By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
An old saying in baseball goes that in the early weeks of a season, the pitchers are ahead of the hitters. Matt Thomas, William & Mary's senior right fielder, certainly buys that.

In the first 10 games of last season, Thomas had three hits in 31 at bats for a batting average of .097. But with more swings, he got more comfortable in the box. In the Tribe's final 32 games, he hit .313 with five home runs and 20 RBI.

Over the summer, Thomas batted .350 for the Bethesda (Md.) Big Train and was named Offensive Player of the Year in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. Coming into his senior season at W&M, which begins Friday against Rhode Island at Plumeri Park, he hopes to keep it going.

A different preseason philosophy from new Tribe coach Mike McRae should only help.

"Coach McRae has done a great job of preparing us for this opening weekend," Thomas said. "We've played more scrimmages and had more live at bats off our pitchers than in years past. We have probably 60 at bats under our belts, which is like one-fourth of a college season.

"The more at bats you get, the more comfortable you get in the box with your timing. And hopefully, that will pay dividends when we start up Friday."

Also hopefully, it will be a normal season, which few college baseball teams have had since 2019. After being limited to 17 and 40 regular-season games the last two seasons, the Tribe has 51 on the schedule for this spring.

Thomas, who is batting .272 in 60 games (counting the CAA tournament) over his last two seasons, is one of eight position returning who started at least 20 games last season. He's also one of 15 who are either seniors or grad students.

All of them came to William & Mary to play for Brian Murphy, but he resigned last fall for the head coaching job at Merrimack College — his alma mater in Massachusetts. McRae, who was hired last October, said Thomas was a big help as the team adjusted to a new coaching staff.

"He's been unbelievable," McRae said. "He's a terrific young man who goes about his business the right way and certainly tries to get others to follow him. He's been a joy to have on board and coach."

So much that Thomas is doing double duty.

One of the Tribe's biggest losses from last season was Matthew Trehub, who started 34 games at catcher last season. McRae likes talent level of sophomore Nate Goranson and junior Max Winters have nine career starts between them. And there's nothing behind them.

Thomas came to William & Mary as a catcher, which he had played at Lake Braddock High. He switched to the outfield because of how loaded the position was at the time. Three years later, although still primarily a right fielder, he will serve as a third catcher.

"They're both talented guys back there, but it's a fragile position," McRae said. "It takes one foul ball and you're down a guy. It's hard to get through a weekend with only one person back there."

In the classroom, Thomas is a finance major who is set to graduate in May. He is eligible to return for the 2023 season as a grad student, but he has other plans. He's accepted a job with Capital One in Richmond.

As for his final season, Thomas is optimistic. Although it took time, the players and new coaching staff have adjusted to each other. And few things are more promising than a new chapter.

"Coach McRae knows how to coach baseball and knows how to compete," Thomas said. "And he knows how to win. He expects a lot out of us, and that's a really good thing.

"He was hard on us in the beginning, and he's still hard on us now. But it's with the right intentions: to get us better and closer together as a team."