Party Animals Take Down Texas Tailgaters in Banana Ball Playoffs

The Party Animals are now one win away from the championship game!

The Party Animals’ Nate Teller leads the group in the delivery of a pitch against The Visitors as the Savannah Bananas came back to Louisville Slugger Park this Thursday. June 26, 2025 / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In night two of the Banana Ball Tour Championship Playoffs, the Party Animals faced off against the Texas Tailgaters at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia. The Party Animals have been comfortable in this stadium. Coming into this game the Party Animals were 15-5 in Grayson Stadium this season.

Just like last night with the Savannah Bananas playing the Firefighters, the feeling of this game was definitely different. Even with all the regular Banana Ball shenanigans, this felt like a playoff game. The game was intense.

The Party Animals have had the best offense in the league this season and tonight was no exception! Andy Cosgrove got the Party Animals on the board quickly with a home run in the 1st inning and the bats stayed hot after that.

A new rule was introduced just for the playoffs. That rule is the equalizer point. This rule makes it so if the away team has more trick plays at the end of the 8th inning then they get an extra point going into the 9th inning! This rule made the middle of the game super exciting. The Party Animals and the Tailgaters were going back and forth with the lead for trick plays and you could tell each player was trying hard to do trick plays. Instead of players playing conservatively in a playoff scenario, they were going all out for trick plays. The Party Animals ended up having more trick plays so the Tailgaters did not earn the equalizer point!

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Garrett Delano was the starting pitcher for the Party Animals and he had himself a game. He pitched 8 scoreless innings, 1 hit, and had 6 strikeouts. Incredible stuff by Delano. Then with the Party Animals leading 5-0, Drew Gillespie came out to finish the job. It got a little funky in the 9th with the Tailgaters scoring 2 runs but Gillespie finished the job with a strikeout to end the game! And the Party Animals won 5-2!

With the win, the Party Animals are one win away from the championship game! They will play the Texas Tailgaters again on Sunday. If the Tailgaters win then the teams will go to a showdown immediately following that game to decide who plays in the championship. Playoff Banana Ball is the best!

This game was so exciting! If you want to hear more of our thoughts on the game check out our livestream where we were joined by Drake Toll and Biko Skalla on the Banana Breakdown Podcast Youtube channel!

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