ALLENTOWN, Pa. – When the Party Animals take the field for the Banana Ball World Tour, they’re loud, wild and unforgettable.
And while the capacity crowds see the choreographed dances, the stunts and other carefully planned chaos — they rarely see the ones making the magic happen behind the scenes.
As LehighValleyNews.com learned Saturday, this traveling circus of baseball couldn’t run without its many unsung heroes — from an umpire with a background in parkour to a player director with a degree in entertainment design.
The Party Animals are at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown for two sold-out games this weekend, having played Saturday and due back again this afternoon against the Texas Tailgaters.
Meet Seth Markham, the Ninja Umpire
If you’ve ever been to a Party Animals game and spotted an umpire doing a backflip to call an out at first base, that’s probably Seth Markham.
Known as the “Ninja Umpire,” Seth has turned a childhood love of baseball and a knack for parkour into one of the most unexpected roles in Banana Ball.
Seth grew up with baseball in his blood, following in the footsteps of his two older brothers. He played up through rec ball, competed on a homeschool team back in Texas, and took his talents to college ball at Howard Payne University.
But in October last year, a tryout for the Party Animals changed everything.
“I went to a tryout to be a player. And halfway through the tryout, they threw me over there at first to go do some flips and stuff, because they saw me doing flips all over the place," he said.
Impressed by his acrobatics, the team told Seth they didn’t have a roster spot for him as a player — but asked if he’d ever thought about being an umpire.
“I’d never umpired before in my life,” he said, laughing. “But I said sure. Why not?”
"I'd never umpired before in my life. But I said sure, why not."Seth Markham, the Party Animals "Ninja Umpire"
After a trial run during spring training in January, Seth officially joined as an umpire in February. Since then, he’s made the role entirely his own — blending traditional umpiring with show-stopping tricks, all while wearing a ninja mask.
He’s quick to point out that timing is everything: “I learned that knowing where to be and where to look is key,” he said.
While Seth still trains with the hope of stepping in as a player someday, he’s become a crowd favorite in his role. And, utilizing a background in parkour lets him improvise new tricks on the fly – literally.
“Sometimes I’ll do a side flip, a front flip, maybe a handspring. It just depends on the moment,” he says. “It’s kind of trial and error. I’m still figuring it out.”
Bam & K-Roc: The high-energy hype duo
The “show” begins well before the Party Animals ever take the field — and that’s thanks in large part to Brandon ‘Bam’ Morales and Khalil 'K-Roc' Adams.
As core members of the team’s official dance crew, the Party Starters, these two bring the party to the ballpark, mixing dance, music and pure crowd-hyping energy into every game.
Adams, who’s been dancing since he was 12, got his start at Rockwell Dance Academy in Georgia. A connection with fellow dancer led him to the world of Banana Ball, and he’s been flipping the script on what a baseball show can be ever since.
Morales’ story started with an early love of Michael Jackson. His dance videos found a huge following on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, opening doors to gigs in commercials and music videos. When a call came from the Party Animals’ crew, he jumped at the chance to bring his moves to the ballgame.
Together since March, Bam and K-Roc love the freedom to be themselves on the field — dancing, singing, and keeping the crowd’s energy sky-high from the first pitch to the final out.
“It’s the free range to be yourself. There's no restrictions of who we can be. I love just having the range to be myself in all capacities,” Morales said.
And when the game’s over? They’re still signing autographs, taking pictures and making sure the party never really ends.
“Being here, it's like it's a whole different world,” Adams said.
Jordan Watson: Crafting the magic behind the madness
Jordan Watson has turned her love for creating unforgettable moments into a career that keeps thousands of fans cheering from first pitch to final out.
A recent graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in experience design, Jordan now serves as the Party Animals’ player director — a behind-the-scenes role that’s helps put the life into the phrase “life of the party.”
“The week kind of starts on a Tuesday for us,” Watson said.
“We have idea sessions. We all talk together — us, the broadcast team, the social team and the show director — about what we want to do that week, and what's trending, and songs we want to work with.
“We talk about it, and then we get a script together. We’ll do a table read, where we talk about what's in that script for the week, what we need, props wise, what we need people wise, who's doing what on the team.
“And then I tell the guys what the plan is. We run rehearsals with them, and then when game time comes, I make sure that they know when and where they need to be at what times.”
Before joining the Party Animals, Jordan built her skills as a show caller for BYU Athletics. But moving from the slightly more buttoned-up world of NCAA sports to the wild, anything-goes energy of Banana Ball has been a big change — and a big adventure.
“Creativity is a muscle, and we work it. We work it really hard,” she said. “We just try and constantly come up with ideas. And sometimes they're not good, but that's OK. We can always rework stuff, make it better.”
And her favorite part of being part of the job? The people and the passion. She loves seeing new ideas take off, like watching the Tailgaters — the Party Animals’ opponents — grow their own loyal fanbase almost overnight.
"We just try and constantly come up with ideas. And sometimes they're not good, but that's okay. We can always rework stuff, make it better.”Jordan Watson, player director for the Party Animals
And, whether she’s coordinating a run-through or looking out at a crowd of 60,000, she never takes the moment for granted.
“I will say, candidly, I feel like I've become a little desensitized to crowds, just because I work in front of them so often.
"But every once in a while, when I take a chance to slow down and really look around, I'm like, dang, there's so many people here, and I'm just really grateful that there are that many people that want to come watch us."
The Party Animals play the Texas Tailgaters again Sunday at Coca-Cola Park. The game is sold out, but will be broadcast on YouTube.
