Banana Ball traveled out west this past weekend and put on a show for Salt Lake City! With just a few series left in the 2024 Banana Ball World Tour, both teams pulled out all the stops, hoping to leave a lasting impression on the great state of Utah.

A year ago, the Party Animals clinched the season series after winning nine straight games against the Bananas. If the Animals were looking to repeat that success, the hard work would start in Salt Lake, where they’d have to go on a win streak with the remainder of the games left in the season.
With their backs against the wall and a World Tour title on the line, both teams came out swinging.

Game 1

The Savannah Bananas called Noah Niznik to the bump to kick off night one of the two game series. Prior to his outing, the ace had 86.1 innings under his belt. He had notched 52 strikeouts and boasted a 3.75 ERA.

At the plate, the Bananas faced off against one of the Animals’ best arms. Garett Delano walked up to the bump with a 3.34 ERA and a burning desire to shut down the hefty Banana batters.

A quiet first inning ended with a ball four sprint; a play that gave the Banana Boys their first point of the game. Resident Superman, Reese Alexiades hit the slopes in the bottom of the second inning. As he channeled his inner U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, Alexiades sent a ball over.

The 420-foot moonshot allowed the Bananas to walk-off the inning and widen their lead to two, but it didn’t come easy. Super Skier was decked out head to toe in gear suited for the snow, including heavy ski boots that aren’t necessarily meant for baserunning. To compensate for the extra weight, he used Dakota “Stilts” Albritton’s bat, which is lighter than his own.

“So Stilts came up to me and said that I gotta start using his bat more often,” Alexiades said. “But, I don’t know. I don’t got the boots on now, so it might just be a one-and-done thing.”

The third inning came and went. A few trick plays from Jake Skole, Alexiades and Jackson Olson kept both offenses at bay. Glimpses of success at the plate for the Bananas came at the bottom of the fourth inning, but as the yellow team left a few stranded, they also left behind the point for the inning.

The Party Animals were hoping to ignite a fire at the plate after seeing that Niznik had been relieved from the mound to kick off the fifth inning. Niznik sparked nine groundouts in his time on the rubber.

To their dismay, however, it was seven-year veteran Kyle Luigs who replaced him. Going into this game, Luigs boasted a 3.6% ball four sprint rate, the lowest mark across the entire Banana roster.

The inning started off hot for the Animals.

A dropped trick play on a fly ball to Alexiades out in right field allowed Dustin Baber to reach second. The mistake proved to be crucial as the Partiers ultimately reached home a total of six times in the top of the fifth. Headlined by Chase Achuff’s solo home run, followed by solid at-bats from Skole, Dalton Cornett and Jason Swan, the Animals noted their first point of the night.

The Bananas clutched onto their one-point lead, waiting for the cracks in the Animals’ defense to surface.

And they did.

RAC was able to walk off the bottom of the eighth inning after landing on first from a ball four sprint. He pranced across home plate soon after when Danny “Do-it-all” Hosley’s at-bat resulted in a ball four sprint as well.

The Party Animals ultimately faced defeat, falling short 3-1 in game one of the Salt Lake City series.

Game 2

The possibility of winning the 2024 Banana Ball World Tour was still on the table for the Party Animals following their game one loss against the Bananas, and the hopes of succeeding in this feat made them even more dangerous.

The Animals could taste success, and were looking to secure a win in game two of the series in Salt Lake.

And when it mattered most, they did just that.

Brett Helton started on the bump for the Party Animals in game two.

As one of the defining factors in the success that the Animals had found late in the 2023 season, Helton, a Utah baseball alumnus, was the obvious choice.

The Bananas started off hot, though.
Dan Oberst, the extra hitter and a constant force in the yellow team’s lineup, drew in the first run of the game with an RBI walk-off in the bottom of the first inning.

They took the second inning’s point as well after Reese Alexiades’s ball four sprint allowed Flash, the Bananas’ designated runner, to zoom across home plate.

The Bananas were on track to complete yet another series sweep. They walked off another inning after Michael Deeb drilled a ball to left center. After four innings, the Bananas were up 3-0.

A spark finally ignited among the Party Animals’ line up in the top of the fifth inning when the Bananas sent out Jeremy Guthrie as relief on the bump. The former BYU pitcher ultimately allowed two runs. After a slow offensive half inning for the Bananas, the Animals were finally able to put a point on the board.

And they didn’t stop there.

The offensive party continued to roll through Smith’s Ballpark and it seemed to show no signs of slowing down. The most runs scored in a single inning of a Banana Ball game is seven, and the Party Animals matched it with ease in the top of the sixth inning, winning the point and making it a one point game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, however, a quick switch between Animal catcher Taj Porter and pitcher Jake Lialios led to Porter giving up the go ahead run to Jackson Olson. The bottom of the eighth resulted in a walk-off as well, making the ninth inning the most crucial for the Party Animals. They would need three runs to tie the game.

“Our backs are against the wall a lot of times, so we have a lot of fight in us,” Armando Becerra, the Animals’ extra hitter said.

And they were prepared for a brawl.
Danny Hosley was the chosen closer for game two, but he struggled to knock down the power hitters that walked up to the plate.

Jake Skole landed on first after a ball four sprint. Chase Achuff drove a ball to left field to allow Noah Fisher, the game’s tying point, to come up to the plate. After ultimately drawing up two more ball four sprints and allowing a base hit for the Animal’s insurance run, Corelle Prime came in to relieve Hosley. Ultimately, the pitching pair had allowed seven runs to cross home.

Solid defense from the Boys in Black capped off their monumental win. The Party Animals took game two by storm and breathed life into the remainder of their season, beating the Bananas 9-5.