Massachusetts: St. John's senior star, brother with autism, team up on baseball field

SHREWSBURY — As Camden Chenevert legged out an infield single on Tuesday afternoon, he was joined by his younger brother, Brady, each step of the way to first base at Pioneer Field.

The two brothers from Shrewsbury then performed their patented handshake: side to side, up and down, and then a fist bump in the middle. “We’ve been doing that for five years,” Brady Chenevert said. “We have a lot of different ones, but that’s our main one. Whenever he does something I’m really proud of, or before I go on the ice (for a hockey game), it’s that handshake.”

Brady, 18, is a senior left-handed pitcher with the St. John’s baseball team and Camden, 21, is autistic and plays for the Shrewsbury Challenger Division, which provides the opportunity for people with physical or intellectual challenges to play baseball.

On May 26, St. John’s hosted the Shrewsbury Challenger Division for a joint practice before the Pioneers get ready to play in their first MIAA Division 1 tournament game on Sunday.

“It’s days like this that I value a lot. Getting out there on the field with him,” Brady said. “It’s stuff like that that really warms the heart in a sense and brings a tear to my mother’s eyes.”
“Seeing Brady and Camden out on the baseball field together is probably the most special thing as a mom,” said Lauren Chenevert, Brady and Camden’s mother. “Just to know that someone has Camden’s back for life is pretty important to me.”

The start of something good

Once Camden Chenevert graduated from T-ball roughly 13 years ago, the then 8-year-old with autism started to face more challenges on the baseball diamond. He wasn’t enjoying the sport as much.

So, in 2014, Chip Collins, whose son was classmates and teammates with Camden at the time, helped start the Shrewsbury Challenger Division. “I just knew that I needed to get something for Camden to play,” Collins said. “Just having that opportunity and just building that team was really great. If someone told me that 12 or 13 years later this was going to happen, I’d say ‘Yeah, right.’”
 
Shrewsbury’s Challenger Division started off with 11 players. Over a decade later, there are over 40 players ranging in age from 5 to 35, and two subdivisions (littles, ages 5-15, and seniors, 15 and up). Camden, now 21, continues to play on the senior team. “It started with Camden,” Collins told the T&G in 2024. “Camden brought us all together. To me, this is Camden’s league.”
 
According to Brady Chenevert, Camden is a cheerful and big guy who enjoys joking around, doing puzzles, gardening, and playing sports. “On the outside he seems kind of scary, maybe a little intimidating,” Brady said. “But deep down he’s a fun-loving and huggable guy.”

Camden helps his father, Sean, with their traveling donut truck called DonutNV, and plays basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring and does powerlifting with the Special Olympics in his spare time. “He’s got me on deadlifts,” Brady said. “I don’t know how.”
 
His brother's biggest fan

Before Brady Chenevert began his sophomore season with the St. John’s ice hockey team in 2023, the Pioneers presented his brother, Camden, who is the middle child of three siblings (Tyler Chenevert is 23), with a No. 10 red hockey jersey. “Once he put on that jersey, he never stopped wearing it,” Brady said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to bring him in. It meant a lot to me, and it meant a lot to my family.”
 
Through the years, whether it’s the winter season or the spring season, Camden Chenevert has become a staple at St. John’s sporting events. “Cam is a mainstay at every baseball game and every hockey game,” St. John’s baseball coach Casey Cummins said. “I see Camden in his St. John’s gear, even though he went to Shrewsbury High, just loving being at the hockey rink or the baseball field,” said Chase Collins, a 2023 Shrewsbury High grad (along with Camden) and the son of Chip Collins. “He’s such a special person.”

After the St. John’s hockey team reached the Division 1 state final at TD Garden for a second straight season this past winter, Camden, who is nonverbal, gave a speech at the hockey team’s banquet.
 
With the help of his iPad and mother, Camden shared his feelings for the sports team that made him feel like family over the last few years. “You make me happy,” Camden’s iPad said out loud. “You make me feel like I belong.” Before Camden presented the entire hockey team with black T-shirts that had the “SJ” logo on it and multicolored puzzle pieces (the symbol of autism) inside the two letters, he delivered his thoughts about his younger bro, Brady. “My brother, thank you, always there for me. My person, my best friend,” Camden’s iPad said. “You always protect me. I will always be your No. 1 fan. I love you.”

Bigger than baseball

While Camden Chenevert usually watches his brother play sports from the stands, on Tuesday, he teamed up with Brady Chenevert on the baseball field. For just over an hour, Camden and his Shrewsbury Challenger teammates shared the diamond with Brady and his St. John’s baseball teammates. The two teams stretched, ran laps around the bases and did batting and fielding drills. “To see Brady and Camden out on the field as teammates, it’s hard to describe what it feels like,” Chip Collins said. “But it feels good. It’s a really amazing moment.” “Seeing Brady bring the whole baseball team together to be with his brother is such a special moment,” Chase Collins said.

 
Camden immediately put on his new St. John’s swag.

“I don’t think that’s coming off,” said Brady, who is committed to play baseball at UMass Amherst. And as Brady wrapped up talking to the T&G about how special it was to spend the afternoon with his autistic brother on the baseball field, Camden came over and the two siblings from Shrewsbury placed their arms around one another. “He’s my best friend and (the St. John’s brotherhood) means a lot,” Brady said. “I share my brothers with my brother. It’s a happy day for him and it’s a happy day for me.” The two brothers then performed their handshake one last time. Brady and Camden Chenevert were in sync each step of the way on Tuesday — just like they have been for the past 18 years. “It’s one of those moments that’s bigger than baseball,” Brady said.

“It is emotional,” Lauren Chenevert said. “It’s an amazing friendship that goes beyond a brotherhood and Camden feels like he’s a teammate of his brother. It’s an amazing culmination of all the years of the two of them together. Camden was always kind of on the outside looking in. It’s a nice way to finish it all off.”