Player Spotlight: All-Summer Candidate London Slade… Still Bringing Down the House!

Next week we’re closing out the Summer of 2021 with the All-Summer Teams for the 18U, 16U and 14U age divisions.

We’ve been accumulating top performances over the last few months and one of those is from junior London Slade, an outfielder who recently joined Tri-State Thunder and Coach Missy Cutchall after a strong run with TNT Maryland.

Back in the Spring, we ran a tweet of London as she was working out and, well, let’s just say she didn’t know her own strength as she almost brought down her basement!  

Thanks coach @hittingcoachJ Looks like I’m getting a lot more power. 😂😂💪🏽💪🏽 Trust the process @Los_Stuff @ExtraInningSB @BrenttEads @StriveSoftball @TNTMarylandGold @IHartFastpitch @ondecksoftball @SoftballConnect @ImpactRetweets pic.twitter.com/tgqEqVn0WB

— London Slade (@LondonSlade2023) March 5, 2021

 Coach Cutchall recently picked up London for her Tri-State Thunder team and says she knew the athlete was a unique talent the first time she saw her play.

“I really think this kid is pretty special,” the coach told Extra Inning Softball. “I met her last Summer when she guest played for us and I knew I wanted to coach her full time.  Some kids just have that special something about them and London has that.”

London is a lefty hitter with outstanding speed, but Coach Cutchall says there’s something else in the junior’s game that is even more impressive.

“What makes her stand out to me the most is her bat control.  She is able to read the field and put the ball where she wants.  When she gets the ball down, she is hard to get out.  Watching this kid play outfield is a beautiful thing.  I just smile every time one of my coaches tries to get something down in centerfield during practice because they can’t!  The girl is fast and covers so much ground.

Something else that makes London special is her competitiveness, according to her coach.

“You can tell that she just loves to be on the field and loves to compete.  If someone makes a big play in practice, London wants to make a bigger one.  She has that competitive edge that rubs off on others.  After my players were around London for one game when she guest played with us, they immediately loved her.  Once we offered her a spot on our team this year I was getting messages from the other players asking “did London say yes” because they wanted to play with her.

“I am confident that London is going to help our team in a big way and be a mainstay in centerfield and in the leadoff spot,” Cutchall continues. “ There is no doubt she is going to play college ball at a high level.  She has made me very happy making Thunder her travel ball home and I cannot wait to see which college coach gets to be just as happy when she chooses a home for college!”

London was ranked in the Top 100 of the 2023 Extra Elite 100 that was published in May and she continued her impressive play through the summer…

… here’s a look at her accomplishments which demonstrate why it’s a pretty good bet (spoiler alert!) that she’ll be making the All-Summer Team next week…

*****

Player Name: London Slade

Grad Year: Class of 2023

Position: Centerfield

Club Team: Tri-State Thunder; previously with TNT Maryland

Age Division: 18U

Ranking in the 2023 Extra Elite 100: #68

Stats for the Summer: 

Offense

• • At Bats: 68
  • Hits: 30
  • Batting Average: .441
  • Stolen Bases: 25
  • On Base Percentage: .540
  • Walks: 11

Defense

• • Put Outs: 35
  • Errors: 0
  • Fielding Percentage: 1.000%

Recruiting: London has had multiple D1 coaches come to watch her play the entire game.

Off the Softball Field: London has been a member of Delta Gem for the past three years. Every 3^rd Saturday in every month, she may have to leave a game to participate online with her club and then run back on the field to compete. She is currently playing high school volleyball in addition to her softball career.