Fabian DeLeon is a senior, it’s his only varsity season with the Odessa High baseball team and he hasn’t gotten to play nearly as much as he would like.
His mother has felt his frustration, and Rachel DeLeon told her son she would understand and be supportive if he decided to quit. But that wasn’t an option.
“He said, ‘No mom, I’m in it until the end. I want to stay there. Even if I don’t get to play, I want to be there for my team. If I do play, I’m going to do my best to help them win,’ ” Rachel DeLeon said. “And he’s enjoyed it. He has a good attitude.”
According to his mother, playing baseball for the Bronchos was Fabian DeLeon’s goal since he was in elementary school. And giving up, or backing down from a challenge, is not part of his vernacular.
Fabian DeLeon was born deaf, so he has difficulty communicating with his peers, teachers and teammates. But that hasn’t stopped him from being a standout student-athlete, even though his role with the Bronchos is limited.
The 18-year-old DeLeon is an A and B student who’s a member of the National Honor Society, and he plans to attend Odessa College and pursue a career in law enforcement like his father, Paul DeLeon. He also volunteers at the Permian Basin Fair and is a bit of a whiz at the bowling alley, with an average score of close to 200 and a perfect 300 game to his credit.
Fabian DeLeon, along with his bowling league team at Diamond Lanes, will compete in a statewide competition in Longview in early May.
“Sometimes they will tease deaf kids and that kind of thing,” Fabian DeLeon said through sign-language interpreter Karen Thornhill, an auditory impaired teacher at Odessa High. “But I’m proving to them that deaf people can do anything.”
His baseball teammates describe DeLeon as another one of the guys, someone who likes to joke around and have fun and gets mad at himself when he makes a mistake on the field. He roots for the Bronchos from the bench, encourages them when they get back to the dugout, eats lunch with them at school and plays video games with them on weekends.
“He’s just like a regular player. He just can’t hear,” said Odessa High right fielder James Lee, one of DeLeon’s close friends. “We treat him like we treat anyone. We don’t treat him any different. It's just like he’s one of our brothers.”
Lee said he and some of the other Bronchos have picked up a little sign language from DeLeon, and they’ve come up with other hand gestures they use to communicate. And they utilize text messages or write to each other on scrap paper.
Lee also said DeLeon, who received a cochlear implant in 2006 and has since had limited ability to hear and speak, “actually talks a lot for being deaf.”
Odessa High coach Leroy Mansanales, whose wife, Becky, once worked as an interpreter for the Regional Day School for the Deaf at Odessa High, knows some sign language himself. DeLeon said the efforts of his coach and teammates make him feel more comfortable at the ballpark.
“Coach Mansanales seems to have a way of communicating with Fabian,” Rachel DeLeon said. “Somehow he gets his point across to Fabian. He’s been real good. His teammates have been real good with him, too.”
Whether he’s in class or at practice or a game — home or away — Fabian DeLeon is accompanied by sign-language interpreters such as Thornhill. She said Vicki Chandler and Nora Rivera also serve as interpreters for DeLeon, and so has Midland ISD’s Angela Little when the Bronchos play games at either Midland High or Midland Lee.
Thornhill said they generally interpret during team meetings before and after games, and they also relay instructions from the coaching staff during games. Thornhill said having an interpreter on hand provides a good safety net, but she isn’t sure DeLeon always needs one.
“He’s very good,” Thornhill said. “He’s a self-motivated student, and his parents play a big role in that. They expect him to do well. The deafness is not an excuse.”
It’s also not an excuse on the baseball field, where DeLeon has performed admirably when given the chance. He’s reached base in two of his three plate appearances during District 2-5A play, drawing a walk against Midland High and being hit by a pitch against Abilene Cooper. He also has pitched some and played first base.
DeLeon’s only hit of the season broke up a no-hit bid by Lubbock Monterey during a tournament loss in Lubbock on March 8. The next day he recorded the final out in a 7-6 victory against Lubbock High. Odessa High left fielder Sergio Marquez said with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and Lubbock High runners at second and third base, DeLeon fielded a hard grounder to first and barely beat the batter to the bag, holding on to the ball despite an ensuing collision between the players.
“I’ll probably never forget that. It was a good moment,” Marquez said. “We all ran over there.”
Marquez said DeLeon brings “a lot of character to our team” and is an inspiration to his teammates. DeLeon said he’s just glad to be part of the team and wants to help the Bronchos, who face rival Permian at noon today at McCanlies Field, finish the season strong and possibly rally for a second straight playoff berth.
Rachel DeLeon said her only son already is a winner and will be successful after he graduates. Fabian DeLeon said he wants to pursue a career as a computer forensics specialist, which uses technology to investigate and solve crimes.
“My husband and I are extremely proud of Fabian and all his accomplishments,” Rachel DeLeon said. “He’s done so much in his short life that a lot of kids, hearing kids, choose not to do, kids who are able to and they won’t. I see him, and I think God blessed him.”
