Courtesy of GoGriffs.com
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) officially announced today (Aug. 15) that Canisius and Niagara will serve as the co-hosts for the 2017 MAAC Baseball Championship at Sal Maglie Stadium in Niagara Falls, N.Y. This will mark the first time in the 36-year history of the MAAC that the conference’s baseball championship will be played in Western New York.
The 2017 MAAC Baseball Championship will be held May 24-27, 2017. The top-six schools in the league’s final conference standings will play in a double-elimination tournament setting, with the winning team earning the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
“Locating the tournament in Western New York, for the first time in conference history, is an exciting opportunity for fans in that area to witness championship level baseball,” John Maddock, Canisius associate athletic director and chair of the MAAC Baseball Committee said. “From past experience, I can promise a great weekend of baseball, as six teams battle for the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament. The committee and the membership look forward to working with Neal Turvey and the staff at Sal Maglie Stadium.”
Sal Maglie Stadium is the home field for the Niagara University Purple Eagles varsity and club baseball teams. The ballpark is also the home venue for the Niagara Catholic Patriots and served as the home field for the Niagara Power (NYCBL) baseball team from 2007-15.
The stadium seats 4,000 and opened in 1939. The facilities’ original name was Hyde Park Stadium, and it was originally designed primarily for football. It was adapted for baseball in the 1950s and was rebuilt as a proper baseball facility in 1999. In 1983, the ballpark was officially renamed for Niagara Falls native Sal Maglie. Maglie played for five MLB teams during his nine-year pro career. A two-time All-Star, Maglie was the National League leader in wins in 1951 with the New York Giants, and he was also a member of the Giants’ roster when the team won the 1954 World Series.
The Canisius baseball team has qualified for the MAAC Baseball Championship in each of the last 10 years, the longest active streak among any baseball program in the conference. The Golden Griffins have won the MAAC championship twice, most recently in 2015.
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