High School Sports: Wilson, Falcons Hoping 2011 Will Be a Hit

When Paige Wilson first took the field for Wheaton North at shortstop four years ago, what she experienced is quite common for any freshman making the jump right to varsity.

“It was nerve-racking at first,” she recalls.

But Wilson sought the counsel of her older sister, Jessi, one of the area’s top catchers when she played for the Falcons in the mid-2000s. Jessi gave her younger sister three bits of advice:

Work hard. Do your best every game. Play 100 percent.

After that, Paige settled down, settled in and has been a force for coach Karen Calabrese’s Falcons ever since.

Wilson goes about her duties on the field and at the plate with a quiet confidence. Arguably the area’s best shortstop, Wilson takes pride in her fielding and wants to reach a benchmark in DuPage Valley Conference play this season that she achieved her freshman year—a 1.000 fielding percentage.

The left-handed hitting Wilson (.447 average, 5 homers, 25 RBIs in 2010) also is Falcons’ top batter in a lineup loaded with potent hitters—among them, first baseman Kelsey Ullrich, pitcher/outfielder Katie Thornton, second baseman Rachel Holaway and catcher Paige Evangelista.

One of eight seniors on the team—six of whom are returning starters—Wilson sees herself as a leader, but not the leader.

“All eight of us are leaders,” she said, “but I feel like I’m a leader and people look up to me just like they look up to the other seniors.”

Wilson made a verbal commitment in 2009 to play softball for the  , which has one of the nation’s premier programs. She officially signed her Letter of Intent last November. Calabrese has enjoyed watching her star shortstop mature not only as a player, but as a person, over the years.

“I would say as a player, she’s definitely better on the bases and more confident at the plate,” Calabrese said. “As a person I think she’s grown a lot with maturity issues and responsibility issues and realizing what’s important. How to get a hold of academics, school work, family, commitment. Everybody’s pulling her in different directions, and (she’s) kind of getting a hold of all that and getting her life on the right track. I think she’s done a really nice job of that.”

“I’ve worked on getting better overall,” Wilson added. “With my attitude and my mental toughness. Not being down if I would make a mistake. Just the mental aspect of the game.”

Wilson looks forward to joining a Georgia squad that’s ranked No. 2 in the nation and is going for a third straight appearance in the Women’s College World Series this spring. She plans on majoring in accounting.

“I wanted to go to a warm (weather) school and one with a really good softball program,” she said. “Their academic program is really good (in accounting). I went down there a few times for a visit, and it’s just beautiful. I like everything about it.”

Georgia’s coaching staff has told Wilson it foresees her playing either second base or shortstop.

“I think she’ll be able to compete with them (at Georgia) for sure,” Calabrese said. “At the plate she’s batting over .500 now and by the end of season facing some of the best (pitchers) in the area, I can almost guarantee she’ll be (hitting) over .400. She’s going into a really good program. Will she be a shortstop? I’m not sure, but I think she’ll be great on the bases, I think she’ll be great at the plate and she’s a kid that can play anywhere.”

Even though Georgia is on Wilson’s mind, she’s completely focused on her senior year and helping the Falcons make a deep postseason run.

“It still hasn’t hit me yet, but over the summer it’s going to hit me more,” said Wilson of being a senior. “We want to go to state and to work hard as a team, play our game. We’re really good this year.”

Wilson is complemented in the lineup by Ullrich, a Lewis University signee who hit .390 last season and slugged a single-season school record nine home runs. Evangelista added five homers, while Holaway hit .324. The Falcons also have a nice one-two punch on the mound with Thornton, a junior, and senior Kahla Nolan, who combined for 23 victories in 2010. Thornton also hit nearly .400 and was second on the team with 31 RBIs.

What do the Falcons (6-2 through their first eight games in 2011) have to do in order to reach their ultimate goal of going downstate?

"We’ve got to be smart,” Calabrese replied. “That’s our one area that I think we need to learn and know how to take the extra base, where to go with the ball. They need to understand the game of softball more. The athleticism is there; the talent is there. Mentally, that’s where we need to get better. We need to get better with the mental aspects of the game, both confidence-wise and game knowledge-wise.”