Before entering high school, Josh Martino was given an ultimatum. He had to decide if he was a pitcher or a catcher.
The Windham High junior chose the pitching mound but at first that didn’t go so great. His poor mechanics led to ineffectiveness as well as arm and shoulder injuries.
“I went and got pitching lessons from Ariel Ramos, a former coach at Clark University,” said Martino. “He fixed everything. My mechanics were terrible. He taught me that it’s all about getting my hips going before my upper body goes forward and getting my arm up to the 90-degree position, instead of being out to like 120-degrees.”
The results speak for themselves.
The 6-foot, 185-pound right-hander is not only healthy but is 4-1 with a miniscule 1.12 ERA this season for the Jaguars, which includes striking out an incredible 65 batters in just 37.1 innings, while giving up just 16 hits.
His turnaround has also led to committing to Southern New Hampshire starting in the Fall of 2026.
And he will be getting the ball on Thursday when the No. 15 Jaguars try to upset No. 2 seed Goffstown in a NHIAA Division I quarterfinal game.
“We recently played two solid games against Londonderry and Pinkerton so if we can do what we need to do, I think we can get the job done,” he said.
Martino has been successful on the mound utilizing four pitches. His four-seam fastball usually touches 88-89 miles per hour, but has peaked at 92. He also throws a curveball and a change-up, but his out pitch came into play this spring.
“I had thrown a curve ball my entire life. Before this year I never threw a slider,” he said. “Now it’s my go-to pitch. It’s been that way all season. I have the most command with that pitch.”
Martino, who is also one of the captains on the WHS boys’ hockey team, comes from an extremely athletic family. His father Andrew played football and baseball in high school, his mother Jennifer played softball at Merrimack College. His older brother AJ played hockey with him last year and their older sister Alexis — a former Eagle-Tribune Swimmer of the Year – is a junior captain on the UConn women’s swim team.
“All we did growing up was sports. My parents are both athletic and they can’t sit still for a second,” he said with a laugh.