Laurin Watts is entering her fifth season with the Southern Utah softball team and was elevated to the position of Associate Head Coach in fall of 2023.
Watts is responsible for working with the pitching and catching staffs and she is also the lead recruiter for the T-Birds. During the 2021 season she coached freshman Tyler Denhart to a spot on the Big Sky All-Conference Second Team, after she finished Big Sky play with a 4.25 ERA over 56.0 innings. Denhart also became the first Thunderbird to win Big Sky Pitcher of the Week multiple times in a season and just the second T-Bird to win the award at all. Denhart also earned a spot on the Big Sky All-Tournament team as the Thunderbirds finished runners-up in the championship tournament.
Watts came to Cedar City from Prattville, Alabama where she was the head softball coach and department head of the physical education department at Prattville High School. During her time at Prattville, her team won back-to-back area championships along with back-to-back regional appearances in 2018 and 2019. Her team also made a state championship tournament appearance in 2018.
Prior to coaching at Prattville, Watts was the head coach at Pinson Valley High School in Pinson, Alabama. Her team there also won back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016 and made three regional appearances in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Watts has also been a regular camp counselor at the Hail State Softball Camp run by Mississippi State University.
Watts played collegiate softball at Adelphi University in New York where she was named to the NE-10 All-Conference Third Team, was a two-time NE-10 Pitcher of the Week, and was named the NE-10 All-Tournament MVP in 2013. She led the NE-10 in 2013 with a 22-6 record in the circle over 192.2 innings of work. She racked up 177 strikeouts, threw five shutouts, and had an ERA of 3.50. In 2012, she made 19 starts, finishing with an 8-9 record over 118.1 innings, striking out 114 hitters and posting a 2.78 ERA. She graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education in 2013.
Watts is originally from Birmingham, Alabama.
