Croes makes his mark in Mexico City

It’s only April, and Dayson Croes is in midseason form.

The 25-year-old Aruban will play in the Winnipeg Goldeyes’ infield for a third consecutive summer, but this week he’s wearing the bright green jersey of the reigning American Association champion Kane County Cougars, who are celebrating their title for one more week at the Baseball Champions League Americas in Mexico City.

Three Goldeyes, including outfielder Max Murphy and pitcher Landen Bourassa, were recruited to join the Cougars as the league’s representatives at a tournament that features five other championship-winning teams from leagues in North America and the Caribbean.

Other teams include: Leñadores de Las Tunas, who won the Cuban National Series; Diablos Rojos del México, the winners of the Mexican League; Tigres de Chinandega, the Nicaragua Professional Baseball League champions; Titanes de Florida, the reigning Puerto Rico Amateur Baseball Federation champs; and the Santa María Pirates, who won the Curaçao AA League.

Croes made his mark early and often in the team’s opening contest on Tuesday, going six-for-six with four RBI and a third-inning home run, in a wild game that saw the Cougars outlast the Pirates 16-14.

“He got more hits in this game than I think most guys are going to get in this tournament,” Bourassa said Wednesday, a scheduled day off for the team. “It was so fun to watch, like their defence was shifted and moving and trying to figure him out, and he just kept finding holes and just doing what he does.

“It’s cool. He’s put in a lot of work this off-season to be in better shape physically, and he’s running balls out of the yard already, so it’s a good sign.”

Bourassa, who could start or come out of the bullpen in relief during the tournament, did not play in the opener. Murphy walked once.

Croes, who represented the Netherlands at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament in November, played for the country again last month in a pair of exhibition games against teams from the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization in Japan as a part of Team Netherlands’ prep for next year’s World Baseball Classic.

There’s no doubt that facing the excellent Japanese competition, some of which are on par with the talent in the MLB, helped him.

“Seeing those types of pitchers and then coming here, I mean, there’s still good arms, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not like big-league Japanese arms throwing 100 (miles per hour), you know? So I went in there with my confidence pretty high,” said Croes, who also registered one run.

Croes also took advantage of some favourable hitting conditions. Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, the ballpark in Mexico City, is 2,240 metres above sea level.

The thin air and hard turf make for an exciting brand of baseball, one where no lead is safe. There was no better example than Tuesday, as the Cougars trailed by five after conceding nine runs in the fifth inning.

Those familiar with the park reminded their teammates it was still anyone’s game at that point.

“The umpire at third actually told me, he’s like, ‘Five runs? That’s nothing here in this stadium,’ and I kind of laughed, but I mean, it was true,” said Croes.

Murphy and Croes played for the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks when they won the inaugural BCL tournament in 2023, but the feeling of putting on a different jersey still takes time to get used to.

“It’s kind of weird. I felt the same way when I was wearing Fargo, knowing the rivalry that Winnipeg has with Fargo. It felt weird at first, but I mean, all these guys, we all respect each other, so it’s no bad blood. We’re all on the same team right now. No matter what jerseys we’re wearing, all we want to do is win,” said Croes. “So it’s been cool. All these guys have been cool.”

The Cougars are guaranteed three games this week, two in the round-robin and at least one game in the elimination rounds. The first-place finishers in each group receive an automatic berth to the semifinals, while the other four match up in the quarterfinals. The championship finals go on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.

Players and coaches have embraced the tournament in what is a short ramp-up before spring training gets underway in independent leagues. The feeling is this might be the beginning of a long-standing tradition, one that continues to grow.

The 2023 iteration of the tournament included four teams, and the idea, Croes has been told, is to expand it to a concept like the Champions League in soccer, that can be contested by clubs from around the world.

“It’s really something that is unique,” Bourassa said. “I think it’s just a really great way to showcase the amount of baseball talent around the Americas, and international baseball is just such a fun brand of the game because there’s no scouting reports for the most part — you show up and you play the games against really talented teams — and I think maybe the most unique and cool part about it for me is it’s only the second time they’ve played it. So you never know what this could turn into.

“I know they’re really ambitious about growing this. And who’s to say this doesn’t become the main kind of fixture for a tournament of this style, featuring top teams that really draws the crowd and becomes something that’s very well embraced, which I think could be pretty cool to to one day… look back and say, ‘Wow, yeah, I got the opportunity to play at the second rendition of that.’”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca