Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart Honored in Manhattan Beach
The “Pearson-Wilhite-Stewart-Adenhart Commemorative Wall” will be dedicated adjacent to the Big Marine baseball field in Manhattan Beach.
Sunday, Feb 12, 2012 | Updated 11:08 AM PDT
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April 8, 2009: Nick Adenhart of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim throws a pitch in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics.
Nick Adenhart is being honored with a dedication ceremony for a commemorative wall honoring the Angels pitcher killed at age 22 in a drunken driving crash in 2009.
The “Pearson-Wilhite-Stewart-Adenhart Commemorative Wall” was dedicated adjacent to the Big Marine baseball field in Manhattan Beach.
Members of the Pearson, Wilhite and Stewart families were expected to attend the dedication ceremony, along with officials from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cal State Fullerton and Manhattan Beach City Council. Pearson, Stewart and Wilhite all attended Cal State Fullerton.
The ceremony preceded a Mira Costa High School baseball game.
Pearson and Wilhite both attended Mira Costa.
Adenhart, his girlfriend Courtney Frances Stewart, 20, and his friend Henry Pearson, 25, died in an April 9, 2009, crash in Fullerton that occurred just hours after the rookie pitcher hurled six scoreless innings against the Oakland A's at Angel Stadium.
Their friend, Jon Wilhite, survived the crash but had to have his skull reattached to his spine.
A San Gabriel man, Andrew Thomas Gallo, was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 51 years to life in prison for driving drunk and slamming his stepmother’s Toyota Sienna into the Mitsubishi in which the four friends were traveling.
“There are many people, and many families, beyond our own who were affected by the passing of Henry, Courtney and Nick and the terrible injuries Jon was forced to endure,” Pearson's father, Nigel, told City News Service. “While we all remember those we have lost, our families believe it is critical to remind everyone, and especially our teens and young adults, about how a single moment of drunk driving can devastate innocent people's lives.”
Adenhart's parents, who live out of state, were unable to attend Gallo’s sentencing hearing, but a letter from them was read in court.
"We lived with this hole in our family, our hearts, our beliefs and our lives," according to the parents' statement. "No amount of words will ever fill that hole or in any way replace the loss of our dear Nick. Nick was beautiful. That phrase describes him best."
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