ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Local resident Kelby Tomlinson has shared his baseball talents with the Seward County Community College Saints, the Liberal Bee Jays and the San Francisco Giants. Soon, he will be sharing those talents with the Loco Beach Coconuts, a team in the Banana Ball Championship League, currently based in Savannah, Ga. Tomlinson was officially drafted Wednesday evening after trying out in Dallas in late October.
As Tomlinson tells it, his path to the new league started a few months ago.
“We had taken my sons to a banana ball game in Oklahoma City in August, and while watching the game, I was encouraged to see if I could do it,” Tomlinson said. “They have a form online to fill out if you're interested, so I filled out that form, and then they got back to me with an invitation to the tryout in Dallas, and then I went to that tryout, and then they invited me to the draft. The tryout itself was a standard baseball tryout that included batting practice and some fielding drills, and then we did a scrimmage game at the end.”
Overall, Tomlinson said, he felt good after his tryout.
“After everything was said and done, I felt like it had gone really well and I felt I’d played pretty well,” Tomlinson said. “I had been training since I filled out the form, and they invited me to the tryout, which gave me a few weeks, maybe close to a month of training. But it had been a while since I had been on the field and played and when that happens, you never know how it's going to go. But I felt like I had done really well, and in talking with the coaches and the other players, I felt pretty good about my chances. I left happy with how I performed, and I really enjoyed getting back out on the field and getting to play. In talking with them, there was a lot of trying to figure out logistics of how their schedule works, what week to week looks like, what day to day looks like, what month to month looks like, and making sure it would be a good fit both for them and for me. Once we started to realize there were opportunities to where it would work on our side and on their side, I started to get really excited.”
Tomlinson said he is excited to be playing the game he loves again.
“I think it’ll be great getting to be back in a locker room full of guys, and then getting to go out and play the game again with a focus on trying to have as much fun as possible,” Tomlinson said. “I’m really excited about that, and I’ll get to travel around. My boys are about to all have birthdays, they'll be 10, 8, and 4, and they’ll get a get a see me play baseball. They didn't get to see me play too much before because they were really young, so I’m excited about them getting to travel and watching me play. And then just being on the field again should be a lot of fun.”
Banana Ball emphasizes showmanship, fan participation, and fast-paced games, and Tomlinson said he is looking forward to helping continue that tradition.
“I'm excited how this is fans first and how there’s a heavy focus on providing the best experience for the fans who enjoying it and having a fun time,” Tomlinson said. “It was great even at the tryout being around some of the coaches and getting a feel for how they go about the games. I’m also really excited about how they show up each day and enjoy getting to perform and put on the show for people.”
