Catcher smokes batter in the head while attempting to throw the ball back to the mound

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators went head-to-head in Game 3 of their three-game series at the 2017 NCAA softball tournament in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday afternoon.

Early on in the game, Gators second baseman Nicole Dewitt learned why it’s important to wear a helmet.

As she watched the pitch sail low for a ball, Dewitt started to regroup in the batter’s box and received an accidental wake-up call from Crimson Tide catcher Reagan Dykes.



This is why we wear helmets... #SCNotTop10 A post shared by SportsCenter (@sportscenter) on May 27, 2017 at 3:20pm PDT

It certainly caught her by surprise, as no one ever expects to get smoked in the head by the catcher, but Dewitt knew that it was accidental and shook it off pretty quickly.

If there’s one person who knows how she was feeling, it’s MLB outfielder Norichika Aoki.



(H/T Instagram/SportsCenter)