Nothing could take Chris Reilly away from this conversation. Not the Oklahoma sun scorching his skin. Not the buzzing of the bugs that infiltrated the Stillwater summer sky. Not even the swings of the high school baseball players on O’Brate Stadium’s on-deck circle about 100 feet away from him. Chris’s eyes and ears were locked onto this remarkable friend he had just made.
Her name was Jina Tolle. She was the mother of one of the high schoolers playing at Oklahoma State’s ballpark that day, a two-way junior named Payton. Chris was there to evaluate Payton Tolle and some of the other top prospects in Oklahoma for the Oakland A’s, who he scouted for at the time.