TIFTON — Former Tift County Blue Devil baseball player Chance Veazey was injured late Wednesday night in a motor vehicle accident in Athens.

Veazey, who is now a freshman at the University of Georgia, was injured shortly after leaving the Miller Learning Center. According to The Athens Banner-Herald Web site, a car driven by a Conyers woman turned in front of him, and he crashed his motor scooter in an effort to avoid hitting the car. Veazey was heading south on Lumpkin Street when the woman allegedly turned left in front of him.

The Web site reported that the Athens-Clarke County police report said Veazey took evasive action, and his scooter slid onto its side and hit the side of the car. The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m.

Veazey, 5-foot-9, 175-pounds, suffered a back injury and was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital. According to sources, Veazey will undergo surgery Friday morning to repair damage to his spine. It was reported he had no feeling below his waist.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chance and his family right now,” said Georgia coach David Perno. “Chance is a very tough individual and that’s going to help him.”

Veazey’s coach at Tift County, Chuck Beale, said, “I found out about this morning (Thursday), and it’s hard. Chance is not only a big part of us, our baseball program, but he is also a big part of our community.

“I am praying for him. He is a great kid, and he is from a great family.”

Beale also added, “This bypasses what we do. You get close to the kid as a person, and it goes beyond baseball.”

The son of Todd and Darby Veazey, Veazey arrived at Georgia this fall as an honor student out of Tift County High School. He is a pre-business major. He was named the Tift County Blue Devils most valuable player last season, and led the team in numerous offensive categories as a four-year starter. As a senior in 2009, he led the team with a .444 batting average, and a .573 on-base percentage.

Police did not charge anyone, saying an investigation is incomplete.

The University of Georgia provided information for this article.