Red Devil Hall of Fame
Longtime Lower Columbia College pitching coach Rob Hippi is one of the most instrumental individuals in the storied history of the Red Devils baseball program.
Hippi spent seven seasons as the right hand man for head coach Scott Carnahan, helping the Devils to a championship in 1981 and a second place in ’83. After 14 seasons as a successful basketball, baseball and football coach at Toledo and Kelso, Hippi returned to Lower Columbia and joined Kelly Smith’s staff in 1997. Together they put together one of the great ying-and-yang staffs in NWAC history winning two championships and seven runner-up finishes. The Devils were known for incredible pitching and Hippi was the mastermind.
Following his retirement, Hippi came back to coaching at his alma mater Central Washington University for two seasons.
As one of the great all-time pitchers at Central, Hippi was inducted into the Central Hall of Fame in 2012. Hippi was drafted by the New York Yankees and played three seasons of minor league ball until his shoulder failed on him. He once struck out 16 batters playing in the New York-Penn League.
The son of legendary high school coach Ted Hippi, Rob was one of the all-time great athletes to come out of Lewis County, a multi-sports star at Toledo High School.
His “pitching absolutes” program spawned generations of successful pitchers at LCC, Central, the West Coast League and the Alaskan League.
Despite never serving as a head coach (unless you count the times he took over for an ejected Smith), Hippi’s name is on the Story Field wall as a sign of respect for the incredible impact he had at Lower Columbia.
