WICHITA, Kan. —  From high school to the pros, having a youngster serve as a baseball team’s bat boy is a time-honored tradition. 

However, that tradition took a tragic turn over the weekend when a bat boy was hit in the head by a stray bat during a National Baseball Congress World Series game in Wichita, Kansas. Kaiser Carlile, 9, died Sunday of the injuries he sustained.

“With the permission of the family, and with much sorrow and a very broken heart, I regretfully inform everyone that Kaiser Carlile passed away earlier this evening,” Nathan McCaffrey, president of the Liberal Bee Jays, posted on the team’s Facebook page. “Please keep his family and our team in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all for the support during this ordeal.”

Carlile had been the bat boy for the Liberal Bee Jays, a summer league team in Liberal, Kansas, the entire season. While Carlile was running to get a bat Saturday, a member Bee Jays player who was on deck started taking practice swings. The bat flew from his hands and struck Carlile in the head.

“He was swinging, and it hit him in the helmet, knocked him down, he got back up, but he went right back down again,” Jim Parks, a witness to the accident, told KSN.com.

Home plate umpire Mike Goldfeder is also a paramedic and worked on Carlile until an ambulance arrived. He was taken from Lawrence-Dumont Stadium to Christi St. Francis hospital in critical condition.

The Jays were in Wichita playing the San Diego Waves in the NBC World Series Tournament.

According to the Wichita Eagle, the Bee Jays decided to continue Saturday’s game after a team meeting in the outfield, they did so because they concluded it’s what Kaiser would have wanted.

“The National Baseball Congress has experienced tragedy many times in 84 years, however, it’s difficult to remember a day that is darker than this one,” the NBC said in a statement. “On Sunday, we lost a member of our family and it will hurt for a very long time. With heavy hearts, we send our thoughts, prayers and condolences to the Carlile family and Bee Jays organization. Sometimes life doesn’t make sense and this accident certainly is a memorable example.

“Kaiser was simply doing something he loved. He was simply doing a job most kids across America dream of having for one night or multiple summers. That’s the part that makes us all wonder ‘why’ and while it may never be answered, now is the time to support the city of Liberal, the BJ’s organization and Kaiser’s family. The NBC and the NBC World Series looks forward to honoring Kaiser in the near future. During this tragic and emotional time, may God bless Kaiser and his baseball family.”

According to Liberal general manager Mike Carlile, who is related to Kaiser,  the child’s parents arrived in Wichita Saturday night and spent hours at their son’s bedside. They were at stadium for Sunday night’s game after their son had died, according to the Eagle.

The Bee Jays are accepting donations for the Carlile family on the team’s Facebook page.