LA CRESCENTA : Heart Disease, Not Baseball, Blamed for Boy’s Death

A La Crescenta boy who died several hours after he was hit in the head with a baseball had a fatal heart condition, officials said Friday, confirming his parents’ suspicions that the accidental blow did not contribute to his death.

Autopsy results showed that Timothy Richard Herman, 9, had an enlarged heart and that several tumors were present in the heart muscle, said Scott Carrier of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Timmy died just before midnight Wednesday, several hours after he was hit in the head, just below his helmet, with a pitched ball. The fourth-grader continued to play the game--pitching for several innings and garnering three hits for his team, the Jasco Jammers.

After returning home Timmy complained of pain in his leg, and he was found by his mother several minutes later, lying unconscious in his bedroom.

Although an autopsy showed a “bruising of the scalp present on the left side of the head,” no skull fractures or brain injuries were noted, Carrier said.