By David Weinberg
Anthony Young stepped into the batter’s box for Atlantic Cape Community College’s baseball team against Salem Community College last month while his teammates yelled encouragement from the dugout.
“Let’s go, ‘Unc’!”
The other Bucs don’t know that Young’s boxing nickname is “Juice,” a moniker given to him as a child. Or that he is one of the area’s top fighters, a welterweight with a 23-3 record.
They only know him as the elder statesman of the ACCC baseball team, the senior member of the squad – including the coach – who plays left field.
“Some of them know about my boxing career, but I really don’t talk about it much,” Young said. “Right now, my focus is on baseball.”
At 37, Young is easily the oldest member of the team. He’s even six years older than Bucs head coach Alex Tafaro.
“(My teammates) are from a different generation, for sure,” Young said. “I’m a lot older than them, but I still feel like I can fit in with the younger crowd. I’m 37, but I like to think I’m still the best athlete on the team.”
Young last played baseball 25 years ago, when he starred in Little League and Senior League for the Atlantic City PAL.
The 2006 Pleasantville High School graduate played football and ran track for the Greyhounds. He was a running back and defensive back for the football team, then was a member of the 400-x-400 relay that competed in the Penn Relays and was a state finalist.
After playing running back for New Mexico Military Institute Junior College, Young turned to boxing as a way to fuel his competitive fire.
He’s been one of the region’s top welterweights for over a decade, earning a top-12 world ranking with a third-round TKO over former WBO champion Sadam Ali in 2019.
Young was unable to capitalize on that win, however. A number of promising fights failed to materialize and he was restricted to six bouts in the last five years.
He decided to temporarily trade in his boxing gloves for a baseball mitt in February, when ACCC Athletic Director Jamal Edwards reached out about possibly joining the Bucs’ baseball program.
“I wanted to go back to school and earn more credits in order to possibly become a coach,” said Young, who is majoring in General Studies. “Jamal is one of my best friends since childhood and he convinced me to play baseball.
“I thought, ‘Why not?’ I was very good in Little League. Everybody thought I was going to be a baseball player, but I wound up playing football and eventually turned to boxing. I’ve always had a passion for baseball, so I decided to try it again.”
ACCC restarted its baseball program this year after the school disbanded the sport two years ago in the wake of a sign-stealing scandal.
The Bucs competed as a Club Team this spring, playing nine games against other junior colleges with plans to rejoin Region 19 Division III of the NJCAA next season.
The plan is to have 45 games in 2025-26. Home games will be played on the gorgeous field at ACCC’s Mays Landing campus, a welcome change from playing at the Atlantic City Surf’s decaying ballpark.
“It’s been a challenge,” Tafaro said. “This year was a struggle just to have a team this year. We got a late start, so couldn’t do a lot of recruiting. We called every dude in South Jersey who didn’t have a spot (at another school) or had playing in high school as wasn’t moving on. And there were some kids in ACCC that had high school baseball experience that decided to play again.”
They ended the season with 10 players, including Young, who was the starting left fielder.
Most were former players at local Cape-Atlantic League high schools such as Cape May Tech, Egg Harbor Township and Middle Township.
Young was the one who had to travel the farthest, though he lives just a few miles away.
“What made it work was that Anthony’s a good athlete and a very coachable dude,” Tafaro said. “He’s bigger than anyone here because of boxing, but that was never an issue. He’s a good guy and he got along very well with the team.”
It took him a while to get back into the swing of things as a hitter.
The closest he came to playing baseball in the last 20 years was slow-pitch softball.
“I had played softball in the summers, but there’s a big difference between that and baseball,” Young said. “It was tough at first facing pitchers who were probably throwing in the high 80’s, low 90’s, but once I got a bead on that, it was OK.”
Speed on the basepaths helped him compensate.
At least once a game, Young laid down a bunt and frequently was able to turn it into a hit.
He has bigger hopes for next season.
Young still plans on continuing his boxing career, but is also going to alternate sparring sessions with baseball workouts.
“I’m going to give boxing one more go-round,” he said. “I see some guys out there I know I can beat and the only way to do that is to get in the ring.
“But as long as I’m at ACCC, why not keep playing baseball? I’ll be hitting the batting cages and getting a fielding coach, so I’ll be ready for next season.”
Even at 37, he’s still one of the “Boys of Summer.”
Petty returns to majors
Mainland Regional High School graduate Chase Petty, 22, returned to the Major League’s last Sunday when he made his second start for the Cincinnati Reds.
The right-hander allowed four runs on six hits and six walks with four strikeouts in three innings during a 6-0 loss to the Houston Astros.
David is a nationally recognized sports columnist who has covered Philadelphia and local sports for over 40 years. After 35 years with The Press, he has served as a columnist for 973ESPN.com and created his own Facebook page, Dave Weinberg Extra Points.
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