Two expressions in english [duplicate]

What is the meaning of these two expressions:

1. the pitch was now coming across the plate

2. I was staring at my chance to knock the ball out of the park

These two phrases was taken from the text below:

With all the lessons I had learned from my trial-and-error days in the 1980s, the pitch was now coming across the plate, and I was staring at my chance to knock the ball out of the park.

Solution 1:

In baseball, a player pitches (throws) the ball toward the other player, who stands at the plate and has a bat to hit the ball.

Pitch is a noun that refers to the baseball while it is in motion, approaching the player at the plate.

"Knock the ball out of the park" refers to the idea that a good player can hit the ball so hard that the ball flies out of the stadium. The stadium is often called a "park."