When will softball leagues require fielder's masks to protect players?

While high school and collegiate baseball leagues have required players to use different bats to improve the safety of the game for defensive players, most softball leagues have yet to take such precautions.

With pitcher's mounds almost 20 feet closer to home plate than on baseball fields, softball fields are so small that players have very limited time to react to a ball hit in their direction. In 2010, a high school softball pitcher from Pearland, Texas, learned how dangerous the game can be the difficult way.

Dawson High School pitcher Brooke Graham was struck in the forehead with a line drive so hard that her coach told the Houston Chronicle she thought it killed her. Fortunately, she survived and has lived to tell about it, though she now has a titanium plate in her head.

Columnist Patrick Hite of the News Leader out of Staunton, VA, wrote that it's time for softball leagues to require fielder's, batter and pitchers to wear safety masks while playing.

"What's it going to take for organizations like the [Virginia High School League] to require pitchers to wear masks? Do we need more injuries like the one Graham suffered or will it take something even worse, like a death, to make them act?" Hite wrote for the publication. "Personal choice is wonderful, but these are high school kids who don't always make the best decisions when it comes to safety."

Hite added that Stuarts Draft High School softball coach Michelle Kirby said the Virginia High School League mandated that hitters wear batting helmets with face masks in recent years. Kirby added that while players complained about having limited visibility at first, they have adjusted to the safety measure and rarely mention the minor inconveniences it causes anymore.

Leagues may not require that players wear fielder's masks, but coaches can protect their players by recommending that they use safety softball equipment.

Softball leagues that start to protect their players will eventually provide the protective gear that is required.  Once the kids start to get used to protection, then is will be become part of the uniform and suggested gear.