HAYES — Four Corners was the next stop on Peyton Zabel’s long and winding baseball journey. 

The Pierre High School graduate recently wrapped up his college baseball career at Division I Texas State University, where he played his final three seasons of eligibility. Zabel’s college career also included stops at Augustana University, where he was a member of the baseball and football teams, along with two years on the Iowa Western Community College baseball team. 

Zabel also had a stint with the Pierre Trappers, of the Expedition League, in 2020. Zabel, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 19th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, planned on retiring after this spring and was returning home for the summer. 

Zabel, 24, was inducted into the South Dakota High School Baseball Hall of Fame on June 1 and received a call that day from Four Corners player River Iverson, a former Pierre baseball teammate. 

Iverson asked Zabel about playing for Four Corners, and the next day, the towering 6-foot-6 right-handed pitcher made his Pony Hills League amateur baseball debut.

“That was an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down, and Four Corners is just a bunch of really good dudes,” Zabel said. “That’s one thing that really makes it special, too. It’s a bunch of really good people that you are getting to play with, and play the game that we all love.”

In his amateur baseball debut, Zabel and Four Corners outlasted the Colome Chaos, 16-12, in a Pony Hills League marathon game. Zabel earned the victory on the mound, throwing two innings, giving up three hits, one walk, and one earned run to go with four strikeouts.

All while playing for the love of the game. 

“It was the first time in a long time where I could just go out there and really enjoy the game of baseball,” Zabel said. “There was no pressure. There were no fans yelling at you and it was in a great atmosphere, too.”

Four Corners plays its home games near Hayes, which is 35 miles west of Pierre and the remote field is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 14 and South Dakota Highways 34 and 63. The field is surrounded by a sea of open prairie in every direction.

“Four Corners, that field they have there is pretty awesome,” Zabel said. “It was a really cool experience. It was just a lot of fun more than anything. It was just baseball in its purest form, just a bunch of guys playing because they love it, and I really enjoyed it.”

And if Zabel’s 6-foot-6 frame didn’t make him stand out enough, he also sported a different colored jersey than his Four Corners teammates. 

“I showed up to the field, and I didn’t even have a jersey,” Zabel said. “I was wearing a normal hat and a T-shirt with my pants, and Brad Hand handed me one. He goes ‘This will do for today.’ It was an old blue jersey and they were wearing gray. But it was an old retro Four Corners jersey that Tate Gabriel used to wear, and Brad just had it in his pickup. I ended up wearing that for the day.”

In addition to pitching for Four Corners, Zabel played some shortstop and had one at-bat, scoring a run and drawing a walk. 

“It’s definitely going to be a learning curve getting back into the hitting side of things,” Zabel said. “I have been a pitcher for the last six years and I stepped into the box the other day, and I was like ‘This is a little more difficult than I remember.’ It will take a little bit getting back into the swing of things. But I am just looking forward to having some fun and playing ball with good people.”

Zabel’s stint with Four Corners will be short lived. He recently accepted a sales job with Safety Vision, a mobile video surveillance provider, in Houston, Texas, and will join the company in early July. Zabel is also assisting with the Pierre Post 8 Legion baseball team before he heads to Houston. 

Pierre's Peyton Zabel delivers a pitch for Texas State University. (Texas State University Athletics Photo)

This past spring, Zabel helped Texas State finish 27-29 overall and 13-17 in the Sun Belt Conference. He pitched in 17 games and made three starts, went 2-5 with a 6.21 ERA in 29.0 innings and recorded 44 strikeouts.

Zabel was also a member of the 2022 Texas State baseball team, which qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament. He dealt with elbow issues in college, but said he wouldn’t trade his three years in San Marcos, Texas, for anything. 

“If I had to go back and do it again, I would do it again in a second,” Zabel said. “It was a great school, great town, great program, great people. I just absolutely fell in love with San Marcos and Texas State baseball while I was there. I got to play at some really cool places. I got to play some really good players. I got to play with some really good players, some really good dudes, some friends that will be my best friends for the rest of my life. So I am super grateful for my experiences there.”

He’s also grateful for the South Dakota High School Baseball Hall of Fame induction. Zabel was among the 11 people and one team inducted into the hall of fame in Sioux Falls on June 1. 

“It just brought back a ton of memories of playing baseball with all my best friends,” Zabel said. “It’s what I always wanted to do growing up, and getting to do it in Pierre was pretty special with our community. I think the word I kept coming back to was just grateful. Grateful for the opportunities and grateful for all the good times and all the wins.”