Baseball player sues Prairie State College, coaches after ball hits him

A college baseball player is suing his college and its coaching staff after he was struck in the head with a baseball.

Luke Coffman filed a lawsuit Feb. 18 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Bill Storrs Jr., Bill Storrs, Tim Wilson, Illinois Community College District 515 and Prairie State College, citing negligence.

The suit states Coffman was a student and a ballplayer for Prairie State College, which is owned and operated by Illinois Community College District 515. The college is located in Chicago Heights.

Bill Storrs Jr. is the baseball team’s head coach, Bill Storrs and Wilson are the assistant coaches, according to the complaint.

Coffman claims the coaches instructed him to practice in a batting cage on Feb. 23, 2013, when there were three other players in the cage even though it was only designed to hold  two players at a time

Coffman, the suit states, was hit in the face by a batted ball, causing serious and ongoing injury.

He is seeking in excess of $50,000 in damages and is being represented by Brian Murphy of Hofeld and Schaffner in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L001595.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Cook County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.