Quiet efficiency Young's consistent performance suits Mets just fine By NEIL WHITE Sports Writer Derrick Young gets the job done. The Columbia Mets outfielder may not be the strongest player, or the fastest, or the loudest. Instead, he is quietly assembling his type of season, one more given to adjectives like steady, solid, consistent. Young, a 6-foot, 185-pound Seattle, Wash., native, has played in all but seven of Columbia's games. He is batting .267 with three home runs. He is third on the team in RBI with 43 and stolen bases with 11. Despite this, he's not completely satisfied. "I wanted to hit .300," Young said. "That's everybody's goal as a hitter. I wanted to get at least double figures in home runs, and I wanted to knock in a lot of runs. I wanted to play consistently good defense. "So far I've done it on the defensive end. Offensively, I've been consistent, but I know I can do better." Columbia manager Bill Stein said Young's style suits him just fine. "Derrick is not a flashy ballplayer," Stein said. "He comes to the ballpark every day and works hard. He just does his job. He plays a real consistent game of baseball. You take that any day. Plus he's got some big hits for us this season." Young said his ability to get the big hit is one of his strengths. "When it comes right down to it, I know I can drive in a lot of runs,' Young said. "I'm pretty good in clutch situations when we have people in scoring position and need some runs. I like to think of myself as a person we can count on." A 12th-round pick in the 1987 draft said. Young doesn't just do the job at the plate, either. He's the Mets most versatile outfielder, primarily playing right but with the ability to play left and center. "I know as an outfielder you have to play all positions because you're not always going to be at one," Young said. "I'm happy to play anywhere, so I can get used to the angle of the ball. If I'm called on to play any of them, I can do it." Stein likes the flexibility Young gives him in filling out the lineup card. "He's an excellent defensive outfielder," Stein said. "He's got an average to above-average arm. He can play all three outfield positions and he's done a good job everywhere. He's played center field the least, but I'm not afraid t to put him out there at any time." With the recent run of injuries the Mets have suffered, Young's presence has given Stein one constant. Young believes Columbia, which finished second in in the first half in the Southern Division, can reverse that and take first in the second half. "If we can keep healthy, and that's our main problem right now, I know we can score some runs and win a lot of games and in the end come out on top," he said. Young would like to finish with a flourish and keep posting those consistent numbers at the next level. "I'm the type of person who can get better as the competition gets! better. With my practice habits, I can keep getting better the higher I go.' And keep getting the job done. Derrick Young ... 'I out of Edmonds (Wash.) Community College, Young said his biggest adjustment to professional baseball was getting used to the hard throwers. He started to make the adjustment last season at Kingsport, when he batted .280 with 42 RBI in 72 games. After Tim Dominick/ The State can do better' hitting in the .230s the first month of this year, Young began a steady climb. "He started out a little slow, but a lot of our players did trying to get adjusted to the little bit better pitching than they faced last year," Stein
