De La Salle Shows Its Class

Six Bay Area restaurants will contribute a share of their proceeds  Saturday to a fund for injured Marin Catholic High School pitcher Gunnar  Sandberg.
     
The fundraising effort was started by the players of De La Salle  High School in Concord, the team that was playing Marin Catholic March 11  when Sandberg was struck in the head with a baseball struck with a metal bat.
     
Sandberg, a junior at Marin Catholic, was put into a medically  induced coma and a portion of his skull was removed to alleviate swelling in  his brain. He is recovering at a rehabilitation hospital in San Francisco.
     
Rick Steen, De La Salle's baseball coach, said among the  participating restaurants are Rocco's Ristorante & Pizzeria and McCovey's  Restaurant in Walnut Creek, Ed's Mudville Grill in Clayton, Norm's Place in  Danville, the Wipeout Bar and Grill in Greenbrae.

Steen said De La Salle players are wearing "M.C. #17" on the back  of the baseball hats in honor of Sandberg, who wears the number.

The restaurant fundraiser has been dubbed 4/17 for # 17." Proceeds  will be deposited in an account for Sandberg at the Bank of Marin.

On the Web site Caring Bridge, which posts updates on the  conditions of patients for families and loved ones, Sandberg's sister Kalli  said her brother "is doing great" and eating three meals a day.

Sandberg is out of the coma and is working on dressing himself and  brushing his teeth, Kalli said.

"Everyday his walking seems to improve," she said.

The incident revived the controversy about the use of metal bats,  which increase slightly the speed of a baseball struck by them compared to  wood bats.

Marin Catholic and other teams in the Marin County Athletic League  stopped using metal bats until the end of the season.

Copyright BAYCN - Bay City News
Contact Us