Chesterton junior pitcher Troy Barrett inspires confidence in coach John Bogner.

The 5-foot-9 left-hander’s velocity is beside the point.

“He’s our guy,” Bogner said. “He’s got command. He’s got control. He’s got discipline. He’s always around the plate. Any time he takes the mound, we feel like we can win.”

After a breakout sophomore season, Barrett is back as the ace for the Trojans (3-2) and is 2-0 with a 0.70 ERA in 10 innings. He’s also batting .412, reflecting his consistency as a hitter.

But Barrett sees himself as a pitcher in the longer term, and he’s a crafty one. With a fastball that tops out around 87 mph, Barrett finds other ways to baffle hitters.

“I don’t throw very hard,” he said. “It’s just that every single one of my pitches moves, and they all move differently.”

Chesterton sophomore catcher Caden Hackett has the best view of that.

“He has a good run to his fastball that makes it tough on hitters, and he makes his off-speed pitches look a lot like his fastball — then, at the last second, they break off,” Hackett said.

Bogner, who is in his second season as Chesterton’s coach, and Hackett both said Barrett plays with an edge.

“Because he’s not 6-3 or 6-4, it does feel like he’s being overlooked, and that just pushes him even harder,” Bogner said. “I know a lot of guys who are 6-3 and 6-4 but don’t work nearly as hard as he does, and that’s why they don’t go anywhere.”

Barrett wasn’t going anywhere either after he suffered a pars stress fracture that sidelined him for about five months at the beginning of his sophomore year. The spinal injury kept him out of Chesterton’s fall practices.

“That was really hard, just sitting off to the side and watching everyone else do what I loved to do,” he said.

But Barrett said he never doubted that he would return because he had watched his older brother Brayden, a 2024 Chesterton graduate who plays for Purdue Northwest, deal with the same injury.

“He’s played a big role in my baseball career,” Barrett said. “When we were younger, we were always playing catch in the front yard. We did everything together, and if he tried something new, I tried it too.”

Barrett proceeded to go 7-1 with a 1.18 ERA in 53 1/3 innings last season, when Chesterton won a Class 4A sectional title. He also hit .426 with 24 RBIs, ranking second on the team in both categories.

Barrett then tried something new during the offseason. He attended camps to increase the velocity on his fastball. He said he hopes to eclipse 90 mph by next season.

“The velo will come,” he said. “I didn’t gain much there, but I also worked on different pitch shapes and gained some command on the mound.”

Bogner said Barrett has been just as dedicated to his other responsibilities. Barrett has ramped up his workouts to ensure he can be an effective outfielder when he’s not pitching.

“He’s been working tirelessly on his craft,” Bogner said. “He’s put in a lot of his own time to get where he needs to be.”

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.