Meet Peyton Jeter, a rising star behind the plate for Roland-Story softball

Peyton Jeter knew it was gone as soon as the ball left her bat.

The Roland-Story junior got ahold of a pitch from South Hardin pitcher Charlee Rosonke in the bottom of the first inning and hit a towering solo home run over the fence in left field during a non-conference softball game Thursday.

“I hit it and it felt good,” Jeter said. “I saw how high it was and how far it was going, and I was like 'Yeah, that’s good.' I was swinging at good pitches, and it happened to go over.”

Jeter had her trademark smile beaming from ear to ear as she made her way around the bases. Roland-Story ended up falling to the Tigers, 9-2, but Jeter went 2-for-3 on the day after also smacking a double to center field in the third inning and lining out hard to third base in the sixth.

“She was kind of beating herself up in practice yesterday because she wasn’t being perfect," said Roland-Story coach Amber Doyle. "Today I said, ‘Hey Jeter, you know that you’re leading the team in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage?’ She said, ‘No...thanks!’ I said, ‘No, thank you!’ I think it was just enough to take that pressure off herself, and she had phenomenal at-bats tonight.”

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Jeter's pursuit of perfection has allowed her to become one of the best catchers in the Heart of Iowa Conference this season.

She went through her share of growing pains during her first varsity season last year. But in 2024, she has started to put everything together.

Through the South Hardin game, Jeter is hitting .382 with a .452 OBP, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs and 18 RBIs.

“Hitting is a lot of hard work,” Jeter said. “I’ve been working on it. I’ve improved on staying balanced and seeing pitches.”

She has come a long way over the past year.

“The first year of varsity it’s really hard to read pitches,” Jeter said. “It’s a lot different moving from JV pitchers to varsity pitchers. Just being able to read those off their hand has helped a lot.”

Jeter has also established herself as a fine defensive catcher behind the plate. She has thrown out eight base runners so far this season.

“I get really upset when they steal on me,” Jeter said. “I’ve thrown out a couple runners this year, and it’s really fun.”

The most important aspect of her game on defense is her ability to handle a young Roland-Story pitching staff. Freshman Miley Geise has logged the most innings for the Norse at 99 2/3, junior Addy Sabatino has thrown 45 2/3 and eighth-grader Kennedy Hodnefield has tossed 20.

“I’m doing a lot better than I was last year,” Jeter said. “This is my second year now, and I have a lot of confidence in my pitchers. I’m not ever worried about them, and I’m always working my butt off for them.”

Jeter has formed an especially tight bond with Geise. The duo went shopping together in Ames before Thursday's game, and they always enjoy each other's company on and off the field.

“We have really good chemistry as pitcher and catcher,” Geise said. “I think that helps how we perform on and off the field together.”

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With no seniors on the 2024 roster, Jeter's most important role on the team may be as a leader.

“She’s been positive energy,” Doyle said. “Good leader for us as a catcher, and she’s giving us a good chance to score runs from her position in the hitting lineup.”

Roland-Story is going through a rebuilding year. The Norse fell to 7-20 after Thursday's loss. But no matter how things are going on the field, Jeter always has a smile on her face.

“Whenever you see her smiling you know we can calm down,” Geise said. “Even after bad innings she’s still smiling — I know that she has my back.”

Jeter knows Roland-Story will have more bumps in the road before the end of the season. But she plans to do all she can to help limit those and build some momentum for 2025.

“We need to keep believing in ourselves," Jeter said. "That’s been our quote for the entire year since we lost a lot of seniors. We are building, and we need to believe in these last few games. We get to build stronger next year because we have the same exact team.”

Her coach said she is heading in the right direction.

“The game tonight is what I’m looking for from her,” Doyle said. “Now that she has the confidence that she can do that, she can give us a couple more games finishing out, do some work in the offseason and come back stronger next year.”

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Meet Peyton Jeter, a rising star behind the plate for Roland-Story softball