LYNN — Ahead of the spring baseball season, Lynn Tech and KIPP have agreed to be a co-op. Last season, the Tigers made it to the postseason for the third consecutive year in Division 4. The head coach will be Tech’s Eddie Lewis, with KIPP’s Jim Rabbitt helping out where he can.
“There’s a bit of a different culture, but I look at it as all the kids are in the same city. It’s been an easy transition for me,” Lewis said. “Knowing they potentially wouldn’t be able to have a program and wanting to partner up, it was an easy decision for me, to be honest. Keep the kids in the same community and give them an opportunity to play baseball.”
When Lewis informed his players they’d have some KIPP members join, at first, it was a mixed reaction, but now, they’re all bought in, according to Lewis.
“Some of the kids were excited; some saw KIPP as a rival, so there was a bit of an adjustment at first, but now, it seems like the kids are taking it really well,” he said. “Some of those guys were able to come over and participate in the offseason workouts. Some of them, also, kind of know each other and laughed back and forth about prior games against each other and now, they’re teammates. Right now, they’re gelling really well. I believe they can definitely give us a boost, especially when we get closer to the postseason.”
Last season, the Tigers were a fairly young group, which could be promising for the future. Several returners are juniors looking to make a deep tournament run.
“I’m expecting my junior guys to come back strong: Colin Newhall, Eddie Lewis Jr., Christopher Boyd, and Dylan Nordyke. These are guys that were sophomores and should be taking a step up,” Lewis said. “Christopher, Eddie, and Colin I’ve had since the 8th grade, so I’m expecting them to have an impact.”
Lewis said Rabbitt will help around when and where he can, something Lewis appreciates.
“The thing with Jim is – I have great respect for him. When he was running his program, they didn’t have the most success in regard to a winning record, but they always fought and were working very hard from start to finish. I contribute that to him. I know how hard he works by coaching multiple sports, including football, and bringing that hard-working philosophy to his hard-working guys. I’ve seen it in every game we played against them,” Lewis said. “I have a great amount of respect for Jim and for him to come over to our group, he’s definitely accepted the culture and the system. Right now, it’s going great. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to come over and team up with.”
When you look at the strengths of this team, chemistry is right at the top, if you ask Lewis.
“These guys already have such good chemistry and bonds since they’ve been going at it since November, hitting the weight room and hitting balls. I love that these guys have a sense of togetherness. For us to produce and win some games, we’re going to need guys to buy into the team concepts. I can see that they’ve done that already and, even in tryouts, we’ve had about 40 kids,” Lewis said. “Even with everybody who’s there, you can sense it’s all about the team for them. That’s going to make cuts very difficult because everyone is working extremely hard and pushing one another. Guys are bought in.”
