From Arizona to Iowa ... for baseball

CEDAR RAPIDS - Most kids around here would give anything to play college baseball in Arizona. Alec Lewis did it the other way around.

“I got it backward,” he said.

The record-setting Coe College senior pitcher came to Cedar Rapids from Mesa, Ariz., trading in playing outdoors 12 months a year for cold and snowy winters and doing off-season work in a gymnasium. The obvious question is why.

Either that, or ‘Is he crazy?'

“I sent out a lot of letters my senior year (at Red Mountain High School),” Lewis said. “I heard back from some. Coe was out in Arizona playing on spring break, so I watched them. I really liked Coach (Steve) Cook's fire.”

Cook played in the 1990s for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, with Eddie Rodriguez his hitting and infield coach. Lewis' family knew Rodriguez, now the first-base coach for the Kansas City Royals, and the rest is recruiting history.

Hey, you've got to network when you can.

Lewis, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, has had a season and career to remember for Coe, which begins play in the Iowa Conference Tournament today at Veterans Memorial Stadium. He is 10-0 this season, breaking school records for innings pitched (85 2/3 innings), strikeouts (82), career wins (23) and career strikeouts (240).

“First and foremost, I think you have to look at the work he has put in,” Cook said. “This year, more than any other, he has worked hard on his preseason conditioning and on his off days ... It doesn't matter how long a road trip we have had, the minute we get home, he's off to the cardio room to work.”

Lewis said that work has allowed him to stay stronger longer in games. A four-pitch repertoire (mid-80s fastball, changeup, curveball, slider) keeps hitters off balance.

“He can throw any of those pitches for strikes,” Cook said.

“The best way to describe this season is it's been a dream,” Lewis said. “I just feel so great about it.”