BUIES CREEK, N.C. - With opening day less than three weeks away, Campbell's baseball team officially kicked off the 2011 preseason with its third annual "First Pitch Banquet" on Saturday evening at the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center.

The evening began with an introduction from Campbell Vice President and current Interim Athletic Director Dr. Dennis Bazemore that welcomed all 200 people for attending and supporting Campbell's baseball program.

Head Coach Greg Goff, who would act as the master of ceremonies for the event, then greeted and addressed the crowd before dinner was served. After the dinner, Goff again took the microphone to introduce the 2011 Campbell Baseball team by class.

After the team was unveiled and introduced, Texas Rangers assistant coach Johnny Narron took the podium as the featured speaker. Narron, a Smithfield, N.C. resident and a former Major League baseball player, told the crowd of his introduction to the game while growing up in the state of North Carolina along with his brother and former Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers manager Jerry. He explained to the crowd how he has had his eyes on the Campbell baseball program for years and has been following the team closely as of late because of the work he did at his Baseball Advancement Service with several current Campbell players including Bryce Grady and Colin Parker while they were growing up in the area.

Narron then began to recount stories of the season that just passed for the 2010 American League Champion Texas Rangers. He stressed to the crowd and all the current CU baseball players the "privilege and honor it is to wear a uniform and be part of the game." He told the players to "play the game the right way and all the personal accomplishments will take care of themselves."

Narron concluded his speech and told all attendees of his own priorities being god, family and baseball. He then explained to the crowd the importance of finding their own priorities and trying to improve on them daily.

Coach Goff then took the stage for the final time and talked about the current on-going renovation at Taylor Field and where he sees the direction of the stadium going in the future. The stadium is currently in Phase I of its renovation thanks to the generous donations of several prominent members of the Campbell baseball community.

The evening concluded with an autograph session as well as a meet and greet with Johnny Narron.

"It was unbelievable the crowd that had we had tonight," Coach Goff exclaimed. "We had even more people turnout than we were expecting. It was a great start to our season. I was excited to hear Mr. Johnny Narron talk. The man can talk about baseball, god and family. What a great representation he was to the entire Texas Rangers organization. All the experiences he shared that he has had over the years in baseball and with North Carolina native Josh Hamilton was amazing. It was great evening for our players, fans and all those that had the opportunity to join us tonight."

Campbell's baseball team will officially open the 2011 season on the road against North Carolina A&T on Friday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m.