The trophy case in Sanborn expanded last weekend and SUNY Niagara baseball is now hungry for more.
SUNY Niagara defeated Herkimer in the NJCAA Region III Div. III championship series May 16 at Falcon Park in Auburn, advancing to the Div. III World Series for the 10th time in program history. After a 10-9 10-inning loss to the Generals in the opening game, the Thunderwolves regrouped, scored eight runs in the seventh alone, and won the deciding game, 18-3.
The victory also marked head coach Matt Clingersmith’s 750th career win as head coach of the Thunderwolves (750-223-1 record), extending the program record. After facing the Generals, SUNY Niagara is 10-3 all-time in the Region III final since 2008.
No. 3 SUNY Niagara will now face No. 6 Northern Essex Community College (31-8) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at TVA Credit Ballpark in Johnson City, Tenn. This marks the Thunderwolves’ first postseason meeting with the Knights since 2023, a 9-8 defeat which resulted in a fourth-place finish in Greeneville, Tenn.
Under Clingersmith, SUNY Niagara has finished as national runners-up in the World Series in 2012, 2017, and 2021. Thunderwolves baseball is looking for its first national championship in its 59-year history, and the fourth overall in school history, joining Bowling in 1976 and 1979 and Wrestling, which won the Div. III hardware this March in its 53rd season.
Keegan Bazinet, Cam Gravelle, Dalton Harper, Evan Kohr and Mike Schaefer were selected to the Region III tournament team. Harper was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and his two-run home run in Game One against Herkimer places him in a tie with 2025 graduate Gavyn Boyle for career home runs (19) in the program’s modern era (since 2007).
In 55 games, Harper is second in NJCAA Div. III in batting average (.550), third in home runs (16), and fourth in runs batted in (83), all team highs, and is 12-for-19 with two home runs and 15 RBI in the postseason. The Penn State commit is also the Thunderwolves’ modern era in career hits (161) and career RBI (121).
Schaefer enters the World Series with a hit in eight of his last 10 contests, along with a .395 batting average and 72 runs batted in over 56 games, which is second on the team. The Southern Indiana commit is also 11-for-24 in the postseason with one home run, nine RBI and 10 runs scored, and is second in career RBI (120).
Freshman and Niagara Wheatfield graduate Cameron Gruarin heads to Tennessee with 41 RBI, the most among all SUNY Niagara freshmen, and a team-high seven triples. Kohr has a team-high 27 stolen bases, followed by Gravelle’s 26, who is also third on the Thunderwolves with 59 RBI.
On the mound, Bazinet continues his role as SUNY Niagara’s No. 1 option in the starting rotation. The George Mason commit is an unbeaten 11-0 in 11 starts — the most wins in the division — with 80 strikeouts in 65 innings and threw a career-high 13 strikeouts in SUNY Niagara’s 7-2 win in Game One versus Northern Essex Community College on March 14 at the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.
Freshman Derrick Allen remains a strong starting option as his team-high 81 strikeouts are fourth-best in the division and 8-0 in 10 starts. Allen threw a season-high 12 strikeouts in SUNY Niagara’s 5-0 win in Game Two versus Northern Essex Community College on March 14 at the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.
Following Saturday’s outcome, the Thunderwolves’ next contest would start at either 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the elimination bracket or 4 p.m. Sunday in the championship bracket. Since 2017, SUNY Niagara is 50-20 in the postseason, including 10-10 at the World Series, and 404-79 (.836).
The NJCAA Div. III World Series continues through the championship game at 7 p.m. May 27 and a if-necessary deciding game at 7 p.m. May 28. The tournament will broadcast exclusively on the NJCAA Network.
Golf Scramble
The 23rd annual Roy E. Sommer Memorial Scholarship Golf Scramble will be held June 15 at the Niagara Frontier Golf Club in Youngstown. The event is named after Sommer, the school’s first athletic director, men’s basketball coach, golf coach and one of the original 11 professors when the school first opened in 1962 as Niagara County Community College.
The event provides a fun day of golf and supports scholarships for student-athletes, including both men’s and women’s basketball. The fee for the event is $175 per golfer and $50 for those who would like to attend the dinner following the scramble.
For more information, visit nccc.com/information/Golf_Scramble or contact Cheri Dunn in the athletics department (cdunn@niagaracc.suny.edu).
Summer Camps
SUNY Niagara is offering three different summer camps for youth in Niagara County and Western New York at its Sanborn campus. Boys Basketball Camp I will run from July 13 – 16, a co-ed general sports camp will run from July 20 – 23 and Boys Basketball Camp II will run from July 27-30 and each has a cost of $175 per camper.
The two boys basketball camp sessions are offered to players ages 7-16 and will run from 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the campus gymnasium. Instruction is led by SUNY Niagara’s 17-year head coach Bill Beilein, who has won 354 games and advanced the blue-and-gold to the NJCAA Div. II national tournament five times.
Since 2010, Beilein and his staff have taught campers how to increase their self-confidence both on and off the court in a fundamental, informative and exciting four-day session. Groups will be divided by age and skill.
The co-ed general sports camp is offered to those ages 6-14 and will run from 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the SUNY Niagara gymnasium. The camp offers indoor and outdoor programs for boys and girls, including soccer, basketball, football, kickball, handball, wiffle ball, capture the flag, relays, water balloons, and more with instruction from Thunderwolves coaches and student-athletes.
For more information on how to register, please visit ncccathletics.com/information/Camps or contact the Athletic Department at athletics@niagaracc.suny.edu.
Joe Kraus is the Sports Information Director at SUNY Niagara. For more information, please visit ncccathletics.com or email Joe at jkraus@niagaracc.suny.edu.