Another Franklin athlete has signed with a Power-5 program.
In her four years on the Franklin High School softball team, Mckenzie Redoutey has been among the nation’s best high school players. Recently, the recruiting service Extra Inning Softball ranked her the #10 player and #4 outfielder in the nation. Now Redoutey will play for one of the NCAA’s best programs at LSU.
“Just a lot of excitement,” said Redoutey when asked for her feelings after the signing. “I’ve been committed for years, and it’s finally here. I’m very excited and I can’t wait.”
At a small gathering at Cat Creek Lodge on Nov. 17, a few dozen friends and family assembled to watch Redoutey sign her official offer from LSU. Despite having been recruited by colleges since she was 13, the outfielder said the decision to sign with the Tigers was an easy one.
“Well, the atmosphere was amazing when I stepped on the field,” she said. “Coach Beth, the head coach, she’s like a mother figure to all the girls. She treats them like they’re her own child, and I feel like I really need that because I’m going to be 10 hours away from home and it’s going to be easier for me. On the field [with] practices and stuff they use a lot of tools to be successful, and I think I’m going to be very successful while I’m there and around very successful people.”
Successful is the right word to use here. In head coach Beth Torina’s eight years at LSU, the Tigers have made four trips to the Women’s College World Series including three straight from 2015-2017. In 2019 LSU finished in the top 10 NCAA teams for the fifth year running, and the program shows no signs of slowing in 2021. In signing with an NCAA powerhouse like LSU, Redoutey reaps the benefits of many years of hard work.
“We went to Texas last weekend [her Atlanta-based club team], and she went 0-7,” said Redoutey’s father and longtime coach, Scott. “She got some walks, but she didn’t have a good weekend. We got home on Sunday night at 12:30. In the morning, she was headed back to Atlanta to see her hitting coach at 8 a.m. from flying into Atlanta, so that’s some of her work ethic. There’s lots of stories like that.”
While Redoutey’s parents know better than most the amount of work Mckenzie has put in over the years, they aren’t the only ones who have taken notice. Several coaches, FHS staff and family members that spoke at Tuesday’s signing shared anecdotes of Redoutey’s supreme work ethic. Recently, Redoutey has been making a four-hour round trip to Atlanta once a week to work with a hitting coach for just one hour, and by all accounts Franklin’s batting cage have become her second home. The outfielder is not one to settle for “good enough,” an attitude that the outfielder says stems from her father.
“My dad has always been very hard-working,” she said. “After a long day of working at his job he’ll come to the field with me every day. He’s always there with me, so I definitely get it from him. He’s a very hardworking parent.”
As Redoutey took pictures with dozens of combinations of friends and family, Scott and her mother, Deborah, stood off to the side, chatting with friends and making sure the table of food was well-stocked. Guests at the event were given purple and gold wristbands commemorating the signing inscribed with the phrase “Failure = Success in Progress”, a fitting summation of Mckenzie’s career to this point.
As coaches and friends stood up share stories of his daughter, Scott declined to give remarks for fear he would not be able to get the words out. After watching Mckenzie realize her goal of signing with an NCAA powerhouse, the Redouteys expressed pride at their daughter’s accomplishment.
“Excitement,” said Deborah simply on her feelings at Mckenzie’s signing. “She’s worked very hard for this. This has been her dream, and it’s hard to believe it has come to her. Watching her play on an SEC team like this coming from a small town, I’m just overwhelmed with excitement.”