Tuesday Time Capsule: The 2009 Baseball Team

COSTA MESA -- Over the past few months since my brother passed away, I've had many people ask me how I was able to handle that crisis the way I did on the day that it happened. Unfortunately, I was able to lean on a very sad past experience, which occurred during the 2009 baseball season.

To put everyone in the proper picture, the 2009 baseball team was 15 games into the season and at that point, the Pirates were hovering around .500 with a 9-6 record. The Pirate baseball program, excluding a couple trips to the State Final Four in 1993 and 2005, were still trying to earn a spot at the head table of the Orange Empire Conference with powerhouse teams like Santa Ana, Cypress and Riverside. Head coach John Altobelli was in the 17th year of a solid coaching career with 377 wins, and a .525 winning percentage, but no state championships.

Then, on Feb. 27, the Pirate baseball world was rocked to its knees when redshirt sophomore catcher Jourdan Watanabe died after being found in an Irvine business complex. He was just 20 years old.

Much like the scene on Jan. 26 of this year, players, coaches and parents gathered at Wendell Pickens Field the day of Jourdan's passing and we simply were there for each other. Not only were the adults there for the kids, but the kids' strength helped us adults fight through this unspeakable tragedy as well. 

OCC's next game that year was just ONE day away and, once again, the decision was left to the team on what to do with that game, that week or even the remainder of the season. There would have been no shame whatsoever to simply say, "We're done" and shut things down.

Instead, the players decided to press on and play in honor of Jourdan and his family, who, to this day, remain fixtures to the Pirate baseball program. 

Then, while all of that was being settled, another teammate, infielder Trevor McDonald, was clinging to life after being admitted into a local hospital from complications stemming from flesh-eating bacteria he acquired after being spiked in the leg on a play at third base. I had first heard of "T-Mac's" situation at Jourdan's memorial service and seeing the look on John's face when he told me, "I just got off the phone with T-Mac's mom and they're not sure if he'll make it out of surgery."

Then, following a loss to Saddleback on the day following Jourdan's death, the Pirates put it all together, winning 12 straight games to vault into first place in the OEC standings. Sophomore leaders like infielders, Drew Hillman, Brett Wallach, Ryan Dunn, Ryan Clark and outfielders Ryan Sheeks, Mykal and Ricky Stokes helped to not only keep this team afloat during the dark times, but dominated the competition and helped pole vault the Pirates to a No. 1 ranking in the state. 

Then ... along came Norman.

For those who don't know Norman, that would be my brother's umpire-hating alter-ego, who sometimes pops into John's psyche during each season.

Before we discuss Norman ... here are the rules for coaches in the CCCAA. If you are kicked out of a game, you are also suspended for the following game. If a second ejection is given to you during the season, then you are suspended for the remainder of that season.

I've never been a fan of the infamous "Norman" side to John's coaching style and I'm always the first to agree with most of my brother's career-long ejections, but the ones given out during the 2009 season were, let's just say, questionable at best. 

Strike 1: Thursday, Feb. 25, 2009 vs. Cypress -- In the conference opener at Cypress College, OCC led early and had Wallach on the mound. After striking out the first four batters of the game, "Wally" gave up a home run off of an elevated fast ball. Coast still led after the solo home run and at that point, there was zero animosity brewing on the field.

So, Wally comes back and starts off the next batter with a curve ball that he holds onto too long and it hits the batter in the back of the leg. Both teams, knowing the situation and knowing the pitch selection, had ZERO reaction to the hit-by-pitch and the batter calmly jogged to first base. The home-plate umpire, declaring that the off-speed breaking ball off the back of the leg was deemed a "bean ball" since it followed a home run, ejected Wallach from the game. 

It was such a comical ejection that Cypress had fans and coaches alike agreeing with OCC and that Wallach should stay in the game. My brother, in full "Norman" mode, made the most obvious argument ever, but it fell upon deaf ears. By rule, when a "bean ball" is declared, the pitcher AND the head coach are ejected. One day later, this ejection was all but forgotten following Jourdan's passing.

Strike 2: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 vs. Irvine Valley -- In a pitching duel vs. the Lasers, OCC had a runner on third base with one out when a line drive was snagged by the IVC shortstop, who then tried to double-off the runner at third. In spite of a late and wide throw, the base umpire called the OCC runner out to end the inning, sending John out to discuss things. John, already knowing the rules, kept his composure and calmly asked what the umpire saw. The ump wanted nothing to do with the conversation and had a bit of a tantrum of his own, sending John back to the dugout. Nearing OCC's dugout on the first-base side, John uttered the adult version of "Gosh darn it" to nobody in particular and the bases umpire ... from 150 feet away ... threw John out of the game. 

John went back over to the umpire and asked why and apparently, the adult version of "Gosh darn it" was just too offensive for the umpire to handle, even though it wasn't directed to him at all. John said to the umpire, "Do you realize I'm now done for the rest of the season because of this," to which the umpire said, "Too bad." 

Norman, party of one ... your table is now ready.

In a display that is usually reserved for World Wrestling Entertainment, John proceeded to rip off his jersey, then ran to the dugout and chucked every bat and every bucket of baseballs he could find onto the field, all but securing his season-long suspension. 

