Armada Upsets No. 1 Lakeshore, Mercy Extends Stunning Playoff Push
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 11, 2026
EAST LANSING — For Armada freshman pitcher Megan Cox, there were two big moments during a Division 2 Semifinal against Stevensville Lakeshore on Thursday that required her to compose herself.
The first came with two outs in the sixth inning, when Cox officially lost a no-hitter. While a small letdown, it wasn’t a huge deal, given she and Armada were still holding on to a 4-0 lead at the time.
But composure was really needed in the top of the seventh.
After a dropped fly ball in the outfield with two outs plated a run, Lakeshore scored another to make it 4-2 and had runners on first and second with two outs.
“I was getting a little nervous,” Cox admitted. “I was just trying to hit my spot.”
She did, ending the game on a strikeout to give Armada a 4-2 win over the top-ranked Lancers and a trip to Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. championship game at Secchia Stadium.
Cox certainly didn’t pitch like a freshman, striking out 14 batters for the Tigers (36-8).
Armada head coach Rob Girvin said his staff and Cox didn’t have anything special gameplan-wise for Lakeshore’s lineup.
“A lot of people talk matchups,” Girvin said. “I’ve always been the school of thought that if they can’t stop it, you keep doing it. I just going to (call) what she throws well and if they hit it, they hit it. We’ll go best on best and if you’re better than us, we’ll tip our cap.”
Armada’s offense set the tone early, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by sophomore Lilyana Piconke and Cox.
The Tigers made it 3-0 in the third on an RBI single by senior Taylor Capozzo and went up 4-0 in the fourth on an RBI single by junior Addy VanHoeck.
From there, Cox held off Lakeshore to put Armada (36-8) in its first Final since finishing Class C runner-up in 1979.
“We thought we’d throw together a schedule that might make us .500, but really test us,” Girvin said of the regular season. “Make us go through some adversity in games so we would get down in games and have to battle back. They learned throughout the year. Yeah, we blew a couple early in the season where we had to learn, but they’ve really bought into team-first ball.”
Lakeshore, which was pursuing its ninth Finals title, finished 34-5.
“She threw great,” Lancers head coach Denny Dock said of Cox. “Hat’s off to her. She met the challenge. We didn’t play very good offensively and worse, we didn’t play very good defense. When you’re facing the good pitchers, you have to match zeroes. You have to make zeroes, and we didn’t do that.”
Farmington Hills Mercy 7, Ogemaw Heights 1
If you told high school softball pundits before the 2025 season that Farmington Hills Mercy was soon going to reach a state championship game, nine of 10 undoubtably would have assumed it would have been last year.
With a senior-laden team and the eventual Miss Softball Award winner in Kaitlyn Pallozzi, Mercy spent most of last spring ranked No. 1 in Division 1, but got upset in a Regional Semifinal against Northville.
Decimated by graduation losses and with just 13 players showing up for tryouts in March, Mercy — which moved to Division 2 this year — hardly had expectations after finishing below .500 during the regular season and seeing its streak of five straight Catholic High School League titles come to an end.
But lo and behold, Mercy has caught fire at the right time and is in a championship game for the first time since winning the Division 1 title in 2016.
“If anyone was around us for the last six, seven weeks, we were incredible at practice and everything,” Mercy co-coach Alec Lesko said. “They went from being scared to make a play, to wanting every ball hit at them. It was a huge difference. Every single one of those kids in the lineup wants to be in the batter’s box when the game is on the line. It flipped like a switch. It was great to see.
Mercy jumped on Ogemaw Heights early, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI triple by junior Taylor Selimi, an RBI double by sophomore Vanessa Husband and an RBI single by freshman Audrey McGavin.
Senior Sophia Chaput then homered in the second inning, and McGavin hit an RBI sacrifice fly in the third to make it 5-0 Mercy.
From there, senior pitcher Anna McGavin held Ogemaw Heights at bay by brilliantly pitching out of jams.
In the fourth inning, Ogemaw Heights put runners on second and third with nobody out, but McGavin struck out three straight. In the fifth, the Falcons had runners on first and second with no outs, but a double play and a strikeout got McGavin and Mercy back in the dugout.
Ogemaw Heights also put its first two runners on in the sixth inning, but a lineout, popup and strikeout by McGavin ended the threat.
She allowed one run on eight hits, striking out 11 and walking two.
“We just couldn’t get them across,” Ogemaw Heights head coach Ryan Nicholson said. “They’re a good team. (McGavin) had a good rise ball going on us. She’s a good pitcher. … We just couldn’t push them across, so I give them all the credit.”
PHOTOS (Top) Armada’s Megan Cox fires a pitch toward the plate during her team’s Semifinal win over Stevensville Lakeshore on Thursday. (Middle) Mercy’s Sophia Chaput (28) yells toward her team’s dugout after reaching second base, while Ogemaw Heights’ Aubrey Evans throws the ball back to the pitcher.
