The 2021-22 season marks the first season as the SBU Head Softball Coach for Carly Thomas. Coach Thomas comes to SBU after serving as an assistant softball coach at Bowling Green State University, an NCAA Division I institution. Thomas joined BGSU in early 2020, helping the Falcons to an 11-6 record in the brief 2020 season and a 27-27 record in 2021. In the MAC preseason coaches' poll, Bowling Green was picked to finish 8th but ended the season 5th out of the 11 conference teams. Thomas helped coach an NFCA All-Region selection, two First Team All-Conference selections, a member of the MAC All-Defensive team, and the MAC's Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
In addition to her coaching career, Thomas brings NCAA Division I experience from her four-year playing career at the University of Illinois. Thomas played in 224 games for the Fighting Illini, starting all but one of those games. During those 224 games, Thomas hit .343, recorded a .579 slugging percentage, and reached base 40.5% of the time. Out of her 251 career hits, 68 of those were doubles (a school record), 4 were triples, and 32 were driven over the wall. She also scored 163 runs and recorded 160 RBI.
In 2015, Thomas had one of the greatest freshman seasons in school history. She earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and set freshman school records in batting average (.365), slugging percentage (.629), home runs (9), RBI (42), and total bases (100). In conference play, Thomas led the league with a batting average of .487 and had 71 total bases, breaking a 21-year-old Big Ten record. Capping it all off, Thomas was the first Illini freshman to hit two grand slams.
She started every game of the 2016 season, batting .301 and led the team with 19 multi-hit games. Due to her stellar play in center field, Thomas was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team.
After missing the 2017 season due to injury, Thomas bounced back with another great year in 2018. She again earned All-Big Ten First Team and All-Defensive Team honors and was selected to the NFCA All-Midwest Region First Team. Thomas was 66-182 (.363) at the plate, scoring 47 runs, driving in 46, and recording 114 total bases. She also had a stretch where she reached base in 24 consecutive games. Easton/NFCA named Thomas an All-American Scholar-Athlete at the conclusion of the season.
The school's career and single season doubles record was broken by Thomas in 2019, as she recorded 24 two-base knocks. Starting all 58 games for Illinois, Thomas hit .351, scored 49 runs, and drove in 44 runs. For the third straight season, Thomas was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team. She also earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors and was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First-Team.
Following her collegiate career, Thomas played the summer 2019 season for the National Professional Fastpitch organization, Cleveland Comets. In her brief stint with the Comets, Thomas helped double the team's win total from the previous season.
Thomas graduated from the University of Illinois in December of 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Degree with concentrations in health administration and health education. She went on to earn a Master of Science degree in health administration in December of 2019.
Thomas originates from Fontana, CA where she attended Los Osos High School and played travel ball for the Explosion 18 Gold and the Corona Angels.
