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.
Pallozzi Seeking to Add Memorable Finish to Unforgettable Start as Mercy's Ace
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 3, 2025
FARMINGTON HILLS — Three years ago at about this time, Farmington Hills Mercy softball coach Corey Burras sent then promising freshman Kaitlyn Pallozzi out to the circle for her first varsity game knowing she possessed lots of potential.
But what happened next is something that still amazes Burras and everyone else who witnessed it.
Pallozzi threw a no-hitter in that debut, striking out 14 batters for the Marlins. Oh, and it got better.
Three days later, Pallozzi struck out all 21 batters she faced in a 1-0 win over Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, becoming the 12th pitcher in state history to strike out at least 21 in a seven-inning game and the third to strike out at least 21 straight hitters.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been a part of a game like that, playing or watching,” Burras said. “It was magical to see.”
Magical would be a good way to describe the high school career up to this point for Pallozzi, who is now a senior and a solid contender to be throwing the final out of this year’s Division 1 championship at Secchia Stadium come June.
Going into the season opener Tuesday at Dearborn Divine Child, Pallozzi had a 57-4 record, 899 strikeouts and a 0.54 earned-run average in 372 2/3 innings pitched for her career.
Signed to play collegiately for Alabama, Pallozzi also is a .400 hitter in the heart of Mercy’s lineup.
But her pitching dominance is what’s been especially notable during her high school career, which is somewhat remarkable since she said she wasn’t full-time into the position until she was about 13 years old while playing travel ball.
“I did pitch, but just in the (travel) seasons, I was never put in (games),” Pallozzi said. “I played third base and first base. When I got to 13-U, I was put in more and I started developing. I had been working for it my whole life. I knew I always wanted to be a pitcher. I really worked over that winter and then coming into the summer, it really took off.”
Already with a good arm from playing third base, it didn’t take long for Pallozzi to master the craft of pitching, how to move the ball and change speeds.
“I always threw pretty hard,” she said. “My location was inaccurate. I had to work on locating, adding a changeup and also a rise ball.”
Burras said Pallozzi took her game to a whole new level last year in the midst of a tougher schedule, practically driving Mercy to a Semifinal berth.
While it might seem impossible, Burras said there definitely can be more improvement from Pallozzi this year as a senior, even as she is arguably the favorite for the Miss Softball Award.
“She drove our team to the best it could be last year,” Burras said. “What’s she’s working on is accepting the role and responsibility of being a leader on the team. Also, accepting the role and pressure of getting all this attention, which she doesn’t want. She wants to go out there and support her teammates, play great softball and get prepared for the next stage.
“The most improvement you’ll see is strength and size. She’s also working on the mental aspect of the game, knowing it’s OK if she gives up a hit and it’s OK if she’s not at her best.”
There haven’t been too many times in high school where Pallozzi hasn’t been at her best, but the one most notable occasion is what is driving her and the Marlins this spring.
Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong in a 10-0 Semifinal loss to eventual Division 1 champion Hudsonville last year. With Pallozzi and all but two regulars back from that team and a roster filled with seniors, it’s no wonder Mercy is on top of the preseason coaches association Division 1 rankings.
“I think we are all fueled because of that game,” Pallozzi said.
As difficult as her debut three years ago has been to top, if Pallozzi and Mercy can celebrate a title in East Lansing, her last game of high school softball would be even more memorable than her first.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy’s Kaitlyn Pallozzi makes her move toward the plate during last season’s Division 1 Semifinal against Hudsonville. (Middle) Pallozzi, during a practice this spring.