Max Clark hits walk-off home run in first week of pro baseball
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)— Former Franklin Community High School baseball star Max Clark is already opening eyes playing in Minor League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers.
Clark, selected third overall by the Tigers in July, has opened his career in the rookie-level Florida Complex League, and picked up right where he left off during his senior season at Franklin Community High School. On Tuesday, Clark did something he’s never done before: Hit a walk-off home run. The score was tied 2-2 when Clark stepped to the plate.
“I was actually sitting on-deck thinking, ‘Oh man, I might actually have a chance to hit a walk-off here,’” said Clark. “The reason I was thinking that was because I’d never had a walk-off before in any of my baseball years,” Clark told MLB.com
Clark watched as a slider whizzed by for a ball – with the count 1-0 – Clark was then looking fastball. He got it and hit a moon shot into the Florida sky.
“He found my barrel and we lost one over the fence,” said Clark. “It’s unbelievable. such a cool feeling.”
Not only was it Clark’s first walk-off home run, it was the first professional home run for the three-time Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year who started his pro career by going 2 for 10.
“Getting it handed to you for the first two or three days, it was a new feeling,” said Clark. “It was nice getting acclimated to that, so that I know going into next year, that I’m going to be able to keep that equilibrium in balance, and go out every single day and play my game.”
Clark capped off a storybook high school career by winning National Gatorade Player of the Year honors and winning a gold medal with Team USA on the 18U squad before being selected by the Tigers with the third overall pick.
“We think Max is an elite talent,” Scott Harris, president of baseball operations for the Detroit Tigers, said after drafting Clark in July. “He was the best player on our board at that pick, and we are thrilled that he got to our pick.”
For Clark, he’s living the dream.
“This is truly only the beginning,” said Clark. “Obviously, all the stuff that led up to this is a true blessing, but to have the ability to wake up every single day and play baseball for a job is an incredibly special thing. It’s something that I’ve dreamed of since I was 8 years old, and to finally wake up in that moment and be doing it each and every day, it’s a true blessing.”