Believe it or not, there is something more admirable about Julia Martine than her considerable softball talents and outstanding academic achievements.
And that would be her loyalty.
In this age of standout athletes wanting to flee losing programs for the promise of more victories and exposure at prep and parochial schools, Martine is a throwback who, for better or worse, enjoys competing with teammates she grew up with.
It mattered not to the future Division I player that Hamilton West won just 12 games over her first three seasons. Those kind of numbers keep newspaper coverage at a minimum and have kept Martine one of the Colonial Valley Conference’s best-kept secrets.
She could care less.
“I never would transfer,” the senior shortstop/leadoff hitter said. “I’d never transfer for softball, I love all my teammates. And I just love the school. I love West, the community, everything we have academically.”
Fortunately in softball, players are recruited out of travel ball more so than high school. Thus, the diligence of her recruiting coach on the New Jersey Cheetahs landed Martine at Fordham. She gave a verbal commitment last year, making her the first West softballer to go D-I since 2006 grad Melissa Hodge.
“She’s probably one of the top five players I’ve ever coached in 15 years, between Nottingham and Hamilton,” Hornets coach Lindsey Diamond said. “She has the whole package. She’s an athlete, there’s no question. I’ve put her in the outfield a few times, and you could put her at any position and she’d take it and do well.”
Martine will join a Fordham program that was 22-17 overall and 10-1 in Atlantic 10 Conference play in mid-April.
“I met with the team before I committed,” Martine said. “The coach (Bridget Orchard) was outstanding. I was close with all the girls but there had to be good coaching as well. I liked the whole atmosphere of the campus. It was a good distance from home. It felt like a fit when I went to visit.”
Just as playing shortstop in softball has been a perfect fit her entire life. A coach in the Hamilton Little Lads baseball league put her at short as a little kid, and she stayed there through HGSA and with the Cheetahs, New Jersey Finch’s Aces and Hornets.
For a while, however, another sport vied for her attention.
“I was set on soccer from a young age,” said Martine, who played soccer and basketball for West. “It was always soccer for me from four or five years old. When I got to high school it changed for me, I started to lose my interest in soccer; and softball was it. I haven’t looked back since.”
Always a slick fielder with a strong bat, Martine lost one of those attributes during her freshman year at Hamilton. She collected just seven hits while batting .175.
“All the seniors were great and took me in, but offensively it was pretty rough,” Martine said. “Defense has always been where I felt the strongest, so I didn’t let my offense that year affect me. It was hard, it was definitely a hurdle I had to overcome but my team really supported me. Being new I just tried to stay focused on what I was succeeding at and not let my struggles on offense carry over to the rest of the games.”
Martine said the rough high school start never dented her confidence and the numbers back that up. She hit .614 with 11 doubles, three triples and 19 RBI as a sophomore. Last year she hit .552 with seven doubles, two triples, a homer and 13 RBI.
Not only does Martine impress her coach and teammates, she also draws praise from opposing dugouts.
“She’s a great player,” Nottingham catcher Gabby Estrada said. “We used to play together when we were younger. She’s always been a strong hitter, and she’s just gotten better over the years.”
“She’s an amazing player,” added Northstars’ shortstop Iliana Nyktas. “She’s a great hitter. We’re good friends. She does all these great things but never boasts about it, she’s very humble. You’d never know she was that good.”
Just look at the stat sheet to find out how good she is.
Through the Hornets 4-6 start this year, Martine was batting .633 with nine doubles, a triple, a homer and 13 RBI. As of April 19, she was one hit shy of 100. That is one of two achievements that Martine takes pride in.
“I’m proud that no matter all the losses that we’ve suffered, that I’ve kept my head straight and in the game,” Martine said at the time. “And with limited games (due to lack of tournament success) I’ve been able to reach anywhere close to 100 hits. A lot of teams get a lot more at-bats, so even if I didn’t get it, I would be pretty proud to be anywhere up near there.”
Martine’s skills are more than just physical, as she possesses all the tangibles that make her Hamilton’s foundation.
“The most progress she’s made as a team player is becoming more of a leader, in a sense that she’s like having another coach on the team,” Diamond said. “She understands the game in a way that the other players don’t understand it. She understands the positions, the plays that should be made at certain times. That’s far beyond a high school softball mentality.”
Martine’s mentality goes well beyond the softball field. With a 4.4 grade-point average, the National Honor Society member is ranked 10th in Hamilton’s senior class of 282. For her efforts she received a scholarship from the Mercer County Softball Hall of Fame. She plans on majoring in finance, saying, “accounting is the only thing that grabbed my attention and sparked my interest, so I’ll see where it takes me.”
One of Martine’s greatest high school experiences has been playing games as part of Hamilton’s Unified Club, which features Hornet athletes on combined teams with Special Olympics participants.
“We just had a tournament and came in second,” Martine proudly stated. “Doing that makes me feel great. Just seeing them having a great time with the little things. It makes me realize that losing a game doesn’t really matter.”
That is a good attitude to have, considering Hamilton has had its share of losses during Martine’s career—not just in softball, but her other two sports as well.
Asked what it has been like for her to experience individual success amidst team failure, Martine releases a big sigh.
“Bumpy,” she said. “It’s definitely been an experience. This is time for me to practice and get my reps in and not lose sight of what I’m working toward and just try to stay on track. I need to encourage my team and stay on myself. Of all our losses that we’ve had over the years, you try to find something good, whether it’s a play you make or a hit. Every at-bat you still go up with the same mindset and every ball you get hit to you, you still make the play. It’s the little things.
“You don’t always have to win to take something from it.”
It’s safe to say Martine has taken quite a few positives from softball. And given just as many back.
