The first and only Miller High School baseball coach is stepping down after 20 years on the job. Frank Martinez, who began the program at Miller’s inception, resigned at age 52 but will retain his physical education teaching position at the school.
“When I got into my 50s, I started looking at other things I wanted to do with my life,” Martinez said. “It was coaching year-round and with the budget cuts, I had to become a lot more of a fund raiser. It was just a lot of things that added up and I decided to hang it up.”
After stints as an assistant coach at Tustin Foothill, Corona and Norco High Schools, Martinez accepted his first head coaching position at Miller in 1991. In the last six seasons, Martinez has led Miller to a five playoff berths and a pair of Citrus Belt League championships.
Martinez allowed his assistants to take a more prominant role during the last two summers, but after 28 years of coaching baseball he felt like he needed a break. Whether or not he will resume his coaching career remains to be seen.
“I won’t ever say never because I’ve seen coaches say they’re done and a couple years later, if the right thing opens up…” Maretinez said. “I don’t anticipate returning, but if the right thing opens up, I might consider it.”
