Sports

LaCroix decides to play ball at Williston

By Tyler Ohmann

06/12/2012

A recent remark at the Class B State Baseball Tournament pushed Bottineau Braves standout catcher Mark LaCroix toward where he wants to go next year for college.

The comment from Williston State College (WSC) coach Shawn Cote, helped LaCroix choose to be a Teton next spring.

"What really affected me was down at the state tournament after the Hatton-Northwood game, I missed two runners that I should have thrown out, and I thought I should have had them," LaCroix said. "People were coming up to me and saying good game, but the coach from Williston came and said, ‘you need to improve here, and be quicker with a ‘C’ motion with a catcher, and getting better,’ and right there that was a moment when I thought, ‘he can make me a better player.’"

"That was a big part of it, that he wants to make me a better player, not just have me as I am," LaCroix added.

LaCroix signed his letter of intent on the spot after the tournament ended. Coach Cote told him that he will play catcher and potentially fill in as a relief pitcher for the Tetons, that is if LaCroix can earn a spot on the field.

Earning his spot is something that LaCroix looks forward to.

"He (Cote) said that you have to earn your spot out there, and that he’s going to play the best nine guys on the field," LaCroix said. "And that’s something that I want to go out there and earn my spot, not given it, because if you earn it, it’s a lot sweeter."

LaCroix said that he hopes to test the waters about college baseball at Williston, and then take it from there for the rest of his career.

"I’m hoping two years out there (WSC), get better, and then hopefully move on to a Division I school," LaCroix said. "After two years, if I like the game I’ll definitely keep going, but if not I’ll settle with becoming a coach and being a history and stuff like that, but I definitely want to go out there for two years and give it a try, see if I like the game and if I want to keep improving at it."

He also hopes to push a Teton team over the edge. The Tetons ranked as high as 15 last year in the nation, they won the Region XIII title for the third straight year, but lost in the North Plains District to Des Moines Area Community College for a trip to the NJCAA World Series.

"With them being 15^th in the nation, I want to help get that rank higher, and, not to look to far, but hopefully contend for a national title sometime," LaCroix said.

One thing LaCroix doesn’t look forward to is sitting in the visitors dugout at the Lumberyard when the Tetons come back to face DCB and some of LaCroix’s former teammates.

"I think it will be kind of weird coming back and playing here, especially against guys like Taylor Milbrath, who plays for DCB and Cody Brooks if he plays for them," LaCroix said. "They are Lumberjacks and not the Braves, so I’m not playing the team I used to be on, but it’s going to be weird coming and playing on the field that I’ve played my whole career on."

"I have to come back and sit in that visitors dugout, that’s something that I’m not looking forward to, but I am looking forward to playing college baseball," LaCroix added.

LaCroix was named the team’s MVP this past season and won the Most Hustle award as well. He set a school record with eight victories on the season, his only loss came in a somber 4-3 loss to Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton in the first round of state in a game that came down to a wild seventh inning.