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There’s no doubt that Kayden Henry, a 2023 Extra Elite 100 outfielder with the Texas Bombers 18U – Smith team, is “electric.”
One of the fastest players in the junior class, Kayden had 78 steals this summer for Scott Smith’s team and was caught just three times—a 96 percent success rate.
The teen speedster, ranked #3 overall in the latest 2023 Extra Elite 100, also hit .462 with a .530 on-base percentage—this against the top pitchers in club ball, mind you—and in 156 plate appearances had 72 hits, scored 55 runs, 14 doubles, three triples and even smacked four home runs.
Coach Smith marvels as Kayden’s talents, especially when you consider she’s the youngest on a team loaded with future Power 5 talent.
“Kayden Henry brings ‘Electricity’ to our team!” the Bombers head man explains. “Everything she does has ‘twitch’ and I mean everything. If you watched her play, you would have never noticed her youth on a team full of talented upper-class players. In a time when a lot of her peers were playing 16U, Kayden took on the challenge of competing against older players and fighting for a spot amongst the best in the country.”
And then, like most whom you talk to about Kayden, her lively personality is brought into the mix.
“The other really cool thing going for Kayden Henry is her incredible sense of humor,” Smith adds, “and her ability to not get super stressed when the moments get really big—she just smiles and gets after it!”
No doubt that the junior has “electric” talent and personality (there’s that word again), but she also went electric–as in using technology and social media–to let her future school and the softball world know that her heart was in Austin.
Kayden’s lively sense of humor was on display Sunday night when the talented athlete finalized her college choice… we’ll let her explain how she let the Texas Longhorn coaches know that they would be getting one of the top prizes in the 2023 class:
“I asked to FaceTime coach Coaches “Sing” (Steve Singleton), Megan (Bartlett) and (Mike) White and had the tone in my voice as if I was declining their offer.”
“‘Hey coaches,’ I said, ‘I would like to say thank you for everything; it’s been a big blessing having y’all in my recruiting process but I’ve decided to go to the University of Texas’ and their faces lit up with joy!”
“It was a great feeling to know that they were as excited to have me as I was to be a part of the family!”
That wasn’t the end of her recruiting fun, however; in a move that is more typical of football recruiting reveals, Monday Kayden went live on Instagram to make public her college choice by having three t-shirts on a table representing her final trio of schools.
After thanking family and coaches, she “announced” her college choice by taking off a Bombers jersey and revealing underneath a “Hook’em Horns” t-shirt.
Here’s the clip of her mini-press conference:
James Burgess, a successful coach in the Bombers organization, has coached Kayden all the way from 8U to 16U, and knows the young athlete’s talents—on and off the field— as well as anyone.
“Kayden’s extremely special,” he begins. “She’ll hit for high average, double digit home runs and steal double digit bags. She’s a savvy outfielder with a rifle arm, too. It’s really special to watch as Kayden’s a track star that’s really good a softball… that’s what makes her dangerous.”
Now, that talent will be on display over the next several years in Austin. As to why she chose the Longhorns, Kayden said it came down to a gut feeling.
“Although I loved all the schools and enjoyed myself on all three campuses,” Kayden explains, “Texas truly felt like home. The connection I made with the players I will be with when I get there felt genuine but even talking to the coaches all week made me feel like I was where I needed to be.”
“Being the only uncommitted girl on my team last year all I ever heard was ‘When you know you’ll know’ and I thought it was just a tale but it wasn’t and after this last tournament I got that feeling.”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball