The baseball diamond is providing another avenue to meet new friends for the Chislett siblings, so they embrace every chance they get to deck out in their uniforms.
Shilo Chislett, a 14-year-old Stephenville native, and her 11-year-old sister Devaro1, are taking their game to the baseball diamond in Chicago in August.
Shilo will be suiting up with the DC Force of Washington, D. C. in the U14 age group at the 2018 Baseball For All National Championship being held Aug. 2-5 in Rockford, Ill., while Devaro will be wearing the colours of the Boston Slammers in the U13 age group.
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Shilo has been playing for six years and played for the province at nationals last summer, but making the venture to Chicago to see how she stacks up with the top-notch female players in the United States is something she’s eager to experience.
She has been included in the team’s group email and has received a number of emails from girls who wanted to welcome her to the group and told her she was going to have a great experience.
“It makes me feel more like part of the team even though I haven’t met them yet,” Shilo said earlier this week.
Shilo loves being on the diamond. It’s one of her favourite things to do because she loves being part of a team and being with girls her age who share the same drive.
“When you’re playing with teammates and having a good time you have a connection with everyone and meeting new girls makes it a lot more fun,” she said.
Five games of baseball are on the agenda for the trip, but there will also be some pretty good female coaches sharing their wisdom and experiences so she’s planning on soaking it all up.
“It will be great opportunity because I will be making new friends and taking my baseball skills up a level,” Shilo said. “I’m just hoping to get better and learn more from people who have actually played baseball and know the game.”
Devaro has travelled to a number of big tournaments to watch her sister play, including the 2017 nationals in Toronto, but she thinks it’s pretty cool that she gets to play in her first big tournament with her sister going to the same one.
“It’s a really cool experience to learn a bunch of new stuff and to make new friends, and to do it with my sister is great,” she said.
Devaro is excited and nervous all rolled into one about an opportunity not afforded every young girl her age, but she won’t be one of those players who will be watching the scoreboard or looking at her personal stats line.
She will be looking to meet some new friends from baseball diamonds throughout the United States so that’s where she hopes to deliver the biggest hit.
She plans on being somewhat of a social butterfly.
“I hope that I learn new things and I make new friends,” Devaro said.
