POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (May 7, 2024) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) today announced the 2024 Softball Major Award winners and All-MAAC Teams, voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches. Regular season champion, Marist College headlined MAAC postseason honors with a conference-high five major award winners and eight All-MAAC Team honorees.
Highlighting the Red Foxes major award winners was unanimous 2024 MAAC Player of the Year, Miah McDonald. A senior from Camp Hill, PA, McDonald posted a .380 batting average, .823 slugging percentage, and a .406 on base percentage. She set a program record with 73 hits, scoring 61 runs, hitting 20 homers, batting in 69 runs, hitting seven triples and compiling 158 total bases. McDonald led the MAAC in hits, home runs, total RBIs, RBIs per game, triples, sacrifice flies (4), slugging percentage, and total bases, while ranking second in triples per game, fourth in stolen bases (17), and sixth in batting average.
Haley Ahr of Marist was selected as 2024 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. A unanimous pick for the All-MAAC First Team at the infield position, Ahr recorded 278 putouts, with 34 assists, 11 double plays, and a .987 fielding percentage. Her double plays were tied for second on the MAAC leaderboard, while her putouts ranked fourth and her fielding percentage ranked 10
th. Hailing from Union Beach, NJ, Ahr was just as dominate offensively, hitting .428 with 68 total hits, 14 doubles, eight home runs, 49 RBIs, 106 total bases, an on base percentage of .475 and slugging percentage of .667. Her regular season stat line of four sac flies ranked first in the conference and her batting average, RBIs, total bases, and toughest to strike out totals ranked second in the MAAC, while also ranking third in total hits.
Earning 2024 MAAC Co-Pitchers of the Year were Kiley Myers of Marist and Maddie Hickingbottom from Niagara University. Myers, a native of Latrobe, PA appeared on the mound 30 times with 24 starts in 160.1 innings of work, posting a record of 15-6 with an ERA of 2.14. She pitched in 19 complete games with four shutouts and also recorded three saves. Myers struck out 141 hitters, while only allowing 28 walks. She was the league-leader in innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, strike-out-walk ratio (5.07), and walks allowed per seven innings (1.22), while also ranking third in ERA, starts, saves, strikeouts, and victories. Ontario, Canada native, Hickingbottom, made 35 pitching appearances with 26 starts, in 165.0 innings, posting a record of 15-6, with nine complete games, and three shutouts in 2024. She recorded an ERA of 3.05, striking out 165, and allowing 25 walks. Hickingbottom’s 26 starts and 165 innings pitched both led the MAAC and her 15 wins was tied for third on the conference leaderboard. Additionally, she was tied for third in shutouts, sixth in complete games, and seventh in ERA.
Marist Freshman Anna Sidlowski was voted as the 2024 MAAC Rookie of the Year. A force as a pitcher and outfielder, Sidlowski was unanimously voted to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. As a pitcher, she got the starting nod 15 times, with 21 total mound appearances, going 15-4. She had an ERA of 2.18, with 12 complete games, four shutouts, and 62 strikeouts in 109.0 innings pitched. Sidlowski’s four shutouts were tied for the most in the MAAC, her win total was tied for third, her ERA and complete games were both fourth, and her strikeouts ranked 10
th. At the plate, she appeared in 41 games, with 32 starts, recording 12 hits, nine RBIs, seven runs, and 17 total bases.
Securing 2024 MAAC Coach of the Year accolades was Joe Ausanio of Marist. This marks the fourth time in his career that Ausanio has been named Coach of the Year by his peers (2011, 2016, 2019). In 2024, the Red Foxes had a MAAC-best 17-6 (.739) record and top overall record of 36-17 (.679), leading Marist to its fourth MAAC Regular Season title under his lead. His Red Foxes ranked first in the MAAC in batting average, doubles, earned run average, home runs per game, on base percentage, scoring, shutouts, slugging percentage, strikeout-to-walk ratio, stolen bases, triples per game, and walks.
The full list of All-MAAC Teams and major awards winners are below.
| 2024 Softball Major Awards |
| Awards |
Name |
School |
| Player of the Year |
Miah McDonald* |
Marist |
| Defensive Player of the Year |
Haley Ahr |
Marist |
| Co-Pitcher of the Year |
Kiley Myers |
Marist |
| Co-Pitcher of the Year |
Maddie Hickingbottom |
Niagara |
| Rookie of the Year |
Anna Sidlowski |
Marist |
| Coach of the Year |
Joe Ausanio |
Marist |
| All-MAAC First Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Jamie Sheeran |
Sr. |
Catcher |
Iona |
| Haley Ahr* |
R-So. |
Infield |
Marist |
| Alyssa Grupp |
Sr. |
Infield |
Marist |
| Miah McDonald |
Sr. |
Infield |
Marist |
| Cara McNulty |
Gr. |
Infield |
Saint Peter's |
| Christie McGee-Ross* |
Sr. |
Outfield |
Canisius |
| Charli Warren |
Jr. |
Outfield |
Fairfield |
| Peyton Pusey* |
So. |
Outfield |
Marist |
| Megan Giese |
Sr. |
Pitcher |
Canisius |
| Kiley Myers |
Gr. |
Pitcher |
Marist |
| Maddie Pleasants |
Jr. |
Utility |
Marist |
| Jocelyn Ulrich |
5Yr. |
Designated Player |
Siena |
| All-MAAC Second Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Gianna Fazzolari |
Sr. |
Catcher |
Canisius |
| Morgan Sylvestre |
Jr. |
Infield |
Fairfield |
| Brianna Delaney |
Fr. |
Infield |
Niagara |
| Natalia Apatiga |
So. |
Infield |
Quinnipiac |
| Dakota Pitts |
Jr. |
Infield |
Saint Peter's |
| Lindsay Mayo |
Jr. |
Outfield |
Niagara |
| Fallyn Stoeckel |
So. |
Outfield |
Rider |
| Sydney Orndorff |
Fr. |
Outfield |
Saint Peter's |
| Isabella Pardo |
Sr. |
Outfield |
Siena |
| Maddie Hickingbottom |
Gr. |
Pitcher |
Niagara |
| Alissa Eimont |
R-So. |
Pitcher |
Siena |
| Jessie Niegocki |
Sr. |
Utility |
Rider |
| Shayna Myshrall |
Gr. |
Designated Player |
Niagara |
| MAAC All-Rookie Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Sam Rogers |
Fr. |
Infield |
Marist |
| Anna Sidlowski* |
Fr. |
Pitcher/Outfield |
Marist |
| Sophia Schmehl |
Fr. |
Pitcher |
Mount St. Mary’s |
| Brianna Delaney |
Fr. |
Infield |
Niagara |
| Natasha Limbani |
Fr. |
Infield/Outfield |
Niagara |
| Selah Moyer* |
Fr. |
Infield/Outfield |
Niagara |
| Kiersten Buchanan* |
Fr. |
Infield |
Rider |
| Kendall Reda-Fehsal* |
Fr. |
Catcher |
Rider |
| Sydney Orndorff* |
Fr. |
Outfield/Catcher |
Saint Peter's |
| Chloe Cummings |
Fr. |
Infield/Outfield |
Siena |
| Carlie Venables |
Fr. |
Infield |
Siena |
*Denote Unanimous Selection
The 2024 MAAC Softball Championship will take place May 8-11, 2024. The six-team, double-elimination championship will be hosted by the highest seed. For all information regarding the 2024 MAAC Softball Championship, please visit
http://maacsports.com/softball.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 43rd year of competition during the 2023-24 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College. Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University will join the MAAC as full members in the 2024-25 academic year, expanding the conference to 13 institutions.
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