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Nashville Pitcher Hit in Head,
Benefit Tourney this Weekend
Benefit Tourney this Weekend
Nashville, TN 9-9-09 by TJ Jorgensen, SKS
An 18-year-old slow pitch softball player was struck by a batted ball this weekend during a tournament in the
Nashville area and now he is in serious condition at a local hospital.
Nathan Bailey was hit in the face from a line drive off the bat of another player that struck him right in the face,
fracturing his skull, smashing his nasal cavity and it crushed his nose. Later that night, there was still bleeding
from his brain so the doctors were forced to put him in a coma to try to keep from having do to surgery on his
brain. At this time, he is out of the coma but surgery is planned for Thursday of this week. He is responsive but
will have a long road to recovery.
The player who hit the ball, who will remain nameless while his bat is being tested, has not slept since the
incident.
"I am so sorry for what happened," he said in his statement on SoftballWire.com. "I never made any intentions
of hitting Nathan and I pray he gets a full recovery. I hit the ball toward the middle and with two guys on I was
trying to hit a home run, but got the top of the ball and it lined back at Nathan. I never meant to hit him and I
think about that moment all day long, and think that if I did not play that day, then he would be fine. It will
always be on my mind. To Nathan and his family, I am truly sorry and you are in my prayers."
The bat that was used, a 27oz Maxload Recoil (NSA), was confiscated by the umpires and is being sent to
Florida for further testing. The player who hit the ball said he is almost certain the bat is legal.
"I bought it used, but the guy I bought it from said it was legal, knowing that I hit the middle hard," he added.
"He said he bought it brand new in the wrapper from SoftballFans and never had it shaved or rolled, so the bat
is fine."
The injury has put a lot of scare in to many players in the Nashville area, including Robert Ransom, a player
from Nashville.
"I've been playing softball for 12 years and I've never had anything like this happen so close to home," Ransom
said. "It really makes me change my way of thinking. Hitting the middle? Probably never again."
Even though the events that happened during the game in April that caused Alberto Naranjo to lose his life had
nothing to do with a batted ball, it does make everyone think about that day. How all of us in the Michiana
area came together to support our fallen brother. The family had no money for a funeral and because of people
in the area coming together with donations and purchasing t-shirts and so forth, the funeral was paid for and
Berto's family was able to have a proper goodbye. Everyone in the Nashville area is hopeful that Nathan will
make a recovery, but the road will be long and now you can help the family.
This weekend starts many things that Nathan's friends and teammates are doing to help raise money for the
family. Those who are willing to help can contact Mitchell Barrett from Triple T softball at 931-581-4813. For
those who want to help out with a Paypal donation of any denomination (minimum of $5) you can do that by
logging in to Paypal.com and click on "send money" and in the "to" section, enter the email address of
dave_h77@hotmail.com. This person will make sure the money goes to the team, who in turn will make sure
the family gets the money.
Friends and teammates are also holding auctions so if you have anything you want to donate please contact
Mitchell Barrett at the phone number above to arrange shipping some items for the auction.
Thank you so much for your help. Just like when we pulled together for Berto and Shane Varga, lets see what
we can do to help another softball fraternity brother who is down...
TJ
You can read more about this incident by visiting SoftballWire.com and clicking on message boards,
then "Men", or click here to do directly to the links.
An 18-year-old slow pitch softball player was struck by a batted ball this weekend during a tournament in the
Nashville area and now he is in serious condition at a local hospital.
Nathan Bailey was hit in the face from a line drive off the bat of another player that struck him right in the face,
fracturing his skull, smashing his nasal cavity and it crushed his nose. Later that night, there was still bleeding
from his brain so the doctors were forced to put him in a coma to try to keep from having do to surgery on his
brain. At this time, he is out of the coma but surgery is planned for Thursday of this week. He is responsive but
will have a long road to recovery.
The player who hit the ball, who will remain nameless while his bat is being tested, has not slept since the
incident.
"I am so sorry for what happened," he said in his statement on SoftballWire.com. "I never made any intentions
of hitting Nathan and I pray he gets a full recovery. I hit the ball toward the middle and with two guys on I was
trying to hit a home run, but got the top of the ball and it lined back at Nathan. I never meant to hit him and I
think about that moment all day long, and think that if I did not play that day, then he would be fine. It will
always be on my mind. To Nathan and his family, I am truly sorry and you are in my prayers."
The bat that was used, a 27oz Maxload Recoil (NSA), was confiscated by the umpires and is being sent to
Florida for further testing. The player who hit the ball said he is almost certain the bat is legal.
"I bought it used, but the guy I bought it from said it was legal, knowing that I hit the middle hard," he added.
"He said he bought it brand new in the wrapper from SoftballFans and never had it shaved or rolled, so the bat
is fine."
The injury has put a lot of scare in to many players in the Nashville area, including Robert Ransom, a player
from Nashville.
"I've been playing softball for 12 years and I've never had anything like this happen so close to home," Ransom
said. "It really makes me change my way of thinking. Hitting the middle? Probably never again."
Even though the events that happened during the game in April that caused Alberto Naranjo to lose his life had
nothing to do with a batted ball, it does make everyone think about that day. How all of us in the Michiana
area came together to support our fallen brother. The family had no money for a funeral and because of people
in the area coming together with donations and purchasing t-shirts and so forth, the funeral was paid for and
Berto's family was able to have a proper goodbye. Everyone in the Nashville area is hopeful that Nathan will
make a recovery, but the road will be long and now you can help the family.
This weekend starts many things that Nathan's friends and teammates are doing to help raise money for the
family. Those who are willing to help can contact Mitchell Barrett from Triple T softball at 931-581-4813. For
those who want to help out with a Paypal donation of any denomination (minimum of $5) you can do that by
logging in to Paypal.com and click on "send money" and in the "to" section, enter the email address of
dave_h77@hotmail.com. This person will make sure the money goes to the team, who in turn will make sure
the family gets the money.
Friends and teammates are also holding auctions so if you have anything you want to donate please contact
Mitchell Barrett at the phone number above to arrange shipping some items for the auction.
Thank you so much for your help. Just like when we pulled together for Berto and Shane Varga, lets see what
we can do to help another softball fraternity brother who is down...
TJ
You can read more about this incident by visiting SoftballWire.com and clicking on message boards,
then "Men", or click here to do directly to the links.