FAIRVIEW TWP — In a staggering display of support, players and parents showed up in droves to support Karns City Area Jr./Sr. High School’s head baseball coach Joshua “Sluggo” Smith as he brought a request for a home baseball field before the school board at its meeting Monday night.

Equipped with a preliminary proposal for a $1.5 million project, Smith said he has been in contact with Fairview Township supervisors about a possible site for the field near the municipal building on Hooker Road.

Smith, who graduated from Karns City in 2004, said the turnout shows just how much the district needs its own field to host games, as current travel times cut into his players’ time for homework, family, hobbies and proper rest.

“We are asking these kids to be on the bus 22 times a year,” Smith said, “every game is an away game.”