SAN DIEGO — It’s a new era for the Torrey Pines High School softball team, which will play its 2024 season on a completely refurbished home field following years of substandard conditions.
The San Dieguito Union School District recently completed a suite of much-needed repairs, including new grass, a new scoreboard, backboards, permanent fencing, and foul ball netting, to resolve a Title IX complaint regarding the disparities between the girls’ softball fields and boys’ baseball facilities.
After months of construction and some setbacks due to drainage issues on site, the varsity team experienced the field for the first time at their March 12 home game against Point Loma, which they won 3-0.
Senior outfielder Ava Fagin said it means a lot to her and her fellow senior teammates to have the new field in their last season.
“We were all very excited and anxious, because it’s been a long journey to get to that new field,” said Fagin, 17. “To finally see it and be able to be on it was really special.”
For the players, the field conditions not only look nicer but also provide an improved playing experience. Fagin said that on the old field, balls would bounce unpredictably off the uneven ground, and players would have to retrieve foul balls from the bushes during games because there was no net to catch them.
Longtime varsity coach Jon Moore said before the new fence was put up, the field would be damaged by people coming and playing other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Now, the players have a field they can be proud of.
“I’ve done this for 28 years, and I’ve never seen the field like this in those 28 years,” Moore said. “It’s our own field that we can call our own, and the girls take pride in it.”
The Falcons are now looking forward to similar repairs to their JV softball field, which is planned to receive new turf treatment and a new fence later this year. When that phase is complete, both the varsity and JV teams will be able to play home games simultaneously instead of sharing a field.
In the event of rain, the turf field will also dry faster and be usable as a backup option for both teams, Moore said.
In the future, he hopes the improved facilities will draw even more players to the team.
“I think if you see a field like that, and you’re a younger girl, you may see the facility and want to play softball at Torrey Pines,” Moore said.
With a beautiful field to practice and play on, Fagin said the team’s goals this year are to win the league title and the CIF Open Division championship. “That is something we’ve wanted for a little while now,” she said. “With everyone being ready and healthy, I think we can do it.”
