Written by Biko Skalla:
The Bananas had an odd evening in Forest City. Soon after the five hour drive had been completed it began to downpour and before we knew it McNair Field was underwater. Although a tarp had not been rolled out, it turned out to be the spongiest baseball field in the universe and with some speedy-dry to aid the process we were ready to play ball after just a half hour delay. Really not too bad considering the place looked like it could house the loch ness monster less than an hour before the game was supposed to start.
Once we got underway, it was clear Owls’ starter Casey, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and, Young, had his A+ stuff, as he set the Nanners down in order in the first and second innings. Ryan, Cash Me in Savannah How Bout Dat, Kennedy, worked around a single in the first and then two base hits to start out the second to keep Forest City off the board.
Jack, Line of the Night Material, Renwick, led off the third with a single to left and he got to second on an error by the left fielder, but Young got a strikeout, a deep flyout to right, and another K to strand Jack at third. In the bottom half, Jacob, Polos, Marcos, singled up the middle and after a flyout, Will, Luke Voit Vibes, Butcher, walked on four pitches to set up his UNC Charlotte teammate Cam, Slam, Fisher, who clobbered a three-run homer to right-center.
The Bananas mounted a nice rally in the top of the fourth on a one-out single from Beau, Rock Chalk, Brewer, another base knock from Indiana, Do You Have Any Shorter Pants?, Stanley, and then a 106 mph single to short from Bryson, You’ll be Hearing from My Biko About This, Bloomer. But with the bases juiced and still only one out, Brody, Everybody Has Those Days, Wortham, bounced a ball to third for a 5-3 inning ending double play. In came Bobby, Someone Put a Scout in the Stands, McBride, for the Nanners who worked around a hit batsman and a walk to toss a scoreless bottom of the fourth.
Jack led off the top of the fifth with a single back up the middle, got to second on an errand pickoff attempt by Young, stole third, and then scored on an RBI single to right-center from Taylor, But Does He Get On Base?, Justice. Drew, “Man I Wish I was Hitting at Grayson,” Said Nobody Ever Except Drew in this One Instance, Yniesta, destroyed a ball off the top of the 25-foot wall in left for a double and then with two-down Beau peppered the left-center field wall to score Taylor and Drew and tie the game at three runs apiece.
Bobby diced up the Owls in the bottom of the fifth and then Cy, *Sigh*, Smith, struck out the side in the top of the sixth. McBride K’d the first two guys he faced in the bottom half and then thought he had struck out the side but didn’t get the call, leading to a single up the middle that knocked him from the game. Tyler, We Ain’t Afraid to do Work, Gillum, brought in Dylan, Yellowstone, Cunningham, who got a weakly hit liner to Brewer at third to end the inning.
Taylor led off the seventh with a single and then swiped second but Smith got a strikeout, groundout, and then another K on a call that the Bananas brass highly disagreed with to remain unscored upon in his fourth appearance of the summer. After DC got a lineout to center to start the bottom of the seventh, Dylan, Can I Offer You Some Nice Sunglasses in This Tryin’ Time?, Costa, reached on a rare throwing error from Renwick at short that in an even more rare occurrence wasn’t scooped cleanly by Wortham at first. Cunningham walked Butcher and Fisher on four pitches each and then gave up a flare single to left-center to Dalton, Podge, Hodge, as Forest City recaptured the lead 4-3. An RBI groundout to second would add an insurance run for the Owls and then Leighton, The Saltine Slinger, Finley, came in to pick up a huge strikeout in an 11-pitch battle that stranded runners on second and third.
The guys went down 1-2-3 in the eighth, capped off by another strike call on a K that infuriated the Nanners dugout. Leighton set Forest City down in order in the bottom half to keep his guys within two runs.
Brett, Bank’s Open, Porthan, came in for the ninth and was greeted by a leadoff double clanged off the left field wall by Renwick. But with the tying run at the dish, Porthan would get back to back strikeouts and catch a line drive from Drew that ricocheted off his belly and into his glove to end the game.
The Bananas struck out looking five times throughout the night and were pretty consistently frustrated with the calls, but what sunk them more than anything was two of the five men who scored for the Owls reaching on walks and another run scorer reaching on Savannah’s lone error of the game.
Jack Renwick had a heck of an evening at the plate in the defeat, going 3-4 with a double, stolen base, and a run scored. Taylor Justice and Beau Brewer looked great at the dish too, as they each went 2-4, with Taylor scoring and driving in a run while stealing a base as well, and Beau driving in the other two Nanners that crossed home plate.
The Bananas are still a CPL best 19-6, and return home Tuesday night to take on the Macon Bacon. The pregame show is a TBD on when we’ll go live, but first pitch will be at 7:00pm eastern and as always the action will all be broadcasted live on Bananas Insiders.
Shoutout to Adam, I Might Go for My First Ever Floor Sleep, Moreau, and Josh, Loud and Proud, Talevski, for plenty of terrific creative assistance with tonight’s nicknames.
