Life after college athletics looks different for all athletes. Some continue to play their sports at the next level or find jobs that keep them in the sport, while others put their time as a competitive athlete in the past. But for the Seattle University baseball community, once a year, former athletes and their families get to relive their days as Redhawks and Chieftains at Seattle U baseball’s annual “Meet the Redhawks” event.
Hundreds of alumni, current athletes, families and future Redhawks in the Seattle U baseball community filed into the Campion Ballroom Jan. 31 to celebrate the beginning of the 2026 baseball season, participate in both the silent and live auction and honor the 2016 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Regular Season champions.
Among the alumni in attendance was Miami Marlins right-handed pitcher Janson Junk. Junk was a member of the 2016 team that won the conference, and was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 22nd round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Coming out of high school, Junk wasn’t highly recruited, but the Recruiting Coordinator and Pitching Coach at the time, Elliott Cribby, gave him a chance to join the Redhawks as a walk-on, eventually earning him a scholarship.
“I think it was the best decision of my life,” Junk said. “It shaped who I am today… Sports in general helped me understand teamwork, understanding people, how to work with people, relationships, go through failures, succeed, have fun, all these different things that the game taught me, really set me up for my career.”
The night kicked off with the voice of the Mariners, Public Address Announcer Tom Hutyler, introducing the Redhawks’ Alumni Board President, Jacob Prater, who then welcomed the attendees. Prater joined the Redhawks in 2017 after playing two years at Everett Community College. During his time at Seattle U, Prater slashed .249/.365/.356.
After an invocation from former Seattle U employee Erin Beary Andersen and a speech from Senior right-handed pitcher Kaden Alberghini—the first of many speeches from the seniors on the baseball team—the night was fully underway.
While the attendees were digging into dinner, Head Coach Donny Harrell took the stage to reminisce on and honor the most successful team in Seattle U baseball history.
“Every time you see a player, you think of a moment that you had with them, and especially with this 2016 team, it was the best team in Seattle U history with 37 wins,” Harrell said. “One of the most remarkable statistics is that 12 of those players either went on to play or work in professional baseball.”
This 2016 team finished 37-21, including a 24-4 home record, securing the number one spot in the conference going into the postseason. This team also had two players drafted in 2017, Junk and left-handed pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Skubal was drafted in the ninth round by the Detroit Tigers. Skubal is arguably one of the best athletes to come out of Seattle U, winning the American League Cy Young Award, the award for the best pitcher in all of the American League, for the last two years in a row.
During his time at Seattle U, Skubal had a career record of 21-7 and boasted a 3.36 Earned Runs Average. He holds five school records: lowest opponent batting average (.221), most strikeouts per nine innings (9.79), wins (21), strikeouts (224) and strikeouts looking (56). Unfortunately, Skubal was not able to make it to the event.
The largest chunk of the night was a live auction, hosted by Seattle entertainer Jim Devers. Devers, along with players on the current Redhawks team, auctioned off dozens of items, including three week-long trips to Mexico, a full Seattle sports experience package, a VIP tour of Lumen Field and on-field experience of a Sounders game prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an all expenses paid Seattle night in the town and many other items.
The “Meet the Redhawks” aspect of the night came during the live auction, where, after every few items, Devers would take a break as the team introduced members of the 2026 roster. The underclassmen position players were introduced first, followed by the underclassmen pitchers and ending with the seniors on the team.
With the silent auction, live auction, and a “Raise the Paddle,” the Seattle U baseball team raised over $130,000 throughout the night. All proceeds go towards supporting the baseball team’s athletes.
Though this event may seem like just a fun opportunity for old friends to reconnect and raise some money for the baseball program, many Redhawks alumni shared the importance of the event in developing a culture within the program.
“It’s extremely important to establish the tone of what the program is… It’s something that is unique and doesn’t really exist in many programs,” former Seattle U right-handed pitcher Tyler Yeh said. “It’s really important to establish the family type environment and understand that… you’re a Redhawk for life, once you’re part of this organization, you’re gonna be in this forever.”
Baseball kicks off its first season in the WCC, taking on Cal State University Northridge Feb. 13-15, and will continue to play on the road before coming back to Seattle to take on the University of Washington Feb. 24 at UW.
