Why Tennessee softball wears Mommy hat to celebrate homers and why Karen Weekly is OK with it

It began as a show of support for the Tennessee baseball team last season, but it has now become a staple of Lady Vols softball home run celebrations.

The Mommy hat.

Every time a Lady Vol hit a ball out of the park, they player is crowned with a powder blue cap with the word "Mommy" embroidered on it in bright Volunteer orange. They're also handed a bat, which they use as a cane as they strut down the dugout, their teammates lining either side to shower them with fake money.

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"I like to celebrate, I tell them to celebrate everything," Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. "Celebrate a walk as much you do a home run, because everything matters, and everything factors into us being successful. So as long as our celebrations are about us and never focused or pointed towards an opponent, I'm all for it."

The No. 4 seed Lady Vols will have a chance to put on a show with their home run celebrations at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium this weekend during the NCAA Knoxville Regional. Tennessee (44-8) begins regional play against Northern Kentucky (23-30) on Friday (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+).

Sophomore infielder Lair Beautae did the most emphatic version of the celebration this season after she hit a grand slam against Alabama in the SEC Tournament.

Weekly has evolved in a lot of ways during her 22 seasons at Tennessee, and her view on celebrations is one of them. She admitted she used to hate cheering.

"I realized that's what kept them into the game and engaged," Weekly said. "They play the game a whole lot different than I did, but that's to be expected. But I think you have to allow them to be themselves and to enjoy what they're doing. I enjoy what I'm doing a whole lot more than I used to. I think if you don't evolve as a human being, life isn't very fun. When you're green, you're growing. When you're ripe, you're rotting. And I don't plan on getting ripe anytime soon."

The Mommy hats were made by Orange Mountain Designs, which has name, image and likeness deals with several softball players. It first came about when the Tennessee baseball team's celebration was told to only use its home-run celebration in the dugout during a home series against Alabama.

The baseball team's celebration included a "Daddy" hat and a fur coat, the latter of which was banned from appearing on the field during the second game of the weekend that saw both coach Tony Vitello and pitching coach Frank Anderson get thrown out.

The Daddy hat and fur coat made their way to the softball dugout after the final game of the baseball series last April, and former Tennessee catcher Kelcy Leach wore them both after hitting a walk-off grand slam against Texas A&M. The following Monday, the softball team had the blue Mommy hats ready, Tennessee baseball got its signature celebration back for the rest of the season and now does it only in the dugout.

Senior centerfielder Kiki Milloy has donned the Mommy hat a record-breaking 23 times this season. That number leads the country as Milloy continues to extend her Tennessee single-season home run record.

Weekly, however, has not tried on the Mommy hat.

"I probably won't either," Weekly said, "because I'm not gonna hit a home run."

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee softball wears a Mommy hat to celebrate home runs