EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a six-part series profiling the Crawford County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.
BUCYRUS — Jack Hewitt was a four-sport athlete at Bucyrus High School playing basketball, baseball, football and track.
Jack won the Michael Award in basketball as the team’s MVP as a senior in 1957 when he led the Redmen in scoring with 278 points. He was great at rebounding, even though he was approximately 6 feet tall.
He was the center on his football team.
Hewitt was legendary in North Central Ohio softball circles. He was a dominant pitcher, playing in fast- pitch industrial and church leagues at Aumiller Park. He also played in area towns including Upper Sandusky, Marion, and Galion. Jack sometimes played as many as six or seven times a week.
He competed four times against the late Eddie Feigner, who toured the country as The King and His Court. Feigner had just a catcher and two fielders.
In 1962, Jack was named the MVP of the Sixth Army softball tournament and he considers this to be the highpoint of his playing days.
In 1990, he was hired as the Bucyrus High School softball coach. Jack had been helping the previous coach, Lana Craig, with pitchers for six or seven years. He was working the day shift as a counselor at the prison, and says he somehow got the time off on game days and he gave up vacation and personal time so that he could find the time to coach.
Hewitt retired from the Ohio Correctional System after 33 years as a Substance Abuse Counselor.
His only season as the head coach brought Bucyrus its only state championship in softball. The softball team went 27-2 and won the state behind the pitching arm of Patty Surina, who went on to have a stellar career at the University of Akron.
After coaching one season, Jack stayed behind the scene helping pitchers in the area improve their throwing abilities. Jack never charged for his services.
He has been married to his wife Kay for 56 years and they have a son, Mitchell.
