Published Thursday, March 18, 2010

Spectator hit by baseball at Newnan-East Coweta game

By Jeff Bishop

The Newnan Times-Herald

A substitute teacher was hit in the eye with a baseball at a Tuesday night game between Newnan High School and East Coweta High School.

"Early in the game, a stray ball crossed the fence over the first base line and struck a gentleman named Maurice Byrd in the head, near his eye," said Dean Jackson, spokesman for the Coweta County School System.

Byrd owns his own business and substitute teaches at both Newnan and ECHS in his spare time, Jackson said.

"He was taken to Grady Hospital," said Jackson. "We don't know his exact condition, though some of the coaches have stayed in touch with his family and have heard that he is still at the hospital and being treated and his injuries evaluated by x-ray."

Doug Moore, principal of Newnan High School, said that Byrd is considered part of the extended "school family" and that they have been receiving updates on his condition.

"Apparently a stray ball got across the fence," said Moore. "He was a spectator, and he seems to have been standing by the visitor dugout."

Moore said the ball "apparently hit him in his eye, or right on top of his eye. I don't even know if he had a chance to react."

Emergency crews considered transporting him by helicopter ambulance, but ultimately that didn't seem to be necessary, Moore said.

"I don't think there's anything unusual about the fences," he said. "It was just a freak accident. We all hate that it happened. Maurice is a graduate and he has strong ties to the school," including serving as a substitute teacher.

"It was just a stray ball coming at an unusual place, leading to a pretty damaging injury," he said.

The family has been mostly "waiting on tests" to determine what the next step will be, he said.

"We've checked with the family several times today," he said. "They're still waiting on test results."