D1 Softball Final: Safe at Home, Again
June 16, 2012
BATTLE CREEK – The combined numbers put up Mattawan and Hudsonville in Saturday’s Division 1 Final at Bailey Park indicate a game that came down to just one play.
And Eagles junior shortstop Danielle Freeman made it when she slid into home safely to give her team a 2-1 win in 10 innings and the MHSAA championship.
The teams did combine for 19 hits over 19 innings pitched, but only one earned run. At the end, Hudsonville freshman Lexi Agers won out by the slightest of margins over Mattawan senior Stacy Thompson, who had helped her team to the title in 2011.
Agers struck out six and walked only one in 10 innings. Thompson stuck out eight and walked only one as well for the Wildcats, who finished 33-11.
Freeman led off the bottom of the 10th with a single to center field. Junior first baseman Ellie Adams followed with a single to right. Freeman then scored on a throwing error after senior second baseman Bri Elliott had bunted her to third base.
Freeman finished with three hits and Agers had two for Hudsonville, which finished 40-3 and entered the tournament ranked No. 4. Sophomore second baseman Kyla Nickrent had two hits and scored the lone run for Mattawan, which was ranked No. 3. Click for a complete box score.
The championship was Hudsonville’s third in four seasons.
PHOTO: Hudsonville's Josie Hamming slides in safely during the second inning for the Eagles' first run in the Division 2 Final.
Senior Slugger Capozzo, Armada Put Powerful Finish on Historic Championship Run
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – Taylor Capozzo had a couple of key roles on the Armada softball team this year.
One was at the plate, where her 14 home runs led an explosive offense.
The other was in the field. On a team with only two seniors, her leadership kept the Tigers focused on the way to the school’s first MHSAA Finals softball championship.
“My job is to lead the best I can,” said Capozzo, whose two-run homer in the first inning Saturday proved to be the only runs Armada needed in a 9-1 victory over Farmington Hills Mercy in the Division 2 championship game.
The title capped a magical season for the Tigers, who got off to a shaky start.
“We had seven errors against Richmond early (in the season),” Armada coach Rob Girvin said. “We said if we can clean up in the field, we can be pretty good.”
That’s not the only thing Girvin saw in his team.
“I told Taylor before (Saturday’s) game that I dreamed she hit a home run,” Girvin said.
Her clout helped relax the Tigers (37-8), who scored in every inning but the seventh.
Charlotte Stang homered and drove in three runs for Armada, which also took advantage of five Mercy errors in the field.
Meanwhile, freshman lefty pitcher Megan Cox was dominant, striking out 13 and allowing just four hits and one unearned run two days after she shut out top-ranked Stevensville Lakeshore in the Semifinal to send her team to the weekend.
In addition, the Tigers had a good-luck charm courtesy of fifth-grader Cody Ballard. He gave Girvin a courage coin given to him during his treatment for leukemia.
“I’ve had it in my pocket since school ended," Girvin said. "I can’t wait to call his mother.”
Mercy coach Alec Lesko, whose team had a similar unexpected tournament run, had no regrets. The Marlins went 6-1 during the tournament to push past .500 and finished 21-18.
“We kept getting better,” Lesko said. “You could see the progress at the end. It was a blessing to coach with my daughter and my grandchildren. I have a big family, and they were all here today.”
PHOTOS (Top) Armada players celebrate their Division 2 championship Saturday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Tigers shortstop Helena Fettue applies a tag on Mercy’s Sophia Chaput (28) as she slides into second base.