It has been a season to remember for Prince George baseball product Jared Young.
He has been swinging a hot bat as of late, picking up his second Conference USA Hitter of the Week award suiting up for the Old Dominion Monarchs in NCAA Division 1 action.
Young was also recognized by Collegiate Baseball on Monday after being put on the National Players of the Week list, thanks to a 16-for-24 hitting streak in five games, racking up a .667 batting average to go with five home runs and 11 RBI’s.
Young says he’s in the zone right now after a slow start to the season.
“I was letting the game speed up on me a little bit and I’m just getting back to hitting fastballs with two strikes and just putting the ball in play and that’s helped me out a ton.”
Keep it ???!@ODUBaseball‘s Jared Young was named a National Player of the Week by @CBNewspaper! pic.twitter.com/AWQobgAJgV
— Conference USA (@Conference_USA) April 10, 2017
It’s been a gradual rise for Young who started out playing Division 2 baseball in the NCAA with the Minot State Beavers of North Dakota before suiting up last season with Connors State Community College in Oklahoma, where he hit .490 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI’s.
The experience has been first class with the Norfolk, Virginia-based team according to Young.
“Everything here is just going really great with some of the guys that I play with. Coach Finwood and Coach Nonemaker have worked with me and that definitely helps.”
VIDEO | Jared Young talks postgame about his game-winning home run in the top of the 12th in the series-clinching win at MTSU. #ODUBaseball pic.twitter.com/Tl8Wh71lfS
— ODU Baseball (@ODUBaseball) April 9, 2017
Young adds the tougher competition on a nightly basis isn’t bad either.
“The pitching that you’re going to see here at Division 1 is night and day, you’re not going to see anything just getting me over and everyone that comes out of the bullpen is pretty strong armed and you have to get used to that, but once you get used to it it’s really good and then the play of the game is so much cleaner so you have to be pretty perfect on defense to win games here.”
The Monarchs are in a position to do some damage the remainder of the season and heading into playoffs and he says it didn’t take long for them to figure out they have a chance.
“We realize that we are a contender in this league at 25-9 and 9-3 within the conference and we’re looking to make a push for the tournament and hopefully get a regional at the end of the year. We just need to keep winning close games.”
The Northern BC product was at a geographical disadvantage growing up dealing with the snow and the cold while most elite baseball players from the province have the luxury of living in the Lower Mainland with the ability to play the game year-round.
Young says his teammates do poke fun at where he is from but it’s all in good nature.
“A couple of jokes all the time about where I am from and how north it is. It is surreal to just take it all in once and awhile but I really enjoy it, it keeps me going. Maybe it is an added incentive that I am from Prince George.”
Young and Old Dominion return to action with a three-game set at home starting Friday against Louisiana Tech.
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