The last time Dougie DelaCruz played for the Moose Jaw Miller Express, head coach Eric Marriott and pitching coach Jeff Nicolosi were both among his teammates.
Then a freshman at Mitchell College, DelaCruz would go on to hit .339 with two home runs and 18 runs batted in for the Express while suiting up in 39 games during the 2019 season.
Now, four years later, DelaCruz will be looking to do a whole lot more damage at the plate for the Western Canadian Baseball League club when he makes his return this summer -- and based on how things are going in his final year at Mitchell, it’s safe to say that will almost certainly be the case.
We’ll start with one of his most recent stat lines to give you an idea of how things are going with the NCAA Division III school.
Five at bats, five runs scored, four hits, one double, one triple, one home run and eight runs batted in during an 18-3 win over Massachusetts Maritime. And with the way the rest of the season has played out, it should almost come as a surprise that this was the first time DelaCruz has hit for the cycle.
Only once has the Uncasville, Conn. product been held without a hit through the Mariner’s first 26 games, and only six times has DelaCruz been held to a single hit. His current hitting streak is at 20 games, a run that included 11 straight with at least a pair of hits.
You don’t put up production like that without some gaudy numbers, and DelaCruz has them.
As of Thursday, Apr. 13, DelaCruz is hitting .510 with five home runs, 43 RBI and 45 runs scored -- again, in only 26 games. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage is at 1.502, the kind of number you only see in video games on easy mode.
This isn’t the first season DelaCruz has put together these kinds of numbers, either. After hitting .430 with eight home runs and 58 RBIs in 2021, he was named a Division III Second Team All-American on top of being the repeat winner of the New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Year.
DelaCruz will also be bringing a winning pedigree up north. Mitchell College won the NECC championship in both 2021 and 2022 and advanced to the NCAA Division III national tournament before seeing their season come to an end.
Odds are the winning isn’t done there, either -- Mitchell is currently 22-4 overall, including 6-0 in the NECC, where they’ve outscored their opponents 63-7 in the process.
You can follow along with DelaCruz and the Mariners at www.mitchellathletics.com.
The Moose Jaw Miller Express open their 2023 season on Saturday, May 27 when they host the Weyburn Beavers at Ross Wells Park.
