Mason Macaluso making a mark at Dakota State

MADISON, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Like many high school graduates Mason Macaluso wanted a college experience far from home when he chose to play baseball at Dakota State.

“I really liked the campus. I liked the program. I’m a cyber operations major which is going to be a huge field here in the future so I thought it would be a good chance. And I like the guys out here and the lifestyle. I’m a big hunter and fisher so it kind of just fit perfect for me.” Mason says.

Yet going from Arizona to South Dakota may have seemed like going to Siberia to his family and friends.

“They always get them mixed up with North Dakota whenever I tell them to come out here. You’ll see them at the games in their big Carhart jackets!” Macaluso says.

“Heard about him from a good friend of mine that was down there. Put up some pretty gaudy numbers in high school, kind of video game stats. Thankfully he wanted to be a part of what we were doing. I sold him on a vision.” DSU Head Coach Derrion Hardie says.

His improvement over the course of four years.....

“With a few tweaks from the coaching staff I’ve become a more complete player.” Macaluso says.

...has mirrored that of his team. Mason is Dakota State’s career leader in homeruns with 28 and RBI with 151.

“He’s the kind of guy that hits for average, hits for power, slugging percentage. Academic All-American. Really high integrity and principles and that’s big for our program.” Hardie says.

Leading a Trojan program stuck in a deep freeze with just four victories prior to his arrival, to more than 60 wins in their last two seasons.

“Main thing I wanted to do when I was going to go play college ball is I wanted to leave my number in the place better than when I found it. So that’s been huge for me and I’m happy I’ve been able to do that here.” Mason says.

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