BVI’s Thomas makes British baseball team for European Championships

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands —While most of his colleagues have eyed an opportunity to play Major League Baseball, Natheson Thomas of the British Virgin Islands has taken a different route that has landed him a spot on the Great Britain team for the 2016 European Championships, which begin Friday in Hoofddorp in the Netherlands.

Thomas, known as “Shadow” — who got his start in the game under the tutelage of former St. John resident Terry Chinnery and played for Altus Junior College in Western Oklahoma from 2007-2009 and Bluefield State College in Bluefield West Va., in 2011 — is the first BVI player to land a spot on a Great Britain baseball roster for any competition.

Thomas, who began training camp on Monday, has been playing with the Hamburg Hornets in Germany, a team that has languished at the bottom of the pile with a 3-29 and 2-30 record the last two seasons.

While playing last year, Carl Wordell of the Tuberlin Hawks approached Thomas after hearing he was British.

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