Laura Brown returns from the stands to coach Sikeston softball

SIKESTON -- Former Delta coach Laura Brown has spent the last six years in a lawn chair outside the softball fence she once patrolled.

Her time away from coaching was devoted to watching her children play the game, but now her kids are growing up and the mother of four has the chance to trade her spot as a spectator for her old role.

Brown has accepted the vacant head softball coaching position at Sikeston left by former coach Eric Voorhees, who resigned in late May.

"I feel like I've been restraining myself for a lot of years," Brown said. "It's hard from going to the third base line to the lawn chair on the other side of the fence... I guess it's always been on the verge this whole time as much as I've enjoyed watching my kids play and I'm glad I did that. But, boy, am I excited. Super excited to do it again."

Brown's last year coaching Delta was in 2010. She spent 10 seasons leading the Bobcats in both the fall and spring softball seasons which included three fall district titles. Her last was in 2006 when Delta finished one win away from its second final four in school history.

"I worked with some great people there that were so supportive and so helpful," Brown said. "We had a lot of good years and it was fun."

The year before she began coaching at Delta, the Bobcats went to its first and only final four finishing fourth in 2000.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, I have to come in here and expect to get these kids to the final four?' But we got to the quarterfinals and that hurt so bad. I had nine more years to keep going and we won a few districts after that. It was a learning experience."

Leading a team for 10 years and playing in two different seasons each time garners a lot of experience, which is something Sikeston athletic director Andy McGill was excited about once Brown's name was in the running.

"She was a successful coach at Delta and she has tons of experience there," he said. "We have a good group of girls coming back and hopefully they can continue to build off what they've done recently."

Her first year at Delta began on the heels of unprecedented accolades. Much like they will at Sikeston in the fall.

The Bulldogs have never won a district softball championship, but they have broke through barriers of late. Sikeston has made it to two district championship games in history and those were played the last two years under Voorhees.

"My expectations are high regardless what they did last year, three years ago or whatever," Brown said. "I'm going to push them and push them."

Brown remembers scrounging for players some years at Class 1 Delta, who had an enrollment of 90 students last year. But now she leads Class 3 Sikeston, who was just short of 1,000 students last year.

"We had years where we had two or three pitchers to zero," she said. "We had to create a pitcher. It's like everybody else, you go in cycles. Coaching through that duration allowed me to see that cycle. So, I'm really excited to be down here because the numbers are bigger here. I might have four pitchers for three years. That makes me really excited."

Former assistant coach Lisa James will also return to her assistant role after serving as an assistant under former head coach Tiffany Morgan.

Sikeston ended last season with a 9-18 record and will return a few key pieces from its runner-up finish.

"I'm hoping to really find some girls to step up and teach the younger classmen not only to compete, but show character. That really means a lot to me," Brown said.