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Special to WSN: Softball fielder facemasks can be a life-saver

04/26/2016, 9:30am CDT
By Korey Malien, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bangor pitcher Emma Wittmershaus wears a common fielder's facemask

Following is a special contribution to WSN by Korey Malien, the Sports Editor at the Door County Advocate, part of the USA  TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin group.

I immediately cringed when I heard that distinctive smack of a hard-hit softball.

Then my heart sank and I got a sick feeling inside my stomach as one of my greatest fears happened right before my eyes.

Southern Door junior pitcher Hanna Mallien, my youngest daughter, was drilled in the face by a screaming line drive in a high school softball game April 15 against Kewaunee. The force was so great it knocked Hanna to the ground.

“The ball came back at me so fast, I didn’t have any time to react,” she said. “I couldn’t even get my glove or hand up to try and protect myself.”

The collective gasp of the crowd and the eerie silence that followed is hard to forget.

Fortunately, Hanna was wearing a facemask that helped deflect the powerful blow. Her left cheek was slightly swollen and she was diagnosed with a concussion, but it could have been so much worse.

That simple-but-durable, three-wire mask prevented Hanna from suffering serious and perhaps permanent facial damage. It might have even saved her life.

Scary situations like this have become increasingly common in fastpitch softball. In fact, numerous stories and hard-to-watch videos of players getting drilled by line drives can be found all over the internet.

Here in Door County alone, I’ve written articles about three girls other than my daughter who have been hit in the face by batted balls during my 25 years as Advocate sports editor. None of the three players — two pitchers and an outfielder — were wearing facemasks and all of them suffered serious injuries, such as a broken orbital bone and a broken jaw.

High school softball players in Wisconsin are not required to wear defensive facemasks. They are entirely optional, according to Stephanie Hauser of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

“The WIAA abides by the national federation rule, and they do not require facemasks,” said Hauser. “In order for a state to require it, they would have to add a state adaptation.”

Thankfully, a lot of high school players throughout the state voluntarily wear facemasks. But there are many who still take the field without one and flirt with disaster. It’s like playing Russian roulette with a bat and ball.

As a parent of a player who dodged a bullet by wearing a facemask, I encourage the WIAA to set a precedent for high school athletic associations throughout the country and make the protective gear mandatory not only for pitchers but for all infielders.

The WIAA requires batters to wear helmets with facemasks, so why not do the same for players in the field who are just as vulnerable to being struck?

It can be argued that infielders, especially pitchers, face greater danger than batters of getting hit and seriously hurt. Pitchers don’t throw the ball anywhere near as fast as a well-struck ball travels off of a bat, and they frequently come out of their pitching stride in a defenseless position.

Fastpitch softball has evolved to the point where it’s clearly in the best interest of the WIAA and its 511 member schools to do whatever possible to protect batters and fielders alike.

This is a much different game than it was in 1976, when the WIAA began sanctioning the sport. Girls are hitting balls harder and faster than ever before with the use of composite bats made of lightweight carbon-fiber material.

“According to a study by Daniel A. Russell at Penn State University, recent composite bats can produce batted-ball speeds anywhere between 96 and 105 miles per hour,” The Record of Troy, N.Y., reported in an online story. “That leaves pitchers and corner infielders who are 43 feet away from the batter less than one half of a second to react.”

Chad Michaels, sports director of Sturgeon Bay radio station WDOR-FM, broadcast Southern Door’s game against Kewaunee. He listened to his recorded call afterward and said it took just 0.4 seconds for the ball to strike Hanna in the face.

“That was very scary,” texted a friend who witnessed the accident. “Just happy (Hanna’s OK). That could have been a lot worse.”

Hanna is likely to miss seven games while going through the state-mandated concussion protocol. But had she not been wearing a facemask it’s possible her softball playing days would be over forever.

That $35 mask is well worth the tiny investment.

Door County Advocate sports editor Korey Mallien can be reached at (920) 743-3321 or by email at sports@doorcountyadvocate.com. Follow him on Twitter @DCAsports.

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