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Gades Greatness: Counting down top 12 moments of 2024, #12-10

Looking back at the best moments of a memorable season
By Joe Vasile/Hudson Valley Renegades
December 5, 2024

As we have hit the final month of the 2024 calendar, the time has come for our annual review of the Top 12 moments from the previous Hudson Valley Renegades season. The 2024 season was one of the most-memorable seasons in the 30 years of Renegades baseball, so much so

As we have hit the final month of the 2024 calendar, the time has come for our annual review of the Top 12 moments from the previous Hudson Valley Renegades season. The 2024 season was one of the most-memorable seasons in the 30 years of Renegades baseball, so much so that moments like Jackson Castillo's seven-RBI game, D.J. LeMahieu's MLB rehab, and Rascal & Rosie's wedding didn't make the cut.

As with previous seasons, we will reveal the countdown with three moments a week throughout the month of December. We start part 1 by looking back at moments 12 through 10.

12. Single-Game Attendance Record Broken Twice

The 2024 season saw the completion of the biggest transformation project in the history of Heritage Financial Park, with the new home clubhouse facility and expanded seating project finishing just before the start of the season. In doing so, the park saw its capacity increase and with it two new single-game attendance records. The first, set on Education Day presented by Heritage Financial Credit Union on May 15 against Jersey Shore saw 5,619 fans, mostly school children on field trips and their chaperones, brave the rain and watch the Renegades beat future big leaguer Sam Aldegheri and the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, 9-3. A few weeks later on July 4, the record was smashed when 6,176 fans came to see a 6-0 win over the Brooklyn Cyclones on Independence Day.

Throughout the season, crowds at Heritage Financial Park were large and energetic, and the team noticed and commented on how much they fed off that energy. The Renegades went an unbelievable 47-19 (.712) at home in 2024, the best home record in Minor League Baseball on the year and tied for the second-best in MiLB since 2017.

11. Rafael Flores Becomes All-Time Hit King

For the second straight season, the Hudson Valley Renegades saw a new record set for the team's all-time hits leader. After Eduardo Torrealba, Aldenis Sanchez, and Spencer Henson all passed former hit king Angel Perez in 2023, Rafael Flores passed the whole group in 2024 to establish himself as the Renegades' all-time hits leader by a mile. His 154 hits with the Gades are 20 more than Torrealba and Sanchez's mark of 134.

Flores collected his 135th hit on June 2 against the Aberdeen IronBirds with a single to right-center off Jackson Baumeister in the bottom of the first inning, his first of two hits on the day. That was part of an 11-game hitting streak for Flores, who hit .285/.403/.466 across 57 games before being promoted to Double-A Somerset in late June. This was part of a breakout season for the 23-year-old catcher, who was an unranked prospect before the season and was just ranked #10 in the Yankees system by Baseball America heading into 2025.

10. Moving On to the Championship Series Once Again

For the second straight season, the Renegades were South Atlantic League North Division Champions, this year defeating the Greensboro Grasshoppers two games to one in the best-of-three North Division Series. On Sept. 13, the Renegades beat the Grasshoppers 4-1 in Game 3 at First National Bank Field in Greensboro to clinch the series and play for the league title. After Josh Moylan and Roc Riggio RBIs early in the game, Jackson Castillo cracked a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to give the Gades some breathing room as Kyle Carr and four relief pitchers combined to limit the offensive juggernaut Grasshoppers to one run on four hits. In the four years that the Renegades have played in the High-A East/South Atlantic League, they have won the North Division three times (2021, 2023 and 2024).

Check back next week as we continue our countdown of the top moments of the year!