Auburn Mountainview’s fastpitch team is on the cusp of challenging for its fifth state-playoff berth in program history.

And junior shortstop Emily Martinez is a significant reason behind that.

Martinez serves as the Lions’ No. 3 hitter and fields her position with the precision of a seamstress. But her contributions extend beyond that.

After all, Auburn Mountainview entered the week with a 10-3 overall record and was second in South Puget Sound League 3A at 9-1. That all had been accomplished without much experience. One senior that coach Alicia Thompson expected to contribute, outfielder Marissa Petrovich, has been sidelined following offseason knee surgery.

But Thompson said Martinez has ensured the Lions have not suffered from a leadership void.

“She understands what this program is about,” she said. “She holds the other kids accountable and I appreciate that.” Martinez credits the senior class from two years ago, particularly pitcher Delene Colburn, for teaching her about the program’s expectations when she was a first-year varsity player. “Delene Colburn taught me a lot to do with leadership,” she said. “No matter how much she was struggling, she would always come together and make the team want to be successful.”

For Thompson, that means sacrifice. She said past leaders have volunteered to play a position, such as pitcher, that was not their preference to help the team fill a void. Martinez played both catcher and shortstop the previous two seasons, but with the emergence of Laurel Tauzer she focused on the latter with vigor.

“I trust that Emily – if I give her drills or things to work on – will spend hours and hours on it until she thinks she’s gotten better,” Thompson said. She said that mentality has helped Martinez develop into a strong defender.

“Emily has tremendous range,” Thompson said. “She knows exactly where to go and what angle to take on the ball. She’s super quick to get the ball out of her glove.” That has been significant because junior left-hander Zoe Collins, Auburn Mountainview’s top starter, relies more on inducing ground balls than overpowering hitters.

Thompson said Martinez has been key in the Lions allowing three runs or fewer six times in league play.

“She’s very vocal,” she said. “She calls out the plays. She helps out my infielders tremendously.” But similar to missing a few notes on the piano, which Martinez grew up playing, it has not always been perfect.

On April 19, a two-out error in right field during the second inning resulted in six unearned runs en route to a 9-0 loss at Enumclaw. Auburn Mountainview committed three errors during that contest. “Those errors, we just didn’t know how to come back from that,” Martinez said.

She said Thompson “focused on fundamentals” during the next practice with an emphasis on fielding. But Martinez knows they will need more than that when they next face the Hornets at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Lions must win to set up a potential first-place tie with Enumclaw (11-1, 10-0).

“We’ve talked about it and we’re trying not to psyche ourselves out too much,” Martinez said. She takes the same mentality about her future. Martinez might be interested in becoming a physical therapist, but with a year left of high school, she is not thinking too far ahead.

Instead, Martinez is enjoying the moment. “I’m just really impressed with how we’ve come together as a team because last year it was kind of rough because we had so many seniors with all these back stories,” she said. “Now, we’ve kind of bonded together as a team.”