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Flying Squirrels close The Diamond era with record attendance

Free Press staff report | 9/18/2025, 6 p.m.
The Richmond Flying Squirrels ended their final season at The Diamond with record-setting crowds and a 5-2, 10-inning loss to …
A record crowd packs The Diamond on Sunday as the Richmond Flying Squirrels close out the stadium’s 40-year history with the “Diamonds Aren’t Forever” Farewell Series. Photo courtesy of The Flying Squirrels

The Richmond Flying Squirrels ended their final season at The Diamond with record-setting crowds and a 5-2, 10-inning loss to the Hartford Yard Goats on Sunday. 

The six-game “Diamonds Aren’t Forever: The Farewell Series,” drew 52,027 fans, surpassing the club’s 50,000-fan goal and setting a franchise record for a homestand. The team posted three consecutive sellouts of 9,810 fans for the first time in its 15-year history. 

Richmond averaged 6,768 fans per game this season, the highest in franchise history and the top mark for an Eastern League club in 20 years. Total attendance reached 446,679, the team’s highest since 2011. The Flying Squirrels led all 30 Double-A teams in total and average attendance for the fourth straight year and rank sixth among 120 Minor League Baseball teams in average attendance. 

“These numbers reflect what we’ve always known — Richmond has the very best fans in baseball,” president and managing partner Lou DiBella said. “When we set a goal of 50,000 for the Farewell Series, it wasn’t about a number, it was about community.” 

The Diamond, which opened in 1985, has hosted professional baseball for four decades, from the Richmond Braves to the Flying Squirrels. Sunday’s crowd pushed the ballpark’s all-time attendance to 16,674,494. 

On the field, Hartford broke a 2-2 tie in the 10th inning on a two-out RBI single by Bryant Betancourt and a two-run double by Julio Carreras off Tyler Vogel (1-1). Richmond had tied the game in the seventh on a Diego Velasquez groundout and a Nate Furman RBI single. Ryan Murphy started for the Flying Squirrels, allowing one run over 4 2/3 innings. 

The Flying Squirrels (66-78-1, 35-32) saw a four-game win streak snapped. Hartford finished 69-68, 33-35. 

Construction is underway on CarMax Park, the Flying Squirrels’ new ballpark, scheduled to open for the 2026 season. Richmond begins the 2026 season April 3 at Erie, with its home opener at CarMax Park set for April 7. 




 Photo courtesy of The Flying Squirrels 

A record crowd packs The Diamond on Sunday as the Richmond Flying Squirrels close out the stadium’s 40-year history with the “Diamonds Aren’t Forever” Farewell Series.