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History of the Pope Fastpitch Facility
Fall 1998:
  • Cobb County purchased the tract of land that the softball currently sits on.  There was a house on this site which was removed.  The softball field was originally laid out to be a practice football/soccer field but was later changed to a softball field.

  • The original fences on the softball field were not made permanent until the SPLOST project of 2012 as temporary fencing was put in place from RF to the high LF wall kept in place by shallow concrete anchors.

Back Stop and Outfield Fences as They Would Have
Appeared in the Late 1900’s and Early 2000’s

1998 Team Picture
2001:
  • Roofs were added to the old dugouts by Coach Rowland and Coach Zarbnisky with the help of the booster club
2002:
  • Two batting cages were put up in place at the field.  One in the location the current cage is and one in the spot that the current cell tower stands in
2003:
  • Grass was added to the "skirts" of the field in foul territory in front of the dugouts
2005:
  • A second storage shed was built by the booster club and added to the facility.  A ramp was built for the storage shed so that the team could park the newly purchase lawn tractor in the shed
  • Carolina paint was donated to the team to paint the shed in team colors
  • A construction company donated desperately needed "wind screen" to the team.  All wind screen was replaced on the OF wall as well as on the dugouts
  • The Pope Administration purchases the team their riding lawnmower as a method to drag the field
2006:
  • The field gets its first surface make over with the dirt portion of the field being rebuilt changing form brick dust to calcined clay base
2009:
  • The cell tower was added to the back part of the softball field taking the place of one of the team¡¦s batting cages and forcing the teams storage sheds to be repositioned
  • Coach Turco and the booster club reconfigured the practice area in the back by creating soft toss stations in lieu of the batting cages that were lost
2010:
  • New batting cage nets were donated by Sandy Plains and put up in the batting cage
  • A "Quick Connect" was added to the field giving the coaching staff running water for the 1st time so that the field could be watered and maintained!
2011:
  • With the turf installed on the football field, Coach Turco was able to re-sod the area outside of the cell tower to cope with a major flooding issue the team was experiencing each time it rained
  • Turf was added to the soft-toss stations at the softball field
  • Mr. Craft, Pope AD at the time, purchased new OF grass for the area in front of the LF wall to replace the grass that did not grow back from the winter / LAX practice on the SB field
2012:
  • A major SPLOST PROJECT saw the field undergo significant improvements changing the landscape of Pope Fastpitch FOREVER! Some of these items were paid for by SPLOST and some of these items were paid for by the booster club through fundraising efforts.  Please visit our CONSTRUCTION LINK (coming soon) to see historic pictures from the major construction project.
  • Temporary OF fences were taken down and replaced by permanent fencing
  • Fences were moved in to regulation depth of 200'
  • New Windscreen was placed on all OF fencing
  • All fencing down the foul lines was painted black for aesthetic purposes
  • The chainlink backstop was taken down and replaced by a 30' net greatly improving safety of cars in the parking lot and greatly improving site lines for spectators
  • A 3' block wall was placed around the field to add to aestetcs with school colored padding placed inside the field for player safety
  • Permanent brick dugouts were built to match the exterior of the school building to create architectural continuity in the front of the school
  • A new storage shed was built for the tractor and maintenance equipment
  • A small air-conditioned locker room was added to the home dugout complete with lockers/cubbys for players to store personal items
  • A new scorers booth was added
  • Sprinkler lines were re-worked and valve boxes were moved off the playing field
  • A new sponsor board was erected
  • New benches were added to the dugouts
  • Walking gate was placed in CF to access the practice area
2013:
  • Pope Fastptich wind screen logo was added to outfield wall
  • Home bullpens were added just behind the CF fence.  Two pitching lanes were added as well as a catching area
2014:
  • Vistitors bullpens were added as well as visitors soft toss hitting stations were added down the LF foul area
  • Slate warning track material was placed in front of each dugout to help manage high traffic that was killing off the sod in those areas
  • Accomplishment signage was hung on the OF wall celebrating accomplishments of past teams
  • A brand new scoreboard was purchased and added to the field
2015:
  • A warning track was added to the OF and LF was re-sodded
  • The old scoreboard was covered by the 2014 State champion sign
2016:
  • New home bullpens were built in the RF corner behind the fence
  • New hitting stations were added by the cell tower on back side of facility
  • New landscaping was added down left field foul line between tennis courts and softball field
  • New light "cage" installed down left field line with entrance from field
2017:
  • New visitors bullpen built outside of visitors dugout
  • New concession stand and bathrooms were completed as well as expanded concrete pad for spectators
2019:
  • New foul poles installed by long time board member and community member, Jim MacFadden
2020:
  • Years of planning and dedication from multiple booster club boards allowed for “phase 5” of the Pope Fastpitch vision to come to fruition! President Jim Wells and Coach Turco pushed through for the completion of the covered batting cage and locker room.
  • Multiple steps were needed for this project and was mostly completed during the COVID-19 “quarantine”
  • Sod removed to create space for bullpens and outdoor bullpens constructed

  • Covered cage foundation laid
  • Covered bullpen constructed
  • Turf laid and netting installed… covered batting cage, covered bullpen, and outdoor bullpen complete!
  • Pope Fastpitch parent and wood-worker Melissa Adams helped optimize the space of the storage room to create a functional locker room for players