Matt Young has never been a Braves fan, but it's a safe bet he is now.
It was announced earlier this week that the Lobo centerfielder will forgo his senior season at UNM and sign a professional contract with Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves organization.
The news was as surprising to Young as it has been to Lobo fans.
"I was just a couple of days from heading back (to UNM) and a scout wanted to talk to me," he said. "That was on a Thursday, and then on Friday, it was done."
Young is coming off a terrific performance in the Texas Collegiate Baseball League, a wooden-bat summer league made up of 225 collegiate baseball players from all over the country.
In 51 games, he batted .272 with a league-leading 39 stolen bases, 44 runs scored and 44 walks. His on-base percentage was .430.
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Young was also named Most Outstanding Player of the league's championship series.
"I was having a great summer, but I still wasn't expecting (the contract)," he said.
Lobo head coach Rich Alday was also surprised by the news, and said he and the team are disappointed to be losing one of their best players earlier than expected.
"We were looking forward to having him back," Alday said. "But this was a good decision for him that he and his family made."
Young said he's sad to be leaving the program.
"I'm real excited about the contract, but it did kind of bring me down," he said. "I was real excited about being a big part of the team, and I'm sad I won't be a four-year guy."
Young will play for one of the Braves' minor league teams soon.
"I definitely think I'm ready," he said. "It's going to be a situation where every guy is looking out for himself, but I've never thought I couldn't do this."
The minors are notoriously competitive as players vie to be the next one called up to the major leagues.
Young has been a fantastic leadoff hitter and centerfielder for the Lobos. An all-conference performer his last two years, he led the team in runs (60) and on-base percentage (.462) last season. He was second in the country in triples (12) and was tops in the MWC with a .517 average with runners in scoring position. A .381 hitter last year, Young is one of only five Lobos in UNM history to score 200 runs and get 200 hits in his career here.
Alday said he hasn't yet started thinking about who will replace Young in the lineup this season.
"We'll just have to find a new centerfielder or turn one of our players into one," he said. "We've been lucky at centerfield. We're just going to throw a bunch of players out there and see how they do."
Finding a successor won't be easy.
"He did a good job for us offensively," Alday said. "His on-base-percentage was good and he ran the bases really well."
