Hall of Fame Feature | Chelsea Thomas
10/15/2018 4:45:00 PM | General, Softball
Former Tiger pitcher will go into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night
Believe it or not, for Mizzou Hall of Famer Chelsea Thomas, recruiting was a slow struggle. She didn't really feel she had many options. So her father did something he thought might help: he created a recruiting DVD and sent it to universities that peaked her interest.
"I knew that it was maybe the only way I would get recruited and so that is how the video came along," Thomas said.
Two hundred and five miles south, one of those DVDs ended up at the University of Missouri. And just as Mizzou had peaked Thomas' interest, that DVD got the coaches at Mizzou thinking. Thomas was invited to Columbia for a visit and from there, it was pretty clear. She knew she was meant to be a Tiger.
"When I stepped foot on campus, I fell in love with it," Thomas said. "That was really a huge part of my decision. The campus and this town have the perfect college town feel."
The DVD that helped Thomas land a visit at Mizzou was somewhat of a last-ditch effort. That last-ditch effort turned into a visit. That visit became a commitment to be a Tiger. And that decision was the beginning of one of the most successful careers in Mizzou sports history.
Thrown directly into the fire in 2009, the hard throwing freshman standout appeared in 27 games and went 16-7 on the season with a 1.65 era as the program won its first conference tournament since 1997. The Tigers also earned their first Women's College World Series bid since 1994.
Thomas went from watching the Women's College World Series on TV to being right in the middle of the biggest stage in college softball. However, it didn't necessarily finish for Thomas and the Tigers that season like it always does on TV.
"That stage and pressure was something that I had never experienced before. I crashed and burned when I got there," Thomas said.
Despite dropping the first two games of the 2009 Women's College World Series, Thomas took something away from that experience that she would carry with her through the rest of her career. She was able to find a new focus because of her failure.
"That failure was one of the best things that could have happened to me," Thomas said. "It opened my eyes to my weaknesses and just after you get a taste of that atmosphere there at the world series and after you get that experience, it makes you hungry for more."
In 2010, Thomas and the Tigers opened the season with a flurry, taking a series from No. 2 Alabama, splitting a series with No. 2 Arizona and then defeating No.4 Michigan. However, an untimely injury a third of the way through the season forced Thomas to redshirt in the middle of one of the hottest starts in program history.
"We were playing good competition, we were playing well and I felt great," Thomas said. "I learned a new pitch that I got to throw and that is kind of what caused my injury. It was pretty mentally devastating."
Thomas took the injury as an opportunity. It was a chance for her to learn more about the game she had been playing her entire life.
"I learned more about the game of softball that year than I did my whole freshman year," Thomas said. "I got the chance to be a student and I didn't have to be a student and perform."
She developed a new outlook on the game, seeing it through her pitching coach's perspective, something she'd understand even more later in life. The injury helped Thomas learn how to be a pitcher and not just a thrower.
And it paid off in a big way, both for Thomas and for Mizzou Softball.
Thomas appeared in 44 games for the Tigers in 2011, helping the Tigers to 53 wins, the most in program history. Mizzou also earned its first regular season Big 12 Conference Title and its third straight Women's College World Series appearance. Thomas' success in the circle, including an incredible .95 ERA, helped her win the first of three conference pitcher of the year awards, earn First Team All-American status and a top three spot in the USA Softball Player of the Year award voting.
"I wanted my team to win," Thomas said. "I knew that if I could throw a shut out or limit them to one or two runs a game, we were probably going to win so just taking things pitch by pitch and game by game and staying in the present is what allowed me to get those accolades."
In the next two seasons for Mizzou, the individual accolades kept coming for Thomas and the wins kept coming for the Tigers. During that span, the Black & Gold won 85 games. Thomas would go on to be a First Team All-American in both 2012 and 2013, while also earning the pitcher of the year honors in both of those seasons, one in the Big 12 and one in the SEC after Mizzou's move to the conference. In 2013 Thomas had more wins and player of the week awards than anyone else in the SEC.
However, despite all of the individual praise she garnered, Thomas is most proud of the legacy she and her teammates left behind as a team.
"The experience I had at Mizzou is an accolade in itself," Thomas said. "My whole experience with my teammates and my coaches means more to me than any of those awards."
When recalling her time at Mizzou, one moment stuck out to Thomas specifically. Not because it was one of her numerous shutouts or a long-standing battle on the mound; it stood out because it was the moment she realized how far the program she and her teammates built had come.
"I remember my senior year in super regionals, standing there in the circle in the first inning and just looking around. You couldn't see an empty space anywhere. It was insane," Thomas said. "There were people standing under the bleachers, all the bleachers were full, up the sides, the whole outfield is full, people were standing across the street on the putting greens at the golf course and that was one of those moments that I was like 'oh my gosh. I'm never going to forget this.'"
While in school, Thomas pursued a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in positive coaching. After graduation, she combined her love for softball and her new knowledge of coaching and dove into the coaching world.
A few years later she received a call from former Mizzou teammate Ashley Fleming. Fleming had just been offered the head coaching position at McKendree University and wanted Thomas to join her as her pitching coach. Thomas contemplated the option and did her research. What she found was an opportunity much like the one she was given in 2009.
No DVD was needed this time around, though.
"It just kind of took me back to my experience at Mizzou," Thomas said. "I wanted to try to build something at this place. Getting that experience to build something again, I love it. I love every part of it."
When Thomas got the call that she was part of the 2018 Mizzou Hall of Fame induction class, one thing came to her mind.
"I was like, this is the coolest because my number was 18 and I am getting inducted in 2018," Thomas said. "But it is just an honor. A piece of this award goes to my parents and my family, my teammates, coaches and all the support staff that really allowed me to succeed there at Mizzou. I think a lot of those people are proud of it because they are a part of it as well and it's an honor to stand up there and receive this award in honor of all the people that helped me get there."
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The Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the 2018 class will be held this Friday at the Stoney Creek Inn beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tickets to the event are still on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
