Downingtown West baseball’s Jay Slater plays in memory of his late older brother Tommy

Downingtown West’s Jay Slater isn’t like most teenage baseball players.

His head coach, Scott Rambo, came to that conclusion four years ago. Slater, then an incoming freshman, emailed the Whippets varsity head coach, who’s been involved with the program for 18 years, introducing himself and saying how excited he was to join the team.

“For a freshman to reach out to the head varsity coach who he’s never met before, you don’t see that every day,” Rambo said. “I knew that he had the attitude that we were looking for. He came in as a freshman, and what really stood out was his defensive skill — He was strong enough to elevate him right to our varsity team.”

Rambo knew Slater meant business when he stepped on the field. That determination led the 5-foot-11 senior to earn a scholarship to Duke, a top program that has made four NCAA tournament appearances since 2019.

And starting Monday, Slater will lead Downingtown West in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.

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There’s a reason Slater is as committed as he is, he said. The dream is to make it to the majors. And besides the pure enjoyment of the game, Slater plays for another when he steps on the field.

When Slater was 8 years old, his older brother, Tommy, died in an accident while playing on Sept. 24, 2013, Slater’s mom, Heidi, said. Tommy was 9.

Tommy had Down syndrome. He was born with developmental delays and had challenges from birth, Heidi said. But he gave the Slater family a new lens on life and still does to this day.

“He always made everybody smile,” Heidi added. “He worked hard. Jay always saw Tommy as just his brother. He never looked at him any different. They would play together. They were best buds. They did everything together.”

Jay talks to his brother often. He wants to make him proud; on the baseball field is where he strives to do so.

“I play for him,” he said. “Baseball helped me become a better person. I was able to have a positive way to deal with my emotions instead of some other ways to deal with it. Even if it’s not going well, it doesn’t matter, because baseball is so much deeper to me.”

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Tommy looked up to his younger brother, their mom said. He always wanted to do what Jay was doing. Jay helped Tommy when he played on the Challenger league and would work on his at-bats after practice by pitching to him in their backyard.

Jay said the loss of his brother was difficult to process at that age, but he was thankful to have his parents’ guidance. Heidi and her husband, Sean, wanted to make sure Jay and their other sons, Todd, 14, and John, 12, had support to heal.

“We tried to stay very in tune with them,” Heidi. “We always tried to be a strong family unit and support each other. I guess that’s all we did. I don’t know if we did anything out of the ordinary. We just tried to be there for each other.”

The Downingtown community also came together, which helped them mourn.

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A year after Tommy died, Heidi held a Tommy Slater memorial baseball tournament in their backyard. Almost 100 kids and parents participated.

A memorial fund also was created by the Downingtown Area School District to benefit West Bradford Elementary School, where Tommy attended. The funds raised benefit educational projects approved by the Slaters.

“We’ve always tried to keep Tommy alive,” Heidi said. “We’ve always kept his spirit alive. We talk about Tommy — I’ll always say I have four boys.”

Baseball, unknowingly, became the place where Jay felt at ease and could be close to his brother.

“I remember when it hit me that I was never going to see him again,” Jay said. “It was a really tough moment for me. It was difficult, and I still think about it every day. But it becomes easier and easier, because I know that I’m trying to make him proud.”

Not many kids saw catching as an appealing position. But Slater gravitated toward it at a young age.

“I kind of just embraced that mentality,” he said. “I enjoy getting to be involved in every single play. I feel like I can kind of control the game, put my own little spin on things, and try to help out the pitcher, which is helpful toward deciding how the game goes.”

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Until age 11, Slater played travel baseball with a team based out of South Carolina called Stars and Stripes, which featured players from all over the country that competed on a national schedule.

He then joined the Philly Bandits and stuck with the team through high school. He credited Bandits coach David Amaro, the director and founder, for developing him into a college prospect and helping him navigate through recruitment. Amaro also played for Duke.

Slater earned a starting spot on varsity as a freshman. He initially struggled at the plate and admitted it was intimidating facing other area top prospects who were three years older than him.

“I was in a pretty big slump. I wasn’t playing well,” Slater said. “Then there was this one game we played, and we ended up losing the game, but I remember I faced a kid that was a Division I pitcher. It was a tough at-bat, especially for a freshman. I ended up having an RBI hit — it was a well-hit single, and it was a really good at-bat for me. That’s kind of when I felt like you belong at this level.”

Rambo always knew Slater belonged. He trusted the catcher as a freshman to call his own pitches, which he’s been doing for the past four years. But heading into his junior year, Slater wanted to transform his game.

With added strength and size, his hitting improved. He ended the season as the top hitter in the Ches-Mont League with a batting average of .431.

Slater also made his college commitment to Duke in August 2022. It felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders, he said, after he withdrew his pledge to Michigan because of a coaching change.

“Catcher is a very difficult position to recruit because there’s not many players who have the skill to play at that level,” Rambo said. “College coaches want catchers that are strong defensively. Jay fits that mold. With his maturity, his attitude, his work ethic, he’s a recruit that any college coach could have jumped at to join their program.”

He’s been a leader and impact player this season for Downingtown West (18-5), which will compete in the first round of the state playoffs on Monday against Central High School.

Slater led the Whippets to earn the Ches-Mont National title in a 3-2 win over Downingtown East on May 14. He drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning.

“That was the moment for me that cultivated all the hard work that I put in,” Slater said. “When I get to college, I want to become the best player I can be. I want to compete for my school and compete for my teammates, so that when it is time to approach pro ball, I can have that opportunity.”