WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross baseball, the reigning back-to-back Patriot League Tournament champions, is proud to announce its team captains for the 2027 season. Seniors Braden Connors, John LaFleur and Alex Sandell were voted by their returning teammates to compose the team's leadership group. 
 
"I am thrilled to announce the selection of our team captains for this year," said head coach Ed Kahovec. "Braden, John and Alex are three seniors who have championship pedigree with championship caliber leadership abilities. I am excited for them to set the standard for our program and to hold everyone accountable to that standard." 
 
Connors, a member of the 2026 Patriot League All-Tournament Team, hit .297, which ranked eighth in the conference, and posted an .834 OPS with four home runs, 32 RBI, nine doubles and 19 walks across 45 games played, mostly at first base for the Crusaders. His 49 hits tied for seventh in the Patriot League. He was 3-for-5, including a walk-off RBI single in the Holy Cross comeback mid-week win at home against Stonehill on April 8. He elevated his play in the Patriot League Tournament, slashing .444/.500/.833 for a 1.333 OPS across four games with two home runs, eight RBI, a double and a pair of walks. Entering the lineup in the game two win of the Patriot League Semifinals at Army West Point on May 10, 2026, Connors went 3-for-5 at the dish with an RBI. His hot hitting continued into the Patriot League Championship Series games one and two, where he homered in back-to-back games, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the Crusaders' game one victory before producing a 3-for-4 home run and two RBI effort in game two.
 
LaFleur is a captain for the second straight season. He finished fifth on the team in RBI in 2026 with 29. He had a trio of three hit showings in 2026 going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored at FIU (Feb. 21), 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in a 14-5 win at Bucknell (April 10) and a 3-for-4 showing with three double, three RBI and a run scored in a 12-9 mid-week win versus Harvard (April 28). LaFleur drove home the lone Crusader run in the NCAA Regional contest at No. 6 Texas (May 29), producing a pair of hits. He finished the season tied for fifth in the Patriot League in sacrifice bunts (5). LaFleur ranks ninth in program history in career RBI (101), and he needs two more home runs to tie for 10th place on the program's all-time list.
 
Sandell, a 2026 Patriot League second team infield selection, appeared in all 55 games for the Crusaders, making starts in 53 games. The recipient of the 2026 Ray Dobens Award given to the most improved player on the team, Sandell hit .275 on the year and tied for the Patriot League lead in doubles (14) while ranking third in hits (56), tied for fourth in runs scored (43), tied for sixth in triples (3), and tied for eighth in RBI (35). Sandell made numerous highlight-reel plays at the keystone for the Crusaders in 2026 and tallied a .991 fielding percentage, committing only two errors in 215 chances while posting a 1.000 fielding percentage off 112 opportunities in league contests. In conference games, Sandell led the league in runs scored (27), while ranking fifth in OBP (.441), fifth in OPS (.947), sixth in slugging (.506), tied for sixth in hits (28) and 10th in average (.315). Sandell was selected to the 2026 Austin Regional All-Tournament Team following the Crusaders' run at the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Crusaders concluded the 150th anniversary of baseball at the College of the Holy Cross in 2026 with a 25-30, 13-13 PL record. This was the third straight season of 25+ wins for the program, and the team became the first non-service academy to capture back-to-back Patriot League Championships in Patriot League history. Holy Cross was the first No. 4 seed to win a Patriot League Tournament Championship since Bucknell in 2010.

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