Local youth spend week learning from popular baseball club
Cleveland – Picture it: the crowd roars your name as you saunter up to the plate, your walk-up music ushering you closer to the clay.
Suddenly, you stop. You might break into a dance too embarrassing to be recorded – except multiple cell phones in the stands are capturing your every movement. You might instead “call your shot” – pointing at the outfield bleachers like they owe you money.
Then, you step into the batter’s box. Once you’re there, you’re locked in. There’s hi-jinks on the mound, behind the plate and all around the stadium as you try to channel your attention directly at the task in front of you: after all, it’s still baseball, right?
The pitch is hurled. You make contact and stick to the basics, sprinting down the first-base line to reach on an infield hit.
But you’re out by two steps – and to add insult to injury, you watch the replay on the Jumbotron and see that your opponent’s shortstop had enough time to not only field the ball, but did a cartwheel while clutching the spherical object inside his glove before throwing you out.
This is the reality of what the 10U Robbinsville Black Knights were up against when the group traveled to Ohio the week of Aug. 7-10 to participate in the debuting Savannah Bananas Ball Youth Tournament.
Ever the polished athletes – and still kids, at the end of the day – the team had little trouble adapting to its surroundings. There were other hopefuls of all Little League ages on-hand for the fun, which led to 48 states being represented at the week-long showcase.
Who knew that Daylon Anderson could field a ball and fire it from a unique angle – in-between his legs – with such accuracy? Or that Canyan Gross could show such sweet moves while approaching the plate? The entire team’s personality had a chance to shine during pool play – and those in the opposite dugouts at the Victory Sports Park in North Ridgeville (a Cleveland suburb) took notice: Anderson and Gross both came home with medals for receiving votes in the race for “Top Trickster” and “Best Walkout,” respectively.
Robbinsville finished ninth in the 15-team bracket for 10U, but enough heads were turned that despite the placement, Kyson Carpenter’s work on the hill earned the youngster the esteemed title of “MVB:” Most Valuable Banana.
In addition to the tournament, the Knights were fortunate to attend a Bananas game at the Cleveland Guardians’ Progressive Stadium; receive coaching from the club’s players about how “Banana Ball” works; and there was a meet-and-greet with the Bananas themselves.
It’s no wonder the outfit is so popular with kids: the Bananas have found a way to peel back the layers of corporate greed and made professional baseball fun again.
Just ask the Knights.