Loco Beach Coconuts in Charleston

Over the weekend I went to my 2nd Banana Ball series – this time the Loco Beach Coconuts first headlining series in Charleston, SC against the Indianapolis Clowns. Once again I took a flight via Avelo from New Haven and while there I got to see the cop that looks like Joey Fatone. Half asleep at 6am – it’s uncanny! The flight was fine – despite the fact that it was SO COLD we had to be de-iced before we could take off. Upon landing I saw that White Castle had a vending machine? But didn’t have a chance to try it – which was probably a good thing.

Thursday evening was the Coco Kickoff to celebrate the first headlining series! This was exclusively for K-Club members and went for 2 hours and was a lot of fun. We had access to entertainment, activities, early merch (although I already got everything at the last game!), an exclusive first headliner pin, and pretty much all of the Coconuts were out on plaza signing autographs, taking pics and hanging out! I finally got a photo with Dalton Mauldin, who has been difficult for me to track down because he is always heading off to perform somewhere. The setup for the plaza was really awesome too – complete with palm trees! I wouldn’t expect anything less at the beach. That got us really excited for the games.

Friday we were lazy since I had some ticket buying to do, but headed down to the ballpark in time for rope drop! This time we focused on talking to the clowns (and getting clowns merch!) – and got to meet Mo’ne Davis who just joined the team. We ended up getting told a bunch of little hints about what was to come during the game – most of which we didn’t actually realize the extent of until it happened (WATER CANONS?!) I was also excited to see that BOTH Primetime coaches – Shane Victorino for the Coconuts and Ryan Howard for the Clowns would be at the games and was hoping I’d get a chance to meet them. As a party animals girl, I was rooting for the Coconuts to lose – thinking that would help the Animals get into the playoffs. Which… seemed to be how it would work? Although with so few games and so few teams the potential for tie breakers was high and I couldn’t quite figure out how it was all going to shake out. The game actually had quite a few milestones within it – although I am a bit disappointed it was not announced to us in the game. In the first inning, Dane Toftland had a single which was the 100th hit for the Coconuts this season. In the 7th, Jackie Bradley Jr had a ground rule double which combined with his 1st inning Triple, 4th inning Single and 5th inning Home Run – HE HIT FOR THE CYCLE. I did realize that he had the Home Run and Triple but totally missed out that he also had the Single and Double and didn’t realize it happened until it was posted on social media the next day. I feel like that sort of accomplishment should be mentioned either in the game or at the end? It was however mentioned on the broadcast in the 7th inning when he got the double. And then in the 9th inning the Clowns beat the record for the most hits in any one game! The Clowns beat the Coconuts 7-2! What a game!

After the game we went to congratulate the Clowns, get a photo with Clark in his 70s outfit and I was also able to get a photo with Shane Victorino. Ryan Howard was out as well, but I had planned to bring/wear his jersey the next day so I was hoping he’d be at BBB so I could get a photo and get him to sign it at the same time – and avoid a photo with the flash. (I get crazy eyes.)

Saturday Morning we got word that there’d be a Dunkin appearance. We weren’t sure what time to get there, and after discussing it with Clark before the game decided 30 minutes should be fine. Turns out it was more than fine – we had time to get drinks, talk to the girls in the store about the teams and what they were in for, meet Chris Burgess, Fisher Polydoroff, Will Ethridge and Blake Benson, get donuts with their faces on them and some Dunkin swag.

After Dunkin we took a drive around Charleston to see Rainbow Row, some of the many, many, many churches, the Old Slave Mart and the Jail. Only once I was on my way home did I realize we never made it to the pineapple fountain. Next time, I guess! We went back to the room and tried to watch the game back on YouTube but the wifi was so awful it kept cutting out and I ended up taking a nap instead.

Once again we made it to the plaza in time for rope drop! We checked in for our BBB and sadly did not get a golden ticket. I sat off in the shade and people watched since we didn’t really want to interact with the players when we’d be talking to them shortly anyway. Once it was time we were taken up the ramp, got to spend some time with Coach Crocco, and then were escorted to the elevator and through the Coconuts dugout to get to the field. I had made some worksheets for the players which they seemed to enjoy and I’ll be working on seeing how many players I can get throughout the rest of the season. Yes, you’ll probably see them at some point (if not here, at my new banana ball website I am working on…) I also was able to chat with Ryan Howard, get him to sign my jersey as well as get a photo with him. He was just as nice as I was expecting him to be. (I may be a Mets fan but we always enjoyed watching Ryan play)

This game the Coconuts took an early lead scoring 4 runs in the first inning. The Clowns tied it in the 3rd, then took the lead in the 4th, Coconuts tied it back up in the 5th and the Clowns took the lead back in the 7th and it stayed that way with the Clowns winning 3-2 and getting the sweep over the Coconuts. There weren’t any home runs or fan caught outs in this game and it wasn’t quite as exciting as the night before, but very stressful with it being so close until the end! Niko made an amazing catch in right field to end the game. David Griffin started for the Clowns and while he had a not so hot first inning, he ended up having several scoreless innings after that once he settled in. I also had a seatmate that thought he could mansplain bannaball to me during the game… who also was wearing a Red Sox jersey but didn’t realize Jackie Bradley Jr was in the ballpark until about halfway through the game. *shrugs* I kept my knowledge on the downlow, no need to school the old man.

After the game we wandered the plaza again… said goodbye to our new friends… and made our way back to the hotel to watch the Party Animals game. It was a lot of back and forth but ultimately they lost and even though the Coconuts got swept by the Clowns – in the end the Party Animals were in control of their own destiny and got swept by the Firefighters meaning that neither of my 2 favorite teams – the Party Animals or the Coconuts will be playing in the Banana Ball Open this coming weekend. We’re only about 10 games into a 60 game season though so anything can happen before October! (And maybe it will be a good thing they have a week off!)

The worst thing about flying Avelo is that you have to wait for 2 hours before departure to check in and get your bag checked. I thought this counted for my walker too but found out I can do that at the desk – so it may be something to consider next time even though a carry on bag is typically more expensive than a checked bag. It may be worth it to save my time and sanity. While I was waiting I apparently became an airport worker – letting everyone know that no, we were not the line for TSA and no we were not the line for Delta – when I thought the line pretty clearly could be followed from the Avelo sign, but what do I know? The flight home was also uneventful and after both of these flights went very well I think I can call my Orlando flight a few years back a fluke and consider flying Avelo more often.