The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs made the trip to Savannah Georgia to attempt to win a game of BananaBall, but how did they do? Christian Dearman was on the mound for the Bananas, who typically throws fastballs, sliders, sinkers, and splitters. Before this game, he had 63 innings pitched (IP) with a 4:05 minute per inning time (MPI). He had 45 strikeouts (K), 35 ball 4 sprints (B4S), and 73 hits (H) against him. He had an earned run average (ERA) of 5.57. With a 2 hour time limit for game time, it's time to see how each team did!
The Blue Crabs are up first in the inning. Centerfielder Jack Sundberg, Second baseman Philip Caufield, and First baseman Jose Rosario start the lineup against the boys in yellow. Sundberg's first offering from Dearman was thrown BEHIND him, and he was not amused. This is something that happens often in Bananaball, but the challenger team was not too entertained like the Party Animals typically are. After a six pitch at bat, Sundberg hits a pop-up in foul territory, and third baseman Jackson Olson made the catch for the first out. Caulfield was next up with a two pitch at bat, grounding to shortstop Ryan Cox who threw to first baseman Dan Oberst for the second out of the inning. Rosario comes up for yet another two pitch at bat, and he is the first batter to get on base with a bouncer to shallow right field. Next up is designated hitter KC Hobson, who bounces to second baseman Dalton Mauldin, who threw to Oberst for the inning ending out.
The Savannah Bananas are up in the bottom half of the inning, and Braxton Lee is pitching for the Blue Crabs. With the way Bananaball works, since the Blue Crabs didn't score, the Bananas can walk off the inning with one run. The top of the lineup is centerfielder David "Dr." Meadows, catcher Eric Jones Jr., and left fielder Michael "Vitamin" Deeb. Meadows hits a line drive up right field for a single base hit. Jones Jr. come up and hits a fly ball to deep centerfield, just inches shy from a home run, Meadows scores for the inning winning walk off, and the Bananas are up 1-0 in the game.
Another outing for Dearman will have him facing Third baseman Alex Crosby, Right fielder Fox Semones, and Catcher Adarius Moody of the Crabs. Crosby hits a ground out to Oberst for the first out. Next up Semones pops up between second and third base, but because of an error on Cox's part, he safely stays on first. Moody comes up to the plate next and on a 1 ball- 2 strike count, Semones steals second base. Moody then hits a bouncer to third base, Moody safe at first, Semones advances to third. Ian Yetsko comes up to bat, bounces to third for a fielders choice double play. Olson throws to Mauldin at second who throws to Oberst at first for a double play, Semones safe at home with Moody and Yetsko out on bases. Next we see shortstop Michael Baca come up, who typically stands on the left side of the plate, but during this at bat, we see him on both sides of the plate! He hits a line drive to left field and is safe at first. Pitcher Braxton Lee comes up to the plate for two pitches and then is replaced by pinch hitter Isaias Quiroz. During the Quiroz at bat, Yetsko steals third, and we see our first fan challenge, but the call is upheald and Yetsko is safe. Quiroz doesn't get to capitalize on the stolen base unfortunately because he strikes out swinging.
Up for the Bananas in the bottom of the second is Deeb, first baseman Dan Oberst, and designated hitter Dakota McFadden. Deeb hits a double to right field, and there is a line dance celebration with the whole team, switching Malachi "Flash the Kid" Mitchell as the pinch runner for Deeb. Oberst comes up, but he strikes out swinging for the first out. McFadden hits a popup to centerfield for the second out. Next up is third baseman Jackson Olson, who hits a single to right field. Mitchell scores. Right fielder Fox Semones of the Blue Crabs commits a two base error, and Olson advances to third while "griddy"ing. Ryan Cox, the shortstop, comes up to bat next and hits a bouncer up the middle, scoring Olson for the walk off inning win. The Bananas do a dance celebration at the home plate.
Between the bottom of the second inning and top of the third has us seeing a player dance, and we see Maceo Harris, Bill LeRoy, Malachi Mitchell, Jared Donalson, Alex Ziegler, and Noah Bridges dance on the infield grass.
Back at the top of the lineup for the Blue Crabs has us seeing Sundberg, Caufield, and Rosario up to the plate again. Sundberg has the unfortunate happenstance of the bananaball rules- if a fan catches a foul ball, it's an out. Caufield hits a line drive double to center field. Rosario flies out to right field for the second out, but Caufield is able to tag second and advance to third base. KC Hobson comes up and hits a bouncer to second base, Mauldin performs a trick play by throwing the ball over his shoulder, catching it, doing a 360 degree turn, and bouncing the ball in time to first base for the last out of the half inning.
The only batter that the Bananas send up this half inning ended up being right fielder Danny Hosley, who draws a ball four sprint, and because of the lackluster defense by the Blue Crabs, Hosley is able to score a home run. With a third of the game over, the Bananas are winning 3-0.
Crosby starts off the top of the fourth for the Blue Crabs, who hits a line drive to right field and is safe at first. Semones comes up next and during the at bat, Crosby advances to second on a wild pitch. The at bat continues, and Crosby attempts to steal third and is caught for the first out of the inning. Semones then draws up a ball four sprint, but he holds at first. Moody comes up next and hits the ball to deep left, landing on the warning track and just feet from being a home run! Semones advances to third base, and Moody is written as hitting a double. Yetsko comes up next and hits a sacrifice fly ball to right, scoring Semones but having the second out. The final batter of the half inning is Baca, who hits a pop-up in foul territory, but Dan Oberst comes over and makes the catch.
