Young Caps Career with Second Team All-America Nod

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- University of Michigan softball senior co-captain Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) became just the third player in U-M softball history to earn Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America honors for a third time in her career, earning All-America second-team distinction as a utility player as announced this evening (Wednesday, May 21) at the opening ceremony for the 2003 Women's College World Series.

Young

Young, who was a All-America third-team selection in 2002 (pitcher) and 2000 (utility player) as well, joins Sara Griffin (1995, '96, '98) and Traci Conrad (1997, '98, '99) as the only three-time All-Americans in the history of a program that has made seven WCWS appearances, won eight Big Ten regular-season titles and earned six Big Ten Tournament championships.

Young closed out her record-setting career this season by leading the Michigan pitching staff with a mark of 22-4 to go with team bests in ERA (1.32) and strikeouts (259). Young also set the standard for the Wolverines from the power department at the plate, drilling a team-best 13 home runs to tie the single-season school record, and adding team bests in RBI (37) and slugging percentage (.611). For her efforts, Young was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in addition to an All-Great Lakes Region first-team selection.

The Santa Ana, Calif., native nearly willed the Wolverines back to the WCWS for a third straight season, hitting .412 (7-17) with two home runs, four doubles and six RBI in the NCAA Region 7 Championship while going 3-1 in the circle with a 1.38 ERA and tossing a tournament-best 45 strikeouts in 30.1 innings of work. Young, who earned all-tournament recognition, and the Wolverines dropped a tough 1-0 decision to California in the regional championship game on Sunday (May 18) at Alumni Field.

Having set the Michigan pitching record for career strikeouts a year ago, Young added 259 K's this season to give her a school-record 927 for her career. She also finished second in career wins with 88 and tied for second in career shutouts with 36. Her 36 career shutouts matched the total recorded by Vicki Morrow (1984-87), while Young finished runner-up to Griffin (106 wins, 40 shutouts) for both wins and shutouts.

After never hitting more than five home runs in a single season during the first three years of her career, Young matched Melissa Gentile's (1997-2000) single-season mark with 13 in 2003. Young's 13-homer season moved her into second on the Wolverine career home run list with 22, six behind Gentile's school mark of 28.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423

University of Michigan Athletics

Players Mentioned

Marissa Young

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