9-year-old batboy remembered at team’s first game since his death

9-year old Liberal bat boy Kaiser Carlile in the Bee Jays dugout at Larks Park in mid July.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Members of a semi-pro Kansas baseball team say the 9-year-old batboy who died after being accidentally hit by a follow-through swing was energetic and hard-working, and had a almost constant smile.

Kaiser, a batboy for the Bee Jays, was struck in the head Saturday during a National Baseball Congress World Series game against the San Diego Waves.

According to the Washington Post, he even traveled with the Bee Jays for road games.

The National Baseball Congress suspended participation by batboys and batgirls in the Wichita tournament, which ends August 8, in the wake of the accident.

“This shouldn’t be taken away from any other kids, the opportunity to be able to do this”, Carlile said. “This is something I think should stick around”, Chad Carlile told NBC News in his first sit-down interview.

“Fist pumps, high fives. He was the best bat boy in baseball, and he always will be”. “We need to ensure that anybody on the field is of a respectable age, that can be trained… enforcing rules about equipment, helmets at all times and keeping your eyes open all the time to make sure employees are doing their job in a safe way”.

“Man, has it been a insane couple of days”, Tomlinson said in a video tribute posted on Facebook, “but in the mix of all of our excitement we remember Kaiser and the entire Carlile family”.