Aluminum/metal bats have been banned for the rest of this year's baseball season in the Marin Athletic League by a unanimous vote. The aim is to give the players in the field more time to cover their face and get a glove ready for the ball - balls jump off much faster off a metal bat than a wooden bat. The move has come from three parents of high school baseball players, referring to the Match 11 game where 16-year old pitcher Gunner Sandberg (Marin Catholic High School) got knocked down in the head and critically injured by a quick 100mph line drive. He is still in a coma at Marin General Hospital. Since that game Marine Catholic High's baseball team stopped using metal bats, opting for the wooden bats putting safety ahead of the pop-off of metal bats, and every time they have played since has agreed to do so as well. The move is supported by the major league baseball teams, with teams including the San Francisco Giants donating wooden bats to all schools in the league. Marin schools ban use of aluminum bats for remainder of baseball season - 3/25/10 - San Francisco News - abc7news.com Banning metal bats from high schools going to the state capital: Assemblyman Jared Huffman takes on aluminum baseball bat debate - 3/25/10 - San Francisco News - abc7news.com Need limitations on the wooden bats too: [QUOTE] "The wood bat companies would probably find ways to make the ball jump off the wood bats as much as they've done it in the major league level with maple bats and things like that. So i think that banning bats might not necessarily be the answer," says San Ramon Valley High coach Chris deClercq. "There's more of a danger now than there has been in the past," says Brian Cereghino, from Play for 4. [/QUOTE] Like the bicycle helmet that is so common now...: [QUOTE] Play for 4 is a non-profit group that designed a fielding helmet after a similar accident in Ohio. It is being used in parts of the Midwest, but even major league pitchers refuse to wear helmets, which raises a challenge. "I think the easiest level is at the younger level, the youth baseball. I think your biggest challenge is going to be in the high school where you're going to get resistance from the old school mentality," says Cereghino. Despite the dangers, Total Sports store in San Ramon says there is no demand for baseball fielding helmets. "They think, 'Oh, it's not cool to wear that. None of my friends have worn that,'" says Trevor Bowers from Total Sports. [/QUOTE] Face masks for baseball or softball pitchers? Serious accident ignites school debate - 3/18/10 - San Francisco News - abc7news.com Face masks for pitcher - better safe than sorry - one coach taking charge: [QUOTE] At the Drake High School girls softball game there is an unusual sight on the mound. Pitcher Danielle Albini from the visiting team, San Marin High, wears a face mask. It is an option for most players in the league, but not for Albini. The protective mask is as much a part of Albini's game day as her San Marin High uniform. "I'm more confident. I'm able to field better because I'm not scared about getting hit," says Albini. She also does not have a choice. Her team is the only one in its league that requires pitchers to wear the masks. That edict came down from the coach after one of his players was hit in face by a line drive from an aluminum bat. "We're asking a lot of high school players to be able to react in that amount of time and get their glove up before a ball comes at them," says baseball coach Randy Willis. [/QUOTE]