May 10th, 2022
Collin Martin is nothing but grateful to be back at the helm of the Saugerties Stallions this summer.
After serving as the Head Coach in Saugerties in 2018 and 2019, Martin had to miss the 2021 PGCBL season due to a serious health ailment.
When the PGCBL is not in season, Martin is the Head Coach at Webber International, an NAIA school in Florida. During a game in the first week of March last season, he experienced chest pains. Those pains persisted for a few days and it ended up leading him being admitted to the hospital, first diagnosed with pneumonia and then eventually a bacterial infection that caused an extended stay in the hospital, including a major surgery.
He was forced to miss the remainder of Webber’s season and then missed the entirety of the PGCBL season, having not been fully healthy until the middle of the summer.
“It was a scary moment for myself and my health, my family. I was lucky to not only have the great support staff here but in Saugerties as well,” Martin said.
Assistant Coach Rich Dubee took over for the summer and led Saugerties to a 27-12 regular season record and followed it up with a PGCBL championship, the first in franchise history. Martin was able to get to the ballpark for a few weeks and supported the team from afar the whole season, watching the games back in Florida.
“They’re first class through and through. The Hinchey family, [Team Owners] I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me. Obviously, everyone was set back with COVID but to have to miss a second year in a row with health issues, it was really hard,” Martin said. “I’m lucky I have a really good support staff here with my family and coaching staff and everybody at Webber, but Kevin [Hinchey] there was only so much communicating I could do in the early phases because I was in pretty rough shape, but Kevin was in my ear the whole time pulling for me.”
Now, Martin is back coaching and will be in Saugerties this summer running the team, which has meant so much to him.
“It was tough. When you’re in those bad moments you think back, and me personally, it was like ‘what I would give to have my worst day at work. The worst game, the worst road trip, the worst loss.’ I didn’t care, I just wanted to be back on the field. So right now, I feel like I’m playing with borrowed time,” Martin said.
Now, Martin is looking forward to getting through the rest of his season in Florida before heading up to Saugerties this summer, looking to defend the title.
“I do this because it’s my passion. It’s what I grew up around and the career path I chose and I chose it for those reasons and I think anyone who’s in it for the right reasons, they feel that way about it,” Martin said. “Not only is it my job, my career, how I provide food for my family, it’s also what I’m most passionate about.”