TAMPA – Leto outfielder and leadoff hitter Rodney Jackson will miss at least two weeks after suffering a concussion in the District 6A-11 championship game Thursday, according to Falcons coach J.J. Pizzio.
Jackson was injured in the fourth inning after crashing into a pole on the rightfield fence in pursuit of a flyball.
He was knocked unconscious by the collision and had to be taken from the field on a stretcher. Jackson gave the cheering crowd a thumbs-up sign as he was placed into an ambulance.
“Rodney is reckless and fearless,” Pizzio said of Jackson, who tripled in the first inning. “He basically went face-first into that fence pole.”
After a half-hour delay, Leto went on to lose 9-3 to King.
Jackson, a junior, was discharged from the hospital overnight and returned to school on Friday morning “to come in and let us all know he is good,” Pizzio said. “He asked me … if he caught the ball.”
Jackson will miss at least the region quarterfinals on Wednesday. The Falcons will face the winner of tonight's 6A-12 championship game between Osceola and Dixie Hollins.
Joel Anderson can be reached at janderson@tampabay.com or on Twitter @jdhometeam.