Snohomish's Bedlington Gives Up Baseball Post

Gary Bedlington has stepped down as baseball coach at Snohomish High School, a post he held for nine years.

Bedlington led Snohomish to an 8-11 record this past season, just missing the Western AAA Conference playoffs. With Bedlington as coach, an assistant for six seasons before taking over the program, the Panthers won the WesCo AAA title three times and reached the playoffs four times.

"I just decided 15 years was enough," he said. "I have a five-year-old daughter, and she's spent too many Saturdays in the spring wondering where her daddy is.

"I've promised those Saturday's to her for swimming."

During Bedlington's tenure as head coach, the baseball facilities were improved, including the building and improvement of Earl Torgeson Field, which now includes batting cages and pitching machines.

"We started a little card show that helps finance things, and we've been fortunate to have a lot of strong community involvement," he said. "I hope whoever comes in here next year will carry that on and have the fire to make things happen.

"I've always felt that if you leave a program stronger than when you found it, you've accomplished something."