(Bismarck, ND) – Former Bismarck Lark, Chris Roycroft, made his Major League debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Roycroft is the second former Lark and 351^st former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.

Roycroft, who played collegiately at Aurora University, played for the Larks in 2017 and 2018.

In 2017 with the Larks, Roycroft appeared in four games and was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He struck out three batters in 6.0 innings and had one save. Returning in 2018, Roycroft pitched in 11 games and had a 3.00 ERA with three wins. He pitched in 12.0 innings and had 15 strikeouts and two saves. Moving to Green Bay for 2019 saw Roycroft pitch in four games with the Booyah. He appeared in 10.2 innings and had 13 strikeouts.

Roycroft started his professional career in 2021 with the Joliet Slammers of the Independent Frontier League. In 26 games he was 4-4 with a 7.23 ERA. He struck out 62 batters in 69.2 innings.

In 2022 Roycroft started the season with Joliet and then was signed by the Cardinals. He was sent to the Peoria Chiefs of the High-A Midwest League. Over 19 games in Peoria he was 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA. He pitched in 32.0 innings and had 40 strikeouts and one save.

Roycroft started the 2023 season with the Chiefs and then moved up to the Springfield Cardinals of the AA Texas League. After 15 games in Springfield, he moved on to the Memphis Redbirds of the AAA International League. For the year he was 7-8 with 5.86 ERA and had 64 strikeouts in 63.0 innings while saving five games.

The 2024 season began with Roycroft in Memphis. He had pitched in 11 games and had a 1.38 ERA with nine strikeouts in 13.0 innings. In his Major League debut against the New York Mets. Roycroft entered the game in relief in the 9^th inning and allowed one run on two hits while striking out two.