49er closer Injured

As many of us fear for our young pitchers, UNCC 49er star closer, Sam Pierce was injured this past Saturday when he was hit with a line drive. The result was a multiple fractured jaw. Please keep Sam & his great family in your prayers for a speedy recovery. Sam is one of the toughest competitors I have ever seen, and I wish him nothing but the best. After enduring a 4-5 hour surgery Saturday night, Sam made an appearance at the Sunday game with his family. God Bless you Sam and best of luck on a speedy recovery.

 

Wood Bats

How many more? Go back to wood!!!!!!

 

Do yall think he will receive a medical redshirt??

 

At this stage of the season, doubtful.

I get a sinking feeling in my gut when I see or hear about this happening. I went through this with my son several years ago. You, as a parent, never get over it.

But, Sam is one tough kid with a great family. He'll be fine with some time for healing. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Best of luck.

 

We have to compete with the makers of alum/graphite bats. They have a good money lobby. I wonder how long the NCHSAA will wait to put box coaches in helmets like the minor leagues have. High schools a least need to go to wood. I m sure many third basemen and pitchers would love to go to wood. Maybe if Charlie Adams received several thousand emails he might make the switch, if the coaches said it would be ok.

 

It will happen

Protection at all costs
Will prep coaches don helmets?

Click-2-Listen​

By Jessie H. Nunery
Rocky Mount Telegram

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Rocky Mount High baseball coach Pat Smith saw the line drive coming and there was nothing he could do about it.
Last season, as Smith stood in the third-base coach's box during a game at Southern Nash, a sharply hit ball headed his way.
Smith could have moved left. He could have moved right.
He barely moved at all.
"It was a curving line drive," Smith said. "I kind of froze on it. I don't know how it missed me, but it did."
From high school to the Major Leagues, coaches are often put in vulnerable positions while standing on the baseball diamond. Changes have been made at the Major League level after the death of Mike Coolbaugh last summer, a minor league first-base coach in the Colorado Rockies farm system who was killed after he was struck in the left side of his head by a foul ball.
This season, MLB and minor league coaches are required to wear helmets when in the field of play. Those rules have not trickled down to the high school level yet. Area coaches like Smith will have to stay attentive without extra protection.
The North Carolina High School Athletics Association plays under the rules set by the National Federation of State High School Associations. NCHSAA Director Rick Strunk said those rules state that all players wear helmets during games and practices. Strunk added that "safety has always been paramount." Coaches can wear helmets if they choose to do so, but it is not a requirement.
"You always know that a shot can come down there," Nash Central coach Chris Huffman said. "It hasn't happened to me, but it doesn't mean it never will happen. I don't believe I'm immune to it, but I don't dwell on it."
The time to react to a baseball is minimal at best. That time decreases when aluminum bats – used at the high school and college levels – comes into play. Smith and Huffman said their awareness levels rise when a hard-hitting player comes to bat. Smith said current Gryphons Chris Berry and William Barringer are right-handed pull-hitters who keep him on his toes.
"The older I've gotten, I don't have the reaction time I used to," Smith said. "I don't think it's a bad idea to wear a helmet."
A helmet would improve, but not guarantee, safety. A helmet likely would not have saved Coolbaugh's life. The baseball pulverized his left vertebral artery, which is behind his left ear. Coolbaugh's brain hemorrhaged and he was pronounced dead nearly an hour after being hit. MLB coaches do not have earflaps on their helmets.
Babe Allen, the umpire booking agent for Nash, Wilson and Edgecombe counties and Bunn High School, said umpires have put an emphasis on keeping coaches in their boxes at the time of the pitch. Allen said umpires were more lenient in the past at regulating coaches' movements. Coaches were allowed to roam out of the boxes if both parties agreed to the rule.
Allen was in attendance last season when Smith went to the ground to avoid being struck at Southern Nash. He, like Smith, found it hard to believe the Gryphons' coach went unscathed. Allen said all of the incidents he has witnessed have been minor.
"I've seen some close calls," Allen said. "These metal bats are making things a lot different. The technology gets better every year."
Coaches moving up toward home plate to keep an eye on a baserunner compounds the probability for a dangerous situation. Smith said he tries his best to watch the ball get to the plate before focusing on the baserunner. Huffman said he has changed his methods as well, calling himself "a fairly active" base coach. He, too, tries to make sure he keeps his eyes on both the plate and the baserunner.
Though no changes in coaching attire have been made, Huffman said he would be open to new rules.
"I wouldn't be surprised if in the next two or three years they did something," Huffman said. "It wouldn't shock me whatsoever."

Jessie H. Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or [email protected]

 

They are concerned for the coach who is 90' away...but no concern for the pitcher standing less than 60' away

 

Give them a chance

Push for WOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Prayers

Sam is a fierce competitor and he will pull through this. Sam and the Pierce family are in our thoughts and prayers.

From the North Meck Baseball Family

 

Thanks for getting us back on topic. Sam is one tough nut. He has always been. I know he will get through this and comeback stronger than ever. God bless Sam