Closed LW High Baseball Field Drawing Complaints From Parents

The often soggy baseball field at Lake Washington High School, closed by the school district earlier this year as unsafe, is drawing complaints from parents of students.

For the last few years the field has been used primarily for practice, the Lake Washington Kangs varsity baseball team playing at the much larger Lee Johnson Field nearby in downtown Kirkland. The campus field has been the subject of complaints by players, parents and coaches for some time.

But KOMO News reports that parents complained to the Lake Washington School Board recently about the lack of action in fixing the field.

Lake Washington School District Supt. Traci Pierce acknowledged that a “lack of clarity" on the district’s part led to neglect of the field. The district has a plan to deal with the drainage issues and have the field ready for play again by February of 2014.

District spokeswoman Kathryn Reith told Kirkland Patch Tuesday the campus field was inspected earlier this year and determined to be a safety risk to students. Practices and games by the Kangs junior varsity and “C” team are now at Kirkland Middle School and Marymoor park for this season.

Work should begin in May to remove the outfield grass, improve drainage and irrigation and then re-seed. After that, the infield will get a similar treatment and upgrade, also with new backstop fencing, perimeter concrete and batting cages.

Last yer, the district worked together with the city of Sammamish to upgrade the

For the KOMO story, click here.

Incidentally, the Kangs team opened league play Monday evening at Lee Johnson Field, beating Mercer Island 10-4, with freshman Connor Johnson throwing five innings allowing 4 hits and 3 runs. Junior shortstop Jordan LaFave was 4-for-4 with a double, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored, while seniors Alac Wong, Stevie Semler and Nick Johnson had multi-hit games.

Have you been affected by the field closure? Tell us in the comments.