The natural grass baseball field at Everett Memorial Stadium will be converted to an artificial playing surface. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

The natural grass baseball field at Everett Memorial Stadium will be converted to an artificial playing surface. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Everett Memorial Stadium’s baseball field converting to turf

The Mariners, Everett School District and others had to sign off on switch to an artificial surface.

EVERETT — Last spring the Everett High School baseball team, which is based at Everett Memorial Stadium, didn’t play a single game on its own field because of wet conditions on the grass. Indeed, the Seagulls only conducted a single practice on Everett Memorial Stadium’s baseball field, instead having to squeeze practices in on the adjoining artificial-surface football field, working around Everett’s track and girls soccer practices.

The story was the same for the Everett Community College baseball team, which is also housed at Everett Memorial Stadium. The Trojans had 22 games scheduled for Everett Memorial last spring. Just the final two wound up being played there.

After an unusually wet spring washed out baseball at Everett Memorial Stadium, it was finally decided that enough was enough.

Work is scheduled to begin within the next two weeks to convert the playing surface at Everett Memorial Stadium’s baseball field from grass to artificial turf. The joint venture between the Everett School District, which owns the facility, along with the Everett AquaSox minor-league baseball team and Snohomish County, is expected the solve the wet-field problem once and for all.

“We’re very excited about it,” Everett School District athletic director Robert Polk said. “Obviously it gives us a reliable baseball facility to help ensure we’re able to get games in. Everett Memorial Stadium has been a fantastic site for district and regional playoffs over the years. The artificial surface means we’ll be able to host those games in the future.”

The Snohomish County Council is expected to give the final approval for its portion of the funding for the project this week — a vote scheduled for Monday was tabled until Wednesday. Once that approval happens, ground will be broken either later this week or next week. If all goes to plan the new surface will be ready in time for Everett High School’s first baseball practice on Feb. 26. However, rain could affect whether the project stays on schedule, meaning the completion date could get pushed back into mid-March.

Four baseball teams use Everett Memorial Stadium as its home: Everett High School, Everett CC, the AquaSox of the short-season single-A Northwest League, and the Pacific International League’s Everett Merchants.

“I have a pretty good view from my office of the baseball field and I know when they can get on the field or not,” said Everett School District executive director of facilities and operations Mike Gunn, who’s in charge of the project. “When this project is completed there shouldn’t be any reason why they can’t get on the field.”

Everett Memorial Stadium, located at the bottom of a geographic bowl, has always had issues with drainage, particularly in the outfield. It’s been a recurring issue for Everett High School and Everett CC, the teams that use the field during the spring. But the problem got out of control this past spring.

“Our parents were pretty fed up with it,” Everett High School baseball coach Alex Barashkoff said. “I think the parents were instrumental [in pushing for the change]. They definitely had a major influence, and rightly so because there are some parents who had older kids go through it and they were tired of it. The school district wasn’t making any progress, and when things got this bad [the parents] weren’t going to let it get away.”

While all the parties directly involved with Everett Memorial Stadium were on board with the conversion, there was one other organization that needed to sign off on the change: the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox have been a Mariners affiliate since 1995, and they needed the OK from the Mariners to play on an artificial surface. Gunn said that in the past the Mariners objected to having the AquaSox play on an artificial surface. However, there was no objection this time.

“We didn’t get anything officially signed off,” AquaSox general manager Danny Tetzlaff said. “We spoke to them to get their stance to see if they were OK with us playing on a synthetic surface. They were fine. They understand the need for the facility, which is also used by the high schools.”

The AquaSox will become the third of the Northwest League’s eight teams to play on an artificial surface. Tetzlaff said the other two, the Eugene Emeralds and Hillsboro Hops, have had no problems or complaints about their artificial surfaces.

The original estimated cost of the project was $1.25 million. Both the county and the AquaSox pledged $300,000, with the rest paid out of Everett School District’s capital funds project. The county’s contribution is in the form of a grant, while the AquaSox will contribute $30,000 a year for 10 years while receiving the ability to sell naming rights to the stadium in return.

Gunn said the winning bid ended up coming in under the estimated cost, meaning the project was able to upgrade to a higher-quality baseball-specific surface, while also making other improvements to the facility.

Everett Memorial Stadium is following a Pacific Northwest trend of converting baseball fields to artificial surfaces. A majority of the high schools to the south in the KingCo and Metro leagues play on artificial surfaces. However, only a handful of schools in Snohomish County, such as Lake Stevens, Monroe and Mountlake Terrace, have artificial-surface fields.

Cascade and Jackson, the other two high schools in the Everett School District, play home baseball games on grass fields located on campus. Gunn said there is no plan to replace those fields, though Jackson’s football/soccer field has been converted to an artificial surface and Cascade’s football/soccer field is in the process of being converted.

If you have an idea for a community sports story, e-mail Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

More in Sports

Arlington senior Jenna Villa repeats as the Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season. Photographed on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Arlington High School in Arlington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Jenna Villa

The Washington State-bound senior averaged 22 points and 8 rebounds while leading Arlington to a 3rd straight state semifinal berth.

Pictured from left, Aniya Hooker of Lynnwood, Adria Lincoln of Monroe, Vivienne Berrett of Stanwood, Jenna Villa of Arlington, Gia Powell of Meadowdale and Bella Hasan of Kamiak are the girls 2022-23 All-Area basketball team. Photographed on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Arlington High School in Arlington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
The Herald’s 2022-23 All-Area girls basketball teams

A look at the top prep girls basketball players in the area from the 2022-23 season.

Silvertips’ Jackson Berezowski (17) moves with the puck during a game between the Everett Silvertips and Victoria Royals at the Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday, March 24, 2023. The Silvertips fell to the Royals, 6-4. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
How Silvertips, Winterhawks stack up in playoff series

Injury-depleted Everett finds itself a postseason underdog for the first time in nine years.

Jackson’s Yanina Sherwood pitches during the game against Glacier Peak on Thursday, April 28, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Prep softball preview: 5 things to watch this season

A look at the top local storylines to keep an eye on this high school softball season.

X
Prep roundup for Wednesday, March 29

Prep roundup for Wednesday, March 29: (Note for coaches/scorekeepers: To report results… Continue reading

X
Vote for The Herald’s Prep Athlete of the Week for March 20-26

The Athlete of the Week nominees for March 20-26. Voting closes at… Continue reading

Archbishop Murphy’s Sean Balen (7) kicks the ball during a boys soccer match between Archbishop Murphy and Edmonds-Woodway at Edmonds-Wooday High School in Edmonds, Washington on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Edmonds-Woodway won, 4-1. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
GALLERY: E-W boys soccer downs Murphy, stays unbeaten

The Warriors storm to a 4-1 win and claim their fifth straight victory in league play.

Washington’s Jayden White, an Everett High School alum, broke his own school record in the weight throw at the Husky Classic on Feb. 12, 2022, in Seattle. (Red Box Pictures)
Community roundup: Roe, White earn All-America nods again

Plus, Jackson alum Justin Limberg places at the D-III men’s swimming nationals, two Silvertips are named all-stars and much more.

Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez signs autographs before playing the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
It’s Julio Rodriguez’s world, we are just living in it

Everyone wants a piece of the Mariners’ — and baseball’s — newest superstar.

Most Read