If you watched the Super Regionals over the weekend, you no doubt saw the horrifying scene of a line drive off the bat of a UCLA hitter strike Missouri pitcher Tori Finucane in the face.

Fortunately, although she went to the hospital, the pitcher later tweeted she was OK.

Still, it raises again the issue of whether masks for pitchers and even third basemen should be mandatory.

There seems to be an increase of these type of injuries and could it be just a matter of time before a player is critically injured, perhaps killed? The sport has been hesitant to insist on such protect for pitchers, but is now the time to make it happen?

On one hand, you don’t want to force an athlete to wear something that could potentially impede performance, but you’d have to believe that safety trumps convenience and comfort, particularly for young players.

We asked several parents what their thoughts were and you’ll read some of them below. In the future, we’ll also try to portray both sides of the issue talking to players and coaches as well.

This will be an ongoing dialogue and if you’d like to submit your opinion, please e-mail: brentt@fullcountsoftball.com.

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Rick Vestal is the father of Brooke Vestal, the outstanding pitcher from New Braunfels, Texas rated as the No. 1 player in the 2018 Hot 100 and a commit to Oklahoma. After seeing a pitcher take off a line drive off the face and have to go to the hospital, Rick insisted from then on that his daughter wear a mask… here are his thoughts:

“I think this issue deserves attention and next year Brooke hopes the younger girls will wear a mask when they see the older players pitching with one.”

“My feeling is pitchers and third basemen risk their heads on every pitch and I saw a 12U kid take a liner that broke the mask and her nose too, but think of the damage that would have incurred if she had no mask!”

“I realize there is debate on this subject from the traditionalists and the ‘tough kid’ crowd. I liken that to me opposing seat belt laws. When it first came out that seat belts were mandatory, everyone thought it was ridiculous; now buckling up is the first thing you do when you get in a car.”

“I’m in no position to parent other kids, but this is a no-brainer. I saw four or five kids last year that got hit without it and the results ranged from life and sight threatening to gruesome.”

“Contrary to urban myth, I’ve yet to speak with a college coach who saw the mask as a negative. If you can play, you may squeeze four more years out of this great game. If you are talking to a coach who wants your daughter, but not the mask, you are talking to the wrong coach.”

“On the other hand, your coconut’s shell and everything inside it will be going the distance with you. Protect it.”

“My grandfathers played football in leather helmets, but that don’t make it right!”

“I hope our kids are the generation that fixes this. As soon as masks show up on TV games common sense will take care of the rest.”

“I hope to see a Crimson and Cream mask hiding Brooke’s face from a WCWS television audience soon!”

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Rick Vestal points to a mother who wrote him saying:

“Please keep [my daughter] in your prayers. She took a line drive to the face yesterday. While it did crack her mask the mask saved her life. The ball broke both sides of her nose and deviated it as well. If the mask was not on it could of been life threatening.”

“She, of course, immediately got up and wanted to stay in the game but then realized blood was covering her arms. She goes to the ENT on Tuesday to discuss surgery.”

“The coaches including the one from the other team who was the base coach for third (which is where she was playing) really were so helpful and concerned. She is not in a lot of pain and she can’t wait to get back out there.”

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The mother of one All-American player who will play in the Big Ten wrote today saying:

“This is a very touchy subject in our household on wearing the face mask. I want her to wear it, but in videos of her playing you’ll see she doesn’t a mask.”

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The parent of an elite pitcher from the East Coast who will play in the ACC writes:

“We did see what happened to Tori.  [Our daughter] has never worn a mask.  She was one of the only kids who didn’t wear one during the 10U and 12U years.”

“We still see a lot of masks on pitchers and third basemen at the high school level but very few if any at the 18U travel level.  This is a debate that many pitcher’s parents have had over the years.”

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Brett Moore, the father of DePaul commit Pat Moore from Oregon, admits there’s been some back-and-forth between him and his daughter on the issue as well…

“To answer the question, ‘Should she wear a mask?’ My answer is ‘Absolutely!’”

“Pat does not wear a mask and says, ‘I don’t look good in a mask.’ I have told her (sarcastically) that she shouldn’t wear a batting helmet either because the ball is only traveling at 60 to 65 mph so go ahead and get in the batters box without your helmet.”

“‘No,’ she says and I then reply, ‘Why would you go in the circle, then, without a mask?’”

“I have heard the exit speed off the bat of a hitter is 20 to 30 mph faster than the pitch. What will it take to make it mandatory that pitchers wear safety masks? I hope that death of a player is not what has to happen to make it mandatory. The people at the top need to make it mandatory at the younger ages now!”

“Maybe one of the sporting good companies could develop a mask that fits well and is not cumbersome.”

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To have your opinion be heard on this issue, e-mail brentt@fullcountsoftball.com and explain why you think masks should or shouldn’t be made mandatory on the field.