Jared Young Earns National Award

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Jared Young graduated Friday from junior college in Oklahoma and it would be safe to say he’s pretty happy with his report card, finishing his final semester in business studies with a 3.94 grade point average (on a scale of 4.0).

His marks on the baseball diamond are equally impressive.

The 20-year-old Connors State College Cowboys second baseman from Prince George has been one of the top players on his team ever since he arrived late last summer on the campus in Warner, Okla.

But lately he’s gone on an absolute tear. With the Cowboys’ season drawing to a close, Young posted some out-of-this-world numbers with his bat and was selected as the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 player of the week for the week of April 25-May 1

In four games over two days against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M — all wins for the Cowboys — Young hit for a .722 batting average, collecting six doubles,and one home run while batting in six runs and scoring six runs himself. He also stole his second base of the season that week.

The Cowboys have posted a 43-9 season record (13-5 in the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference) and have climbed into seventh place in the NJCAA Division 1 rankings, up from 11th last week.

Young has delivered all season at the plate. In 51 games he has 85 hits (10th in the NJCAA) and his team-leading .486 batting average ranks sixth in the country. He’s hit for 15 doubles, one triple and 11 home runs, has walked 32 times and has 52 RBI. His on-base percentage is .569 (10th in Division 1). He has 135 total bases and his slugging percentage is .771 (both conference highs).

Young, who could not be reached for comment, is moving on to the NCAA Division 1 Old Dominion University Monarchs later this summer, based in Norfolk, Va. He began his junior college career last season with the Minot State (N.D.) Beavers.