Coach, league face suit Girl, mother sue over ’05 injury

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — A McDonald man acknowledges he hit a softball that struck a young girl in the head during a practice he was coaching two years ago.

He says he feels terrible about hurting the girl and is pretty sure she quit playing softball because of the injury.

Last week, the girl and her mother filed a lawsuit in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against Sean Murphy, the McDonald youth baseball and softball league, and the former league president for their roles in the accident.

“I didn’t swing with all my might, thank God. It just happened. It wasn’t intentional or anything like that,” Murphy said outside his Annabelle Avenue home this week when asked about the accident that occurred in the village’s Woodland Park fields.

Murphy said that he doesn’t believe Natalie Wilson, the mother of Marissa Breckner, would have said some of the things contained in the lawsuit and that the two have remained on a friendly basis in the two years since the injury.

He said Marissa and his daughter competed in a national cheerleading competition together last March in Orlando and stayed in the same hotel room during the trip with their mothers.

What happened

The lawsuit says that on April 11, 2005, during a pre-season practice, Murphy, the team’s manager, became frustrated at the inability of some of the girls to hit the ball, so he asked the third baseman and shortstop to move to the other side of the infield and asked Marissa, age 10, to throw him a pitch.

“Murphy proceeded to step into the ball and hit it with all his might,” the suit said. “The ball continued on a straight path toward the pitcher’s mound, striking Marissa in the head, thus causing her to lose consciousness.

“Mr. Murphy knew or should have known that his intentional irresponsible actions were negligent and most likely could cause injury to” the girl, the suit says, adding the blow caused Marissa to suffer a skull fracture.

Murphy disagrees the girl lost consciousness. He described her face as being bloody as a result of the blow. He said he doesn’t know the extent of the injuries she suffered but says the ball struck her on the top of her head on the side.

Extent of injury unknown

Wilson, when contacted Tuesday, said she would ask her lawyer first before answering any questions about the amount of damage caused by the blow.

Her lawyer, Michael J. Wagner of Boardman, said he would have to ask Wilson before discussing the extent of the girl’s injuries.

“I feel bad about what happened,” Murphy said, adding that he has worked with kids for many years as a football and softball coach and as a volunteer with Special Olympics.

“I wouldn’t hurt a kid,” he said. He said he still coaches softball in McDonald but is currently coaching his younger daughter.

In his job with the Youngstown Development Center, which is part of the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, he works with handicapped adults.

Murphy noted that Wilson was one of his assistant coaches and she was “standing right next to me” when the accident occurred.

Seeking damages

Also named as defendants in the suit are the McDonald Baseball Association; the league’s insurance company; and Ed Rusinowski, the former president of the McDonald Baseball Association. The association runs the youth softball and baseball leagues in McDonald.

The lawsuit seeks damages exceeding $25,000 against the league and Murphy, punitive damages, more than $25,000 from Rusinowski, and more than $25,000 from the insurance company.

The suit said the baseball organization was “grossly negligent” in appointing Murphy to be a manager because they knew or should have known of his “lack of sound reasoning in dealing with children.” It said Rusinowski conducted the meetings that determined which people would be selected to manage the league’s teams.

The suit adds that the league failed to protect the safety of its players by ignoring safety protocol because Murphy did not have a first-aid kit and none was made available to the team.

The suit said the league was negligent in not teaching its managers and volunteers that they should not move someone who has suffered head trauma. It says the league also was negligent in not mandating proper safety gear for participants.

One day after the accident, the league demanded that all pitchers wear a safety helmet, the suit said.

Rusinowski could not be reached to comment. Joe Celli, current association president, said he had no comment on the suit, which is assigned to Judge Peter Kontos.

runyan@vindy.com