Baseball Coach Struck by Ball, In Fair Condition

"We told him we appreciated his concern and we'd let Stephen know he came by when he was out of recovery," Larocque said. "Anytime you're playing a ball and bat sport, these things can happen, and it wasn't on purpose. We obviously tried to make him feel better, because he was distraught."

Major League Baseball this season began requiring base coaches to wear helmets. The move was in response to Colorado Rockies minor league first base coach Mike Coolbaugh being killed last year when he was struck by a line drive while standing in the coaches' box.

The National Federation of State High School Associations already required players coaching bases to wear helmets. However, the federation -- which oversees rule-making for individual state associations -- does not require coaches to wear helmets when on the field.

"It sounds like something certainly we ought to look into," said Ned Sparks, executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. "It hasn't come up. But we'll keep close tabs on it."

Larocque confirmed again that Wheeler wasn't wearing a helmet.

Larocque said he's never seen a coach choose to wear a helmet on the field. Asked if high schools should follow MLB's lead with a rule, he said:

"I mean, obviously the exit speed [of the ball off the bat] at the high school level is less [than the majors], but now, knowing what I know, it's something I think we should consider," he said.

Asked if he could have anticipated this happening on a thrown ball, he said, "It's very rare when it's a thrown ball that you get hit in the head, especially as a coach."

Staff writer Josh Barr contributed to this story.