Pullman Park has a new bump — and a lot went into its arrival.

The ballpark introduced a synthetic turf mound last week, becoming only the second baseball field in Pennsylvania to have one. Consol Energy Park, home of the Frontier League’s Washington Wild Things, is the other.

“There aren’t many around. Turf companies won’t give a warranty on them because they don’t know what the wear and tear will be like,” said Dess Schnur, director of stadium operations at Pullman Park.

“We know we’re going to have to replace different parts at some point. We don’t know when, but we’re prepared to do that.”

Schnur said the artificial mound is “another step toward making Pullman a 24/7 baseball facility.”

Despite occasional heavy rain Wednesday, three games were played at Pullman Park. One game had a 30-minute rain delay, then resumed play immediately.

“With a clay mound, no way do we get all three of those games in,” Schnur said.

Had the installation of the mound been contracted out, the cost would have been an estimated $15,000. Schnur prepared for this new mound for two years.

Bob Yenick, a volunteer on the grounds crew at Pullman Park and equipment manager for the Butler BlueSox, gathered information on artificial mounds during Prospect League road trips last summer.

“Chillicothe and the West Virginia (Beckley) team were the only fields that had them,” Yenick said. “These mounds are pretty rare.”

Schnur, Yenick and a few other volunteers — including BlueSox manager Anthony Rebyanski — did the labor themselves. Joe Wiest Paving donated 90 hours of labor site preparation. Butch Gruver, a carpet installer and neighbor of Schnur’s, installed the turf mound itself.

“We saved $8,000 on donated labor alone,” Schnur said. “All of the companies that install this thing are out of state and the cost wouldn’t have been feasible. We had to do this ourselves.”

The project included the removal of nearly nine tons of clay, along with the pouring of eight tons of modified limestone, 800 pounds of rubber filler and 800 pounds of sand. Four 94-pound bags of cement, treated wood, 36 sheets of plywood and 150 deck screws were also used.

“With the amount of games played here, we had to make that mound as stable as possible,” Yenick said.

Not counting any playoffs, 155 games are scheduled at Pullman Park this season. Wednesday marked the 96th game played there this spring.

Moniteau’s Brayden McCorry was the first pitcher to throw off the new mound and had 10 strikeouts while pitching a three-hitter against Keystone. Ellwood City tossed a no-hitter off it Wednesday night, well after the rains came.

“It’s the best mound I’ve ever thrown from,” McCorry said. “Your plant foot sticks. There’s no sliding or movement whatsoever. You can settle in and just pitch.

“The landing zone is always the same. You don’t have to fix any divots. ... It’s perfect.”

Schnur agreed.

“Believe me, I’m a traditionalist,” Schnur said. “But I’ve learned over the past couple of years that synthetic turf is the way to go. And a clay mound doesn’t mix well with it.

“We’ve played nine games in three days here with a very limited crew. That can’t happen on a regular field. This is the wave of the future and we’re in on it early.”