Barbeau heading to Spring Arbor for softball
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HILLMAN -- On Wednesday, Hillman High School senior Nicole Barbeau achieved a momentous milestone after years of dedication and hard work.
Despite verbally committing earlier in the month, she officially signed her National Letter of Intent to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and play softball for Spring Arbor University.
In the company of family, friends, teammates, and coaches, Barbeau embraced this significant moment, announcing her academic and athletic journey at the collegiate level.
Barbeau plans to pursue a degree in Speech Pathology at the university while actively participating in the softball team.
"This day is exciting because this is a new chapter in my life that I am stepping into," Barbeau said. "This is the day I made a big decision about where I am going to live for the next four years and the new family and friends I'm going to join. I am excited to further my softball career, as it's been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. This is so special for me, and I want to encourage everyone to follow their dreams."
One key aspect Barbeau thought of when deciding to join the Cougars was the ability to continue her religious beliefs through her education.
With Spring Arbor being a Free Methodist university, she already feels welcome and homely regarding her foundation of faith.
Another top feature in her decision was teaming up with Hall of Fame coach Deb Thompson and joining a successful 31-win team.
"I chose to pursue my academic and athletic career at Spring Arbor University for faith-based education and because I felt most at home, accepted by the team and staff, and fell in love with how beautiful the campus was," Barbeau said. "Having a faith-based education and coach Deb (Thompson) made a huge impact on my decision as she made me feel wanted on the team and always made sure to check up on me to see how I was doing, which sparked my interest knowing I had a coach who truly cared about me."
Before heading off to Spring Arbor, Barbeau still has one final season with the Hillman Tigers.
She's already achieved greatness at the school, holding 10 Hillman school records.
Barbeau leads the team in career hits (173), wins in a season (28 - 2022), wins in a career (61), strikeouts in a season (301 - 2022), RBI in a season (59 - 2022), RBI in a career (129), runs scored in a season (83 - 2022 - tied seventh on MHSAA record list), runs scored in a career (188th - on MHSAA record list), home runs in a career (24th - on MHSAA record-list) and holds the top two spots in home runs in a single season with 12 in 2022 and 9 in 2023.
She is also second in seven different school records, including just 37 strikeouts away from achieving Hillman's all-time strikeout leader.
As Barbeau is bound to break more records, she heads into the season looking to complete team accomplishments rather than individual ones.
The top priority is looking to make it all the way and achieve the State Championship.
After this season, Barbeau will be heading off to Spring Arbor, willing to fill any role necessary for Coach Thompson to compete at the collegiate level confidently.