by Braden Daniello
A new chapter begins 📕
We’re proud to announce the promotion and hiring of our new head coach, Jim Martin!
🌊🐺 x #NCAABaseball x @JimMartin33_15 pic.twitter.com/8rfgjAB7Xu
— Stony Brook Baseball (@StonyBrookBASE) June 12, 2025
Perhaps hard work does indeed pay off. It certainly holds true for Jim Martin, the newly named baseball coach for the Stony Brook Seawolves.
Martin, who spent eight seasons as an associate coach within the Stony Brook baseball program, was promoted this past summer when legendary longtime skipper Matt Senk retired after 35 years with the Seawolves. The shoes of Coach Senk will not be easy to fill, but Martin says he is up to the task and is looking forward to his new role this upcoming season.
For Martin, baseball is something that has surrounded him throughout his life, ever since he was a young boy growing up in Massachusetts. By the time he was three years old, Martin was always playing baseball with his parents, which eventually led to him playing baseball at an organized level.
During his adolescence, he played in the Norwood Babe Ruth League. After winning a town championship at 14 years old, Martin then went on to play at Norwood High School in Massachusetts. Not only did he play all four years of high school ball on the varsity team, but he also played every inning of every game in his four-year high school career.
After high school, Martin started his college career playing at St. John’s University in New York. In his four years there, Martin batted .303 with 91 RBIs helping the Red Storm to a 136-91 record, plus two NCAA tournament appearances. He was a two-time Big East academic All-Star and was also named third team All-Big East in his senior year, before earning his degree in education.
Although while growing up he always knew he wanted to get into coaching or teaching, Martin attributes his time at St. John’s to when he found out why he wanted to pursue a career in the profession.
“My experience at St. John’s really got me to believe I could make an impact on other people’s lives,” Martin said. “How the coaches treated me and my teammates, that’s when I knew that this was something I wanted to do with my career.”
Following his graduation from St. John’s University, Martin earned his first coaching opportunity at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire as an assistant coach. Not long after Martin earned his first head coaching opportunity at Merrimack College in North Andover Massachusetts, where he coached future major league ball players, like Orioles former draft pick Frank Crinella.
Martin also talked about how while at Merrimack, he fully supported his players on the field, he also made sure he had an impact on his players off the field as well.
“Do I want guys to have their goals and aspirations of playing professional baseball? Absolutely,” Martin said. “But, also the impact I could have on them non-baseball related is just as important to me,” he added.
After three seasons with the Warriors and helping to turn their baseball program around, Martin then went on to spend the next three years of his coaching career with the University of Rhode Island. While there, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach and one season as an associate coach.
In his time at URI, Martin helped the Rams reach an A-10 championship final and in 2016 helped the team to regular season and tournament titles and helped to achieve the first NCAA tournament win in the history of Rhode Island baseball.
As much success as Rhode Island had on the field in his time there, the Rams also had success off the field as well. Thanks to Martin, the Rams achieved their highest team GPA in five years, delivering on his mentality of being successful both on and off the field.
“That’s really important. Academics, holding the players accountable, just trying to get them into a good routine to make them successful in all areas of their lives. The baseball part is going to end at some point, and we want to make sure they can get a degree for their future.”
Leaving Rhode Island, Martin saw his next coaching job materialize in the form of an associate coaching role at Stony Brook University. Martin said the person who persuaded him and interested him the most to take the job of associate coach at Stony Brook, was the man he would eventually wind up succeeding for the head coaching role soon.
“Coach Senk and the history he had as a head coach and being able to make me a better coach and better person. That and having the commitment to baseball, to win consistently meant a lot.” Martin also alluded to the family aspect and how they impacted his decision, especially his children who he wanted to be able to grow up in the local community.
When asked about what he’s learned the most and what he wants to implement the most as head coach, Martin said, “I want to make sure that all the players know that I have their back, whether it be baseball or personal.”
This mindset that Martin lives by has clearly rubbed off on his players. Johnny Pilla, the senior infielder for the Seawolves, is entering his fourth year in the baseball program at Stony Brook with Martin. “He’s a true leader of men,” Pilla said. “He really cares about this program and cares about all of us as individuals and that’s how he’s going to get us to where we want to be.”
As much of an impact as Martin has made off the field on his players in the last eight years, his impact has also been felt on the field as well.
Matthew Jackson is entering his junior year with the Stony Brook baseball program and has credited much of his progress as a player to Martin’s coaching. “He’s good at working with you individually and understanding certain things,” Jackson said. “He’s very good at seeing small details and giving you the correct information to correct and get better.”
At the conclusion of the Seawolves’ 2025 season, longtime skipper Matt Senk chose to retire after a legendary 35-year career, leaving the head coaching spot for the Stony Brook baseball program vacant. A little more than a month following Senk’s announcement that he would be calling it a career, the Stony Brook Athletic department and athletic director Shawn Heilbron announced that Martin would be the successor behind the bench.
“It was pure joy,” Martin said. “It’s a dream come true to be a Division-I head coach at an institution like Stony Brook, there’s a lot of excitement and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity.”
With Martin ascending to the head coaching role, he brings new faces to the coaching with him, including former player and new student coach Matt Miceli, who played all four years of his college career at Stony Brook. Miceli, the former shortstop for Stony Brook and senior year captain, went to Martin following the conclusion of his senior year, eager for an opportunity to get behind the bench.
“It meant a lot to me,” Miceli said. “Coach Martin recruited me out of high school and I played for him the last four years. I didn’t know right away whether or not I was coming back, but for him to welcome me in with open arms it meant a lot to me.”
With Martin being promoted and receiving his first opportunity to coach at a division one school, it is safe to say there are a lot of people in his life who deserve credit for who he’s become and where he’s gotten.
“My wife, Kelly, was always an amazing supporter,” Martin said. “My parents and the way they raised me growing up, my coaches from St. John’s, Coach Blankmeyer, Coach Hampton and Coach Brown, a combination of all of them has led me to where I am and what I’ve achieved throughout my career and life.”
With the 2026 season on the horizon and despite the changes to the roster and coaching staff, the pressure will still be on the Seawolves to compete, a goal that Martin is confident they can achieve. Martin’s dedication and hard work has brought him to where he is now and will be essential should Stony Brook want to continue their strong play with the departure of Coach Senk. One way or another, the future for Martin and Stony Brook looks bright.
“I’m looking forward to expanding the influence I can have on the players, coaches, department, the university and the community on Long Island, that’s definitely what I’m looking forward to the most.”
Braden Daniello is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom program for students and local media.
