Kevin Martir came to Grand Street Campus out of necessity. Expelled from Xaverian for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, the Maryland-bound catcher and third baseman needed a new school.
The established PSAL powerhouse in Bushwick proved to be the perfect — for both parties. The Wolves needed a cleanup hitter with the graduation of five-tool center fielder Williams Jerez, now a minor leaguer with the Boston Red Sox, and Martir was looking for a place to further hone his skills with an eye toward elite college baseball.
“While everybody lost a lot of great hitters, we didn’t miss a beat,” Grand Street coach Melvin Martinez said. “He filled in at the four-hole beautifully.”
It worked better than ether could have hoped — the PSAL Class A baseball semifinals was the best example. Martir homered twice and had five RBIs in second-seeded Grand Street’s two-game sweep of No. 6 John Adams, which was capped by Saturday’s 13-4 onslaught at Lafayette in Brooklyn.
“It’s everything I hoped for, something I’ve been dreaming about,” he said of helping Grand Street reach its first city final in program history.
Martir set the tone in each victory, pulling a two-run, first-inning homer on Friday and sending an opposite-field shot over the wall in right-center in the third inning on Saturday. While Saturday’s blast accounted for just two of the Wolves’ 13 runs, it may have been the biggest hit as it gave them the lead for good after Adams had struck for three runs in the top of the frame.
“I had to do something,” he said. “I had to answer back.”
When the year began, Martir said he felt his experience winning a CHSAA Class AA title as a junior with Xaverian could help his new teammates, who had suffered difficult playoff defeats. He knew what it took to win this time of year, when the stakes are its highest, when the pressure is one, when the pitching is of a high quality.
He attended Grad Street’s sweep at the hands of Tottenville in last year’s semifinals as a fan. Martir noticed the team get down when it fell behind. He made sure history didn’t repeat itself this weekend, hyping up his teammates with his actions as well as his words. It was his idea for everyone to grow a faux-hawk prior to the playoffs as a sign of team unity.
“He’s been great, he’s one of my brothers,” said teammate and longtime friend Jose Cuas, who will be heading to Maryland with Martir.
Martir said he felt for his former teammates at Xaverian, who were eliminated from the CHSAA playoffs Friday. He didn’t plan on bragging to them his high school career wasn’t over yet, but he did say, “they probably know what they were missing. It couldn’t been different.”
Martir, meanwhile, is enjoying another long playoff run, one which feels like last June to him.
“It reminds me of last year,” he said. “Our momentum kept going. Everybody is hitting well.”