Life threw him a curve, but couldn't keep him down

NORFOLK

Mark Young II was coming off what he thought was a breakthrough baseball season in 2006.

A Norfolk State junior, Young established himself as one of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's top pitchers after compiling a 3.21 ERA - second-best in the league - and tossing a two-hit shutout against defending league champion North Carolina A&T.

"I felt great about myself," he said recently. "I couldn't wait until the next season."

It never came.

These days, Young is the varsity coach at Booker T. Washington High - a few blocks from where he flourished on the mound for Norfolk State, but a long way from his playing days and his dream of pro baseball.

At Granby High, Young was a hard-throwing right-hander whose fastball was consistently clocked near 90 mph. Young, a first-team All-Eastern District pick as a senior, then spent a season at Louisburg (N.C.) College.

Young transferred to Norfolk State and in the spring of 2006, helped the Spartans finish 11-7 in the MEAC, the program's best regular-season finish.

Young was told to work toward becoming the Spartans' closer the following season.

"We had big plans for him," Norfolk State coach Claudell Clark said.

To prepare for a move to the bullpen, Young enlisted the help of former major-leaguer Gary Lavelle, the coach at Greenbrier Christian Academy and a longtime pitching instructor.

"I thought he was good enough to get a shot at professional baseball," said Lavelle. "He had a great work ethic and the determination and drive that you need if you're going to succeed in this business."

Young was eating dinner on Dec. 13, 2006, when he started complaining of headaches. His father noticed a slight bump on the right side of Young's head and told him to make a doctor's appointment.

Young did and was scheduled to have an MRI. Often, results take a day or two, but Young's doctors were alarmed at what it showed.

"They called me three hours later and told me to report to the closest hospital," Young said. "I really didn't know what to do or what to think."

Young was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor. With radiation and chemotherapy, more than 80 percent of patients survive longer than five years.

Young's pitching days were done. Instead of bullpen work, he was headed for surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

He had surgery on Dec. 22, and soon after, suffered a stroke that affected his motor skills. He spent the next three months learning how to walk and talk again. He had surgery to repair double vision and lost more than 40 pounds from his once stout frame. He also endured six weeks of radiation and 13 months of chemotherapy.

"I never thought, 'Why me?' " said Young, now 24. "I just knew that it was by the grace of God that I was saved in that surgery and that I'm cancer-free today."

Rebecca Mellinger, a nurse who coordinates the brain tumor program at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, worked with Young during his rehabilitation.

"The whole time he was going through his treatment, he was nothing but encouraging to other kids going through treatment," Mellinger said. "He was just so special."

Young returned to Norfolk State and graduated with a political science degree last year. But he yearned to return to baseball.

Young got that chance when he became an assistant coach to Jeff Cooper at Booker T. Washington last season.

When Cooper didn't return for this season, Young was offered the job.

Young became the program's fourth coach in five seasons and took over a team that hasn't won an Eastern District title in 20 years. This season, turnout was so low the Bookers didn't field a junior varsity team. And though they lost eight of their first nine games, Young wasn't discouraged.

"I was up for the challenge," Young said. "We have some great athletes here. And I would like us to keep working hard and once again become district champions."

The players have quickly learned that the soft-spoken Young is a no -nonsense coach who expects his players to work hard. But he's teaching more than baseball.

" What I've learned from him most is that life isn't promised to you and you should go hard in everything you do because you never know when it's going to be your last day," senior infielder Marcus Howard said.

Young, who still walks with a slight limp, credits assistant coaches Quinn Bright, Jose Wood and Earl Rosser for making it all work.

"I couldn't do it without them," he said. "They have been a blessing because they have been able to show the players how to play when I can't."

Young also has received help from the community. Former Negro League player Sam Allen and Harry Bright and Ashley Avery have helped raise money to purchase new uniforms and have taken the team to see the Norfolk Tides play.

Meanwhile, those who know Young are happy he's back on the field.

"It's one of those things that makes you question why do bad things happen to such good people," said Ross Fetterly, a former teammate of Young's and now a Granby assistant coach. "You don't want to see that happen to anybody, but let alone somebody like that, and especially one who has a future in baseball.

"But it's really great to see him come full circle. And if I could one day see him throw a baseball again, that would just be the icing on the cake."

Young is just happy to be close to the sport he loves.

"If I ever get back on a baseball field, it would mean everything," he said. "But it means everything right now to be back on the baseball field again as a coach."

Larry Rubama, (757) 446-2273, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com