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True Blue Podcast: Episode 9 feat. Marissa Young
2/14/2025 1:30:00 PM | Softball, Athletics
The True Blue Podcast, spearheaded by the Blue Devil Network, is a student-athlete-led video podcast designed to uncover and share the stories that feature Duke student-athletes.
The overarching goal of the True Blue Podcast is to provide fans with a greater insight into the human side of Duke Athletics through open and unadulterated conversations. True Blue is all about showing the outside world who Duke student-athletes are when they step off the fields of play. Hosted by senior Duke field hockey player Shelby Bumgarner, this will be released on a monthly basis.
Marissa Young, the head coach of the Duke Softball team is TBP's ninth guest.
A native of Santa Ana, California, Young now lives in Durham with her husband Lamar and her four children: Braylon, Layla, Jolyna and Kayden. Braylon plays football at the University of Miami. Â Layla is a freshman at the University of Florida on the softball team. Jolyna will be a rising freshman this fall at UCLA on the softball team.Â
As a player, Young was a three-time All-America selection as a pitcher at the University of Michigan, and was named the 2002 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year. Young graduated from Michigan in 2003 as the all-time strikeout leader (927), and her 88 career wins became the second highest in program history. She also matched the then-program single-season home run record with 13 in 2003.
Young played two years of professional softball, one overseas in Italy and the second year with the Texas Thunder of the National Pro Fastpitch.
Young had a realm of coaching experience before Duke, working at the University of North Carolina, Eastern Michigan, and Concordia University.Â
Young was hired as the first head softball coach at Duke University on July 29, 2015. She has put together a 265-106 record in her seven years at the helm of the Duke softball program.Â
In 2018, the Blue Devils' 29 wins marked the fifth-most by an ACC program in its first season of play and made them the seventh program in league history to finish its inaugural season with a winning record. Young's squad wasted no time securing the program's first win, and they continued to make statement victories and grow year after year. Young has led the team to two ACC Championship titles—one in 2021 and another in 2024—along with four NCAA Softball Championship bids and two Super Regional appearances.
Young led Duke to its strongest campaign in 2024, setting a program record with a 52-9 overall ledger, capturing its second ACC Championship, third straight NCAA Super Regional appearance and advanced to the Women's College World Series for the first time in program history. Under her leadership, the Blue Devils developed three NFCA All-Americans in Claire Davidson, Aminah Vega and Jala Wright. Duke also brought home four of the five major ACC end-of-year awards, as Davidson and Wright were unanimously voted the ACC Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, while Vega was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Young was also tabbed the Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. Young and her staff were recognized for their efforts by being named the NFCA Southeast Region Staff of the Year for the third time in four years.
In this episode of True Blue, Bumgarner and Young discuss her own softball career at Michigan, what it was like to launch the first softball program at Duke, and the importance of family to her and her program.
Â
The overarching goal of the True Blue Podcast is to provide fans with a greater insight into the human side of Duke Athletics through open and unadulterated conversations. True Blue is all about showing the outside world who Duke student-athletes are when they step off the fields of play. Hosted by senior Duke field hockey player Shelby Bumgarner, this will be released on a monthly basis.
Marissa Young, the head coach of the Duke Softball team is TBP's ninth guest.
A native of Santa Ana, California, Young now lives in Durham with her husband Lamar and her four children: Braylon, Layla, Jolyna and Kayden. Braylon plays football at the University of Miami. Â Layla is a freshman at the University of Florida on the softball team. Jolyna will be a rising freshman this fall at UCLA on the softball team.Â
As a player, Young was a three-time All-America selection as a pitcher at the University of Michigan, and was named the 2002 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year. Young graduated from Michigan in 2003 as the all-time strikeout leader (927), and her 88 career wins became the second highest in program history. She also matched the then-program single-season home run record with 13 in 2003.
Young played two years of professional softball, one overseas in Italy and the second year with the Texas Thunder of the National Pro Fastpitch.
Young had a realm of coaching experience before Duke, working at the University of North Carolina, Eastern Michigan, and Concordia University.Â
Young was hired as the first head softball coach at Duke University on July 29, 2015. She has put together a 265-106 record in her seven years at the helm of the Duke softball program.Â
In 2018, the Blue Devils' 29 wins marked the fifth-most by an ACC program in its first season of play and made them the seventh program in league history to finish its inaugural season with a winning record. Young's squad wasted no time securing the program's first win, and they continued to make statement victories and grow year after year. Young has led the team to two ACC Championship titles—one in 2021 and another in 2024—along with four NCAA Softball Championship bids and two Super Regional appearances.
Young led Duke to its strongest campaign in 2024, setting a program record with a 52-9 overall ledger, capturing its second ACC Championship, third straight NCAA Super Regional appearance and advanced to the Women's College World Series for the first time in program history. Under her leadership, the Blue Devils developed three NFCA All-Americans in Claire Davidson, Aminah Vega and Jala Wright. Duke also brought home four of the five major ACC end-of-year awards, as Davidson and Wright were unanimously voted the ACC Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, while Vega was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Young was also tabbed the Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. Young and her staff were recognized for their efforts by being named the NFCA Southeast Region Staff of the Year for the third time in four years.
In this episode of True Blue, Bumgarner and Young discuss her own softball career at Michigan, what it was like to launch the first softball program at Duke, and the importance of family to her and her program.
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Players Mentioned
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