Support for Wayzata Pitcher's Recovery after Eye Injury

One pitch.  One crack of the bat.  Now a Wayzata athlete is fighting to keep the sight in one of his eyes.  And he has an entire community rallying around him.

Ryan Steen was pitching in the Edina 13AA tournament on June 16 when a hard-hit ball came right back at him, hitting him in the eye, according to an email from the Edina Baseball Association.  The email describes Ryan's injuries as a torn cornea, injured iris, and "significant hemorrhage in the vitreous humor," the clear gel between the eye's lens and retina.

"Ryan has already had two surgeries to repair the most urgent and serious damage but several more are expected," said the association in its email.  "Ryan may never achieve full use of that eye but our hope is that he will be able to gain some functional vision again."

To support Ryan and his family, the association has set up a fund.  You can donate to it by clicking here.

The association has also created shirts and wristbands to support Ryan.  The "Eye Play for Ryan" gear is available through Tuesday (July 10) at this website.