A bus carrying many of the North Carolina-based minor league baseball team, the Carolina Mudcats, was involved in a turnover crash on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, resulting in the injuries of several players. Three players to date have been placed on the team’s disabled list as a result of the accident, but the team plays on in spite of these setbacks. The bus was carrying the team en route to South Carolina for a game when the crash took place.
The number and degree of injuries sustained in the accident have not yet been reported, although three of the team’s pitchers have been placed on the disabled list: Lucas Sims, Andrew Thurman and Tyler Brosius. The crash and subsequent injuries occurred just before a planned charity game whose purpose was to raise funds for cancer research and awareness.
The three pitchers join two other players on the Mudcats disabled list, resulting in five total players being out for the time being. It is not known if or when any of these players will be in condition to play again. The Carolina Mudcats are a minor league branch of the baseball world, owned by the same franchise as the Atlanta Braves.
The driver of the bus is alleged to have been speeding at the time of the accident, and the speed of the vehicle is currently considered to have been the major contributing factor to the accident’s occurrence at this time. The bus, owned by Abbott Trailways, was attempting to take a turn when it skidded out of control and wound up flipping over into a ditch by the roadside. Driver of the bus, 52-year-old Virginian Janice Coffman, is being cited by local authorities for driving too fast for current road conditions. No injuries sustained in the crash have been reported as life-threatening.
Currently, all games scheduled for this weekend are intended to go on as planned in spite of the accident and injuries.