Bio

• Justin Thomas enters his six season as the Bison skipper in 2023-24
• Chair of the Bethany College Athletics Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Member of the President’s DEI Council and taskforce for Black Experience on campus

• The Bison finished 18-22 (4-16 PAC) in 2023. 
• In 2022, the Bison finished 16-23 (8-18 PAC). The Bison pitching staff set the single-season team strikeout record with 233. 
• In 2021, Thomas led the Bison to a 16-21 (14-13 PAC) record
• In spring of 2020, the Bison held a record of 7-5-1 before competition was suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic
• In year one under Thomas, the Bison had arguably one of its best seasons in recent history
• The Bison hardballers finished the 2019 season with a record of 27-16 as well as finishing runner up in the PAC tournament
• The 27 win season in 2019 tied a school record with the most wins in one season, tying the 2000 Bison who finished 27-20
• In 2019, the Bison reached the PAC Championship game for the first time since 2001, won a postseason game (2005), won 20+ games (2010) and reached the postseason (2015)
• The Bison finished with eight players finishing with all-conference honors, including first basemen Neil Woods who earned first team all-conference honors as well as Rawlings/ABCA third team all-region honors

• All-PAC First Team (1): 2019: Neil Woods;
• All-PAC Second Team (4): 2023: Colton Stoneman, Nick Roell; 2019: Ryan Anselmino, Noah Rady, Isaac Wengert;
• All-PAC Honorable Mention (13): 2023: CJ Owen, Josh Speaker, Alec Berg; 2022: Kevin Pollock, Zach Presnell, Zack Nolf; 2021: Trey Mantle, Mike Whiteherse, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Goodwin; 2019: Tyler Frazee, Tim Reinhard, Kyle Goodwin;
• Rawlings | ABCA All-Region Honors (1): 2019: Neil Woods (Third Team);
• D3baseball.com All Region 7 Honors (1): 2023: Colton Stoneman (Third Team) 

• Served as pitching coach for the 2022 MLB Draft League Champion West Virginia Blackbears
• Spent the summer of 2021 as a player development coach with the Elizabethton RiverRiders in the Appalachian League
• Before coming to Bethany College in November of 2018, Thomas was a four-year head coach at Voorhees College (NAIA) in Denmark, S.C.
• Three years after taking over a three-win team, Voorhees posted a 20-20 record which was the program’s best in 15 years
• In fall of 2012, Thomas joined Penn-State University – Greater Allegheny staff as a pitching coach
• Thomas was responsible for the pitching staff finishing a 52-game season with a team earned run average of 3.79
• In 2013, the team had two United States Collegiate Athletic Association All-Americans as well as the Penn State University Athletic Conference pitcher of the year on their way to being USCAA National Runner-Ups
• In 2014, the pitching staff achieved success again with an ERA of 3.12 while repeating as regular season and PSUAC conference champions. During that season the Nittany Lions had three all-conference pitchers, conference pitcher of the year, and two USCAA all-Americans
• Served as the assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach at Ambridge High School (2011-2012)
• Served as a pitching coach for the DC Gray’s in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League (2018)
• Has spent summers coaching in leagues such as: NYCBL, Prospect League, Ohio Valley Collegiate League, Myrtle Beach Collegiate League and Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League

•  Pitched in relief at Slippery Rock University as a walk-on

• Graduated from Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor’s in Social Work
• Graduated from the United States Sports Academy with a Dual Masters in Sport Management & Sport Coaching
• USA Weightlifting Level 1 Certification | Rapsodo Hitting and Pitching Certifications