WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., July 7, 2015 — A pair of West Liberty University athletic trainers gained national attention for their swift and professional response to a frightening situation at a Major League Baseball Game earlier this season.
After advancing to their sixth straight NCAA Division II “Sweet 16,” players and coaches from the Hilltoppers’ men’s basketball team were invited to attend the Pittsburgh Pirates’ April 20 game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park as guests of the Pirate organization.
Head athletic trainer Herb Minch and fellow AT Jason Coleman accompanied the team on the trip.
Minch was seated behind home plate in the second inning when the Cubs’ Starlin Castro fouled an A.J. Burnett pitch straight back into the protective netting.
A woman walking to her seat in the front row was too close to the netting and was struck in the head by the ball, knocking her unconscious.
In videos of the incident, Minch can be seen immediately leaping to his feet and rushing to the woman’s side to render first aid. Coleman, who was upstairs in the owner’s box, also came down to see if he could be of assistance.
Pittsburgh EMS and PNC Park personnel quickly arrived on the scene and the game was delayed for 23 minutes while the woman was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
She was released the next morning after being held overnight for observation.
The incident – highlighting the swift response by Minch and Coleman – was reported in the latest edition of the NATA News, the monthly magazine of the National Athletic Trainers Association.
This You Tube video of the incident shows the force of the hit.