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Marissa Young
After being named the first head softball coach at Duke University on July 29, 2015, Marissa Young has put together a 165-85 record in her five years at the helm of the Duke softball program.
Young guided the program to a historic 2021 campaign, compiling a 44-12 record in which the Blue Devils won their first ACC Championship title and earned a No. 13 national seed in their first NCAA appearance. Duke was consistently ranked in the national polls every week since the preseason. The Blue Devils saw four All-ACC and three All-Region selections, while Duke had its first All-American in program history with junior Deja Davis earning All-America Second Team honors.
Before the 2020 season was shortened by COVID-19, Young’s squad saw its best start in program history with a 23-4 record. The Blue Devils ended their season at No. 25 in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, marking the first time Duke has cracked into the national polls.
Following a strong inaugural season, Duke posted a 25-31 record in 2019. The Blue Devils went 11-13 in league action, earning the sixth seed in their second straight ACC Tournament appearance. Young challenged the team to a tough non-conference schedule, opening the year at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge where they went 2-2 with wins over Notre Dame and Liberty before Duke hosted the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, traveled to California for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and rounded out its non-conference slate with the Duke Invitational.
During the 2019 campaign, the Blue Devils won four ACC series, including a sweep on the road at Georgia Tech. Young coached Peyton St. George to her second ACC honor as the sophomore was named to the All-ACC Second Team after turning in a 1.83 ERA in league play. Guiding her players to success both on and off the field, George, Jameson Kavel, Kristina Foreman and Deja Davis were all All-ACC Academic Team selections.
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 finishing its inaugural season with a winning record. Young's squad didn't waste time in getting the program's first win, as they defeated Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla., to open the season. Young and Co. turned around the following week and made major noise in their first home games in Duke softball history, sweeping Penn State and Purdue in the 2018 ACC/Big Ten Challenge at the Duke Softball Stadium.
Duke's 13 wins in conference play were highlighted by four series victories, including the last three of the year. Young led her team to a sweep of Boston College in the first home ACC series in program history. Her squad then added road series victories against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech before closing the ACC slate with a sweep of Virginia at home to earn the seventh seed in the conference tournament, crushing the preseason prediction that the Blue Devils would finish last in the league.
Individually, Young developed a roster highlighted by 12 players seeing their first collegiate softball action into one of the top teams in the league. Leading the way for Young's squad was sophomore Raine Wilson, who became the first player in school history to earn all-conference honors as she was named All-ACC First Team. Joining her were the first two ACC All-Freshman Team honorees Rachel Abboud and Peyton St. George.
Prior to being tabbed to build the Duke softball program, Young spent the prior two seasons across town at North Carolina, with her primary responsibilities included coaching the pitchers and catchers. In the spring of 2015, Young helped the Tar Heels to a 37-16 overall record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament after the squad won 24 contests the prior season. Young’s pitchers posted a 3.30 earned run average with 234 strikeouts in 335.1 innings pitched.
Young spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, where she served as the compliance liaison, recruiting coordinator and managed team travel and the operational budget, among other duties. She helped coach five Academic All-America picks and five player of the week selections during her tenure at Eastern Michigan.
Prior to her stint at EMU, Young was the head coach at Concordia University (NAIA) in Ann Arbor, Mich., from 2008-11. In less than three years, she turned the 2-20 program to a 23-23 record, the second-most wins in a single season since an appearance in the 2002 NAIA National Tournament.
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.
A native of Santa Ana, Calif., Young has four children: Braylon, Layla, Jolyna and Kayden.
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