By Drew Blouin

Photos by Miles Cull

Thurston High School’s red and black colors coat the evergreen seats in section four of the University of Oregon’s PK Park. Just to the right of home plate, a dazzling sun douses the diamond in its rays with the 2023 Class 5A Baseball Title on the line between the Thurston Colts and the West Albany Bulldogs. 

At shortstop, a stoic Maddox Molony waits. A senior committed to play on the same turf in the fall for the Ducks, Molony defended his title as 5A state Player of the Year despite an injury that sidelined him for three weeks. 

On the mound, his younger brother Connor Molony toes the rubber. With one out, the game knotted at one, and runners on second and third, West Albany threatens to shatter the tie. 

Connor remains calm. Just a sophomore, the right-hander raises his leg chest high, cocks his arm behind his head to a three-quarters arm slot and delivers a trademark fastball, screaming in on the hands of the right-handed batter.  

A late swing catches the handle of the bat and sends a fluttering line drive at Connor. With a glove side spin and a strike to Maddox covering second base, Connor escapes the jam with a double play and roars to the enthralled Colts faithful on his way to the dugout, pounding his chest and pumping both fists. 

The Molony brothers made history that season, their 28-3 record commemorated with a plaque behind home plate at Thurston’s Rent Field. The Colts rattled off 27 straight victories on the way to a title, Thurston’s first since 2009. 

“It’ll be with me forever,” Connor said. “Maddox and I wanted a state championship together. We’ve always wanted a state championship.” 

Their title followed the Colts state championship team of 1996, led by Connor and Maddox’s father, Ryan Molony. Ryan grew up in Eugene and played baseball at Lane Community College. Ryan’s career ended early but he shared his passion with his sons.  

Maddox and Connor credited their love for the game and drive for greatness to their father. Maddox recalled batting practice in the cage at Thurston Middle School with his father, battling the brunt of an Oregon winter’s evening. 

“There are holes in the cages, holes in the L-Screen,” Maddox said. “He doesn’t know if he’s going to get hit. Taking video, talking about swings in the rain and the snow, those are my fondest memories.” 

Michelle, Maddox and Connor’s mother, starred as a softball player in high school. Ryan credited the boys’ athleticism to her, along with their mental toughness.

The brothers competed vigorously growing up. One time, while playing up with Maddox’s team in practice, a young Connor laced a single. The next batter smacked one out to center field where Maddox prowled. With a laser, Maddox inflicted the ultimate embarrassment upon Connor, a force out from the outfield. A play Connor joked “pushed me to get faster.” 

“He always motivated me,” Connor said. “There’s that little bit of brotherly competition when it comes to everything, but it makes it better now that we’re two separate positions and we can just be the best at our parts. We’re constantly looking out for each other. We talk to each other still today about what we can work on.” 

Success came in different forms for the brothers. For Maddox, a regimented, goal-focused approach paved the way, and for Connor, a relaxed, easy-going mindset resulted in success.  

In Connor’s first start as a Colt, on the mound at PK Park, he delivered a filthy slider to Sheldon’s right-handed hitter, the pitch diving away with sharp horizontal break, which induced a mighty whiff from the batter. 

Enthralled in the moment, Connor averted his focus to the opposing dugout, thrusted both hands above his head and sheathed his imaginary sword in celebration. 

Connor recalled Maddox scolding him for the showmanship, saying, “Never do that again.” 

But when spikes hit dirt, one key factor remains consistent for the Molony brothers: domination.   

“I always have the goal to be the best at anything I do,” Maddox said.  

“I hate losing more than I love winning,” Connor said. “I’m a completely different person when I go on the mound. I have the most confidence ever. Some people see it as arrogance, I see it as confidence.” 

In August of 2022, Connor verbally committed to join Maddox with the Ducks. The following spring, Maddox earned 5A Co-Player of the Year honors while Connor captured the 5A Pitcher of the Year award. 

In March, menacing storm clouds enveloped the diamond and a five-hour rain delay ensued, increasing the tension for the series finale between Oregon and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. 

