Unselfish Trey Stephens, Merrillville win first postseason game in three seasons

Source: nwi.com
Author: David P. Funk

David P. Funk

MUNSTER -- Trey Stephens could've started Thursday.

The Merrillville senior was the Pirates' best pitcher all season. But Monday's senior night game was canceled. That game was supposed to be Brady Barnett's start.

"Brady was just constantly saying 'I want Morton. I want Morton,'" Pirates coach Joey Traina said. "Trey's the type of guy that trusts his teammates and when they're confident in themselves, he's confident."

Merrillville proved Stephens had reason to be confident in the Class 4A Munster sectional opener. Barnett got the start and the Pirates won a 7-4 game. It's the first postseason win for Merrillville since 2021.

"Whenever my teammates are confident in themselves, I feel confident in them, too," Stephens said. "Brady was adamant about pitching against Morton. I felt the energy he was giving off. I felt that he was ready."

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Brady threw 3 ⅓ innings, turning it over to Stephens in the fourth. The Governors (15-11) were ahead 4-2 at the time.

Stephens finished it off, throwing 3 ⅔ innings, striking out six, walking one and allowing one hit. He also went three for four at the plate with three runs.

Traina said Stephens, who will play football at the University of Indianapolis, was the most important player in the Pirates dugout.

"He's the heart of our program. He's going to go do special things," Traina said. "We're lucky to have his leadership."

Merrillville (5-18) scored three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead. Stephens, Trevor Goodwin and Josh Magallon singled in three consecutive at bats and each scored. The Pirates added another for insurance in the seventh when Goodwin's pop fly to left found grass.

"We've been down in games and we fought back," Stephens said. "We just have that mentality to not back down."

Arerion Hoover scored the first Merrillville run with an inside-the-park home run in the third inning. He lined a ball down the right field line and Morton's relay wasn't clean. Magallan added another run with a single that plated Stephens in the fourth.

"It's been since coach (Paul) Wirtz was here and we beat East Chicago in the first round (that we won a sectional game)," Traina said. "It's huge for our guys to step up and not die down. There was a point in time when we felt like we were out of it and we just kept fighting, kept our chins up."

The Pirates will play either Munster or Lake Central in the semifinal Saturday. Those teams played in the nightcap Thursday.

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Times Correspondent

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