July 14, 2015
MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER (7/12/15) - Bo (Martino) knows baseball. In fact, he knows it so well that he decided to make a career of it as he's now the pitching coach at Stephen F. Austin State University.
That probably doesn't come as a surprise to most people who knew him growing up however. The Marshall native grew up around the game. His dad, Joe Martino, is a former baseball coach himself.
"With my dad being an administer and coach for 30-some years, I made it a goal to coach," he said. "I wanted to be a college coach and ETBU had a position open and I got it. I never thought I'd be a DI coach. We play big programs like LSU and playing against some studs. We're playing top teams each year and it's interesting to do that."
Coaching wasn't always his goal even though he knew he wanted to stay in athletics one way or another.
"When I first got to ETBU, I was majoring in athletic training," he said. "It was tough to be in athletic training and to play at the same time and I thought I would enjoy coaching. Once I got into the coaching ranks, I learned a whole lot more. My parents helped me get to where I needed to be and my wife has supported me 100 percent. When we first got to SFA, she worked while I went to school to allow me to chase my goals and dreams."
Martino graduated from Marshall High School in 2002. While there he pitched and played centerfield for the Mavs.
"We were undefeated and went two rounds deep my junior year and my senior year we made the playoffs and went two rounds deep," Martino said.
He made Academic-All State his senior year before heading to ETBU where he played for the Tigers.
"My first two years there (at ETBU), we did OK," he said. "My junior year, we went to the ASC (American Southwest Tournament) and won 30 games. Then my senior year, we had some guys quit who never came back. There were only two from my freshman class who played all four years. We picked up a transfer student and there were three of us on the team who graduated together."
After graduating from ETBU where he earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology, Martino was the head baseball coach at Gary High School for two years before returning to Marshall to serve as an assistant.
"When I graduated, I went and coached high school for five years," he said. "I left high school for ETBU to coach there for a year. Then I went to SFA for my Masters. I will finish up this fall."
Martino met SFA head coach Johnny Cardenas who eventually brought Martino on as the pitching coach.
"I met him when I was doing some recruiting for ETBU," Martino said. "I met him at a TCU camp. Then I came to SFA, because it was so close and my wife wanted to stay at SFA, and I asked him, 'Do you have a spot open?' He said, "Man, I just had two volunteers who left. He's not over my shoulder and he lets me run the show."
Martino says he finds his job extremely rewarding.
"I would say one of the biggest deals is making a difference in players' lives and helping make their dreams in being a DI athlete come true and hopefully preparing them for the next level, or coach or to go into the real world. We do that. I think that's the most rewarding part-pushing kids to go further.
(Used by permission www.marshallnewsmessenger.com, story by Nathan Hague, Sports Editor)