Steam billowed from Maddox’s mouth on this frigid Sunday evening at PK Park.  

Gophers first baseman Jake Elbeery smoked a fourth-inning delivery from junior reliever Ian Umlandt and sent a screaming line-drive up the middle. 

Exploding from his stance, Maddox laid out with full extension, snagging the leather in the webbing of his glove. He leapt to his feet, squared his shoulders and retired the sprinting Elbeery with a dart to first base. 

Jaw-dropping plays stem from routine for Maddox. In the field during his freshman season, Maddox performed at a near flawless clip, committing just three errors in 144 chances. 

“We practice so much that you don’t really have an excuse to make a lot of errors,” Maddox said. “At that point, it’s mental. Once you practice so much, you just have to calm yourself down.” 

Alongside the customary incredible defense, the local star has continued to hammer the ball midway through the 2025 season. His current .367 average leads the team and a .706 slugging percentage tops an unbelievable mark from a season ago. 

During a weekend series in Columbus, Maddox made sure to greet Ohio State fans with a monstrous three-game stretch. 

It started with a fourth-inning battle between Maddox and Buckeyes’ starter, Drew Erdmann. After Erdmann evened the count at two, Maddox uncorked seven foul balls, with one ball mixed in. On the 13th pitch of the at bat, Maddox demolished a letter-high delivery from Erdmann, sending a frozen rope over the Yeti sign in left field. 

An inning later, a slow chopper just to the left of Ducks starter Grayson Grinsell forced Maddox to field with his bare hand. Composed and under control, Maddox scooped up the dribbler and retired the Buckeye hitter. The usually stone-faced Maddox roared to his dugout, unleashing a bit of the competitive fire that can be masked by a calm demeanor. 

By the end of the series, Nick Swisher Field had seen more than enough of Maddox. He finished with a .538 batting average, an absurd 2.263 OPS (MLB average sits around .700-.750) and five home runs. 

Oregon trailed Arizona State 4-3 entering the ninth inning. After a two-run shot by Jeffery Heard gave the Ducks a 5-4 lead, Maddox stepped to the plate for his first at bat in an Oregon uniform. With a 2-2 count and a runner on third, Maddox turned around a 97 mile-per-hour heater from Arizona State’s left-hander. The base hit secured victory for Oregon and propelled a historic season for Maddox; he set the school’s freshman home run record with ten bombs. 

A three-game stretch against Seattle in which Maddox unleashed nine hits caught the attention of head coach Mark Wasikowski. 

“His teammates feed off him,” Wasikowski said. “He’s a great person. He’s a tremendous student, a very well-rounded young man. This kid’s a winner.” 

Indeed, Oregon finished 40-20 last season. However, they fell short of the goal, a trip to “The Greatest Show on Dirt.” 

The Ducks made their only trip to college baseball’s pinnacle in 1954, where they finished 0-2. From 1967-1970, Ronald Molony, Maddox and Connor’s grandfather, suited up in the green and yellow as a catcher. However, in 1981, the athletic department dropped baseball due to budget concerns. 

After a 27-year hiatus, America’s pastime returned to Eugene in 2009. Led by George Horton, who won the College World Series with Cal State Fullerton in 2004, the Ducks faced immediate hope for success. These expectations, of course, were partially brought by Horton’s guarantee of a trip to college baseball’s promised land, Omaha, Nebraska. Although Horton’s team never made good on that vow, his Ducks undoubtedly established a foundation for the future of baseball in Eugene, finishing with a 346-249-1 record during Horton’s tenure.

 To reach Omaha and the College World Series, teams must advance through a four-team regional followed by a best of three super-regional series. In each of the past two seasons, Oregon fell in super-regionals. 

“We’ve got to want it more,” said Maddox on the team’s quest for Omaha. “I think we all wanted it so much but we just didn’t want it together.” 

With Wasikowski at the helm, the Ducks have seen great success, combining for a 186-99 record since his hiring in June of 2019. However, the pursuit continues for Maddox and Oregon. 

