him beating himself up about it immediately. It’s a situation where he tried to do just a little too much taking time to have to do that 360 spin in the dirt while dribbling before throwing that one to Colen. So prime reaches and the bananas have extra life here in the bottom of the seventh with this inning still scoreless. Fast ball just misses up 20 count on Eric Jones Jr. and Wolf checks on Prime who was standing on first. goes to the slider to steal a strike. Wolf has been very comfortable bending the ball here tonight and going to the 360 fairly often as well. And I’ll tell you what, count 3-1. It’s surprising that the Bananas did not insert Malachi Mitchell. run for Corell Prime to possibly score on a ball for sprint issued from Wolfie, but he stays dialed in on that strike zone at 3-1. And now runs the count full. Prime the inning winning run. We’ll be off with the pitch. There he goes. It’s going to be ball four. This is a situation. Oh no. Zachary Bridges in defensively to catch. sails the ball over Kaden Green’s head and Prime scores easily from first. The Firefighters gift the Nanners the go-ahad point. A trick play miss to extend the inning and then an errand throw on the sprint as EJ earns the walk-off. Brutal stuff for Matt Wolf and the firefighters. Certainly not what Zachary Bridges was looking for. And the bananas, despite not using Mitchell, are able to benefit from costly defensive errors. Next weekend, we’ll be back in action from Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN Plus and Disney Plus, as well as always as right here on the Savannah Bananas YouTube channel. That’ll be a Friday and Saturday night. Couple games in the fourth oldest stadium in Major League Baseball. And an update from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Top of the fourth inning. Party Animals up a point, but the Texas Tailgator played at four in the top of the fourth. They’ve got a great chance to knock things up. Good to hear the offense is getting going for the Texas Tailgator. We saw last night once the firefighters started to hit in the eighth inning, they were very dangerous facing Austin Krzinsky when he came in to close. You never know. All of a sudden, it just takes a couple knocks and from there the offense can be humming. And a reminder, that game is live on the Party Animals YouTube channel. So, if you’ve got a another device, a phone, a tablet, a computer, a spare television, mays, you could have two banana ball games on at one time. Josh, how many is that? Two banana ball games at once. Thank you, sir. Andy Archer out for a second inning of work. Beefy part of this firefighters lineup. Two, three, and four. Spence, Cornet, and Lidle. This one lifted out to right. It’s going to find Grass. Into the corner it goes. Alexi has a howitzer. Spence respects the gun and content with a stand up double. nice start to his young banana ball career. It’s what you’re going to get from Liam Spence. Again, a guy with a very flat swing, pesky at the plate, just overall incredible at putting the ball in play. And the firefighters have the leadoff man on for a second straight frame for two times out of the last three frames. That is That’s right. Zachary Bridges was nearly the hero last night. Pinch hit double in the top of the ninth with two outs. Actually ended up ending the game. He goes down on strikes this time against Andy Archer. So the batting average no longer a thousand. That was going to be tough to keep up. Nice shoing catch Dr. Meadows to take care of Joe Lidle. A couple quick outs following the leadoff double from Spence. DMAC trying to bring his buddy home from second and McFaten gets one off the shoulder. Fast ball up and in and shaking it out. Looks to be aok. Okay. Yeah, good to see DMac get up quickly for the firefighters. Make his way down to first. That one certainly did not feel good. Drew you nest. It will appear. Will run for DMAC. He’s once again the firefighters designated runner. and Steven calling up the dish who was 38 last season batting with runners in scoring position. There’s the split change up from Archer. Most deadly off speed offering and the count now one and two. There’s the strike out. Archer goes back to the change up, gets the big K and strands a pair of runners on the bases. That’s a guy who’s done his scouting report on Steven Coen. He tends to have a very long swing in the batters box. That’s the reason Archer decided to go to the split change up. Coen way out in front flailing through that. So Archer able to strand two in the eighth. Reach Hoffman Stadium yellow. What a glorious venue for banana ball. This is been on the bucket list my entire life as a diehard baseball fan. And it doesn’t just live up to the billing, it really blows it away. pays homage to being the ballpark in the city of fountains wonderfully with beautiful fountains out in the outfield. Crown video board is about as unique as they come. Built in 1973. This is the 53rd year Kaufman Stadium has been home of the Kansas City Royals. So honored to get to bring Banana Ball here. Princess Patassia, I’m sure you’re