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Published: Monday, Sep. 24, 2012 / Updated: Monday, Sep. 24, 2012 11:52 AM

Knights plan a blast for 2013 in Fort Mill.

Team’s final Fort Mill season will include 13 fireworks shows

- mbanks@comporium.net

FORT MILL -- 

The final Fort Mill home game for the Charlotte Knights will be Labor Day, 2013.

The Knights released the 2013 schedule and will conclude the regular season – and the team’s time – in Fort Mill Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, before moving to a brand new, $54 million stadium in uptown Charlotte for the start of the 2014 season and beyond.

That game is slated for 2:15 p.m.

After beginning the season on the road in Gwinnett (April 4-7) and Norfolk (April 8-10), Charlotte will officially open Knights Stadium for its 2013 farewell schedule against the Gwinnett Braves at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, April 11.

Knights Stadium will host six games from April 11-16, including a special 11:15 a.m. game Tuesday, April 16, against the Durham Bulls.

Next year’s schedule will have 13 fireworks shows highlighting the 72-game home schedule. The Knights will light up the sky for all 11 Saturday home games and will host three of the 11 Saturday fireworks shows during the month of April (April 13, 20, and 27).

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees will make their one and only trip to Knights Stadium from Saturday April 27-Tuesday, April 30, and the defending International League champion Pawtucket Red Sox, who defeated the Knights for the title two weeks ago, visit from Saturday, May 10-Monday, May 13.

The Knights will celebrate Mother’s Day with a 2:15 p.m. game Sunday, May 12.

Three more fireworks shows, along with a game on Father’s Day (Sunday, June 16) highlight the month of June.

A special Fourth of July fireworks show will take place Wednesday, July 3, as the Knights welcome the Durham Bulls for their annual fireworks extravaganza.

The month of August will feature the only appearance of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Aug. 5-8) and important division matchups with Durham (Aug. 17-19), Norfolk (Aug. 28-30) and Gwinnett (Aug. 31-Sept. 2). The last fireworks show of the season will be Sunday, Sept. 1 after the 7:15 p.m. game.

Knights’ slugger Dan Johnson, 33, was chosen as the squad’s utility player and elected to this year’s International League Post Season All-Star team.

A mid-season All-Star game, Johnson shined at the plate with the Knights and was among the league leaders in nearly every offensive category.

Johnson led the International League with 28 home runs and is also the league leader in walks with 94 – the most in a single season in Charlotte Knights history. Johnson was second in the league in RBI with 85, fourth in runs scored with 77 and third in on-base percentage with a .388 mark. He also ranks fourth in the league in total bases (234) and fifth in the league in slugging percentage (.492).

The last Charlotte Knights player to make the league’s postseason All-Star Team as a utility player was Chris Getz in 2008.