FALLSTON, Md. -- A coach for an opposing baseball team is being called a hero after administering CPR to a player hit in the face by a pitch, Baltimore station WBAL reported.

Chris Culver, a catcher for Rising Sun High School's baseball team, was hit last week by a pitch traveling about 80 mph. The incident left him unconscious and bleeding on the ground.

His mother, Cynthia Ortega, said the quick actions by Fallston High School coach Danny Taylor and rescue personnel saved her son's life.

"They took control of the situation and everyone around them, and did what they had to do to bring my son back to life," Ortega said. "He was drowning in his own blood."

The pitch broke Culver's nose in three places, requiring reconstructive surgery.

"From what I can remember, I looked up at my first baseman, and I woke up in an ambulance," Culver said.

Taylor said he used lessons learned in a CPR class taken about three months ago.

"I had him up on his hands and knees, because the blood was just too much," Taylor said. "I knew that when the first time we got to him. The blood was clogging him up, which is why he wasn’t breathing, I think."

Ortega wasn't at the game and met her son later at Shock Trauma. Both mother and son said they are beyond thankful for Taylor.

"He'll always be my hero," she said of Taylor. "I'll always love him, cherish him, respect him from the bottom of my heart."