CHOCTAW — The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly built Lady Warriors Softball Field on Thursday, March 22 at 4 p.m. in Choctaw. The ceremony featured remarks and a ceremonial first pitch by Tribal Chief Phyliss J. Anderson. The varsity game, against the Newton County Lady Cougars, was the first game played on this new field.
“I am very pleased to present our CCHS Lady Warriors a new home field, one that is comparable and just as impressive as any other complex in the State of Mississippi,” said Anderson. “Congratulations Choctaw Central High School on the opening of your brand-new field.”
Festivities included souvenir giveaways, character races (a fox, skunk and dog costumes worn by staff members of the Department of Chahta Immi) and the National Anthem sung by Lady Warrior Senior Darien Tubby.
Construction started in August 2017 with IKBI, Inc., a tribally-owned construction company, serving as the contractor of record. This new facility has two new buildings. The press box, located along the third base line includes restrooms, a concession stand and a press area upstairs.
This building also includes a new sound system. The outfield building houses a locker room for the team and offices for the coaching staff. The dugouts also feature an equipment/storage room for team use. Four new field lights have been installed along with a new grandstand that seats 168 people.
Other design details to note: the field has approximately 1,000 linear feet of fixed fencing, 5,000 yards of sod was placed along with 34 sprinklers to water the field. It is 220 feet from home plate to each outfield foul pole. The field has been flipped from its previous configuration so that at any point of the day the sun will not be in either the players’ or pitchers’ eyes.
To learn more, contact the MBCI Office of Public Information at 601-663-7532.
