Colton Alumnus Throws First Pitch

SAN BERNARDINO>> Keith Hubbs, brother of the late Ken Hubbs, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Oregon-Montana Northwest bracket game Aug. 10 at the Little League Western Regional Baseball Tournament in San Bernardino. Ken played on the 1954 Colton Lions Little League team that advanced to the Little League World Series Championship Game in Williamsport, Pa. Following Keith’s first pitch at the Little League Western Regional Baseball Tournament, he appeared on ESPN for a half-inning and spoke to analyst Jerry Kindall, who began his MLB career with the Chicago Cubs and helped mentor Ken Hubbs during two spring training's even though he knew Ken would probably take his position one day. That day occurred in 1962 when Kindall was traded to the Cleveland Indians and Ken won the National league Rookie of the Year honors with the Cubs. Tragically, Ken passed away in a plane crash in 1964 at the age of 22. Kindall retired following the 1965 season with the Minnesota Twins with nine seasons overall in the MLB. Both Keith and Kindall enjoyed reminiscing about Ken over the air. Kindall was the first person to win a College World Series title as both a player and a head coach and was elected to the 2007 College Baseball Hall of Fame. Kindall spent 24 years as the head coach at the University of Arizona, guiding the Wildcats to three national championships in baseball. Keith, who played football at BYU and was Colton High School's first All American running back, spent 38 years as the president of the Ken Hubbs Foundation. He also was a real estate broker for 40 years.