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Swede Johnson Stadium
Swede Johnson Stadium, with a capacity of 1,000, serves as the home of the North Eugene High School and the Eugene Challengers summer baseball team. One of the nation's finest amateur structures, the stadium has 800 theater seats and a modern air conditioned press box. It was financed by a community wide fund drive and built by the Challenger organization at the cost of $750,000. The stadium was given to the 4J School District in June of 1988. New locker rooms, rest rooms and a concession stand were constructed in 2000, and the facility was valued at $1,500,000. The rest room facilities are located beneath the third base bleachers. The Challengers host local, state and regional tournaments as well as fielding several teams that play their home games in the stadium. Seating is in a horseshoe configuration with eight rows of boxed seats beginning at ground level nearest the infield on both the first and third base sides. The top three rows behind home plate connect the two sections with a walkway behind the back row of the stadium. Swede Johnson is a complete baseball facility. Behind the third base stands are six batting cages, complete with carpet. Four of the cages are 70-feet long, by 14-feet wide, by 12-feet high. The cages have roofs over the mound and hitting areas with lights under the roof areas. The other two cages are 35-feet long, by 14-feet wide by 12-feet high. The bullpens are located along the two baselines and behind the hedges. Each has two mounds and a player bench. The playing surface includes 200,000 square feet of rye grass turf, irrigated by a 75-head automatic sprinkler system from the Rain Bird Irrigation Company, with red cinders encircling the field. The stadium is lit by 32 fixtures on eight 95-foot poles, generating 70-100 foot candles of light in the infield and an average of 50 foot candles in the outfield. The lighting system was made possible by a donation from John O. Chatt. The playing field dimensions are 320-feet down the left field line, 330-feet down the right field line, 370-feet in the power alleys and 390-feet to straight-away center field. A new 12-foot high chain link outfield fence and the backstop were installed in 2004. The remainder of the stadium is enclosed by a nine-foot fence. A new electronic scoreboard was installed in 2001. The scoreboard was donated by a fan of Challenger baseball. The stadium is named for former youth coach Swede Johnson, who coached baseball, football and basketball for North Eugene and Sheldon High Schools for 25 years. Swede was a local lumber broker who played baseball and football for the University of Oregon. He died of cancer in 1985. This write up is courtesy of the Bi-Mart Challengers. This write up and other Challenger history, including the Challenger Hall of Fame and All-Time stat leaders can be found in the Challengers baseball program. For more information about the Challengers please go to www.eugenechallengers.com Key Dates
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