Little League Coach From Holbrook Dies After Being Hit in Head by Baseball

A youth baseball coach from Holbrook died Saturday evening after he was struck in the head by a baseball at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, police said.

Richard Becher, 50, was hit by a baseball during warm-ups prior to a game at about 5:30 p.m., police said.

When officers and paramedics arrived on scene at the facility on County Road 101, bystanders were performing CPR on Becher, who was unconscious, police said.

Becher, the vice president of Sachem Little League, was transported to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, police said.

Becher was pitching batting practice to his son’s 12-year-old travel team when he was hit by a line drive, according to a Newsday report. Becher was pitching from behind an L-screen, a net that is meant to protect pitchers during batting practice, the report says.

“Becher was a longtime coach and volunteer with Sachem Little League, but more importantly he was a loving husband and father,” a statement on the Sachem Little League website reads. “Our deepest condolences go out to Rich’s family, friends and loved ones.”

Family friend Denise Volpicello told the New York Post that Becher “was an amazing person, an amazing father, son, friend.”