40 Charlotte baseball players got what few NC athletes did — a senior day in a pandemic
Chris Manriquez Jr. will always remember hearing the clink of his bat Thursday at Truist Field in uptown — a celebration most high school senior baseball players didn’t get this year.
“Getting a hit there, stepping into the box and being able to see the city in the view, it was a great feeling,” he said.
A true senior day was never a guarantee. Three months earlier, Manriquez Jr. was told he wasn’t going to be able to finish his last year at Carmel Christian due to the coronavirus pandemic. But as a participant in the Charlotte High School Varsity Baseball League’s senior all-star game, Manriquez Jr. and 39 other area seniors had a chance for a more proper end to their high school careers at the Charlotte Knights’ ballpark.
Thursday’s game was closed to the public. About 175 family members lined the concourse and sat in groups of no more than 25 people. The atmosphere remained lively despite the attendance limit, with family members cheering — their voices echoing through the 10,200-seat venue — for every run.
No senior expects to wait until July for their senior day, but for these 40 players from across Mecklenburg County, at least they got one.
Each senior heard his name called over the speaker as the lineups were announced, wearing the ballcap to represent one of about 15 high schools represented. They took the field wearing custom gold or black jerseys made specifically for the all-star event that arrived just a day before the game.
Players’ favorite high school baseball memories were shown on the jumbotron before the game started. Langtree Charter’s Josh Allen remembered pitching a five-inning no-hitter against a conference rival, while Southlake Christian Academy’s Joe Haney recalled a go-ahead home run in the Powerade State Games.
Throughout the game, thank-you messages from the players to their parents, as well as words of encouragement from families to the players, were projected onto the screen.
“This was something the kids were really looking forward to,” Chris Manriquez Sr. said. “To be honest, I don’t think there’s a better way for them to end their season than on this beautiful field.”
Trying to keep players and fans safe
When Manriquez Sr. ironed out the details to play a baseball league this summer during a pandemic, he said the idea of holding a senior all-star game at Truist Field seemed like a “pipe dream.”
But with safety protocols in place, plans put in action by Manriquez Sr. with other organizers — and some strings pulled by Knights general manager Rob Egan — that dream became reality.
“They’re like little kids out here, really,” Manriquez Sr. said. “For these guys — especially the guys that are not moving on to play (in college) — to come here and have this opportunity means the world to them.”
There’s no minor-league baseball season this summer, but Truist Field has gotten plenty of practice hosting baseball games during a pandemic, making the transition to a high school all-star game relatively simple.
Knights chief operating officer Dan Rajkowski told the Observer that Thursday’s game employed the same measures they have already been using at games for the Piedmont Pride, a collegiate baseball team using the Knights’ stadium for its 18 regular-season home games this summer.
“All the protocols we’ve been using, we’re using for this game, which have been approved by the health department,” Rajkowski said. “There weren’t a lot of challenges. It was just doing what we did before.”
Between advertisements on the jumbotron, a message alerted attendees of the health risks associated with the game, reading: “Please note that any public space where others are present allows for inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 and we cannot guarantee that you will not be exposed during your visit.”
Each fan was required to wear a mask to enter the ballpark, though they were permitted to take it off while eating hot dogs or nachos and drinking soft drinks or beer from the open concession stands. The concourse and bathrooms were sanitized before the game, Rajkowski said.
Players’ temperatures were checked before taking the field, but no masks were worn while warming up or playing.
“The players are social distancing the best we can social distance,” Rajkowski said.
Completing the circle
While most of the participating seniors were stepping onto Truist Field for the first time Thursday, one South Mecklenburg senior had his full-circle moment.
Eli Shenise was 12 years old when he was given the opportunity to be a Charlotte Knight for a day as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2014. Shenise was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma when he was in the sixth grade, but he’s since recovered and is now healthy.
“I remember everything,” Shenise said about his last time on Truist Field. “I remember being excited. I remember getting to meet all of the players, getting to hit BP and take ground balls on the field. I still remember everything about it like it was yesterday.”
While he’s been back to Knights games as a fan since then, Shenise hadn’t stepped on the field since 2014.
“Everything’s kind of coming back together again,” Shenise said. “This is great.”
After having much of their senior season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Shenise and his fellow senior members of the Charlotte High School Varsity League have a memory most high school baseball seniors in the country weren’t able to have this year — they played a senior day game in a pandemic.
“Even though these unfortunate circumstances came around, the people around us decided to make the best for us,” Manriquez Jr. said. “It’s really good to have them in our corner to make this happen.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 11:49 AM.