New 2026 Baseball State Championship Location--Great Park In Irvine
The 3C2A and California Community College Baseball Coaches Association (CCCBCA) have partnered with the Ryan Lemmon Foundation and Orange County Riptide that moves the location of the 2026 3C2A Baseball Championships to Southern California's Great Park in the City of Irvine. The state tourney takes place May 23-25.
Great Park's baseball facility opened in 2018. Combined with the softball facilities, there are 10 total fields that surround two championship stadiums.
CCCBCA President Chris Pedretti said: "This move underscores the CCCBCA's commitment to providing a first-class championship environment. Great Park in Irvine gives our student-athletes the experience they deserve while elevating the visibility and quality of the 3C2A Baseball State Championship."
3C2A Executive Director Jennifer Cardone added: "We are thrilled to move the 2026 3C2A Baseball Championships to Great Park this year and partner with the Guy Lemmon Foundation and OC Riptide," 3C2A Executive Director Jennifer Cardone said. "As we continue to build and elevate our brand and enhance the championship experience for our student-athletes, this opportunity is another great step in that direction."
The 3C2A Baseball Championships feature the top two teams from each region in a double-elimination tourney. Last year, the tourney host Mt. San Antonio College (Walnut) defeated West Valley, 8-5, in a 13-inning thriller that decided the title.
Mt. SAC hosted the tourney in 2024 and 2025, so the '26 championships is the third straight year that the event will be hosted in SoCal. The North hosted the event on an annual basis including the '22 and '23 tourneys at Folsom Lake College after a long history of the state tourney held at Fresno City College's historic Euless BallPark.
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About Great Park: Great Park, presented by UCI Health, features amenities for tennis, volleyball, soccer, baseball, softball, and more. The Baseball and Softball Complex, as well as an additional 48 acres of amenities at the Great Park Sports Complex, are open to the community, featuring basketball courts and more soccer fields. They add to the mix of 53 acres opened in August 2017 as part of the developing Sports Complex that enhances the Great Park's 1,300 acres. From the whimsical playground to the 25 tennis courts and Championship Soccer Stadium, the Sports Complex is sure to become Orange County's premier recreation destination.
About the Ryan Lemmon Foundation: Ryan Lemmon was a lifetime Irvine resident who graduated from Woodbridge High. After a decorated high school career, he went on to play the following year at Pepperdine University, when in the summer of 1994 he tragically died in a car accident. Following this tragedy, his parents Marcie and Guy Lemmon, and with the support of family and friends, formed the Ryan Lemmon Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity organization) in 1995 as a means of giving back to the local baseball fraternity. The Foundation's goal is to assure other young men and women experience these connections and life lessons communicated and taught by coaches and parents in the competitive athletic environment. Specifically, the foundation strives to support that very environment that surrounds education-based high school athletics. In addition to its founding principles, money raised directly supports its various athletic programs and events, scholarships, special projects, and sustaining the full-year student athletic experience.
About the Orange County Riptide: The Orange County Riptide is a wood bat, summer collegiate baseball organization that competes annually from June to early August. Established in 2015, The OC Riptide provides the Orange County community with a family-friendly and affordable sports entertainment option during the summer months. Competing in the California Collegiate League (CCL), the OC Riptide is comprised of NCAA Division I players along with D-II, D-III, NAIA and community college student-athletes.