Southern California Buries Another Prep Despite Third Death Of Athlete, High School Sports Said Safe

Even as a third Southern California family prepared to bury a teenager killed in a sports accident, officials insisted Monday that high school athletics are safe.

“These are just three tragic accidents that have happened,” said Dean Crowley, commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section. “It’s just unfortunate lightning struck Southern California or struck at all. It’s almost unbelievable.”

First baseman Kriston Palomo, 16, was trying to field a pop fly during a game Saturday at Torrance when he collided with the batter-runner with his head down. The bill of the runner’s helmet crushed Palomo’s larynx.

He was declared brain dead after his body was deprived of oxygen.

Sunday, he underwent surgery to remove his organs for donation, and his parents removed life support equipment.

Monday, more than 800 students, their families, administrators and teachers attended a Mass and memorial service at St. Bernard High, where Palomo was a sophomore.

Students wiped tears as they left the service led by the school principal, the Rev. James Anguiano.

“They just spoke and we stood up and everyone was crying, and it was sad,” student Judy Jacobs said. “He was a really good person. He would have been a good baseball player.”

His coach said Palomo had already attracted pro scouts. Palomo was to join his teammates from his off-season baseball team on the field at Dodger Stadium on Monday for a ceremony honoring the team’s AAU state championship.

Crowley asked St. Bernard and opponent Bishop Montgomery High School to provide the CIF with reports on the incident.

He planned to forward them to the CIF Southern Section’s Athletic Injuries Committee and the state CIF’s Health and Safety Committee. The reports will also be relayed to the national federation, which writes rules for prep athletics.

“There’s no need for an independent investigation, because the schools will do their own and we have the utmost faith in our member schools,” Crowley said.

He said he hasn’t seen a similar run of deadly accidents in his 21 years with CIF.

“It’s been a nightmare for us the last two weeks,” he said. “We have a lot of empathy for the families, the students, the faculties.”

A 17-year-old pole vaulter died April 29 after skidding across a landing pad and hitting his head on concrete during practice at Hart High School in Valencia.

A week earlier, a 16-year-old track team member from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School was struck by a discus, fatally fracturing his skull.

Crowley noted CIF rules bar student baserunners from barreling into catchers at home plate. But in the collision that killed Palomo, the first baseman was hustling to make the catch, and the unidentified hitter was running toward first.

But Harry Grumet, a family friend and former coach of Palomo, said the incident should bring about a new emphasis on sportsmanship and overaggressive play that leads to accidents.