By William Stanton
If you have had the chance to watch the Southern Virginia University baseball team play this season, you may have seen freshman outfielder, Ty Martinez (’26) in action. You may have also seen him hit a home run, as he leads the team in home runs with three this season, including a grand slam in an 11–2 win against Capital University.
Aside from the sport, Martinez is a business management major. Martinez graduated from Northridge High School in Layton, Utah in 2021 and served for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Rosario, Argentina mission. Martinez first visited the University in the summer of 2022 and shortly after made his decision to make the move to Buena Vista. Martinez’s main reason for choosing this school and this team was because of the relationship he built with the coaches.
Coming into the team, Martinez loved that the seniors were very welcoming, all the returning players were very inclusive, and that there was good team chemistry. Martinez was very vocal about how grateful he was for his coaches.
“I’m grateful for Coach Shleg and the assistant coaches for all the baseball knowledge they have taught me, for pushing me to be a better player, person, and for showing me the right way to play the game,” Martinez.
Martinez believes that, as a whole, the baseball team has been playing well. There is good chemistry on and off the field, but he believes there is plenty of room for improvement and he hopes to be a part of a historic season while at the University. Martinez is not disappointed in how he’s been playing, but is definitely not satisfied and hopes to be a major contributor to the team’s success in the near future.
Being that it is Martinez’ first year of college, he didn’t quite know what to expect before arriving on campus. Martinez loved meeting new people and getting to know his new teammates. When asked about his favorite things about Buena Vista and Southern Virginia, Martinez responded,
“I love the nature, I love being outside, spending time with friends and teammates. With school, I like all my teachers, I like the smaller class size and smaller student population. I like attending a school that is aligned with my values religiously and as a person in general.”
If you have the chance to watch the University’s baseball team, I highly recommend it! And if you ever see Mr. Martinez around campus, make sure to greet him with a big hug!
Click here to view the baseball team’s schedule.
Student-Athlete Highlight: Ty Martinez was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.