"She'll go down as one of the greats." That is one of the ways Hays High assistant softball coach Kate James described senior Aubree Thomas on Wednesday morning.
Head coach Abby Gillan, who was under the weather and unable to attend the signing, said a phone interview that she will go down as one of the top three players to ever go through the program. Then added probably the best since pitching was moved back to 43 feet.
Thomas signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Blue Dragons which finalized a decision she made back in June of 2023. She has been in the pitching circle for the Indians her entire career. During her freshman season she pitched every one of the 141 1/3 innings the season contained. A 12-9 record with a 2.82 ERA and 140 strikeouts told the then freshman that she belonged and maybe college was an obtainable dream.
The next two high school seasons and summers continued to prove that. Thomas hasn't had to pitch every inning of the last two seasons but continued to put up impressive numbers. 77 strikeouts over 73 innings as a sophomore and 111 during 93 1/3 innings as a junior has Thomas within striking distance of the school record for career punch outs. A fact that is not lost on the future Blue Dragon. She currently sits at 328 strikeouts in 317 2/3 innings. Melissa Beyer, now Melissa Schoepf head softball coach at TMP, is the career strikeout record holder at 368.
Thomas is no slouch at the plate either. While she doesn't know if she will be hitting in college, Thomas will still be a threat for Hays High. Last season she batted .486 with 35 hits. 15 of those hits were for extra bases including four home runs. A testament to the extra work in the off season and the four to seven days a week she is in the weight room.
The future plans and school will have to wait though. Thomas and her fellow teammates have a season starting soon. Hays was the Western Athletic Conference champions last year going 11-1 in league games.