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Former Muscatine baseball player awarded $1 million after injury

Assumption High School faces a $1 million judgment after a visiting baseball player was seriously hurt during a game at the school.

Assumption High School faces a $1 million judgment after a visiting baseball player was seriously hurt during a game at the school.

This week, a Scott County jury awarded more than $1 million to Spencer Ludman, a former Muscatine High School baseball player. In 2011, Ludman was seriously injured when a foul ball hit him in the head while he was standing in the dugout.

After the accident, Ludman had to re-learn how to walk and talk, and he still takes anti-seizure medication.

Ludman's attorney, Steve Crowley, argued that Assumption was at fault because the dugout did not protect the player.

"The problem with Assumption's dugout is the first entrance is only about 45 to 50 feet from the plate itself, and it's at an angle where a right-handed batter who swings a little late is going to put one right into that dugout at a pretty high speed," said Crowley.

Crowley said the school could have placed the dugout another 30 feet back from the first base line to meet the 60-foot recommendation of the National High School Athletic Association. Assumption also could have put gates on the dugout openings, or fenced the entire opening facing the field.

There are no mandatory zoning requirements for high school baseball fields.

"The law's requirement is that every facility and property... has to be reasonably safe for what you're going to do there," said Crowley.

Representatives from Assumption High School could not be reached for comment Thursday, but baseball parents said they don't believe Assumption's field is more dangerous than any other.

"I do think the field is safe. My children have been playing there for years. I feel bad for the kid, and I also feel bad for Assumption," said John Klein.

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