Hard-of-Hearing SUNY Canton Student-Athletes Break the Baseball Sound Barrier

Head Coach Ryan Stevens helps the team build a culture of inclusivity beyond spoken words.

Communication was imperative for three hard-of-hearing student-athletes as they found their home at SUNY Canton. A welcoming culture and new technologies have helped create an inclusive environment under Head Baseball Coach Ryan Stevens.

Salvador (Sal) Diaz, a senior Health and Fitness Promotion major from Norwalk, Calif., and Johnathan Guerrero, a junior Sports Management major from Indio, Calif., both joined Stevens when he began leading the Canton team in 2024. The coach met the students when Stevens’ previous team from Wells College played Gallaudet University, one of the nation’s leading centers of higher education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Gallaudet shut down its baseball program, leaving the players without a team. Stevens also recruited Jared Paone of Marblehead, Mass., in 2024 at a Coastal Carolina Baseball Camp Showcase and Paone joined the team in 2025.

“What initially drew me to Sal, Johnny, and Jared was how well they play the game,” Stevens said. “Their skill and competitiveness stood out right away. I wasn’t thinking about their ability to hear, I was focused on how they could help our team and the kind of players, the kind of people, they are.”

Diaz is one of the team’s captains and the starting catcher. Guerrero is a left-handed pitcher. Paone, who can also pitch, typically plays first or third base. All three players also hit. None of the players thought their hearing put them at a disadvantage.

As of April 21, Diaz is leading the team with a .360 batting average with 15 runs batted in and five home runs so far during the 2026 season. As part of his impressive resume, he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3baseball.com All-Region Third Teams, the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Second Team All-Conference and the SUNY Canton Athletics department’s Co-Male Student-Athlete of the Year after the 2025 season. This year, the senior was named to the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week as well as the SUNYAC Athlete of the Week. He also received the college’s Pheonix Award, which is given in recognition of students who have persisted through personal or academic challenges and have gone on to find success while enrolled at the college.

“SUNY Canton has been a really good environment for me,” Diaz said, noting he had some concerns about fitting into the community when he first came to college. “You see the baseball guys were really friendly.”

While practice-time communications remained largely unchanged with the three teammates, the coach needed a different solution for game-day pitch calls. SUNY Canton’s Accommodative and Disability Services Office and the Canton College Foundation stepped in to purchase PitchCom one-way wrist communication devices to alleviate the strain on in-game communications without violating NCAA regulations. The devices, which are commonly used in Major League Baseball, allow the coach to communicate quickly with the players without worrying about the other team stealing their signs.

Diaz, who wears the device on the outside of his catcher’s mitt, said he relies on the vibrations to stay in sync with his coach and teammates. “It’s quick and easy,” he said. “As long as the catcher and the pitcher are able to agree on one pitch, we move on.”

Before implementing the new technology, Guerrero would use American Sign Language (ASL) to signal Diaz. “We were using ASL as a way of communicating,” Guerrero said. “We can’t hear in the rain because we take out our hearing aids. The watches are a big upgrade for the sport of baseball.”

The pitcher noted that the team still uses ASL alongside the new technology. Some signs are becoming universal among the whole team as they relay quick in-game communications.

Guerrero joined the Roos just after having ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in his elbow, commonly known as Tommy John surgery. “I was at my weakest mentally, physically and emotionally,” he recalled. “That was my rock bottom right there.”

This spring, in a triumphant first time back on the mound, he pitched five innings and allowed only one run during a spring break matchup against Olivet University. The Roos went on to win the game. Following his strong return, he’s since started in six games so far this season, pitching a total of 33.2 innings.

As one of the newest members of the team, Paone has been at bat 58 times in 24 games, recording 20 hits and nine runs with a .345 batting average. The freshman said that although he was new to the team, he felt a bond with his teammates.

“We really have come together as a family,” he said, noting that the camaraderie he felt was larger than just the relationship between the three hard-of-hearing players. “I feel like we have a relationship, and everyone gets along really well. On the field, we always pick each other up when someone messes up or gets a little upset.”

Guerrero said the inclusivity he witnessed transcended baseball and offered advice to anyone considering playing for the Roos. “Just always know they're not alone in this school,” he said. “If you come here, regardless of the sports, background, culture, whatever, just know that you’re never going to be viewed differently by anyone at the school.”

Paone added, “Everyone is very welcoming here.”