BACK-to-BACK TITLES: Dolphins win Malden Youth Baseball 2024 Cal Ripken Majors Championship

First time as consecutive season winners for team since 2007-2008 seasons

By Steve Freker

If anyone would know the answer to the following question – “When was the last time the Dolphins won the Majors City Series title in back-to-back seasons?” – it would have to be its manager, Kenny Mazonson. After all, Mazonson is the only manager the team has ever had in the 30-plus years of the franchise’s existence.

Well, for the first time since 2007-2008, the Malden Youth Baseball (MYB) Cal Ripken Majors champs are back-to-back champs: 9-5 winners on July 1 over the Dodgers at Bruce Field in Malden. It was a winner-take-all final game for the champs, who had to defeat the regular season top team Dodgers two days before to force the last game.

Veteran pitcher Jacob Christie was masterful – and dominant– on the mound, striking out 10 in a complete-game, 6-inning effort and scattering 4 hits. Christie got plenty of help with some key defensive plays as well as timely hitting up-and-down the Dolphins lineup.

The Dolphins had to come from behind twice in the past two games of the championship series to claim its second consecutive title. On June 29, the Dolphins eked out a 6-5 win to force an “if necessary” winner-take-all game in the double-elimination series.

The Dodgers did score first in the first inning, but the Dolphins roared back and took a commanding, 5-1 lead in the third inning and never looked back. “I just told our team to stick with it and keep playing consistently and they did just that,” said Mazonson, who is believed to be the longest-tenured Little League level team manager in Malden city history, nearly 50 years.

The Dolphins first and only manager was selected and enshrined in the inaugural Malden Baseball Legacy Hall of Fame this past spring at a dinner and ceremony held at the Malden Moose Hall.

MYB President Felice D’Anna said the win capped a very successful year for the program. “We had done highly competitive playoff battle with a lot of exciting games.”

“The Executive Board would like to thank all of the players, coaches and families who worked together to make this such a great season,” D’Anna added. “Congratulations to both teams, the Dodgers and champion Dolphins for a well-played finals.”

Dolphins team members include Zachari Breton, Dmitri Carnell, Jacob Christie, Nicholas Cook Tran, Jeffrey Cooper, Christopher Ferreira, Jax Marinko, Sean McAuliffe, Izaiah Paredes, Brendan Skerry and Lorenzo Solis. The runner-up Dodgers included Charlie Baker, Ryan Brett, Brayden Leon, Evan McAlear, Ronan McAlear, Kevin Moura, Shea Nelson, Aboubakr Shokr, Ryan Tienken, Frank Toscano, Cole Turner, Maurice Vance and Brayden Yin. Brendan Brett is the manager of the Dodgers