Al Thomas is in his fifth season as head coach of Shorter University’s softball program and has led the Lady Hawks to two national championships during that span. The first came in 2012 in the Shorter's final season as a member of the NAIA, and the second came in 2014 as a member of the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association). In five seasons, Thomas has led the softball program to an overall record of 189-47.
During 2012, his second at the helm, Thomas guided Shorter to a school record 53 wins, and was capped by a perfect 7-0 run through the NAIA Softball National Championship. The Lady Hawks clinched the national title with a 1-0, extra-inning victory over eight-time NAIA national champion Oklahoma City. Shorter boasted the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year, two NAIA All-Americans and the NAIA Softball National Championship Most Valuable Player during the title run.
Shorter won the championship in its sixth straight national tournament appearance and final year as an NAIA program.
In 2013, the Lady Hawks competed for the first time as an NCAA Division II and Gulf South Conference member, going 48-11 and capturing the regular season title.
Thomas, who was named the program’s sixth head coach in June 2010, has been affiliated with the Lady Hawk softball program since 2005. Under Thomas, Shorter has quickly risen to national prominence, and figures to be an instant power on the Division II level as a member of the division's top softball conference.
In 2006, the Shorter softball team won a then-school record 24 games and secured its first-ever winning season. The Lady Hawks had won just 15 games in the previous two seasons combined.
From 2007-2010, Thomas helped establish Shorter as a national softball power with three consecutive Southern States Athletic Conference championships and four straight appearances in the NAIA Softball National Championship.
In 2010,the Lady Hawks set school records with 51 wins and a fifth-place finish at the NAIA Softball National Championship. In 2011, in Thomas’ first year as head coach, the Lady Hawks went 25-3 in conference play to win a fourth conference title and went on to win their pool at the NAIA Softball National Championship for the second straight year. Shorter played its way to a seventh-place finish at the 2011 NAIA Softball National Championship.
Shorter has posted four 50-win seasons in the past six years and, powered by Thomas’ efforts on the recruiting front, has produced 10 NAIA All-Americans and 39 All-Conference performers. Shorter is 413-146 since Thomas joined the program.
Prior to his arrival at Shorter, Thomas worked for 20 years with several Major League Baseball (MLB) teams in their scouting and player development departments. He retired from that capacity in 2002.
Thomas has coached locally at Berry College and Rome High School, has served as the color analyst for the Atlanta Braves’ Class A affiliate Rome and continues to do sports broadcast work for WLAQ 1410 AM and WATG 95.7 FM in Rome.
Thomas is a graduate of West Rome High School and Berry College. He and his wife, Elizabeth, who is a 1983 graduate of Shorter University have two children, Haley, who is married to Jarred Hall and is a special education teacher at Midway Primary, and Auston, who played collegiate baseball at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah and is now a professional calf and team roper was a 2012 graduate of Shorter with a Business degree.
