2018 will be Erik Lis's second season as hitting coach for the ThunderBolts and second season as a professional coach. Lis began his coaching career while he was still playing in the Frontier League when he was named a player/coach for the Joliet Slammers in 2012. He has also served as lead hitting instructor at the Baseball Institute. 

Erik played his high school ball in nearby Oak Lawn at Richards High School, where he was a three time All-Conference selection and two-time All-State player. He went on to the University of Evansville, where he put up huge numbers for three years. He hit .342 with 25 homers and 147 RBIs in 165 total games. In 2004, he was named a First Team Summer All-American by Baseball America after hitting .418 in the Texas Collegiate League. He was selected in the ninth round of the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft by the Minnesota Twins. 

He spent six years with the Twins, rising as high as Triple A. He hit .276 overall in the Minnesota system and a career-best .326 in Class A Beloit in 2006. The next year, he hit 18 homers and knocked in 97 runs for High-A Fort Myers. He smacked 89 career home runs in his affiliated career, which also included 26 games for the Florida Marlins Double A affiliate in 2011. He joined the Frontier League in 2011 and in two years as a first baseman for the Slammers, hit .282 with 28 home runs. He was named the All-Star Game MVP in 2011 and helped the Slammers win the Frontier League championship later that year. Lis finished his playing career in 2013 with the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League. In nine years of professional baseball, he hit 117 homers and drove in 531 runs.