How do we know spring is here? The Tualatin High School baseball team pancake and youth baseball/softball players parade is the answer. Each year, the Tualatin High School baseball team hosts a pancake breakfast, their major annual fundraiser, and over the years, it has also become the presentation of all the Tualatin youth baseball teams. This is the twenty-seventh year of the pancake breakfast, which has become a popular and notable kickoff to both the high school Timberwolves season and the youth baseball and softball programs.
The pancake breakfast raises money to help pay the expenses of the baseball program, which annually fields a Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity team. Last year’s teams had over fifty students participating. The funds help cover the cost of baseballs and other equipment and maintenance of the field and batting facility. The batting facility “The Barn” is used by the high school teams and in the evenings and weekends by nearly 500 kids and their coaches who participate in the Tualatin youth baseball programs. The high school varsity team is coached by Jake Austin, currently starting his third year at Tualatin High School. The Tualatin Timberwolves play in the always competitive 6A Three Rivers League, which includes Tigard, West Linn and the Lake Oswego schools among other high schools, and these funds help the team be competitive. Tualatin High School baseball has won or shared multiple league titles over the years, including co-champions two years ago in coach Jake Austin’s first year.
The parade of players has become part of the event, introducing each Junior Baseball Team and Girls Little League participating teams. Tualatin youth baseball and softball have teams beginning with T-Ball and up to 7th and 8th-grade Senior ball. The teams play various levels of ability from National teams, just learning the game, to Federal teams, which are very competitive, and all the teams compete against other Junior Baseball Organization (JBO) and Girls Little League teams in Oregon.
Sponsors include The Village Inn, Hayden’s Lake Front Grill, Safeway, Shari’s and Starbucks. Each of these Tualatin businesses (Safeway in King City) has donated most of the supplies necessary to create the breakfast, including pancake batter, sausage, eggs and coffee and juice.
This is a city-wide event open to the public. This year’s event is Saturday, Apr. 4, 2020, from 7 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the Tualatin High School gym. Cost is $6 for adults, $4 for kids (ages 3-12), and 2 and under are free.