Written by Biko Skalla:
The big problem with trying to remain undefeated in baseball is sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. A magic trampoline hop on a routine grounder defeated the Bananas perfect season, but the best team in the Coastal Plain League responded as only they could, with the first no-hitter in franchise history. I’ll give you the rundown of the first loss of the season to start, and we’ll finish with the historic night-cap. Two for the price of one tonight!
So the first game on the menu actually started on June 6th, and I gave a dynamite report on it in my last Bananas weekly recap (if I may say so myself, which I just did, so I guess I do say so myself that it was a dynamite report). Kay’ I’ll settle down, still revved up from the no-hitter. If you read the weekly recap, you already know how we got there and can skip the next paragraph. Or if you really loved it so much you wanna read it again, don’t worry that’s allowed too, even encouraged! Either way, here’s how we got to first pitch tonight, from the words of the great Biko Skalla:
“Last Sunday the Bananas shipped off to Macon and had the bats working early with singles from Ty, the God of Thunder, Jackson and Eduardo, Mr. Highlight Video, Malinowski to start off the game. A couple hard hit balls found Bacon gloves, stranding the runners, and Ryan Archibald muscled up for a 2 out, solo home run to give the Bacon a 1-0 lead. Cole, I can hit and pitch all day, Kitchen, lined a double to left but was stranded after another barreled ball from the Bananas found Macon leather. After a walk and strikeout in the bottom of the 2nd, the Bacon Brass advised the umpires it should be tarp time. Without a drop of rain coming down, I have to be honest I was a little confused by the team’s cowardice towards Mother Nature’s potential wrath. It turned out to be a prudent decision. Not 3 minutes after the tarp had been dragged onto the infield, the skies opened up, and Luther Williams Field was underwater.”
So that brings us to tonight, where Tyler, I wish I could see into the future to know that this is actually my last night with my mustache so I can cherish every last moment I have with it, Gillum, turned to Slender Man if he didn’t kill people, was from Iowa, and also super good at pitching, Jared Beck, to start the game in relief (weird right). The big boy dazzled, tossing 3.2 scoreless frames only allowing 1 hit and striking out 5 Bacon hitters.
The Nanners tied the game in their first at-bats of the night (AKA the top of the 3rd), with a Ty, no I haven’t moved into a hype house yet but I’ve got some offers, Jackson, ground-rule double and then an Eddie, I may never talk to Biko again for jinxing my perfect season in the field, Malinowski, sac fly.
The game was locked at 1 until the bottom of the 6th when the Bacon bats came alive scoring 2 runs on 4 hits off Nick, guy’s got nasty stuff and it’s really surprising they got some barrels on it, Swanson. The bases were loaded with 2 outs when Swanny got a bouncer to 1st that had inning over written all over it. That is until it went full Sicko Mode and took a turbo hop straight over Danny, I’m just glad it didn’t clock me in the face, Oberst. All the Pride of West Georgia could do was throw his barehand at it, but that was not a hop that could be corralled by measly throwing hand. It ricocheted into shallow right and 2 more runs scored making it 5-1. Unfortunately for Swanny who could have been out of the inning before that play if not for a little miscommunication defensively, it was deemed an act of the baseball gods, clearly unplayable for Danny, and all 4 runs were earned (not in our hearts though Swanny, not in our hearts).
Nick came back out for the 7th, got his 3rd K, and help from his defense as Eddie and Jesse, my 360 throw was cooler than Clarno’s, Sherrill, turned an incredible double play. Words don’t do it justice, but basically Malinowski robbed what looked like a base hit up the middle going into a full extension dive, flipping it to Jesse for one, and then Mr. Sherrill whipped the quickest 360 throw to first my eyes have ever seen. It was tremendously dope.
The top of the 8th rally was in classic Bananas fashion, with Bill, I absolutely mash balls in Macon, Knight, lining a 2-out single to right. Jesse walked, and Cole, the Florence PA announcer’s “jokes” about my name we’re literally the worst I’ve ever heard and that’s saying something, Kitchen, got plunked. Bill scored on a wild pitch, setting up Drew, it’s about time I got a nickname, (“Wait that’s my nickname?!”), Yniesta, who lined a 2 out, 2 run single to left to cut the Bacon lead to 5-4.
Christian, here’s some foreshadowing for game 2, Dearman, was one pitch off an immaculate inning, striking out all 3 Macon hitters he faced on only 10 pitches (I promise I didn’t jinx it either, check the tape, my eyes may have said it but my mouth did not).
