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Sports

Wilson, Wyatt Trying to Chill Out This Summer

Paige Wilson and Bri Wyatt, standouts on their Wheaton North and Glenbard West teams, will head to college next month. But until then, they play for the Illinois Chill's 18U Gold team.

On those occasions over the past four years when Glenbard West and Wheaton North have faced off on the softball diamond—usually once, possibly twice, each spring—Bri Wyatt and Paige Wilson had to put their game faces on and try to beat each other’s team.

Yet that can be a bit awkward when your best friend is sitting in the opposing team’s dugout.

“It’s a big rivalry,” said Wyatt, who graduated from Glenbard West in June. “When we’ve played each other, it’s like, ‘Oh, Paige is out there; we’ve got to beat her.’ You never want the other person to get you out. It’s funny.”

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Although Wyatt and Wilson, a Wheaton North grad, played on opposing high school teams during their stellar careers, they’ve been able to team up over the summer months.

The girls have been summer teammates since ages 9 and 10. They once played for the Glen Ellyn Phillies travel team, and now they’re part of the Illinois Chill’s 18U Gold team, which competed at last weekend’s second annual DeMarini Invitational Showcase.

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Approximately 40 teams from 17 states—states as far away as Arizona—competed in the five-day event.

Wyatt and Wilson are the Chill’s double-play combination at second base and shortstop, respectively, this summer.

“It’s good,” Wilson said. “We’re really best friends so it’s just nice to play with each other. We kind of get each other’s drift.”

Holding down the fort at short is nothing new for Wilson, who starred there all four years for coach Karen Calabrese’s Falcons. Wilson was arguably one of the top shortstops in the state and set a Wheaton North school softball record for career hits with 174.

Wyatt, though, had to make a bit of an adjustment switching back to being an infielder after patrolling center field in the spring for Glenbard West.

“I’m an infielder in the summer and I played center field in high school,” said Wyatt, who led off for the Hilltoppers the past three years and helped Glenbard West to a 24-9 record in 2011.

“We (Wyatt and Wilson) get to work together so it’s pretty deadly,” she laughs. “She’s not only a good a great teammate; she’s been a best friend. Whenever something goes wrong we pick each other up, and we make great plays together. We work together to make both of us better. Apart, we’re not as good as we are together.”

This summer, however, is the last hurrah for Wyatt and Wilson as teammates. Next month, they’ll go their separate ways to continue their softball careers at the collegiate level.

“It’ll be hard because we’re going to be going to colleges that are across the country,” Wyatt said.

Wilson is off to the University of Georgia, where she’ll compete for a starting infield spot, and Wyatt has already moved her belongings to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a Division I school.

For the time being, Wyatt is staying with Wilson until she goes back to Kansas City to join her new team either Aug. 17 or 18. The UMKC Kangaroos, 38-16 last spring, compete in the Summit League. UMKC plays a short fall season in addition to its regular spring season.

It appears as if Wyatt’s days of playing the outfield are over because UMKC recruited her as a middle infielder.

“So far that’s what I’m planning on playing,” Wyatt said. “They’re thinking second or short. I’m pretty much willing to do anything.”

No matter which position Wyatt ends up playing, Mary McGrane, her coach at Glenbard West, is confident she’ll succeed at the next level.

“I think she found a great fit for her,” McGrane said. “It’s a great academic school for her and it fits her academic needs. I think she’ll do well. She’s a kid that’s going to give you everything she has every single day. And coaches love that. Her teammates will feed off her energy, and she works hard. If she just plays the game like she knows how to, she’ll go and make an immediate impact.”

Wilson, meanwhile, is joining a Georgia squad that was one of the nation’s top-ranked teams in 2011. The Bulldogs, ranked ninth in the final USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) poll, made their 10th consecutive NCAA Division I Softball Championship appearance and advanced to the Super Regional for the fifth time. Georgia finished the year 51-14.

Georgia coaches have told Wilson that she will be competing for the starting shortstop job, but if she doesn’t win that position, she’ll move over to third base.

Wilson will be leaving for Georgia around mid-August.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m really excited to go down there. They (coaches) said we’ll get about three days to settle in, and after that, we’re going to start practicing.”

But Wyatt and Wilson haven’t packed their bags yet, and they’re savoring every remaining week playing together on the Chill.

“We’re such a great team,” Wyatt said, laughing. 

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