Jason Hewitt

Jason Michael Hewitt

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 187 lb.

• Born September 17, 1974 in Perth, Western Australia Australia

Olympics-Reference page

Jason Hewitt is a former Olympic infielder.

Hewitt broke into the Perth Heat at age 17 in 1991-1992, getting a hit in his lone at-bat. In 1992-1993, he hit .214/.313/.250. Jason improved to .280/.344/.448 in the 1993-1994 Australian Baseball League. As the youngest member of the Australian national team in the 1994 Baseball World Cup, the 19-year-old backed up Steve Hinton at third base and Scott Tunkin at second base. He was 4 for 20 with a double but also drew 5 walks, second on the team behind Tunkin.

In 1994-1995, Hewitt hit .292/.356/.524 for Perth. He put up a great .396/.497/.569 line with 38 runs in 39 games in 1995-1996 but was limited in playing time by a shoulder injury. He still finished among the league leaders in walks (26, 4th), hits (57, 4th), OBP (second to Adam Burton by .007) and average (.006 behind leader Burton). He beat out Sharnol Adriana for All-Star honors at third base.

Hewitt made Australia's roster for the 1996 Olympics. The team's youngest player, he started at third base and backed up Tunkin at second, fielding .931. He hit .310/.394/.345 with 7 runs in 7 games and two steals in two tries. He put on his best show in Australia's loss to the eventual winner, the Cuban national team. Batting leadoff, he reached base all five times against Eliecer Montes de Oca, Ormari Romero and Jose Contreras and scored twice.

Jason continued to battle shoulder problems in 1996-1997 but again remained hot at the plate, at .350/.413/.496 with 30 runs in 34 games to help Perth win it all. He was left off Australia's 1997 Intercontinental Cup as Paul Gonzalez was picked to play third (and he did very well in the event). Hewitt fell to .259/.326/.476 for Perth in 1997-1998.

Moving to the Adelaide Giants in 1998-1999, Hewitt put up a .244/.313/.381 line. He was named the second-team All-Star second baseman behind Burton. When the International Baseball League of Australia formed for 1999-2000, Jason hit only .215/.325/.262 for the Western Australia Heelers. He had 7 hits in the finals, though, to help the team win it all. After sitting out 2001-2002, he hit .207/.343/.207 for Western Australia in the 2002 Claxton Shield, ending his career.

Sources

• Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanacs
• Defunct IBAF site