Tristan, yea it’s sick that my Banana Band walkup went viral today but I really wish they could see me doing the “You can’t see me” hand thing in front of my face, Peters, hit a pinch hit, leadoff single in the 9th and was moved to 2nd on a sac bunt by Ty. Alas, 2020 Nanner, Isaiah Magwood, was able to strikeout Eddie and Danny to nail down the Bananas first loss and the Bacon’s 2nd win of the season (woof). Nanners 11-1.
Now to what the Bananas did in response to finally losing a baseball game (unacceptable, I know but keep reading, this was quite cool).
Gillum and Corey, I was basically a professional poker player in college, Pye, turned to 3rd year Nanner, Ryan, I’m about to go super saiyan, Kennedy, to start the 7-inning night-cap. Ryan was in full final boss mode after seeing his boys lose their first game of the season, throwing 5 no-hit innings, while only walking a pair, hitting a dude (actually plunked his college teammate, Logan Fink), and striking out 9.
The offense was ready to rumble too, with 2 runs coming in the 2nd, jump started by a Bill Knight leadoff double. Bill, I love Bill Knight but I kind of miss when I was the best hitter named Bill on this team, Leroy, drove in Bill with a sac fly to right, giving Bill his 2nd run scored of the summer and Bill his 7th RBI on season.
In the 3rd, Tristan Peters had the old fashioned get hit by a pitch with 2 outs, get to 3rd base on a 2-base wild pitch (yes, it was that wild), and then score on an E-6. Just like Gillum drew it up with Tristan in the dugout.
Once the Bananas were up 3-0 after the top of the 3rd, I declared they had already won the game, and there was a 0% chance Macon could come back. I’m not sure I have ever been more sure of anything in my life, and it was based on a myriad of observations I made from what the first 2.5 innings had shown me. Anyhow, broadcaster jinx be darned (big topic tonight but), it was just clear as day and I had to say it.
The game was truly set in stone when the Bananas 5th inning went: Clarno single, Ty walk, Eddie RBI single, Danny RBI single, Peters walk, Knight 2 RBI single.
With the Nanners up 7-0, Cole Kitchen threw a 1-2-3 6th inning with a strikeout. An out of note, was Clarno stepping in front of Jesse at short to snag a grounder, rip a wild 360, and throw probably the hardest ball across the diamond of his life, just barely in time to nab Cam Jones and keep the no-hitter intact. The Bananas pushed 2 more very necessary insurance runs across in the 8th without getting a hit (so many wild pitches) and then Gillum turned to Jakob, I’ve already thrown a perfect game, 2 no-hitters, and been a part of 3 other staff no-hitters so I really have never been less stressed in my life, Barker, to shut the door. Jakob got a pop out to Leroy in fair territory, where both he and Clarno were calling it, neither thought they could catch it (especially Nick), and then Bill snagged it falling backwards and tumbling to the ground about 7 feet in front of home plate. It was awesome. After Bill took another spill in an unsuccessful attempt at a foul pop fly, Barker whipped out the uber breaking ball and struck out the last 2 Bacon hitters to secure the first no-hitter in Bananas history (and Barker’s 7th but who cares about that right). The guys went wild on the field, I lost my mind in the booth, and a new win streak was born. Fourth year Banana, Bill Leroy, summed the whole day up by saying this:
”Obviously we want to win every game and it’s sad to fall just a couple short of Edenton’s record, but it’s also a bit of a weight off our chests. I actually feel like this team is better now at 12-1 than it was at 11-0. We don’t have the pressure of going out there and continuing the streak, but we still feel like we’re going to win every game we play.”
I think the man who just caught his first career no-hitter, and can feel the pulse of the team with the best of em’, summed it up terrifically. It took a supernatural bounce at 1st base for the Bananas to finally lose, and those are things that are gonna happen in baseball. What truly shows this team is special, is how they responded to their first loss of the season, putting 9 runs on the board with the bats, and not allowing Macon to muster a single hit in the 7 inning night-cap. Storybook stuff.
The Bananas get a well deserved off day, after playing 3 road games in 2 days. Thursday they welcome the Florence RedWolves into Historic Grayson Stadium to kick off 3 games in a row before the largest break in the season yet, 3 straight days without action. My bet, the guys have a 4 game winning streak going into the break. It feels foolish to think otherwise. Pregame will kickoff at 6:30 eastern on Thursday. It will be a delight to be reunited with my Bananas TV Crew as we get our 7 camera broadcast up and running for the first time in nearly a week.
The Bananas fall 2 games short of tying the best CPL start ever, but they still make history in Macon by throwing the team’s first no-hitter ever. It’s always something with these guys. I can’t wait to hear the home crowd’s cheer when they celebrate the achievement in Grayson on Thursday.