Written by Biko Skalla:
With nothing to gain for either side, the Nanners dropped the final game of the regular season 10-5 in Lexington County, and return home tomorrow to take on the Hi-Toms in the first round of the playoffs.
The Blowfish got out to a quick start, scoring 2 runs (only 1 earned) in the 1st off Quinn, Yes I Would Love to Go Deep-Sea Fishing Again, No I Will Not Throw Up This Time, Mason. They pushed 3 more across in the 2nd to jump ahead 5-0.
Then Jesse, The Oracle, Sherrill, joined me on the whiteboard broadcast in the 4th inning, pronounced that the Bananas would rally big time if they got the leadoff man on, Eddie, I Know a Thing or Two About Prophecies, Malinowski, walked to lead off the inning, and the rally commenced! Livan, ”Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me… You Can’t Get Fooled Again,” Reinoso, lined a single up the middle for the Bananas first hit of the game. Eddie and Livan double stole, and then Danny, I Literally Only Homer at Home, Oberst, lined a 2-run double to right-center. Nick, “Please Don’t Tell Me Bill’s a Better Shortstop, Too,” Clarno, lined a single to left and then Drew, ”Come Stainer!”, Yniesta, drove a ball to the right field wall for a sac fly to bring in Danny. Bill, “You Think I’m the Best Shortstop on This Team?”, LeRoy, bounced a ball over the 3rd baseman and into left for a single and Zane, I’m Still Mad I Didn’t Get to Show My Knuckleball to the World Tonight, Denton, roped a single to left to bring in Clarno. An inning later Nick stung a double down the 3rd base line to bring in Livan and tie the game at 5 apiece.
Matt, “You Wanna See My Splitter? You Wanna See it Again?”, Malatesta, was phenomenal out of the pen for the Nanners. He came in to start the 4th, gave up 4 unearned runs in the 5th, and 1 earned run in the 7th on a guy the Bananas thought was picked off first, and then they had out at 2nd until the runner kicked the ball out of Drew’s glove as he slid in. So anyhow, Matt tossed 5 innings of 1 earned run relief, striking out 4 while throwing approximately 327 splitters (some of these may have been forkballs, but I’m putting both pitches under the same umbrella to simplify things).
The quote of the night comes from the Owner and President of the Blowfish, Bill Shanahan, who had both teams out on the field after the game and said:
”Hats off to the Bananas. They won the 1st and the 2nd half in the CPL West. They’re the best at entertainment and promotions, the best in the business, and the best on the field. All of us in Lexington County will be rooting for the Bananas to win the 2021 CPL Championship!”
It was honestly really cool to hear, and you could tell it was from the heart. Props to Bill for the very classy move, and props to the Lexington County fans who gave his speech a standing O.
The Bananas lose the final regular season game of the summer 10-5, to head into the playoffs with a league best 36-8 record. Sunday the aptly named Hi-Toms from High Point-Thomasville come to Historic Grayson Stadium for game 1 of the playoffs.
Four of the fifteen teams remain. Four wins are needed from the Bananas to hoist the Petitt Cup. I cannot wait to get after it!
We’ll be live at 6:30 eastern tomorrow night for pregame, and we’ll have first pitch at 7:00. Tomorrow the Bananas show the rest of the league just how dominant this team is.