Sloane Merrell Details Her Journey and Purdue Commitment
Sloane Merrell to West Lafayette, Indiana
Sloane Merrell, a class of 2027 Purdue Boilermaker softball commit, joined me for a conversation. Merrell covered a few topics, and she covered them well. Among those topics were her competitiveness, why West Lafayette, Indiana and Purdue, and the importance of her off the field training.
Sloane struck me as a humble and driven person who wants to do everything to the best of her ability. One of the best qualities I picked up from her was her motivation to do what is necessary, and what is right, even when no one is watching.
Starting Out in Softball
Sloane Merrell began the game of softball at the age of eight. After trying baseball, she and her dad decided the move to softball was best. Then, after a couple of years in, the next level of building began.
“About two years after I started, I started pitching with my pitching coach, Dani Spaulding. I went to her before I ever pitched in a game or did anything pitching wise and she’s been really great. I’ve been with her ever since,” said Merrell.
Spaulding is one of the best players to ever put on a North Carolina Tar Heels uniform. She is a three time All-American, a two time ACC Player of the Year, and the ACC Pitcher of the Year in 2010. She owns Spaulding Pitching Academy in Las Vegas and has been a tremendous impact on Sloane as a pitcher.
Merrell loves the fact that she is a lefty, and that connection has made Spaulding’s role in her journey even more meaningful.
“So it’s really good to learn from someone who like knows the game just like I do because she’s left handed and so am I,” Merrell said. “She’s had a really great impact on the mental side of the game, the physical side of the game, teaching me everything I need to know about pitching, but also how to be mentally strong in tough situations. She’s been great.”
Love of Competing
Sloane Merrell is the ultimate competitor. She wants to win the small battles that help lead to the big ones. That mindset has fed her love of the game of softball over any other sport.
“I love competing against other people and as a pitcher and even from the hitting side of it, I just love winning mini battles. I love striking someone out or getting a valuable hit that helps my team out. I just love competing and the small battles that come with it,” said Sloane.
Being a two-way player and an effective one is a best of both worlds reality to live in. I asked Sloane which feels more rewarding to succeed in. Like most two-way players I speak with, it was a hard question to answer, but she did admit that pitching is a little more rewarding.
“My goodness, they’re so different to me. I think pitching is a little more rewarding and that’s my number one role, but they’re so different to me. I love both aspects of the game, but they’re hard to compare. I think I would say pitching.”
Why Purdue
When we reached the part of the conversation about why West Lafayette, Indiana and Purdue, Sloane explained how it was the kind of different she was looking for. Being from Las Vegas, Indiana is a long way from home and very different, but that was something she wanted.
“I knew from a pretty early standpoint, I wanted to go somewhere different from Las Vegas, so I didn’t want desert. I think having four seasons was pretty important to me. I love that about West Lafayette, and Purdue’s just such a nice campus. Everything about it was super nice.”
“It was just all around such a great place, the campus, the athletic facilities, coaches, and yeah, I knew I wanted to go kind of far from home. So that was kind of a decision maker.”
Speaking of the coaches, they made a huge first impression on Merrell. Everything Coach Jordan Richwood spoke of, and the way she analytically broke things down, intrigued her from the beginning.
“So I first talked to Coach Richwood, their pitching coach, and she was so great. She was telling me in detail about what they do at Purdue and it’s just right up my alley. She’s very analytical. I’m very analytical as well. So that phone call was great. And that’s what sparked my interest to go on a visit there.”
On head coach Magali Frezzotti, Sloane had high praise as well.
“Coach Frezzotti, the first thing I said about her was this woman is going to do amazing things. She’s building a really special program,” said Merrell. “She’s turned a lot of things around in a short time, and I’m so excited to be a part of that. She’s doing great things. She was really transparent about everything on my visit.”
On her official visit, Sloane got to see the Boilermakers at work on the practice field, and the way they went about their drills stuck with her.
“The drills looked pretty difficult, but they were getting it done. It was very time efficient, very effective. I watched the bullpen as well. That was also efficient. They were getting their job done and they were doing it well.”
Academics Matter Too
There is more than just athletics to being a student athlete. Sloane Merrell explained that she is time efficient and keeps her school work at a high level. She carries a 4.0 GPA and has aspirations to major in either Kinesiology or Sports Management.
“They have a really good kinesiology program. On my official visit, we saw their athletic training program as well, and that looked super cool. So all of that seemed really great, and that sparked my interest as well because academics are important. Purdue is a great school academically,” said Sloane.
High School and Travel Ball
Many players are quick to bring up travel ball, but in conversation with Sloane Merrell she also expressed the importance of high school ball. She credited her coaches and the level of competition for preparing her as a high level player.
“I think the coaching staff is super important. So the head coach, Mike Livreri and associate head coach, Curtis Livreri, they’re just super supportive. They’re very smart as well. Coach Curtis Livreri coached at a D1 level as well,” said Merrell.
“I have a lot of fun with it. Travel and high school are very different, but both of them are super fun in their own ways. And it’s pretty good competition here actually. We have some SEC commits, Big 10, Big 12, but yeah. Lots of Power Four commits here, so it’s good competition. I like playing high school softball here. It’s a really good program.”
“High school ball is important to me because I want to be the best player that I can be no matter what setting I’m in. I think high school ball really prepares me to play travel ball, which is where I’m playing the best kids in the country,” she said. “I get to prepare for that, and I get to work on different fundamentals in each. I think it teaches me how to be the best no matter what situation I’m in.”
Role Models and Training Habits
As a two-way player, Sloane has players she looks up to who fit both roles.
“I would say as a pitcher, Kelly Maxwell. I think we’re super similar. She obviously won a world series as well, but I love watching her. I love watching people that are similar to me,” said Merrell. “So I had so much fun watching her during her time in college. And then from a two-way perspective, Valerie Cagle. It’s definitely my goal to go to Purdue, and dominate from both sides in the box and in the circle.”
Merrell hits with Jeff Dabney every week and puts as much focus into her hitting as she does her pitching. One thing she has really bought into is training by herself and making sure she never cheats reps.
“I recently really honed in on training by myself, and I asked myself some questions like, am I giving a hundred percent each time or am I trying my hardest while nobody’s watching? Like that’s what’ll put me some steps ahead of players, like trying my hardest when nobody’s watching. I think it’s super important to just keep up with your fundamentals often instead of just practice or just games,” said Sloane.
It does not matter if she is having a good day or not, Sloane takes her development seriously.
“I think the game of softball has really taught me how to be humble and I think it’s also taught me to try my best no matter how I’m feeling like at school. Do I feel good? Do I want to be here? Maybe not, but am I going to try my best? Yes, I am. I think it just helps me apply full effort to regular life.”
Thank You!
I would like to thank Sloane for reaching out with interest to share a bit about her journey and what made her decide to become a Purdue Boilermaker. Merrell has a bright future ahead, and what she is doing in the present is no doubt setting her up to do great things.
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