When Emily Batiz was a toddler, she would scoot close to the television and turn up the volume.
"I would get closer, until I was right up to it," said Batiz, a sophomore pitcher for the Leechburg softball team. "I couldn't hear it, until I was almost right against the speaker."
Batiz (pronounced bay-tease) and her younger sister, Molly, 14, were born with hearing impairments. Their parents originally suspected the girls simply lacked attentiveness but later found out it was something else.
After further testing, it was determined that the girls' hearing was in question.
"At first, there was a delay when we would talk to them," said Ron Batiz, Emily's father. "They would just look at you. It took us about two years to get it all figured out.
"But the girls are doing fine now."
Obviously, Emily's slight handicap has not affected her pitching. The hard-throwing lefty with the shiny red hair has No. 2 seed Leechburg (16-3) one win away from a third straight appearance in the WPIAL Class A championship game.
Batiz, 16, who wears a hearing aid in each ear, did not pitch in last year's postseason, but she has adapted well to pressure situations in two playoff games this season.
"She hears my voice just fine," Leechburg coach Jim Oberdorf said with a laugh. "No, seriously, whether it's reading lips or whatever, I have never had problems communicating with Emily. I don't treat her any differently than any other player."
"I can hear him quite well," Batiz said of Oberdorf.
Batiz (9-0), coming off a 7-0 no-hitter against Bentworth in the quarterfinals, will take the mound again today in a semifinal matchup with third-seeded Vincentian Academy (15-3) at Gateway High School.
"I just take it pitch by pitch and try to stay calm," Batiz said. "In our last game, it was scoreless and we scored seven runs (in one inning). I know that could happen with the other team, too. I need to be aware of that."
Oberdorf believes Batiz, who is an honor student, could end up being one of the top pitchers in recent school history, joining the likes of Jen Wolfe, Stacy Pastva and Jen Kulick.
"She has the potential," said Oberdorf, who has 420 career wins. "But she's still very young. She has some minor things to work on. If I were to compare her to Jen Kulick, another left-hander, at the same age (Batiz) is pretty doggone close."
Batiz isn't overpowering, but she finds ways to get outs. A consistent defense behind her also helps.
"Emily throws strikes," Oberdorf said. "She had the right idea as far as letting her defense do some things.
"Our defense has played extremely well. I bet we don't have 10 errors all year."
Said Batiz: "My defense has been excellent. That's one of the main reasons we're doing so well."
Batiz isn't the first hearing-impaired softball player Oberdorf has coached.
"When I was at Penn State New Kensington, I had a girl who was totally deaf," he said. "But she was very attentive. I swear she could read my lips from 200 feet away.
"Once you're around a player for a while, you tend to overlook things. I don't even notice Emily's hearing aids any more."
Graduating to the next round
Two Leechburg players could run into a snag if the Lady Blue Devils reach the WPIAL championship game. The title game is set for June 2, the same day as Leechburg High School's graduation.
Pitcher/outfielder Emily Sprankle and outfielder Sara Bradbury -- the team's only seniors -- may be able to play the game, then make it home for graduation, if the game is early enough in the day.
All four WPIAL championship games will be contested June 2 at California University of Pennsylvania. Game times won't be determined until all eight semifinal games are completed.
Leechburg or Vincentian will play the winner of Chartiers-Houston (16-1) and Beth-Center (15-6).
Chartiers-Houston is the No. 1 seed. Class A is the only classification with its No. 1 and 2 seed still alive in the playoffs.
Additional Information:
WPIAL Class A softball semifinals
Who: Leechburg (16-3) vs. Vincentian Academy (15-3).When: 4 p.m. today.
Where: Gateway High School, Monroeville.
Coaches: Jim Oberdorf, Leechburg; Sam LoFaso, Vincentian.
Players to watch : Leechburg -- Emily Batiz (So., P), Emily Sprankle (Sr., P-OF); Vincentian -- Casey Melvin (Jr., P), Dianna Seltz (Jr., SS).
How they got here: First round -- Leechburg 5, Shenango 1; Vincentian 1, Serra Catholic 0; Quarterfinals -- Leechburg 7, Bentworth 0; Vincentian 3, Mt. Alvernia 0.
Winner plays: Chartiers-Houston/Beth-Center winner June 2 at California University of Pennsylvania (time to be determined).
