St. George softball player earns NCAA scholarship
Madeline Hallman will attend the University of Detroit Mercy; will also compete for under-18 national team at Pan American Championships
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While most people anticipate the arrival of summer, Madeline Hallman will be awaiting its end.
Hallman, a Grade 12 student at Paris District High School, accepted a scholarship last fall to attend the University of Detroit Mercy where she’ll study psychology and play softball for the Titans starting this summer.
“I’m very excited,” the 17-year-old St. George native said. “It will be a change for sure but I’m ready for it.”
Hallman has made several stops along her journey.
It wasn’t long after learning to walk that the daughter of Ryan and Lori stepped onto the ball field. Hallman started off by playing T-ball in St. George at the age of four.
“At first I started off making a lot of friendships through it and then I realized it was something big and I wanted to take it further,” she said.
Playing in her hometown until she was 12, Hallman eventually moved on to play for the Brantford Bobcats.
“I wanted to get more competition and we also got to play more games and that’s what also drew me into going there,” said the outfielder, who also pitched when she was younger.
“The pitching was a lot stronger. You’d get more balls hit to you in the outfield, which I liked.”
A strong fielder with a great arm, Hallman’s next stop is her latest. Following her time with Brantford, she went to Woodstock where she plays for the D1 Nationals.
“I’d heard amazing things about the coach, Courtney Gilbert,” Hallman said of playing for the former member of Canada’s national team.
“It’s literally been the best experience of my life. We’ve come really far. We came second at Canadian nationals in August.”
After winning two provincial championships and the 2022 Ontario Summer Games title, the D1 Nationals were second last year in the country in the under-17 division.
Heading into the under-19 season, Hallman said the team has been training all winter.
“We’re looking to definitely compete at nationals again, hopefully for first place this time,” she said. “We’re definitely eager to get that gold medal.”
As for her upcoming post-secondary career, Hallman said she had some interest from other schools but Detroit Mercy felt comfortable right away.
“What really drew me to Detroit Mercy is my mom’s family is from Michigan,” she said. “It just felt like a second home.
“The coaches and players were all really nice and they have small class sizes.”
Hallman recently received more good news. In February, she was named to Canada’s under-18 national team that will compete at the 2024 WBSC Americas Pan American Championship in Monteria, Colombia from March 30 to April 6.
The top five teams from the 11-team event will secure a spot at the 2024 WBSC under-18 Women’s Softball World Cup Group Stage, with those events taking place in Brazil, China or the U.S.
“I cried when I got the phone call,” Hallman said of being named to the team. “I was in shock.”
While the national women’s team is obviously a goal, Hallman will take things one step at a time. She has plans to keep going for a while.
“Ever since I moved to rep softball, I wanted to continue doing this throughout my entire life,” she said, thanking her family for their support.
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