Photos provided by Meredith Slaw.
Softball is a family affair in the Slaw household. Pictured are dad Mike Slaw, Meredith Slaw and sister Candace Slaw.
Meredith Slaw has a unique take on the best thing her dad ever did for her.
Keep in mind Slaw is an accomplished softball player—from Richmond County Little League as a 5-year-old T-ball player all the way to competing against the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference and hitting 17 home runs as a player at Virginia Tech.
And every year she teams up family members and other local baseball and softball players and coaches to put on the “Local Legacies Softball” clinic in Warsaw. This year the clinic is on August 1st.
In the field she played all sorts of positions as a natural right-hander. Catcher, pitcher, shortstop, first base. But at the plate she hit left-handed.
“Thanks to my dad, Mike Slaw, he forced my sister and me, Candace Slaw, to be left-handed hitters. That may have been the best thing my dad ever did,” she says with a wink.
Hitting from the left side of the plate gives a player an advantage in softball. They’re closer to first base—especially when they finish their swing.
Hitting took her a long way in her career and now she’s giving back with the annual Local Legacies Softball Camp that’s in its third year. She has a simple goal for the one-day event.
“I would like to help girls succeed in life,” Slaw said. “That is my goal. I believe through coaching and playing, young girls can learn good habits that will help form and lead to a successful adult life.”
She also sees how those friendships—forged through the chill of early spring, the heat of the summer, the ups and downs, wins and losses—can endure.
“Friendships last a lifetime and are crucial to happiness,” Slaw said. “And if you aren’t a good teammate, that negatively affects life.”
Slaw is an accomplished softball player, hitting 17 home runs as a player at Virginia Tech.
Slaw graduated from Rappahannock High School in 2018, and from Virginia Tech in 2023. Growing up in Warsaw, she began playing softball at the age of 7 with Richmond County Little League. She then played for a travel team, the East Coast Diamonds.
She played varsity softball all four years at Rappahannock High School, and at the age of 15 she moved up in competition to an elite travel team, the Hanover Hornets out of Richmond, Virginia.
She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and information systems from Virginia Tech. Currently, she serves as a senior audit associate at Alexandria-based Kearney & Company, a federal government subcontractor specializing in financial, auditing, consulting, and technology services.
The Slaw Family proudly celebrates Meredith’s contributions during her tenure at Virginia Tech.
Just like in her competitive playing days—that ended with her graduation from Virginia Tech in 2023—Slaw travels around the country in her work. She also said she enjoys coaching and volunteering for a local travel ball team, the Coastal Breeze, and the Rappahannock High School junior varsity softball team.The spark for offering the Local Legacies Softball Camp comes from Slaw’s love for the game and her desire to give back to the community.
Meredith hits the ball hard during an NCAA Tournament.
“The Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula have generated amazing athletes in every sport,” Slaw said. “Obviously, I am partial to the softball girls. The success of our female athletes has been amazing. My sister, Candace Slaw—now an All-American softball player at Christopher Newport University—and I wanted to influence younger girls and help them fall in love with the game just as we did.”
The Local Legacies Softball Camp is a youth-focused annual softball camp with 12 former or current collegiate softball players from the Northern Neck, the Middle Peninsula and Mechanicsville serving as instructors. The participants range in age from 8 to 15.
“We focus on hitting, fielding, pitching, catching and having fun,” Slaw said, emphasizing the having fun part. “This year will be our third year of sharing our skill set and our love of the game.”
The annual softball camp relies on the dedication of former and current players who generously give their time to mentor young athletes and give back to the game, helping make the camp’s third year possible.
The camp attracts 150 campers a year. Last year they also offered a camp for baseball players, with more than 50 attending.
It’s important to Slaw because when she was younger, she and her teammates had a similar opportunity that the local YMCA offered. She said the Local Legacies Softball Camp aims to inspire inexperienced players while helping experienced players to excel.
I would like to help girls succeed in life. That is my goal. I believe through coaching and playing, young girls can learn good habits that will help form and lead to a successful adult life.
— Meredith Slaw
“I loved the camp and wanted to grow the sport that got me to where I am today,” she said. “Any sport generates life skills, friendship and hardships. I believe children excel in life when they are given the opportunity to learn and be uncomfortable—and that’s exactly what softball does.”
The teaching goes beyond skills, touching on values the campers and players take with them in their lives.
“We coach softball as being a hard sport of failure,” Slaw said. “The average hitter fails 70% of the time. ‘Good’ batting averages are .300. That means girls will only succeed three out of 10 times they go up to the plate. Learning to mentally handle success and failure is a huge part of our mindset.”
There are other aspects to the camp as well. They focus on the fundamentals of hitting, pitching, catching and fielding.
2025 softball campers with their coaches.
“We also stress the idea that softball should be fun and your life isn’t defined by a yellow ball,” Slaw said. “Being a great teammate is superior.”
Slaw is quick to recognize folks around her who help make the camp memorable for the athletes who attend.
“I want to give a shout-out to all of the volunteers. The success of the camp wouldn’t have happened without family and friends of the Slaw family,” she said, including Candace Slaw, Mike Slaw Jr. and Regis Slaw. “I also want to give a shout-out to the RCLL and their field crew; the fields and facilities are impressive each year!”
She’s also grateful for the coaches who help out. “This camp couldn’t be on its third year without former and current players who want to give back to their community and grow the game,” she said. “It truly is an honor to impact the numbers of young girls over the past two years.”
1 of 3
2024 softball coaches.
2 of 3
2025 softball coaches.
3 of 3
Baseball coaches.
Coaches Shout-out
- Candace Slaw, CNU/Rappahannock
- Rilee Baughan, RMC/Rappahannock
- Elizabeth McCarthy, Longwood University/St. Margaret’s
- Arleigh Wood Newman, Longwood University/Essex
- Autumn Courtney, Florida Atlantic University/St. Margaret’s
- Mackenzie Cauthorn, Bridgewater College/Rappahannock
- Brantley Swift, Bridgewater College/Northumberland
- Kylie Jones, Bridgewater College/Essex
- Madi Sobota, George Mason University/King George High School
- Sydney Shafer, University of Delaware/Godwin High School
- Carsen Sanders, JMU/Atlee
- Teagan Baulsir, Elon University/Deep Run
Former Helper Shout-outs
- Ellie Armistead, UGA/Matthews
- Caroline Davenport, Lynchburg College/Rappahannock
- Hannah Stout, RMC/Northumberland
- Savannah Goodman, ACDS Coach/Rappahannock
Go to bit.ly/4tOARcl to register. | Find Local Legacies Softball on Facebook.
