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Top 12 Moments from the Aussie Drop Bears Challenger Series

Written by Biko Skalla:

 

When we announced last October that the first ever international Banana Ball games would be against the Aussie Drop Bears we had no idea what to expect. In fact, that was the case up until about a week before they made the 28-hour journey to Savannah. But when I got their roster and saw former Major League Baseball players, former Australian Olympic, World Cup, and Little League World Series team members, a bunch of guys who had played in the Australian Baseball League, and some incredibly talented collegiate players, I started to truly get excited. The thing is though, no matter how hyped up I got for the series, my highest of expectations would be blown away by what the Aussie Drop Bears brought to the table. Their sprint defense was superb, their trick plays were dazzling, they were a constant source of excitement and glee, and they played darn good Banana Ball. Of course in the 71 Banana Ball games we had ever played before our friends from the Land Down Under made the immense journey to the USA we never had a game cancelled due to rain and then two of the four games against the Aussies were rained out, with three innings played on Thursday night and three innings and an out played against the Party Animals on Monday. But even Mother Nature couldn’t dampen the immaculate vibes the Drop Bears brought to Historic Grayson Stadium. They more than earned an invite back in 2024 and a visit from the Bananas to Australia at some point in the future. What a blast and a half that was. Let’s get into why it was so much fun!

First Impressions Matter

To be fair to Chris Walker, who made the safe call on DR, he was out by a HAIR. When you scrub the video frame by frame, there is really only one split second where you can see the glove touching Meadows before his hands touch second base. But that’s why we instituted challenges in Banana Ball, the right call ends up being made and the Drop Bears are rewarded for their impeccable sprint defense.

The Nanners would walk-off the inning but after the top of the 3rd we had to roll the tarp out and delay the game. The precipitation let up long enough for us to play the bottom of the 3rd but then it kicked back up stronger than ever and unfortunately we had to can the game. The 72nd Banana Ball game ever was the first to be rained out…

The Broadcast Crew Gets Wet and Wild

As sad as it was to finally have a Banana Ball game rained out, we like to make the best of things in Bananaland…

Tarp sliding will always be one of my favorite things to do in life. Fooling around with minimal friction is such a blast.

Jared Donalson Goes Full All-American on the Aussies

They don’t hand out First Team All-American awards for nothing, and Donnie showed the Drop Bears why he was one of the best pitchers in college baseball last spring with a vintage performance on Friday night…

The only runs Jared gave up were in the 1st (2 runs, 1 of them earned), and the Nanners answered the Aussies with two of their own to tie the frame. The Bananas walked-off the 3rd, 4th, and 6th to grab a 3-0 lead in points. Then the 8th inning happened…

Drop Bears Bring the Thunder from Down Under

Bill Lee would come in and after a trick play missed soiled what should have been the second out, he induced a pair of groundouts to end the 8th inning massacre. The Drop Bears would nab their first point of the night and then they threatened to take the lead in the 9th with two men in scoring position and Josh Lavender at the dish…

DR Meadows Continues to be a Mythical Figure in Bananaland

It’s really tough to find anything “The Doctor” is not amazing at. Earlier in the game he had stolen first base twice, stolen second and third, and scored two runs already. Then he made the game winning play…

Time and time again he delivers perfect strikes to home plate from centerfield. Pretty insane to think that before the Summer Series last August he had not played in the outfield since his freshman year in college.

Jaeden Cavill Goes Full Blown Cricket Mode

We saw Breland Almadova take an at-bat with a cricket bat in Sugar Land, Texas, but he didn’t have the full kit and cricket stance going and pitches were not coming in on a bounce. Safe to say Jaeden took things to the next level…

Even when they weren’t using cricket bats the Drop Bears struggled to figure our “Cowboy” Kyle Luigs, who went 6 innings while giving up just 2 unearned runs on 4 hits, 1 ball-four-sprint, and he stuck out 5. Walk-offs from Jackson Olson, DR, Vinny DeRubeis, Michael Deeb, and Dan Oberst provided the plenty of offense for the Nanners to cruise to a 5-1 victory. But before we journey to a historic Monday night, we have to take the time to admire one of the greatest trick plays in Banana Ball history…

The Italian Stallion Goes Full Tornado Time

Talk about pulling off a doozy of a trick play in a huge situation! If Vinny doesn’t come down with this at least one if not two runs score. Legendary stuff from the kid!

Party Animals Kingdom is a VIBE

The Greatest Party in all of Sports was in full display on Monday night as the Party Animals had their first ever game against a team besides the Savannah Bananas. As the home team in Grayson Stadium they took some creative liberties and made a few renovations on the park that has housed the Nanners for over seven years now…

The Party Animals walked-off the 1st inning on a Dalton Cornett double and then flashed some serious leather a half inning later…

Achuff and Baber Continue to Dazzle up the Middle

Just a nasty play right there from the fellas. Speaking of, Cooper Morgan would like to enter the chat…

Australia Has a Backflipping Centerfielder?!?

DR is leading all outfielders on the tour with 23 trick plays in 25 tries and the majority of them have been majestic backflips that astonish me every time I see them. We had never glimpsed another outfielder even attempt a backflip catch until now…

TURN ME UP!!! The kid from the capital! Cooper deserves a ticker-tape parade through Canberra within a week of his return to Australia. AND he still has two years of college eligibility left. Oh yeah AND he was a pitcher who never spent a second as a position player during his two years at Walters State. Heck of a job, Coop, that’s what dreams are made of right there.

Unfortunately, after the Aussies scored a run in the 4th inning and still had the bases loaded with one out, lightning delayed the game and soon after that a monsoon enveloped Grayson Stadium and the field was underwater in the blink of an eye. Luckily, the entertainment was strong as ever and the fans got to rage with the players from both teams out on the Party Plaza after the game was cancelled.

Now before we shut this thing down, let’s all appreciate what Max Brennen brought to the table throughout this series…

Max Brennen: Born to be a Banana Baller

Max is as nice a guy as you can ever find and as you can see he absolutely rocked the socks off of Bananaland.

Ahhh heck while we’re at it let’s sauce in some bonus content!

Australian Delicacies: Wheat Bix, Vegemite, and Tim Tams

Here’s the broadcast boys trying a new type of Australian food on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights…

I said it a plethora of times on the broadcasts but it bears repeating: The Aussie Drop Bears were legendary. We cannot thank them enough for making the insane journey from the Great Southern Land up to us in the Northern Hemisphere and fully buying in to the madness of Banana Ball. What really warmed the heart was hearing from so many of the guys that this was the most fun they’d ever had playing baseball. Some of these cats have played in seemingly half the countries in the world and this was their favorite baseball experience to date. That’s what it’s all about right there.

The invite is obviously always open for them to return and I will be banging the drum and belting my didgeridoo each and every day until we can make a journey to Australia to pal around with these lads in their great country/continent. Thank you to Matt Cavill, Funkie Phil, Greg Wah, Kevin Fenn, Tim Noy, Chris Oxspring, Rich Thompson, all the rest of the players and all the Drop Bears supporters for making this a magical four nights in Savannah. We already miss you all dearly. Banana Ball is now an international game thanks to you great palookas and I cannot wait for the reunion!

We’ll be live Thursday and Saturday night on the Bananas YouTube page as the Nanners and Party Animals do battle again. Then on Monday the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs come to challenge the Nanners! This tour keeps getting wilder by the minute!!

Cheers mates!

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