Zach Clark

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Zachary Higgins Clark

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Biographical Information[edit]

Zach Clark pitched one big league game with the Baltimore Orioles.

Amateur Career[edit]

Zach hit .492 as a high school junior and .482 as a senior; he had a 7-1, 1.32 record on the mound as a senior and was All-State twice. As a college freshman, he had a 6-5, 4.88 record. He saw limited action as a sophomore in 2003 due to an arm injury, going 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA and hitting .309. As a redshirt sophomore the next year, he hit .316/.372/.416 to lead UMBC and was 3-4 with a 5.37 ERA on the hill. In 2005, he hit .297/.331/.381 and had a hefty 8.21 ERA and 0-7 record, finishing third in the America East in losses. As a fifth-year senior, he batted .341/.385/.524 with 33 RBI in 46 games and was 1-6 but lowered his ERA to 3.86. He was 10th in the conference in average, tied for 6th in losses and close to the top 10 in ERA. He was undrafted before Baltimore Orioles scout Dean Albany signed him as a free agent.

Minors[edit]

Clark made a fine entry into pro ball, going 5-4 with a 2.11 ERA for the Bluefield Orioles, then had a 1-1, 7.36 record in three games for the Aberdeen IronBirds. He finished second in the Appalachian League in ERA, .90 behind leader Jamie Richmond. He bounced around quite a bit the next four years. In 2007, he pitched for Aberdeen (3-1, 1.03 in 5 games), the Delmarva Shorebirds (2-3, 3.10 in 10 games) and the Frederick Keys (0-1, 11.05 in 3 games). During 2008, he was with Delmarva (1-2, a save, 4.11 in 6 games), Frederick (2-2, a save, 3.25 in 12 games), the Bowie Baysox (4-2, 3.60 in 10 games) and the Norfolk Tides (1-2, 5.40 in 4 games). He spent the 2009 campaign with the GCL Orioles (an unearned run in 9 innings), Frederick (2 runs (one earned) in 8 innings), Bowie (2-1, 5.06 in 13 games) and Norfolk (2 runs in 4 2/3 innings). Clark pitched in 2010 for Delmarva (2 scoreless innings), Frederick (2-3, 5.25 in 9 games), Bowie (1-1, a save, 3.41 in 14 games) and Norfolk (0-5, 4.13 in 6 games). He tied for 8th in the Baltimore chain in losses.

Zach began establishing himself in 2011 with Bowie, going 10-9 with a 5.00 ERA in getting regular action for one team for the first time in five years. His 161 hits allowed tied Scott Copeland for the most by a Baltimore minor leaguer but he also tied for 5th in the system in victories. He tied for fifth in the Eastern League in wins and was 6th in hits allowed. Clark kicked it up a couple extra notches in 2012, going 10-5 with a 3.19 ERA for Bowie and 5-2 with a 1.75 ERA for Norfolk. He led Baltimore's minor leaguers in victories (four more than anyone else) and ERA and tied Jason Berken for fifth with 98 strikeouts. He tied for 8th in the EL in victories and was 6th in ERA (between Paolo Espino and B.J. Hermsen). Among the entire affiliated minor leagues, he was tied for third in wins (even with Tyler Cloyd, Zach Duke and Jake Odorizzi, behind only Christian Bergman and T.J. McFarland). He began 2013 not quite as sharp for Norfolk (1-2, 4.56). But he was called up when Baltimore was sending down another Zach, Zach Britton.

Majors[edit]

In his big league debut (and big league finale), Zach was ineffective in a 8-3 loss to Seattle. Relieving Wei-Yin Chen in the bottom of the 5th with a 5-0 deficit, he retired Justin Smoak, walked Dustin Ackley, fanned Jesus Montero and got Robert Andino on a grounder for a good first inning. Baltimore scored twice in the 6th to make it a 3-run game, but Clark gave the runs back in the bottom of the 6th. Michael Saunders and Kyle Seager led off with singles, then Kendrys Morales drilled a two-run double. Michael Morse flew out, then Jason Bay hit a sacrifice fly for a 8-2 lead. After a five-pitch walk to Smoak, Clark was relieved by T.J. McFarland, never to return. He retired after some time in the Atlantic League, later working as a scout for the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays.

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Related Sites[edit]

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