Martin resigns Glendale softball post after three seasons

Three years after being named head coach of the Glendale High softball team, Greg Martin has resigned.

Martin, who announced his resignation Wednesday after meeting with school administration and players, led a resurgence within the program that included three winning seasons and a pair of playoff appearances.

“I just feel like it’s time and what’s best for me,” Martin, 46, said. “We continued to get better and we had a great run. The program is very strong moving forward and I wish it nothing but the best.”

Martin, a 1987 St. Francis graduate who will continue teaching special education at Glendale, took over the program from Christine Paknik after serving as the junior varsity coach the previous six seasons. Under Martin, the varsity squad went 45-25, 26-16 in the Pacific League.

The Nitros reached the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs in 2014 and 2016. Glendale went 17-6, 11-3 to tie for second with Crescenta Valley this season and posted its highest win total since 2003. It was the Nitros’ best league finish since the league moved to eight teams and its best finish since a second-place mark in 2003. Glendale secured the league’s second seed by virtue of a tiebreaker and fell to visiting Summit in a first-round playoff contest.

“We turned in a fantastic season and we gave Summit a run,” said Martin, who was Glendale’s third coach since 2006. “We had some big league wins against Burbank twice and one against Crescenta Valley. In the end, it’s just about trying to get the best out of the players academically and athletically. They responded all the time.”

Glendale co-athletic director Alan Eberhart said Martin transformed the program, ultimately seeing it command respect.

“We’re very happy with what he did, not just at varsity, but the six years he put in at junior varsity,” said Eberhart, who added the Nitros will soon begin a search for Martin’s successor. “He had a nice run with a great cast of players and got to the playoffs twice.

“There should be a lot of interest in the coaching job, but we are not in a hurry. There’s a chance the search for a new coach could go on through the summer, but we’ll see what happens.”

Glendale had its share of dynamic players, including junior outfielder Sammy Fabian, senior shortstop Alex Howard, senior pitcher Jordan Lousararian and junior catcher Tiffany Bartamian.

“We always put a team out there that would go out there and battle,” Martin said. “We did that against Burbank this year coming from behind to win a game in the last inning. It’s special when you see the players grow and get better out there.”

Lousararian said the Nitros were able to flourish under Martin’s tutelage.

“I think we had a pretty solid three-year run,” Lousararian said. “I think what stood out a lot was that he always had a positive outlook on everybody and encouraged them.

“He’s doing what’s best for him and he finished with a bang.”

Howard concurred.

“He got to know each of us individually and how we like to play the game,” Howard said. “We went out there and won a lot of games. He’s a big part of that.”