artie_fufkin wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

So we were one and done today. I was a little off with her numbers, but she did finish over .500 (54 for 104) for the season. She was 1 for 1 today with a HBP.

We had a scary moment in today’s game. Other team had a runner on third and our pitcher threw a wild pitch. Most of the fields we play on have pretty short distances to the back stop and this was not exception. The catcher got to the ball and flipped it to the pitcher covering home just as the runner was sliding in. The pitcher swiped the tag and caught the runner right under the chin, whipping her head back and causing her to hit her head on the ground. The runner never lost consciousness, but for the first few minutes she couldn’t move her extremities.

Feeling and movement came back after about 5 minutes or so, but she was taken off to the hospital by paramedics. We received an update this evening. She’s fine, but had some disc injury.

Yikes. Back injuries tend to be cumulative, especially if they involve the spinal column. 
I'm surprised there aren't a lot more injuries in softball than there are, given the speed of the ball on a field with those dimensions. Watching this year's NCCA tournament, I seemed to see more pitchers wearing the face mask, and I've even seen some corner infielders wearing them. Is there some sort requirement for the face mask, or is it still entirely optional at this point?
 

I'm almost certain the pitchers have to wear them.  I believe its an option for the infielders, but given the condition of most of the infields we play on any infielder who doesn't wear one isn't very bright.  Madison always wears one when playing SS.