Pitcher perfect

By David Roth

Daily Sports Writer

With a 9-1 pitching record, a .333 batting average, a Michigan-career record two grand slams and a team-leading 28 RBI, freshman Marissa Young has turned a few heads in her young career. These are heads of outfielders watching the ball go beyond their glove's reach, batters watching the ball zip by them and onlookers viewing this star's aberrant pitching and hitting dexterity.

All the while, Young has not missed a start for the Wolverines, despite battling a torn ACL sustained earlier this season and knee problems, for which she will have surgery immediately after the season in May.

Young's name seems to be a contradiction. What she lacks in years she makes up for in accomplishment. In addition to her outstanding season achievements, Young had racked up quite a few accolades even before she suited up in Maize and Blue.

Young's jersey number at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Cal., has already been retired; an engagement ring has already been placed on her finger by her new fiancé, Antoine, who Young has been dating since her freshman year in high school; she was a first team selection on the All-Californian team and she starred on Junior Olympic teams early in her teens.

Young guns

Young began her softball career when she was seven years old. At her request, her parents enrolled her in the City Recreation League.

There her father Robert, who had experience coaching at the high school level, took on the role as the recreation league coach.

It didn't take very long to figure out balls and bats ran in the blood of the Young family.

Young's uncle, Gerald, played for the Houston Astros, and the young slugger was now distinguishing herself as a great ballplayer too.

"With her athletic abilities, determination, hard work, and desire, she became a very good softball player and pitcher," Young's mother Marcella said. "She listened and learned and did very well."

Soon softball became the Young family's way of life.

"Evening and weekends, we were always busy with practice or games. Our families knew if they wanted to see us they would have to come to the softball park."

When Young was 12, she switched over from playing softball in the recreational leagues to playing in the travel leagues.

There she realized that softball was no longer just a game.

"In the rec leagues, most everybody's out there for fun, or some kids are out there because their parents make them," Young said. "But when you start playing in your summers and in your travel team, it becomes a business.

"That was a big transition because I went from playing for my dad and having a bunch of fun to really getting serious," Young said.

The new seriousness for softball came as the Young family found out that travel ball was for the "serious softball players and the ones who wanted to get a scholarship," Mrs. Young said.

On her travel squad, Young played six to seven games a weekend and four or five of those games she would pitch.

Originally she became a pitcher because her team needed one, but eventually she started mastering the art.

Her parents paid for private pitching and hitting lessons, and by the age of 13 she was choosing her own pitch selections.

Also during this time period her dad began her on a weight training to develop her physically.

"I got stronger, started throwing the ball harder, and started hitting harder," Young said.

High school high

Young's play in the summer leagues raised eyebrows. And when given the chance to play competitively at Mater Dei High School, she stepped up to the plate in a major way.

'When I came in my freshman year I was expected to do big things," Young said.

She did.

Mater Dei won the 1996 California Interscholastic Federation Division I championship that year. Young was named the 1996 Most Valuable Player for CIF Division I and the South Coast league. She was also named California and Orange County Freshman of the Year and she was named to the all-CIF team.

It seemed like the only thing Young couldn't do by that time was get her driver's license. She instantly became a team leader.

"I'm not as much a vocal leader," Young said. "I lead by example."

The price of glory

Seeing her potential, Young's father took it upon himself to make sure Young would utilize her talent. But sometimes Young felt the pushing was a bit too much, especially during high school, a time also for social development.

"I wanted to go out and socialize while he felt I should be working on my game," Young said. "There'd be days when I'd come back from high school practices at five o'clock at night and get started on my homework, and he'd make me go back into my garage and hit some more. Whenever I thought I was doing good enough, it wasn't good enough for him."

But Young felt that working hard, despite social repercussions, was indeed the best option. Young describes her father as "the greatest influence in my softball career.

"He was always supportive of me and always had time to work on my game with me," Young said. "The more I kept working, the better my game got. It got to the point where I didn't need my dad to tell me what to do and I started doing it on my own."

Though Young claims that she and her dad have had their "ups and downs," her dad strongly feels that working so hard was worth it.

