Edison, NJ—The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced its 2024 MAAC Baseball Postseason Awards and major awards on Tuesday. Six Purple Eagles earned all-conference honors while Eric Rataczak was named MAAC Player of the Year, Zach Cameron was named MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, and Niagara Head Coach Rob McCoy was named MAAC Coach of the Year.
Rataczak becomes the first Purple Eagle to be named MAAC Player of the Year since Greg Cullen earned the honor in 2018. He was also All-MAAC First Team at first base, he was the only unanimous selection to the first team. Rataczak led the MAAC in hitting with a .400 average, he also led the MAAC in RBI during the regular season. The Circle Pines, Minnesota native blasted 15 homers which led Niagara and was third in the MAAC. His 65 RBI is a new single-season program record for Niagara. He is one of just 18 players in Division I to hit .400 or better this season. In his first season at Niagara, he notched 25 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI games.
Cameron is the first Purple Eagle in program history to be named MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year while also earning All-MAAC Second Team honors. The native of Hamilton, Ontario currently leads the MAAC in saves with 10 while also being second in the MAAC in wins with eight. 10 saves and eight wins are tied for the most in a single season in Niagara program history. Cameron notched a 3.14 ERA in the regular season while appearing in 20 games this season. He also limited opposing hitters to a .226 average. In his five-year career with the Purple Eagles, he has appeared in 73 games while notching a program-record 25 saves and a 16-4 record. Opposing hitters are hitting just .237 in 157.1 innings against Cameron in his career.
McCoy is the first Purple Eagle skipper to be named MAAC Coach of the Year since Mike McRae earned the honor in 2003. Niagara has had its best season in program history in 2024 with the Purple Eagles winning a MAAC best 35 games this season. McCoy led the Purple Eagles to 20 MAAC wins for the first time in program history. Dating back to 2014 only five MAAC teams have won 20 or more MAAC games, two of those teams came in 2021 when the MAAC played 34 conference games. Niagara earned a share of the MAAC Regular Season Championship for the first time in program history this season.
Nick Groves earned his second All-MAAC honor as he was named to the All-MAAC Second Team after being named to the All-Rookie team in 2023. In 2024, he is hitting .343 with a career-high three homers and a career-high 34 RBI. Through 41 games this season, the London, Ontario native has a .459 on-base percentage while also having 19 stolen bases. The sophomore has also set a career-high with 12 doubles while having 16 extra-base hits out of the leadoff spot. In center field this season, he has 88 putouts and three assists along with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Nick Monile was named to both the All-MAAC Second Team and All-MAAC Rookie Team after appearing in 44 games as a freshman. The native of Tampa, Florida has a .353 batting average this season which is eighth in the MAAC while leading MAAC freshman. He is also 10th in Division I in hitting among freshmen. He has driven in 33 runs this season while hitting three home runs. In the outfield, he has notched 69 putouts while not committing an error this season. He has 15 multi-hit games this season along with 10 multi-RBI games.
Ryan Minckler has earned All-MAAC Second Team honors in his season at Niagara. In 2024, he came out of the bullpen in 17 games while pitching 45.2 innings. He held opponents to a .254 average while notching a 4-1 record. The Portsmouth, New Hampshire product had a career-best 3.74 ERA in 2024 while also striking out a career high 46 batters. In 13 games this season, he has struck out at least two batters out of the bullpen, he also notched five games in which he struck out five or more batters.
Rees Kozar earns MAAC All-Rookie honors after appearing in 45 games while making 38 starts as a freshman. In his first collegiate regular season, he hit .303 while hitting seven home runs and driving in 26 runs. His .303 average was 23rd in the MAAC while his seven homers were tied for the eighth most in the MAAC. The Amherstburg, Ontario native had a .493 slugging percentage along with a .413 on-base percentage. He notched 14 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games.
It is the first time since the 2006 season that Niagara has placed six or more players on the All-MAAC team. In 2006, Niagara had seven players on the All-MAAC team.
The MAAC also announced its All-Academic Team on Tuesday with 15 Purple Eagles earning the honor.
Cameron (Education), Marcus Cashman (Clinical Mental Health Counseling), Kelly Corl (Sport Management), Groves (Finance), Steven Hospital (MBA - Finance), Jake Hutchins (Finance), Nate Milk (Actuarial Science), Minckler (Academic Exploration), Preston Prince (Finance), Liam Reynolds (Sport management - MA), Noah Richardson (Criminal Justice), Gavin Schrader (Management), Nick Veselinovic (Biology), Matt Ward (Finance – MS), and Evan Wilde (Biology) all earned All-Academic honors.
To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
After notching a 20-4 record in MAAC play the Purple Eagles earned a first day bye at the MAAC Championship. Niagara will play on Thursday at 3 PM against the higher seed of the game one and two winners. The MAAC Championships will take place at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y.
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