After losing out on the opportunity to play baseball his senior year at Oakdale High School due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brett Maddock never envisioned he would be standing on the mound at a Major League ballpark in Anaheim, staring down a hitter.

Especially if that hitter was armed with a light saber and Maddock received the game ball from Darth Vader.

But that has been just one of the unique experiences for the 2020 OHS graduate, who now plays for the Indianapolis Clowns, one of six teams in the entertaining, fan-focused and wildly popular Banana Ball Championship League.

Banana Ball founder Jesse Cole makes sure the fans are always first, Maddock said, which means he spends as much – or more – time meeting and greeting fans than actually playing the game.

The Savannah Bananas were the original team in the league and have since been joined by the Party Animals, Firefighters, Texas Tailgaters, Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns. Both the Coconuts and Clowns are new to the league this season.

A pitcher for Indianapolis, Maddock was invited to the try outs – along with about 2,500 other invitees – and was one of those that made it through to the draft day. There, he was selected by the Indianapolis Clowns and is in his first season with the team.

“I tried out in May of 2025, so a long time ago, but the draft wasn’t until November,” explained Maddock, who was drafted in November 2025 and started training and preparing for the 2026 Banana Ball season shortly thereafter.

During the period from when he tried out to when he was drafted, Maddock continued with his ‘day job’ – working as a nurse in the emergency department at a hospital in Wichita, Kansas. He earned his nursing degree from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas and played collegiate baseball there.

“They liked me at the try outs,” Maddock said of the Banana Ball staff. “I tried out in scrubs.”

Showing that lighthearted approach, Maddock fit in well with the entertainment aspect of Banana Ball. With some 2,500 ball players trying out, only 160 were taken to draft day and, out of those, Maddock was one of just 88 players selected in the draft.

He said that while players do learn choreographed dances and certain routines that are incorporated as part of the game, the baseball itself is real, and each team is trying to win.

There are 11 established rules for the Banana Ball teams and the league in general, including those that state there are no bunts; if a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out; there is a two-hour time limit for the game; and until the final inning, there are no ‘runs’ scored, rather, the team that scores more runs than the other in an inning earns a point. So, he explained, if the Clowns score three runs in an inning and the Bananas score two, the Clowns would receive one point to none for the Bananas. In the final inning, however, each run scored is worth a point and the team with the most points wins.

Banana Ball is so popular that people have to enter a lottery to win the chance to buy tickets. Every game is a sellout, said Maddock, and the schedule this summer has the Clowns traveling throughout the country, from Anaheim, California to Charleston, South Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“It’s important that you throw strikes,” he said of taking his work on the mound seriously, with the goal of Banana Ball to keep the game moving at a fast pace.

If the batter does take a ball four, Maddock said it’s considered a “Ball four sprint” and every defensive player has to touch the ball, with throws going from one player to another; the batter runs as far as he can on the base paths until all on defense have touched the ball.

Maddock said the season runs through October and the Clowns will play a 60-game schedule.

The team travels together; Maddock has a roommate on the road and he said he is learning to balance the baseball and entertainment aspects of his new profession.

“I like bonding with my teammates and it’s awesome getting to see the kids; they light up when they see you so I love just the impact that we can have on them,” he explained.

It is a rigorous schedule, as the ballplayers typically get to the ballpark several hours prior to a game, as they work on the dance routines they will use in that day’s game, then take some time to sign autographs and meet with fans on the field.

There is also ‘Banana Ball Backstage’ following that, to meet with VIB’s, Very Important Bananas, who get a little more interaction with the players prior to the contest.

Maddock said there’s also something happening on the field in between innings, as the entertainment value is ramped up with such activities as the world’s slowest race – featuring crawling babies trying to beat each other to the finish line – along with various in game promotions.

The pitcher said he is usually used in the later innings so he starts most games in the crowd, taking photos, signing autographs, and tossing beads to those in attendance.

When Maddock had the opportunity to play at Anaheim, in Angel Stadium, it was the first professional park he played in. Many games are at Minor League parks but the Clowns also have games this season scheduled at the Major League parks for the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians.

The nurse-turned-pitcher shared that he can hit 90 miles an hour from the mound and his repertoire includes a fast ball, curve, slider and change-up.

And while it’s hard to get tickets to games, Maddock said Banana Ball founder Cole wants to provide access for fans, again putting them first, by streaming the games on YouTube. The rules of Banana Ball can also be found there and the players typically offer a strong social media presence as well.

“People ask if the games are scripted; they’re not,” added Maddock. “There is the entertainment aspect of it because we want to put on a good show for all the fans but there still is the baseball side of it.”

It’s too soon to tell whether this will be Maddock’s only season with the Banana Ball organization. There will be another draft in the fall but for now, he is just enjoying the experience and the opportunity being an Indianapolis Clown has given him.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “We get to travel the country and it’s a great feeling. We get to connect with so many kids; we get to impact so many people in a positive way … there’s no better feeling. Honestly, I always compare it to nursing, without the tragedy. I get all the positives of nursing without having to deal with the harsh outcomes.”