Matt Clingersmith has to make sure he’s not still dreaming each morning.
The sounds and smells of playing in an actual stadium — a home stadium — is something Clingersmith has yearned to do for more than a decade. Instead, the Thunderwolves have been tucked away in the corner of the SUNY Niagara campus while Clingersmith crafted the program into an NJCAA powerhouse.
Practice and game times were limited without lights, while March and April were unpredictable when rain and snow washed away the dirt field. No more, though, because Clingersmith and SUNY Niagara can call Sal Maglie Stadium home.
When the Thunderwolves took the field for their first home game, a doubleheader against Broome Community College Saturday, the atmosphere simply had a different feel.
“It’s great, because all these other schools have big stadiums that they get to play,” said Aidan Paul, who graduated from Medina in June. “And up until this year, we’ve been kind of just (playing on) a regular dirt field. But now we get to have our own clubhouse, a nice big dugout. I think everyone’s really excited about it.”
Saturday’s doubleheader marked the first time the Thunderwolves saw live action at the stadium, officially ending a nearly two-year process that finished with signing a contract with the city of Niagara Falls in July. SUNY Niagara is one of three tenants using the stadium, including D’Youville and the Niagara Americans of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
While the Saints hosted a doubleheader against Clarion on Feb. 9, SUNY Niagara spent the first month of its season in Florida, including participating in the annual RussMatt Invitational from March 6-15. The Thunderwolves held a nine-week fall ball session at the stadium that started Aug. 28 but the doubleheader was the first major step in the transition this season.
Sophomore infielder Andrew Stillinger had experience playing inside Sal Maglie Stadium last summer with the former Niagara Power. The Power was one of the first teams to play games following the stadium’s improvement project commissioned by the city’s mayor, Robert Restaino, and completed in April.
The project included installing an artificial turf playing field worth $1.67 million after years of using natural grass, as well as new bullpens and a batting cage. Compared to previous seasons with the Thunderwolves, the 2021 Niagara Wheatfield graduate is ready to have the advantage of playing on AstroTurf all season.
“Last year, we were on a dirt field, so, we got rained out a good chunk, and sometimes it was hard to play our home games,” Stillinger said. “But, with AstroTurf and a good stadium, you know that we’re going to be able to come out and play when it’s raining or a little bit colder. We don’t really have to worry too much about that.”
Along with having a turf field to use, including the ability to schedule nighttime practices, the Thunderwolves can simulate what to expect in the postseason, starting with crowd sizes. Formerly the home of teams like the Niagara Falls Pirates and later Sox, Tigers and Rapids of the New York-Penn League from the 1970s to 1990s, Sal Maglie Stadium has the capacity to hold 4,000 spectators.
That’s equivalent to what the Thunderwolves faced May 27-31, when they played at Pioneer Park during the NJCAA World Series in Greeneville, Tennessee. Sal Maglie Stadium also holds more than the 2,800 spectators that watched SUNY Niagara at Falcon Park in Auburn in the NJCAA Region 3 Regional championship.
“It helps us a lot,” said Clingersmith, who previously pitched at the stadium for Niagara Catholic High School and Canisius University. “… When we get to the postseason, we’re playing (in) a little bit of larger stadiums. And, obviously, anytime you can play under the lights is a huge advantage in the postseason instead of having it as a disadvantage for us.”
SUNY Niagara (16-6) hosts Genesee Community College in a doubleheader, starting at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sal Maglie Stadium.