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Colorado County youth baseball player Rockwell Kovar walked into a Savannah Bananas game this summer on stilts. A few innings later, he was walking across the field to meet the player who inspired him to get on them in the first place.
What followed turned a trip to Savannah Bananas University into a summer experience that the Kovar family won’t soon forget.
Rockwell’s parents signed him up for Savannah Bananas University in Savannah, Georgia, a camp and tournament hosted by the popular baseball organization. The family also had an opportunity to purchase tickets to the Bananas’ July 30 game.
The Savannah Bananas have built a national following by blending baseball with entertainment, a style akin to basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters. Players perform tricks including backflips and play under unconventional rules – like being able to steal first base - designed to keep the game moving and fans involved.
Among those players is Dakota “Stilts” Albritton, known for playing baseball while towering above the field on stilts, and Rockwell was already following in his footsteps.
Rockwell brought his own stilts to Savannah Bananas University, where his ability to walk and play on them caught the attention of coaches. Bananas Assistant Coach Bryce Stober encouraged him to wear them to that night’s game.
“He wore his stilts into the game, spoke to the head coach, Coach Gillum, who mentioned to him that Dakota ‘Stilts’ Albritton had seen him,” Rockwell’s mother, Kacy Kovar, said. “A few innings later, Coach Gillum came up to the fence and asked him to follow him.”
That left Mom on the other side of the fence wondering how she was going to document what was happening.
“After a few minutes, I beckoned one of the famous ‘Man-Nanas’ — or Dad Bod Cheer Squad — members, handed him my phone and asked if he would please go take some pictures for me,” Kovar said.
“He was escorted across the field and had an opportunity to speak to Stilts before his on-camera appearance,” Kovar continued. “After that, Stilts kept him in the dugout. They discussed baseball, stilts techniques and life! Then, they brought him into the locker room and did an interview with him for social media.”
For Rockwel l, meeting Albritton proved the old warning about never meeting your heroes wrong.
As the game wound down, Kovar said a security guard approached her and told her that once the stands emptied, she would be allowed onto the field to join Rockwell and Albritton.
The two spent approximately two hours playing catch, both on and off stilts, and the following day, he showed up to watch Rockwell play in his Savannah Bananas University game.
“His hero is exactly who he thought he would be — kind, thoughtful and fun,” Kovar said. “We are still in touch and will continue to be as Rockwell continues on his stilts/baseball journey.”
Afterward, Kovar received a message from one of Rockwell’s former teachers that put the experience into perspective.
The teacher sent her a photo from a school project Rockwell completed the previous year. Students had been asked a simple question: If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?
The photo showed Rockwell standing on stilts at school beside his presentation.
On the screen was a photograph of Dakota Albritton standing on his stilts at a Savannah Bananas game.
Months later, Rockwell didn’t just get to meet the person he’d chosen for that imaginary dinner; got to stand beside his hero on stilts and play catch.
