header logo image

Keeping His Eye on the Ball – WTAJ

July 4th, 2017 10:47 am

ALTOONA, Pa. - Payton Hartman has always had a love for the game of baseball.

"I decided because I always thought it was cool when I was younger. So I decided to play."

And he's good at it- really good. Payton's batting .500 this season and is one of his team's top pitchers.

"He's definitely an MVP. I can put him anywhere in the field, shortstop, pitching, center field, catching and he excels in all the positions," says manager Stephen Pyo.

So it's almost impossible to believe that he's doing it with the sight of just one eye. Peyton has been blind in his left eye since birth, so he's learned to deal with half of his vision.

"Well it doesn't make it difficult for me. For other people it would probably be hard because they wouldn't be used to it. But when I was growing up, I got used to it." "He always been used to it. He always asks me, what's it like to have two eyes? I say, what's it like to have one? He is normal to me," adds his mom, Casey.

So he wasn't going to let one bad eye stand in the way of playing baseball. At first it was tough. But as they say: practice makes perfect.

"When I first started I wasn't good at all but then as the years went by, I just kept practicing and practicing and got better."

Now, he's not only crushing it on the field, he was just named an all star.

"Baseball is a very difficult sport with someone that has full vision, let alone an individual that may be blind or impaired in one eye. he plays the position and catches and pitches without much difficulty," says Pyo.

Payton's teammates don't even know he's blind. With the way he has worked through his blindness and succeeded. the sky is the limit for the 11 year old.

"I wanna be in the MLB when I'm older."

Originally posted here:
Keeping His Eye on the Ball - WTAJ

Related Post

Comments are closed.


2024 © StemCell Therapy is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) Comments (RSS) | Violinesth by Patrick