The Moose Jaw Miller Express have announced their first returning player for the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League season, and it’s someone who fans will most certainly be familiar with.
Senior infielder Luke LaChance will be back to anchor the Miller Express infield, playing his third season at Ross Wells Park.
LaChance is coming off a stellar campaign with Moose Jaw last season, as he was once again part of a hard-hitting line-up that produced gaudy numbers throughout the 2023 campaign.
The Littleton, Col. native hit .284 with five doubles, a home run, 23 runs batted in and eight stolen bases, but it was his glove at second base that really shone.
Suiting up at second for 43 games and 320 innings, LaChance had 97 assists and 75 put outs while making only three errors, good enough for a stellar .983 fielding percentage. That mark was second-best in the league among players with 100 or more innings at the position and tops among players with 200-plus innings.
LaChance hit .283 with 15 runs and 18 RBI to go along with a .959 fielding percentage over 181 innings in the 2022 campaign.
The Doane University senior had similar numbers for the Tigers during the 2023 NAIA Great Plains Athletic Conference season, hitting .294 with three home runs, 41 RBI and 36 runs scored over 55 games. His glove was just as slick, too, with a .970 fielding percentage on 199 chances, including 24 double plays.
The Doane Tigers open their 2023-24 campaign on Feb, 9 against Columbia College, and you can follow along with how things are going in the lead-up to the WCBL campaign at www.doaneathletics.com.
The Moose Jaw Miller Express open their 56-game season on Friday, May 24 when they travel to Weyburn to face the Beavers. Moose Jaw’s home opener is the following night against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Keep up with all the WCBL action at www.westerncanadianbaseballleague.ca.
