Charles Henderson shortstop Nick Lewis has signed a scholarship to attend and play baseball at Wallace Community College in Dothan.

Lewis was part of one state championship as a sophomore and made a run at another his junior year, but to be able to play baseball at the college level is a dream come true for the senior.

“I am very excited to be able to go play somewhere,” Lewis said. “I am blessed and I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to keep playing.

The senior shortstop said he has learned the importance of hard work from both his former coach Derek Irons and current coach William Teal and it has paid off.

“I go out to practice everyday and work has hard as I can,” Lewis said. “Coach always tells me there is someone out there everyday trying to out-work me, so I push myself harder and harder everyday.”

It’s that type of dedication and hard work that attracted the attention of Wallace.

“I am very excited I feel like the coach cares about me and he stays in contact with me,” Lewis said. “It’s the best feeling knowing that someone cares about you that much just because you can play baseball.”

Lewis likes the thrill of making plays defensively, but what he loves most is making an impact with the bat in his hands. So far this season, Lewis has hit six home runs, which is up four from last year’s total of two. Entering Tuesday’s game, Lewis sported a batting average of .480 with 45 runs batted in and 40 runs scored.

Even with all his success, Lewis knows he still has lot of room for improvement and he hopes the upcoming state playoffs will be a good platform to show off his abilities.

“I keep trying to get better and polish myself up a little bit,” Lewis said. “I want to lead my team to a state championship. I want to get my glove better.”

As Lewis makes the transition to college, he will continue to play shortstop and may play in the outfield.

And wants his younger teammates to see how much hard work pays off.

“I just go out there everyday and lead by example,” Lewis said. “If I do what I am supposed to do, then they will follow right behind me.”