The Richmond Flying Squirrels posted one of their most successful seasons in 2026, from new attendance records to a dominating first half to clinch a postseason berth.
On the field, the Richmond offense set new franchise records in a handful of categories.
The team posted the highest batting average in the franchise’s history, hitting .264 for the year, which was seven points higher than the previous record of .257 in 2016. It also marked a 36-point jump from the 2025 Flying Squirrels team average of .228.
Early-season numbers from Jonah Cox (.400 in 44 games) and Scott Bandura (.324 in 37 games) helped set the tone. In the second half, Trever Cohen (.300 in 49 games) and Gavin Kilen (.297 in 33 games) led Richmond hitters.
Diego Velasquez hit .295 over his 85 games with the Flying Squirrels this year. For his Richmond career dating back to 2024, he hit .277 over 255 games. That has him tied for the third-highest career average in franchise history (min. 700 plate appearances), even with Kelby Tomlinson (2013-2015) and trailing only Mark Minicozzi (.298, 2012-2013) and Juan Perez (.280, 2011-2012).
The 2026 Flying Squirrels also posted the highest on-base percentage in team history at .345, ahead of the previous record of .333 in 2013. In his 22 games, Drew Cavanaugh posted a .456 OBP. Cox had an Eastern League-best .453 OBP at the time of his promotion to the majors in May. Bandura was second in the EL with a .430 OBP when he was promoted to Sacramento in May, trailing only Cox.
The Richmond offense combined for a franchise record with a .411 slugging percentage this year, passing a .400 mark in 2021 for the overall record and a .395 SLG in 2022 for the highest in a full-length season. Bo Davidson posted a .521 SLG during his time in Richmond this year, which was the highest in franchise history (min. 300 PA). At the time of his promotion, Cox led the EL with a .644 SLG, which was tied for fourth in the minors.
The team’s .756 OPS was also a new franchise record, passing a .722 mark in 2021 and a .715 OPS in 2013 for the highest in a full-length year. When he was called up to San Francisco in May, Cox led the EL and was second in the minors with a 1.097 OPS. Cavanaugh (.971) and Bandura (.909) were among the league leaders when they were promoted to Sacramento. Parks Harber (.879) and Davidson (.861) were other standouts with the Flying Squirrels this year.
The Flying Squirrels scored a franchise-record 707 runs in 2026, passing the old franchise record of 658 from 2023. Sabin Ceballos led the team with 69 runs, tied for the eighth-most in a season in team history. He was closely followed by Maui Ahuna (63) and Charlie Szykowny (61). A three-run homer by Lisbel Diaz in the first inning on August 30 against Portland at CarMax Park set the new single-season mark.
Along with a new record for runs scored, the team set a franchise record with 652 RBIs, 48 more than the old team record of 604 in 2023. Zane Zielinski set the new record with an RBI single in the seventh inning on August 29 against Portland at CarMax Park. Ceballos (57), Davidson (53) and Szykowny (53) led the team for the year.
The Richmond offense combined for a team-record 1,850 total bases, which beat the previous record of 1,769 in 2013. Szykowny led the team with 180, which was the 16th-highest total in a season in franchise history. He was ninth in the league in total bases when he was promoted to Sacramento in August.
On the bases, the Flying Squirrels set a new franchise record with 204 steals, passing the old record of 168 from 2014 by 36. The new record was set on a double steal on August 18 at Chesapeake, with Ahuna swiping second and Diaz scoring from third. The team set a single-game record with 11 stolen bases on July 29 at Somerset, including a record for the most steals in an inning with six in the top of the third. Ahuna led the team with 31 steals, sixth-most in a season in franchise history, and posted a .886 stolen base percentage (31-for-35), which was the highest in team history (min. 25 attempts). Over his two months in Richmond, Cox had 27 steals, which led the EL at the time of his promotion.
The Flying Squirrels had a team-record 53 sacrifice flies, which tied Erie for the most in the Eastern League this season. The previous franchise record was 49 in 2012, which was passed with the team’s 50th of the year on August 26 off the bat of Diaz. There were 21 different players who registered at least one sacrifice fly for the Flying Squirrels in 2026, led by five from Szykowny.
Richmond scored 10-or-more runs 13 times in 2026, passing the previous record of 11 games with 10+ runs scored in 2023. The team topped out at 18 runs scored in a game on April 30 in an 11-inning win at Altoona, which included a 12-run top of the 11th.
Over the season, the Flying Squirrels had at least one walk-off win in all but two of their series at home. They had 12 walk-off wins overall, which tied 2017 for the most in a season in franchise history. Velasquez led the team with three, all in 10th innings. Cavanaugh, Harber and Dayson Croes each had two. The team also set a franchise record with 32 one-run wins, which led the Eastern League.
Richmond had five wins after trailing by five-or-more runs this year. They had not picked up more than two wins in a season after trailing by five-or-more runs previously. On May 8, they tied the largest comeback win in franchise history, overcoming a six-run deficit against Akron at CarMax Park for a 9-6 win. They surpassed that record with an eight-run comeback win on September 1 in Akron, picking up a 13-12 win after trailing, 9-1, earlier in the game.
The late-game success was helped by a franchise-record .277 batting average in the ninth inning, which led the Eastern League and ranked fourth in MiLB. Ahuna posted a .400 batting average and .450 OBP over 42 ninth-inning plate appearances with two homers, four doubles and 11 runs scored. In smaller samples, Harber hit .421 in 21 plate appearances and Velasquez batted .381 in 27. Ty Hanchey hit .364 over his 23 ninth-inning plate appearances.
Getting a little deeper into the details, the Flying Squirrels led MiLB with a .300 batting average by ninth-place batters for the season, which was a franchise record and the highest in the Eastern League since Akron in 2014 (.306). Cox inflated the numbers, hitting .421 over his 28 games in the ninth spot. Velasquez (.336, 36 games) and Aeverson Arteaga (.615, 4 games) were also positive contributors. Ahuna (2-for-2) and Ceballos (1-for-1) were perfect in their appearances out of the ninth spot. Turner Hill was 2-for-4 in his one game batting ninth.
Richmond pinch-hitters on the year hit .269 (7-for-26), which was the highest in the era of the universal designated hitter since 2022. Along with Portland this year, the Flying Squirrels’ two pinch-hit home runs were the most by an EL team in that same span. Cavanaugh hit a walk-off, two-run homer with two outs and two strikes pinch-hitting in the ninth inning on April 24 against Somerset. As a pinch-hitter, Hanchey hit a two-out, two-strike, three-run homer to tie the score in the seventh inning in a comeback win at Harrisburg on August 12.
