It was something Laura Tucker walked by every day.
It was something Laura Tucker walked by every day.
But, on this day, that old Webber International lanyard, it meant a little bit more. Tucker had just gotten off the phone with athletic director Darren Richie and planned to come down to Babson Park and meet with him. The Warriors were in search of a new head softball coach.
When Tucker and Williams Baptist (Ark.) advanced to their first NAIA World Series back in 2012, they faced Webber. Tucker went 1-for-3 and scored a run as the Eagles won 2-0. It’s normal for teams to exchange gifts before their first game at the national tournament.
Tucker and her teammates received lanyards from Webber.
Little did she know that she would eventually leave her alma mater to take over as head coach of the Warriors.
“I definitely thought that was a sign of, “Ok, maybe this is where God wants me to be,” she said. “I left a really great team at Williams (Baptist) and I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t think it was a right move for me as a person.”
Tucker, 27, will replace former coach Brent Orr, who left the program last month to take a job in another field. She comes to Webber after a successful two-year run at Williams Baptist.
The Arkansas native led the Eagles to a pair of NAIA World Series appearances, finishing her tenure at the school with a 74-34 record. She had previously spent time as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division II Colorado Christian.
She knew Richie from his days as the athletic director Colorado Christian.
"I am excited for coach Tucker to lead our softball program and bring it to the next level,” he said in a release. “She brings much success from her previous two institutions and truly understands "capturing the heart" of the student-athlete."
Tucker was played at Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College, Arkansas-Monticello and Williams Baptist. She was an NJCAA All-American in 2010, setting the batting average and on-base percentage records at Three Rivers.
Orr spent five years as the head coach at Webber and led the program to a 104-107 record.
Much of his success came during the 2016 season when the Warriors won The Sun Conference’s tournament title and swept their way through the NAIA Opening Round before falling in the NAIA World Series to Tucker and Williams Baptist.
Tucker, who is single, is the daughter of a coach and brings with her a plan. She’s big on manufacturing runs — good base running and lots of base hits — and her Eagles teams were anchored by good starting pitching.
“I’m really big on taking it one day at a time and making progress, being great at the little things, the basics of softball,” she said. “Having the girls believe they can do it is huge. Obviously, good team chemistry plays into that, but I’m just big on helping them with their confidence.”