March 3, 2025
Covering all the Bases: From Home Runs to Homemade Goods and High Achievements
By Kyle Coppola
Covering all the Bases: From Home Runs to Homemade Goods and High Achievements
Payton Parkes
Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) sophomore softballer Payton Parkes has found her stride and is making an impact academically and athletically.
Payton, a South Lake High School graduate, chose LSSC to stay close to her Groveland roots, citing her connection to head softball coach Jay Miller as a key factor in her decision.
“I went to his camps and loved how he treated everyone like family,” Payton says. “He’s so down-to-earth and a big reason I am here.”
Although she considered herself a decent hitter in high school, Payton says her batting truly improved at the collegiate level. Last season, she posted a .384 batting average, knocked out nine home runs and maintained a notable .944 fielding percentage, making her one of LSSC’s standout performers her freshman year.
Those numbers and a 3.5 GPA helped earn Payton a spot on the 2023-’24 National Junior College Athletic Association All-Academic Team, an honor she describes as “surreal.”
“I never imagined achieving something like that,” she says. “It’s an incredible honor.”
Athletics run in the Parkes family. Payton’s father played football at South Lake High. Her mother, Roberta, who played softball for Apopka High, introduced Payton to the sport.
Payton also attributes her pursuit of a business degree to Roberta, a successful businesswoman who works at a Tiffany’s jewelry store.
In addition to her softball commitments, Payton runs a small baking business selling goods to local hair salons, friends and businesses in the area. Her endeavor was inspired by her late grandmother, Pat, who encouraged her to explore her passion for baking.
Payton hopes to continue playing softball at a four-year college after this season, though she is still considering her options.
Her advice for aspiring athletes is to be patient and trust the process.
“The fastest path isn’t always the best,” she says. “That’s the beauty of playing at LSSC. Not all of us were heavily recruited out of high school and that’s perfectly fine because slow and steady wins the race.”
Payton also praised the support and resources at LSSC, emphasizing the camaraderie among teammates.
“Most of us are in the same classes and that’s such a big benefit,” she says. “If one of us is finding a class challenging, we are all there for one another. Just like a team on the field, we are also a team in the classroom.”
Photos: Nicole Hamel
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
