TAMPA, Fla. – Former UTampa baseball star J.D. Urso is feeling thankful. “Just so blessed to be able to have this opportunity,” J.D. Urso said.
That’s because his baseball career will be extended beyond his playing days as a Spartan.
“I’ll be able to say I was on the first ever roster of the Loco Beach Coconuts,” Urso said.
What’s New:
Urso signed a one-year contract with the newly established Loco Beach Coconuts of the world-famous Banana Ball Championship League after he was drafted by the team following five weeks of playing tryout baseball for the Savannah Visitors.
JD and his former Spartan teammate CJ Williams have both been selected by the Coconuts.
“Who knows what we are going to achieve going forward,” Urso said. “Hopefully a couple of banana ball world championships.”
New Challenges:
He’s won a championship before at the college level. Urso caught the final out of the Division 2 baseball World Series this past summer but knows this is a new brand of baseball he isn’t used to.
“Every single aspect of the Savannah Bananas, I am all in on and I am just so thankful to be a part of this organization,” Urso said.
Urso grew up playing baseball by the game’s traditional rules. His dad, Joe, taught him those rules as a kid and as his head coach at UTampa. Even though Joe is as old-fashioned as it gets, he has been fully supporting J.D. and his banana league endeavors. The skipper has even been sending his son some trick plays.
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Dad is on Board:
“Obviously, as an old-school baseball guy, most people think I would frown upon something like this,” Joe Urso said. “I am all in. I had a blast when I visited Savannah and got to see what it was all about. The entertainment, the fans first entertainment. It is true what they say. Watching JD work hard every day at something new, a new skill of trying to make trick plays a reality with the true game speed going on is not easy.”
J.D. appreciates his dad always having his back.
“He will now actually call me and be like, ‘Hey, I have this idea. What do you think about it?'” J.D. Urso said. “And it would actually be a great idea. He is an out of the box thinker. He is honestly all in on this with me and it makes me so happy and proud to be able to continue this journey with him. There’s nothing better than hitting [batting practice] off of my dad. Now to be able to continue that throughout my college career into professional baseball, it is a blessing. No doubt about it.”
And there’s no doubt the father-son duo are practicing these trick plays before J.D. hits the banana ball stage.
What they’re saying:
“On a daily basis right now, I am trying to get as many trick plays in with my dad,” J.D. Urso said. “I am trying to push my limits to every boundary I can find because if I can’t complete a trick play a thousand times in practice, I absolutely can not attempt it when we are in Petco Park in San Diego in the next March to come. I gotta get all of these plays down under my belt so when everyone is watching, I want to make sure I get them done.”’
The two have spent countless hours together perfecting the craft.
Trick Plays:
“It is very hard and he is working hard,” Joe Urso said. “We are trying to practice every different play with him to his left, right at him and to his right. The slow roller as well. It’s very hard. It’s not just about making the trick play happen but you have to do it under a certain period of time. You don’t have a whole lot of seconds to get all of this stuff done.”
The Ursos are trying to cook up some trick plays to try and take the excitement of banana ball to a new level.
“Going to try and push the limits,” J.D. Urso said. “I promise you are not going to see anything I used to do on the college field. This next season you are going to see a whole different baseball coming from me, that’s for sure.”
J.D. says he will be ready for it.
Practice makes Perfect:
“Right now, I am trying to get really good at catching the ball between my legs,” J.D. Urso said. “It is a really risky play. You have to be very careful with the calculation of the hop. I’ve got to have enough room underneath my legs to catch it. Then I like to flip the ball back up to my hand. I am also bouncing the ball in between my feet a lot. Just trying to make it entertaining as possible. The level of talent out on the bananas field right now is second to none when it comes to entertainment in sports.”
And this is a sector of the entertainment business J.D. wants to be involved in for a long time.
“Right now, the only thing I can think about is to keep working hard because I want this opportunity to be here for a few years to come,” J.D. Urso said.
What’s next:
Urso and the Coconuts kickoff the banana ball season in Florida in February. They’ll play at Dick Howser Stadium on Florida State’s campus in Tallahassee on February 26, 2026.
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The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Mark Skol, Jr. during interviews at J.D. Urso’s signing party at the UT baseball field.