Bat Boy Passes Away After Player's Practice Swing Hits Him In The Head

A 9-year-old serving as an amateur baseball team's bat boy is dead after being hit in the head by a practice swing, Huffington Post confirms.

According to Daily Mail, the Bee Jays of Liberal, Kansas were playing the San Diego Waves in Wichita on Saturday afternoon as part of the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Bat boy Kaiser Carlile reportedly ran onto the field to retrieve a player's bat when a man near the on-deck circle took a practice swing, smashing the boy, who was wearing a helmet, in the head.

Witness Jim Parks told KSN,

He was swinging, and it hit him in the helmet, knocked him down, he got back up, but he went right back down again.

The home plate umpire, who was reported to be a paramedic, began to administer first aid.

EMS workers were apparently already nearby treating a woman who was having a dizzy spell at the game.

The boy was taken into intensive care and said to be in critical condition.

On Sunday, the Liberal Bee Jays posted an update to Facebook saying Carlile, who had been the team's batboy for the majority of the season, was "still in critical condition but hanging in there," Daily Mail reports.

It was just after midnight on Monday the team announced the boy's death on Facebook.

The National Baseball Congress released this statement on the death earlier today:

On Sunday, we lost a member of our family and it will hurt for a very long time. With heavy hearts, we send our thoughts, prayers and condolences to the Carlile family and Bee Jays organization. Sometimes life doesn't make sense and this accident certainly is a memorable example. Kaiser was simply doing something he loved. He was simply doing a job most kids across America dream of having for one night or multiple summers.

The Liberal Bee Jays kneel in prayer after discovering the tragic news of Kaiser Carlile's passing after the game. pic.twitter.com/OEMrHXiQrU — Taylor Eldridge (@teldridge24) August 3, 2015

Citations: Heartache as bat boy for amateur Kansas baseball team dies in hospital after adult player accidentally struck him in the head during practice swings (Daily Mail), Kaiser Carlile Dead After Getting Accidentally Hit In Head With Bat (The Huffington Post), Liberal Bee Jays bat boy dies after Saturday accident (KSN)