Marble Falls softball player Jaden Deleon signs to play for Illinois school

STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO

MARBLE FALLS — Marble Falls High School senior Jaden Deleon signed her National Letter of Intent to play softball for Spoon River College on May 9.

Spoon River College is a two-year community college located in Canton, Illinois.

Deleon said she’d never been to the state before her commitment to the program.

Lady Mustangs head coach Tim Richter said Deleon leads by example, which is invaluable to a program.

“Jaden is one of those girls who rarely says a word and puts her head down and goes to work,” he said. “Everything she does is a hundred miles an hour.”

Deleon’s speed put her in center field, where she covered a lot of space in a short amount of time.

“She really took to center field and became a leader,” Richter said.

Defensively, she only committed eight errors out of 70 total touches on the season for a .896 fielding percentage.

“The saying ‘speed kills’ is true,” Richter said. “The faster you are, the faster your team is. You can cover a lot of mistakes with speed.”

She batted fifth in the order with a .262 average, 19 hits, and seven RBIs. She was a perfect 15 for 15 in stolen bases.

Deleon said she hopes to play softball at a Texas school when she finishes her eligibility at Spoon River College.

Richter said the athlete is just now starting to see how good she can be. He has no doubt that Spoon River College will be impressed with Deleon’s work ethic and natural ability.

“She has a lot of untapped potential,” he said. “She has room to grow. She’ll do some outstanding things for that program.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com