Father & Son Who Died in Crash After Youth Baseball Practice ‘Went Everywhere Together’

A California community is banding together to help the Pirolli family after Steve Pirolli and his namesake 13-year-old son died in a car accident as they were leaving the boy’s baseball practice at Poway High School.

A GoFundMe account to help the family has raised more than $86,000. Poway is located in San Diego County.

“Steve (father) and Stephen Jr. Pirolli (son) died in a tragic car accident on Friday night (2/12/21) as they were leaving Stephen’s baseball practice at Poway High School,” the page reads. Steve Pirolli was 54 years old and an IT salesman.

“They were just incredibly close,” Tom Pirolli, Steve’s brother, told NBC San Diego. “They went everywhere together, they did everything together.”

Here’s what you need to know:

A Mercedes Driven by a Teenager Crashed Into the Father & Son’s Vehicle, Reports Say

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the crash occurred when Pirolli’s Toyota sedan was struck by Mercedes driven by a 19-year-old as Pirolli pulled out of the high school parking lot after his son’s baseball practice. They were turning left on Espola Road when the Mercedes struck their sedan. The Mercedes driver did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The newspaper reported that the father was a former college baseball player for Southwestern College and the University of the Pacific in Stockton. The boy wanted to have a career in baseball and was an eighth-grader at Rancho Bernardo Heights Middle School, according to the Union-Tribune.

The boy’s mother shared the above video on her Facebook page and wrote, “Here’s a video of Stephen pitching at a game last year. He really enjoyed pitching and he recently loved playing 2nd base.”

She added, “For those of you who knew my son Stepen his favorite baseball player is Bryce Harper from the Phillies. All he would do is talk about Bryce and he even had same haircut as him. Stephen collected items of him and even has his jersey. My son was also featured in MLB18 video game as the pitcher that pitched it to Bryce Harper in the game. So for anyone knows Bryce Harper from the Phillies let him know Stephen was his #1 fan!”

Stephen Jr. Was Remembered as a ‘Bright Boy’ & Steve as an ‘Amazing Dad’ Whose Passion Was Watching His Son Play Baseball

FacebookStephen Pirolli Jr

The GoFundMe page describes Stephen Jr. as “a bright boy and an amazing baseball player.”

The father, Steve, “was an amazing dad, a devoted father and loving husband. His passion was watching his son play baseball,” it reads.

“Both of them were kind and well loved by their family, teammates and community,” the page says.” Their loss is terrible and devastating for their friends and family. It was too soon for them to leave us. Lorie (Steve’s wife and Stephen’s mother) is now left alone with grief, and the difficult circumstances of paying for unexpected funeral fees and medical bills. There are no words to comfort her right now, but our hope is to help with some of the costs as she grieves. Please help and donate to this Go Fund Me.”

The family includes mother Lorie Pirolli and the boy’s half-sister Jazmin.

People Offered Tributes to the Pirrollis, Remembering the Dad’s ‘Love of Baseball’

Facebook

People offered tributes to the Pirollis on the GoFundMe page. Here are some of them.

“We are so sorry for your loss. Steve was my son’s RBLL coach and we always appreciated his encouragement, kindness, and love of baseball.”

“Steve was a great guy and will be sorely missed.”

“Steve was one of my soccer coaches a few years ago. I hope my money can help. Rest in peace.”

“We had a great season in RBLL with Steve and Stephen Jr. Thanks for the great baseball talks and memories, our thoughts are with you.”

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