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Eric Voorhees to take over Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball program
SIKESTON -- After two years of serving as an assistant, Eric Voorhees will now have his own program to run at Sikeston High School.
Voorhees was selected to take over the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team after the departure of former head coach Tiffany Morgan following last season.
"Very exciting," Voorhees said. "Being my first head coaching position, it's a lot more work than being an assistant. You have budgets and assistants that work for you now. With that being said, I was very excited when I was named the coach."
During the last two years Voorhees has taught at Sikeston High School and took control of the seventh grade boys basketball team in 2012. He has also served as an assistant for the varsity basketball program. Before coming to Sikeston, Voorhees was an assistant basketball coach at East Prairie High School.
Being an assistant for the better part of the last three years has been beneficial for Voorhees who said watching Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield run a program has been a grateful experience.
"I've learned a lot from coach Holifield working under him and the main thing that we talk about is team first," Voorhees said. "We preach staying out of trouble, doing things the right way -- the winning way -- and maintaining grades. I look to continue that same style in softball."
Voorhees, who graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 2008, primarily has been around organized softball by working with traveling softball teams growing up where his sisters played.
He inherits a softball team that was 10-9 last season and lose a bulk of their lineup to graduation.
Those that will not be available for Voorhees' first year include key members such as starting centerfielder and leadoff hitter Madison Chaney, first baseman Sidney King and catcher Sarah Dixon. Sikeston lost to Farmington 10-3 during last years district semifinals.
"You look at a team that's essentially losing an entire outfield, a dominate first baseman and more," said Voorhees. "But, we have some pieces coming back and we have a really good program at the junior high that's coming up. We look forward to continually get better."
Although they haven't had much luck on the field as far as hardware is concerned, the Lady Bulldogs have been stellar in the classroom. Following the fall season, Sikeston was named to their fourth consecutive all-state academic team meaning their entire varsity team held a collective grade point average over 3.5.
"We have some girls that were all-academic, first team all-state. We would like to continue that, first and foremost," Voorhees said. "Doing things the right way throughout the community and doing nothing to embarrass our program, our town or the name on their jersey.
"We would like to see some success on the field as well," added Voorhees. "You're looking at a team that, as far as I've checked, there's not any softball hardware when you walk into the Field House. I've preached that to the girls from the first day. We could be a part of that and it starts small. Building a program you have to take one step at a time and I've preached to them 'let's just get to a district championship game and give ourselves a shot to win it'."
Summer Ray, who is the junior varsity girls basketball coach as well as an assistant varsity coach, will be Voorhees' new assistant coach.