Lake Region State College has found its next baseball coach.
The Royals hired Mark LaCroix to lead the baseball program, the college announced in a release on July 2. His hiring became effective July 6.
“We are excited to welcome Coach LaCroix to the Royals family,” LRSC athletic director Colden Hutton said in the release. “His passion for developing student-athletes, commitment to academic excellence and proven ability to build successful programs made him the ideal choice to lead our baseball program into the future.”
Unlike the baseball program’s previous two head coaches, LaCroix has North Dakota roots. He previously spent seven seasons coaching a Mon-Dak conference foe, Dakota College at Bottineau. His last year with DCB was 2025.
The Lumberjacks went 19-29 (6-17 Mon-Dak) in 2024 and 16-30 (4-20 Mon-Dak) in 2025.
LaCroix went on to coach at Renville County this past season. The Muskrats finished second in Region 7 in their lone year under LaCroix.
He’s currently spending his summer coaching the Williston Oilers, who were in Devils Lake on June 10 to play the Storm B team. He has also coached Legion and Babe Ruth ball in Bottineau.
LRSC noted that LaCroix led all aspects of the DCB program during his tenure — including recruiting, fundraising, player development and academic monitoring — and will do so for the Royals as well.
LaCroix becomes LRSC’s fourth head baseball coach in the last five years. The previous coach, Steve Anderson, resigned after two seasons.
This upcoming school year, the Royals will have new head coaches in women’s basketball and women’s hockey in addition to baseball. Tucker Salander, an assistant baseball coach for both years under Anderson, is also no longer listed on the staff directory.
The Royals achieved a program-best 11 conference wins in 2025 with Anderson coaching the team. They regressed to 5-14 in conference play this past spring. They’ll still enter this school year with a recruiting class largely assembled by Anderson.