Prince George, B.C.’s Jared Young helps team win in his first Major League Baseball game | CBC News

Jared Young, the first person from the northern B.C. city of Prince George to play baseball in the majors had a winning game Friday afternoon in his first Major League Baseball outing.

Young, an outfielder, hit a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth inning, which contributed to the Chicago Cubs’ defeat of the Colorado Rockies 2-1 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Young has been working his way up from the team’s minor affiliates in Iowa since he was drafted in 2017 before the Cubs called him up on Wednesday.

The team announced its selection after Young’s Iowa Cubs teammate, Rafael Ortega, wasn’t able to make it due to finger injuries.

At a news conference Friday, Young said he really enjoyed the experience of his debut major league game.

“[Wrigley Field] is probably the loudest, loudest building I have ever been in,” he said. “That was pretty cool. That’s a surreal day.”

Family having a good time in Chicago

Young, 27, also mentioned that his eight family members — including his parents and his elder brother Tanner — had fun travelling overnight from Prince George to Chicago to watch the game.

“I’m sure they had a good time,” he said.

Broadcast video released by the Chicago Cubs shows his family and friends celebrating in the stands after he made his first hit.

Young’s mother Dana said she was “beyond excited” and “speechless” when she first heard the Cubs had decided to call her son up.

She praised his tenacity and determination and said as a child he had always worked hard shadowing his brother to hone his baseball skills.

“He’s never had a summer that he has not been in the ballpark,” she said on Thursday before flying to Chicago. “He was always trying to keep up with everything.”

The Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies still have two games to play this weekend.

Dana said she will be watching.

“I can watch my kid every single day playing ball,” she said. “I’m so proud of him.”

Cole Waldie, the communications director of the Prince George Cougars junior hockey team, said he first met Young through baseball at the age of nine, and they have been friends since.

Waldie described young as a leader who always puts his teammates before himself and said his victory on Friday was “the coolest sporting accomplishment” for Prince George.

“No one’s really been close to doing it from the north — it’s very rare,” he said. “I’m not sure if that’ll be replicated in a long time, so [it’s] just a really cool moment.”

Subscribe to Daybreak North on CBC Listen or your favourite podcast app, and connect with CBC Northern British Columbia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.