| Marion wreck rattles KIT League | | Posted: Monday, June 1, 2009 3:47 pm
| The Marion Bobcats opened their season at Tradewater on Friday, but their season had already gotten off to a bad start.
Two of Marion’s players and a coach were injured in an auto accident returning home to Madisonville after practice Thursday night.
Pitcher Jared Long, 21, will likely miss at least half the season due to a broken collarbone and potential other injuries, while the driver, Coach Perry Utley, 53, and son, pitcher Ethan Utley, 19, were less severely injured in the two-vehicle collision.
Coach Utley’s youngest son, Dalton, 13, was also shaken up in the accident.
The wreck occurred about three miles west of Richland in Hopkins County at 9:37 p.m.
According to a Kentucky State Police report, Utley was driving a 2008 Toyota Yaris eastbound on Kentucky 70, approaching the intersection of Summers Loop Road and Fiddlebow Road.
The driver of the second vehicle, Pamela Patrick, 22, was attempting to cross the state highway from Summers Loop Road as Utley reached a hillcrest near the intersection.
The front bumper of Utley’s vehicle struck the 1998 Chevy Prizm driven by Patrick, sliding the car across Kentucky 70 onto the shoulder. Utley’s Yaris also came to a rest on the shoulder of the roadway at the intersection of Fiddlebow Road and Kentucky 70.
Perry Utley was taken privately to Regional Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries. Long and the coach’s two sons were taken to the same hospital by ambulance. Patrick and her two passengers, John Harris, 22, and Rachelle Hollis, 21, both of Madisonville, were also taken by ambulance to Regional Medical Center.
Manager Steve Fowler said Friday afternoon that the full extent of Long’s injuries were not known. Fowler said there is some concern over possible internal injuries.
Long will join Ethan Utley on injured reserve. Utley is still recovering from a broken hand suffered during his college season. Long will be replaced by outfielder Kirk Waligora, who will be moved from the reserve list, bringing Fowler’s active roster to a full strength at 24 players.
However, losing Long, who was scheduled to start Saturday’s game at Tradewater, will leave the club with only 10 active pitchers.
Fowler is also awaiting the arrival of outfielder Pat Murphy and right-handed pitcher Paul Chiampa of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Those two players should be available by tonight’s game. | | | | |
