Clingersmith named an ABCA/ATEC Regional Coach of Year for ninth time

SANBORN — For the ninth time in his tenure, SUNY Niagara baseball head coach Matt Clingersmith was selected as the North District recipient of the NJCAA Division III Coach of the Year award Tuesday. The honor was presented by the American Baseball Coaches Association and ATEC for its NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division and high school categories.

Completing his 19th season as head coach, Clingersmith led the Thunderwolves to a fourth-place finish in the NJCAA Division III World Series and a 51-2 record this season. The 51 wins are a new single-season record in program history since the school opened in 1962.

Clingersmith previously received the ABCA/ATEC Regional Coach of the Year honor following the 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. The 2012, 2017 and 2021 campaigns resulted in SUNY Niagara’s only national runners-up appearances in the NJCAA Division III World Series in program history. 

This season, SUNY Niagara clinched both its ninth NJCAA Region III championship and NJCAA Division III World Series tournament trip under Clingersmith. The Thunderwolves accomplished these feats with a roster that featured three NJCAA All-Americans — Matt Barr (also the NJCAA Division III Pitcher of the Year), Dalton Harper and Cooper Rossano — and ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner Nigel Sebastianelli (also the NJCAA Division III Defensive Player of the Year) plus seven NJCAA Region III selections. 

As a program, SUNY Niagara finished inside the top-10 in multiple categories in NJCAA Division III this season. The Thunderwolves had the highest batting average (.404), drove in the most runs with 459 and tied with Brookdale for triples (40).

SUNY Niagara also finished second in slugging percentage (.613) and third in on-base percentage. On the mound, the Thunderwolves recorded the fourth-most strikeouts (437) and recorded 11.33 strikeouts per nine innings, trailing only Rowan College South Jersey-Glouchester for the most in NJCAA Division III.

Also an eight-time NJCAA Region III Coach of the Year winner, Clingersmith and the Thunderwolves have won at least 40 games 10 times, including in each of the last four seasons.

A Niagara Falls native and graduate of the former Niagara Catholic High School, Erie Community College and Canisius University, Clingersmith has a 699-227-1 record with SUNY Niagara.