TREY IN THE GROOVE
Confidence ‘a big part of the success’ for Boone Grove’s Pitcock
Self-belief has been vital for Boone Grove junior Trey Pitcock.
“Last year, I had to get the confidence,” he said. “This year, I have the confidence. That’s a big part of the success.
“I’m just playing with a bunch of confidence this year. Every time I go up to hit, I feel like I’m going to hit whoever’s throwing to me. Every time I’m pitching, I feel like I can get whoever’s up there out.”
That attitude comes with maturity and experience for Pitcock, the Wolves’ second baseman and No. 2 hitter.
On a team that typically starts four freshmen, he’s one of the older players. Last season he was one of the youngest starters on a team filled with upperclassmen.
Through Thursday, Pitcock was hitting .412 with a team-high 12 runs scored for the Wolves (7-3-1, 5-0), who were in first place in the Porter County Conference. He also was 4-1 with a 0.78 ERA and one save.
In his high school debut last season, he hit .373 and went 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA in five appearances.
Boone Grove coach Doug Hoover hasn’t been surprised by the progress Pitcock has made.
“He’s having the season I would expect of Trey,” Hoover said. “He’s a solid ballplayer. The way I describe Trey to a lot of people, and I don’t mean this in a bad way: He’s not somebody who you’re going to look at and be like, ‘Wow, the kid has blazing foot speed.’ Or, ‘He can throw the ball 90 miles an hour.’ Or, ‘He has 100 mile-an-hour exit velocities.’
“But he’s just a baseball player. He hits the ball consistently. He pitches extremely well. He pounds the zone with strikes all the time. Sometimes I joke with him, ‘Trey, it’s OK to not throw strikes sometimes.’ He’s a fantastic base runner.”
Hoover has seen those qualities in Pitcock for a number of years.
“I’ve been fortunate because I’ve had the opportunity to watch him since he was in junior high,” Hoover said. “Because he’s not going to wow you with anything, that’s the kind of guy you have to watch consistently. This kid just does the job all the time. There’s nothing that makes you go, ‘Holy cow.’ But he continues to grow on you.”
Pitcock has grown to the point where he’s made a concerted effort to provide guidance and encouragement to those younger players.
“My sophomore year, I knew I had to fit in and try to find a spot,” he said. “That’s why coming into this year, I tried to tell the freshmen they belong and they’re playing for a reason. Because once you have that confidence, that’s when it changes. That’s when you hit your stride. They have to know they belong, they earned their spot and they deserve to play.”
One of those freshmen is Trey’s brother Seth, who plays shortstop and leads off.
Anticipating playing alongside each other this season, the Pitcock brothers intensified their offseason workouts to continue to develop their chemistry and build their bond.
They played together when Trey was the second baseman as an eighth grader and Seth was the catcher as a sixth grader. But given the situation now, this season has been even more special.
“It’s fun,” Trey Pitcock said. “It’s always been a dream to play with him. Hitting one and two, and playing up the middle, it’s as good as it gets.”
Pitcock also was a reserve on the boys basketball team this past season. He opted not to play as a sophomore after playing on the freshman team, when he said he was “not very good.”
Then Pitcock had a change of heart. “I played this year because I like the senior group,” he said. “I grew up with all of them. I knew I probably wouldn’t play a lot, but I was excited to be on the bench cheering them on and to be part of that locker room.”
While he was sitting out the basketball season during his sophomore year, Pitcock used the winter to increase his work in the
weight room. He wound up adding 15 pounds.
“Looking back, I don’t regret that decision,” Pitcock said. “I made the right choice to focus on baseball.”
Pitcock has continued to reap the benefits.
“He’s just a very intelligent baseball player,” Hoover said. “He knows what to do and when to do it. He’s just a smart kid from that perspective, a solid, solid baseball player.
“He’s kind of the catalyst, between him and his brother. They have a nice little competition going. But they’re kind of the catalysts who get the whole thing going.”
With sectionals looming later this month, Pitcock believes Boone Grove has the ability to go far in the postseason. At the season’s outset, there was an element of uncertainty for the Wolves, who won a sectional title last season and the Class 2A state championship in 2018. But no longer.
“The goal is state, obviously, and I don’t see why we can’t do it,” Pitcock said. “We have good hitters, good pitching, we’re coached well and we work hard every day. I don’t see why we can’t do it.”