‘Everyday’ Marty Cole proves workhorse at Niagara University

In Cole’s first season as a college pitcher, the Sacred Heart Cathedral graduate became one of the sturdiest workhorses in the nation this season. The Niagara senior converted from second base, where he played for three seasons. He went on to set a program record by appearing in 38 games out of the Purple Eagles’ bullpen, ranking second among NCAA Division I teams throughout the regular season.

“We had a shortened season (in 2021) where we just played conference teams, and I struggled,” Cole said of losing the second base job heading into 2022. “So, the immediate thought was: I pitched at Sacred Heart, how can I help? Can I pitch?”

That’s where the wiffle ball days came into play.

Cole was a two-way player at SHC, and an effective high school pitcher, delivering the ball with a typical high three-quarters arm angle. He was recruited as a position player for a reason though. He didn’t throw particularly hard, and his delivery didn’t offer anything a college program couldn’t find in another pitcher with better stuff.

So, after a heart-to-heart conversation after his junior season with Niagara head coach Rob McCoy regarding his future, Cole went home for the offseason after learning he’d all but lost his spot on Niagara’s travel roster. Desperate to survive, he figured out a way to offer something unique out of the bullpen by reverting to his old wiffle ball tactic of throwing sidearm.

“It was definitely not pretty at first,” Cole said. “It felt smooth but the results just weren’t there. I didn’t have the command. Then I went home and my dad helped me straighten some things out and get more consistent.”

Cole comes from a long line of baseball coaches, all of whom are named Marty. Cole shares his first name with his father, a coach on Shawn Scott’s varsity staff at Burlingame, and with his grandfather, a coach at SHC.

At Niagara this season, though, Cole distinguished himself by earning the nickname “Everyday Marty.” He pitched in over half of the Purple Eagles’ 54 games. Only North Carolina sophomore Shawn Rapp pitched in more games during the regular season.

Not that McCoy was entirely optimistic after receiving the news Cole was trying to fight his way back onto the Niagara travel roster with such an unorthodox approach.

“I said: ‘Yeah, I’m not going to count you out,’” McCoy said. “‘But you’re fighting an uphill battle.’ … He was going to have to show in a month that he was good enough to go.”

The results weren’t exactly masterful. Cole went on to post a 1-0 record with one save and a 6.14 ERA this season. His saving grace, however, was the Purple Eagles’ busy schedule through the first three weeks of the season, as they opened with three straight four-game series on consecutive weekends.

So, McCoy needed an additional depth of arms.

“I ended up being the last person to make the bus that first weekend,” Cole said. “I was just thrilled to be there.”

Cole’s ERA took an early hit as he surrendered four earned runs through one-third of an inning in his season debut against Western Carolina. But he turned in scoreless outings in his next six appearances. During his best stretch of the year, he posted 11 consecutive scoreless appearances.

“I think the numbers were a little deceiving,” McCoy said. “There were so many times when he’d come in and get a huge out with like a third of an inning and it would help our team win a game.”

The Purple Eagles enjoyed a good run in 2022. Despite a 22-32 overall record, their sixth-place finish in the 11-team Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference earned them the final bid in the six-team MAAC postseason tournament.

In the opening round of the tourney, Niagara did what No. 6 teams are prone to do, falling to No. 3 Canisius College 11-0. The Purple Eagles would go on to navigate the elimination bracket by playing five games in three days, winning three straight elimination games. Cole appeared in four games in the tournament.

Niagara reached the tournament semifinals for the best finish since McCoy took over the program in 2009. And while Cole surrendered runs in his first three appearances against Canisius, Monmouth and Fairfield, he saved his best postseason outing — and his most bizarre — for last.

“It was one appearance,” Cole said. “But it was about a 24-hour appearance.”

Cole entered in the third and would fire 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball in an eventual 11-8 elimination loss to Rider. Due to an extended rain delay, however, 1 1/3 of those innings came May 27, and the other inning was technically pitched the following day, May 28, when the game was resumed after the delay.

“If it had been an overhand thrower, we most certainly would not have been able to do that,” McCoy said.

Despite being listed as a senior, Cole has one more season of athletic eligibility remaining due to a deferral from the 2020 pandemic season. The sidewinding right-hander said he intends to use it, as he plans to return in 2023.

While his wiffle ball days have proven valuable in allowing Cole to prolong his collegiate baseball career, the most invaluable days came from the lineage of his father and grandfather, the latter of whom Cole played for in high school, and the former helping Cole not just with the baseball know-how to reinvent himself, but with the emotional support to navigate the most difficult offseason of his life.

“The experiences I had with my grandpa at Sacred Heart are something you can’t put a value to,” Cole said. “It’s just way bigger than baseball. And having my dad, going through similar stuff, and being able to be there every day … he helped me get through a tough year, that for sure.”