pretty fired up as well. We love you so much, Banana Nation. Now, let’s go Bananas. This is the third year Banana Ball has come to Kansas City. Two games in 2022, three in 2023, all of them in Legends Field over on the Kansas side of the border. Challenger games between the Bananas and Monarchs of the American Association. Now, the firefighters and bananas with back-to-back full capacity crowds in Kaufman and Johnny Hmel makes his banana ball debut. I think this could end up being one of the premier arms in the sport. On paper, he is far and away the most electric arm on this firefighters team. Had a 12 and5 record in college, a 2.38 earned run average, and had 189 strikeouts with 25 saves in that time, averaging 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings. I mean, we’ve seen Danny Hosley known to be the guy with the highest strikeout rate in Banana Boss history, but Hmel, if he is in the zone, is certainly going to challenge him. He has a great fast ball, but it’s the cutter slider combo for him that is also a very dangerous pitch and one that he’s comfortable throwing at any time. He went with three straight cutters/sliders to send the University of Kentucky to the College World Series last year. And you get a good look at the mini Lightning McQueen he’s got with him. His favorite movie the entire known universe is Cars. Johnny watches it about once a month. And the Lightning McQueen nickname and Persona really took over in Kentucky. I foul ball off the bat of Danny Hosley all the way up to the third deck and bobbled but not caught cleanly. Osley Olsen and then at the top of the order Meadows due to swing it against Hummel. Spent the first four years of his college career at Erskin. Finished up at Kentucky and then starts his banana ball career with a popup in the infield. Kaden Green called off by Parupl was trying to figure out what his walk out song was going to be at Kentucky as our bat boy will come on out and take care of Osley’s weapon. And Hmel after five years at Erskin was really struggling to find a walk out song. Obviously went back and watched Cars Real Gone by Cheryl Crows the intro intro song. talked to some friends said, “Hey, think this would be cool and it caught like wildfire in Lexington. Kids were bringing Lightning McQueen towels for him to sign. Got on the news talking about it. Ended up doing a video with the UK marketing team recreating a scene from Cars.” It starts Bill Leroy out with some sweet chin music. Well, you see the speed on the fast ball coming out of the hand of Hammel blowing Billy back not once but twice now since 88 to 91 with the fastball. That combined with being 23 years old when he graduated from Kentucky. The two reasons that major league baseball teams, although they had a ton of interest, ended up not signing him, they want the high velocity, they want younger arms, and Hmel, even though the statistics in college are absurd. Did not get the opportunity to play affiliated ball. I think he’s in the right place. Sits down Loy looking and will play with his favorite character of all time, the Lightning McQueen car. You ever think his his friends will start joining him out there if he starts having multi strikeout games start bringing out to Mater and maybe Doc? I would like to see that. Kane’s all here. Here’s the doctor. Little strike quickly behind O2. Hmel is loving the T-swift. Right into the pitch. That one softly tapped up the middle. Peanut. What a play. Robbery of Dr. Meadows. And Hummel starts his career with a perfect frame. Well, the firefighters have a lot of guys on this team who are capable of playing shortstop. They’re most confident. And Kaden Green because of special plays like that one there, robbing Dr. of his first hit of the night and getting Hmel out of the frame. in 2 minutes and 8 seconds. Peanuts been putting on a defensive clinic across his first two. Starts at short for the firefighters. This is what it means to be in the final inning. Every run scored counts as a point. If we’re tied at the end of it, we will go to showdowns. It was a 3-1 win for the Bananas last night. They lead 3-2 going to the ninth tonight. And it’ll be a special save opportunity for Zack Phillips, who came to Banana Land halfway through the 2023 World Tour after a 5-year career as a Kansas City Royals minor leager. Got up to double A, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and has nothing but wonderful things to say about the Royals organization. Said it was the best opportunity he ever could have had. We had him out on the party plaza today and he was welcomed with open arms by over 10,000 Royals faithful who were out there and got to hear him speak. It was really a beautiful scene. Yeah, clearly there are no hard feelings whatsoever. Phillips embraced very warmly. Crab loving him and warmed up to him very quickly. Phillips, we saw him pitch last night throw in a 2 minute and 54 second inning. He also made a great pick off the pitcher mound on a comebacker and this is his first save opportunity of 2025. He had two opportunities last season converting one of them. Well, same spot in the order we were at last night in the top of the ninth inning. 