Fort Knox hit off its 2019 softball season at the post's Kilianski Sports Complex June 4 with a six-game opener.

Twelve of the league's nearly 20-team roster faced each other to begin the long road to tournament play and the championship game. Adrian Bogle, Fort Knox intramural sports director, said the journey should be a real blast.

"With this many teams, it gets pretty competitive, especially with teams coming back with really good players who play together each season," Bogle said. "With each year, the better teams get a little bit better."

Bogle said the Fort Knox league is highly competitive, making for some real arch rivals.

"There are less competitive players who are just here to have fun, but about mid-season people start to buckle down and everyone starts showing up," said Bogle. "[Then] they begin getting their bats down and their gloves up. They are [often] the same teams facing each other. That's when they turn it up for the playoffs." Bogle said intramural sports are already popular on Fort Knox, but the softball season takes on a life of its own.

"Softball and basketball run neck and neck as our most popular intramural sports, but there is more passion in softball," said Bogle. "There's more heart in this game."

Some of Fort Knox's typically dominating teams aren't represented this year, according to Bogle, who said that might change the dynamic of the championship tournament.

"Some [units] like the 19th Engineers are currently deployed and [the 19th] were runners-up in last year's tournament. If anyone returns from deployed areas before the tournament, they're going to get into the league," said Bogle. "There are other exceptions, too. If you just got to your unit, or if you're coming from the field, I have a draft for [those] players.

"I will randomly place them on teams if they don't have enough for a team."

Despite rivalries, Bogle said the game breeds a solidarity from familiarity.

"Each year, you're facing the same teams and many of the same faces," Bogle said. "The players get to meet each other outside of work and they get to network.

"This is a break from work and a huge stress reliever -- it really becomes a family atmosphere."