Giese, Griffin Earn Major MAAC Softball Awards

Junior Megan Giese and head coach Kim Griffin earned major awards, while a total of six players on the Canisius softball team were recognized by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), as the league announced its end-of-year awards on Tuesday.

Giese was tabbed the MAAC Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season while Griffin earned MAAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her tenure on Main Street.

Giese, along with sophomores Saige Alfaro and Rosie Gomez and juniors Gianna Fazzolari and Christie McGee-Ross, were all named to the All-MAAC First Team; the most honorees forany team in the league.

Freshman Rylee Alfaro earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors to round out the awards for the Golden Griffins.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Giese was named the MAAC Pitcher of the Year and an All-MAAC First Team pick following another dominant season in the circle. The righty fanned five-or-more batters in 18 of her 28 appearances, including a season-high 14 punchouts versus Mount St. Mary's on May 6. Giese also had 10-or-more strikeouts in seven of her 11 starts in league play, punching out a total of 111 batters in 74.0 innings while leading the league with a 10-1 record in MAAC play. The hurler's 178 strikeouts tops her regular season total of 158 in 2022, and she became the third Canisius pitcher to record at least 175 punch outs multiple times in a career, joining Andrea Bunten (2004-05) and Courtney Piar (2006-07). Giese also became the first pitcher in the MAAC since Fairfield's Mellissa Santos (2001-03) to be named Pitcher of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

Griffin garnered MAAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career as she led Canisius to a program-best 17-3 record in league play, besting the 2022 record of 16-4. She has won at least 20 games in six of the nine seasons as head coach of Canisius while posting a 60-32-1 record over the last two seasons, including a 33-7 record in conference action. During league play in 2023, the Griffs paced the MAAC offensively in batting average (.349), runs (132), home runs (25), RBI (123), stolen bases (47), on-base percentage (.421) and slugging percentage (.560). In the circle, the Blue and Gold led the conference in strikeouts (142) and batting average against (.206) while finishing second with a 2.38 ERA and four shutouts. Griffin's teams have stolen at least 100 bases in each of the last three seasons and while this year's squad is also just one home run away from tying the program record.

Alfaro was named All-MAAC First Team for the second-straight season after a sophomore campaign that saw her pace the Canisius team with a league-best .390 batting average, 53 hits, 11 doubles and 73 total bases, placing her in the top-10 players in the MAAC in all four categories. The Chula Vista, Calif., native recorded 17 multi-hit performances during the campaign with 10 of those coming in conference play. In league action, the 2022 MAAC Rookie of the Year was tied for the league-lead in runs scored with 20, was second in hits (27) and total bases (40) also placed in the top-10 with five doubles. Alfaro has now earned All-MAAC First Team honors for the second time in as many seasons in her career at Canisius.

Gomez earned All-MAAC First Team distinction after earning MAAC All-Rookie honors in 2022. The Los Gatos, Calif., native had a breakout season with the Griffs, pacing the team in home runs (8), RBI (33) and slugging percentage (.647). Gomez had 11 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI contests this season, highlighted by her first career multi-home run performance on April 2 at Marist that also saw her establish a career-best with six runs batted in during the victory. In league play, Gomez smashed opponent pitching, leading the league with 33 RBI and finishing second in home runs (7) and total bases (50) while placing third in slugging percentage (.735) behind Fazzolari and Marist's Maddie Pleasants. Gomez was also top-10 in hits (25) and OPS (1.124).

Fazzolari picked up an All-MAAC First Team honor for the second-straight season that saw her finish second on the team with six doubles, five home runs and 28 RBI. The Newfane, N.Y., native led the league during conference play with a .435 batting average while placing second in OPS (1.292) and slugging percentage (.783) and finished third in home runs (4) and RBI (19). The backstop also helped guide a pitching staff that combined to have the third-most strikeouts (256), fourth-lowest ERA (3.11) and the lowest opponent batting average (.254). Defensively, Fazzolari turned in a .986 fielding percentage, committing just three errors for the second consecutive year, while leading the team with 222 total chances.

McGee-Ross earned All-MAAC First Team honors for the first time in her career after pacing the Canisius lineup with 35 runs scored, 24 walks, 32 stolen bases and a .483 on-base percentage. McGee-Ross recorded 13 multi-hit performances throughout the season, second on the team behind Alfaro. McGee-Ross led the MAAC in stolen bases, giving Canisius the league lead in swiped bags for the third straight season. The Cheektowaga, N.Y., native paced the conference with 32 swiped bags and a .483 on-base percentage and was second in the league with a .387 batting average. In conference action, the outfielder was tied for second in batting average (.433) and hits (27) while placing in the top-10 in RBI, slugging percentage and OPS.

Like her sister last season, Rylee Alfaro earned MAAC All-Rookie honors. The younger Alfaro batted .400 (20-for-50) in 25 contests, plating 10 runs while driving in 13. The Chula Vista, Calif., native posted a 1.074 OPS and was one of nine Griffs to slug at least two home runs during the season. Alfaro closed out the regular season with a hit in 10 of her 11 final games, including a grand slam on May 1 at Niagara.

The five All-MAAC First Team selections are tied for the most in program history as Canisius also earned five in 2007 and 2010. The Griffs also extended their string of having a member of the MAAC All-Rookie Team to three-straight years.

Canisius (28-14-1, 17-3 MAAC) claimed the program's 16th regular-season title and earned the right to host the MAAC Softball Championship for the third consecutive season. The 2023 edition of the championship is scheduled for May 10-13 at the Demske Sports Complex. The top-seeded Griffs open the championship Thursday against the winner of the opening-round contest between No. 4 seed Fairfield and No. 5 seed Siena in a 1:30 p.m. contest. The contest will air live on ESPN+.

For complete coverage of Canisius softball, please follow @griffssoftball on Instagram and Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Saige Alfaro: INF; 5' 6"; Sophomore; L/R

#17 Megan Giese: P/INF; 5' 7"; Junior; R/R

#42 Rosie Gomez: INF; 5' 9"; Sophomore; R/R

#5 Christie McGee-Ross: OF; 5' 8"; Junior; L/R

#77 Rylee Alfaro: P/INF; 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#15 Saige Alfaro
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; L/R
: INF

#17 Megan Giese
: 5' 7"; Junior; R/R
: P/INF

#42 Rosie Gomez
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; R/R
: INF

#5 Christie McGee-Ross
: 5' 8"; Junior; L/R
: OF

#77 Rylee Alfaro
: 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R
: P/INF