Hoover native Tedder to play final year at Samford

There’s one final chapter in the playing career of Mary Katherine “MK” Tedder.

After spending the past four years playing at the University of Texas, the Hoover native is returning home to play her final season for Samford.

Tedder was granted a fifth year of eligibility due to the NCAA’s decision to allow all spring athletes an additional year, stemming from the 2020 campaign that was cut short due to COVID-19.

“My excitement level would probably be through the roof,” Tedder said.

There are many benefits to Tedder playing her final season at Samford, chief of those being the fact that her family and friends will be able to see her play much more frequently.

“It means a lot to me and my family that I get to play in front of them a lot more, instead of them having to miss work,” she said. “It’s exciting for me to be able to play in front of friends and family and also do it at a university I’ve grown up hearing about and going to games.”

Samford recently announced the hire of new head coach Kimball Cassady, who spent the last 11 seasons as the head coach at Birmingham-Southern College. In her time with the Panthers, Cassady's teams posted a record of 319-126-1.

Tedder said Cassady’s call came soon after her hire. Once she extended Tedder a scholarship offer, the decision to commit came quickly.

“As soon as she offered me, I decided that’s where I wanted to go,” Tedder said.

Tedder will spend her final collegiate year playing less than 10 miles away from where she starred at Spain Park High School. She completed her prep career with a .433 batting average, 276 hits, 221 runs scored, 57 doubles, 17 triples, 36 home runs, 214 runs batted in, 32 stolen bases and 97 walks.

As a junior in 2016, she led Spain Park to a second-place finish at the state tournament with a school record 20 homers and 70 RBIs on the season. She received several accolades that season, including NFCA second-team All-American, USA Today second-team All-American, MaxPreps and was the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) Alabama Class 7A Player of the Year. She was also a finalist for Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior.

At Texas, Tedder put together a solid career. She started 59 games at third base as a freshman in 2018 before playing in the outfield primarily over her final three seasons. One of her career highlights included a game-tying home run against Alabama in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional. She also hit over .300 in each of her final two seasons.

Tedder said she loved her time in Austin and will always cherish it.

“It was honestly all you could’ve dreamed of, because you dream of that as a little kid to play Power 5 ball,” she said. “I’m very grateful for my time there because I had the time of my life.”

There are a handful of players on Samford’s roster from the Birmingham area who Tedder competed with and against over the years. She also played travel ball growing up with Timberlyn Shurbutt.

Tedder used the word bittersweet when describing what she hopes is a successful final season of college ball, but she’s certainly looking forward to playing in front of friends and family and giving back to the game and community she loves.