O'FALLON, Mo. — It’s been a long road for the River City Rascals.
It started more than 20 years ago, when the Independent league team sold their first ticket in O’Fallon. But now, two decades later, the Rascals now face the end of that road.
“We never thought that the team would fold. We hoped it would go on forever," 20-year season ticket holder Vicki Vineyard said.
Thursday night’s one to nothing loss to Washington felt different, though. Because it was. It was the last regular season game in Rascals history, after the team announced earlier this month it would fold at the close of the season.
Everywhere you looked around the stadium Thursday night, someone had a story.
“We watched the kids grow up here, we made friends here, people we didn’t know before we came to the ballpark," long time fan Teresa Holt said.
“For 12 years I got the great joy of being the mascot that ran around and danced on these dugouts and did all the crazy things you could imagine," original Rascals mascot Rob Gerard said.
“It’s hard for me to walk on the concourse without stopping to talk to someone," former public address announcer Randy Moehlman said.
“Getting to the playoffs, and big wins and tough losses will be what I miss the most," Rascals manager Steve Brook said.
But it wasn’t all a somber swan song for Rascals fans.
It was a celebration for all the memories shared in this space over 21 years.
“We’ve been season ticket holders forever, so, we never left," Vineyard said. “It makes us all sad, but we’re all happy and you can see we’re all here still because these guys mean more to us than anything else.”
It wasn’t till that last out was made, when the reality sunk in.
“It’s going to be very sad," Vineyard said. "It’s going to be emotional I think.”
But it wasn’t without hopes of one more Rascals comeback…
“We’re going to think about all our friends we’ve met over the years, and a lot of us have been here since ’99. I hate to see that it’s happening and going away, but we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that’s it’s going to be somebody new," Vineyard said.