St. John Paul II School has named Michael Young its Head Varsity Baseball Coach, effective immediately. He succeeds Chris Russell, who worked with the program in various coaching roles since 2011.
Young returns to JPII after graduating in 2014, when he helped lead the school to its first state championship in school history. Young went on to pitch at Stonehill College, where he was named to the All-Rookie Team in his freshman season and was tabbed NE10 Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Young earned two NE10 All-Conference selections and was named a NEIBA All-Star, representing the DII/DIII New England team in 2019. Young has spent the last three seasons on the Skyhawks staff as its pitching coach.
“We are beyond excited to have Coach Young back. He was a tremendous student-athlete and leader in high school, and we can’t wait for him to get started working with the next generation of JPII student-athletes,” said Rich Fazzi, JPII Athletic Director.
“I am tremendously excited and humbled to have the opportunity to lead the St. John Paul II baseball program,” Young said. “I’m looking forward to serving these student-athletes in any way that I can and seeing all that we can accomplish in the years to come.”
“Coach Young has strong character and the desire to make our student-athletes better persons. Through his experience as a student and athlete at St. John Paul II School, he understands the focus on building young men of character, compassion and at the same time developing their athletic talents,” said Mona Lisa Valentino, Principal.
Lions baseball has captured the Cape & Islands League championship for nine consecutive years while also winning three state championships and two sectionals championships, the last coming in 2019.
