Batter Up Bakery serving the Friendly Village

The Friendly Village has gotten a little sweeter with the addition of Batter Up Bakery, a new family-owned and operated business offering doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies and other baked goods.

The bakery, located at 40 East Main St. in Leesburg, is owned by Casey McIntosh and her mother, Sue Priest, and is run by their family and “friends who are like family,” McIntosh said.

The Priests and McIntosh also work full-time away from the bakery, and McIntosh and her husband, Erwin (“Mac”), are raising their four children, Hunter, 10; Alayna, 8; Logan, 6; and Mya, 5. The McIntosh children are enrolled in the Fairfield Local School District.

As its name suggests, the bakery, including its decorations and its menu, are baseball-themed. McIntosh said that she and her family are “huge fans of the Reds” and baseball in general. Her father, Rick Priest, coached and played baseball, so she said the theme “made sense.”

“We’re big on community support,” McIntosh said. “We want to sponsor local baseball teams.

“Plus, this is something we love and something we can hand down, if our kids want to take over the bakery someday.”

The bakery’s doughnut packages are baseball-themed, as well as many of their cupcakes, such as the bestselling Shortstop Shortcake. The Priest and McIntosh families remodeled the building themselves, including painting, changing the carpeting to resemble a baseball field and creating wall art from photos from a Cincinnati Reds game earlier this season.

McIntosh said that she, like many Highland County business owners, got her start in 4-H, as she started baking for 4-H projects as a youth. Her love of baking is a family affair, as her mother is the family and consumer sciences teacher at Lynchburg-Clay High School, where she teaches baking,
cooking and other home economics classes. Her grandmother also loves to bake cakes; and her sister operates a cake business in Northern Kentucky.

McIntosh said that this spring, Sharon Bedard, the Grow! Highland County business facilitator, contacted her about the possibility of starting a bakery at the former location of Katie’s Confections in Leesburg.

“Sharon was absolutely instrumental and helpful,” McIntosh said. “She helped us every step of the way.”

Batter Up Bakery is also assisting another new local business, Hillsboro’s Cowaburger restaurant. Grow! Highland County worked with both businesses to develop a partnership between the two businesses, with Cowaburger using specially developed unique kaiser buns produced by the
bakery. 

The bakery uses recipes from the former Alkire’s bakery in Washington Court House. The bakery’s products are freshly made, not frozen or from a mix.

“Ninety-eight percent of everything we make is from scratch,” McIntosh said.

The bakery uses local strawberries and eggs, and McIntosh said they hope to expand their ingredients to include as much locally sourced food as possible.

Batter Up Bakery boasts a “huge cupcake offering,” McIntosh said, with premium ingredients such as authentic Belgian chocolate and Dutch cocoa.

While the bakery does not yet offer wedding cakes, they do have cupcake towers and hope to expand their cake business as time progresses.

One of the more unique offerings of the bakery are gluten-free options, including muffins, cookies and doughnuts, with gluten-free buns and pasta also offered when ordered ahead of time.

The bakery offers orders seven days a week, so customers can pick up ordered items even on days when the bakery is closed.

McIntosh said they also plan to continually expand their selection of products, including Alkire’s popular cream bread. Holiday specials will be offered in the coming months, such as rolls and pies.

McIntosh said that they hope to reach the community on “a deep level” with not just their products, but also the music and atmosphere in the bakery and their support for local businesses and community groups. McIntosh said that they only play contemporary Christian station KLOVE on the radio when they are open and when they are baking.

“One of our big focuses is we are a ministry first and a business second,” McIntosh said. “We are community- and family-driven. That’s our heart.

“It’s really nice to have neighbors focused on the same things we are. We have Main Street Salon, Saucy Sisters Pizza, the bank … this whole strip is very close-knit and dedicated to the same things, and we support each other and help one another.”

The bakery is starting an incentive program with the Fairfield Schools with a “Pride Paw” coupon to reward kids who “do something above and beyond.” Students who earn the coupon can redeem them for a free “Lion Pride” doughnut.

Another promotion starting in October will be the “All-Stars of the Month,” in which the bakery chooses an organization and gives them two dozen free donuts and a plaque. The bakery also donates tips to a different charity each month.

“We serve Highland County, but Leesburg itself has been very supportive,” Rick Priest said. “The people here are just great.”

“Highland County has been tremendously supportive,” McIntosh said.

“My church in Hillsboro has been amazing. It’s been very humbling, this outpouring of support.”

Batter Up Bakery is open Wednesday through Friday, 5:30-11 a.m., and Saturday, 7-11 a.m. or until sold out.