If You Build It … Lakeside High Eagles Are Now Playing On A Diamond Of Their Own

A bald eagle flew overhead the first time they raised Rep. George Nethercutt’s American flag at Lakeside High School’s new baseball field.

“It was a good omen,” said Darrel Padayao.

After all, these aren’t the Lakeside Gophers or the Lakeside Water Moccasins.

They’re the Lakeside Eagles.

And this spring, for the first time, the Eagles baseball team truly has home games.

That wouldn’t be the case without the dedication of more than 110 community members who decided the Eagles shouldn’t drive to Spokane to play “home” games.

“People could have grumbled, kicked the sand and said, ‘Woe on us; we don’t have a ballpark,’ but they didn’t,” Padayao said.

In an effort that attracted Nethercutt, the area’s new representative to Congress, Lakeside’s parents and supporters have constructed a baseball field that the school district couldn’t afford.

“Five years ago, they had just enough money to build the school, a football and track field, two softball fields and tennis court,” said Don Orth, a major contributor to a committee called Home Field Advantage: Alive in ‘95, which built the field. “Then they ran out of money.”

Until this year, Lakeside played its home games right outside Joe Albi Stadium in north Spokane. The school district spent nearly $3,500 per year to transport players to practices and games.

That money now has gone toward a sprinkler system that is vital to the new field, which was built essentially in a giant sand pit.

Orth estimates that his group spent about $30,000 for a project that experts thought would require $70,000.

“The effort either comes through tax dollars or through a community effort,” said Nine Mile Falls School District Superintendent Cynthia Clauson. “I find this to be a very creative way … very positive … not a community vs. district thing.”

The project’s ultimate success depended on untold volunteer hours and the kindness of private businesses and homeowners.

One of Orth’s favorite stories about the endeavor involves a local man who owned a Bobcat frontloader. Nobody on the committee knew the man, but a member knocked on his door at 7:30 one Sunday morning to ask for assistance.

The man’s wife answered the door and said her husband would arrive in an hour to help out.

“He leveled dirt and brought dirt into the infield,” Orth said. “He was there three-quarters of a day, and we had just dragged him out of bed. Nobody knew him.”

The story is not atypical. Orth said a man from LaCrosse, Wash., donated $600 for the project, and three regular committee members had no ties whatsoever to the baseball team. They just wanted to pitch in.

“It shows that something can be done even if school districts don’t have the money,” said Padayao, the committee chairman. “If people feel a passion for an issue and dedicate themselves to it, it will get done.”

The project began nearly two years ago, after a Lakeside bond levy failed. Ground was broken last spring.

Orth, who retired from the Air Force in August, has spent much of his spare time at the site just south of the school.

“We’re excited as a district that the community rallied support when the bond issue went down,” said Clauson, who noted that the district is responsible for the field’s maintenance from now on.

Donations of time and money went toward seeding the field, building a mound, putting up fences and making dugouts. Former Spokane Indians groundskeeper Bill Butler, now an assistant with the Kansas City Royals, donated two days to shape the mound to major-league specifications.

Nethercutt heard about the undertaking and hoped to attend the April 1 dedication. He couldn’t make the Northeast A League opener but sent a flag that had flown over the nation’s Capitol.

“He said he still wants to come to one of our games,” Orth said.

Former Washington State University coach Bobo Brayton was a suitable replacement, offering an inspirational speech and throwing out the first pitch.