In winningest baseball season, Niagara wins MAAC awards

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The winningest season in team history has placed the Niagara University baseball team among the favored playoff contenders in the Metro Atlantic Athletics Conference and earned the Purple Eagles a multitude of awards.

Among the six Niagara players receiving All-MAAC honors, first baseman Eric Rataczak was named MAAC Player of the Year and Zach Cameron was selected as MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, the office announced. the league this week. Additionally, skipper Rob McCoy earned MAAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his 16 seasons at the helm of the Purple Eagles dugout.

Niagara enters the postseason with a 35-15 record, setting the program record for wins, and has won a share of the MAAC regular season title with a 20-4 conference record. Over the past decade, only three teams have had 20 or more wins in a 24-game MAAC schedule.

Rataczak, a redshirt junior from Circle Pines, Minn., who played for the University of San Diego and Arizona Western before transferring to Niagara, led the MAAC and ranks among the top 20 nationally with a batting average of .400. His 15 homers are one shy of the school record set last season by Max Giordano, and Rataczak set a Niagara record with 65 RBIs.

The only unanimous All-MAAC team selection, Rataczak has been Niagara’s MAAC Player of the Year since 2018 when the award went to Greg Cullen, who would be drafted in the 15th round by the Atlanta Braves and currently plays for the Triple -A Norfolk tide in the Baltimore Orioles farm system.

Cameron is the first Purple Eagle to win MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year. The right-handed graduate student from Hamilton, Ont., leads the MAAC with 10 saves and is second in the league with eight kills on shots. Both numbers are tied for school records. Cameron’s 25 career saves are a Niagara record.

Outfielders Nick Groves and Nick Monile and pitcher Ryan Minckler were second-team All-MAAC selections with Cameron, and catcher Rees Kozar joined Monile on the All-MAAC Rookie Team. Niagara hasn’t had this many All-MAAC selections since the 2006 season.

McCoy, who enters the MAAC playoffs with 296 career wins, is Niagara’s first MAAC Coach of the Year pick since Mike McRae in 2003.

As the No. 2 seed in the MAAC double-elimination playoffs, Niagara will face No. 3 seed Rider on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Clover Stadium in Ponoma.

No. 5 seed Canisius, with West Seneca native Jackson Strong making the All-MAAC team as an outfielder, lost to No. 4 seed Mount St. Mary’s and will play a playoff game against No. 6 seed Marist on Wednesday night. .