Santa Cruz played at both Utah Valley and Irvine Valley before arriving at WOU in 2020.
Following a redshirt season at Utah Valley, he transferred to Irvine Valley playing for two years where he saw action in 70 games, collecting a .263 batting average with 49 hits, 36 runs scored, eight doubles, 18 RBI, 24 walks and tallied four steals. He hit .275 his sophomore season. Santa Cruz was also a team captain.
While playing at Utah Valley State he didn’t see any action as a freshman.
During his high school career at Woodbridge, he was named to the Pacific Coast All-League Team, All-Irvine City Team and was a three-time Gold Glove winner. He played for the Kansas City Royals Area Code team in 2016 where he batted .300 during the regular season and .363 during the playoffs and held a 1.000 fielding percentage his senior season. He helped lead the team to a league title in 2016 and a Division 3 CIF runner-up. In addition he played club for the Quakes for six years. He also took home Gold Glove awards in two seasons and the Sportsman of the Year award.
THE SANTA CRUZ FILE
Chose WOU because of the coaching and winning culture of the program
Place he would like to visit: Italy
Favorite hobbies: writing, working out, spending time with family and friends, long romantic walks on the beach
Favorite Sports Team: Los Angeles Angels
Favorite Athlete: Mike Trout
Favorite Food: Ramen
Favorite TV show/Movie: Red Oaks
Favorite Book: The Stranger by Albert Camus
Favorite musician or musical group: J.I.D or A Tribe Called Quest
