Irvine Valley assistant baseball coach Mike Martinez was honored as a member of the 2004 Cal State Fullerton NCAA College World Series championship team before the Titans took on Cal State Northridge last Friday night at Goodwin Field on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.
The 1984 and 2004 championship teams for the Titans were honored on the field before the game, which Fullerton won, 3-0, behind a no-hitter by pitcher Justin Garza.
Martinez was a key pitcher on the 2004 team, which defeated the Texas Longhorns and former Titans head coach Augie Garrido in the championship series.
Martinez was a senior pitcher on the squad, which finished with a record of 47-22 and also won the Big West Conference title.
Martinez earned a save in the championship series versus Texas.
He finished with a record of 8-3 on the mound in 2004. Martinez threw 91 1/3 innings that season.
Martinez was a two-time College World Series participant for the Titans.
Martinez, who played high school baseball at Katella, ended up being one of six players drafted from the Titan squad in 2004. He was picked in the eighth round (249th overall) by the New York Yankees. He went on to play four seasons in the minor leagues for the Yankees and earned all-star honors while posting 30 saves for the Charleston Riverdogs in 2005. Martinez finished his professional career with a 3.12 ERA.
Martinez just finished his first year as an assistant with the Lasers.
He is one of three former Cal State Fullerton players on the Irvine Valley coaching staff with the others being Mike Rouse (drafted by the Oakland Athletics) and Jeff Kaplan (drafted by the New York Mets). Kaplan was also a former Irvine Valley standout pitcher.