Remember Gunnar Sandberg, the Marin Catholic High baseball player who was hit with a line drive that fractured his skull and nearly killed him after delivering a pitch in a scrimmage 11 months ago? Dave Curtis reports in the Marin IJ that he’s back on the baseball diamond for his senior season and making the most of it. But with a difference for him and other players in his high school league. An excerpt:
"Things are going pretty well. Gunnar's excited about playing," [Gunnar’s father] Bjorn said. "We're excited that he's back out there. We still worry a lot, but he played winter ball so the first day of practice isn't so big. (Monday) is not so huge for us but I think his first game will be."
When that game is played -- Marin Catholic's opener is March 2 against Castro Valley High -- Sandberg and his teammates will be swinging wood bats. In fact, players on every Marin County Athletic League team will do so this season, as they did last year after concerns were raised that the metal bat used by the batter who hit Sandberg was partially to blame for his injury.
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"I can't blame the bats," Sandberg said. "I can't blame anyone. Zac Byers, the kid who hit the ball, I can't blame him for that. He just hit the ball. He was just doing the thing that he loves and I can't blame him for that."
