BETHEL PARK’s Thimons to be inducted
Nathan Thimons of Bethel Park will be inducted Sept. 6 into the Slippery Rock University Hall of Fame. It is the first of three inductions for Thimons as he will also be admitted into National Semi-pro Baseball Association Hall Nov. 29 and the Bethel Park High School Athletic Hall Dec. 19.
A left-handed pitcher/first baseman who played in all 202 games during four seasons at SRU, Thimons set career records in home runs (40), runs batted in (174), doubles (58) and pitching strikeouts (193). The first three of those records still stand.
In the process of setting those marks, Thimons led The Rock to four consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division championships and four NCAA Division II regional-tournament appearances from 1996-99 and a berth in the 1997 Division II World Series.
Thimons was rewarded for his efforts by being selected as a first-team All-Region and All-PSAC-West first baseman in each of his four seasons at The Rock, as well as a first-team All-Conference pitcher in his sophomore and senior seasons.
Upon completion of his Rock career, Thimons was named as the 1999 PSAC-West Athlete of the Year and SRU’s Player of the Decade for the 1990s before playing one season of professional baseball as a member of the Dubois County (Ind.) Dragons of the Frontier League.
An All-Star performer in the prestigious Shenandoah Valley League during the summer following his junior season at The Rock, Thimons is currently in his 16th straight season playing semi-pro baseball for St. Johns in the Greater Pittsburgh Federation League following the conclusion of his professional baseball career.
For 16 years, he has played for St. John’s in the Greater Pittsburgh Federation League. He helped St. John’s win the National Amateur Baseball Federation in 2013. Thimons also has earned first-team All-America honors in 2007, 2011 and 2013.
A 1995 Bethel Park graduate, where he earned Almanac MVP honors, and 2000 SRU product, Thimons earned an MBA degree from the University of Phoenix in 2003. He is employed as Director of Disability Claims Services in the Cigna Group Operations. Thimons and his wife, Jen, have three daughters, Presley, Noel and Mya.