By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer 

Brayden Lewis began playing baseball around the age of 3 or 4, with his grandparents pitching the ball to hit as he batted; little did he know years later it would have been a catalyst to being able to play collegiate baseball. 

 

“I still enjoy soccer and basketball, but baseball is my primary sport and I’m hoping to keep it in my future plans,” the Hopedale three-sport athlete said. “I would like to eventually get drafted and play Major League Baseball and if I continue to work hard, I can accomplish that dream. Growing up baseball was originally for the fun of it, but who know where it can take me now.”

Playing professional baseball would be Lewis’ ultimate dream, but he still has one year left at Hopedale High School and then hopefully another four with a college team. Currently, he has contacted a few local schools hoping to continue this baseball dream with Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, being his top choice. In addition to a good baseball team  Bryan also is know for its good business field, something Lewis is looking to get involved with.

“I believe that I have the talent to play there,” Lewis said. “When I was younger, I was much smaller than all the other kids and never figured that this is where I’d be now.”

Being on the smaller side, Lewis needed to make adjustments. As he got older, he began spending more time in the weight room to get stronger allowing him to gain a lot of ground on those who were bigger than he was in the earlier days.

“Baseball is his passion,” Hopedale Coach Kevin Bresciani said. “He is a hard worker and has been able to put on a ton of muscle; you can see he has worked really hard in the wight room.”

It was around the eighth grade when Lewis realized that he really wanted to pursue baseball in college. He already had a love for the game and saw that he was improving over the years. As he grew up, Lewis not only played for the Hopedale travel team and eventually the NWS Devils, an AAU team out of Ashland. Playing for NWS he would also take part in their winter practices putting baseball in his life from November through August every year. 

“It was tough at time when I’d have to be at captains’ practices in the morning and then go right to basketball practice,” he said. “But it was alright, I was able to separate the two and concentrate on what I was doing with both sports.”

Unfortunately, what would have been Lewis’ first year with the Hopedale Jr. / Sr. High School baseball team, happened to be the year of Covid and there would be no baseball. The following year he would make the Blue Raider’s junior varsity team and find himself being called up to the varsity squad at the end of the season. Although he didn’t play for the varsity team, he did gain valuable experience watching from the dugout.

“The kids on the varsity team were my role models and I knew that I needed and wanted to improve my game,” Lewis said. “The game was a much different pace with the pitchers throwing much faster, so I was going to have to adapt if I wanted to stay there.”

That off-season Lewis hit the weight room to get stronger and match the talents of the athletes that he was going to have to face on the field in the upcoming years. 

Lewis remembers his first start with Hopedale saying that he made all his plays in the field during the cold day game but was unable to get his first hit that Saturday morning. He was walked twice while batting seventh for the Blue Raiders that day. 

The freshman batted .357 that season and found himself becoming the team’s leadoff hitter by the end of the campaign. Lewis recalls the Coach looking to switch things up, so he gave the freshman a shot at the lead-off position in the batting order and when he had himself a decent performance, he left him there.

Over the seasons Lewis continued to get stronger while improving his hitting and throwing in the field. The shortstop would bat .380 during his sophomore campaign and then this past season hit .537 to finish second in batting average in Central Massachusetts. He would also contribute 36 hits, which led CMASS. He also scored 24 runs for Hopedale with 6 doubles, 4 triples, 11 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

“I can hit the ball for power, but I am mostly looking to make contact and drive the ball hard somewhere,” Lewis said. “My batting accomplishments this past season were big accomplishments, but it was nothing that I was looking for, I just want to go out and help this team win.”

When the season concluded Hopedale found themselves winning the Dual Valley Conference and was awarded the number two seed in the Division 5 State Tournament. However, once in the state tournament the Blue Raiders were upset 4-0 by Westfield Tech Academy, the number 34 seed, in the first round. Lewis and his teammates were shocked, but the then junior believes it was all on the team.

“I really think that we came into the game too high on ourselves and took them too lightly,” he said. “We (as a team) just didn’t show up to play.”

Having lost in the State Tournament Lewis wants to get stronger and better during this off-season so that Hopedale and once again have a good regular season, while returning to the tournament only to have a different result. He is looking to guide his team past that first round and make a deep run in the tournament as a senior.

Coach Bresciani, who has seen Lewis improve each year, is looking for the senior to make good on his promise.

“He has made a huge jump with his hitting each year and I have been pleasantly impressed with his defense in the field,” the Hopedale Coach said. “Next year I am expecting him to be a leader to the younger guys, leading by example. He comes to practice, works hard, and sets the tone while continuing to help the team grow and succeed.”

Bresciani continued to say that Lewis is an incredibly talented player with a ton of upside and that his work ethic has help develop him into an up-and-coming college baseball player.

“His work ethic separates him from a lot of players and baseball is clearly a strong passion of his; two things you need to play college baseball,” the Hopedale Coach said. “I’ve seen him grow from his freshman to his junior year physically and mentally and have no doubt he’ll continue to grow and improve when he gets to the next level.”

The Blue Raider coach firmly believes that Lewis is an extremely talented player and no matter where he ends up after Hopedale that he will be successful on the diamond and the program will be lucky to have an individual such as him.