The Banana Ball league has erupted onto the scene, selling out various MLB, college baseball, football and softball stadiums across the country. The barnstorming league has expanded recently to six teams that features a fast-paced, show-stopping style of baseball that has taken the nation by storm.
👀 LOOK AHEAD: Everything you need to know for the 2026 NCAA DI softball tournament.
There have been a handful of women to make short stinted appearances in the league, some coming from college softball or from women's professional baseball. In fact, 2024 was Banana Ball's first season with full-time women athletes featured on the squads.
Let's take a look at four athletes that went from NCAA DI softball to become full-time members of Banana Ball.
1. Kelsie Whitmore | Cal State Fullerton | Savannah Bananas
Kelsie Whitmore became the first woman to pitch a full inning in the Banana Ball League.
Whitmore played baseball through high school after making Team USA's women's national team in 2014. Prior to dawning the yellow Banana jersey, Whitmore played right field for Cal State Fullerton from 2017-21, earning Big West Player of the Year her final season when she hit .395 and drove in 35 runs while not committing an error in the field.
When she wasn't on the softball diamond, Whitmore made efforts to fine tune her skills with the Titan baseball team whenever possible. She was not ready to give up her baseball dream when she reached college even though she adapted to the world of softball. She knew there was a reason for her passion, growing up dreaming about playing at Petco Park.
After Whitmore graduated, she had stints with a few professional baseball teams before finding herself searching for a new destination. That's when the Bananas called.
Her role on the Bananas has primarily been on the mound. In the ballpark she once dreamed about playing in, Whitmore took the mound in Petco Park in September 2025 where she became the first woman to record a strikeout in Banana Ball history.
"Being able to be a role model for young girls in the game is huge, and it's important for me because growing up, I didn't really have a female role model," Whitmore said. "There weren't females playing in the big leagues, and so I was looking up to a lot of male baseball players. I think it would have been really huge to be able to see that."
2. Ashton Lansdell | Ole Miss | Party Animals
You may know the name Ashton Lansdell from Ole Miss' historic run in the 2025 NCAA DI softball tournament, showing out in some big ways for the Rebels while playing on the hot corner.
For instance, she made a diving catch that turned into a game-ending double in Ole Miss' opening round win against Grand Canyon in the Tucson regional.
The momentum from that very first game carried the Rebels onto the next, finding themselves against No. 4 Arkansas in a super regional, when she delivered again, knocking a two-run blast in the third before securing the 9-7 upset and ultimately clinching a trip to OKC.
Hey you might wanna see this 🤯 |
— Ole Miss Softball (@OleMissSoftball)
When it came to Banana Ball, it seemed like Lansdell was the perfect match. Her background in high school baseball as well as her selection in the Women's Professional Baseball League and Team USA made her the prime candidate. Yet, her theatrics and flare on the diamond is what made her a Party Animal.
Not to mention... that Hotty Toddy blood never left. Especially when Lansdell found herself playing second base for the Party Animals at Mississippi State's Nusz Park last season, becoming the first female to start in Banana Ball; "I just felt like something crazy was going to happen..of course, in enemy territory, I had to rebel in Mississippi State," Lansdell said.
A few innings in, she laid out for a one-hop line drive to secure the out and ripped open her jersey (in true Party Animal fashion) to show an Ole Miss shirt underneath while throwing up the Land Shark sign.
Mississippi State fans, look away 😅
— Banana Ball (@BananaBall_)
Ole Miss softball alum Ashton Lansdell () revealed a "Hotty Toddy" shirt under her jersey after making an incredible diving play in Starkville 👀
Lansdell is now in her second season with the Party Animals and recently became the second woman to preform a trick play in the league on March 9.
3. Valerie Perez | Texas A&M CC | Firefighters
Valerie Perez has a little bit of a different story, working at the helm of the Firefighters club after securing the manager role before the 2025 season.
Perez started at shortstop for Texas A&M Corpus Christi from 2010-14 before joining the Fire. She made Team USA's women's baseball team in 2023 from experience playing the sport through eighth grade. After getting a DM to come try out for Banana Ball soon after securing her spot on Team USA, things just seemed to fall into place.
"So the day before my tryout, they announced that they were going to create another team, the third team called the Firefighters. I was a firefighter for about eight years at this time," Perez said.
With the Firefighter team officially added to the league in 2023, Perez was named the manager of the club, becoming the first woman to serve at the head of a Banana Ball team. Her experience serving as firefighter plays a tremendous role in her leadership, as well as shaping the group's culture to represent something bigger than themselves.
Perez noted the team honors an active-serving firefighter before each game — the players even hold mustache growing competitions so they can play the part.
Her leadership has not only affected those on her team, but other women in the sport. She has served as a mentor towards Ashton Lansdell throughout the years. The two even faced each other in a Firefighter vs. Party Animal game as Perez took the mound against Lansdell to make history as the first all-female square off.
4. Megan Wiggins | Georgia | Texas Tailgaters
Before Megan Wiggins become a Tailgater, she was hitting dimes for Georgia.
In 2010, the Dawgs were making a run in the NCAA tournament. Wiggins was a large part of that success, knocking a three-run blast in the Bulldogs' 10-1 win over Cal before delivering a grand slam against top-ranked and defending national champion Washington in the WCWS. ;
📺 REWIND: Georgia upset Washington in the 2010 WCWS
But how'd the Georgia girl make her way to Texas?
After playing professional softball for 14 years, she got the opportunity to try out for Banana Ball. However, unlike the other women in the league, Wiggins had never played baseball. Once she got the call, confirming her spot on the Tailgaters, there was a learning curve Wiggins had to understand.
"My glove pocket was molded for a softball. So obviously, I'm pretty decent at catching softballs. It goes in my glove. It stays in my glove. So I go out there like first couple of practices, like trying to catch baseballs with my glove that I've used in softball, and these balls are flying out," Wiggins said.
She noted how a Party Animal, former Georgia football player Jake Skoll, gave her one of his old gloves that was already molded to catch and hold a baseball.
Megan Wiggins () picked up the first hit in her Banana Ball career in front of 40,000 fans in PNC Park 👏
— Banana Ball (@BananaBall_)
What started as a two-month stint in the league turned into a full-time opportunity. Wiggins is currently facing an injury in this season but looks forward to taking the field once again with the Tailgaters after recovery.
✍️ WANT MORE? Check out how the players went from college baseball to Banana Ball
Between becoming the first-evers and creating categories of their own, the women of Banana Ball have paved the way for women and girls around the world. Their legacies will have a long-standing impact as the league continues to grow.
