BLACKSBURG, VA (WTKR)- Carson DeMartini would love playing baseball even when he's in a slump, but nothing could have prepared his Virginia Tech teammates for the roll he went on last week.
The Ocean Lakes product mashed seven home runs in the span of four games, part of an effort that earned him National Player of the Week honors from D1 Baseball and Perfect Game. He also earned the first ACC Player of the Week accolade of his career.
"I haven't really been changing much from the start of the season to now," the former Dolphin said. "I felt like I was in a really good spot last week and my swing felt great and I felt like I was swinging at the right pitches."
DeMartini went 9-for-15 at the plate, driving in 11 RBI and scoring 10 runs. He mashed two home runs last Tuesday in a Virginia Tech win over Marist and followed that up with five round-trippers during the team's final two games at Louisville. He's hitting .347 on the season with 12 home runs and 23 RBI.
"It's not like when guys get into slumps and they start thinking about 'oh, what's going on here, what's this guy going to throw me," he said. "I was going up to the box like if something is in the zone, I'm going to hit it hard."
Virginia Tech is out to a 15-4 start, 5-1 in ACC play. That's the best part for DeMartini, who is helping the Hokies to one of the best openings in program history. Still, the recognition is a testament to a lot of hard work.
"For the most part, guys don't play for the accolades," he noted. "We don't play to get recognized. You don't play for any of that. You play because you love the game, so it's just another thing added onto it, which is really nice, but at the end of the day, I'd still love to be playing if I was hitting .150 right now. It's still what I love doing the most."
Virginia Tech has jumped to No. 19 in the national rankings as it rolls into the bulk of its ACC schedule. DeMartini's main focus is helping his team get to where it needs to be and he's determined to keep putting in the work to make it happen.
"I work as hard as I can to be one of the top players in the country and be on one of the top teams in the country," he pointed out. "You've got to take it one step at a time, be where your feet are, but at the end of the day, we want to be known as a powerhouse in college baseball."
DeMartini and Virginia Tech open a three game series at Boston College on Friday.
