On Friday, March 28th, 2025, the Malden High School varsity baseball team prepared to compete against Salem Academy Charter. This at-home, non-conference season opener was also the first of two matchups for the fourth annual Tornado First Pitch Classic.
Both teams arrived with friendly and respectful attitudes since Mike Barbati, the current coach for Salem Charter, was also a former coach for Malden. Malden came into this “classic” clash confident as they are looking to earn their fourth consecutive championship title for this tournament.
Although this game had a friendly environment, Malden did not hold back in any of the seven innings. Malden started off strong with their base running, having their first two runs coming in from third base on different pitches. These runs came from Billy Gavin, a junior on the team, and Ryan McMahon, one of the team captains.
Now, while Salem was able to respond with a run of their own, Malden made sure that was their only one. One of the biggest factors for the team’s defensive success was their pitching. The team’s main pitchers were juniors Ryan McMahon and Billy Gavin. As a combined force, they were able to keep a nearly perfect game and gain confidence leading into the season. Gavin reflected on this success, saying, “It felt really good to shut down Salem this year. One of the biggest concerns going into the year was the pitching, so shutting down Salem is gonna give me and Ryan and all the other pitchers a lot of confidence later on in the year.”
But this success and confidence did not arrive overnight. Gavin made sure to show his gratitude to coaches Stephen Freker, Kenny Runge, Phil Cook, and Mike Nicholson. Throughout the winter, the team would “hold practices to get us back into the swing into baseball cause most of us play different sports.”
But as mentioned before, Gavin was not alone on the mound. McMahon stated his optimism for the season and adds, “It felt great to start off the year with a win. Our team this year has a lot of younger guys, but they all seem like they’ve played at the varsity level,the boys all love each other and expect to win and keep on winning.”
Overall, Malden’s varsity baseball team demonstrated that they are a force to be reckoned with. They have shown that they have the potential to be powerhouses within the league. Baseball fans around Malden should definitely keep an eye out for this group.
