Mike Armitage is in his third season as the head softball coach at Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2023-24. He was named to the post in Aug. 2021.
Armitage and the Dragons experienced a renaissance in 2023, working towards a 30-16 overall record and a 16-8 NSIC mark. It is the most wins in program history since the 2007 season. MSUM clinched a bid to the NSIC Tournament for the first time in 15 years. For his efforts along the third-base line, Armitage earned NSIC Coach of the Year honors. MSUM had Mack Gallagher and Avery Steffen named to the All-NSIC First Team while Gallagher became the first player in program history to earn NFCA All-Region honors.
As a team, MSUM set single-season school records in in on-base percentage, runs and runs batted in 2023.
In his first season Armitage guided the Dragons to an 8-36 mark.
Armitage was an assistant coach at Illinois State University since 2018, starting as a volunteer assistant coach before being promoted to the full-time assistant position. He assisted Illinois State to the 2021 regular season Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
“I am very excited about leading this program into a new era of Dragon softball,” Armitage said. “In a short period of time, I believe our university and community will have a softball program that they can be very proud of. I would like to thank Chad Markuson and the entire search committee for their professionalism and for ultimately giving me this opportunity.”
He also worked as an assistant coach for the USA U19 National men’s team from 2017 to 2019.
Prior to that, Armitage was head softball coach at Lexington Schools Unit #7, where he led the team to the 2016 regional championship. He was a physical education/health teacher in the district from 2013-2019. As a coach, Armitage has assisted or served as the head coach on teams with conference, regional and sectional championships at the high school level in softball and baseball.
An accomplished fast pitch player, Armitage played on multiple North American Fastpitch Association teams, and was a first-team All-American.
Armitage earned a degree in physical education from Wisconsin-Platteville in 2008, and a master’s degree in kinesiology and recreation from Illinois State in 2018.
Armitage and his wife, Katie, have two children -- daughter Ella (6) and son AJ (5).
