Carter Young: 5 things to know about the Vanderbilt baseball shortstop

Carter Young joined the Vanderbilt baseball team ahead of the 2020 season, which ended up being cut short due to COVID-19.

Young played 18 games in 2020, but of his 20 hits, his only three extra-base hits were doubles.

His power emerged in 2021. In 60 games, Young notched 60 hits and 36 extra-base hits. His five triples and 16 home runs led the Commodores.

Here's some basic information about Carter Young:

• Full name: Carter Isaak Young

• Height: 6 feet, 0 inches

• Weight: 180 pounds

• Age: 21 years old

• Birthday: Jan. 24, 2001

• Hometown: Selah, Washington

• High school:  Selah High School in Selah, Washington

• Parents: Phil and Kerra Young

Find out five more things to know about Vanderbilt baseball shortstop Carter Young.

Former Colorado Rockies infielder Jay Gainer taught Carter Young to switch hit

Former Colorado Rockies first baseman Jay Gainer was a youth coach for Carter Young when Young was 10 years old.

Gainer encouraged Young to try switch-hitting.

"The experiment became permanent and Young’s successes continued to grow," according to a Vanderbilt athletics story on Carter Young.

Gainer played 23 games for the Colorado Rockies during the 1993 season. He played college baseball at South Alabama and Gulf Coast Community College.

The San Diego Padres drafted Gainer in the 24th round of the 1990 MLB Draft.

Carter Young spent summer 2020 laying flooring

Carter Young returned home to Selah, Washington, for the summer of 2020 after the Vanderbilt baseball season and summer college baseball leagues were shut down due to COVID-19.

He worked for a flooring company near his home, and he laid carpet and linoleum.

“I learned a lot from that, too, and just having that experience,” Young said to Vanderbilt.

Carter Young creates vision boards

Carter Young started using vision boards to help him set goals when he was in high school. A vision board is traditionally an assemblage of goals put together as a collage.

He's continued to do it at Vanderbilt.

"I set out goals for myself and just try to set the bar really high so that way even if you don’t succeed you’re still doing something to improve yourself," Young said to Vanderbilt. "I just feel like that’s something my parents always instilled in me and I kind of carried it into my pre-adult life."

Carter Young played for USA Baseball 18U National Team

When he was 16 years old, Carter Young played for the Team USA 18-and-under National Team that won the gold medal at the U-18 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Candana. He was the youngest member of Team USA.

Young played in nine games. He batted 10-for-34 with five runs and three RBIs. His on-base percentage was .429.

In the championship game against Japan on Sept. 10, he batted second and started at second base. Young went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run, and a stolen base. The USA beat Japan 8-0 in the title game.

"That was the best year of my career,” Young said to Baseball America in 2019. “It was the best feeling in the world representing my country and what Team USA is all about.”

Young also played on the 15U national team in 2016 in Iwaki, Japan, that won bronze.

Carter Young won 2 high school baseball state titles

Carter Young helped Selah High School win Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Class 2A state titles as a freshman in 2016 and a senior in 2019.

Young primarily played catcher in 2016, and Selah won its first state title by defeating Cedarcrest in the state title game.

Playing infield in 2019, Young helped Selah recapture the 2A state title. Selah defeated Fife 7-1 in the 2019 state title game.

Young earned the 2019 Washington State Baseball Coaches Association Class 2A Player of the Year.

Here's more Carter Young news:

• 2021 Vanderbilt baseball: Carter Young flashed vintage form to get Vanderbilt baseball back to College World Series

• Carter Young home run: No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. No. 25 LSU baseball video highlights, final score on Friday night

• Vanderbilt baseball: Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter lead Vanderbilt baseball to lopsided doubleheader sweep over Georgia State

• Carter Young: How Vanderbilt baseball swept LSU behind Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and deep lineup

Check out the Carter Young bio on the Vanderbilt baseball website.

Erik Hall is the lead digital producer for sports with the USA Today Network. You can find him on Twitter @HallErik. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Carter Young: 5 facts on the Vanderbilt baseball shortstop