Nebraska - The 2024 Prep Baseball Nebraska Player of the Year is Millard West’s Tyson Lewis. 

Lewis’ year began with an appearance at the Prep Baseball Super 60 in Chicago, where the middle infielder drew plenty of attention for his elite tools, including exit velocity (reaching a max of 108 MPH) and speed (an event-best 6.4 60 time). 

“[H]is ceiling might be even higher than previously projected,” wrote Prep Baseball’s Vice President of Scouting, Shooter Hunt, not long after the event. “The powerful athleticism seen in the approach maintains its value with a hint at one of the sneakier monster hit/power bats in the class.”

He rode this helium into the high school season where Lewis, often surrounded by a phalanx of scouts, helped lift the Wildcats into another state title game. After coming up short a year ago, this time Lewis and his teammates were dogpiling at Werner Park, celebrating the team’s championship season. 

“Tyson was a great teammate on and off the field,” said Millard West’s head coach, Steve Frey. “He worked hard and always did what was asked of him. He showed the other players that he was human and would make mistakes but it was important to come back and make a play the next time he got a chance and I think that was huge for our team because we did a great job of not compounding mistakes this year.”

Tyson Lewis’ 2024 Stats:

In 152 plate appearances, Lewis hit .496/.579/.912 with 8 home runs, 7 triples, and 14 doubles for the Wildcats. He scored 53 times and drove in another 41 runs. He also swiped 31 bags. 

He led Class A in average and slugging but finished third in on-base percentage, narrowly missing out on the new-age Triple Crown. His 53 runs scored led the state, while his eight pumps were tied with two others.

Steve Frey | Millard West Head Coach

“Tyson was a spark plug for us the whole year. It always felt that when he came up to bat something great or something special was going to happen. Many times it did and it would get the rest of the team going especially when it happened leading off the game.

Tyson’s energy was infectious each day and that will be one of the things I remember from his time at Millard West. He would always say the right thing and make it about the team and not about himself especially when we had all the scouts at our practices and BP sessions.”

Pascal Paul | Prep Baseball Nebraska State Director

“Tyson had a relaxed, confident demeanor around him all season, even with the MLB scouting fan club that seemed to follow him everywhere, capturing every second of his performance they could, and he never disappointed.  

As much attention as he received all year, he was very much just one of nine on the field trying to win the last game of the season, willing to cut down his load/swing in two-strike counts, allowing teammates to pick him up after a rare miscue and picking up teammates when they do the same.

Tyson will be around the game of baseball for a very long time because of his willingness to be one of nine when everyone around him knows he is one of one.”

Shooter Hunt | Prep Baseball Vice President of Scouting

“Seeming to come out of nowhere in the cornfields of Nebraska, Lewis made a major impact on the summer circuit last summer thanks to his sweet left-handed stroke and ultra-impressive, athletic frame.

The raw tools alone would have been enough to get the left-handed hitting slugger on many Draft radars, but his ability to make adjustments and progressions over the past year is what will likely have scouting departments envisioning an even higher upside.

The impact and acceleration that he displayed, along with the sensational production of this spring, is what ultimately might have the Arkansas recruit popping up late in the 1st round as the internal whispers have grown too loud for clubs to wait on him.”

Previous Nebraska Player of the Year

2018: DYLAN PHILLIPS, OF/LHP, CREIGHTON PREP
2019: MAX ANDERSON, SS, MILLARD WEST
2021: CADE BARTON, RHP, OMAHA SKUTT CATHOLIC
2022: JALEN WORTHLEY, LHP, LINCOLN EAST
2023: CAMDEN KOZEAL, SS, MILLARD SOUTH