Jay Lewis was hired as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, Wittenberg University, in 1996, with his first season as head coach in 1997. Lewis, who served as an assistant coach for one year for the Tigers before taking the reins, broke the school record for career baseball coaching victories during the 2006 season.

A 1994 Wittenberg graduate, Lewis excelled on the diamond for the Tigers in the early 1990s. Lewis was a three-year starting catcher for Wittenberg from 1991-1993 after spending his first season at West Virginia Wesleyan.

Before returning to Wittenberg as a coach, Lewis was an assistant coach at St. Paris Graham High School, his high school alma mater. He helped lead the Falcons to a Division II State runner-up finish in 1995. In addition, he helped coach perennial power Piqua in the American Legion League with Hall of Fame Head Coach Rick Gold.

During his head coaching stint at Wittenberg, Lewis' teams finished second in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament twice. Several players, including Brent Parke, Ryan Born, Ryan Peters, Steve Less, and Kurt Hartfelder, went on to play professional baseball after their careers at Wittenberg ended.

Lewis and his wife, Jennifer, reside in St. Paris with their children, Megan and Josh. Following the 2016 season, Lewis accepted a position as athletics director at Graham High School in St. Paris. After 6 years as the athletic director at Graham Lewis stepped down so he could start his own business as a baseball instructor in the greater Springfield/Dayton area. Lewis is very excited to be back at Wittenberg. “I feel very honored that coach McGee asked me to come back and help coach the catchers. I love what coach McGee and his teams have done over his time here at Wittenberg, especially last year when they broke the school record for wins.“