Dave Young (1982) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Dave Young

Induction:
1982
Class:
1960

1956-‘59
Baseball
Pitcher
‘60
Dave young became the first UA athlete to be inducted into the Hall of Fame solely on his performance in baseball. The lanky southpaw pitcher was an overpowering force on the Zip mound for four years between 1956 through ’59. Establishing himself as one of UA’s all-time great hurlers. “He was the best left-hander I’ve ever coached and the most consistent pitcher I’ve seen,” said Hall of Famer Russ Beichly, UA baseball mentor during Young’s career. Young’s statistics, which have stood the test of time are proof enough. Young began his career at UA in unbelievable fashion, compiling a 5-0 record and 1.84 earned run average (ERA), third best in the Ohio Conference (OC). He had two more victories that first season, but both came in exhibition contests on the Zips’ southern trip. Young suffered his first career loss, 2-1, to Ohio Wesleyan, in the season opener of 1957 and then rattled off four wins the remainder of the season and compiled a 0.63 ERA, not only the best in the OC, but the top performance by a lefthander in the college division. He was rewarded by earning the Touchdown Club Trophy as team’s Most Valuable Player, which he earned again as a senior. Dave went 7-2 as a junior, yet, yielded no earned runs in either loss. In fact, he surrendered only four earned runs all season for the nation’s top ERA mark of 0.54 and his 88 strikeouts was the best in the OC. Twice during his senior campaign, Young came within one batter of achieving one of the few milestones that eluded him during his career on the Hilltop-a no hitter. That same season while pitching 8 1/3 innings of relief against Hiram, Dave struck out a career high of 16 batters. Over the four seasons, Young compiled a 22-8 record, struck out 325, 115 in the 1959 season, and had an amazing 1.13 ERA over his career. All of these marks have yet to be bested by any Zip pitcher. Young’s success as a pitcher carried over into the coaching ranks where he is now Summit County’s winningest high school baseball coach—directing Tallmadge High to a 333-116 record in 19 seasons.