By Ashleigh Chicko / Staff Writer

As Pitt-Greensburg officials explore their options to build a new ballfield on campus, both women’s softball and men’s baseball teams are unhappy and displaced.

The softball team has had an off-campus home field for as long as there has been a softball team. Over the past four years, campus athletic directors and other administrators have been developing plans and brainstorming ideas to get the women’s softball team on campus.

“Although the discussion has been going on now for quite a few years, it was all about timing,” Tony Berich, athletic director, said. “Logistics were a big part of it, and even though the economy is not in an ideal state, we needed to look at the big picture, we needed to make sure this was going to be functional 10 years from now.”

The men’s baseball field originally was installed to be a women’s softball field because the right field is too short to be legal in a college-level league. The men were also promised an on-campus field for next year if they agreed to have their games off campus this year.

However, once Pitt-Greensburg officials surveyed their area of campus in South Greensburg, they realized that putting a men’s baseball field would be impossible due to the amount of land they had.

Carl Rossman, vice-president for administrative affairs, discusses the acreage and land plots that Pitt-Greensburg currently owns.

“We tried to plot out the land so that a baseball field would fit in behind the current men’s field but it fell through on two accounts,” Rossman said. “The state rules and regulations on the flood plain and wetlands area would not let us build, and the gas company has a pipeline that runs through that field. If we were to level the ground, we would have to put dirt on top of the pipeline and the company has a regulation on how much dirt is able to be put on top of it in case it were to erupt. The bottom line is that we need to sort through the legal side with the lawyers before we proceed.”

An option of using land behind Powers Hall for a softball field would cost much more than Pitt-Greensburg’s budget allows.

Administrators are trying to find land so that both the softball and baseball teams can play on campus. However, some of the players aren’t happy with the current situation.

“The point in moving the field was so that both teams could have a field on campus and students could come to our games and now we don’t have either,” Lindsay Littler, softball player, said.

At the time of the interview, the softball team had only had a chance to practice twice on the field due to weather conditions but the field still was illegal for college-level softball because the mound was not completely flattened. The softball team had been playing on Seton Hill’s softball team for their home games.

“The university spent $20,000 to change the baseball field into a softball field for this year but we haven’t even played on it, and next year it will go back to being a baseball field,” Ali Carr, senior softball player, said. “I would rather go back to our other field because although the Seton Hill field is nice, it’s inaccessible to people who can’t make it far distances. The softball field is positioned on the far side of a hill where cars cannot reach.”

The men’s baseball team was forced to play off of campus, as well.

“It was a hassle because we had to call around and find places to play our home games when WCCC wasn’t available but the biggest bummer was not being able to practice on a real field,” Jim Little, baseball player, said. “It’s hard to practice hitting and fielding when you’re indoors.”

Other baseball players on the team are also frustrated with the current situation.

“The field arrangements were basically last minute,” Ben Sorosky, baseball player, said. “It’s not terrible because I’m a pitcher so I don’t notice too much of the off-field practice issues but most of the guys were upset about the situation initially. We’ve accepted it and personally I’ve enjoyed playing on all of the other fields.”

The men’s team has played games at Westmoreland County Community College, Trees Field at Pitt-Oakland and Falconi Field, where the Washington Wild Things play in Washington, Pa. The team was denied playing time on the field at Seton Hill.

Both the baseball and softball coaches refused to comment for this article, but Berich said they’ve been team players.

“Both coaches have been just tremendous,” Berich said. “They understand what the bigger picture is and that it’s not just about this year and just their own teams. They really came into it with a ‘do what you need to do’ attitude.”