Mike Armitage was hired as head coach of the Valpo softball program in June 2024 and is entering his second season as head coach in 2026 after a successful first campaign at the helm.
In his first year at Valpo, Armitage guided the Beacons to 20 wins - the program's winningest season since 2018 and an 11-win improvement over the previous season. Valpo posted a six-win improvement within MVC play, finishing with its highest total of Valley wins, its most MVC series wins and its best Valley regular season finish since 2018 as well.
The 2025 Beacons saw dramatic improvement across the board, both offensively and defensively. Valpo finished with its highest total of runs scored in a season since 2017 and its lowest team ERA since 2018, while also drawing the third-most walks in a season in program history. Azalya Lopez was a Second Team All-MVC honoree, while three different players combined for four weekly conference awards during the season.
Armitage came to Valpo following a successful stretch as head coach at Minnesota State University Moorhead, turning around the Dragons’ program. He spent three seasons as head coach at MSUM, posting the first back-to-back 30-win seasons in MSUM program history in 2023 and 2024 after inheriting a Dragons program which had not finished above .500 since 2007.
Armitage led MSUM to a 33-19 record in 2024, matching the second-most wins in a season in program history. The Dragons advanced to the semifinals of the NSIC Tournament for the first time in program history. Three MSUM players earned All-Conference accolades in 2024, while the Dragons also boasted the conference’s Elite 18 Award winner, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NSIC's 18 Championships.
In 2023, Armitage led the Dragons — who had posted a 9-34 record in 2021, the season prior to his arrival — to a 30-16 mark, their first 30-win campaign since the 2007 season. Armitage was named NSIC Coach of the Year and had a player earn NFCA All-Region honors for the first time in program history. The 2023 MSUM team set program single-season records for runs scored, RBIs and on-base percentage.
Prior to his time at MSUM, Armitage spent three years on staff at Illinois State, working the last two seasons as an assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant in his first season. Armitage helped lead the Redbirds to an MVC regular season championship and a 31-10 overall record in his final season on staff in 2021. Over his three years with ISU, despite the truncated 2020 campaign resulting in no postseason honors, Armitage helped coach 10 Redbirds to All-Conference accolades, including a trio of All-Region honorees.
Armitage also worked as an assistant coach for the USA U19 National men’s fastpitch team from 2017 to 2019, helping lead the team to a sixth-place finish at WBSC World Championships. He has several accolades as a softball player as well, including appearing on multiple NAFA All-World teams. He is an ASA major First-Team All-American and has played on teams that have finished in the top-10 of the ISC World Tournament multiple times. Armitage was also a vital member of a team that placed second in the ASA major.
Before getting into the collegiate coaching ranks, Armitage was a successful coach at the prep level. He was head coach of the Lexington [Ill.] H.S. softball program for three seasons from 2016 to 2018, leading the Minutemen to the first regional championship in program history in 2016. Armitage also was an assistant coach for four seasons at Juda [Wis.] H.S. from 2010 to 2013, helping to guide the program to three conference titles and three regional titles in his four years. Beyond softball, he also has been part of championship coaching staffs in the prep ranks in baseball and basketball as well.
Armitage earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from UW-Platteville in 2008 and finished his master's degree in kinesiology and recreation from Illinois State in 2018. Armitage and his wife, Katie (a former pitcher at Illinois State from 2001-2002), have two children: daughter Ella and son AJ.
