Fifteen-year-old Cohen Lewko of Sanford is quickly making a name for himself in the baseball and hockey world.
Lewko started playing baseball at around age four with his grandmother in the yard for a few hours daily. From there, he just continued playing baseball every summer and then got into hockey during the winter.
This past season, Lewko played baseball almost every day throughout the summer while also training for hockey at The Rink in Winnipeg.
Lewko recently returned from Laval, Quebec, where he played baseball for Team Manitoba as a catcher and pitcher at the 15U Boys Ray Carter Cup National Championships from Aug. 22-25.
The process for making Team Manitoba was a tryout that started with around 30-40 youth from each region across the province. From there, it was cut down to 24, who played four games at Charleswood Place in Winnipeg to decide who made the team of 15 kids from Manitoba.
Lewko and his Manitoba squad had a rough week in Nationals. They went 1-5, with their lone win being a 2-1 victory over Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Going to the National Championship was very exciting,” said Cohen Lewko. “The flights, teammates, and coaching were all amazing. But the tournament did not go well for our team, as we won only one game. However, we learned many lessons while we were competing. The sights in Quebec were unbelievable, and there were so many people and places to go.”
Lewko’s focus will return to the hockey rink, where he is regarded as a prodigy on the ice. The 5-foot-11 forward lit the lamp 19 times and assisted 23 times in 26 games with the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s (CSSHL) RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg U15. Lewko tacked on 26 penalty minutes during the regular season and added one goal and two assists in four playoff games.
This week, Lewko will be at training camp for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, hoping to crack the roster. If he needs another season before being ready for WHL hockey, Lewko will play for the RHA U18 Prep team and hopes to win a CSSHL championship in Penticton, B.C., at the end of the season.
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