Young softball players from all over Louisiana love to come to LSU softball games to meet their idols. In the case of Grace Byrns, that means all the way from Tennessee.
Grace and her aunt, Meghan Lynch, are from Kingsport, Tennessee, and have been following LSU softball since the 2024 season. What makes them special is their dedication to spreading the love of the sport. They wanted to represent their favorite players when they watched the Tigers play, and when they couldn’t find any jerseys, they decided to make them themselves.
“For basketball, we were able to get our shirts off of the NIL page, but the ones we wanted for softball, they weren’t on there,” Lynch said. “So we just made them ourselves because she wanted Maddox [McKee] and I wanted Danieca [Coffey].”
Lynch said she loved the way Coffey played last season before she got hurt, and Grace said she found McKee on TikTok and fell in love with her.
Grace went to all three games against University of Tennessee in 2024 and was able to get a few signatures then. Grace is a catcher for her school and travel softball teams, so the first signature she got was Maci Bergeron at the Tennessee series.
“I kind of look up to [Bergeron] for catching and she’s really good,” Grace said.
They came nearly 11 hours from home to watch the doubleheader against Charlotte and Central Arkansas on Saturday. After the game, the security workers told Grace and Lynch that the players weren’t signing, and they had to come back Sunday if they wanted signatures from the players.
They decided to stick around for a little bit and see if they could get some signatures because they weren’t going to make Sunday’s game. They were only able to get a picture with Bergeron, and signatures and a picture with three freshmen after the game.
Not only was it a cool moment for Grace and her aunt, but the players also enjoyed seeing someone else wear their last name and number.
“When Grace turned around and she saw her name on it, [Maddox] was like ‘Oh my,’” Lynch said. “Then last year, Grace had one with Hannah Carson, and she was like ‘Oh my gosh! That’s me!’ And she had to take a picture of it and send it to her mom.”
On Saturday, Grace posted a picture of her and McKee on Instagram. McKee reposted the picture on her story and followed Grace on Instagram. Grace said she was so excited it didn’t feel real.
“Grace thought she was in heaven,” Lynch said. “[McKee] said she was the cutest ever.”
The two plan to attend the Georgia series this season and are hoping to get the rest of the team’s signatures then.
