Texas District Sets Helmet Rule after Baseball Player’s Death

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Anyone who uses a Grapevine-Colleyville school district batting cage will be required to wear a helmet under new rules adopted in response to a baseball player’s death.

The Dallas-area school district announced new safety regulations this week after 17-year-old Chris Gavora died from a head injury suffered when a baseball hit him in the back of the head last week.

The Grapevine High School junior was pitching to a teammate in a batting cage when a teammate in a cage behind Gavora “hit a line drive that went through an opening in the net, across an open area, and through the other batting cage’s opening,” according to the school. Gavora was not wearing a helmet.

The rule applies to batters and pitchers in the district’s baseball or softball batting cages.

The new safety measures also call for district employees to inspect the batting cages regularly for problems with the netting. Any holes in the netting would force the closure of the cages until they are fixed.

A layer of secondary netting that had been missing from Grapevine High’s batting cages was added Tuesday, officials said.

“I think a review of safety policies and procedures is always a good idea,” Chris’ father, Bill Gavora, said in an e-mail, declining further comment.

Chris Gavora’s death has also raised the helmet issue among officials with the University Interscholastic League, the governing body of Texas public high school sports.

David Sperry, a member of the UIL’s medical advisory committee, said this week that helmets in batting cages would be discussed at the next meeting.