Former Wildcats take to the field with Banana Ball 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 8, 2026) — The article below appears in the Spring 2026 edition of Kentucky Alumni magazine. Read the full article and more at www.ukalumni.net/s/kentucky-alumni-online-magazine. 

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After exiting the 2024 Men’s College World Series, Johnny Hummel and Nick Lopez weren’t sure if they would ever play baseball again.  

The University of Kentucky athletes had aged out of eligibility following their single, historic season in Lexington. Lopez, an infielder, considered continuing his career in independent baseball leagues. Hummel, a relief pitcher and catcher, was preparing for a desk job.  

Then they discovered Banana Ball, what some refer to as the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball.  

A high-energy twist on the traditional game, Banana Ball began in 2016 when the Savannah Bananas were founded in Savannah, Georgia. The sport has since evolved into a fast-paced, entertainment-filled and “fans first” experience featuring dance sequences, pitchers on stilts and, occasionally, flaming baseball bats.  

Joining Banana Ball 

The Savannah Bananas and Party Animals — the two original teams in the Banana Ball Championship League — had long been on the periphery of Hummel and Lopez’s orbit. Still, neither pictured themselves in the league. But in the 2025 season, that’s exactly where they landed. 

Hummel’s friend and teammate Armando Becerra from his three seasons at Erskine College had played with the Party Animals. He asked Hummel, 25, after his UK season ended if he wanted to play Banana Ball. Hummel thought it was a joke, but he accepted.  

Within months, Hummel participated in tryouts and turned down a steady 9-to-5 desk job in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina to move to Savannah.  

“My whole life changed, upside down, right then and there,” Hummel said. 

Meanwhile, Lopez, 26, sought out Banana Ball himself. He followed Jackson Olson, a Savannah Bananas player, on Instagram and one day decided to send a private message to him asking how he joined the team — his first direct contact with league.  

Olson responded with information about Banana Ball scouts and tryouts. Soon, Lopez found himself at Banana Ball as well, signature handlebar mustache dyed blue like it had been for his stint in the NCAA Tournament with UK.  

Except the color was vastly different.  

“Funny enough, I dyed my mustache yellow for the Bananas,” he said. “And it looked terrible.”  

But when the Savannah Bananas head coach asked him if he would ever dye his mustache blue again, he got a good feeling about the results of his tryout.  

“When somebody’s talking about something, that kind of makes your identity what it is today. I just knew that was the path I was gonna go down,” he said.  

By the start of the 2025 Banana Ball season, Hummel was drafted to the Firefighters, and Lopez joined the Texas Tailgaters for their inaugural season from May to October 2025.  

Being a standout 

In a league full of bold personalities — such as Olson and Dakota “Stilts” Albritton — Hummel and Lopez stood out to fans right away thanks to unique features that carried over from UK. Lopez’s blue mustache and Hummel’s walkup song, “Real Gone” from the Disney Pixar movie “Cars.”  

Before the mustache ever turned blue, it was a way for new infielder Lopez to stand out among his new teammates at UK to fans and scouts alike. It became his staple.  

So, when the team advanced to the 2024 Super Regionals, he had the idea to modify his mustache in celebration.  

“I wanted to do something that was out of left field for playoffs,” Lopez said. “Just to show the fans that I’m bought in just as much as they are.”  

He temporarily dyed it bright blue. Then the team won. Out of superstition, he dyed it again. They won again.  

Even as Lopez’s individual performance began to suffer in the playoffs with his at-bats resulting in less hits than they had for most of the season, he continued to dye his mustache before each game, believing the blue was spurring the team to wins.  

Hummel’s “thing” came about earlier. “Real Gone” was his walkup song for most of the season, though it wasn’t his first pick.  

By the end of the season he had his own custom-made walkup video, complete with the main character, racecar Lightning McQueen’s “oh yeah” intro — just like in the movie. It was beloved.  

Putting on a show 

Both Hummel and Lopez took advantage of a unique team culture that told fans and players alike, “let’s get weird,” which wasn’t a coincidence.  

UK Baseball Head Coach Nick Mingione is a strong believer in building the proper culture in his dugout and allowing his players to be the best versions of themselves. Sometimes that means letting his players try to stack all their caps on one person in the dugout or allowing them to wear bright pink bucket hats in the dugout that eventually catches on with fans.  

Sometimes, like in the case of Nick Lopez, it means altering their appearance to unlock confidence.  

“If that means he’s gotta paint his mustache blue because he loves that, then Nick Lopez gets to have a blue mustache,” Mingione said. “Because he believes that’s the best version of himself.”  

Hummel and Lopez carried that mindset into Banana Ball.  

“We’re trying to be the best versions of ourselves, compete and, of course, have fun. And they clearly have done that at a very high level,” said Mingione.  

Although Banana Ball might seem worlds away from SEC baseball, the competitive edge remains. In fact, adding trick plays to the game might make it harder.  

“As a hitter and fielder, it’s the biggest jump in the world,” said Hummel. “Pitchers don’t have to worry that much about the trick plays. We just have to worry about going out there and throwing strikes.”  

For Lopez, the biggest change has been perspective.  

“We’re putting on a show for the fans,” he said. “Whether you strike out or you hit a homerun, we’re trying to make it a fun experience. But we’re also competing.”  

That competition surfaced when Lopez and Hummel faced each other during their first Banana Ball season.  

“We’d just spent a whole year together, went to the College World Series together, and now we’re playing Banana Ball — basically together, but on opposite sides,” Hummel said.  

Both knew the at-bat mattered — not just for their new Banana Ball teams, but so they didn’t have to hear about it later from their former UK teammates.  

“I hate facing him,” Lopez said. “He’s good. He’s really good.”  

Lopez grounded out at second.  

"It felt good,” Hummel said. “It felt good to face him.”  

As the two continue their Banana Ball careers with the Firefighters and Texas Tailgaters, both remain deeply connected to their time at UK — as do the fans who still follow them and their former coach.