Happy Thanksgiving? Few have a more Thanksgiving-type story than former Canyon del Oro High School baseball player Justin Lewis.
CDO plans to celebrate its eight state championship baseball teams at a reunion Friday afternoon, and you might imagine the fascinating conversation Lewis, Class of β94, could have with his former teammates.
βWhat have you been up to all these years, Justin?β
βHow much time do you have?β Lewis might say.
βI lost track of you after we won the β94 state title. Did you play any more baseball?β
βI got cut by Pima College and went to work for Jim Click Ford, washing cars. I was sort of a knucklehead. Took me a while to figure things out. The 45-year-old Justin has changed a lot from the 20-year-old Justin.β
βGlad to hear that, but I thought you mightβve made your career in sports.β
βOh, I went back to baseball. A year or so later, I tried out at Central Arizona College, eventually made the team and became a starting center fielder. Then I transferred to Louisiana-Monroe and made the all-conference team.β
βAny pro ball?β
βNo. I went back to Central Arizona and coached ex-Dorados Ian Kinsler and Scott Hairston, who both got to the big leagues. But I was only making $18,000 a year as an assistant coach, so had to get a real job.β
βDonβt tell me youβre selling cars. β¦β
βWell, I did sell cars. I sold mortgages, too. I sold manufactured homes. I worked on the maintenance crew at the Starr Pass golf course. I moved to Phoenix and to Texas and to Kansas. Then I moved back to Tucson and became a firefighter and EMT at Golder Ranch for 10 years. Played a bunch of fastpitch softball. Couldnβt get sports and coaching out of my blood.β
βWife? Kids?β
βI married a sweetheart from CDO, my old classmate, Amy Reimer. Remember her? She was a terrific basketball and softball player. Amy has been a teacher and professor all these years. We have two kids. Sheβs a saint, putting up with all my career moves. Our son, Jack, has autism but heβs very functional. So I started a non-profit to support autism. I even wrote a book and started a podcast.β
βDo you ever regret getting out of coaching?β
βOh, I got back into coaching. Amy convinced me it was the right thing to do, even though we both had secure jobs in Tucson. We moved to Texas and I coached Division III softball. I was almost 40 but it all clicked. Now Iβm a head coach in Division I softball, at Nicholls State. Thatβs in Thibodaux, Louisiana.β
βHow did you pull that off?β
βI contacted Mike Candrea at Arizona and asked if I could help coach at his camps. I was just some random firefighter calling him up and asking him for a chance. Pretty crazy. But he didnβt blow me off. Mike interviewed me for two hours one day and gave me a shot. He expects the best and I liked the challenge. Mike is the godfather of softball, If you can work for him, youβve got a chance.β
βAnd then you jumped to Division I head coaching? Just like that?β
βIt wasnβt that simple. I coached three years at Texas A&M-Kingsville. We almost won the 2019 NCAA championship. We were No. 2 at the World Series. Then I moved up to A&M-Corpus Christi, a D-I school. I went back to school along the way, getting up at 5 a.m. to do my schoolwork. I got my masterβs degree with a 3.98 GPA. As I said, nothing comes easy. While we were there, Hurricane Ida almost wiped us out. It has been quite a journey.ββ
βDid you ever hear from Candrea again?β
βHe phoned a year or so ago and told me Fresno State needed a hitting coach. He gave me his endorsement. I got the job and the next thing you know weβre playing No. 2 UCLA in extra innings at the NCAA Regionals. That was a good thing to put on the rΓ©sumΓ© when I applied for the Nicholls State job.β
βJeez, thatβs quite a story, Justin. Almost like an HBO movie.β
βSometimes I just shake my head thinking of all the different paths Iβve taken. Four and a half years ago I was driving a firetruck. When you get to 40 and you donβt have head coaching experience, your chances of getting a D-1 job are pretty slim.β
βHave you been able to visit with our old coach, Phil Wright?β
βWhen I see Coach Wright, Iβm going to apologize for running around Tucson with my head on fire as a young kid. I thanked him at my press conference when I became the head coach at Nicholls State. He coached all those big-leaguers like Colin Porter, Jason Stanford and the Duncan brothers. But he didnβt give up on me.β
βTurns out you didnβt give up on yourself, either.β
βI got a lot of drive from my dad, Terry. He was in the Marines. Heβs an expert mechanic, retired now, enjoying life. We started out living in a mobile home in a not-so-nice neighborhood, but it didnβt stop him. I had a good role model. He pushed me hard.β
βCan you win at Nicholls State?β
βWe finished 11th out of 12 in the Southland Conference last year, but weβve got a good tradition. We were 40-15 in 2018 and 37-20 a year earlier. I love the challenge of returning us to power. Weβre not ready to go to Tucson and play Arizona at Hillenbrand Stadium. But that would be a special homecoming someday.β
Happy Thanksgiving, indeed.