FRANK "LADDIE" MORRIS JR.

A fast pitch, a line-drive hit, and a split-second later a young Olive baseball pitcher suffered a fracture and loss of an eye.

The tragic event happened to 16 year old Frank Laddie Morris Jr., a sophomore pitcher for the Olive High School team, Saturday afternoon during a game against Asher.

Laddie, as he is known to school mates, is the young son of Mr. and Mrs. Laddie Morris of rural Bristow. Mr. Morris is employed with the Air National Guard in Tulsa.

Young Morris had just pitched the ball when the Asher batter got a hit and the ball returned over the pitcher's mound to strike him in the right eye. It fractured the cheek bone so severely and damaged the eye itself that surgeons had to remove the eye.

Laddie was first taken by car to the Drumright Memorial Hospital for treatment, but soon thereafter transferred by helicopter to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. The surgery was performed in Tulsa.

Morris is now in good spirits and doing well. He says doctors replaced his eye with a temporary plastic sphere and will give him a permanent implant of an artificial eye at a later date.

A host of friends have rallied to the Morris family's side to give support. That aid includes the formation of a special fund to help the Morris family with the expenses they are incurring. According to friends, the family insurance coverage will not be sufficient to meet their needs in this tragedy and help is needed.

The "Laddie Morris Fund" is at the Citizens Bank in Drumright. Contributions are tax deductable and will go directly to the family. The Olive All-Sports Booster Club immediately donated $100 in cash to the parents of Morris. In addition to the special fund, a number of jars have been placed in the Drumright area businesses to collect cash donations to Laddie Morris.