So ... to recap thus far ... on this baseball team, we have one player dead, another player slowing recovering from a near-death experience and now, the suspension of its head coach for the final third of the season. 

Well, in spite of ALL of this, the Pirates finished in a tie for first in the OEC and earned home-field advantage in the playoffs, where Coast defeated Ventura in a best-of-three series (15-1, 1-0) to set up a four-team, double-elimination Super Regional playoff, with the winner heading to the State Final Four.

After topping Saddleback and Cypress, OCC took on Mt. San Jacinto College in the championship game and there, behind an incredible complete-game, 16-strikeout performance by Calvin Drummond, the Pirates were Fresno bound after a 7-1 over the Eagles.

Wallach, who was named the State Player of the Year, was 10-1 with a 2.26 ERA, striking out 111 batters in 103 2/3 innings. He also batted .371 with four home runs and 48 RBI before being drafted in Round 3 of the MLB Draft later that summer. Hillman, who was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the MLB Draft but instead moved onto UC Irvine, batted .363 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI, while Mykal Stokes chipped in a .340 average with four home runs and 35 RBI. He would make to the AAA level of professional baseball before finally hanging'em up.

From there, the Altobelli-less Pirates advanced to the State Final Four. In kind of a humorous state of affairs, my brother hit some rather impressive milestones that weekend, in addition to the state title. In the opener, Coast topped San Joaquin Delta, giving my brother 400 career wins. In the next game, the Pirates rolled past Diablo Valley and that win moved "Alto" past Mike Mayne on the school's all-time wins list with 401. He was later named the CCCAA State Baseball Coach of the Year for 2009.

Not too shabby from the parking lot at Fresno City College. 

Now, just one win away from the state championship, OCC battled Delta once again and the Mustangs forced a winner-take-all rematch following an 11-10, 10-inning win over the Pirates in the 94-degree Fresno weather. 

With all of the adversity that this team had to overcome, what's one more game at this point, right? 

Well ... 

Prior to the start of the final game against Delta, John's wife, Keri, believed that the loss was attributed to their two daughters, Lexi and Alyssa, wearing the wrong OCC swag. So, with suitcases in hand, she got them both into the proper attire and proceeded to zip up her suitcase, only to slice her hand open on a sharp object sticking out of the bag. John, white as a ghost from the blood, takes Keri to the trainers, who said the cut was going to require stitches. So, John asked me (I was working the Final Four up in the press box) for constant updates as they headed off to the hospital. 

Unsung hero Josh Lee, making just his second start of the season, pitched 5 2/3 innings off effective baseball as the Pirates jumped out in front, 8-1 over the first three innings. That lead was trimmed down to 9-7 before a solo home run from Dunn pushed the lead back up to 10-7. Dunn, who was benched from the Super Regionals after struggling as a sophomore, returned to the starting lineup on a "hunch" from Alto and proceeded to go 7-for-14 with a home run, seven runs scored and six RBI in the State Final Four.

OCC turned to Wallach for the ninth and the superstar came through, tossing a 1-2-3 ninth to give OCC its first state baseball title in 29 years. 

My brother was able to make it back from the hospital in time for the final inning and was able to share the moment with his team. Following the final out, as the Pirates celebrated, John spent the first few minutes hugging Jourdan's dad, Kent Watanabe in a moment that will never be forgotten.  Tears of joy and sadness echoed throughout John Euless Ballpark.

Eleven years later, the Watanabe family, Kent, his wife Annie and son Lee, are still heavily involved with the Pirate baseball family. My brother's passing was a painful, yet, beautiful reminder of just what sports can do for family during a time of crisis.

There were too many heroes to count on that team, including Sheeks, who batted .370 for the Pirates before going on to win a national title with Concordia University-Irvine. Brett Williams (4-2, five saves, 1.97 ERA) who went on to a solid career at USC, Beck Wheeler (.345), who became a minor league closer for the New York Mets farm system. But perhaps the biggest hero of them all was catcher D.J. Arellano, who became a leader for the Pirates following Jourdan's passing and batted .325 during the regular season and was named the State Final Four MVP for his hard work in hot, humid conditions in Fresno.

As for me in 2009, watching this team reach its ultimate dream after dealing with nightmare after nightmare was a fitting conclusion. In the press box, I was like a caged animal up there, trying to conceal my obvious interests in the Pirates, while maintaining a professional approach to my job duties. Finally, when it was over, I posted a "22" on the scoreboard and played the music from Jourdan's memorial service as the celebration continued and hustled down to the field to celebrate with the players, coaches and my brother. 

John and I lost our mother in 2006 and when I hugged John on the field that day, I said to him, "Damn, Mom would've LOVED this." He just squeezed tighter because we both were too busy crying.

The spirit and character of that 2009 team was never forgotten. Following that season, John used this team as the catalyst for future teams as the Pirates went on to win another three state titles in 2014, 2015 and 2019.

While every championship is special, the 2009 baseball team overcame more tragedy than any of them and pulled off the impossible dream.

They did it for J-Wat ... Dream Big, boys!