Messalonskee senior first baseman Denny Martin
Messalonskee senior first baseman Denny Martin started the season hitless in his first eight at bats – not the start expected of an athlete already in possession of a full scholarship to play baseball at Division I Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.
Martin, though, was not fazed.
“It is such a failure sport,” he said. “In baseball, even if you’re good, you fail seven out every 10 at bats. In baseball, you can never be perfect.”
Martin accepts that imperfection is the reality in baseball. He accepts it because he loves the game, has for as long as he can remember. He accepts it because he knows that every subsequent at bat brings the potential to turn failure into success.
And that’s what happened. After starting the season 0-8, Martin went 8 for 10 with three home runs, including a game-winning two-run homer against Camden Hills.
This is more in keeping with a player recognized as a KVAC All-Conference first teamer in 2025, a year in which he hit .385 with four home runs. Martin is determined to build on that success this year and the years after he graduates from Messalonskee next month.
At Stonehill, he said, his goal is to become an impact player his freshman season and then go on to have a stellar career that leads to being drafted in the professional ranks, either through an Independent League or an actual Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise.
Martin realizes the odds of accomplishing his ultimate baseball goal are not good. But that, too, doesn’t faze him. His devotion to the game is ironclad. For as long as he can remember, Martin said, he has loved baseball.
“Really, it’s all I want to do,” he said. “Obsessed – that’s a good word. I’m just obsessed with baseball.”
And rest assured, he is true to his word. Despite being a three-sport athlete throughout high school (football in the fall, hockey in the winter), Martin makes time for baseball year-round, fitting in batting sessions on the weekend, going to high level camps in the summer, and competing at the AAU level to face the best in his age group in Maine and across New England.
“He is an athlete who is always looking for a way to get better,” Messalonskee baseball coach Dylan Presby said. “His work ethic is unbelievable.”
Martin doesn’t limit that work ethic to the athletic realm. He also is a conscientious student in the classroom as well as a leader both in title and in practice. This year he is the executive director of the Student Council – the head honcho for the Messalonskee student body.
And he certainly doesn’t lack energy. At 7 a.m. Monday earlier this month, Martin stood behind a griddle in the teachers’ lunchroom flipping pancakes with a spatula for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Presby is confident Martin will tap into that boundless energy to continue his growth as a baseball player at Stonehill. He also praises Martin’s high baseball IQ, especially when it comes to self evaluation.
“What makes him a superior Division I caliber athlete is he has an ability to analyze his mechanics,” Presby said.
In addition, Presby said, Martin combines that analytical ability with his high-powered desire to improve. He noted, for example, that Martin worked diligently to make his body leaner and stronger during his high school years.
The results can be seen, he said, when watching Martin play first base.
“He is wicked fluid at first base,” Presby said. “His body is as hard as a rock, but he moves like a cat.”
But skills, aptitude, and motivation aside, Martin’s continued journey into the world of competitive baseball was destined. He is from a baseball family. His father – Messalonskee math teacher and boys hockey coach Dennis Martin – played the game at Southern New Hampshire University while his uncle, Troy Martin, manned the outfield for Husson University. Now it is Denny Martin’s turn to build on that family legacy.