By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN one year, Laurann Brown made an impressive switch to softball at Harris- Stowe State University in Missouri after she transferred from Dodge City Community College where she played soccer.

The 5-foot, 6-inch outfielder, who occasionally plays infield, is now in her senior year and she’s quite thrilled about her transition, considering the fact she never played softball before.

“At first, the softball coach needed some help with numbers, so we decided to help out,” said Brown, who joined a few other soccer players who moved from soccer to softball. “With soccer, I sort of lost the love and passion, so I decided to try softball.

“It was kind of hard because the game was totally different. They apply two different things. I believe soccer is more physical and softball is more mental. Having the softball IQ was what I was working on. It’s been difficult, but I think I’ve gotten much better than where I was when I first started playing.”

From the fourth grade at Xavier’s Primary School, Brown started playing soccer. She continued through high school at St. Anne’s until she graduated in 2018. At the same time, she was also playing in the Bahamas Football Association’s girls’ league with Cavalier Football Club.

During the past semester, Brown said they played fall ball and when she returns to school in January, they will begin preparation for the regular season, starting in February.

“We want to win a lot more games than we did in the past,” Brown stated. “We just want to score a lot of runs, limit the errors and have a level headed mentality during the season.”

Harris-Stowe State University is coming off a 6-37 win-loss record last year, but Brown said if they can develop a level-headed mentality during the season, they can play much better and win more games in the AMC Conference in the NAIA Division One.

“I believe that we can win the conference. We have a lot of key players that we recruited in the fall, who should definitely be able to help us in the spring,” she pointed out. “I feel like this team can mesh well together. The only person who will stop us from winning is ourselves.”

With the expectations for themselves, Brown said they are eager to surpass the performances of the team in the past and prove to everyone that they are a much better team and they can recruit more talented players in the future.

As the only Bahamian and even foreign player on the team, Brown said she felt right at home with her peers.

“As a walk-on with the team, I felt the expectations for me were there,” she said. “My team-mates find it funny that I’m from a different country. But they support me in anything I say, especially with my slang and some of the things that I say. They find it very funny.”

Likewise, Brown said it’s been a learning experience for her, just as much as it was for her team-mates.

“They learn from me and I learn from them,” she stated. “I am proud to say that I am from the Bahamas. Any time I get, I try to teach them something about the Bahamas. So I think it’s fun for me as well.”

While home on a break for the Christmas holiday, Brown said the first thing she wanted to engage in was some good home cooking from her mother, Charlene Stubbs-Brown. Of course, she couldn’t resist getting a meal from Bamboo Shack. The only thing she hasn’t indulged in is conch salad, but she intends to get some before she returns to school on January 8.

The 23-year-old finance major said she’s also enjoying her final year in college, especially playing softball.

“My last semester as I prepared for my graduation in May, I got a 3.8 GPA in my last semester so school is going very well,” Brown said. “I think softball has helped me to grow a lot as a person and so I really don’t have any regrets making the switch when I did. I don’t regret it at all.

“We got to travel to different states and had an overnight stay. We also made it to conference finals, which was also good. But in softball, there’s been a lot more travel and overnight stays. And to play in that stadium was amazing.”

Once she’s done this year, Brown said she’s contemplating on returning to grad school to get her master’s degree in sports administration or she may start working. However, she doesn’t envision playing softball, but is more interested in returning to soccer.

“I have been training a little bit for soccer. I think I will try out for one of the semi-pro leagues and see how that goes,” Brown said. “But after I graduate, I think I’m going to be done with softball. I’m good, but it’s not something I want to continue to pursue.”

Since she left home to attend college, Brown said she’s been pleased with the support she’s gotten from her mother, grandfather Charles ‘Chuck’ Stubbs, her Cavalier coaches and her college coaches in both soccer and softball.

“They all helped me to learn more of the game and about myself, so I’m really grateful for all that they have done in supporting me,” she summed up.

Hopefully as she gets set to complete her collegiate tenure, Brown said she’s looking forward to making everyone proud of her accomplishments.