Lancaster Stormers 15-game winning streak ties Atlantic League record

Things can change quickly in baseball. Just ask the Lancaster Stormers, who have been on a two-week tear that has not just turned their season around but has put them on the verge of history.

The Stormers, part of the MLB-partner Atlantic League and the two-time defending league champions, are on a league-record-tying 15-game winning streak that’s taken their ledger from 10-18 to 25-18. The team can set a new league record tonight with a win over the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. (Follow the game live here.)

The Stormers, based in Lancaster, Pa., began their streak May 26 with a 5-4 win over the Long Island Ducks and have kept rolling through a 4-3 win against the Flying Boxcars on Wednesday night, matching a record set by the 2000 Somerset Patriots.

Lancaster has done it with strong starting pitching and an offense that has averaged about six runs per game, led by infielder Cristian Santana, who, despite having left to play in Mexico earlier this month, leads the league with a .423 average and 47 RBIs, and is tied for second with 13 home runs. Meanwhile, infielder/outfielder Joseph Carpenter is on an 18-game hitting streak that’s seen him hit .373 with three homers and 17 RBIs.

It also can’t hurt that the team has a fresh new look, rebranding from the Barnstormers — which they’d been for the past 20 years since its inception — before the ’24 season.

“The boys are starting to play together, play for each other, and feed off each other,” said manager Ross Peeples. “After we started winning a few, and we got to that sixth and seventh point, then we got to eight and nine, I think they’re going out there and they’re taking the streak as a challenge.”

Given the nature of the Atlantic League, with players moving in and out for various reasons, including signing a contract with an affiliated team, the personnel can change quickly. But that aspect of the league hasn’t affected the Stormers. If anything, it’s been a net positive for the players.

“They see the activity, they see the action and it kind of motivates them a little bit too,” Peeples said.

Winning 15 straight is exceptional at any level of baseball. There have been just nine MLB teams in the Expansion Era to achieve winning streaks of 15 games of more. The Cardinals were the last to do it, winning 17 straight in 2021. The longest winning streak of the Expansion Era belongs to Cleveland, which won 22 straight in 2017. The Stormers’ previous longest winning streak was 12 games in 2018.

After recent changes to the structure of the Minor Leagues, with MLB teams being limited to a total of 165 affiliated players, the Atlantic League presents a key opportunity, Peeples said.

“When a guy gets hurt or whatever, [teams] pretty much have to come to the Atlantic League [for a replacement],” said Peeples, who has managed the team since 2017. “From what I heard, in the first five weeks of the season, there were 29 people taken, which is great. And it’s good for the league and it’s good for the players because they see the activity going on.”

Even with frequent roster changes, players on the Stormers have learned to quickly adapt to new teammates and learn each others’ games, which has helped fuel the team’s success during the winning streak, Peeples said.

“Just the boys feeding off each other and kind of coming together … that’s been fun to watch,” he said.

The 11-team Atlantic League and other partner leagues work with MLB on various initiatives and provide organized baseball in communities around the United States and Canada. The leagues offer development for young players and give older players another shot to reach the Majors. The Atlantic League has sent more than 1,400 players to big-league organizations in its 26 years of existence.