Former Ranger and professional baseball player Domenick Carlini enters his ninth season on the Northwest baseball staff, where he primarily works with pitchers.
Since joining the Rangers’ coaching staff in 2018, Carlini has helped develop 27 pitchers that have continued their careers at the four-year level. Additionally, two of his pitchers have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft - Dalton Fowler (drafted twice in 2019 and 2023) and Connor Spencer (drafted twice in 2024 and 2025).
Carlini’s pitching staffs have struck out 300 or more batters throughout the season since 2019, and his 2022 staff set the Rangers’ record for 428 strikeouts. His 2019 squad ranks second (379), followed by his 2023 pitching staff in third (375) and his 2025 staff in fourth with 365 strikeouts.
In 2024, Carlini’s pitching unit also allowed just 27 home runs, the fewest since 2019. His group also pitched a record 402.1 innings, led by 73.2 frames from Scott Sharp. The 2024 pitching staff combined for 5.71 ERA but held opposing batters to a batting average of .271.
Over the previous two seasons, three of Carlini’s pitchers have signed with NCAA Division I programs: Connor McCaslin and Mason Shropshire (both to UT-Martin), and James Smith (Memphis).
Though the Rangers struggled in 2023 both at the plate and on the mound, six of Carlini’s pitchers advanced to the four-year level, led by Brayden Sanders (Memphis), Brooks Rice (Samford) and Logan Eldridge (Delta State).
Carlini’s 2022 pitching staff was led by the aforementioned Sanders, South Alabama signee Zach Willingham and UAB signee John Luke Marlin. In 2021, the Rangers posted a 5.46 ERA and held opposing batters to a .275 batting average.
Despite a shortened 2020 campaign due to COVID-19, Carlini’s pitching staff posted solid numbers through the first 15 games of the season. Collectively, the Rangers posted a 2.27 ERA with 148 strikeouts as part of a Top 10 national ranking and a 14-1 overall record, the best start in program history.
Carlini’s pitchers accounted for five of the Rangers’ six four-year signees, including Dalton Fowler (Oklahoma), Parker Stinnett (Mississippi State), Landon Zizmann (Delta State), Jackson Smith (Mississippi College) and Trent Bunting (Arkansas-Monticello).
In 2019, Northwest’s pitching staff posted a 4.05 ERA, the 19th-best in the NJCAA, with the most strikeouts (379) and lowest opponent batting average (.241) in program history.
Four pitchers earned all-conference honors, with Fowler and Parker Stinnett earning First Team All-MACJC recognition and Carson Stinnett and Colton Peel being named to the second team. Fowler was also drafted by the New York Mets in the 27th round and former Ranger Peyton Plumlee was taken in the 31st round by the Houston Astros.
The Nesbit native and DeSoto Central product spent two seasons in minor league baseball after being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 21st round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Southeastern Louisiana. Carlini was originally assigned to the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie) in 2016 and spent the 2017 season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Single-A).
Carlini was 8-2 with a 2.03 ERA and two complete games in 16 appearances for the SELU Lions as a senior en route to Second Team All-Southland Conference honors and an NCAA Regional berth. In 97.1 innings of work, Carlini held opposing hitters to a .206 batting average while striking out 63 against 36 walks. He was 1-0 with three saves as a junior.
His lone summer ball stint was with the St. Cloud Rox after his junior year at SELU, going 5-2 with a 2.68 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched.
Carlini pitched the 2013-14 seasons for Northwest, helping the Rangers to back-to-back 30-win seasons and posting a 7-8 career record with five complete games, two saves and a 3.04 ERA. He struck out 119 batters (fourth-most in school history) against 35 walks in 119.2 career innings pitched.
He was named “Mr. Ranger” after his sophomore season in addition to earning Second Team All-MACJC honors. Carlini was also selected the MACJC Pitcher of the Week on April 8, 2014, to kick off his sophomore campaign.
Carlini is married to the former Lauren Carson of Independence, a Northwest graduate and former Ranger cheerleader. The couple has two daughters, Ridley Anne (7) and Adeline (4).
