PORTALES, NM – On Wednesday afternoon, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its all-region selections for the 2018 season. Senior second baseman Alex DeLaCruz represented Eastern New Mexico University as a First Team NCBWA selection in the South Central Region.
The selection was DeLaCruz’s third all-region honor, as he was chosen to the ABCA/Rawlings and D2CCA All-Region Teams, last year. He also earned back-to-back First Team All-Lone Star Conference selections in 2017 and 2018.
DeLaCruz and the Greyhounds won 56 games over the last two seasons, the most in back-to-back years since winning a team record 63 between the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Included in the 2018 total was the program’s first-ever postseason win. Last Thursday, DeLaCruz batted 2-for-5 and drove in a run as Eastern scored a 7-4 win over fourth-seeded Angelo State in the opening round of the LSC Tournament.
A preseason All-American, DeLaCruz led the conference in batting average this season. He also ranked second in the league in hits, third in stolen bases and in the top-10 in most offensive categories. DelaCruz boasted a team-best 16-game hit streak this season and took an 11-game into the final game of the year. He led the squad with 25 multiple-hit games, which included a 3-for-6 outing against league champion WT. The senior second baseman also paced ENMU with 13 multiple RBI games. He had the program’s second highest career batting average, trailing only ENMU Hall of Honors inductee Shane Shallenberger and is second only to Jereme Johnson in stolen base percentage.
