The CT Softball Blog

NORTH STONINGTON—When Sara Slitt showed up at a Williams College softball prospect camp earlier this fall, she wasn’t exactly expecting to leave with a college commitment.

In fact, the North Stonington resident wasn’t even sure the Ephs were still recruiting players from the Class of 2027.

Most of her peers had already made their college decisions. Slitt was still searching for the right fit, and Williams, while certainly an attractive academic option, hadn’t been a major part of her recruiting journey.

But she figured she had nothing to lose.

So she signed up for the camp, made the trip to Williamstown, Massachusetts, and went to work.

What happened next surprised just about everyone.

Including the Williams coaching staff.

A few weeks later, Slitt, a senior at The Prout School in Wakefield, Rhode Island, had committed to one of the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions, where she will continue her softball career.

And according to Slitt, Williams head coach Kris Herman told her mother that the circumstances surrounding her recruitment were unlike anything she had experienced before.

“She’s never in her years of coaching had someone just kind of sporadically show up like this, like I did,” Slitt said.

Sometimes all it takes is an opportunity.

And Slitt certainly made the most of hers.

The recruiting process had been a long and sometimes frustrating experience for the 17-year-old, whose academic interests initially centered around business before eventually returning to economics.

She had been communicating with several schools offering business programs, but when some of those opportunities didn’t work out, Slitt began reconsidering her options.

Williams had been on her radar for years, thanks in part to an aunt who attended Tufts University and was familiar with the highly regarded New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Still, Slitt had done little to establish contact with the Williams coaching staff.

“I hadn’t really communicated with the coaches all that much, whereas usually that’s what I would do for recruiting,” she said.

When she learned about the prospect camp, however, she decided to take a chance.

“I kind of just signed up because it’s the tail end of recruiting senior year,” Slitt said. “Most people my age are already committed, but I went to this Williams camp because I just wanted to see what it was like, give it a chance.”

She also wanted to see the campus, knowing Williams was a school she might have applied to regardless of softball.

Once she arrived, things began falling into place.

Slitt immediately connected with Herman and assistant coach EK, enjoying their personalities and approach to the game.

She also reunited with a former travel softball teammate who was already playing for the Ephs.

That connection would prove important.

Following the camp, the Williams coaches approached Slitt’s former teammate, wanting to know more about the player who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“They were like, ‘Who is this person? Who is this girl? Is she serious about Williams?’” Slitt recalled.

The message was simple. If Slitt was interested, the coaches wanted to hear from her.

She sent an email.

Then came a phone conversation with the assistant coach, who subsequently watched Slitt play at a showcase.

Herman followed, attending another showcase the following weekend.

Suddenly, a school that had barely been part of the recruiting picture had moved to the top of the list.

“They were really communicative,” Slitt said. “Both super nice and very genuine and personable. They were very authentic.”

Before long, the decision was made.

Slitt was headed to Williams.

Of course, while the recruiting story might sound like a case of being in the right place at the right time, there was nothing accidental about the player the Williams coaches discovered.

Just ask Prout coach David Lustberg.

“She’s currently our best player,” Lustberg said.

And the numbers back him up.

Slitt has been a varsity starter since her freshman season, but her development over the past year has been nothing short of remarkable.

After hitting in the .200s during each of her first two high school seasons, Slitt emerged as one of Rhode Island’s top offensive players last spring.

She batted .452 with a .506 on-base percentage and .658 slugging percentage, producing a 1.163 OPS.

She also collected 33 hits, including four home runs, drove in 26 runs and stole 18 bases.

For comparison, she had just 11 hits as a sophomore and had stolen only one base in each of her first two seasons.

It was a transformation that didn’t happen overnight.

“She really came into her own last year as a junior,” Lustberg said.

The coach had always known Slitt was an exceptional defensive player.

As a freshman, she split time between third base and the outfield, depending on which pitcher was in the circle. She became the team’s full-time third baseman as a sophomore before moving to center field last spring.

Her versatility was never in question.

Her offense, however, needed to catch up.

Following her sophomore season, Slitt made a commitment to improving her game.

She began working with private instructor Pete Keefer in the Norwich area, focusing on fundamentals, throwing mechanics and her swing.

More importantly, she began developing confidence in her abilities.

