Springfield’s Killian Park To Host MSHSAA Softball Championships Through 2015

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri State High School Activities Association announced Monday that its Softball Championships will stay in Sprinfield through the 2015 championship.

The 36-year-old championship was been held at Killian Park for the first time in 2010, after being held at Heritage Park in St. Joseph the previous two years. Prior to being held in St. Joseph, the championship was played at Rainbow Softball Complex in Columbia from 1996-2007. In 1996 a fourth classification was added, which also marked the start of having all four championships at the same venue. In the years prior to a fourth class being added the championships were played at different locations including: Duensing Field in Jefferson City, Vivion Field in Jefferson City; Antimi Fields and Cosmo Park in Columbia; Johnny Mac's Sports Complex in Fenton; and St. Louis Sports Complex in Valley Park.

With the completion of a $2.7 million renovation project at Killian Sports Complex in 2009, the dream of a new state-of-the-art home facility will become a reality for the city of Springfield and Greene County.

Operated by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, Killian Softball Stadium will feature seating for up to 1,200 spectators, 523 of which are chair-back. The new stadium field was designed to qualify for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification due to its use of sustainable and environmentally-friendly building materials and equipment.

The stadium and five other fields make up the six-field complex, spanning over 31 acres.

The tournament’s format will remain the same, featuring two semifinal contests in each class on Friday. The third-place contests will be played on the stadium field beginning Friday afternoon, with the championship contest being played on Saturday. Sixteen teams -- four teams in each of the MSHSAA’s four softball classifications -- advance to the championship site each year.