Payton Conte has been dealing with pain for most of the first half of his season.
While a groin injury hasn’t forced the California University of Pennsylvania junior to miss much time, Vulcans coach Mike Conte — Payton’s father — has not been able to pencil his son into an everyday position in his lineup.
“It’s been a mix of DH and first base,” said Payton Conte, a 2021 California High School graduate. “Either way is fine with me, it’s more just been a small injury that’s kept me off defense for some games and just leaves it to a DH role.”
Whether Conte appears at his natural first base position seems to be immaterial at this point. He is inflicting too much pain on opposing pitchers in the batter’s box on a daily basis for anyone to care.
Conte is hitting .519 — with a 1.363 OPS and .778 slugging percentage – to place himself atop the NCAA Division II batting race nearly halfway through California’s season.
Franklin Pierce senior Ian Battipaglia, who is hitting .507, and West Chester senior Anthony Boccio, who is sitting at .500, are the only other Division II players in the country to eclipse a .500 batting average.
“It’s kind of a neat thing, but it’s really early on in the season,” Conte said. “I’d say really our team success is really more important to me than my average.
“It’s just a lot of work with our coaches working on approach and game plans,” he added, “along with all of our teammates really hold each other accountable for the practice work and taking every swing in the cage like it’s a game rep.”
In 17 games, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Conte has collected 28 hits in 54 at-bats while also racking up one double, two triples and a team-best three home runs and 15 RBIs.
“Definitely that average in the sport that we play is not something that is to be expected,” said Mike Conte, now in his 28th season as California’s coach. “I think one thing that’s helped him is he’s hit a lot of balls this season on a line, so when you live with line drives, obviously, the percentages can go up.”
After helping California High School win a WPIAL Class 1A championship in 2019, Conte transitioned to college and hit for a .310 batting average with 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored, while hitting .393 with runners in scoring position as a freshman in 2022. He then hit .301 with 12 doubles, 1 home run and 27 RBIs a season ago.
Mike Conte said the Vulcans’ coaching staff has been focusing on the mental aspects of hitting to assist in his development.
“I just think we also tried to work with him separating each at-bat from the previous one and really taking only with you what you learned in the previous at-bat,” Mike Conte said. “It kind of helps with the approach so you take the emotion out of it.”
It has helped keep things simple.
“I’m just working on basically every swing, keeping it to be a line drive, using hips and hands to go after everything, staying back and balanced,” Payton Conte said.
Gaining experience has also been critical to Conte’s success.
“Once you get to play a couple seasons you’re a little bit more ready for what you need to expect during the season,” Payton Conte said.
And few players have had the opportunity to be around California’s program as much as Payton Conte.
With his father leading the program for nearly three decades, Payton Conte said he has fond memories of being around Vulcans players all of his life.
“I went to a lot of practices and a lot of games and got to see how the culture was here when I was younger,” he said. “For me, I always planned on coming here no matter what. If I was able to play here, that was my goal.”
Mike Conte said there’s no doubt Payton has benefited from a childhood spent around a Division II program.
“I think when you get the chance to learn from very good college players you build patterns for your player as you grow through baseball,” Mike Conte said.
Mike Conte said he is stopping to appreciate his opportunity to revel in Payton’s success, especially after watching his son Louden matriculate through his program previously.
Louden Conte, who graduated in 2022, was a strong third baseman and finished with a lifetime batting average of .324 with 19 home runs and 105 RBIs over five seasons with the Vulcans.
“We’ve always said that Cal U baseball has been like a family,” Mike Conte said. “To see my own family be a part of Cal U baseball has been special. What I learned in getting to coach Louden and Payton in the same year is that that time with my sons is something that I will always remember.”
Louden and Payton are not the only members of the Conte clan who have spent plenty of time around their father’s program.
Payton said his mom, Jamie, and sisters Jessie and Nina also help foster the special atmosphere around the Vulcans program.
“It’s pretty neat to play on a team that my dad coaches and contribute to a team, “ he said.
Payton said he will be attempting to keep his hot streak at the plate intact, while also focusing on helping his team to win a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship.
“Our mindset is kind of just look at the next game in front of us,” he said. “You can’t look too far down the road just because all these PSAC games are so important and all the teams are so competitive.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.