“My throwing had always been something that I was kind of insecure about,” Slitt said. “He got me to have a throw that I was confident in, a swing I was confident in.”

That newfound confidence carried over to virtually every aspect of her game.

“Just the confidence in knowing that I’m good enough to play and then having the skills to support that, he really helped me,” she said.

Lustberg saw the difference immediately.

“Physically and mentally, she got the game,” he said.

The coach pointed to the countless hours Slitt spent improving her skills, conditioning and speed while also gaining a better understanding of the finer points of softball.

She wasn’t simply becoming a better hitter.

She was becoming a more complete player.

The results were evident throughout her junior season, when she earned third-team All-State and second-team All-Division I honors in Rhode Island.

And when Prout needed her most, Slitt delivered.

Despite finishing ninth in the regular-season standings, the Crusaders put together an impressive postseason run, advancing to the Division I Final Four.

Slitt was a driving force behind that success.

“Sarah was definitely the offensive leader and guiding force in putting up those runs we needed to back our pitching in that playoff run to the final four,” Lustberg said.

Prout’s season eventually ended in heartbreaking fashion, losing a 4-2 semifinal on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning after entering the frame tied at 2.

It was another near miss for a program that has reached the state semifinals twice during Slitt’s career.

Now, with one final high school season remaining, she hopes to take the Crusaders one step further.

“Definitely to make it to a championship,” Slitt said.

She also has some individual goals.

After earning third-team All-State honors last spring, she would love to finish her career as a first-team selection.

But winning remains the priority.

“I really just want to dominate our division and I want to make it far in playoffs, have good team chemistry,” she said. “I just want it to be a fun senior year.”

For those unfamiliar with Rhode Island high school softball, Prout competes in Division I, the state’s highest competitive classification.

Unlike Connecticut, where schools are separated into state tournament classes largely by enrollment, Rhode Island groups its programs according to competitive strength.

That means Prout, despite being a relatively small private school, regularly faces some of the state’s strongest programs.

It’s an environment that has helped Slitt develop into the player she is today.

And she’s hardly limited to the softball diamond.

Slitt is also a member of Prout’s field hockey and track teams. She began playing field hockey as a junior when the school introduced the sport and has competed in track since her sophomore year.

She played basketball as a freshman before making the switch.

Her softball journey, meanwhile, began with tee ball at age 5 before she moved into softball a couple of years later.

She spent several seasons playing travel softball in Rhode Island before joining the CT Impact during the winter of her junior year.

The move has been a positive one.

“Out of my softball experience, this is my favorite experience I’ve had in travel softball,” Slitt said.

Her athleticism also gives Lustberg plenty of flexibility when putting together his lineup.

Although she spent last season in center field, Slitt could see time at shortstop this spring depending on who is pitching.

For her part, Slitt doesn’t particularly care where she plays, as long as she’s contributing.

“I really like to just play anywhere I can contribute,” she said. “I really like to just be an athlete and just go out and make crazy plays.”

Center field, however, offers a little extra freedom.

“In the outfield, I do prefer that a little bit more at times because I feel like I’m able to showcase my athleticism a little bit more often,” she said.

Away from softball, Slitt has equally ambitious plans.

An outstanding student, she hopes to study economics at Williams, combining her interest in mathematics, statistics and problem-solving with a possible career in New York City.

“I really just like math and economics,” she said. “I’m interested in how the economy works.”

For now, though, there’s still another softball season to play.

And while most Connecticut softball fans might not be familiar with Slitt because she attends high school across the state line, her accomplishments have certainly earned her a place among the state’s college-bound players.

The daily 40-to-45-minute commute from North Stonington to Wakefield has become routine for Slitt, whose three older siblings also attended Prout.

Next fall, her journey will take her considerably farther from home.

To Williams College, where a chance decision to attend a prospect camp changed the direction of her recruiting journey.

A journey that began with little more than curiosity and a willingness to take one more shot.

And ended with an opportunity she hadn’t expected.

Sometimes the best opportunities aren’t the ones you’ve spent years planning for.

Sometimes they’re the ones you decide to pursue when everyone else thinks the recruiting process is already over.

Love Stories Like This?

Get Connecticut’s best softball features, breaking news, recruiting updates and exclusive interviews delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. Subscribe to the CT Softball Blog Weekly.