As the college baseball season kicks into high gear, The Kitten has learned that Clemson Baseball is leaving the ACC. Starting next year, the Tigers will be playing in the all-new Banana Ball Championship League.

The Banana Ball Championship League was announced last year, with two new teams joining the four current ones to create a six-team league. Clemson baseball is set to be one of those two new teams, which should not come as a surprise.

This move has been in the works for months. As Clemson was engaged in a legal battle with the ACC, the baseball team knew it needed to do something to ensure stability. By moving to Banana Ball, stability is what the Tigers have found.
And what could possibly be more stable than Banana Ball? The sport sells out major league ballparks and NFL stadiums each year.

Banana Ball was a hit when it came to Clemson late last year, and the game later this month sold out Memorial Stadium in mere hours. Clemson head coach Rick Ackich laid out the plans for the team as it is set to take on this new challenge.

“With the upcoming game in Memorial Stadium already being such a hit with fans, the plan is to convert the football field into a baseball diamond for the entire duration of the Banana Ball season,” Ackich said.

“With the timing of football season and Banana Ball season, it only makes perfect sense to sell out all 80,000 seats for our numerous home games that we’ll be playing next year.”

The Tigers already occasionally play Banana Ball during team practices, even though the team is just a group of typical baseball players. As Clemson transitions into Banana Ball, the team is ready for the challenge.

“We’re going to be doing things you have never seen in a football or baseball stadium before,” Ackich said. “There’s going to be dances, there’s going to be singing, and there’s even going to be a live tiger roaming the stands!”

While the Banana Ball season does not conflict with football season, Clemson often hosts an annual spring game in Death Valley. Ackich insisted that the spring game would still go on as usual — with a twist.

“For the spring game next year, we’ve decided to create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans,” Ackich said. “We’re going to be playing Banana Ball and the spring game on the same field at the same time. We might use footballs as baseballs or baseballs as footballs. It’ll be like nothing that has ever been seen before.”

The change from typical baseball to Banana Ball is sure to turn some heads. However, even the Savannah Bananas were a college team first, and they were called crazy too.

When asked to describe Clemson’s shift from baseball to Banana Ball, Ackich summed his feelings into one sentence.

“It doesn’t even seem real.”

This satirical article is part of The Tiger’s April Fool’s edition, The Kitten. This story was written for comedic purposes and has no verifiable truth to it.