Fullerton College Baseball Player Killed in Crash

Kenny Humphrey, left-fielder for the Fullerton College baseball team, was killed Wednesday morning in an automobile accident, the college reported Friday.

Humphrey and friend Keith Beasley, both residents of Carson, were driving north on the San Diego Freeway in Long Beach at about 1 a.m. when Humphrey’s car was involved in a collision with another car. Humphrey and Beasley were killed instantly, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman who added that the accident remains under investigation.

Humphrey, 20, a 1988 graduate of Gahr High School, was coming off his best game of the season only hours earlier.

He had his first collegiate home run and two doubles as Fullerton defeated Orange Coast, 18-9, Tuesday afternoon.

When the ball Humphrey hit for the home run was returned to the Fullerton dugout, Coach Nick Fuscardo said he thought about having all the players sign it and return it to Humphrey because he wasn’t the type of hitter who hits home runs.

“I was thinking that it might be his last home run,” Fuscardo said. “But not like this. . . . You always establish priorities at a time like this. Real life has slapped us in the face. They (the team) took it really hard. The whole room broke down.”

Humphrey was a standout in football, basketball and baseball at Gahr. He was a reserve on the 1989 Fullerton baseball team and spent the 1990 season improving his grades.

Fullerton players will wear a patch--a diamond with Humphrey’s No. 16--starting Tuesday when the Hornets play host to Cypress.

Funeral services are pending. Humphrey’s mother, Danella, asks that in lieu of flowers, money be given to the Kenny Humphrey Memorial Scholarship at Fullerton College. Donations may be sent to Coach Nick Fuscardo at Fullerton College, 321 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton 92634.