‘All For Fun’: A Baylor graduate’s journey from China Spring to Savannah
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Making your way in sports play-by-play broadcasting is hard.
At the start of your career, it usually calls for long hours in small towns, calling lower level games.
But one broadcaster who cut his teeth in central Texas, is bucking that trend by doing play-by-play for one of the hottest tickets in sports entertainment.
Baylor alum Drake Toll has traded in the suit and tie for a fur coat and sunglasses, as he’s gone from doing play-by-play for the China Spring Cougars to calling games for the Savannah Party Animals in the Banana Ball Championship League.
“China Spring was couple perms and fur coats ago,” said Toll from his home in Savannah.
“It’s crazy to think that, go from 4A Division I play-by-play to the party animals who have five plus million combined followers, but I had just as much fun in China Spring. I had just as much fun in Waco and at Baylor doing the exact same thing. And a lot of what I built my career on in the beginning was fun. Was being able to bring the exact same atmosphere that I bring to a party animals game but it was China Spring. It was high school. It was Sic ‘Em 365 or it was Locked On Baylor. Doing coverage around the Bears and for the Bears or for the Cougars, I just wanted to have fun.”
And it would be hard to disagree that Toll was having fun, if you look at his old play-by-play footage.
“There was trip we had to Alvarado where I was so over the top in the Alvarado home press box, they called the police and threatened to arrest are entire radio crew,” said Toll.
“Legendary. Awesome. But it was that level of ‘Hey I’m not saying anything that’s against the rules or toes the line too far. Passes it. I’m just having a good time.”
Toll a native of Vilonia, Arkansas that has a population around 4,500 got his start with the Party Animals in 2023. He is now broadcasting his good time to ten’s of thousands of viewers.
“The first time I showed up to a game and someone had my license plate around their neck with my last name on it, it was an Arkansas license plate, I thought ‘This is big’“, said Toll.
“The people know about this. The people are paying attention. Sometimes I’ll say things on a broadcast and forget in any given night 30 to 50 thousand people are watching.”
It’s an interesting life the young broadcaster leads as, like many young broadcasters, he’s never in one place for long.
From February to September, he’s on the road as Banana Ball grows in popularity selling out stadiums across the county. But it seems Toll is living his best life.
“So I’ve gotten to ride in a hot air balloon in New Mexico,” said Toll as he began recounting his escapades.
“Ride a Jet Ski in Lake Tahoe. Ski train with the U.S. Olympic ski team. Climb mountains and visit the Grand Canyon. The list kind of goes on with the amount of cool places that I’ve visited. I’ve been to Hudson, Wisconsin. Middle of nowhere Hudson, Wisconsin. Sat on the river in a dive bar, the oldest dive bar in Wisconsin, 1860, and had a drink. And it’s those moments with your best friends who you’re on the road with that fill you back up.”
“Am I tried”, Toll continued. “Constantly. All the time. When do I sleep? The airport mostly. But I’m 24-years-old. I’ve gotten to see the world. I’ve gotten to see so much of the country that most people would only dream to do. And they can only do on their own dime on vacation and take out a loan for it. We do it every week for free. we get paid to do it. That keeps you going. Is it tiring? Is it hard? Absolutely. I’m lying if I said it’s not, it’s a job. The J 0 B word doesn’t change, but it’s the best job in the world.”
At the end of the day for Toll it all goes back to having fun and providing entertainment to all that come to the stadiums or tune in to the games. Falling in line with the Savannah bananas mission statement of ‘Fans First’.
“My kids loved it, I loved it,” said Toll. “We left feeling whole and like we got something out of tonight. That’s the goal when you walk away from a Party Animals game or a Banana Ball game.”
“Seeing the way the kids buy in isn’t just seeing happiness and fruitfulness from what we’re able to produce, it’s seeing the longevity of my job. It’s seeing the growth of this sport. It’s seeing how we can evolve in the next 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 100 years and build Banana Ball. On the back of kids who grew up saying ‘I want to play Banana Ball. I want to watch Banana Ball.’ Little girls who say ‘I want to play Banana Ball’ and watch some of the best female athletes in the country play for our teams. That’s what’s going to keep us alive.”
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