Martinez Signs Professionally With Joplin Blasters
Martinez becomes the third Blue Devil from the 2016 squad to sign professionally.
Matt Martinez, a recently graduated senior of the Central Connecticut baseball team, has signed his first professional contract with the Joplin Blasters of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball League it was announced by the league on Thursday. Martinez becomes the fifth Blue Devil over the past three seasons to sign with professional organizations and he is the sixth former Blue Devil to currently be playing professionally.
Martinez was recently named the 2016 Golden State Collegiate Baseball League Hitter of the Year and was a First Team All-League seletion after playing with Top Speed Baseball. He has played two games thus far for the Blasters, collecting a hit in each, and is batting .286 with a run scored.
Martinez's exploits helped power Top Speed to its second straight GSCBL championship and a 47-4 record overall, which included a league-record 41-3 mark. He had an outstanding summer at the plate, leading the league with 67 hits, 48 runs batted in and 16 home runs, while ranking third with a .387 batting average. He ranked second in slugging percentage (.734), while also ranking in the top five in runs (45, third), on-base percentage (.457, fourth) and doubles (12, t-fifth).
Martinez was joined on Top Speed by fellow Blue Devil Casey Brown who recently signed with the Normal CornBelters of the independent Frontier League. Connor Fitzsimons, who played with Martinez and Brown for CCSU this past season, signed a pro deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization earlier this season. The trio join Nick Neumann (Pittsburgh Pirates), J.P. Sportman (Oakland A's) and Evan Scribner (Seattle Mariners) as other former Blue Devils currently playing professional baseball.
The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball Leagues was formed on October 11, 2005. The league is currently comprised of 12 teams and operates clubs in the states of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and the Canadian province of Manitoba.
