Mission & Vision

Cultivate a baseball culture grounded in the joy of the game, selflessness, and the commitment to the daily process and mental performance.

Players develop skills, habits, and mindsets for success in baseball, academics, and life.

When and Where are tryouts?
Tryouts will be two days long (March 2nd & 3rd). All both days will be at Magnuson at 4:00 PM. Tryouts will be held outside at Magnuson Rain or Shine.
  
Will there be cuts made after tryouts? 
Baseball is a cut sport (some athletes will be cut and not make the team). We typically carry 45-50 players between the three teams. Our goal is to have a 10 to 1 ratio, players to coaches, to ensure all players are getting quality coaching within our facilities' constraints, and coaches are not being overstretched. Cuts will be made after the 3rd day of tryouts.
 
Equipment athletes should bring to tryouts: Baseball clothes (baseball pants, hat), molded cleats, glove, jacket/sweatshirt depending on the weather, and any other baseball gear they need.

When does the season start and end? Baseball season will begin with three days of tryouts. Team Jamborees will be in early March, and the first games will be Mid-March. The season will run until the end of April for JVC & JV, and early May for Varsity depending on playoffs.

THE TEAM WILL PLAY GAMES DURING SPRING BREAK – These are Metro league games and cannot be rescheduled. V & JV will play M/W/F that week, and JVC will play T/TH.
 
What are the usual practice/game times and locations? Practices are every day after school 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Varsity 3:00 PM start Wednesday). Practice facilities include Magnuson, Green Lake, School Cages, School Weight Room, & Sound Baseball Cages. Due to rainouts, there will be day-of changes to locations if necessary.

Varsity and JV Games are typically M/W/F with a few exceptions. JVC games are typically played on T/Th/Sat. Practices will be held on every non-game day. Varsity and JV will also have weekend practices.

Is there transportation provided by the school for games played away from school?
Players will travel for away games by school bus on games days; 1) during the school week and 2) at locations that are 30+ minutes away. Players are required to ride the bus to and from games, unless the player and parents have coordinated with the coach(es) in advance.

Carpool coordination is encouraged at all levels to help get players to and from practices and games.
 
Will the athletes miss any class time due to away games? If so, how is that situation coordinated between teachers and the athletic department? Away game departure times and home game prep, often result in players leaving school early. With the later school start, school buses are shared among the school district for teams and students. Coaches submit team early dismissal lists through the school and the athletics office, but players MUST be responsible to get their work completed and be aware of what’s due.

Players must attend all classes on game days. Exceptions include periods missed when given an early dismissal and an excused absence that is approved by the school. Illness is not considered an excused absence.

How will athletes and parents receive communication about last-minute changes regarding game schedules, transportation, rainouts, etc.?
The biggest challenge during the spring season is rainouts, especially at Green Lake. Changes in Locations, Rainouts, Transportation, etc. will be communicated as soon as possible via multiple sources. 1) Instagram Page 2) Team Chat Messages 3) Email Blast 4) Individual Team Admin Email Blast

Patience and flexibility are key during the season when the weather is less than ideal. With limited facilities, we will make the best out of what we have. School batting cages are shared with the softball so practice time may be adjusted to accommodate both teams.

What equipment does the athlete need to provide? 
Players must provide:

• Protective Cup
• Glove
• Regular running shoes
• Cleats: Hard, molded rubber cleats -OR- turf shoes
  • (‘Suggest’ keeping both metal and rubber cleats in bag for the occasional dirt field; but not mandatory)
• (Optional) BBCOR high school or collegiate level bats. Players are not required to share their personal bats.
• Water Bottle
• All White Game Pants

What equipment will be provided to the athlete? 

• Practice baseball pants if needed (returned at the end of the year)
• Belt
• Game Jersey (returned at the end of the year)
• Green and Black hats

What are the school and district academic requirements for eligibility?

Eligibility/Grades:

• Must have a 2.0 GPA at grade checks
• Cannot have 2 E’s in one grade check
• Must have participated in a minimum of 10 practices before 1st game
• Must be in ALL classes on game day (please no doctor's appointments on game days if possible)
• No tobacco, drugs, or alcohol before, during, or after games or on school premises. Automatic 2-game suspension.

