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Top 12 Moments from a Momentous Weekend in Des Moines

Written by Biko Skalla:

 

We can’t prove that it was Heaven but Des Moines, Iowa, sure felt like it. In the 107th and 108th Banana Ball games ever played we saw a plethora of historic moments for our young sport. The first play of the weekend was the 500th combined trick play between the Bananas and Party Animals, then later on Friday night we saw the first ever half inning with two foul balls caught for outs, and on Saturday night we saw the first inning that ever took less than a minute. Obviously you know where this article must begin…

500 Combines Trick Plays Between the Bananas & Party Animals

It’s an astounding number for everyone in Bananaland, especially when you sit back and realize it happened with nine games left on the schedule, (plus the VAST majority of the game it happened in).

Then on the next pitch Dalton Cornett tapped a grounder to Dalton Mauldin who bounced a perfect one-hopper to Eric Jones Jr. at first. One batter later Ryan Cox broke out a doozy of a new trick play…

Our Trick Play King Reveals a Dazzling New Trick

How about that for the Glove Magician’s tour-leading 126th trick play of the season! What an insane first ever half inning of Banana Ball in Iowa.

Garett Delano would hold serve in the bottom of the first and he and Jared Donalson would trade zeroes through three innings. Bryson Bloomer drew first blood as he blasted a double off the left field wall to drive in Jake Skole giving the Animals a one-run lead in the fourth. A DR Meadows double and Dan Oberst single would even the inning up and then Chase Achuff and Dustin Baber went for what would have been one of the wildest double plays ever…

Party Animals Come So Close to Making Middle-Infield Magic

Also, you love to see former CY Young Award winner as well as five-time World Series Champion and five-time All-Star, David Cone, throwing us a shoutout on Sunday Night Baseball! It was lucky that Achuff and Baber had just tried to pull off a similar play two nights earlier. Shoot, maybe that’s where the Giants got the inspiration for the first 3-1-4-2 double play in the expansion era (since 1961 – thanks to the legendary Sarah Langs for that tidbit).

Delano and Donalson both snagged their fifth and final strikeouts of the night in 1-2-3 scoreless fifth innings tossed, so we entered the sixth with both squads still looking for their first point…

Dalton Cornett Has Some Serious POP! 

I mean that is a big league blast right there. Unfortunately for the Bad Boys of Bananaland this two-run bomb wouldn’t even hold up as they went to their bullpen for the bottom of the sixth and Jake Lialios allowed a single and three sprints to gift the Nanners the first point of the night. The Bananas made their first call of to the bullpen and Zack Phillips came in for a historic top of the seventh…

Three Hitters, Two Foul Balls Caught by Fans!

It was hilarious to have Bret Helton in the booth as his teammates ran into historically great fan defense.

In the bottom of the inning Bill LeRoy and Jackson Olson both singled to set up a huge spot for pinch hitter Zack Frongillo…

Another Epic Banana Ball Moment for Zack Frongillo

Zack did his best Bill LeRoy impersonation here. Get the bat on the ball and make the defense get you out. As Tyler Gillum has been known to say from time to time: “Pressure bursts pipes.”

In the next half inning Phillips was back on the bump and induced a pop out, groundout, and lineout all going to EJ at first which made the former Royals minor leaguer the first pitcher in Banana Ball history with back-to-back innings that took less than two minutes. Dylan Porter then tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth to keep the deficit for the Animals at two points.

Tanner Thomas and Bryson Bloomer both worked sprints in the ninth to cut the Nanners lead in half and then Joe Lytle lifted a ball into shallow right that looked like it could keep the rally going…

Noah Bridges Calls Game

It’s not a play that you would expect an average outfielder to make but Noah is no average outfielder. There’s a laundry list of tremendous Bridges catches now on the tour but none were more clutch than this one.

With the Bananas one win away from clinching the season series against the Party Animals, Bret Helton took the mound and he would not let the celebration occur in the Hawkeye State.

The former Pirates minor leaguer only allowed two unearned runs in the second inning which would be the lone frame the Animals dropped all night. His offense came up in the clutch too, with three of their four run-scoring hits coming with two outs…

The Party Animals Tap Into Their Clutch Genes

Two out hits win ballgames, but the Animals also needed a historic start from Helton to earn the split in Iowa…

Bret Helton Tosses Banana Ball’s First Ever Nine Inning Complete Game

That was not just the greatest pitching performance of the tour but the greatest pitching performance in the young history of our sport. Truly a masterclass from Helton.

While he notched what was at the time the fifth fastest inning of all-time with his 1:19 bottom of the fourth, DJ “The Invader” said we’re gonna move that one spot back on the list…

DJ “The Invader” Throws Banana Ball’s First ever Sub One Minute Inning!

It took 108 games for a pitcher to break the one minute mark! I’d be shocked if we don’t leave this tour with The Invader holding the fastest inning of all-time.

And the last bit of fun from Iowa I have for you is an explanation for why you saw some walkie talkies being used by Party Animals outfielders…

Walkie Talkies Will Never Go Out of Style

That’s a nice peak into what having Hampton and Skole together on a team is like. They’re two peas in a pod.

And my true last piece of content for you today actually happened when we were in New Jersey and got to swing by the Jomboy Media warehouse to play some Blitzball with Jimmy, Jake, and their hilarious crew. It’s nearly a half hour long, so I recommend pairing this with a meal as our coordinating producer of BTV, Chad Reese, has often been known to do…

Jomboy and the Bananas Round 2: Electric Boogaloo 

Of course round one was back on March 20th, 2021 when Jimmy and Jake came down to Historic Grayson Stadium to take in game 2 of the One City World Tour. We truly love these guys and will certainly be goofing around with them in the future. We also had a couple more fun competitions with them that will be coming out on The Warehouse Games YouTube page in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

The Bananas and Party Animals will faceoff again on Wednesday night in Savannah. Every time now that the greatest rivals in the history of sports play each other the Nanners have a chance to clinch the season series. Of course we do have some dicey weather coming our way in the form of tropical storm Idalia. As of now the game is one for Wednesday night but we’ll continue to keep you updated via our social media accounts.

Thank you for reliving the insanely historic two games in Des Moines, Iowa, with me! What an absolute doozy of a weekend that was. As per usual, I’m sure it will only get more banana pants bonkers from here!

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