ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First/AP) – An Athens native who plays baseball for one of the Los Angeles Angels’ minor league teams is in critical condition after a car crash last Friday.
Rio Foster, an outfielder for the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils, was sitting in the back seat when he was ejected from the vehicle, according to an online fundraiser. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, alongside skull and facial fractures, and has undergone surgery.
Rio Foster(GoFundMe)
“Rio is the most humble, kind and respectful young man and this is the most unfortunate circumstance,” a statement on his GoFundMe said. “He worked so hard to get to where he is today, and was on fire these past few weeks. Although he’s in this predicament we know that this is something he will come back from, and 10x stronger.”
In the wake of the crash, Tri-City canceled its game against Hillsboro on Friday night.
“The thoughts and prayers of the entire Dust Devils organization are with Rio Foster who was a passenger in a car accident early this morning and sustained serious injuries,” the Dust Devils posted on social media.
The 22-year-old was a 16th-round pick in the 2023 draft out of Florence-Darlington Technical College in South Carolina. He’s batting .267 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs this season and was the Northwest League player of the month for August.
“We’re praying for the best — that’s all we can do,” Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said before Friday night’s game. “Unfortunately, I’m working on limited (information) … what I do know is it’s obviously way more important than anything we’re doing here today.
“I’m just thinking about him and his family. He’s a great kid. We had him in spring training. He was a little bit of a late-round draft pick, and he’s done some good things. We saw him in spring training, and he was named (Northwest League) player of the month recently, so his career is in a good spot.”
This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First as we learn more.
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