The Molony legacy lives on at PK Park
Maddox Molony is the first Ducks with links to the past -- just with a bit more power.
Maddox Molony lives and breathes baseball in the Willamette Valley.
He’s a top player on the country’s No. 10 team. He plays for the same program his grandfather once did — and in the same city where his dad played college ball.
Molony's mom was a standout softball player at South Medford. His younger brother, Connor, will join the Oregon baseball program this fall. Molony has vivid memories of a childhood spent at Civic Stadium watching the Ems—and then later falling for the Ducks after the program was resurrected in 2009.
“J.J. Altobelli, Ryon Healy, Scott Heineman — I remember all of those names,” Molony said, recounting his knack for reciting the starting lineups like a PA announcer.
Few appreciate what baseball means to the area more than the Molonys. And while Maddox is the star of one of the best tickets in town — the 19-5 Ducks are outscoring their opponents 214-96 heading into this weekend’s series against Ohio State — the family admits they feel a sense of melancholy as one constant of their baseball existence is coming to a close.
See, Maddox is a legitimate pro prospect now. According to Baseball America, the power-hitting shortstop, whose 10 home runs in 2024 set a program record for freshmen, is the No. 13 prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft. Now hitting .356 with 6 homers and a 1.084 OPS as a sophomore, Molony looks like a likely first-rounder next year.
And no, that’s not the problem at all for the Molonys.
They’ve always been a baseball-first family. Grandpa Ronald played catcher for the Ducks in the 60s. Maddox’s parents Ryan and Michelle fell in love at the ballpark when Ryan played for Lane Community College. And Maddox has always been ahead of the curve on the field, bypassing tee ball and succeeding at older youth levels.
He won a state championship in 2023 at Thurston. He wants to win a College World Series with Oregon.
The pros would be the next step.
But there’s the Ems thing.