Nick Adenhart, 22, Angels Rookie Pitcher, Among Three People Killed in a Hit and Run Crash

Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, 22, was among three people killed in a crash at a Fullerton intersection early Thursday. He was killed along with another man and a woman, with another man was critically injured, in a three-vehicle crash blamed on a motorist who ran a red light at a Fullerton intersection, police said. One other person killed in the crash also was part of the Angels organization. Authorities withheld the names of the dead for hours, pending family notification.

Police said a minivan driver who was blamed for the crash fled the scene on foot but was arrested a short time later on suspicion of hit-and-run. The crash occurred at East Orangethorpe Avenue and South Lemon Street around 12:20 a.m., said Fullerton police Lt. Doug Cave.

Cave said two of the vehicles -- one traveling on Lemon, the other on Orangethorpe --crashed in the intersection. A third vehicle, which was stopped in the intersection, was struck in the crash but sustained only minor damage and its driver was not hurt, Cave said. Witnesses said a minivan ran a red light and collided with a silver Mitsubishi occupied by four people, said Fullerton police Lt. Craig Brower. The Mitsubishi slammed into a light pole. A man and a woman in the Mitsubishi died at the scene, Brower said.

Adenhart died in the hospital at around 6 a.m., family members told NBC affiliate WHAG in Maryland. He had just pitched the best game of his professional career Wednesday night, with six scoreless innings against the Oakland A's in a losing effort. Source: NBC LA Sports

Adenhart was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, August 24, 1986. He made his made his major league debut on May 1, 2008, according to the station. Adenhart's minor league career started in 2005 with the Orem (Utah) Owls. He played for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Kernels, Arkansas Travelers and Salt Lake Bees. According to the station, he made three starts for the Angels last year going 1-0 with an ERA of nine, before being re-assigned to AAA Salt Lake where he had an ERA of over seven. I am not a big baseball fan, but I do know that this is a tragedy and should not have happened. What is shameful is that the scumbag that caused the accident first left the scene. Simply shameful. The sports world has lost a player who had a great deal of potential, as evidenced from his record.