Elder High baseball coach, Mark Thompson is entering his 24th year in coaching the varsity squad. Not only does he have the fiercest upper lip in the game, he is also the all-time winning coach without ever having a losing season record. Thompson’s current record is an outstanding 455-176, including six league, ten district, five regional, and state championships in 1999 and 2005. Thompson has received various awards such as GCL Coach of the Year six times, Cincinnati Enquirer Coach of the Year four times, OHSBCA Division 1 Coach of the Year in 2005, and ABCA regional Coach of the Year in 1999. Over 100 of his former players have gone on to play at the collegiate level with four signing professional contracts. Coach Thompson may be looked at by many as aggressive or stern because of his very deep, intimidating voice carries throughout the ball field. Or maybe it is even the stoic, unapproachable facial expression he gives while he is on the field, leading his team to a victory. Senior Mitchell Asman, who has recently become an assistant coach due to injury, had some words to say about Coach Thompson. “He’s a great coach, a baseball genius, and a man of his word. But when he calls your name you think, oh crap, what did I do?” On top of coaching an elite baseball crew, Thompson has worked as a physical education teacher at Westwood School for the past 28 years where he also coached basketball and volleyball. He has two children, Robb, who also is an assistant coach and was also on his 2005 state championship team. His daughter Kara is a senior captain of her college dance team. “I think it’s a huge accomplishment for him as a coach. Being a player of his, it’s pretty cool to see him go into the Hall of Fame,” said senior pitcher Nick Beard, about his head coach. It’s pretty clear that the Elder community supports Coach Thompson on his induction into the High School Baseball Hall of Fame. Congratulations to him and his family on this great accomplishment.