Via Giovanni Del Fa/The Reporter

Bruce Martin has dedicated his life to playing baseball.

Martin, a shortstop on the Miami Dade College baseball team, grew up surrounded by baseball fanatics.

"My dad played, my grandpa played, my uncle played. Everyone's played baseball in my family," Martin said. "I've never played any other sport in my life."

By the time he was 4 years old, Martin was a member of his local little league in Palm Beach, Florida. After playing for several years in the league, Martin joined a travel team, that his father called the West Point Yankees, when he was nine.

"It was crazy, baseball 24/7, school, baseball 24/7, school," Martin said.

His hard work continued to pay off. Martin was ranked the third best player in his district in West Palm Beach by ESPN when he was in high school at Trinity Christian Academy.

In the fall of 2015, he left everything he knew in West Palm Beach and moved to Miami to play for MDC. It was a huge culture shock for Martin.

"It was a big change, different culture," Martin said. "Everything up there is a lot slower. Everything down here is a lot faster. It was a good change"

As a freshman, Martin played in 21 games for the Sharks. He hit one home run, stole five bases and scored five runs. He said the home run, a walkoff home run, was one of his favorite baseball moments.

"I drive it to centerfield, which is interesting because they had a five man infield to protect the middle,"  Martin said. "It was cool. I walked it off. I got a bunch of water thrown everywhere. It was crazy."

Martin is excited about the upcoming season. He hopes to help the team improve on its 27-20 record last year that included seven games that the team had to forfeit because they used ineligible players.  

"As a team, I want to win it all, that's the game plan. I want to go to Grand Junction and get a ring," Martin said. "As a player, I want to improve all aspects of my game. The bat is the biggest key I want to improve."