EASTVALE, Calif. | The recipient of two awards named after Briar Cliff baseball players killed in motor vehicle accidents, ex-Charger star Timothy Michael Hunt has also met a tragic death while operating an off-road vehicle in east suburban Los Angeles.
Hunt, 37, was the driver of a Polaris ORV that overturned in a dirt field with four people on board Saturday at 10:10 p.m. PDT. Sheriff’s deputies found Hunt pinned beneath the vehicle and he later died of his injuries in a San Bernardino County hospital.
One passenger was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries and the other two were treated at the scene, according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Hunt, a native of Yorba Linda, Calif., played two seasons at Fullerton (Calif.) Junior College (1997-98) before transferring to Briar Cliff for his junior and senior campaigns in 1999 and 2000. He was a two-time all-district performer and an all-region and honorable mention NAIA All-American pick in 2000.
A power-hitting third baseman, Hunt batted .476 in 2000, still a single-season school record, and was named the team MVP, the Jim Bertelsen Award, named in honor of a former BC catcher who died in an auto accident on Nov. 25, 1985.
Hunt was also awarded the Chargers’ Chuck Adamson Award, presented to the player “who exhibits a genuine love for the game.’’ The honor is named for a former pitcher (1983-87) who was killed in a motor vehicle crash July 17, 1988.
Hunt later played three seasons of independent professional baseball before turning his attention to fast-pitch softball, where he was a member of Team USA in 2007, playing on a team that finished second at the World Cup of Softball.
An all-terrain-vehicle overturned with four persons aboard, killing one occupant and hospitalizing another, according to Riverside County Fire Department and sheriff’s officials.
