Colbert Lady Leopards have a new coach prowling the dugout this year. But he’s not new to Colbert.
Damon Lewis went to high school in Colbert and later played baseball for Southeastern and played semi-professional baseball. Now, he brings that expreince back to his home town of Colbert.
“I’m real excited about coming back to my home town to coach. It’s a honor for me to come back home and help them continue the success they had under Mike Wallace,” said Lewis.
Lewis coming home has a lot of people in Colbert excited. He is well respected all around Bryan County. One person from his past holds him in high regards: Former coach, now the Athletic Director in Colbert, Charles Graham.
“Damon was a graduate of Colbert High School. I coached Damon in American Legion Baseball at Durant in 1997, he was a great baseball player, he is one of the best hitters I have ever seen.” said Graham, “Damon came and helped the baseball team during two-a-days a couple of summers ago. I think with his knowledge of hitting, he will be an asset to the Colbert softball program. He is a hard worker and expects the same from his girls.” said Graham.
Hitting is what Lewis is know for, which is one reason why Southeastern Coach Mike Metheny wanted him on his team.
“He was an outstanding hitter and human being. We knew of him in high school and he almost went Texas.” said Metheny, “But he finally came here and was one of our greatest hitters. He helped lead us to a National Championship. Damon was our clean up hitter in the four-hole. He had great power, just a pure hitter.” said Metheny.
Lewis was the starting first baseman at Southeastern. He was an All Lone Star Conference player and was recognized at the Southeastern Hall of Fame.
After his days at college, he went to play semi-professional ball with Kalamazoo and hit 86 home runs.
Lewis understands what it takes to win, but more importantly what it takes to be a team. That’s what he wants his softball team to understand.
“At Southeastern we played the game right and played hard. Always being positive and helping each other out, and that’s what I want my girls to do. I want to them to learn how to battle.” said Lewis “At Southeastern we lost the first game of the regional tournament and battled back to win the World Series. So we had to really dig down deep to win. That’s what I want my girls to do, really dig down deep and fight their way through adversity.”
It’s seems that Lewis has got his girls going in the right direction, at the mid-season point the Lady Leopards are sporting a healthy 10-6 record.
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