By Kyle LoJacono
Academy at the Lakes has only 120 high school students, but senior softball player Kallie Shirling’s impressed enough to get a scholarship with Thomas University.
“It’s so exciting,” said Kallie, who plans to study physiology. “I’m from Boston, so when I was younger I always wanted to play for the Boston Red Sox. Now I get to play for a college team and it’s the best feeling.”
Kallie is mainly a shortstop and second baseman, but has played everywhere since she picked up the game at age 6.
“She’s a fearless player,” said Jack Shirling, her father and coach at the academy. “She’ll play anywhere we ask, even if she’s never done it before. She just says put me in and I’ll get it done. She’s always been that way. She looks at every position as a different challenge.”
She will likely continue in the middle infield at Thomas. Night Hawks coach Bill Wilson said his starting second baseman is graduating this year.
“She’ll probably get to compete for that spot,” Wilson said. “Every year our roster is wide open.”
Kallie is the second softball player from the academy to sign with a college, according to athletic director Tom Haslem. She is also the second player from the New Tampa Little League to sign a letter of intent, according to league president Monica Wooden.
“We gave her the opportunity to come in and work out for us and I also saw her in travel ball,” Wilson said. “She did a great job in her tryout. It’s also important to me that we don’t just get good players, but good kids and students. She’s all those things.”
Kallie helped the Wildcats reach the Class 1A regional semifinals last year for the first time in program history. She is currently batting .440 with three doubles, two triples and one home run while batting third for the Wildcats, who have started the season with a 3-4 record.
Kallie went to Wharton High as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to the academy for her junior year. She said she enjoys that smaller school feel, which is one of the reasons she picked Thomas.
