Parrott Named IL Sports Turf Manager of the Year for Second Straight Season

(UPTOWN CHARLOTTE, NC) --The Charlotte Knights are pleased to announce that Matt Parrott, the team's Head Groundskeeper, has been named as the 2018 International League Sports Turf Manager of the Year for the second consecutive season. The award was selected by International League field managers and coaches.

For the twenty seventh consecutive year, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues and Major League Baseball have joined forces to recognize a Sports Turf Manager of the Year in each of the minor leagues. The award was established to recognize outstanding effort and excellence in the care and maintenance of a baseball playing surface.

"It's an honor to receive this award," stated Parrott. "It's a true testament to the work my assistant Keith Salmon and our entire grounds crew put in this season. I'd also like to take the time to thank our Chief Operating Officer Dan Rajkowski, our General Manager Rob Egan, and all of the support we received throughout the year from the entire Charlotte Knights' organization."

Last season, Parrott was also named as the 2017 Triple-A Sports Turf Manager of the Year, an award that he received at Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL in December (2017). He recently completed his third season with the Knights in 2018.

Before joining the Knights in 2016, Parrott spent 13 seasons with the Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League (Double-A). During his time in Bowie, MD, he earned the Eastern League Diamond Pro Sports Field Manager of the Year Award three times (2011 and 2014-15). In 2011, he was also named as the STMA (Sports Turf Managers Association) Double-A Sports Turf Manager of the Year.

A native of Boone, NC, Parrott received his BSBA undergraduate degree from Appalachian State University and an AAS Turfgrass Management degree from North Carolina State University.

This is the fifth time a Charlotte groundskeeper has been honored with the IL Sports Turf Manager of the Year Award. Larry Rhodes won the honor in 1996, while Eddie Busque took home the award in 2004 and again in 2005.