Lehigh Valley's Jorge Inoa playing with purpose in Nike RBI World Series

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The first things that jump out at you when sitting down with Lehigh Valley Nike RBI’s Jorge Inoa are the politeness and soft-spoken manner of the 15-year-old pitcher.

Then you notice something that most athletes his age don’t have -- a hearing aid in his left ear.

And that’s the key part of Inoa’s perseverance over the course of a battle that began at the age of 8 years old.

After Wednesday’s morning game in the junior division of the Nike RBI World Series at Jackie Robinson Training Complex, Inoa discussed his early-life plight -- a sudden one that sprung up before he could understand it.

While in grade school in Allentown, Pa., Inoa learned his school notified his parents that he suffered from hearing loss. Doctors found a tumor, removed it and tried to reconstruct his ear drum with cartilage.

However, the last part failed, leaving the youngster with a hearing aid.

“It was a struggle, but we put God first and He helped me through the hard times,” said Inoa, the son of Dominican parents Juana and Basilio. “I had four surgeries. I had mixed emotions, because I didn’t feel anything.

“They had told me I was born with the tumor, but I didn’t think I’d have so many surgeries. It was a little overwhelming.”

During then-13-year-old Inoa’s final surgery in 2021, the doctors discovered a blockage around a previous procedure, with ear wax clogging a drainage area. Then they found the tumor had grown back, and excised it entirely.

The tumor’s removal and the hearing aid have turned the volume up from 20 percent to full sound, said Inoa, who talks about it with his teammates.

“They ask me questions,” said Inoa, who will be starting his sophomore year at William Allen High School in Allentown at the end of the month. “I just tell them about my story. They think it’s not cool that I had the tumor, but that it’s cool that I’m all good now.”

Inoa pitched on the junior varsity squad as a freshman but was called up to varsity later in the season. A San Diego fan, he admires the work of Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove, who fired the then-52-year-old organization’s first no-hitter in 2021 against the Texas Rangers.

“Life hits you no matter what … you’re going to face adversity no matter what you do in life,” said Rob Leskosky, the Lehigh Valley coach and also the varsity skipper at William Allen. “[It helps] the more you can get into a kid’s mind set and say, ‘Stuff’s going to happen.’ I can either say ‘Poor me, I struck out on a pitch that was eight inches off the plate,’ or I can say, ‘I’ve got to get ready for my next at-bat or go out and pitch.’

“You could get smoked today 10-0 and [say] we couldn’t hit, we couldn’t pitch, but guess what? There’s another game tomorrow. It’s not like football where you have a bad game on Sunday and have six days to fix it. Baseball comes right back the next day.”

When he was 12, Inoa called Leskosky to pitch in an under-15 tournament. He eventually got a shot when the team kept advancing and needed additional pitching.

Inoa stepped in and spun a complete game to help the club win the championship game.

“Just talking to him, he wasn’t all ‘Hey, yay, me’ after the win. He was happy, but he asked me what he could do to get better and wanted to improve right away,” Leskosky said.

One of Inoa’s thrills was getting to pitch under the tutelage of 1994 Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Cy Young Award winner Steve Carlton. The 10-time All-Star southpaw works with St. Luke’s Sports Medicine and helps young pitchers at special events.

“Steve couldn’t believe he was 15. He said Jorge threw the ball like a junior or senior,” added Leskosky.

Wednesday’s morning game didn’t go well for Inoa and his Lehigh Valley teammates against the Dodgers' Dreamteam squad from Los Angeles.

On the former Dodgers practice field once used by Hall of Famers like Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella but now called Determination, the blue-clad visiting side built a 4-0 lead through three innings against the Keystone State group.

And as sports are simply a microcosm of life, peppered with hard work, grateful rewards and occasional setbacks, it was a tough day for Lehigh Valley, as it dropped a 7-0 decision and fell to 0-2, less than 24 hours into the tournament.

But as far as Inoa is concerned, he’s hearing the sounds loud and clear again -- and he's winning every single day.

Senior Division (ages 16-18) results:

Houston Astros Nike RBI (3-0) defeats Cincinnati Reds Nike RBI (1-2), 12-3

Newark Nike RBI (3-0) defeats Chicago White Sox Nike RBI (2-1), 7-5

Junior Division (ages 13-15) morning/afternoon results:

Dodgers Dreamteam Nike RBI (1-1) defeats Lehigh Valley Nike RBI (0-2), 7-0

Miami Marlins Nike RBI (2-0) defeats Castle Hill Nike RBI (1-1), 12-5

Chicago White Sox Nike RBI (1-1) defeats Puerto Rico Nike RBI (1-1), 9-4

New Orleans Youth Academy Nike RBI (2-0) defeats Passaic Nike RBI (0-2), 2-1

Junior Division evening results:

Dodgers Dreamteam Nike RBI (2-1) defeats Castle Hill Nike RBI (1-2), 12-6

Miami Marlins Nike RBI (3-0) defeats Lehigh Valley Nike RBI (0-3), 5-4

Chicago White Sox Nike RBI (2-1) defeats Passaic Nike RBI (0-3), 9-5

New Orleans Youth Academy (3-0) defeats Puerto Rico Nike RBI (1-2), 13-3