“This game has a piece of my heart,” Maddox said. “It’s just a part of me. I don’t know anything else but loving this game.”

On a chilly March night at PK Park, Connor climbed the hill, a feeling he described as “just right” after winning the first two games at his future diamond. With expectations higher than ever, Connor’s 2024 season began. Then catastrophe. 

Just nine months earlier on the same mound, Connor helped lead Thurston to a state title with an eight-inning complete game. He pitched with a brotherly security blanket covering his back, the two shining together on the field they dreamed of sharing as kids. 

Five pitches in, Connor felt a tightening in his arm. 

“It was scary, for sure,” Connor said. “It hurt really bad. It was like a muscle tear. The team morale was shot after that. That was probably the worst game in history for me.” 

“In the bullpen prior, I felt a little bit in my arm but nothing out of the ordinary,” he said. “I threw a curveball and felt a twinge, but I just kept on going. My velo was going down, it hurt more and more to throw.” 

The pain forced Connor to remove himself from the contest, an agonizing decision for a dominant competitor; however, the doctor commended this. Connor tore the forearm muscle that runs over the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) but avoided further damage to the UCL, dodging a grueling and extensive recovery from Tommy John surgery. 

“As a kid, it’s hard to comprehend the big picture,” said Thurston baseball’s varsity head coach Dennis Minium. “You’re looking at now. I think it [opened] his eyes and he said, ‘hey, I’m valuable in more ways than just pitching and I’m going to help this team win.’ He became more of a leader.” 

Sidelined, Connor turned his attention to helping his team at the plate. 

Connor attacked recovery while supporting his team from the dugout through steady encouragement and reinforcement, no matter the result.  

The Colts rolled again that regular season, despite consecutive years altered by an injury to a Molony brother. Connor earned First-Team All-League and All-State honors as a designated hitter and Thurston cruised through the opening rounds of the playoffs, crushing their two opponents by a combined score of 21-0. 

In a one-run semifinal matchup with Ridgeview High School, headed into the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of hits under his belt, Connor stepped to the plate with two Colts on base. 

One swing of the bat silenced any concern of defeat. A towering drive sailed over the netting deep behind the left-field wall at Rent Field, virtually cementing Thurston’s spot in the state championship game. 

“I still remember the pitch,” Connor said. “It was the most hung slider I’ve ever gotten in my life. I saw that ball like a beach ball.” 

Connor and the Colts secured back-to-back state titles with a 2-0 win over West Albany, a victory that only drives Connor toward next season, the coveted three-peat. 

“He’s coming out this year with a vengeance,” Minium said. “[His] arm feels great.” 

Thurston jumped out to a 7-2 record to begin the 2025 season. With the 5A State Title game set to be played at PK Park once again, look for Connor and the Colts to continue their reign. 

“I have pictures in my camera roll of me when I was six years old going to Oregon baseball games and being that little kid that wants his ball signed,” Connor said. “I’ll be the player out there that I looked up to. It’s just going to be a crazy moment. My brother was always with me asking for the autographs and now we’ll be out there together being asked.” 

Connor smiled widely when asked about sharing the diamond with his brother as a Duck and joked about flashing hand signals to his big brother from the mound, specifically the middle finger. 

“It’s going to be pretty emotional for both their mom and me,” Ryan said. “We don’t take anything for granted. I kind of try to not look toward that too much, just kind of live in the moment with them.” 

With one dream soon to be realized, another lies at the front of the brothers’ minds, a championship for the team they grew up loving, the Oregon Ducks. 

“I know they’re hungry this year, but if they don’t get it this year, they’re going to be starving,” Connor said. “I’ll be part of it, and I’ll want it just as bad as the next guy. I think that’s what is going to make our team the best. Everybody wants that trophy, everybody wants to be in Omaha, everybody wants to be in the last game of the year. That’s legacy, something to leave behind at the University of Oregon.”

Pitching a Legacy

Maddox And Connor Molony Have Etched Their Names Into Oregon Baseball History.