Malden, MA – Malden Catholic has hired former MLB coach David Valdez to head its Varsity Baseball program announced Malden Catholic Director of Athletics, William Raycraft.
Prior to joining Malden Catholic, David Valdez spent several years coaching in Major League Baseball as a hitting coach, international player’s assistant and most recently as a player development coach in the Milwaukee Brewers system. In prior years, he was named Manager of the Year after his club finished as Division Champions in the Piedmont Collegiate Summer League in Richmond, VA and had a six-year stint as Manager for the Men’s Baseball team at Bunker Hill Community College.
He was also a coach for the Dominican Summer League and US Heroes of the Diamond US Team and for fourteen years owned Valdez Baseball Academy, a successful instructional camp designed to train little league, high school, college and professional baseball players and provide athletes with position-specific instruction. In addition, Valdez coached several AAU programs including National Champions in 2013 and 2014, runner-up in 2015 and he was selected as Most Influential Latin Person in Massachusetts.
Plus, David Valdez’s career as a professional athlete included playing for the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodger systems as well as the Dominican Winter, Columbian Winter, Frontier and Northern Leagues.
“I have wanted to be a part of the MC baseball program for a long time and I’m extremely excited about having the opportunity to work with the Lancers.” Valdez stated. “I am confident that we will make extraordinary things happen on the diamond and bring back the baseball performance that MC enjoyed in its rich history to the Catholic Conference. I look forward to making the alumni base and greater school community proud,” added Valdez.
Valdez emerged out of a strong pool of applicants with outstanding qualifications. According to William Raycraft, “Coach Valdez is considered to be one of the most respected minds in baseball and will be a great asset to our program on and off the field. His major league experience along with the ability to teach at all levels of baseball experience will significantly benefit our student-athletes and build an outstanding MC program.” Raycraft added, “Valdez is an incredibly passionate person who not only loves the game but knows how to inspire, listen, teach and win – all of these qualities will translate well to our students.”
Since 1932, Malden Catholic has shaped emerging leaders in our community, claiming a Nobel Laureate, a Senator, two ambassadors and countless community and business heads among its alumni. Annually, graduates attend some of the nation’s most renown universities including Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, University of Chicago, Georgetown, Cornell, Brown, Tufts University, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Notre Dame, Northeastern University, Boston College and College of the Holy Cross, just to name a few. Foundational to student success is Malden Catholic’s codivisional model which offers the best of both worlds, single-gender academics during the day and integrated social and extracurricular opportunities after school. Malden Catholic is known in the community for its rigorous academics, SFX Scholars Program and award-winning STEM program. Malden Catholic curricula is designed to improve individual growth mindset, leadership principles and success outcomes along with integrating the Xaverian values of trust, humility, compassion, simplicity and zeal. maldencatholic.org
