Being a baseball player is in Andy Lester’s blood.
He’s hoping being a state champion is as well.
Lester, the starting first baseman on this year’s Independence team, is a newcomer to the state tournament.
His family name isn’t.
His dad Brian made trips to the state tournament as player in 1989 and 1990, serving as the starting third baseman and No. 3 hitter on the ’90 Indy team that beat Sherman 7-4.
“I’ve heard about it every day for about 16 years,” Andy Lester chuckled.
With Independence making its first trip to the state tournament since 2014, the younger Lester doesn’t have any experience of his own on this stage to draw upon, but his dad has been able to help.
The elder Lester drove in a run and scored another when the Patriots beat Sherman 31 years ago, so he’s been a vital source of information for Andy.
“I’m just trying to get him to understand it’s still just a baseball game,” Brian Lester said. “They’ve all played in all these travel ball tournaments and a lot of these big fields like Bowen and Hunnicutt and it’s no different. You’ve just got to make it a baseball game and just play your game.”
As much as Brian would like to downplay the upcoming state tournament, it’s a huge deal.
Only two teams from southern West Virginia have won state titles since Indy did it in 1990 – Princeton and Wyoming East, both in 2012.
The elder Lester still remembers the community reaction like it was yesterday. Even to this day he still hears about it.
“It was like we were World Series champions,” Lester said. “They had parades and you couldn’t go anywhere that they wouldn’t talk to you about it. Still, if you go to a baseball field 31 years later somebody has something to say about it. If you go to a high school baseball game now, somebody will point out you were on that team.
“We’ve talked about it a little bit, but I’m kind of trying to downplay it a little bit. I think if they can just go up there and play well and at least get a taste they’ll do well. Even if they don’t win, they’ve still got a good shot next year. That’s kind of how we did it. We finished second when I was a junior and won when I was a senior.”
The elder Lester has had a front row seat to watching this Indy team grow. He coached his son throughout Little League and has seen many of his teammates grow through youth league baseball to middle school.
Reflecting upon his team that won the title, he sees many similarities.
“Oh yeah, a whole lot,” Lester said. “We hit the ball one to nine and so does this team. That’s a big deal. We weren’t near as deep in pitching as they are, but as far as the lineup there’s a lot of similarities.”
Being around the kids as much as he has been, he’s had the chance to watch them grow. It’s why he doesn’t think the Patriots will struggle too much when they take the field on Friday.
“When they were younger sometimes the moment seemed too big for them,” Brian said. “But I think they kind of outgrew that. Some of the elimination games they had this year really helped, but I think they’ll be fine if they just play their game.”
The possibility of winning a title hasn’t been talked about much in the Lester household in the past, but has more so recently. When it has has come up there’s been some light taunting attached.
“My older brother’s pretty mad though,” Andy joked. “He didn’t win. If we were to he’d be the only one without one. Me and my dad have talked about it a lot more recently. It’d be pretty cool. We knew we were going to be a pretty good team this year but it’s kind of a funny coincidence I guess.”
Lester will have the chance to add to his family’s trophy case this weekend when the Patriots open state tournament play with North Marion on Friday morning at Power Park in Charleston.
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94