The Savannah Bananas were defeated by the Macon Bacon, 3-1, at Grayson Stadium on Friday night to suffer their first loss at home this season. While the Nanners didn’t come away with a win, it was still a wild time at Grayson Stadium.
Largest Crowd of the Season
The Bananas may have lost their first game at home, but you couldn’t tell it by the energy in the crowd. It was palpable, and that’s for good reason. The sold-out crowd on Friday night was the largest crowd of the season at Grayson Stadium with 4,078 fans in attendance.
Bill Leroy Sounds Off on the Dance Off
Another dance-off took place on Saturday night, this time featuring fourth-year Banana Bill Leroy. It’s been a while since the Bananas have won a dance-off at Grayson Stadium, and Leroy came out strong hoping to the Nanners back in the win column. However, the young Bananas fan didn’t mess around.
“I feel like it went really well. The last few weeks, we’ve been getting our butts kicked in the dance-off,” Leroy said after the dance-off. “I wanted to put up a square fight, but I think she took it from me there.”
After the two traded jabs on the dance floor in the first round, Leroy fell behind and couldn’t keep up with the young fan. Rather than getting some film work in by watching “Stomp the Yard” or “You Got Served,” Leroy decided his routine for the dance-off would be from the heart.
“I got here early, I saw my name on the list. I could Google some stuff and dig deep into some dancing routines. But I said ‘You know what, I’m gonna wing this thing,'” Leroy said. “I was just going to feel it and improv on the spot.”
Despite the effort from Bill, that plan didn’t work for the Nanners, and they are still searching for a win in the dance-offs at Grayson Stadium.
Bats Go Silent
All season long, the Bananas have crushed the ball. But even the best team in the CPL will have an off-day at the plate, especially after a playoff-clinching doubleheader the night before. That said, the Nanners had just two hits going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Not even the Pit Vipers they received as a team could help them in the box on Friday night.
Officially the best dressed team in baseball.
Had to surprise the guys before tonight's game for clinching the first half๐ pic.twitter.com/v2HjYZ7Us6
— Savannah Bananas (@TheSavBananas) June 25, 2021
They put together a rally in the bottom of the eighth with three consecutive hits from Bryson Bloomer, birthday boy Nick Clarno and Ty Jackson but couldn’t capitalize with bases loaded and one out. They got a rally going in the bottom of the ninth when Eduardo Malinowski absolutely mashed a double to center field and then scored on a single from Bloomer.
Clarno almost got the best birthday gift imaginable with two outs in the ninth as the tying run. He hit a shot to left field that went 349 feet, just short of the wall, almost tying the game. However, the Bacon left fielder tracked it down for the final out.
A First-Timer in BananaLand
It seems it was a night of firsts in BananaLand on Friday night. The Bananas lost their first game at home, but we also caught up with a fan attending his first Bananas game! Blair, from Appalachia, VA, was in town with his girlfriend Megan. He was kind enough to give us some of his thoughts on his first game.
“They broke the model with putting the customer first,” Blair said. “From engaging activities mid-inning to free food and unique branding throughout the arena. It’s created a one-of-a-kind experience.”
What’s Next for the Nanners?
The Bananas have another doubleheader on the docket for Saturday night against the Lexington County Blowfish with the first game set to start at 6:00 p.m. ET.