UCLA’s Megan Grant has a super fan to go with all her home runs

There are fans who wear hats or hoist signs to show their appreciation for UCLA slugger Megan Grant, and then there is Kaitlyn Laabs.

Donning a poofy, white chef’s hat along with a blue apron that holds a spatula and whisk in its front pocket, Laabs has become an instantly recognizable super fan of the college softball star known as “Chef Megan.”

After Grant broke the NCAA single-season home run record two weeks ago, Laabs thought about how New York Yankees star Aaron Judge enjoyed a dedicated fan section at Yankee Stadium and figured that Grant was deserving of her own recognition.

So she scrounged together a chef’s getup from what she could find in her kitchen and started wearing it to Easton Stadium starting with the Bruins’ NCAA Tournament Regional.

“I just think that Megan Grant is a generational player not just in her skill set on the field but in how she carries herself – she’s a class act and she’s the consummate teammate,” Laabs told the California Post on Saturday before the Bruins polished off Central Florida in their Super Regional to advance to the Women’s College World Series.

A superstitious sort, Laabs only puts on the chef’s hat when Grant comes up to hit; perhaps it was no coincidence that Grant belted homers No. 39 and 40 — including a grand slam — in the Regional before Central Florida mostly pitched around her this weekend, walking her six times in seven plate appearances.

“She’s getting the Barry Bonds treatment,” said Laabs, who booed every ball. “I’m mad every time they pitch around her.”

A Southern California native who has been following UCLA softball closely since she moved back to her home state in 2020, Laabs developed an immediate appreciation for the freshman class that included Grant, Jordan Woolery and Taylor Tinsley.

Like Grant, Laabs was a left-handed No. 2 hitter when she patrolled the outfield for Brown University from 2005–09, though Laabs readily conceded that she was more of a slap hitter than a record-setting slugger.

The red-headed Laabs even bears a resemblance to Grant, who met her super fan last weekend. Laabs joked that it was like the Spider-Man meme, with each of them pointing at one another.

“I mean, simply incredible,” Grant told the Post when asked about Laabs. “She kind of looks like me too, like with her hair and everything – I thought I was seeing double for a second. It’s just really cool to see people taking on the chef attire and I’m just really grateful for it.”

Said Laabs: “She told me it was funny and I saw that it was bringing joy to her and to other people in the stands, so I just kept doing it because this team is all about playing loose, playing free, playing with that child-like enthusiasm and as an athlete myself, if you can be in that world of playing like a kid, like that sandlot-style enthusiasm, why not try and bring that to the fans, bring that to the team? That’s where you want to be as an athlete always.”

Though she won’t be able to cheer on UCLA at the Women’s College World Series in person, Laabs said she would wear the chef’s outfit this week while supporting the Bruins at Watch Me! Sports Bar, a tavern dedicated to celebrating women’s sports in Long Beach.

“100%,” Laabs said of continuing her super fandom. “We’ve got to keep the good vibes going.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters