Siddall earns MAAC POY

* OF Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) had 11 homers, 55 RBIs and batted .343 for the Canisius Golden Griffs to win MAAC Player of the Year honors. ....

For the second consecutive year and fourth time in seven seasons, a member of the Canisius College Griffs has been named the 2015 MAAC Player of the Year. Junior outfielder Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) earned the award at the annual MAAC awards banquet, in Fishkill, N.Y., on Tuesday afternoon, following a season in which he finished tied for the league lead in RBIs with 55 and paced the MAAC in home runs with 11.

Joining Sidall in winning awards were seniors, Connor Panas (Toronto, Ont.) and Devon Stewart (Maple Ridge, BC), who were selected to the All-MAAC first and second teams, respectively. Siddall was also a All-MAAC First Team member.

Siddall, a junior outfielder, helped lead Canisius to a 29-27 overall mark and a 16-8 record in MAAC play. Siddall led the conference with 55 RBIs, 19 doubles and 11 home runs. The outfielder slugged a line of .343/.388/.593 while leading conference play with a .414 average, 20 RBI and five home runs. On the season Siddall recorded 74 hits, 36 in conference play, and tallied 31 extra base hits.

Siddall also shattered career-highs this season, as the outfielder entered the campaign with 72 career RBIs and four home runs. His previous season-high in both categories had been 43 RBI and three dingers, but he bested those marks in 2015, as he drove in 55 RBI and 11 bombs this season.

Panas’ numbers look just as good for the Griffs, as he too finished atop of the MAAC leaderboard in RBI, with 55. He had a torrid May where he hit .455 with 20 hits, 21 RBIs and four homeruns in 10 games for the Blue and Gold. The do-it-all utility man also secured two player of the week awards, including the final MAAC weekly awards selection, thanks to an impressive series against Niagara last weekend. This is the second time in his career Panas has been named to the All-MAAC first team after achieving the feat in 2014. He was also tabbed as the 2014 MAAC Player of the Year.

Stewart was also named to the All-Conference team as he posted a 6-6 overall record, and a 3.43 ERA in 14 games started for Canisius. The ace proved to be dominant this year as he matched his career-high in wins and set a new career-high in strikeouts with 67 strikeouts. One of Stewart’s most memorable starts this season came on a historic day when he not only moved into second-place all-time in career strikeouts, but he also helped spur the Griffs to its first ever win over George Mason, as he worked 7 1/3 innings, yielded just six hits and two runs and struck out five in the win.

Golden Griffins honored for their work in the classroom were Mike Krische, Panas, Iannick Remillard (Valleyfield, Que.), Josh Shepley (Tecumseh, Ont.), Siddall, Stewart, and Tyler Vavra (Calgary, Alta.), were all named to the MAAC All-Academic team. Krische and Panas are three-time honorees, while it’s Remillard’s second award. Shepley, Siddall and Vavra are all first-time All Academic team members.

The No. 2 seeded Griffs now prepare for its first round matchup on Thursday at the 2015 MAAC tournament, held at Dutchess, Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. Canisius’ opponent will be the higher seed of the winners of game one and two which will be played on Wednesday. Check back to GoGriffs.com for a full preview of the upcoming tournament.