Tee Payne has a flair for the dramatic.
The New Hope High School standout has earned a reputation for being one of the strongest and hardest-working players on the school’s football team. His tape-measure home runs also secured him a place in the baseball team’s record books.
Payne didn’t disappoint at the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A State title series against Pascagoula, delivering on his declaration before game one that he was going to hit a home run. There undoubtedly will be an asterisk next to that one, though, as umpires ruled Payne’s laser shot to left field was a triple.
As many times as Payne delivered on the football field and on the diamond, he never had an answer for the one question that kept coming up: “Are you going to play football or baseball in college?”
On Saturday, Payne finally realized the opportunity that had been eluding him for so long when he signed a partial scholarship to play baseball at Belhaven University, a NAIA school in Jackson.
“I didn’t think I was going to be playing college baseball,” said Payne, who gave a verbal commitment Monday following a visit to the school. “I had a big year last year, and coming into this year, I struggled at the beginning of the year and I thought it was going to be a horrible senior season. After the Kosciusko game, something clicked and I started hitting more and my confidence started to rise.”
Payne’s blast, which went over the New Hope High indoor baseball facility, ignited the senior catcher’s season. The hit was one of the biggest in his career until May 22, when Payne’s “triple,” his third hit of the day, snapped a 9-9 tie and sent New Hope on to an 11-9 victory against Pascagoula in game one of the best-of-three series. After the game, Belhaven baseball coach Hill Denson talked to Payne and asked him if he was going to school to play baseball. Belhaven continued to recruit Payne after he had two hits May 24 in a 3-2 loss that forced game three. Taylor Stafford’s pitching was a key in New Hope’s 3-2 victory that clinched the state championship.
New Hope High School coach Lee Boyd has watched Payne grow up with his brother, Landon, coming up through the baseball ranks in the New Hope community. He said Payne deserves to play college baseball, even though he admits Payne isn’t a great practice player.
It’s a different story in games, though.
“When you put Tee in big-time game situations, Tee is going to come through,” Boyd said. “Last year against Starkville, he hit a walk-off grand slam. This year, he hit a ball that hasn’t landed yet against Kosciusko for a walk-off, three-run home run. We’re up 9-3 in (game one of the) state championship series and they come back and tie it 9-9 and Tee comes up and hits a ball we all know was out of the park, but it was a triple that helped put us up 11-9 and win that game.
“I don’t know if he hit .290 or .300 this season. Those are irrelevant to me. You put Tee in big-time situations, he is going to compete. He is just a big-time player.”
Boyd praised Payne’s leadership skills and his personality. He also admitted the Trojans might have had better defensive receivers that could have had more playing time, but he said there was just something different about the team when Payne was on the field.
“We knew we had to have his bat in the lineup, but there was something about his presence on the field that when he wasn’t out there, we weren’t as good,” Boyd said. “I can’t put a finger on it, but we were better when he was on the field. That is a testament to him and his personality.”
With Payne sitting across from him in the baseball team’s indoor facility behind Trojan Field, Boyd also admitted it took him time to see those qualities in Payne. But he said Payne came through and showed him he could deliver again, hitting a double, triple, and a home run.
“He said, ‘Coach, you just have to give me a chance and let me show you what I can do,’ ” Boyd said. “From that point on, he proved it and he was the starting catcher.”
Payne had interest from other schools that wanted him to play football. Prior to visiting Belhaven, Payne and his family took a trip to Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark., to find out if he would get a chance to play football at the next level. He said it worked out for the best that that opportunity didn’t pan out because his performance in the state title series showed he could play baseball and perform at the highest level. A trip Monday to Belhaven led to an offer he thought was coming after the coaches took him and his family out for a meal he enjoyed.
The confidence Payne gained from hitting his home run against Kosciusko, which he said “felt like he didn’t even hit it,” played a role in his thinking that even a field as big as Trustmark Park, which is 402 feet to center field, couldn’t hold him. But when it came to considering offers from schools in California, Kansas, and Iowa, Payne didn’t want to think that big.
Turns out it was going to be baseball all along. After all, New Hope’s run to the title kept Payne from going to several tryouts where he might have received a chance to walk on to a football program. Payne didn’t complain then, and he doesn’t mind now considering he was planing to go to school at East Mississippi Community College’s Mayhew campus.
After hearing so many times he was “too short” to play football, Payne has gone from someone who was 80 percent certain he was going to play football to someone who will play baseball and has a chance to earn playing time as a freshman. The only three catchers Belhaven had on its 2013 roster were seniors. Payne knows he isn’t guaranteed anything, but he is eager to prove he can deliver — just like he did throughout his high school career.
“Nobody ever talked to me about baseball because I didn’t really play tournament ball because all of the time in the summer I would have summer workouts for football,” Payne said. “I never really thought about being a baseball player in college.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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