Little League World Series Video: West Pitcher Shrugs off Line Drive to Face

As any current or former baseball player can vouch, getting hit by a line drive sucks. But getting hit in the face by a line drive? That sucks majorly.

Unfortunately, such an incident occurred in the Little League World Series on Friday. During Ocean View's 11-0 shutout over the team from Cumberland, Rhode Island, one of Ocean View's pitchers took a line drive right to the face.

If you missed it, you can watch it above (albeit it in a video that is admittedly subpar).

Now, I have to be honest here. I didn't see this happen live, so I'm afraid I have no idea what this poor kid's name is. The box score tells me that Ocean View used Braydon Salzman, Nick Pratto and Ryo Takada on the mound against Rhode Island, but I can't tell which one of them is the star of this clip.

I will tell you this, though: the ball that hit this poor kid in the face was no Texas-leaguer. It was a real screamer, and it caught him square in the forehead. It may look comical in slow-motion, but this thing was no joke.

Yet somehow, the dude shook it off like it was nothing. He definitely looked like he'd just had his bell rung, but the way in which he just stood right up and cocked his head is pretty awesome. As the kids say these days, "like a boss."

Shoot, I'm jealous. I remember getting hit in the chest with a line drive back in my little league days, and I distinctly remember breaking out in tears and having to be helped off the field. That's probably why I quit playing baseball in first grade, and it's probably why I'm stuck here writing about it instead of hitting dingers in the show.

Because this kid was able to stay on his feet and keep the tears off his face, I daresay his future is bright.

-Zachary D. Rymer