Up for the good guys of Bananaland, we see Vincent DeRubeis draw a 3-0 count, and the Blue Crabs call all the fielders onto the infield grass to minimize the distance DeRubeis could run on a sprint. DeRubeis has other plans and hits a ball to deep left field, ending with a triple. Dalton Mauldin comes up to bat and hits to deep right field, scoring DeRubeis for the inning tying run and Mauldin ending on second. Meadows comes up next, and draws another 3-0 count for the inning, and Mauldin steals third! Meadows hits a pop-up, but Mauldin is able to tag third and score to end the inning, Bananas winning 4-0 so far.
The Blue Crabs put in Isaias Quiros as a pinch hitter for the pitcher spot, and he draws a ball four sprint, but he is satisfied with just one base. Another pinch hitter, Jacques Pucheu, strikes out looking. Caufield hits a ground ball to second, Mauldin bounces it to Cox to get Quiros out. Cox throws to Oberst for the Pucheu out to end the half.
Eric Jones Jr. starts the bottom of the fifth for the Bananas but hits a ground ball to third, and it's thrown across the diamond to first for the out. Deeb comes up next, hitting a bouncer to first, not making it to the base in time. Oberst comes up next, hitting a bouncer to third, Crosby throwing to Rosario, who catches the ball in his hat to end the inning.
Between the bottom of the fifth and the top of the sixth, there is a tribute to all active duty and former military members, which the Bananas do at every game.
Up first in the top of the sixth is Rosario, who hits a bouncer back to Dearman- who spins and throws the ball in time to first. Hobson strikes out looking. The Bananas take Dearman out and put in Dakota "Stilts" Albritton to pitch, standing around 10' tall. Blue Crabs put number 50, Jesse Estrada in to pinch hit for Crosby, but they send him up to the plate with Baca on his shoulders! After swinging, Baca gets down and it's officially Estrada's at bat, but he hits a fly ball to Mauldin-who catches it between his legs for the inning ending out.
Blue Crabs put Khalil Lee up as the new pitcher to face Dakota McFadden. McFadden hits a ground ball to right field, staying safe at first but being pinch run by Malachi Mitchell. Olson grounds into a double play, hitting the ball to second base for Mitchell's out and the ball being thrown to first in time to grab Olson. Cox comes up, filming a music video as his walk-up, and hits a line drive to right field and safe at first. Alex Ziegler, the bat trickster, comes up with a FLAMING BAT BALANCED ON HIS NOSE, drawing a ball four sprint to score Cox and win the inning. The Bananas come celebrate their 5-0 lead of the game by dancing to Copperhead Road at home plate.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Bananas put in DJ "The Invader" as the new pitcher, and the Blue Crabs send Jacob Gilliland up to face him. Gilliland hits a popup, and Mauldin makes a barehanded catch for the out. Moody comes up next and pops up to Oberst for the second out. The next batter comes up and strikes out swinging.
DeRubeis comes up first for the Bananas, and he STEALS FIRST BASE while KC Hobson is the new pitcher for Southern Maryland. Mauldin comes up next, and DeRubeis advances to second on a wild pitch. Then, Mauldin draws a ball four sprint- scoring DeRubeis to win the inning. Bananas are now up 6-0 going into the 8th inning.
Connor Higgins is the new pitcher, and he strikes out Gleason and Baca back to back! The next batter hits a bouncer to second, Mauldin flips it to Cox who throws to Oberst, but the runner is safe on first. Caufield comes up next- hitting the ball back towards the pitcher, but Jones threw it to first to end the inning.
Meadows comes up in the bottom of the eighth and hits a line drive towards center field, but Baca made a jumping catch for the out. Jones hits a single to extremely shallow right field, but he made it safely on base due to an error by the second baseman. Malachi Mitchell is pinch run for Jones. Deeb comes up and hits the ball to deep right-center field, Mitchell makes it to third, and then Dancing coach Maceo Harris is put as the pinch runner for Mitchell. Deeb stays safe at second. Oberst comes up and Rosario is the new pitcher. Deeb draws a ball four sprint, and Maceo back handsprings his way to score.
The Blue Crabs have to make up 7 runs in this half inning in order to tie the game. Malatesta is the new pitcher for the Bananas, and Rosario bounces the ball off the outfield wall- Meadows throws to Cox who throws to Oberst, but Rosario is safe on base. Hobson comes up next and Rosario is able to advance to second on a wild pitch. Hobson pops ip in foul territory, but Jones is able to make the catch for the first out. Gilliland comes up next and hits the ball to right-center. Meadows catches for the outm but Rosario is able to advance to third. Ian Kahaloa ends up being the final batter to come up- hitting a ground ball to Cox, who throws between his legs to first for the game ending out. Bananas win 7-0.
All in all, the BananaBall defense shown by the Blue Crabs was very lackluster at best. There is certainly a learning curve from traditional baseball to Bananaball, but hopefully we can see this matchup again and the Blue Crabs can find redemption!
