Mead Pitcher Recovering From Line Drive To His Head T

The familiar ping of a baseball coming off an aluminum bat was quickly followed by the ugly sound of it striking Mead’s Evan Thomas in the head.

With one swing last Tuesday, Thomas’s baseball season and prospective college football career was over.

The Panther pitcher did not react to the baseball line drive, which struck him over his right ear, causing a brain bruise and temporary hearing loss. He will undergo further tests to see if there’s a skull fracture.

“Usually I try to get a glove on it,” he said. “I guess it was hit pretty hard.”

Although high-tech aluminum bats have increased the velocity of a batted ball, the accident itself was highly uncommon. Neither his coach, Dave Vaughn, nor his father, John, had seen anything like it happen before.

“Hitters just keep getting better and stronger and they’ve improved the aluminum the last couple of years,” said Vaughn. “Kids don’t realize it.”

Thomas said he doesn’t remember much of the incident, other than recognizing that coaches from both Mead and opponent Central Valley and his father were there.

“It was one of those parents’ worst nightmares,” said John Thomas. “I thought, ‘Oh gosh,’ and ran out there. This looked serious, didn’t it?”

Lying on the ground, writhing in pain, Evan never lost consciousness. Vaughn recalled him saying he wanted to continue playing.

“He said, ‘I know I can keep going. Get me up. I’m pitching.’ Then his eyes would fade back into his head,” said Vaughn.

Thomas acknowledged fan applause when he was carried off the field and again when he was taken to Deaconess Medical Center from Seafirst Stadium by paramedics, despite feeling sleepy.

He remained hospitalized until Saturday, spending much of the time sleeping, exhausted by an influx of concerned visitors, including his Bible study group.

The outpouring of sympathy, inside and outside the Mead community, said his father, was a highlight of the ordeal. He was particularly complimentary of the concern shown by CV coach Ed Garcia.

At home on Monday, Evan said he was feeling better. On Tuesday he was in the dugout at Seafirst Stadium for Tuesday’s game against Ferris.

“I still get pretty good headaches and if I look to the right, I get kind of dizzy,” he said. “There’s still some fluid in the ear that sets off my equilibrium. But I’ve definitely improved since I got out of the hospital.”

It is difficult for him to read without getting nauseous unless he looks up at the pages. But he said he is already getting bored and looking forward to returning to class.

Thomas was an All-GSL defensive back last fall for the Panther league champions and planned to play football at Pacific Lutheran University.

“Obviously that’s not going to happen right now,” he said.

At the time of the accident, he was batting leadoff and hitting .560 for the league-leading Panther baseball team.

Until this year, when Thomas was named Panther team captain, Vaughn had never chosen one.

“Evan was such an incredible kid and so respected,” said Vaughn, “I said, ‘I want you to be my first captain.’ He said, ‘Coach, I’d be honored.”’

Sports, so big a part of his life, is on hold, at least until his sophomore year in college, said Thomas. If he plays baseball again, he said he’ll be nervous for a couple of innings, but it would be something he’d get over.

If he never plays again, he said, it won’t be the end of world.

“I sure enjoyed it, but maybe I’ll enjoy the time off,” said Thomas. “There’s more to life than baseball, football and sports.”

He admitted, however, that he selfishly thinks about still being able to chase a GSL batting title.

“I wish I was out there. That would be perfect,” he said.

There is, however much more to be thankful for.

“Now I’ll do what I can from the bench,” said Thomas. “I’m just glad I’m going to recover - that’s the important thing. I think I’m lucky to be here.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NORTH CENTRAL BASEBALL COACH

Scott Harmon can feel Evan Thomas’s pain. Last spring, while pitching indoor batting practice prior to a game against Rogers, Harmon was also struck by a batted ball. “I was behind a screen and did everything right,” said Harmon. “The ball went through the netting and hit the side of my cheekbone.” It cracked the orbital rim under his right eye, causing his eye to swell shut and bleed. Harmon coached through the injury, a rainyday loss, which ended when one of his players was injured. When paramedics arrived, it turned out the player’s injury was minor. “They were talking surgery for me,” he said. Harmon and his players were at Tuesday’s Mead-Ferris game to give Thomas a get-well card. The sympathy, from a coach who had gone through a similar incident, was heart-felt.