Heartbreak is synonymous with baseball. Whether you’re a player, a coach, or simply a fan, the game has a way of taking you through a depth of sorrows few others can. It also has a way of rewarding those that persevere through those valleys. Peyton Fiene’s journey, like many before him, represents the highs and lows the amateur game can throw at you. He now finds himself navigating pro-ball as a member of the Houston Astros organization. 

Fiene’s career began in the greater DFW area at McKinney North High School, a mecca for high school baseball. He wasn’t the first Fiene to roll through the program. Older brother Conner graduated from McKinney in 2017 carving out a path of his own on the diamond. “My brother was a huge influence for me early on and still is today. Having a catcher in the family was definitely an advantage.” He didn’t just have any run of the mill high school catcher at his disposal, the insight he was receiving was pure gold. “I would pick his brain a lot. We would talk about the nuances of the game. Higher IQ items from a high school perspective. We’d argue, we’re brothers, but it was always coming from a good place.” Not many players have a Rawlings Gold Glove winner in their household. Conner earned that honor in 2022 as the nation’s top defensive catcher at the Division 2 level while at Wayne State College. 

Entering the spring of his junior year, the recruiting process started to take off. Sitting 84-86 mph with his fastball, the JUCO route was the most likely destination. “I had a decent junior year and started to hear from some JUCO’s. I was excited and ready to commit. Butler CC in Kansas seemed like the best fit at the time, so in the fall of my senior year I went for it.” As he entered the spring of his senior year, his velocity jumped to 87-89 mph, touching 90. “That was a game changer for me. Five Tool was at one of our games and posted some video with my updated velo. It wasn’t long after that I heard from Tarleton.” And it wasn’t long after that, he would sign with the Texans. 

Getting on campus was an eye-opener for Fiene. “It was a huge wake up call. The first thing I realized was how far behind I was in the weightroom.” The epiphanies kept coming. “My first two outings in the fall during intersquads were rough. I was definitely pressing, trying to overdo it. I finally took a breath and decided to go back to pitching the way I had in high school. After those first two outings I went 10 scoreless innings in the fall.”  And that earned Fiene a significant role out of the gate at Tarleton. “They told me I’d be a big piece out of the bullpen to start. Potentially coming out twice in a weekend.” 

Like most freshmen at the Division 1 level, Fiene saw some rough patches. “I struggled with command at times, I got hit around, it was a very tough time. I didn’t always handle the adversity well. Every time I had a bad outing, I went back into the “lab” to reconfigure everything. I would try to be perfect and the more I did that, the worse it got.” There were bright spots for Fiene, like getting a mid-week start against a school he’d grown up a fan of. “Starting against Texas Tech was pretty surreal. I went 2 innings, gave up 1 run, and had some of my best friends from high school in the stands.” 

As the season began to wind down, nerves over his fate along with many of the other freshmen started to surface. “I felt good after making the travel roster for the WAC tournament. Ultimately, I still wasn’t too sure what was going to happen.” Those nerves were confirmed when the staff let Fiene know they’d be letting him go after just one season. They wanted him to head to a JUCO where he’d continue to develop. “I was really upset. I felt like a failure, I was angry. Not at the coaching staff, but at myself. After the initial shock of it all, I realized I had two options, let it continue to eat me alive, or go do something about it.” 

Do something about it he did. “I had a job already lined up for the summer. I was working 12 hours a day. I was up at 6am in the gym. It’s the hardest I had ever pushed myself physically. By the time I was getting off of work each day it was dark, so I had limited options to get my throwing in. I was back home in McKinney, so I’d pull my truck up to our high school field with the lights on and throw into an L-screen by myself.” 

The Tarleton State coaching staff helped Fiene find a new home. It was the JUCO route he’d bypassed out of high school, now his best option to keep developing. There were plenty of options, but he landed on Odessa. “I went on a visit and just loved everything they were about. We played them my freshmen year at Tarleton in the fall. I really liked the way they played the game. I would have taken a bullet for then-head coach David Wood, now at Sam Houston State.” At Tarleton, Fiene sat 88-90 mph with his fastball. It was clear the work he put in during the summer had paid off. “That fall at Odessa I was 90-93 mph. I topped 95 mph in our fall World Series. The weight room, the long toss program I was on, you could see it paying off.” The interest from Division 1 programs started up before he’d thrown an official pitch for the Wranglers. “I had a good fall and a lot of options materialized as a result. I’m from the Dallas-Fort Worth area so when DBU got into the mix I was excited.” Fiene eventually signed with the Patriots but had no intentions of slowing down. 

The college ranks weren’t the only ones taking notice of Fiene. “I started to see scouts around in the fall. Not all the time, but occasionally. During conference play in the spring, they were at every game. I really tried not to think about it. I told our coaches I didn’t want to know about anyone being there. I didn’t want to go back to the headspace I was at when at Tarleton trying to do too much.” 

As the season progressed the reality of pro-ball became more and more likely. “I was invited to 17 different pro-days. I was able to attend 7 of them. I couldn’t believe how quickly things had changed since leaving Tarleton. As pro-days wrapped up the conversations shifted into signability. Fiene obviously had a great landing spot with DBU. The question became, do I chase the dream now, or delay it another year.” 

There were a number of organizations in the mix as the draft approached. “Some were definitely more serious than others, but I treated them all the same. I didn’t have a whole lot of expectations going into the draft, I just knew it was a possibility, and I was excited.” Day 1 came and went with some conversations about going in later rounds. The phone rang before rounds 5-20 kicked off on Sunday morning. The Houston Astros, who had been in contact throughout, laid out a few scenarios for Fiene and told him to stay close to his phone. When the phone rang that final time, the Astros told him they were planning to select him in the 11th round. “Everything you work for, all of it became worth it in that moment.” 

With a month under his belt in pro-ball, Fiene is taking it all in with the same work ethic that got him there. “Everyone here is so invested in your success. The level of detail with everything is like I’ve never seen before. There are guys here from every background you could imagine. Genuinely good people, all with the same goal.”

The road has not been easy, but one he wouldn’t change. “I wouldn’t be here without the ups and downs. I’m truly grateful for it all.”

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