Thurston grad Maddox Molony’s strong week helps Oregon baseball to series sweep
Not even a year ago, Oregon freshman infielder Maddox Molony had two hits and an RBI at PK Park in the 5A state championship to help Thurston High School to their first state title since 2012.
On the same stage, but as a collegiate athlete and finally healthy after dealing with an undisclosed injury, Molony is off to a hot start for the Ducks after a four-game sweep this week against Seattle U.
The freshman from Springfield is batting .560 on the season over 25 at-bats, with eight runs scored, eight RBIs, and his first career home run as a Duck coming Friday night against the Redhawks.
“I grew up watching these players in this stadium – the fence was a little farther when I grew up – but hitting that (home run) in this uniform was really cool,” Molony said.
Molony finished with three hits in each of the final three games of the series to pace an Oregon lineup that needed a spark, and the freshman was more than willing to provide it.
Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said the freshman had dealt with an injury through the early part of spring but is finally fully healthy and was productive while recouping with his teammates and assistant coaches and strength staff.
That, and getting top-quality coaching at the high school level, has helped Molony and fellow freshman infielder Ryan Cooney – from Jesuit High School in Portland – make several starts in the middle of the infield. The freshman duo were on the field together at shortstop and second base at the end of Oregon’s Saturday game against Seattle U to seal a sweep.
“They have to earn it,” Wasikowski said of the freshmen. “They have to have a coach behind the scenes that’s a really good coach … they’re prepared. We can help prepare them, but when they’re getting coached as well as those two programs in our state are coaching their players, then when they get here, they have an advantage over the guy that’s not getting coached at that level.”
Oregon Ducks' offense comes alive over final three games of series
The Ducks needed late dramatics to win a wild opener on Tuesday, taking down the Redhawks, 5-4, in 10 innings. The teams were locked in a pitcher’s duel throughout the first nine innings, with Oregon starter Michael Freund and Seattle starter Jarek Woodward dealing until the bullpen’s ran into trouble in extra innings.
Freund wrapped up five innings of work allowing no runs on four hits with five strikeouts while Woodward allowed just one run over four innings with five punchouts.
Tied at 1-1 heading into the 10th, Seattle U scored three runs in the top of the inning before the Ducks responded with four, capped by a Drew Smith walk-off single that scored two. Smith finished 3 for 4 in the win.
Game 2 was much less dramatic, resulting in a 10-2 Ducks win on Wednesday. Jeffery Heard went 4 for 4 with four RBIs in the win, and Mason Neville went 2 for 5 with four RBIs and a home run. Duck starter RJ Gordon went five innings and allowed just one run on five hits with five strikeouts.
On Thursday for Game 3 the Ducks won 9-2. Starter Grayson Grinsell pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on three hits with nine strikeouts. Molony went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and went yard for the first time as a college athlete.
The final game of the weekend was an offensive showcase, with the Ducks winning 14-7. Molony went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a double in the win, while starter Kevin Seitter settled in after an up-and-down start to strike out eight in just under seven innings of work.
What's next for the Ducks?
Oregon will take on Portland up the road on Tuesday before heading to Los Angeles to play UCLA for a weekend Pac-12 series starting Friday.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Thurston's Maddox Molony helps Oregon baseball to series sweep over Seattle University
