Kurt with the Ks as Oakmont thumps Woodland to win another championship under guru coach
When it was over, the players knew they could douse their coach with water, and they got to Paul Martinez easily because he long ago lost his ability to dodge and weave.
Then the Oakmont Vikings sprinted to the outfield for the traditional postgame chat with coaches, but first there was a season to celebrate. The Vikings were ecstatic with what they’d done on Wednesday night, delivering a 10-0, five-inning mercy-rule shortened knockout over top-seeded Woodland in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship at Sacramento City College.
There was plenty to be giddy about. UC Riverside-bound ace Kurt Marton pitched a one-hitter with seven strikeouts, and his teammates provided the offense by putting up two runs in the first inning, five in the third and two in the fifth to produce the program’s fifth section championship since 1980.
Moments after accepting their championship caps and patches, one Vikings player did a back flip in the outfield. Another tried to do a version of the worm, or maybe it was a push-up. Players handled or just admired their hard-earned blue banner, a version of which has been presented to section winners for all sports since the 1970s.
Then the Vikings were a captive audience to Martinez. They were listening to a coach who knows what he’s talking about. One of the classy leaders and top coaches in any sport in the Sacramento region for more than 30 years, Martinez leads with a mix of positive reinforcement and discipline, though he credits his assistant coaches for doing much of the heavy lifting.
Martinez guided section championship teams at San Juan in 1995 and 1997, at Del Campo in 2013, at Oakmont in 2019 and then this one, his most unsung title team. He is the only baseball coach to win section titles at three different schools.
After a game that lasted just over an hour, Martinez applauded his young squad for overcoming midseason speed bumps, reflected in an 8-7 showing in the tough Foothill Valley League. He thanked his group for the time they put into their craft and the weight room and for caring about what they do. He especially praised the Vikings for being ready to play against the Wolves, who came in having won 15 of 16 games.
“It’s so satisfying to see this,” Martinez said. “These kids work extremely hard, and we’re such a young team. We took some lumps this season. To end up here is really special. It’s hard to get here and it’s hard to win it, and to peak at the right time feels great.”
Marton proved to be too much for Woodland, winners of the Golden Empire League and a club that had scored 195 runs in taking its 20-3 record into Union Stadium. Oakmont came in 18-13.
Marton issued no walks. He used his fastball and change-up for most of his 64 pitches, 46 of them going for strikes, as he improved to 7-1 on the season.
“Kurt was phenomenal,” Martinez said. “He’s a four-year varsity player for us and he has a command of his pitches. He had them completely overmatched. I’m as confident with him on the mound as any pitcher I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some dudes.”
Marton is a dude who is calm under pressure, who invites the pressure, even.
“I was really confident that we’d play well,” Marton said. “I knew we’d get hits and our energy would be high. It’s a great feeling when you know your team has your back.”
Junior first baseman Tony Lira had a two-run double in the first for Oakmont, and the Vikings kept on hitting. In the third, junior designated hitter Jayden Perkins had a fielder’s choice RBI, which was followed by an RBI single by sophomore third baseman Ayden Dringenberg to make it 4-0. Sophomore left fielder KC Tibbits broke it open with a three-run double, one of his three hits, and senior shortstop Adam Reyes in the fifth made it 10-0 with a two-run single. Sophomore center fielder Cooper Kunis had two hits and three runs as all hands had a hand in this one.
When Marton retired the Wolves in the bottom of the fifth, the celebration was on. Prep baseball games end if a team is ahead by 10 or more runs after five innings.
As players rushed over to thank family, friends, faculty and fans that lined the seats, Martinez beamed in talking about his family on hand, though he was missing his mother, Dawn. The coach was inspired by her strength and courage during her pancreatic cancer plight before she succumbed to the disease two years ago.
Martinez said his father Julian was in attendance, as was the coach’s wife, Wendy, and their daughters Jordan, Taylor and Ryann. Jordan is an athletic director at Antelope High School and Taylor is a softball coach at the school, two chips off the old block.
“It was great to have them here,” Martinez said. “I could feel my mom here. Before the game, I was crying. Just so proud.”
Oakmont will advance to a CIF Northern California regional tournament, a single-elimination event that runs Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The CIF will release brackets on Sunday.
This story was originally published May 25, 2023 at 10:20 AM.