Stephanie Merwin hits homers — and the books

Stephanie Merwin isn’t just a talented softball player; she’s also a model of selflessness.

Merwin was an all-Mid-Columbia Conference first-team shortstop in each of her first three seasons at Richland High School. When shortstop Natalie Giroux joined the Bombers last spring, Merwin slid over to third base.

“That was really the first time I’ve played third,” she said. “I played there for a couple games freshman year, but not for an entire season. We needed a third baseman, and I’m adaptable. I figured that I could practice there and just see how things go, and it ended up working out pretty well.”

Merwin and Walla Walla pitcher Brandi Schoessler were named the 2016 MCC co-players of the year. The Bombers finished 25-6-1, winning five of their last six games to claim third place at the Class 4A state tournament in Spokane.

Merwin has signed to play softball at Oregon State University, and she’ll leave for Corvallis in about a month. But first, she and her Washington Angels club teammates will head to the 18U ASA/USA Softball Gold National Championship, which starts Sunday in Oklahoma City.

Merwin leads the Angels with a .475 batting average (29-for-61), 11 doubles and four home runs. She’s third in RBIs (23) and runs scored (24). She also has a team-high on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.367 (.515 on-base and .852 slugging).

Defensively, Merwin is getting reps at second base to prepare for the possibility of starting there at Oregon State. She has played in the outfield as well.

“She’s one of those rare kids that I would classify as a five-tool athlete,” Angels coach Robert Benson said. “All the coaches, we measure the kids based upon how fast they are, what kind of arm strength they’ve got, what kind of glove do they got, batting average, do they hit for average, do they hit for power, and certainly, Stephanie’s a kid that excels in each one of those five attributes.”

In seventh grade, Merwin participated in a winter workout program with Richland softball players. Bombers coach Casey Emery said it was clear back then that she would have an impact as soon as she got to high school.

Emery was right: Merwin was a four-year varsity starter who helped the Bombers get to state every season. They finished second in 2015 and third in 2014 and 2016.

“I just hope that since I’m gone now, I’ve left something for the underclassmen there to really give them a drive and a motivation to keep playing and trying to go for state, and hopefully they can win it one of these years,” Merwin said.

Emery, who also coached Merwin on the 2012 Washington Force Black 16U team that advanced to nationals in Alabama, knows it will be tough to replace her.

“Of all the kids I’ve coached — overall game, attitude, the quiet leadership skills that she brought — you’d have to probably say she’s one of the top five players that have played for me,” Emery said.

In her senior year at Richland, Merwin batted .466 (48-for-103) with eight doubles, seven triples and eight home runs. She led the Bombers with 47 RBIs and was tied for first with 46 runs scored. She also had a team-best 1.445 OPS (.533 on-base and .913 slugging).

But some of Merwin’s numbers sagged a little from her sophomore and junior seasons. Couple that with her intense determination to help Richland return to state, and Emery noticed some uncharacteristic stress.

“She was getting a little bit frustrated, and I think she was trying to put too much of it on her shoulders,” Emery said. “And then of course, at the end of the year, she was huge for us in the playoffs. If it wasn’t for her in some of those loser-out games, we would have not made it to state.”

After shaking off some rust at third base, Merwin went on to become an all-MCC first-team selection at that position too.

“It was fun, especially because it gives me a little more range going into college, so I can just say I played more places,” Merwin said. “And Natalie did great at shortstop too, so there was no problem at all just moving over.”

Merwin sported a .984 fielding percentage, committing one error all season in 62 chances.

“It takes a little bit of extra courage to play third base,” Benson said. “And it’s really a different skill set. When you’re playing middle infield position, you’re working on your lateral movement, and Stephanie has that. Corner position, you gotta be a little more fearless and you gotta have your quickness — forward and backward’s gotta be pretty good — and you gotta have an amazing glove.”

Academically, Merwin also set a high standard, graduating as class salutatorian. She plans to major in mechanical engineering and has been accepted to the honors college at Oregon State.

Merwin is the second Richland player in as many years to head to a Pac-12 team. April Utecht is entering her sophomore year with the Oregon Ducks.

“There’s a lot of girls who I know have great talent but end up not really getting to where they want to be,” Merwin said. “But I just happen to be one of those people who got super lucky and got to go to a great school and play on great teams and meet some great girls, so it’s really amazing where it’s taken me so far these last four years.”

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Stephanie Merwin hits homers — and the books."