Brendan Maly chooses baseball over hockey
FREELAND, Mich. — While most players focus on mastering just one sport, Brendan Maly of Freeland High School is a master of both baseball and hockey.
The 19-year-old plays a forward position in the FNV Griffins hockey team, which he has played in since the 2017-18 season. This high school hockey club is located in Freeland, Michigan, and plays at the Saginaw Bay Ice Arena.
In his first outing at the United States High School, Michigan (USHS-MI) League, Maly earned 62 total points from 34 goals and 28 assists after playing 23 games with the FNV Griffins. Forward Adam Rivette was the only player who surpassed him by earning 71 points from 29 goals and 42 assists provided in 25 games.
With 66 points earned from 32 goals and 34 assists in the 2018-19 season, Maly and his team made it to the playoffs. In the playoffs, he scored two goals after playing just one game. He played a total of 25 games that season.
He played 25 games in the 2019-20 season as well, but scored fewer goals in the regular season, racking up 26 goals and 30 assists to earn him 56 total points. However, Maly did better in the postseason by recording five points from two goals and three assists in two games played.
So far in the 2020-21 season of the USHS-MI League, Maly has played 15 games, scored 16 goals and provided 21 assists to get a total of 37 points. His contributions led to the FNV Griffins to be named the USHS-MI All-State Division II second team.
Maly spent four years playing hockey during the regular season of the USHS-MI League with the FNV Griffins. In those four years, he played a total of 87 games and made 221 points from scoring 108 goals and providing 113 assists. The teenage forward now ranks first for the franchise’s all-time points. Adam Rivette ranks second with 153 points (68 points less than Maly), while John-Paul Lefevre ranks third with 119 points.
Maly also holds the league’s highest franchise all-time goals of 108, giving Adam a 48-goal gap. Again, Maly excels in assists, providing 20 more assists than Rivette, who ranks second in the franchise all-time assists. He also has the second-highest number of franchise all-time games played in the regular season, with only Nick Schlitt playing nine games more than him.
Maly has participated in two playoff runs in the USHS-MI League, where he played three games, scored four goals and assisted three times.
In March 2020, the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Associated mentioned Maly as one of the honorable mention forwards in Division III.
“He’s extremely competitive in games and in practices, even before practices when we round up a couple players and play PIG,” FNV Griffins coach, Ron Miller, said. “Whether it’s games or practices, Brendan finds a way to win.”
It looks like 5-foot-11, 180-pound Maly has played enough ice hockey and wants to play more of his favorite sport, baseball, going forward. As he heads to college, he has committed to the baseball team of Cornerstone University for the next season, where he intends to further his academic and athletic pursuits.
Baseball is not new to Maly, as he usually plays it as a summer routine.
Already, Maly is the Freeland baseball team’s middle infielder and has been joining them in the summer for travel tournaments.
Maly always strives to be the best at everything he does and prioritizes his education and sports. His confidence and positive attitude will make it easier for him to stand out in college.
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