- Dec 11, 2010
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I am apparently at the epicenter of pitchers getting hit in the head by batted balls this year. I have posted several times on it. In about April I saw a 14u pitcher get hit in the mask with a batted ball. The mask went flying behind her. She still ended up with a broken nose. Last week I saw an experienced second year 16 pitcher on an "A" team, not wearing a mask, hit by a batted ball and was seriously injured. My understanding is that her cheekbone and inter orbital were fractured. I saw it happen very clearly, the was absolutely no way anyone could have got a glove up to deflect it. It was awful to see and I can't tell you how bad everyone there felt for that kid.
Sunday, it was my daughter. She is a second year 10u, wearing a mask, pitching against a good team in a nq tournament. It was late on Sunday, the pitchers on both teams were tired and both teams were rocking the ball. DD had already deflected a hard hit ball about chest high in that game. She couldn't get the glove open to field it but she knocked it down. Another hard hit ball came right back at her and hit her in the mask. The gal that hit it plain smoked it and this time it was higher and there was no way she could knock it down. It hit square on her mask and dropped straight down. It dropped her on the spot and I have never been so scared in my life. There was people on the field before the ball was dead and the gal who hit the ball was standing on first bawling her eyes out. Even though it wasn't her fault and she did nothing wrong she felt terrible. Several of dd's teammates and friends from the other team were noticeably affected too.
The mask was still on her head and it did its job. It is a Rip-It btw. DD had a puffy lip and a couple marks under her lip that we could not determine how she got them. She was shook up but un-injured, her day was over. I later asked her what she remembered, she said she threw the pitch that was called, (fb middle), and was just thinking "that's a good pitch" and the next thing she remembered was being on the ground. Later that night, the gal who batted the ball called and dd and her talked for about 45 minutes about all the local softball gossip and what tv shows they like and whatever else girls that age talk about. Both of them felt much better after talking.
I can't tell you how thankful I was that she was wearing that mask. My two dd's will never play/practice the infield or pitch without a mask. Neither me or them could care less what some bonehead college coach with a brain stuck in the stone age thinks about masks. DD also wears a heart guard when she pitches and I don't think I will ever have to remind her to wear it again.
That is three times in a few short months I have seen a batted ball hit a pitcher hard in the head. It was an awful experience for everyone involved every time. It could have been even worse in every case. I don't want to see any more of it.
Play this out one more step: what if this had been a more serious injury or worse? How many of these gals would have been done with the game they love? Maybe the mask doesn't just protect the gal wearing it, maybe it protects everybody on the field from different kinds of harm.
Sunday, it was my daughter. She is a second year 10u, wearing a mask, pitching against a good team in a nq tournament. It was late on Sunday, the pitchers on both teams were tired and both teams were rocking the ball. DD had already deflected a hard hit ball about chest high in that game. She couldn't get the glove open to field it but she knocked it down. Another hard hit ball came right back at her and hit her in the mask. The gal that hit it plain smoked it and this time it was higher and there was no way she could knock it down. It hit square on her mask and dropped straight down. It dropped her on the spot and I have never been so scared in my life. There was people on the field before the ball was dead and the gal who hit the ball was standing on first bawling her eyes out. Even though it wasn't her fault and she did nothing wrong she felt terrible. Several of dd's teammates and friends from the other team were noticeably affected too.
The mask was still on her head and it did its job. It is a Rip-It btw. DD had a puffy lip and a couple marks under her lip that we could not determine how she got them. She was shook up but un-injured, her day was over. I later asked her what she remembered, she said she threw the pitch that was called, (fb middle), and was just thinking "that's a good pitch" and the next thing she remembered was being on the ground. Later that night, the gal who batted the ball called and dd and her talked for about 45 minutes about all the local softball gossip and what tv shows they like and whatever else girls that age talk about. Both of them felt much better after talking.
I can't tell you how thankful I was that she was wearing that mask. My two dd's will never play/practice the infield or pitch without a mask. Neither me or them could care less what some bonehead college coach with a brain stuck in the stone age thinks about masks. DD also wears a heart guard when she pitches and I don't think I will ever have to remind her to wear it again.
That is three times in a few short months I have seen a batted ball hit a pitcher hard in the head. It was an awful experience for everyone involved every time. It could have been even worse in every case. I don't want to see any more of it.
Play this out one more step: what if this had been a more serious injury or worse? How many of these gals would have been done with the game they love? Maybe the mask doesn't just protect the gal wearing it, maybe it protects everybody on the field from different kinds of harm.
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