UNION CITY, Ind. (AP): A major league baseball player is helping the family of an eastern Indiana boy cope with his death from being struck in the neck by a baseball.

Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis and his wife, Sarah, read about 8-year-old Dylan Williams' July 16 death from blunt force trauma.

Ellis says he and his wife have a daughter named Dylan and his wife wanted to “reach out to the family or to the community'' to help.

The couple arranged for the Union City boy's parents, brother and sister and both sets of his grandparents to attend Saturday's game between the Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds.

Dylan's Little League teammates are also being treated to Saturday's game and a bus ride to Cincinnati.