Pirates, Warriors honor their own in upcoming Memorial Cup series

COSTA MESA -- Orange Coast College and El Camino College will kick off the 2022 baseball season this week with the inauguration of the annual Memorial Cup series, beginning Thursday at ECC, beginning at 1 p.m.

This Memorial Cup series, created to honor the lives of longtime Orange Coast College baseball coach, John Altobelli and former El Camino College player, Sladen Mohl, will continue on Friday at ECC for Game 2, also at 1 p.m. The third and final game of the series will take place on Saturday at the newly-renamed John Altobelli Park, beginning at 12 p.m.

These two baseball powerhouse programs have rarely played during the regular season, but they are no strangers to one another once the postseason begins. In 2017, the Warriors defeated in the Pirates to advance to the State Final Four in a hard-fought three game series. The next season, the Warriors again took on the Pirates, with OCC prevailing and earning a trip to Fresno for the Final Four. The rivarly reached its zenith in 2019 when both teams earned a spot in the State Final Four and ended up head-to-head for the state championship. Needing to win both games of a doubleheader on the final day, the Pirates pulled off the miracle and won the finale in the bottom of the ninth inning, 8-7, to win the state championship. 

It was a heartbreaking afternoon for the Warriors, who were playing for Mohl, who tragically lost his life when he was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from practice on April 16, 2019. This annual event will help keep the memory of Mohl alive with the Warriors, the El Camino College community and all of community college baseball. 

"The Memorial Cup is everything you would want to have to open up a new season," El Camino College head coach Nate Fernley said. "First of all, it honors two special individuals ... a young man in Sladen who represented the ideal teammate and Alto, who represents the ideal coach. Combine that with the on-field product and it really does feel like playoff baseball in January."

For the Pirates, that afternoon of celebration on May 27, 2019 turned out to be the final game of Altobelli's storied coaching career. Alto, his wife Keri, and daughter Alyssa all died on Jan. 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash that also took the life of Los Angeles Laker great, Kobe Bryant and five others.

"I'm so excited to start this yearly tradition of the Memorial Cup," OCC head coach Nate Johnson said. "Being able to play a series honoring both Alto and Sladen is special. For me, to be able to tell the story of Alto, to keep his memory alive and put on display all of what he's done for OCC means a lot to me. It's special for my guys to be a part of something that's bigger than baseball, honestly. The meaning behind the series helps put things in perspective at the beginning of the season that every day isn't guaranteed and to make each day the best one that you can."

The concept of the Memorial Cup start with an innocent conversation following the 2019 state championship between Coach Alto and his brother, OCC Sports Information Director, Tony Altobelli. 

"I asked John, 'Why don't we play these guys during the regular season?' and his response was, 'I don't know ... but we should,'" Tony Altobelli said. "After John passed away and after the incredibly emotional state finals series we had with El Camino, who was also dealing with a heartbreaking loss of their own in Sladen, I went to both coaches and asked if we could create an annual series that honors both of our fallen people and both coaches loved the idea. From that moment on, we've all worked hard to get to where we are this week. Thanks to the incredible work of Jake and Mary Hill over at Tustin Awards, we've created an incredible trophy that we will unveil before the first game that will be awarded to the series-winning team. I wanted the trophy so big and awesome, that 40 years from now, when we're all no longer here or involved with any of this ... the two teams will still say, 'I have no idea who Alto and Sladen were, but I want to play for that trophy.'"

Both teams have other big reasons for having a celebratory weekend of baseball. On Thursday, both teams will be playing on the newly-renovated ballpark at El Camino College. The ballpark has been completely renovated with the inclusion of an all-turf field and makes it one of the best in the state.

Another state-of-the-art facility will host Game 3 of this Memorial Cup and after two years in the making, the facility will be renamed John Altobelli Park, in honor of the man who not only racked up over 700 wins and four state titles, but also raised millions of dollars for the program and helped turn that baseball yard into one of the tops in the state as well. Saturday will be more of an "unofficial unveiling" of the new named facility, with an official ceremony set for Saturday, March 12, prior to the OCC-Irvine Valley baseball game at 12 p.m.

The Pirates, who finished the 2021 season as champions of the Orange Empire Conference with a record of 20-7-1, enter the 2022 season as the top-ranked school in Southern California. The Warriors, who didn't play last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, enter the season ranked No. 6 in Southern California.

Following Saturday's game, there will be a post-series celebration for both teams and their fans at Original Pizza Sports Bar and Grill, located at the Newport Beach Golf Course at 3100 Irvine Ave., Newport Beach. All ages welcomed.