Minor League Pitcher Bryan Hudson Earns Alton High School Sports Hall Of Fame Induction
Alton High School Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2021
ALTON - Bryan Hudson, a superstar high school pitcher and now in the Chicago Cubs Minor League organization, was recently inducted into the Alton High School Sports Hall Of Fame.
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Hudson was a pitcher on the Redbird teams from 2012-2015 and was dominant on the mound, winning a total of 25 varsity games in his four years on the club, going 10-2 in his senior season with a 0.50 ERA, striking out 152 batters while walking only 29. He also hit. .436 with four home runs and 49 RBIs. He was drafted in the third round, the 82nd overall pick, by the Chicago Cubs in the MLB Draft in 2015. Currently pitching for the Iowa Cubs in the International League, Hudson was 6-4 in 2021, with an ERA of 4.76, fanning 53 batsmen in 58.2 innings.
In Hudson's induction speech, Redbird pitching coach and varsity assistant Pete Kleeman's first impression of Hudson was as being very soft-spoken and imposing because of his height and size who worked hard and developed himself gradually into a solid, dependable starting pitcher and a good player in the outfield when he wasn't pitching.
"I specifically remember a game in late April at Belleville West," Kleeman recalled. "We were kind of struggling at that time, we had some recent close losses, one-run losses, and as a coaching staff, we got together; we were trying to think 'man, which direction do we want to go as far as our pitching goes?' And I remember making a comment to the rest of the coaches, I said 'boy, one thing I've noticed about Bryan is that in his last four appearances, I don't think they've really touched the ball when they swing the bat. If they do, it's barely getting a piece of it, and there were a lot of swings and misses.'"
By the time the end of the regular season came, the coaches realized that Hudson was the team's best pitcher, with a curveball that, given his six-foot-eight frame, made it very difficult to hit. Hudson also never got rattled, no matter how big the assignment was or the number of observers, which included many Major League scouts, that surrounded the Alton bullpen.
The scouting contingents also included then Cubs' general manager Theo Epstein, who built the Cubs' 2016 World Championship team, their first since 1908, and also championship teams for the Boston Red Sox, who won the 2004 Series over the St. Louis Cardinals, their first since 1918.
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