MONTEREY >> He was funny and fearless and, as a Monterey High pitcher, a flamethrower. What he shouldn’t be is forgotten.

There is a baseball field named after him in the heart of Monterey: Frank E. Sollecito Jr. Ballpark.

But he was simply Frankie to everyone who knew him, a boy who grew into early manhood before leukemia claimed him Oct. 7, 1990, at age 20.

Only those at least in their 40s can truly remember Sollecito, one of the best high school pitchers in Monterey County history, and to have witnessed his sometimes off-the-wall spirit.

For others, a statue of him near the entrance to the ballpark will have to suffice.

It depicts Sollecito in his Monterey High jersey, his number 16 on the back, wearing a cap with the letter M, holding his glove over his heart, a ball cupped in his right hand, and ready to take the catcher’s sign. It includes his birthdate, May 7, 1970, the day he died and simply says “Monterey Allstar Pitcher.”

That he was.

Frank E. Sollecito Jr. Ballpark, part of El Estero Park, no longer has the dirt infield and grass outfield when Frankie starred there. There is now artificial turf to allow for multiple sports usages. The wooden dugout benches have been replaced by aluminum ones.

Such changes don’t matter to Frank and Sannie Sollecito, his parents, and on a recent quiet weekday afternoon as the air was filled by the happy sounds of children playing at adjoining Dennis the Menace Playground they reflected on his life.

“My son is here,” said Sannie, gazing at the field. “I see him here. I always feel him here.”

“What comes to mind for me is the way the city and the people just came together to rename the stadium after Frankie. Nobody asked them to do that,” said Frank.

Sollecito’s parents, Monterey natives, are integral parts of the city’s fabric. Frank retired in 2004 as a Monterey Police detective after 32 years on the force, then served on the City Council for eight years. After their son’s death, Sannie and Frank and relatives and close friends established the Frank Sollecito Junior Leukemia Fund to help support families with ill children, pay for costs of treating those illnesses, not only leukemia, that are not covered by insurance. Sannie remains active with the fund.

For those who grew up with him, who lived in Frankie Sollecito’s Via Paraiso Park neighborhood, played sports with him, shared laughs and observed his pain and bravery as he began to slip away, memories remain vivid.

“What I remember about him was his smile and how much we laughed together,” said teammate Joey Rappa, who grew up near Sollecito, describing his parents and his younger brother, Gabe. “He never took things too seriously even when things got really serious for himself. I think about him all the time.”

The Sollecito brothers had an unbreakable bond.

“We were very close,” said Gabe Sollecito, who was two years younger than Frankie. “We shared our friends. He was definitely a great big brother. My brother always had my back, even when I was wrong. I think of him every day of my life.”

When Frankie, then a senior, was stricken by leukemia, Gabe, a sophomore infielder, was called upon to fill his shoes on the mound and did brilliantly.

Frankie Sollecito had emerged as the ace of the staff over his three varsity seasons, during which Monterey went 55-39, won six of seven league playoff games, advancing to the Central Coast Section tournament twice.

“Honestly, it was hard to catch Frankie,” said Eric Tarallo, who was his prime catcher. “He threw so hard, and his ball had so much movement. He had a hard sinker before that was a thing. He was also pretty emotional on the mound, so it took a little work to keep him under control and not lose my own cool. But he was so good, even as our No. 1 pitcher when he was a sophomore. We had so many innings where we retired the side in order. He could absolutely dominate.”

“The movement on his ball was not seen back then at the high school level,” said Rappa. “His arm angle was also unique and very difficult for hitters.”

The illness that eventually felled Sollecito came out of the blue.

In the spring of 1988, shortly before turning 18, Sollecito had his wisdom teeth removed. But the wounds failed to heal.

Sannie Sollecito called doctors. Several tests were run. They revealed leukemia.

“You wouldn’t think that this big, healthy kid had cancer, but he did,” said Gabe Sollecito. “Frankie was 6 foot, 4 inches and weighed 235 pounds.”

“Frankie appeared to be as close to invincible as humanly possible as spring began in 1988,” wrote Tarallo in a tribute when The Herald selected Sollecito in early 2000 as the Inspirational Athlete of the 20th Century.

As word of Sollecito’s situation spread, the community rallied on his behalf.

“They did a blood match drive for Frankie for two days at Monterey High,” said Frank Mineo, a friend since grade school and a teammate. “Hundreds of people came to see if their blood was a match.”

A suitable match was not found. The ensuing bone marrow transplant was unsuccessful.

Frankie Sollecito’s rich legacy lives on in large part thanks to Michael Groves, Monterey High varsity baseball coach for the past 44 seasons, including 1986-1988, Frankie’s years.

“He was a determined, never-give-up individual, and, yet, he was funny, goofy and feisty,” said Groves. “He was bigger than life.”

His teammates regarded Sollecito with affection, appreciation and, at times, awe, as he faced his deadly disease with aplomb, courage and a sometimes wacky sense of humor.

