By: Brandon Rebboah
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Rising-junior catcher Anthony Martinez is playing his summer baseball in the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League for the Kauai Menehunes in Honolulu, Hawaii. Martinez has started five games for the Menehunes posting a .313 batting average (5-16). On Jun., 18 Martinez started for the Menehunes at first base tallying a RBI and a run scored in a 6-2 victory over the Hawaii Aliis.
With countless collegiate summer leagues nationally, players spend their summers playing with teams comprised of college players from around the country. Most of the Broncos are somewhere playing in a summer league. With players all over the country, Broncos are in the Northwoods League, Texas Collegiate Baseball League, the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League, Alaskan Baseball League, Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, California Collegiate League and many more.
The Bronco catcher from Westchester, Calif. hopes to add game-time experience that will help him have more consistent swings and not giving away at-bats.
"The biggest thing I'm trying to work on right now is experience," said Martinez. "I have played two season at Santa Clara and don't have much on-field time, so it's nice to have the opportunity to catch up to the speed of the game and develop as a player by getting in games and playing with strong competition."
While many collegiate summer leagues put players up with host families, Martinez and the rest of the players in the HBCL are hotel-style residency called Pagoda. The HBCL puts four players to per-room. Martinez has two roommates. Although Martinez is far from the Mission Campus and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he still has a taste of the Silicon Valley. Martinez's current roommates are two players from San Jose State.
Follow Martinez and the rest of the Kauai Menehunes on the HBCL website.
Check SantaClaraBroncos.com for new updates on the "All Summer Long" series. Each update will highlight a player and their summer league experiences.