Regina, Howell Advance with Late Rallies
June 13, 2019
By Jason Schmitt
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – There’s no such thing as ugly when it comes to advancing in the MHSAA softball playoffs.
Warren Regina manufactured the game-winning run in a most unusual way Thursday afternoon against Bay City Western. And the Saddlelites aren’t going to apologize to anyone after their 4-0 victory over the Warriors in a Division 1 Semifinal matchup at Secchia Stadium.
Senior Marisa Muglia led the seventh inning off with a single to get things going for her Saddlelites (29-11). The next batter, sophomore Mia Konyvka, dropped down a sacrifice bunt. Western made the play at first base, but freshman Jenna Holt, courtesy running for Muglia, pressed the issue, rounding second and heading for third. The throw to third base ricocheted off Holt and went into Regina’s dugout. A dead ball was called, allowing Holt to score what would be the winning run.
“To be honest, I’ve done that many times before,” said Holt, who actually overran second base before deciding to just head to third. “I just knew that, with my speed, I could cause chaos. I don’t even know what was going through my head. All I remember is sliding into third and hearing, ‘The ball is dead.’ And I was awarded home.”
Regina head coach Diane Laffey saw the chaos play out in front of her while coaching third base. She was a little nervous, to say the least.
“I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, why did she overrun the base?’” said Laffey, with a smile on her face. “She does it a lot, and we keep reminding her. She played JV most of the season, and they can get away with it on JV. She’s been out a couple times doing it since we’ve brought her up. So I’m like, ‘Jenna, they’re going to throw and get you out.’ Fortunately they threw behind her, and the throw to third got away and we lucked out.”
Muglia pitched a complete-game, two-hitter to pick up the victory for the Saddlelites, who will face Howell in the title game on Saturday. She did not hesitate when asked if it was her best pitching performance of her career.
“Most definitely,” she said. “My riseball and my curveball were major components (for me) today.”
For the first six innings, it was a pitchers’ duel, with Western junior Adaline Ziehmer matching Muglia pitch for pitch. Ziehmer allowed five hits and two earned runs while taking the loss.
Regina added three more runs in the seventh, with sophomore Miranda Nicholas driving in a pair on a slap single down the left field line. Junior Jacqueline Jozefczyk added an RBI single to complete the scoring.
“The girls had a great six and a half innings, and I don’t want to say the wheels fell off, but we’re used to putting runs up on the board,” Western head coach Kris Popp said. “It looks worse than it is, but we just didn’t score. If we could have put some runs on the board right off the bat like we usually do, put some pressure on the other team, and it makes a huge difference in the game.
“(Muglia) did a good job keeping us off balance. She threw well. She was making us hit pitches that we’re not used to swinging at.”
Western finished the season 31-6.
Howell 9, Clarkston 6
Juniors Skye Grant and Molly Carney weren’t about to let a chance to get to the Division 1 championship game get away from their team Thursday night. Each had clutch hits as the Highlanders scored three runs in the top half of the seventh inning to pull out a victory over Clarkston, ensuring their team a spot in Saturday’s final game against Warren Regina.
“The way the whole thing set up in that last inning was that they had the middle of their lineup coming up, and we had the bottom of our lineup coming up,” said Howell head coach Ron Pezzoni, who will see his program play for its first Finals championship. “And Skye, Molly, sometimes your unlikely players come up clutch. Skye has been getting big hits for us all year, some big RBIs. And Molly, we keep putting her out there and she’s getting hits. Those at bats were huge for us.”
With one out and the game tied 6-6, Grant doubled, scoring pinch runner Avery Pruss, giving her team the lead. Carney, the next batter, drilled a base hit to right field, scoring sophomores Maddie Springer and Jane Anderson to give the Highlanders (36-3) some breathing room. Grant and Carney were a combined 0-for-4 heading into those last at bats.
Howell jumped out to a 6-1 lead through its half of the fourth inning. Senior Maddie Gillett, who finished 3-for-4 in the win, had a clutch two-run single in the third to help get things going for the Highlanders. Senior A.J. Militello, sophomore Avery Wolverton and Springer each added two hits in their team’s win.
Pezzoni was still in shock after the game had ended, but he had nothing but respect for the Wolves and the effort they put into the game.
“Clarkston is a great team, as deep as any team around,” Pezzoni said. “We knew, even when we were up 6-1, that it wasn’t going to be easy, that we were going to have to get a lot of tough outs. Fortunately, we did.”
Senior Anna Skvarce, junior Sierra Kersten and sophomore Sam Wycoff all had two hits to lead Clarkston (36-3). Juniors Hannah Cady and Nyah Ansel each scored a pair of runs in their team’s loss.
“I’m just really proud of (my players),” Clarkston head coach Don Peters said. “I told them it was an amazing comeback and shows their grit and determination. I guess we were trying out how to stop them, and they were trying to figure out how to stop us. And they did a little better job.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Warren Regina’s Jenna Holt, right, is greeted after scoring her team’s first run Thursday evening. (Middle) Howell players celebrate during their Semifinal win.