Behind the Plate with: Julie Martell

Freshman Julie Martell is a woman of many talents. She is a starting catcher for the women's Softball team, can play multiple instruments and is majoring in chemistry. Martell is a 2005 graduate of Wilmington High School in Wilmington, MA. She played two other ports besides softball.

"In high school I played field hockey and ice hockey," Martell said. "I miss playing ice hockey because I was the goalie. It was different than anything I've ever done."

Martell first became involved with softball through her parents influence.

"I started playing at age seven," she said. "My parents had me try everything and softball was one of them. I just really liked softball."

She remained involved over the years because of her talent on the field.

"I was the best at softball," Martell said. "There's more thinking involved. You can't just be really good, especially calling pitches and catching."

The skill Martell has exhibited on the diamond earned her awards during high school.

"In high school, my twin sister and I split Player of the Year because we had the same statistics," she said. "I was on the All-Star team and the All-League team."

Martell has even played in another country.

"I played in Canada," she said. "It was an international tournament. Teams from Canada and U.S. played against each other. My town team asked me to go. I was awarded MVP twice."

For a player who has accumulated such accolades throughout her formative softball years, Martell had low expectations of herself at BSC.

"It is really cool (to be on varsity)," Martell said. "I really thought I would just be sitting on the bench and hitting every once in a while."

Now that she is playing varsity, Martell has high hopes for the team.

"I just hope the team wins MASCAC and regionals and to keep on winning," she said.

Martell noted the success of the season so far.

"We have a good team," she said. "We haven't lost both games of a double header yet. We have either won them both or split them"

In true team spirit, Martell would rather see the team to do well than to see herself as a heroine.

"I would rather suck and have the team do really well than to do really good individually and have the team suck," Martell said. "I don't want to do anything individually."

Off the diamond, Martell also has a busy life as a chemistry major.

"I want to be a pharmacist," she said. "I've always liked chemistry and I've wanted to be a scientist since I was three."

Martell looks forward to several more years of school, following her four years at BSC.

To become a pharmacist, she said that after her undergraduate years she would be in school for two more years. In addition to remaining in school, Martell would like to remain involved in softball.

"I want to coach softball," she said.