On a team full of some of the better high school baseball players from Brooklyn, Matt Molbury has been the best player for the Sayo Grays, according to its coach Ian Young.
“Matthew has been hands down our most valuable player,” said Young, who is also a Xaverian assistant coach. “He’s been all over the field and he’s been getting things done.”
Never was that more evident than the title game of the Long Island Baseball Association’s Mike Becker Division at Preller Field Sunday afternoon.
The rising senior at Bishop Ford called a solid game behind the plate, went 2-for-2 with a walk and three RBIs and then, with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, Molbury took the mound and got the save, helping lift the Sayo Grays to a 5-2 win against the Brooklyn Bonnie Cougars.
“What hasn’t he done?” asked slugger Esteban Gomez, who is also a teammate at Bishop Ford. “He’s thrown people out and gotten big hits when we needed it… He has quality pitches. He throws with good velocity and he has a nasty curveball.”
Molbury seemed uncomfortable to hear Young heap praise on him.
“I’m a team player,” he said. “I don’t really care about that. I just want to do good, get looks from colleges and keep moving forward.”
Young said the goal of his Sayo Grays program is to get his players college scholarships and the interest is building in Molbury, the 5-foot-11 catcher/shortstop. Molbury said
St. John’s, C.W. Post and schools in Oklahoma and Texas have been in contact with Young, who said Molbury’s stock continues to rise.
“I’m going to keep testing him to see how far I can push it,” Young said. “He’s just making my college work a lot easier. I’ve already been contacted by a number of big-time schools who are looking forward to Mr. Molbury’s progress in the future.”
Against the Brooklyn Bonnie Cougars on Sunday, Molbury singled to center in the second inning and walked in the fourth. He was driven in by Gomez, who crushed a two-run home run over the fence in right. With his team leading 2-1, Molbury broke his bat on a two-run single to right in the fifth inning.
After Brooklyn got a run back in the sixth inning, Molbury drove in another run with a sacrifice fly deep to left in the top of the seventh.
“I felt pretty good even though I broke a bat,” Molbury said.
Louie Perez, who relieved starter Kieran Monaghan in the sixth, hit a batter and then walked the second he faced. Young called for Molbury to close the game out and he did just that, inducing a critical double play and then a groundout to end the game and clinch the title for Sayo Grays.
“It’s a good way to keep moving forward,” Molbury said of winning the championship. “I just have to keep working hard.”
