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Payne signs with Iowa Wesleyan College
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
Monday was a big day at Nevada High School, as a crowd nearly filled the school's Library/Media Center to its capacity for an event that only occurs once in a player's career, if a high school athlete is lucky enough to even get the opportunity once. That event was a ceremony in which Nevada High School senior Alex Payne signed a letter of intent to play football and baseball for the Tigers of Iowa Wesleyan College.
During his high school career, Payne was a star for both the Nevada Tigers football and baseball teams, starting for both squads throughout the majority of his career.
In football, Payne started at quarterback for three full seasons, throwing for 1,435 yards over his last two seasons. He completed 44 percent of his passes in that span and also ran for 530 yards on 115 carries -- an average of 4.6 yards per carry.
He was an All-Southwest Missouri third-team selection in 2012 and 2013, as well as a 2013 All-District first-teamer.
In baseball, Payne finished his sophomore season with a .333 batting average with 23 hits, 15 RBIs, 25 runs scored, 14 walks and 10 strikeouts in 69 at-bats. The following year, he hit .301 with 22 hits, 21 RBIs, 15 runs scored, three walks and 11 strikeouts in 73 at-bats.
Though Payne had a number of schools looking his way, his reasons for choosing Iowa Wesleyan were simple.
"It's the one school that I could play football and baseball and the one school that was OK with me playing football and baseball," he said. "I talked to a couple others and they weren't too excited about the opportunity to do both.
"The football coach is an ex-college baseball coach and he wants his kids to be able to do both, if they want to. So, they don't overlap a whole lot."
Though he entered his college search knowing he wanted to play both football and baseball, what Payne wants to study is a bit of a different story. He said there are a number of possibilities, including public relations, marketing or something in the medical field, but his mind is far from made up about what field he will study.
"My mom wants me to be a math teacher, but I'm not sure if I want to go down that teaching road," he said. "Everyone in my family is a teacher. I'm not sure if I want to follow that or not."
On top of his field of study, there's one more thing that's a bit of an unknown for Payne, moving forward. Though he has shown flashes of professional talent throughout his high school baseball career, it's almost never a certainty whether or not the childhood dream of playing professionally can become a reality.
Such is case for Payne and though he will aspire to achieve that dream, he's chosen to take the whole thing in stride.
"Every kid has that dream and I think, if I work hard enough and I get an opportunity, I'm going try to make the most of it," Payne said of the potential for a career in baseball. "But if that opportunity doesn't come, I'm going to know that I gave it my all and tried my best to get that opportunity, so I'm not going to have any regrets.
"If it works out, it works out. If not, nothing I can do about it."
For the time being, Payne's focus is in a completely different direction, as he is simply enjoying his final year of high school and preparing for his final season with the Tigers baseball team. As his senior year nears its end, however, Payne has openly acknowledged that things won't be quite the same.
"The one thing I'll probably miss most about high school is the fans," he said. "It's something special, running out on the field Friday night and seeing the fans, hearing the band playing, knowing everyone came out there to watch you guys play.
"Everyone knows your name, but they also know that you're a student, too. They know that you're not just an athlete."
The seventh-ranked Tigers will start the season on March 24, hosting Warsaw High School, at Lyons Stadium.