Illinois Wesleyan head coach Dennis Martel, who won a national championship in 2010 and is closing in on 700 career wins at the school, will be among nine new members who are natives of Maine to be inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame at its 43rd annual ceremony and banquet on July 28 in Portland, Maine.

Martel has been baseball coach at Illinois Wesleyan for 26 seasons and has an NCAA Division III national championship (2010), two regional titles and eight conference championships. IWU teams have made appearances in four consecutive and 11 overall NCAA postseason tournaments.

He is a Marshwood (Maine) High School product and a 1984 graduate of the University of Maine with a degree in physical education.

Martel's teams have compiled an overall record of 687-417-3 (.622) and a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin record of 332-143 (.699) with eight titles. In 26 years he has experienced only two losing seasons and only one in CCIW play and his teams have won 24 games or more in 14 consecutive seasons.
In 2008, Martel eclipsed the win total of Jack Horenberger to become the school's all-time baseball coaching leader in victories. Horenberger had 509 wins in 37 seasons as IWU skipper.

For leading his team to the 2010 national title, Martel was named the American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond Sports Division III “National Coach of the Year” as well as the regional “Coach of the Year.” The 2010 national championship team won 11 of their final 12 games to finish with a 31-21 record. The Titans were the No. 4 seed in the CCIW tournament and staved off elimination twice on the final day to win the tourney and earn a berth into the NCAA regional, where they were the No. 6 seed (in the six-team regional) and swept four games to advance to the national finals for the first time since 2001.

Martel was also the ABCA regional “Coach of the Year” in 2001 as the Titans advanced to the Division III College World Series for the first time in school history and earned a seventh place finish. The Central Regional champions, the 2001 Titans set a school record with 37 wins.

Martel has coached two first-team ABCA All-Americans, six second-team honorees and three third-team selections.
In addition, he has had over 60 players named to all-region teams and more than 130 have earned all-conference honors.

Six of Martel's players have signed pro baseball contracts with major league affiliation - lefthanded pitcher Cory Lapinski (2005, Houston Astros), righthanded pitcher Drew Himes (2005, Houston Astros), righthanded pitcher Steve Schilsky (2002, Oakland A's), outfielder James Rinne (1998, Arizona Diamondbacks), catcher Jay Ahrendt (1996, Baltimore Orioles) and catcher Mike Brown (1991, Los Angeles Dodgers).

An assistant professor of physical education, Martel also spent 21 seasons as IWU's full-time assistant basketball coach before becoming director of basketball operations in 2007. Martel earned his master's degree in athletic administration from Illinois State in 1985 and was also the head basketball coach at Bangor (Maine) Community College for four seasons.

Dennis and his wife, Michelle, are the parents of three daughters - Sara, Jenna and Anna.

In addition to Martel, the other 2013 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Danny Alvino (posthumous) lived in Livermore Falls and played several seasons in the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization, and later served as player-manager of the Goodall-Sanford semipro team.
• Kevin Bernier of Lincoln was a key player on the University of Maine teams that made three consecutive trips to the College World Series from 1981-83.
• Greg Coppeta of Westbrook was a two-time All-American while pitching for the University of Southern Maine in 1989-90. He later played four years in the Detroit Tigers' organization.
• Ed Pickett of Augusta was a stalwart catcher at the University of Maine, and is one of the few Mainers to have played in the Little League World Series and College World Series.
• Carroll Plourde of Waterville played for the Boston Braves as well as several semipro teams in central Maine, and was instrumental in organizing Little League, Babe Ruth and Legion teams in Waterville.
• Will Sanborn of Standish is the head baseball coach at St. Joseph's College. During his 20 years, the Monks have won seven conference titles and made six NCAA Division III regional tournament appearances.
• Jeff Trundy of Washington, Conn., played town team ball for West Minot and Turner before starring at New Hampshire and going on to a coaching career at Cony High, the Gunnery School in Connecticut and Falmouth in the Cape Cod League.
• Tom Watson of Portland was a two-time All-Telegram League selection for Deering High in 1969 and 1970 as a pitcher-outfielder. Watson broke the league home run record in 1970 with six. He helped Deering win Telegram League and Western Class A titles in 1970. Watson played in the Atlanta Braves' organization.