Van Buren catcher overcomes disability

It’s safe to say Baylor Miles has an infectious personality whenever she’s playing softball. The Van Buren senior, who is a four-year starter at catcher, routinely talks to her teammates. She’ll even strike up conversations with members of the opposition. All this with a constant smile on her face. Believe it or not though, Miles admits when she was younger, she was actually shy and reserved. But playing softball allowed her to open up her personality. “I used to be a very shy kid growing up, but when I’ve started playing softball, I began to gain some confidence and I love meeting people,” Miles said. “Whenever I go into the ballpark, I go straight to someone (and talk). ... I like being up, I like being positive, it gives me more energy.” Even during the course of a game, regardless of the situation, Miles still has a tendency to stay loose. Related More high school softball coverage. “Between innings, you’ll see her back there catching balls from (pitcher McKennah Sikes) and she’s actually dancing and kind of moving her hands around to the music (being played between innings), just enjoying herself on the field,” Van Buren coach Andy Williams said. “She just brings energy to our team on the field by her mannerisms. “She just likes the game, she has a lot of fun playing softball and it carries over to the rest of our team. On the field, she likes to have fun and she wants everybody else to have fun.” Miles’ upbeat effervescence also helped allow her to overcome what hasn’t been an easy childhood at times. She was born with partial hearing loss, a result of both of her parents (Crystal Pixley and Troy Miles) being deaf. But Miles has a sense of pride when discussing her disability. “Growing up with a hearing loss was a hard experience to an extent; I always had to work harder than others so I could be a part of the conversation and be viewed as normal, but it’s something that is my favorite thing about myself, I love being hearing impaired,” said Miles, who estimates she is approximately 30 percent deaf. “I’m always taking the hardest classes my school offers. I never cut myself short or use it as an excuse, because both my parents are deaf and that’s how they raised me. Both of them work in hearing environments because growing up, we wanted to broaden our horizons and show the world that we can do everything they can do except hear, so we injected ourselves into the hearing world and made an impact I believe.” Miles added her parents never married, and both live in separate states. She has two younger sisters, both of whom also live in separate states. Baylor currently lives with her grandparents, Karen and Larry Stem. It was her grandfather who suggested Baylor play catcher when she was 14 years old. “I started playing catcher when I was 14; I was on a (travel ball) team and they needed a catcher,” she said. “My grandfather had always told me that playing catcher was perhaps the most important position on the team because you’re the only person that has the entire view of the field. “So from that day on, I tried it out and I liked it. I wasn’t very good at first, and then (the more I played), the more I got better.” Her grandfather was right about the view, because that’s what Miles enjoys the most being behind the plate. “In a game, I have the best view,” she said. “I see everyone on the field and they can all see me. I feel like I’m in control and command of the field. “When I’m giving signs to McKennah, I feel like I’m more in control, I feel like I’m the captain of the boat and I’m going to steer it. I like having that power in my hands.” As battery-mates, Miles and Sikes also have a great rapport with one another. “They knew each other growing up and playing summer travel ball together and it’s just worked out,” Williams said. “They’re so familiar with one another. I call some pitches, but during a game, sometimes I don’t and some situations, I won’t. “Sometimes I point to Baylor and say, ‘You call this,’ and she sees how the ball’s moving at a particular point in the game better than I do.” Miles, who missed several games in the early part of the regular season due to a concussion, is also heating up on offense at the right time. She is second on the team in several categories, including average (.400), home runs (six), RBIs (29), slugging percentage (.764) and on base plus slugging (1.278). In Van Buren’s last three games, all 7A-West conference wins, Miles has gone a combined 5-for-11 with three homers and 11 RBIs. On Tuesday, which also happened to be her grandfather’s birthday, Miles went 4-for-4 with two homers and seven RBIs in a win at Springdale Har-Ber. “My confidence took over and I just dominated,” Miles said. “I knew every time I was going up to hit, it was my game, my time to show off what I was capable of and I think I did that. ... It was my best game all season; I stepped on the field like I was unstoppable and I played like I was, too.”

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Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN CATCHER OVERCOMES DISABILITY

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 5/7/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Buck Ringgold