NEW CONCORD, Ohio — Granted a rare fifth year on a college baseball diamond, Holden Martin was eager to see what he could do with it.

The graduate student at Muskingum College and Petrolia native had some very high hopes and big dreams for his final season.

Early on, though, it was more like a nightmare.

“Oh, man,” Martin muttered to himself. “I came back for a fifth year for this?”Martin, a Karns City graduate, has been a bulldog on the mound for Muskingum throughout his career, but this spring, not much was working for him on the hill.The right-hander was getting knocked around — seven earned runs against Mount Union; five more against Wilmington (Ohio); four against Capital.His confidence — once one of his best attributes on the mound — was waning.“It was a struggle,” Martin said. “It just felt like I couldn't get guys out. It was like, even when I was throwing my best stuff, I'd get hit.”Martin wondered what was going on.Then a teammate let him in on a little secret.It wasn't mechanical. The stuff wasn't lacking — Martin has struck out 27 batters in 26 innings of work this season for the Fighting Muskies. The problems were squarely between the ears.Holden Martin wasn't acting like Holden Martin. He wasn't intense. He wasn't jawing at guys. He had lost the fire in his eyes.Holden Martin needed to be Holden Martin again.“He said, 'You gotta get that edge back,'” Martin said. “I like to play with a little swagger and I just wasn't doing that. I like to work with my emotions on my sleeve.”So Holden Martin got back to being Holden Martin against Mount Union — the team that touched him up for all those runs in his first outing of the season.The bulldog was back.Martin was masterful, scattering six hits over nine innings, striking out five and not walking a batter. He gave up just two runs, only one earned, in that start April 11.A turning point in his season.“It was great to finally have some results and feel like this is what I can do against a good team in this conference,” Martin said. “I know I'm not going to throw a complete game every week, but if I can give my team a chance to win, that's what I want.”Martin's effort earned him Ohio Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week.Martin is one of the rare players in the country to play five years of collegiate baseball at the NCAA Division III level.Thank the coronavirus pandemic for that.Martin pitched briefly last season for Muskingum until the pandemic shut down all spring sports.There was no way he was going to pass up another year.And he's in a small fraternity.He's the only player on his team to take advantage of the fifth year.“It's definitely weird,” Martin said. “You'll play a team and see a guy who's a fifth-year like you and you'll say hello. We all know who we are.”Martin wrapped up his degree in history last spring and is getting his master's in education.His goals: to coach baseball.That's what made his struggles this spring so awkward. Martin's teammates look up to him as the elder statesman. When he wasn't performing, he wondered what he could offer.“They're looking at me for answers and I'm out there getting knocked around,” Martin said. “How can I tell these guys what they need to be doing in college? They're not looking at me as another player, but as a leader.”Those players listened anyway.“They and the coaching staff always had my back,” Martin said.He hopes to have a team of his own to coach one day.“I want to coach baseball,” Martin said. “I don't want to get out of it. I don't think I could be myself without baseball.”

Holden Martin