South Side high school is building a brand new softball field. The field will be located at the South Side Athletic Annex, which is located on Sand Point Road, and also houses the school’s baseball and soccer fields. The softball field will be right next to the baseball field.
“The current field is on the same property, but about 1/2 mile north,” South Side Athletic Director Torrey Curry said. “The current field is accessed from Knoll Road off of Ardmore, while the new field will be accessed off of Sand Point; same entrance for baseball and soccer teams. The current location is 1/2 mile from any structure that could be used for protection in case of a major storm rolling in.”
“I am very excited and great full to be getting a new field. It will be a huge momentum boost for our softball program, especially coming from a season in where we didn’t get to play at all during the 2020 season because of the Covid-19 Pandemic,” South Side head softball coach Chris Phelps said. “I think it will create a buzz around the school and program causing an increase in girls wanting to play softball for South Side, and that is always a great thing. It totally fits into our goal of improving each year, and with having a new field to play on it will give the girls that confidence to play better and the pride of having something that is great and new.
Discussions about the project began last spring. The school had found that the current field was in need of multiple repairs.
“The current field had not any updates in years, and we were looking at some costly repairs and major upgrades,” Curry said. “The construction that was approved is the most fiscally responsible of the plans, but ultimately was the right choice as well. The commitment to upgrading the South Side Athletic Annex with this new field shows that the Board of Trustees values education-based athletics. Ironically, Board President Julie Hollingsworth was hugely instrumental in the building of the current softball field.”
The new field’s dimensions will be 205 feet from home plate to center field as well as to the left and right field corners. It will have a grass outfield. Depending on how well the grass grows, the field may be available for use in time for next year’s softball season.
“If the grass has grown enough that it won’t hurt the field, we will play in the spring of 2021,” Curry said. “Worst case is we wait until spring of 2022.”
The new field does share some similarities with the current one. The grass outfield is one of those similarities. However, there are also multiple differences between the two fields. For instance, the new field will have various amenities that the current field does not have.
“The main differences will be that now we will have bullpens put in, along with batting cages,” Phelps said. “Those two things alone now allow us to practice in a different way that will help us be more successful where we didn’t have those things before. We will now have access to a locker room, which we always did, but it wasn’t very practical because of how far they would have to walk to the softball field from the locker room. Better access to the restrooms, and we will be next to the baseball diamond allowing more fans to watch us if there is a baseball and softball game going on at the same time. It will create a great atmosphere for both baseball and softball. Before at our field currently it felt like we were off in the distance away from everything and now it will feel like we are a part of everything.”
Part of the construction includes a new press box; which will be shared by both the softball and baseball teams. The press box will replace the one the baseball field currently uses. Since both teams will share the press box, South Side is still working on how to schedule home softball and baseball games that potentially don’t conflict with each other.
“The plan is to schedule home games on different days, but as we know the spring weather typically wrecks those plans,” Curry said. “At this time, we are creating multiple plans to fit different scenarios.”
After construction on the field is done, the school plans to host an unveiling ceremony. The date for the unveiling has yet to be determined.
