'Go be great': Mo'ne Davis supports former Little League teammate Bandura

ST. LOUIS -- More than a decade before Scott Bandura reached the Major Leagues, Mo’ne Davis was there alongside him.

So when Bandura finally got there, Davis wanted to be there again.

​Davis made the trip to Busch Stadium on Tuesday night to watch her longtime friend and former Little League teammate play for the Giants in their 10-3 win over the Cardinals, a reunion made possible by a coincidence of their respective baseball schedules. Davis is playing for the Los Angeles Queens of the Women’s Professional Baseball League, whose inaugural Championship Series begins Wednesday in nearby Springfield, Ill.

“This has always been his dream, to be in the bigs,” Davis said. “So for me to come watch him play is pretty cool.”

The friendship goes back nearly two decades, long before either could have imagined where baseball would eventually take them.

In 2008, Scott’s father, Steve Bandura, was dragging the infield following a 10-and-under game for the Anderson Monarchs, the South Philadelphia youth program he has run since 1995. Some of his players were throwing a football around in the outfield when a little girl caught his attention.

Davis, then 7, was there because her cousin played for the Monarchs. Bandura watched as she ran around competing with boys in the outfield.

He stopped the tractor.

“I went over and introduced myself,” Steve said. “I said, ‘What’s your name? Why are you here?’”

Bandura had recently assembled another group of 7-year-olds for basketball. He handed Davis his phone number and invited her to practice. He didn’t expect to hear from her again.

Her mother called. Davis showed up that Tuesday.

“She’s been with the squad ever since,” Steve said.

That squad included Scott. The group stayed together across baseball, basketball and soccer, and Steve quickly learned that Davis’ athleticism translated to just about anything.

He still remembers one of her first indoor baseball practices. Davis had barely worn a glove before when she stepped forward to pitch to him. Steve caught the ball and instinctively threw it back harder than he intended.

Davis snagged it.

The ability that caught Steve’s eye eventually caught the attention of the country. In 2014, Davis and Scott helped lead Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons to the Little League World Series semifinals. Davis became the first girl to earn a win and throw a shutout in LLWS history, while Bandura served as her catcher and hit atop the lineup.

But their relationship extended well beyond the diamond.

After Davis’ family moved to New Jersey following the Little League World Series, she moved into the Bandura home while attending school in Philadelphia. Steve’s daughter had moved to New York to pursue ballet, leaving an open bedroom.

Davis moved into it and stayed for roughly five years.

“She’s like our daughter,” Steve said, “and like Scott’s sister.”

That relationship has remained even as their careers sent them in different directions. Davis played softball at Hampton University before returning to baseball with the WPBL. Bandura went to Princeton, became a seventh-round Giants Draft pick in 2023 and climbed from Double-A Richmond to Triple-A Sacramento this season before receiving his first Major League callup Sunday.

Davis celebrated that milestone on Instagram with a simple message: “My brother is a Giant. Go be great!”

“We always try to support each other as much as possible, even though we’re so far around the country,” Davis said. “We know that there’s always love and support there, no matter what.”

Baseball has already created a few unlikely reunions.

Earlier this year, Davis was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Jackie Robinson Night at a Hartford Yard Goats game. The opponent happened to be Richmond, where Bandura was playing at the time.

Naturally, Bandura came out of the visiting dugout to catch it.

Tuesday brought another coincidence. Davis had to be in Springfield for Wednesday’s WPBL Championship Series opener, placing her a couple hours away while Bandura and the Giants were in St. Louis. So she headed to Busch Stadium.

For Bandura, it was another chapter in a whirlwind few days. He made his Major League debut Sunday at Oracle Park, collecting his first hit and scoring a run in front of 35,115 fans. The crowd itself brought back memories of Williamsport, Pa., where he had last played in front of that many people as a 12-year-old.

Steve believes those experiences helped prepare a group that has continued finding its way through baseball.

But Steve remembers that group less for the stages it reached than for how it handled them.

“They never got too high when they won and never got too low when they lost,” he said.

Davis and Bandura have spent most of their lives sharing those stages, from South Philadelphia to Williamsport and beyond.

Now, 12 years after Bandura caught for Davis as she captivated the baseball world, she was sitting in the stands at Busch Stadium watching him live out the dream they grew up chasing together.

“It’s been pretty cool,” Davis said. “Just always being there for each other.”