For the 2024 season, the softball field at PHS has been redone and is now turf. 

“We’ve been trying to get turf for all of our athletic fields at the high school for several years now,” Jeff Staley, athletic director, said. “Due to an influx of funding for the softball field, we were able to move that ahead of schedule and get that started.”  

It was a lengthy process to get the funding for the field, as the approximate cost for the field was $500,000, but, ultimately, enough money was raised to fund the project. 

“The turf means alot to our program and to myself,” AJ Terry, softball head coach, said. It is just another indicator of how much our school and community backs and supports our programs here at USD 250.”

The district hired Mammoth to install the turf. After several setbacks throughout the project, they were able to complete the field earlier than expected and the team was able to start practicing on it just one day after the season started. 

“I’m proud of Mammoth. It was a really rough winter to try to do something like this,” Staley said. “I came to work on many mornings at 5:30 am and the lights were on and they were already out there working or you could drive by at nine o’clock at night and they had the lights on and they would be out there working.”

Terry has been wanting turf for some time now due to the many advantages that it brings. 

“I like that minimal maintenance will still keep a true and consistent playing surface,” Terry said. “I like that it essentially eliminates rainouts and it just makes a complex really standout by how nice it looks.”

In the past, rainouts were a constant issue that the team had to face. 

“In the past if it rained even a little bit we were off the field for two days. I am looking forward to being able to have the option of planning practices a little farther out than one-two days ahead of time without having to change much to the schedules,” Terry said. “Unless it’s storming or raining heavily at the exact time of practice we will be able to get outside and get our work in.”

Not all schools that PHS plays have turf fields, so the team will still be playing on dirt several times throughout the season when they travel to another school. 

“Although playing on dirt and turf both on and off throughout the year will present challenges, it’s a challenge our program is going to embrace and take all the positives that come with it because they certainly outweigh the little negatives that come with turf,” Terry said. 

This new field has been backed by several people and many wanted to see turf put in. 

“It’s a recognition of how important softball is to Pittsburg,” Staley said. “Which I appreciate because I know a lot of families and a lot of people have put a lot of blood sweat and tears into softball. So I think this is a recognition of those efforts.”