78 9 and 10. And Mason Maxwell broken back diving plays Zach Phillips from his knees over to his fellow former minor leager in Carell Prime. And one pitch, one out. Ladies and gentlemen, the firefighters are invoking the golden batter rule. Hitting in the place of Noah Bridges is the firefighters golden batter Logan Ley. We knew it wouldn’t be a cakewalk for Philly in his first save opportunity of the tour. He has to face off against the firefighters best bat who was already fouled out to a fan tonight. He fouled out to a fan last night as well. Smokes this one. Look out. Split. It’s going to be over the head of Robert Anthony Cruz. The bananas mascot has to go flying. And Logan Lacy. Perfect. Two for two now in his golden batter opportunities. Both of them coming in the ninth inning. and he’s got his second double already as of the tour. Had the single, now laces a double for the firefighters. And Zack Phillips now is the pitch with a runner in scoring position as squares off against Kaden Green and induces soft contact. Prime seeing if there’s enough room for him to make the grab and he comes away with it. The Bananas now an out away from sweeping the firefighters in Kansas City. Noah Bridges able to reinsert himself for Lacy at second. So a big upgrade in speed out there. Noah swiped second and third last night. No reason to run here. Isaac Par behind 01. He can get a ball to the outfield grass. Purges should score. Firefighters down to their final strike. That one breaks bow. Zack Phillips going right after Bar. Bar is a natural right-handed hitter. A little bit of a match up advantage against Zack Phillips, but was 0 for two against him last season as this one is hit over to Danny Hodley at third. No trick play needed. The bananas claim the win over the firefighters on night two in KC. And Zack Phillips, the former Royals farm hand, is able to nail down the gamewinning save. The Bananas get to dance the center of Kaufman Stadium for a second straight night. Boy, the firefighters when they look back at this loss are going to kick themselves. All three points that the Bananas scored were on ball four sprints from firefighters pitchers. A reminder that you can check out the Party Animals against the Texas Tailgator live on the Party Animals YouTube channel right now. another in the bottom of the fifth inning. Game tied at a point each. Terrific battle in the Tailgator first ever game as a team trying to take down a party animals team that beat the Bananas 10 out of the last 11 times they played them before starting their own pen lining tour tonight. And the Naners will be back in action against the firefighters this coming Friday night from Angel Stadium. Sam Bowman has our showman of the night. We’ll get it down to the field. Hey, Vico Josh. Yes, our showman of the night. It’s Dr. the Doc Meadows. Dr. the trick plays were top par today. What was the mentality coming in here hoping to get the sweep in Kansas City? Um, you know, the guys are fired up today. Uh, this place is incredibly loud and the atmosphere here is awesome. Uh, and we were just excited to come out here after after a win last night and uh, you know, have some fun with the new guys. Dr. Talk to me. I mean, the offense was there, but defensively, you guys have been lights out this weekend from the trick plays to pitching. What is seeming to click here for this Bananas team? Uh, we’re getting uh, I think we found a little spark in our lineup. We found something that’s working for us and uh, all the guys have a lot of energy. Uh, we’re feeding off the firefighters energy. all those new guys excited to be out here. So, we’re keeping up with them and we’re uh just having some fun. Now, Dr. You made some incredible plays in the outfield, but I do want to reference a play we saw out here from Lonnie Godet when he came up to bat, wounded warrior, and hit that ball. What’s a moment like that mean for a team like that? To see a guy come big moment for you guys to get the point that inning. That’s what it’s all about. That guy has uh gave everything for his country and to have him come out here and do that uh on one leg is just super special. Uh he got to do it in front of his family and uh I I wouldn’t want to give my bat to anybody else, man. That guy’s awesome. Dr. Finally, I just got to ask you any praise today? Praise the Lord, baby. Josh, our showman of the night. Back to you guys. Thanks SB. Thank you very much, Dr. Meadows. The Nanners back on the winning side of things. They’re now 15 and 19 on the tour overall. Take a look at what Dr. did to earn another show of the night award. It was the wizardry with the glove. A side flip, couple behind the back catches, and then the grand finale, the cherry on top, the backflip catch in deep center. Impressive stuff from DR all evening long. Again, the ball nearly came out of the glove there for Dr. Meadows, but he was unbelievable when it came to trick plays. Very similar stuff from what we saw last night with Ryan Cox as well. Again, defense and