Lawsuit claims ball broke through netting at batting cages
By DANIEL TAYLOR, 1819 News
A Hazel Green mother is suing the city of Albertville after her son was hit in the head with a baseball at Sand Mountain Park.
According to Ashleigh Worthington, her 12-year-old son, referred to as G.W. in the 20-page complaint filed May 27 in Marshall County Circuit Court, was leaving the park’s batting cages when a baseball was hit through the protective netting and struck him in the head. Worthington alleges the netting was in disrepair with holes large enough for balls to pass through.
These holes were later repaired the day of the incident with zip ties.
“G.W. had finished hitting, was putting away his equipment outside of the batting cage, and was preparing to leave the batting cage area by the exit pathway when a baseball traveled through one of the openings in the netting and struck him on the right side of the head. G.W. Immediately lost consciousness,” the complaint stated.
The boy was taken to a pediatric intensive care unit, where doctors discovered he had a temporal lobe skull fracture and intracranial bleeding. After two days of observation and CT scans, doctors found that G.W. also suffered a “right-sided temporoparietal hematoma with associated contusional hemorrhage and a nondisplaced right temporal bone skull fracture following blunt head trauma.”
“Since the incident, G.W. has continued to suffer headaches, anxiety, fear, emotional distress, interruption of school, restrictions on physical activities and screen time, and ongoing medical follow-up, with return to play remaining uncertain,” according to the complaint.
The family seeks to recover court costs and medical expenses, as well as any other relief a jury deems appropriate, including punitive damages.
The defendants named in the suit include the city of Albertville; Sports Facilities Management LLC, Sports Facilities Cos. LLC, Net Connection LLC, Ra-Lin & Associates Inc. Chambless King Architects LLC, Grand Slam Safety LLC and other potential persons or entities who could be held responsible.
The complaint alleges the defendants knew the netting had holes and still allowed its use without warning: “Consciously disregarding the probability that a baseball escaping through damaged netting could cause skull fracture, brain injury, or other catastrophic harm to a child.”
City attorney Jimmy Carnes declined to comment on the matter Friday. Sports Facilities Management’s general counsel did not return a request for comment.
A woman from Hazel Green sued the city of Albertville, Sports Facilities Management and other firms on May 27 after her 12-year-old son allegedly was injured when a ball was hit through the protective netting at a Sand Mountain Park batting cage and struck him in the head. Photo by DANIEL TAYLOR l 1819 News
