TRI-CITIES, Wash.-Over the past seven years Mason Martin’s baseball career has taken him across the country and now the Southridge graduate is back home playing for the Tri-City Dust Devils.
Martin was preparing to join a team in the Independent League on the east coast this spring when his agent called and said the Angels wanted to sign him.
“It’s just surreal to be here,” Martin said. “It’s really a dream come true. I want to make it to the big leagues, but this is definitely a step in the process and a step I’ll really enjoy a lot.”
Martin broke the happy news that he would be playing for his hometown team to his parents over a facetime call with the help of his younger brother and fellow minor-leaguer Max, who is playing in the Arizona Rookie League.
“I’m thrilled to be cooking him dinner,” said Heidi Martin, Mason’s mom.
Martin, the current active minor league leader in home runs with 122 has moved back in with his parents as he continues his minor league career that has reached as high as Triple A so far.
Martin’s work ethic and determination on the diamond have driven him from his days at Southridge to his time in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, to this season with the Dust Devils, the High A affiliate of the Angels.
“It’s just that constant grind, the mental state you have to be in, just constantly pushing yourself and working hard,” said Mason’s father, Chad.
Now in his seventh season of minor league baseball, Martin’s major league dreams are alive and well after appearing in over 600 minor league games and are now being played out in front of a hometown crowd.
“My goal is definitely to be playing in Los Angeles for the Angels, no doubt about that,” Martin said. “It would be a dream come true for sure.”
