BALTIMORE, Md.--Morgan State senior outfielder Damali Young was named the Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Division I Player of the Year. It is the second player of the year honor this season for Young, who was also named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year.
A preseason MEAC Player of the Year selection, Young was instrumental in leading the Lady Bears to the program's third straight 20-plus win season (22-24) and a second-place finish in the MEAC Northern Division at 10-4.
The Westampton, N.J. native was an offensive machine in her final season in the orange and blue, helping the Lady Bears end the season on a season-best six-game winning streak, while winning 14 of their last 17 contests. She started all 46 games and batted .350, while leading the team in at bats (140), runs (47), hits (49), triples (4), total bases (79), walks (28) and stolen bases with 31 out of 33 attempts. Defensively, she recorded a .964 fielding percentage with 73 putouts in the outfield.
She was in the top five in the MEAC in slugging percentage (.564), on base percentage (.462), runs scored (47), hits (49), total bases (79), triples (4), walks (28) and stolen bases (31). Nationally, Young ranks 36th in runs per game, 14th in stolen bases, and 69th in walks.
Young broke four school records this past season and tied another one. She became the school's career leader in runs scored (150) with her second of four runs in Game 2 against Cornell (4/2); set the career walks mark with 61 at Towson (4/3); set the single-season walks mark of 24 at Howard (4/13); set the school's all-time hits record (172) with a bunt single in the fifth inning against Delaware State (4/7) and tied the single-season runs scored record with 47, scoring a total of three runs in the season finale doubleheader against Rider.
In all, Young ended her career at Morgan State as the school's leader in 10 categories, including single-season hits (63), single-season doubles (16), single-season at-bats (154), single-season stolen bases (40) and career stolen bases (119).