Former Canisius baseball standout Jake Lumley saw a dream realized Wednesday afternoon, as the Oakland Athletics selected him with the 981st pick in the Major League Baseball Draft. Lumley is the 13th player in Canisius baseball history to be selected in the draft, and he is the 12th player to be taken since head coach Mike McRae took over the program in 2004.
The 2016 MAAC Player of the Year and an All-MAAC First-Team selection, Lumley posted league-leading numbers, finishing his senior campaign with a .355 batting average, 81 hits, 12 doubles, three triples and 21 RBI. The Windsor, Ontario native, became the program's leader in career hits, closing out his time on Main Street with 259 in four seasons.
Lumley's MAAC Player of the Year award marked the first time he had earned a major conference honor, and the second time in his career he had been named to an all-MAAC postseason unit, having also earned second-team all-league accolades following the 2016 season.
Lumley becomes the third Canisius player to be drafted by Oakland, joining former Griffs Brett Siddall (13th round - 2015) and Sean Jamieson (17th round - 2011). Siddall is currently playing for the Advanced Single-A Stockton Ports.
Lumley is the first Griff to be drafted since 2015, when a school-record three Griffs were chosen. In that year, Connor Panas (Toronto Blue Jays) and Devon Stewart (Cleveland Indians) were both selected in the ninth round, while Siddall was taken in the 13th round. It marked just the second time in MAAC history that a program had three players drafted in the top-15 rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft.
In 2005, Niagara had three players chosen in the first 15 rounds of the MLB Draft. All three of those players played under McRae when he served as the head coach of the Purple Eagles' program prior to arriving at Canisius.
Canisius Draft Picks
•   Jake Lumley - 2017 (Oakland Athletics 33rd Round)
•   Brett Siddall # – 2015 (Oakland Athletics, 13th round)
•   Connor Panas – 2015 (Toronto Blue Jays, 9th round)
•   Devon Stewart – 2015 (Cleveland Indians, 9th round)
•   Rohn Pierce # - 2014 (Seattle Mariners, 19th round)
•   Garrett Cortright # - 2013 (Baltimore Orioles, 40th round)
•   Sean Jamieson - 2011 (Oakland Athletics, 17th round)
•   Chris Cox - 2011 (Toronto Blue Jays, 39th round)
•   Shane Davis - 2011 (Toronto Blue Jays, 42nd round)
•   Steve McQuail # - 2010 (Toronto Blue Jays, 30th round)
•   Kevin Mahoney - 2009 (New York Yankees, 23rd round)
•   Kevin Mailloux - 2009 (Seattle Mariners, 45th round)
•   Joe Mamott # - 1994 (Boston Red Sox, 6th round)
# - selected as a junior