“Teammates loved Frankie,” said Tarallo, superintendent of the Spreckels Union School District. “However, he wasn’t an ‘easy’ teammate. He was fiercely loyal and a bit unpredictable. Frankie always put us at ease even when he was feeling awful. Frankie used to bang his head into the dugout metal poles to rally us. He was also super-humble. And he was unique.”

“As a competitor, it was a sight to see,” said teammate Rappa. “Frankie had no problem talking to the hitters the second he let the ball go. And he was fearless. Of course, there were times I’d look at Groves and say, ‘I think our pitcher has a screw loose.’ There was a game where, from the dugout, Frankie was pretending the balls were hand grenades and he started tossing them onto the field. Many of them. He would pretend to bite off the top.”

“We created a tradition after Frankie’s death, when the ballpark was named in his honor and the statue was erected,” said Groves. “The players and I go to the statue just before every home game and place our hands on it to cite inspirational words to carry us forward.”

Sollecito’s influence on the Monterey High teams continues, long after he died.

“Many years after Frankie passed, I was coaching a team with great talent and many egos,” Groves recalled. “We had just lost again and were in fourth place with eight games left to play.”

Groves had his players run with him across the street from the ballpark into Monterey City Cemetery, where Sollecito is buried.

“We talked about what a privilege it is to represent your team, your school, your family and your community. We talked about who Frankie was, his gratitude and humility, and what he would say to this team. It turned out to be one of the best practices ever in all my 44 years of coaching at Monterey High. We went on to win eight straight league games and a league championship, followed by four straight victories to win the Central Coast Section championship.”

Sollecito was also recruited by colleges for football, as a tight end and on the defensive line, but baseball was his first love. He earned a full baseball scholarship to attend UC Berkeley.

The school said it would honor that scholarship even though its coaches knew Sollecito would never play for them.

“They said, ‘We’ll treat it as an injury, not as an illness and he will keep his scholarship,’” said Sannie Sollecito, who holds a special place in her heart for Cal because of that. Frankie was let out of the hospital for one day to attend a special program for incoming baseball players.

“Frankie was destined to play Division I college baseball; that was not disputable,” added Groves. “He was projected, in my view and substantiated by scouts, to have the character, skill level, heart and work ethic to be drafted by a big league club. Frankie was focused on school, receiving excellent grades and also on athletics.”

Scouts came to time the speed of his pitches using radar guns before he was stricken and also afterward.

Despite his illness, Sollecito’s sense of humor remained evident.

“You kept pointing the ray guns at me! You gave me leukemia!” he yelled at them at one game after the illness had greatly weakened him.

When Groves reflects on Sollecito’s play, certain games remain etched in his memory.

One was a playoff game versus St. Francis High of Mountain View in 1988, when Sollecito was “skinny as a rail because of the leukemia,” said Groves. “He was in his street clothes, but he wanted desperately to get into the game, so I took off my jersey, gave it to him and put him in to pitch.”

“The fans from St. Francis, aware of the magnitude of the moment, gave Frankie a standing ovation,” wrote Tarallo.

“The St. Francis players took their hats off,” said Gabe Sollecito.

“When he went into the game, we went nuts,” said Mineo. “The hair stood up all over my body.”

With a double play and a strikeout, Sollecito got out of the inning. It would be his last game.

Frankie Sollecito’s funeral mass at historic San Carlos Catholic Church in Monterey, drew over 1,000 people. Hundreds then walked the mile to the Monterey City Cemetery.

As he had in life, Sollecito united an entire community in death.

“He struggled so hard to live,” said his mother. “His motto was never give up, never give an inch.”

“After Frankie died,” said his father, “you don’t know how many times a kid said to me, ‘Your son stood up for me and said, ‘You’re going to have to go through me.’”

For several years after Frankie’s death, an annual baseball tournament was held in his memory.

Gabe Sollecito, who graduated Monterey High in 1990, became a stellar pitcher at UCLA, where he received a full baseball scholarship and excelled for his two seasons. He had a strong 10-year professional career as a relief pitcher, reaching the minors’ top level three times but never got the call to the big leagues. Later, he was the pitching coach for Monterey High for several years under Groves.

There remains great mutual respect between the Sollecitos and Groves.

“He believes in traditional teamwork. He makes his players not just good, but to be good citizens,” said Frank Sollecito. “I don’t know how many players he kept out of trouble.”

“Frank and Sannie were such great supporters of Frankie, the high school program and me,” said Groves. “I continue to have a special bond with Gabe and his parents.”

Efforts to save Frankie’s life continued long after he graduated Monterey High in 1988.

“We fought a 2½-year battle,” said Sannie. It included chemo and frequent hospitalizations. “He was the funniest kid. He was brave. I don’t walk around maudlin. I had the greatest kid in the world.”

Lewis Abraham Leader is a former longtime newspaper reporter and editor, including at The Los Angeles Times and The Herald.