High school baseball season most likely won’t finish out the season due to the current health situation. That’s a tough pill to swallow for athletes.

At Teurlings Catholic, one baseball player’s unique story offers perspective.

Payton Hofmeyer is one of five seniors on the Teurlings Catholic baseball team. He loves the sport, played it his whole life, but might not ever get to put a uniform on again as a player.

“It’s a bummer, ya know, but we got to get through it, any way we can, ya know,” Hofmeyer says. “Our goal is to get to the state championship every year, and we work so hard and to have this happen just bums me out.”

He’s a true team player, doing whatever’s necessary to make the Rebels a successful squad. Payton knows success on the field and off. He’s a part of the last state title team back in 2018. Off the field, by all standards, he’s already a success story.

“I’ve been having it my whole life,” Hofmeyer says.

It…is a proscethic leg. The senior baseball player was born without a tibia in his right leg. His leg needed to be amputated at the age of one. Since then, he’s lived life to the fullest, doing everything the best he can.

It’s hard, because I’m not the fastest ya know,” Hofmeyer says. “I have to work as hard as I can to become the fastest I can, and anyway I can to help the team win.”

According to Teurlings head baseball coach Mike Thibodeaux, Payton’s a winner in every since of the word. No complaining, great work ethic, an excellent student — a model teammate for the rest of the squad.

“When we are having a bad day, we just take a look around us,” Thibodeaux says. “We don’t have to look outside of the dugout. We call him our ultimate team player for the past four years. It’s gonna be really sad to see him go.”

In those four years, Payton’s had good days and bad. One of the backbones of his success: his parents, who supported him by never making excuses for him.

“They pushed me and pushed me and never gave up on me,” Hofmeyer says.

He doesn’t want others to give up on their dreams either. Payton wants to make sure his story can be an inspiration to others.

“For any of the kids that have this or any other disability at all, man keep pushing yourself because no one is going to stop you from doing what you want,” Hofmeyer says. “No matter what anyone says, you can do it.”

Payton knows he wants to go to college, but he’s not sure where yet. He would like to be a coach or a sports broadcaster.