Let there be turf: Redmond High unveils renovated baseball and softball facilities

Mustangs host Eastlake for games.

By Andy Nystrom • March 19, 2019 11:30 am

With the weather hurdling the 70s mark and sunshine at a premium, Redmond High’s baseball and softball teams unveiled their renovated turf fields on Monday afternoon with side-by-side games against Eastlake High.

Along with the action on the fields, school musicians performed, dance team members and cheerleaders rooted for the Mustangs and the smell of hot dogs filled the air. Grandstands were packed with fans and Lake Washington School District Superintendent Dr. Jane Stavem and Redmond Mayor John Marchione sported RHS ball caps and addressed the crowd before the games.

“Let’s hear it for spring!” proclaimed Stavem. “There is nothing better to kick off spring time than a great baseball and softball game this afternoon. We wanna tell our community members how grateful we are for everything that you’ve done that’s contributed to having these beautiful revamped facilities.”

She added that Redmond, Lake Washington and Eastlake high schools have now been turfed with Juanita waiting in the wings.

“We’ll have four solid facilities at our high schools for kids to play on and have quality activities with our sports,” said Stavem, who thanked the coaches, district athletic director John Appelgate and all the administrators and Brian Buck and his team for their operations and physical work.

Marchione congratulated the school district and RHS on their new fields and noted, “My son played on this field, oh, 13-14 years ago on the C team, so now it’s the varsity field, so I can tell him he played varsity now,” as the mayor drew laughter from the crowd. “I wish Redmond softball and baseball a great season, you have great new facilities. Go Mustangs!”

RHS baseball head coach and athletic director Dan Pudwill thanked the school district and community for investing in their students with the facilities.

Following RHS softball player Kaia Bradford singing the National Anthem, the games were underway.

On the softball side, the Mustangs won, 9-4, behind the heavy hitting of Jennifer Cummings and crew. Down 4-0 in the bottom of the third, Cummings unleashed a grand slam and Redmond took it from there. Cummings had five RBIs in all and Bradford, Haley Hanson and pitcher Kiki Milloy had two two hits each.

Eastlake earned a 6-2 win in the baseball realm. For Redmond, Yui Suzuki had three hits, Darek Khabani had two hits and Spencer Uyematsu had two RBIs.