"It has always been my philosophy in life to do the best and to be committed to anything worthwhile doing," Mr. Young said. "As a parent I have tried to pass that on to both of my daughters."

Mr. Young realized that he might have gone overboard with making his daughter work so hard. But he didn't want his daughter to waste her potential.

"I recognized her talent at a young age," Mr. Young said. "It bothers me to see young people not to fulfill their talent - it's one of my pet peeves."

His pushing was understandable. His younger brother had played baseball professionally, but "he lost his starting job because he wasn't willing to work." Mr. Young said.

Still, he feels that he has a special relationship with her that will improve in time.

"With her at Michigan, she probably learned to appreciate me a lot more as a person," Mr. Young said. "The older she gets, the more and more she will appreciate me."

Young does appreciate her father, and attributes her success to him. And luckily for Young, if she felt dad was taking softball too seriously, she could always rely on her mom.

"My mom was more laid back about the situation," Young said. "She wasn't as aggressive and didn't push me as hard. Dad was a pusher. Mom was a comforter."

The Sweet success

Whether she liked it or not, Young was taking the Sun Belt by storm. The summer between her sophomore and junior years, Young led her summer league team, the Gordon Panthers, to a national championship, erasing the runner-up status the team had earned a year before.

The season after she was named to the All-America Second team. Indeed, long before her career at Mater Dei was over, Young was catching the eyes of college recruits. But one summer day in August of her junior year, Young had the opportunity to visit Ann Arbor.

"My sister Jessica had her national tournament here, so she came out here and I came with her," Young said. "I told the coach I was going to be in town and I wanted to look at the school. I fell in love when I came here - the tradition and academics were really important in my decision making."

Young committed to Michigan, and with the tough college choice off her mind, she could focus on playing ball and having fun her senior year. Finally, she had achieved her dream of getting an athletic scholarship to her top-choice school. Though she could never lead her team back to the State Championship, Young did leave quite a legacy at Mater Dei.

"In my 11 years of coaching softball at the high school level, I would rank Young at the top of the list for the most-rounded player I have ever coached," Mater Dei softball coach Ed Ulloa said.

"She is not only a talented player, she has the ability to stand out as a leader and a great motivator to her fellow teammates. She has left a legacy at Mater Dei that will be hard to fulfill."

Maize craze

Young is thrilled to be wearing maize and blue.

"Regardless of the outcome of the season, I know I'm here playing for great coaches, working with great kids, and getting a great education," Young said.

The outcome should be fantastic, though. The Wolverines are 26-6 and currently are first in the Big Ten. Each of those six losses have been by only one run. Personally, Young has won nine of ten decisions with a 1.31 ERA.

"We expected her to be an impact player," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "Our expectations were high and she's living up to them. She's going to break a few records in her time here."

Despite Young's tantalizing numbers, Hutchins is most impressed with what can't be shown on paper.

"The thing I've been most impressed with is her game savvy," Hutchins said. "It's not anything that was taught to her - she's just got it."

Now Young can focus on winning championships in college like she did in high school.

"Winning Big Tens is our focus," Young said. "Though our ultimate goal is to get to Oklahoma City (for the College World Series)."

The crystal ball

Young has worked hard at one thing, and has become one of the best at it. She hopes her softball can take her to the Olympics in 2004.

"If I don't make it to the Olympics, I think I'll hang up my cleats," Young said.

Though she could also play for the pro leagues, she doesn't think she could raise a family doing that. She has set plenty of athletic goals, but Young plans to do more during her career at Michigan than simply round the bases.

"I want to get into criminology and eventually become and FBI investigator," Young said. "I might want to go to law school first before going to the academy."

Her goals right now are to keep playing hard and to rehabilitate from her knee surgery this summer. She also looks forward to staying in the spring to play ball, but she wants to head home to see her fiancé.

Wherever the future may take her, Young knows that she has more backing than her rapid windmill pitch, power swing, and athleticism. Her parents, sister, coach, fiancé and many of her friends in Santa Ana are avidly following Young's career at Michigan.

PETER CORNUE/Daily

Freshman pitcher and firstbaseman Marissa Young is Michigan's new double threat. With a 9-1 record and a .333 average, Young's hard work is paying off.