Matt Clingersmith was telling anyone who listened in the fall that his team was bound for something special.
But starting the season 20-0? Not even Clingersmith could have predicted that.
SUNY Niagara has won 40 games six times over the last 10 seasons, including each of the last three. The best winning streak it has mustered to start a season during that stretch is 10 in 2023.
Factor in the start, because the Thunderwolves ditch the cold and snow briefly to start the season in Florida annually and then played 18 games in 11 days. Then consider that it’s baseball, a sport more susceptible to the outlier than most others.
A reliable pitcher might not have the right stuff on a given day, while another might be on an usual heater. And then there are the strange bounces a ball can take when it leaves a bat.
Ranked third nationally, Niagara hasn’t succumbed to any freak occurrences, outscoring opponents 170-28. Not even a cold, blustery day could slow down the Thunderwolves when they swept Genesee Community College by a combined 19-1 in their home opener at Sal Maglie Stadium Tuesday.
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years, but I think this is my best team,” the SUNY Niagara coach said. “Everybody was like, ‘We’ll see.’ … And I knew this fall I had something special. We just can’t rock the boat too much with it.”
First instinct would lead to thinking Niagara was on a revenge tour. The Thunderwolves failed to win the NJCAA Division III Region III tournament for the first time since 2019, ending a streak of three consecutive appearances in the national tournament.
Clingersmith says winning isn’t what’s important. There have been a lot of wins, though, just to be clear. Clingersmith has won 668 games, nearly 75% of the games played, and has eight appearances in the national tournament — including three years as runners-up — since becoming head coach in 2009.
What Clingersmith cares about is ensuring he develops players that he can push ahead for scholarship or pro opportunities. He’s produced over 100 scholarship players and seven MLB draft picks, including three in the last two years.
And so local players are willing to play for the Thunderwolves despite receiving no scholarship money. But new NCAA rules are starting to swing in Niagara’s favor and could create even more success.
More NCAA teams are willing to take transfers than ever. That means there is more interest in JUCO players and more Division I players who are looking for a new home after one season.
Niagara snagged Gasport’s Gavyn Boyle after one season at VCU and the outfielder hit .395 with 57 RBIs in his first season with the Thunderwolves last year. This year Clingersmith brought catcher Dalton Harper, a Maryvale graduate who spent his first collegiate season at Georgia Southern.
The real game changer is currently being litigated. In December, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia sued for an additional year of eligibility after playing two seasons at a junior college and two in the NCAA. A federal judge in Tennessee granted an injunction to allow JUCO players a third year of eligibility, a ruling the NCAA is attempting to appeal.
Should the ruling hold up, it could continue to erase stigmas of attending a junior college. And a player might be more willing to go that route rather than fearing they might forfeit half their scholarship eligibility at a four-year school.
Clingersmith feels that local kids who play 20 high school games per season in a short span aren’t always ready to play a 50-game college schedule against older players who are throwing at speeds they didn’t see in prep games.
“I don’t think a lot of high school kids are ready for that,” Clingersmith said. “It’s nothing against them. I just think the weather and the conditions are not there. I think it’s smart for junior college. Let these kids go and develop and then you’re not going to see the portal as bad and then they’ll be ready for that next step.”
And just because Clingersmith wasn’t devastated by not reaching the national tournament last season doesn’t mean he didn’t make some tweaks to the program. Finding an elite catcher was one of the top priorities last summer.
Harper is not only hitting .362 thus far, but he has committed only one error in 16 games behind the plate. Niagara also added infielder Cooper Rossano who spent last season at Albany and is hitting .483 with 20 RBIs.
They join returnees like Boyle, Nigel Sebastianelli, Keygan Miksa and Weston Thompson, all of whom played significant roles last season. Now the Thunderwolves are hitting .378 with 49 extra-base hits.
Meanwhile, Niagara returned only two of seven pitchers who logged at least 20 innings. Returning, though, are Starpoint graduate Sean Duffy and Medina’s Aidan Paul.
Duffy had a 3.81 ERA and went 4-2 last season in 28 ⅓ innings, and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 11 innings this season. Paul went 5-1 and tossed 39 ⅔ innings as a freshman and has started the season 3-0, hasn’t allowed an earned run and has 24 strikeouts in 16 innings, including a five-inning no-hitter against GCC Tuesday.
Not only does Paul have a chance to get drafted, but so does freshman Matt Barr, who is already hurling 98 mph. The Cheektowaga graduate has a 0.56 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 16 innings thus far.
“Matt Barr was ready (for Division I),” Clingersmith said. “And I think those kids are starting to do their homework and just not use this as a Plan B anymore. … There’s no doubt he’s going to get drafted this year.”