Westmoreland high school notebook: Southmoreland getting new turf in time for fall sports

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, August 10, 2025 | 3:52 PM

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Southmoreland plans to have new turf installed and ready for a girls soccer game Aug. 27 and the home football opener two nights later.

Athletic director Brian Pritts said the old turf will be torn out and replaced at Russ Grimm Field beginning Saturday.

The project was supposed to start in June, but rain pushed it back.

“The kids are excited,” Pritts said. “This is part of other projects going on around the school. We’re looking forward to it.”

Shaw Sports Turf is installing the new carpet using Creaturf, a high-definition printing technology that eliminates stitching in the turf.

The field will be shaded with every other row light or dark green. The end zones will be black.

New LED light standards have already been put in place, and a digital scoreboard using Daktronics is up and ready for use.

“It’s nice,” Pritts said. “The lights can flash in different colors. The scoreboard is different than anything we’ve had.”

Because the turf project begins Saturday, the same day as a scheduled football scrimmage at home, the Scotties will play Highlands at Connellsville. The scrimmage starts at 10 a.m.

Tyburski staying close

Penn-Trafford rising senior baseball player Colton Tyburski, one of the top catchers in the area, will continue his playing career at Seton Hill.

Perhaps the most impressive number in Tyburski’s stats last season was zero: the number of stolen bases he allowed in 21 games.

The two-year starter batted .329 and was a first-team all-section pick.

Coming up aces

The golf season hadn’t started yet, but Ligonier Valley had a good omen for it last week.

Playing in an intrasquad scrimmage, senior Henrik Elek made a hole-in-one last Tuesday at Champion Lakes Golf Club in Bolivar.

Elek hit a pitching wedge on No. 11, a 145-yard par 3.

Caldwell coaching

Former Franklin Regional and Seton Hill soccer goalkeeper Sydney Caldwell joined the girls soccer coaching staff at Riverview.

She joins new Raiders coach Jessica Garland, a former Mt. Pleasant assistant.

Caldwell and Garland are Franklin Regional graduates.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Ligonier Valley, Penn-Trafford, Riverview, Southmoreland