LA VERNE, CA — Adam Santa Cruz has been named the 2020 SCIAC Baseball Character Award winner the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced.

The character award is presented to a senior who best exemplifies success on the field, in the classroom, and with involvement in community and school service.

Specifically, it recognizes students who, while competing on their teams, have been recognized by coaches, officials, institutional administrators or others as making significant contributions representing their school and serving their communities based on the following criteria: advancing sportsmanship, balancing sports and major personal academic achievements, demonstrating behavior that models efforts of inclusion within their teams and those of their opponents, contributes to a sense of civility in society, or otherwise innovatively elevates the profile of what participation in the SCIAC conference and as a Division III student-athlete can offer to the betterment of the community.

Santa Cruz was stellar on the field for the Leopards. Following his junior season, he was tabbed Second Team All-West Region by both D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings and was named First Team All-SCIAC. After his first season with the Leopards, the catcher earned ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-West Region honors and Second Team All-SCIAC recognition.

Santa Cruz is one of a few Leopards to ever hit .400 or better in a season when he boasted a .404 average after his debut year at La Verne. In his two full seasons with the orange and green, he totaled 98 hits, 66 RBI, 25 doubles, three triples, and 34 walks. Before this season's cancellation, the Victorville native added nine RBI, 10 runs, 17 hits, one home run, and one stolen base

In the classroom, Santa Cruz earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology with a 3.41 GPA and this fall began pursuing a master's degree in teaching.