pitching is really what helped the Bananas prevail in this series against the Firefighters this weekend. Yeah, and that is a big change of pace for the Nanners after the pitching staff was not up to snuff. I think that’s why Adam Fant was so emotional in his interview with Sam Bowman down on the field. But it was a complete change of pace for the Nanners pitching against the firefighters this weekend as we welcome you inside the booth with Josh Tleski Pico Scalla. Thank you all so much for spending your Saturday here in virtual Banland after 3-1 win last night for the Bananas. A 3-2 win tonight and talking about that pitching staff limiting the ball for Sprints, which is how Bananas got all three of their points tonight was key for their staff. I mean, Vyro was certainly critical of the Bananas pitching, but across this series they were great. They only allowed one ball four sprint and had 10 strikeouts across these two games. Whereas we saw against the Party Animals in the last 11 games, the Bananas had 39 ball four sprints compared to 48 strikeouts. Not the ratio they were looking for. They also gave up 22 home runs and they allowed zero against the Firefighters this weekend. And on their side of things when it came to pitching, all three walk-offs for the Bananas came on ball four sprints. And that’s where the team struggled a year ago. 90 ball four sprints issued by firefighters pitching. That was more than the total number of strikeouts they collected as a staff. Now, even though all three walk-offs for the Bananas were on ball four sprints, they were set up by some unlikely heroes. Alex Ziggler with the triple on the first pitch he saw tonight. And then Lonnie God Day, are you kidding me? a wounded warrior guy who hasn’t played truly competitive baseball since his high school days down in Florida. He set up a walk-off for the Nanners as well. Impressive stuff for both those guys. And they did them in backto back innings. That’s what was so cool for the Bananas. Of course, it was God Day playing hero in the third inning against Nolan Daniel. And then Alex Ziggler. Again, a rude greeting for Javon Ray giving up the leadoff triple, but the Bananas would certainly take it. The Party Animals and Texas Tailgator have moved into the top of the sixth inning. Reminder, you can pick that game up on the Party Animals YouTube channel. They will be in action tomorrow afternoon as well. Once again, free to watch on the Party Animals YouTube channel as well as the Tailgators get their first ever series of action. That is exactly what Josh and I are going to start watching as we sign off of this broadcast. A big thank you to Ivon Trazac, our executive producer, Chad Reese, our director, our entire crew here in Kaufman Stadium, as well as the wonderful folks in the control room back in Savannah. Thanks to Sam Bowman down on the field, to the entire Kansas City Royal staff. They have been wonderful. It’s been truly a delight to be here in Kansas City and uh they’re a big reason why. And thank you Josh Toleski with the color commentating and statistical Santry. I’m Bo Scalla saying so long for now. Make sure to check out the Texas tailgators versus the party animals. And of course, we will see you later. Shadow New Orleans. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
The Texas Tailgaters Debut on the Party Animals channel tonight at 9pm EST!
Check out our BRAND NEW Statistics website: https://Bananaball.com/stats
🍌 Banana Ball Rules: 🍌
1. Every Inning Counts: The Team with the most runs at the end of the inning gets a point, the team with the most points wins the game! In the last inning, all runs count for a point!
2. Two Hour Time Limit
3. No Stepping Out of the Batters Box
4. No Bunting
5. No Mound Visits
6. Walks are Sprints
7. If a Fan Catches a Foul Ball it’s an Out
8. Batters Can Steal First
9. One on One Showdown Tiebreaker
10. The Challenge Rule
11. The Golden Batter
Get to know more about Bananas Foster, our new non-profit that brings families together:
https://bananasfoster.org/make-a-diff…
https://www.facebook.com/bananasfoste…
WANT TO SEND US FAN MAIL?
BTV
P.O. BOX 5267
Savannah, Georgia 31414
Or, write us an email/send fan art to BTVFanMail@TheSavannahBananas.com
We love you Banana Nation!! 💛🍌✨
17 comments
Firefighters worst team
First…must get to seven words, yes!
The flyover gave me chills… another hard fought game. Brooms out for the Bananas! Have fun at Disneyland!
who win
Yooo
They finally got a different team
Guys why is KJ kinda fineeee❤😂🎉
First time discovering banana ball. That was awesome its about time baseball was cool again!
Great game tonight!
See you both at Fenway! I will be watching you guys on ESPN!
Did rac do anything im watching right now
I was there! I had such an awesome time! GO BANANAS!!! 🍌🔥⚾️
I was this close to suing savanna bananas for not having Andy Archer pitch for three games in a row. How many pitchers does this team need.
They did good!
I was there! The Bananas are sooo good and funny! Goo Bananas!
It was so fun. Great job! I'd go to more baseball if it was more like this!!!
The crowd went Bananas!