Kirk Saarloos shares heartwarming memory of Payton Tolle's late mother, his impact on TCU

Throughout the season, TCU Horned Frogs head coach Kirk Saarloos has relied on Payton Tolle. That continued into the Big 12 Tournament, where he installed his star pitcher in the lineup.

Unfortunately, Tolle is playing with a heavy heart. Less than two weeks ago, his mother Jina lost her battle with cancer and passed away.

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Kirk Saarloos spoke with ESPN during the fifth inning of TCU’s first game of the Big 12 Tournament. There, he shared a heartwarming memory of Payton Tolle’s late mother and opened up about the impact the Tolle family has had on the program both on and off the field.

“The crazy thing is you rewind all the way back to June,” Kirk Saarloos said. “We had him on an official visit and Jina, his mom, and Payton were on that visit, and we’re sitting having a dinner. The day before, she got diagnosed with breast cancer. She already had Stage IV colon cancer and the day before found out she had breast cancer.”

Cancer had been a reality for the Tolle family for years. Despite that, Kirk Saarloos was incredibly touched by her approach to life.

“So, she’s been living with Stage IV cancer for the last seven years, and her outlook on life and what it means to live a life that’s a selfless life. She’s always asking how she can pray for other people, as opposed to [how] I asked her, ‘How can we be praying for you?’ And she says, ‘No, no, no, no. How can I be praying for you?’ That’s her mindset and her outlook,” Saarloos said.

“It just spills over into her two boys, Charlie and, obviously, Payton. Then, to lose her a couple weeks ago and the whole team going down there last Monday, for her celebration of life, and then for Payton to come back. Did an unbelievable job on Thursday and got a couple of great at-bats on Friday and Saturday.”

In that game on Thursday, Payton Tolle pitched seven innings and gave up three runs. He also struck out 11 to get the win.

“So, now he’s back in the lineup again,” Kirk Saarloos said. “But, I mean, our group, our program has been there for them but they’ve been there for us as much as anybody. They’re a special, special family.”

This season, Payton Tolle has a 2.96 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched. Those innings have come in 13 games, all of which he started for the Horned Frogs. He’s also batting .191 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 47 at-bats this season.

Kirk Saarloos on his usage of Payton Tolle in the postseason

At one point this season, TCU was using Payton Tolle as a two-way player. However, head coach Kirk Saarloos has limited his at-bats in conference play. However, as Saarloos explained, things are different come the postseason and TCU will use him as a two-way player again.

“He brings a little different element to our lineup. We have been for whatever reason unable to drive balls in the gap or over the fence and he brings that presence in our lineup. I think first weekend of the year he was hitting in the three-hole and was our Friday night starter and he just hasn’t offensively had the year that he’s wanted to, and when we had him stop hitting is when he became a horse and a true ace and was the pitcher of the year in our league, the newcomer of the year in our league,” Saarloos said.

“I think part of that was just him focusing on pitching. But now we’re at the part of the year where we’re gonna ride the big boy one way or another. We’re gonna let him hit in the box and pitch and he’s gonna do it all. I’m just super proud of him and how he’s reacted to really tough circumstances in his life and he’s never changed one bit of who he is. It’s a tribute to him, his dad, Chad. Just an awesome family.”