Overview:
$15,000 project is completed in time for next Tuesday’s home opener against Newbury Park
Dos Pueblos High School girls softball will be sitting pretty this season after going full circle with the Brunner Family.
Penny Brunner donated $15,000 for the new bleachers at Dale Okinaka Memorial Varsity Softball Field in the four-diamond complex that her late husband, Dean, help build a quarter century ago.
“My dad is the one who ran the irrigation out there in the first place, way back then,” said Jami Brunner Stetler, who organized the latest project.
Stetler played for the Channel League championship Chargers in 1986 and 1987. Her sisters Tawnia (Class of 1991) and Tiffany (Class of 2000) also played softball at DP.
Her brother Beau (Class of 1998), whose daughter Anastasia is a star sophomore on this year’s DP team, helped construct the new grandstands with the help of his brother Justin (Class of 1997), nephew Brett Williams (Class of 2014) and Bill Stout.
“Beau has put in so much volunteer time into those fields,” Stetler said. “He’s going to help coach Mike Gerken with the team this season.”
Stetler won a home run contest that was held to raise funds for the DP complex which was completed in 1999. The original project was headed by Joel Silverman.
“I was four months pregnant at the time with my daughter Jordan,” she said. Jordan Williams is now a math teacher at DP.
The new aluminum bleachers replace a set of wooden ones that were salvaged from the old Dos Pueblos Little League facility.
“They were completely breaking down, they were so dilapidated,” Stetler said. “We’ve been all-volunteer getting this done — it’s costing the school nothing.
“We removed the bad safety issue. I called a friend who has big equipment and he moved the dirt around and smoothed the surface, which has really helped the drainage situation there.”
The grandstands go eight rows high and seat 84.
“The thing looks awesome,” Stetler said. “I ordered one which has center handrails so you can walk up the middle and go to either side.
“With the work that my friend did, it’s up higher, so you can pretty much see the field from every single row.”
The new bleachers were installed in time for Dos Pueblos’ home opener on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Newbury Park.
