Baseball: Former Prairie Ridge stars enjoying ride with MLB debuts

The Prairie Ridge baseball community felt a tremendous sense of pride over the weekend as former Wolves Kevin Kaczmarski and Nick Martini were in the major leagues at the same time.

It lasted for only two days, as the Oakland A’s sent Martini back to Triple-A Nashville on Monday to make room for recently acquired pitcher Edwin Jackson.

It still was an exciting time as Martini got his first big league hit on Saturday, providing the game-winning RBI in the A’s 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Kaczmarski, called up Thursday night by the New York Mets, picked up his first at-bat in a pinch-hit role against the Los Angeles Dodgers and was retired on a ground ball in front of home plate.

Having one player in the majors would thrill enough; having two, both of whom played on the Wolves’ 2008 Class 4A state championship team, called up on back-to-back days was amazing.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” said Dave Haskins, former Prairie Ridge coach who took the Wolves to the 2008 state title. “Two great kids becoming men, and now two great men fulfilling their dreams. I’m very excited for both of them.”

Glen Pecoraro started Prairie Ridge’s program when the school opened in the 1997-98 school year. He coached through 2006, Martini’s sophomore season, then stepped away for three years. He came back in 2010, Kaczmarski’s senior year, and remains the Wolves head coach.

Martini hit third in the order and played center field as a sophomore, giving a hint of what might be ahead.

“It’s an honor to have those guys play at the level they played, and have anything to do with either of them,” Pecoraro said. “I feel honored. Those two have invested so many hours and so much time at playing the game. They always played at a high level in their age groups. I don’t know if people understand how much (hard work) that takes. And being able to deal with failure, being able to struggle a little bit in college and the pros and being able to recover from that and still be motivated to work.”

The A's called up Martini for three games on June 6-8. His whole family and his girlfriend, Kaylin Dietrich, traveled to Arlington, Texas for his major league debut.

Martini, who was 0 for 9, was sent back to Nashville and continued on a tear that saw him hitting .365 in June and putting together a 21-game hitting streak. Last weekend in Chicago, Dietrich and Kris Martini, Nick's mother, were there for his first hit. Nick's sisters Maddy and Hannah joined them for Sunday's game. Several of Martini's friends also came since it was so close to home.

“I was so excited to see he got a hit, I wasn’t even thinking about the RBI,” Kris said after Saturday’s game. “I knew that he wanted it. The last time up he was seeing the ball so well and had nothing to show for it. I was just happy it was where he grew up.”

Martini received the traditional beer shower from his teammates for his first major league hit, then spoke with the media about the big moment.

“It’s hard to describe. I was excited, but I was so in the moment,” Martini said. “I wish I’d gotten my first hit when I was up here the first time, but to get it in my backyard is definitely special, and I was super-excited. I was fortunate enough to be a big part of this game.”

Martini’s Saturday was a little crazy. He was on a flight from Nashville before 6 a.m., which meant he got little sleep. He secured tickets for his family and friends, arrived in Chicago for a 1 p.m. game, then, in the eighth inning drilled a single off Juan Minaya up the middle for his first hit.

“He’s always very neutral,” Kris said. “He was glad he could make something happen. It just helped put him at ease a bit too (to get the first one).”

Kaczmarski had a whirlwind weekend as well. He was with the Las Vegas 51s, the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, on Thursday when he received the news.

“It was almost like I really didn’t know what to do,” Kaczmarski said. “I was super-pumped, but it really didn’t hit me that, ‘Wow, I’m going to New York to play major league baseball, something I’ve always worked toward.”

Kaczmarski got his first at-bat in his third game, pinch hitting in the fourth inning Sunday.

“I ended up hitting a little dinker between the catcher. (Austin Barnes) made a good play,” Kaczmarski said. “I thought I was going to be safe, one of those balls you beat out. It was almost an out-of-body experience walking up to the plate. Man, it was crazy.”

Martini was a star on Prairie Ridge’s 2008 state title team. Kaczmarski was called up late in the season and used for his speed as a pinch and courtesy runner. They became closer friends after high school and often hit together in the offseason. Kaczmarski worked with Scott Martini, Nick’s father, as a hitting coach.

The two exchanged congratulatory texts over the weekend, and Kaczmarski was thrilled to see Martini’s game-winner on Saturday night.

“He’s been a guy I look up to,” Kaczmarski said. “Just a good guy, the way he works hard at his game and is respectful. Definitely a guy you can learn off of, for sure.”

Pecoraro and Haskins knew the two were special in high school. After seeing Martini thrive at Kansas State, and Kaczmarski do the same at Evansville, they figured both would have opportunities in professional baseball.

“They both had the work ethic, they worked their tails off,” Haskins said. “The harder you work, the better you’re going to be. Not just in practice and in games, they put in that extra time on the side to fulfill their dreams.”

Pecoraro feels their ability to maintain high batting averages was vital to both players reaching the majors. Martini hit .273 in Triple-A in 2016, hit .303 last year and is hitting .305 this season. Kaczmarski has a .299 career minor league average and his .363 average this season was leading the Pacific Coast League when he was called up.

“They’ve both been consistently good over time,” Pecoraro said. “If you’re a major league organization, you’re not going to give up on guys like that. They have a chance of staying around, they’ve had consistent success. It’s not a one-year thing.”