Outfielder/first baseman Mark Thomas had one of the best all-around careers in the first 50 years of Youngstown State’s baseball program.
Thomas finished his three-year career as the then-school-record holder with 193 hits, 127 runs scored and 45 doubles. His .327 career batting average ranked second while he hit 11 home runs, stole 46 bases and had 85 RBI in 148 games played.
Thomas played for the Penguins from 1997-99 before being drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 21st round.
In 1999, Thomas finished with a .406 batting average on 80 hits in 197 at bats in 56 games played. He scored 54 runs and had 39 RBI, 22 doubles, nine home runs and four triples for a .695 slugging percentage. His average was as high as .475 on April 20 following a doubleheader with St. Bonaventure.
His .406 batting average ranked him 50th in the country as a junior while tying the school record with his nine dingers. Also that year his at bat, hits and runs scored totals also set school standards
He was hitless in just nine games and had 23 multi-hit contests. He had a career-high four hits against Cleveland State on April 6. He drove in a career-best five runs against IUPUI on April 4. He also scored three runs against Oakland and St. Bonaventure. He had hitting streaks of 12 and 11 games during the campaign.
As a sophomore in 1998, he earned second-team All-Mid-Con honors with a .315 batting average. He had 52 hits, 12 doubles, three triples and two homers while scoring 28 runs and knocking in 22. He also stole 20 bases in 23 attempts.
He had 14 multi-hit games, including four three-hit efforts while scoring two runs on three occasions. He drove in a season-high three runs at East Carolina in March. He hit his first career home run on March 24 against Brown. He later homered at Pittsburgh.
As a freshman in 1997, he burst on the scene to earn Mid-Con Newcomer-of-the-Year honors. In 45 games, he batted .389 with 61 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, 14 steals, 49 runs scored and 24 RBI. He scored four runs on two occasions and had 24 multi-hit games.
Following his YSU career he was drafted in the 21st round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos. Thomas spent two years in the organization playing 44 games with Vermont in 1999 and 76 contest with Jupiter in 2000.
In his two years in the Minor Leagues, he had 102 hits, 12 doubles, four triples, a homer, 40 RBI, 58 runs scored and stole 21 bases.
He spent the next two years in the independent Frontier League. For Evansville in 2001 he had 78 hits, including 18 doubles, 45 runs scored and 34 RBI. His final year in professional baseball was in 2002 with Canton, also of the Frontier League.
After his playing career, Thomas served as an assistant coach on Mike Florak’s staff in 2003
Thomas earned a telecommunications degree from Youngstown State in 2007. He is a marketing manager of HID Lighting for EYE Lighting International.
A native of Warren, Ohio, Thomas was a three-sport athlete at Warren JFK High School.
Mark and his wife, Cori, have two twin daughters, Paige and Elise. The family resides in Brook Park, Ohio.
