LANCASTER, Pa. — The Lancaster Stormers held their home opener festivities on Tuesday evening, ahead of their very first game back in town after their back-to-back championship win in 2023.
Along with the new hardware, a new name, new turf and a brand-new baseball season, there’s a whole lot to celebrate for the Lancaster Stormers.
"I've had a lot of special moments here," said Lancaster Stormers President Mike Reynolds. "This is going to rank probably the top one."
The organization held a 20th-anniversary celebration along with a ring ceremony for their championship-winning players. It was a special home opener that fans have had marked on their calendars for months.
"It's been months and months through winter," said Zach Duty, a Stormers fan from Ephrata. "It's good to see them all back and pumped and ready to go."
Some fans even got some hardware of their own. The first one thousand fans who were 18 and older received replica championship rings. It was all part of a night about showing how much the community has been part of their winning run.
"It gets emotional thinking about the support we get from the community," said Reynolds. "We don’t exist without the community. This is not the owner's team. This is not my team, my colleague's team, the players' team. This is all of our team."
"The fans are the blood and the life of the team," said Jose Carrasco, a long-time Stormers fan from Mountville. "We deserve a ring as much as the players. We didn't physically play but we supported them, and our players have always asked us for support and we've never turned them down."
Although there might be new turf at Clipper Magazine Stadium and even a new name for the organization, the goal remains the same, to win another Atlantic League championship.
"We always want to have success both on and off the field but we also like to be the first of some things," said Reynolds. "There have been four back-to-back champions in the Atlantic League. There's never been a three peat in the Atlantic League."
The Stormers supporters are just as confident, especially with a home opener 6-1 win over the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.
"I can guarantee it the way this team is," said Duty.