MOST WINS IN MASS!: Malden Baseball leads the state in victories, takes over first place in GBL at 12-1

Billy Gavin grabs 5th save and 3rd win over Everett (3-2 win) and Somerville (6-3 win); freshman Davante Layne leads GBL in hitting (.487)

By Nick Toscani

Billy Gavin was a beast on the mound for Malden this week in leading the Golden Tornado Baseball squad to wins over Everett and Somerville. Malden soared to 12-1 overall with the pair of victories, giving the locals the MOST wins in the state of Massachusetts! Malden also improved to 8-1 in the Greater Boston League (GBL), moving into sole possession of first place.

Gavin on Wednesday went the distance with his third straight complete game win for Malden in the 6-3 win over Somerville, on the road at Trum Field. The lanky righthander scattered 5 hits and struck out 6 for Malden, allowing ZERO earned runs.

Somerville got all of its 3 runs in a rocky top of the third inning for Gavin and Malden, as the Highlanders tied the game at 3-3. Gavin settled down nicely after that, allowing only three more baserunners in the final four innings, only 2 hits and just 1 walk. After a leadoff single by Somerville sophomore Preston Ardolino (2-for-2, 2 walks) to start the bottom of the 4th inning, Gavin retired the next 8 batters in a row. Leading 6-3, Gavin KOed the first two Somerville batters in order, walked Ardolino and then got the final batter of the game to hit a popup to freshman second baseman Davante Layne to end the game.

Malden’s offense was led by freshman leadoff man Davante Layne, who had his second three-hit game of the season (3-for-4, 2 RBIs) and improved his GBL-leading batting average to .487 (20-for-41). Freshmen Nick D’Anna (single, double) and Devin Otero Milonopoulos (2-for-2, double), also were offensive leaders for Malden. In all, Malden got 7 of its 11 hits for the game from 9th graders.

McMahon (5-1) and Layne lead Malden past Everett

On Monday, in a 3-2 win on the road at Everett, Gavin came on to pitch the 7th in relief, stared down a bases-loaded, 1-out situation and got a strikeout and a mile-high popup to Ryan McMahon at shortstop to end the game to make Malden 11-1 overall. McMahon (5-1) had pitched six full innings for his 5th pitching win against Everett, holding the Crimson Tide to just 2 hits and striking out 3.

Davante Layne went 2-for-3 for Malden and senior Brayan Jose had a clutch, RBI double down the right field lane, which set up senior captain Bo Stead for a clutch, 2-run single, which snapped a 1-1 tie game and gave Malden the 3-1 lead. Everett came back to climb within a run in the bottom of the 6th when Tyler Freni and Gaffigan drew leadoff walks and Freni came all the way around to score on an RBI single by Derek Soper. With Everett rallying hard, Layne made the top defensive play of the game when he gloved a low line shot seed, only about 5 inches off the ground, at second for an inning-ending, rally-killing out. Layne had also made a super snag off a spinning popup going away from his glove for the first out of that inning.

Soper pitched a solid game for Everett, scattering 5 hits and striking out 7 in a complete game effort.

Malden made a pitching and position change to start Everett’s bottom of the 7th. McMahon left the mound and moved to shortstop and Gavin left short and took over the mound. Ewing led off with a single for Everett, but Malden got a spectacular play at shortstop from McMahon, who gloved a sizzler off the bat of the speedy Jevaun Berberena, then fired a missile across the diamond to get the out by a half a step.

Miguel Santana then worked a 1-2 count back to a single, and then the runners went to second and third on a bobbled cutoff throw. With first base open and the winning run already on second base, Malden opted to intentionally walk the dangerous Tyler Freni, a Tide sophomore transfer from Malden Catholic who is one of the team’s leading batters. With the bases now loaded and Gavin working with a 3-2 lead and “without a net,” the tightrope began.

He went 3-1 on the next hitter, Gaffigan, but then got the Tide senior to swing at 2 chest-high fastballs and get the strikeout for out #2. Gavin then went 1-1 to Soper before getting the Tide pitcher to hit a major league, sky-high popup to McMahon at shortstop, who camped under it and gloved it for the final out to seal the Malden win.

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  DIAMOND DUST: Despite the loss, Everett second-year Head Coach Malik Love has the Tide off to their best baseball start in years, now at 6-5 overall and 3-3 in the Greater Boston League… Before its only loss of the season to Medford, Malden was off to an 8-0 start and had won a school record 18 straight regular season games dating back to last season when it won 10 in a row to close out the regular season… After a 4-16 season in 2022, Malden went 11-9 overall in 2023, 16-5 overall in 2024, and with its 12-1 start this year is now 39-15 from 2023 to the present, a .722 winning percentage overall… Malden Baseball is hosting a Car Wash Fundraiser from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 3, in the Ferry Street parking lot (beside CVS) – only $10.00 a wash by Team Members and Baseball Boosters!