The Knockouts Field at Friendship Methodist Church awoke this past Saturday morning ready to welcome friends, families and Knockouts softball players from all over North Carolina. They all came together for the Knockouts Fastpitch Softball 2021 Opening Day event. This was a special day for our 22-year-old organization, its players and coaches. Participating in this year’s event were our 14u and 18u teams. Also represented in attendance throughout the day were players and coaches of our 10u and 12u teams, as well as members of past Knockouts Teams!

Opening Day was held at the newly renovated Knockouts Field in Concord, NC. The field is home to as many as four of our Knockouts teams. They practice there weekly, help the church with maintenance, and hosts teams from all over the state of North Carolina during scrimmages and cooperative practices. It’s a beautiful field set in wide-open country with a backdrop of sprawling farmlands. Also in attendance were folks from the community; some of which took part in building, maintaining, and playing at the field throughout its 60 plus year history. One umpire even recalled hitting a home run at the field 35 years ago. It was a real trip down memory lane for many. The renovation of the field took place about a year and a half ago with many hours of work by current organization team and family members.

Plenty of hard work has been put in over the past few years to rejuvenate the close-knit organization which began in 1999. Started by Ricky Martinez, the Knockouts have built a reputable name throughout the travel ball community and with college coaches/programs throughout the country. Much of this can be attributed to Ricky and it was an absolute honor to have him and his 18u team in attendance.

Our 18u coach Ryan Carriker and 14u coach Curtis Cole organized this year’s Opening Day and have played an important role in the exciting changes in the organization over the past few years. Both spoke at the event welcoming families, visitors and thanking the church pastor for the congregation’s welcoming of the Knockouts. The pastor lead everyone in prayer, followed by the national anthem as the attending teams and Knockout’s alumni lined the infield.

It was an absolute beautiful day, and everyone had a blast! All attending families and players stayed most of the day, as the attending teams played one another from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Hundreds of family members, players and friends took part in fellowship, food and sportsmanship as the games flowed throughout the day. Needless to say, everyone is already looking forward to next year’s event that hopes to include all of the organization’s teams!

Coach Stuart Perkins