Former University High baseball star Ethan Stahl was a ‘great teammate and friend to all’

Ethan Stahl with his father Harry and Ethan’s nephew Jack Cohen at an Angel game on July 18, 2018. (Photo courtesy Stahl family)

Former University High School baseball star Ethan Stahl, who constantly went out of his way to help others and enjoyed life to the fullest, died suddenly on Saturday, July 4 shortly after collapsing at his home in Costa Mesa, his father Harry, said Tuesday.

“All of the Uni kids would say he had a zest for life and he cared about everybody,” said former University baseball coach Chris Conlin. “Every year he was the first to call about the alumni game. He loved Uni baseball and the Angels. He was a great teammate and friend to all.”

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Cause of death has not been determined, his father said. An autopsy is being conducted, his father added. Stahl, who was single, was 43. He is also survived by his mother Susan and his sister, Sara Cohen.

The Stahl family has lived in University Park for more than 40 years.

Stahl, who was in University High’s class of 1995, was a catcher on the Trojans’ baseball team that won the league title that season. Stahl, who was also used as a designated hitter, was with the program for four years.

Stahl, an all-league player his senior year, was a catcher and designated hitter for the Trojans with a batting average around .360.

“He was instrumental in our 1995 league championship,” Conlin said. “It started the 8-year streak that we won or finished third in league eight years in a row. He wanted the team to win more than any player I’ve ever coached.”

Stahl was also respected by his teammates.

“Ethan Stahl was the ultimate teammate and the glue that kept us together as a team and the inspiration ….. to successfully keep us rolling to win our 1995 Pacific Coast League championship vs. Laguna Hills,” said former teammate Ernie Medina. “He was the most caring individual and easily gave the shirt off his back for anyone.”

Harry Stahl said he had fond memories of the time he spent with his son.

“He was just a loving, caring son,” Harry Stahl said. “He was just a wonderful son and I knew I could count on him whenever I needed help. He came without any reservations; I was never inconveniencing him. He was always happy to help and he didn’t want me to strain myself and I knew when my time passed I was counting on him to take care of his mother and I knew she would be well taken care of with him.

“He had a wonderful, engaging, large presence and a big personality. But he was just an honest, caring and loving son.

“We saw him on Father’s Day and he was fine,” Harry Stahl said. “He ate well and he took care of himself. He had no history of illness and never had any operations or anything like that.”

Ethan Stahl was born on Oct. 28, 1976 at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach. He attended University Park Elementary School and Rancho San Joaquiin Middle School.

He loved sports and in 1988, he was the first torch bearer for the Irvine Games.

“My wife was the founder of the Irvine Junior Games,” his father said. “And Ethan was the first torch bearer running around the track.”

Stahl, who began to play baseball as a youngster, continued his love of the game at University High School. He played a few games with the University freshman football team, but decided to focus on baseball.

“His love was always baseball; he played baseball the year round,” his father said. “I coached him in winter ball. It was just something that we shared.”

His father said Ethan Stahl was proud of the team’s comeback win which helped the Trojans win the league title in 1995.

“It was a big comeback and one of those games where they were down and came back,” his father said. “It was a big deal.”

After playing at University, Stahl attended Santa Barbara City College, where he played baseball, his father said.

After attending Santa Barbara City College, Stahl had a number of jobs, but he had been working for a medical finance company in Brea.

“He really settled down over the past two or three years,” his father said. “He was a patient coordinator representative.

“They do collections, they finance doctors offices, they do a lot of things in the medical field and Ethan was more of a patient representative helping them work out their bills.”

Stahl continued to be active in sports, playing first base in adult softball leagues in Costa Mesa.

“I know he got into an Elite Fastpitch Softball League,” his father said. “We saw him play a number of times and that’s something that really stayed until the very end. He was playing in about three softball leagues. He played in one at work and a couple around here, but everything got shut down with coronavirus. That was his activity. The fact that he hadn’t any kind of activity like that for a few months, who knows what impact may have had.”

Stahl also loved watching the Angels games and attended many games over the years at Angel Stadium with his father.

“I’ve had season tickets since 1986,” Harry Stahl said. “Ethan and I went to tons of games. Everybody knew Ethan. Among other things, his nickname was Boomer. He had the loudest voice at Angel Stadium by far. I have no idea where it came from. It was just unbelievably loud. He loved Garret Anderson. We probably went to seven or eight games (last year).”

Ethan Stahl also enjoyed coming over to visit his parents and barbecuing chicken for them mixing in some special sauces for the meal, his father said.

Stahl also enjoyed hanging out with friends. Many of those friends have shared their special memories of Stahl on Facebook this week since his unexpected death.

“He had a hole in his pocket, he just didn’t care about having stuff,” his father said. “He lived life in his own way on his own terms and God love him for that. His glass was always half full and he never left his house without saying, ‘I love you.’ He never left his house without big hugs coming in and going out. So yes, I will miss all that.”

Ethan Stahl frequently helped other young people who were going through tough times, his father said.

“Ethan knew we had an open door to him and his friends,” his father said. “He didn’t even have to ask. He knew that we would do what we could to help him and help his friends and we did.”

He showed how much he cared while attending school in Santa Barbara when he helped a car-jacking victim in a shopping center, his father said.

“Ethan got in his car and tracked the car down and the person was apprehended and arrested and everybody was safe and he got the hero award from the city of Santa Barbara for doing that,” his father said.

Harry Stahl said he is grateful for the time he spent with his son.

“I can honestly say that I have no regrets,” he said. “I don’t feel that I ever missed any opportunity to be with Ethan. If the (softball) games were starting at 6 o’clock, he would text me and I went and I remember thinking every time I got in the car how lucky I was to be alive to be able to jump in the car to go see my son play a sport that he loved and I knew Ethan loved having me there. There aren’t a lot of people at adult softball games, I was always delighted and I knew it meant a lot to him. I knew he wanted me to be there and I’m just glad to know from his friends that it meant as much to him for me to be there as it did for me to be there.”

His father said the family is working on a small family service in their church. However, because of the coronavirus pandemic, there will likely be restrictions on how many can attend.

But Harry Stahl said he is working on an additional tribute later for his son’s hundreds of friends.

“We will have to come up with something of a celebration on a bigger scale,” he said.

Harry Stahl said the memories of his son will live on.

“He will always be with me in my heart, no question about that,” he said.

–Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com