Player Eligibility/Game Suspensions: 5-week suspension if a player does not make grades.

Coach Josh LaRussa - Head Varsity Coach

Josh LaRussa was born and raised in Seattle, WA, graduating from Bishop Blanchet High School in 2012, where he played four years of baseball in the Seattle Metro League, including a trip to the Metro Championship and State Semifinals. Josh continued his playing career at Western Washington University. He will be entering his 11  year with of coaching, and his 5th with RHS Baseball.

Josh graduated with a Masters from the University of Washington’s College of Education, and now teaches Kindergarten through 8th grade Physical Education. 

Coach Cliff Kahn - Varsity Assistant/Program Infield Coach 

Cliff Kahn grew up in Seattle, WA. He attended Nathan Hale and Western Washington University. Cliff has been coaching for a while, starting at the LL level with NESLL. Additional coaching stints have been with City Baseball, the Seattle Ploits, North Seattle Rainiers, and currently Owner of Sound Baseball by UVillage . Cliff has also coached at several high schools including Nathan Hale and Bishop Blanchet. This is his first year with Roosevelt.
 
Cliff works in cybersecurity during the day, ballfield during the afternoon / evening

Coach Jon Boyd - JV Head Coach

Coach Jon Boyd was born and raised in Southern California. Moved to Oregon when he was 20 where he attended University of Oregon from 2015-2020 playing as a walk-on for 2 seasons. Entering his third year of HS coaching, second as JV head coach, and is looking to come and win!

Coach Donell Lee - JV & C Assistant/Program Pitching Coach

Donell Lee is a Seattle local who graduated from Roosevelt high school in 2019. He played baseball all four years, football for three and club baseball for the Seattle Braves. He was mainly a pitcher but also played the outfield. He has a passion for pitching and hopes he can bring that enthusiasm to the players.

Donell competed the general service technician course at Shoreline community college and is currently figuring out his next steps in schooling while working part time.
 

Coach Christian Shewey - Program Catching Coach

Christian Shewey grew up in Redmond and played baseball at Redmond HS, winning a state championship in 1991.  After HS, Christian was drafted by the Seattle Mariners but opted to play at the University of Washington.  At the UW, Christian was a 4-year starter as a catcher, earned All-Pac 10 honors twice, and was nominated as team captain his senior year.  After college, he attended the UW School of Dentistry and owns a family dental practice in Bellevue. Christian has coached baseball for over 15 years, covering ages 6-16 and currently coaches in the Elevate NW program. 
Christian lives in NE Seattle with wife Kelly and 3 boys- Conor, Rece and Brooks.  Besides coaching, he enjoys golfing and travelling, preferably together.
Christian was the head coach for the NE Seattle Little League team that made it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.  The team finished in third place in the US bracket and is the first Seattle team to ever make it to the LLWS.

Coach Bobby Ogburn - C Head Coach

Bobby Ogburn grew up in Seattle, Washington before moving just north of the City and attending Inglemoor High School. While there he played 4 years of baseball, including select up to 18U. He then attended Washington State University for 4 years, graduating with a B.A. in Journalism. After graduating he worked as a news reporter for local Seattle area newspapers. In 2013 he started work as an Instructional Assistant for Seattle Public Schools, eventually finding a permanent home at Roosevelt High School in the Special Education Department. He has helped out the Roughriders baseball team at the JV and C team levels.

Coach Mark Padgett - JV & C Assistant

Mark Padgett was born in Seattle and moved away to the Middle East when he was 4. Started playing baseball overseas and continued when he moved back to the states in 2015. Eventually made the move back to Seattle in 2017, where he attended Roosevelt. Before graduating in 2022, he played 4 years of both baseball and football. Also played select ball for the Rainiers and City. He played all over the place in the field, but mostly found time in the middle infield and on the mound.

After graduating high school, he attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas for a year before taking a year long break from school. He spent that time at Young Life’s Malibu Club in British Columbia working construction on some of their projects. He is now back in Seattle going to school at North Seattle looking to transfer to the UW to study statistics.