Martin’s swan song
Coach would like another College World Series
“You have to be yourself, that the best advice I learned early — know yourself, be yourself, accept yourself. You can’t try to be somebody else. You gotta be who you are.” —Mike Martin, Florida State coach
No. 11 Florida State enters opening day with a realistic goal: clinching a College World Series berth one final time for beloved coach Mike Martin.
Reaching the CWS is a common goal for every Division I club. Once there, the Seminoles plan to finish strong. FSU has reached Omaha 16 times and always departed empty-handed. The Seminoles are determined to win their first national championship in Martin’s final season.
Though chances to clinch a title have come and gone for Martin, he remains confident in his approach to the game.
“I can’t coach but one way and that’s by feeling,” Martin said. “You have to be yourself, that the best advice I learned early — know yourself, be yourself, accept yourself. You can’t try to be somebody else. You gotta be who you are.”
Criticism of Martin’s judgment followed the Seminoles’ heartbreaking loss to end the 2018 season. Drew Parrish was brought back in to pitch after a 150-minute weather delay and couldn’t hold on in an elimination game during the Tallahassee Regional. The team was swept and devastated, but Parrish didn’t allow himself to dwell on the gut-wrenching loss.
“I knew I was still going to play baseball [with Team USA], so I moved on,” Parrish said.
Playing with talent from across the country was alluring and sometimes intimidating. The stint with Team USA triggered a selfevaluation.
“He just seemed to [understand] the fact that, ‘I’m not bad. I’m not maybe what I thought I was … but with a lot of handiwork, I can do better,’” Martin said.
Parrish’s introspection sat well with Martin and FSU’s new pitching coach, Clyde Keller. The lefthander is embracing many new techniques, including tunneling pitches.
Now the preseason first team All-American awaits the most significant season of his college career and has earned the coveted title of Friday night starter. Among fellow NCAA players, D1 Baseball ranks Parrish, a junior, as the third best pitching prospect in the upcoming 2019 MLB draft.
Parrish and junior Drew Mendoza are leaders of a young FSU team. Fourteen players on the 35-man roster are freshmen, making the season’s first few series more important. Martin is looking for growth out of his freshmen.
“When you have freshmen, you don’t know how they’re going to react to failure,” Martin said. “It’s crucial that they understand they’re going to go through spurts that they’re just miserable. This is baseball. You are going to fail. How tough are you mentally?”
The 2019 season’s opening four-game series against Maine will offer the pitching staff critical game experience.
“It’s an evaluation time for them and they know it,” Martin said.
Barring injury, Florida State’s southpaw heavy starting rotation will be the team’s greatest advantage. Three of the four starting pitchers set for the opening series against Maine are left-handers — Parrish, Shane Drohan and Austin Pollock. Right-hander C.J. Van Eyk will take the mound for part two of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Aside from the buzz surrounding Martin’s final season, the decision at closer is intriguing. Junior J.C. Flowers, FSU’s anchor at centerfield for three seasons, will also be called on to close out games as the six-out closer.
Don’t expect to see Flowers in his new role immediately out of the gate. Martin wants to keep him fresh for postseason play.
Martin expects to be just as fired up as freshmen when they take the field Friday.
“There is no other day like opening day,” Martin said. “I’m excited. Thank God, I’m still excited.”