The heart of professional versus amateur baseball is at stake in a civil suit that began Tuesday in District Court in Helena, pitting the safety of aluminum bats versus wood.

The mother of a Miles City Mavericks baseball player who died after being hit in the head with a batted ball during a 2003 game in Helena is seeking damages from the makers of Louisville Slugger bats in this civil trial, sure to draw national attention and stoke the discussion of whether aluminum bats create an unfair advantage or are too dangerous.

Brandon Patch, 18, was pitching to a Helena Senators hitter, who was using an aluminum Louisville Slugger bat, when he was struck in the temple by the ball on July 25, 2003. Patch died at a hospital about four hours later.

Debbie Patch's attorneys argue the case is not a freak accident. Baseballs hit with aluminum bats, such as the one used in that American Legion game, only give pitchers milliseconds to respond in a defensive stance. The average is about 400 milliseconds, according to attorney Joe White. Patch only had about 376 milliseconds response time.

"The eyewitnesses watching the game will tell you they couldn't see the ball until it ricocheted off his head," White told the jury.

Louisville Slugger attorney Rob Sterup said the outcome could have been the same with any bat.

"If some other bat was used, the ball would have been hit just as hard, if not harder," Sterup said during opening statements.

The ball that struck Patch was traveling at 99.8 mph, he said. Nearly every home run hit with a wooden bat exceeds 100 mph, Sterup added.

According to the plaintiff's attorneys, Patch's death was caused by the defective and unreasonably dangerous product because the bat was designed and manufactured to allow the ball to be hit with such significant force as to endanger the safety of those playing the game. No warnings were given to adequately provide sufficient notice to users such as Patch of the dangerous propensities of these products, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit states the plaintiff is entitled to punitive damages for the sake of example and as punishment from the makers of Louisville Slugger, Hillerich & Bradsby Co., which acted with actual malice due to their knowledge or intentional disregard of facts, creating a high probability of injury to players such as Patch. The makers of Louisville Slugger misrepresented to the end user and to the general public that the bat in question was safe for use in competitive baseball games, the suit argues.

The plaintiff also is seeking actual damages in an amount to be determined during the trial.

Sterup, the bat makers' attorney, said it is hard to comprehend someone dying while playing a game, and many times family members are looking for answers.

"Baseball is a safe sport - always has been. Aluminum bats have not changed that," he said.

Baseball averages about six injuries to every 1,000 games and practices, Sterup said, adding this is far fewer than in other sports, such as football. People are 800 percent more likely to be injured while driving a car than playing baseball, he stated.

The civil lawsuit, which was originally filed in District Court in June 2006, named Hillerich & Bradsby Co., makers of Louisville Slugger, and Universal Athletic Services Inc., the corporation which sold the bat, as defendants.

The trial is expected to last at least two weeks.

Reporter Angela Brandt: 447-4078 or angela.brandt@helenair.com

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