OTTAWA- Former National Team player Luke Carlin (Aylmer, QC) celebrated a Triple-A National Championship for the second year in a row with the Columbus Clippers (Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians) last night.
Carlin played a key role in the Clippers 8-3 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers in a game played in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Down 3-0 in the second inning, Carlin belted a three-run homer to tie the game and give his team the spark they needed to go onto victory.
“That's one thing about our team is that we never really push the panic button offensively," Carlin said in an interview with MiLB.com.
Carlin was behind the plate and caught winning pitcher Joe Martinez who was named MVP of the game. After a slow start on the mound, Martinez said the key turning point was a conversation he had with Carlin in the dugout after the first inning in which the Storm Chasers scored three times.
“Luke kind of talked to me in the dugout, “he said. “He told me to stay back a little bit, I was leaking. I was leaving the ball up. Coming from the hot, humid weather on the East Coast to very dry [air], it's a little bit harder, the ball moves differently. It just took a while to get my feet wet and get adjusted.”
Carlin played with the Junior National Team in 1998 and was also a member of the 2005 World Cup and 2009 World Baseball Classic clubs. He has also spent time in the big-leagues with the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cleveland Indians.
