Baseball earns five all-Region III selections
SANBORN — Five SUNY Niagara baseball players were named to the 2026 NJCAA All-Region III team on May 14.
Sophomores Dalton Harper (Cheektowaga, N.Y.), Keegan Bazinet (Windsor, Ont.) and Cam Gravelle (Smithville, Ont.) and freshman Derrick Allen (Rochester, N.Y.) were named to the all-region first team. Freshman Cameron Gruarin (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) was selected to the second team.
Harper was also named the region’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. All five selections helped the Thunderwolves defeat Herkimer College May 16 in Auburn and clinch their 10th all-time bid to the NJCAA Division III World Series.
The five all-region selections are the third most in a single season for SUNY Niagara since 2013, trailing only 2025 (7) and 2024 (6). This is also the fifth season — and the third consecutive — in which the Thunderwolves have had at least four first-team selections since 2013. (Year-By-Year is listed below).
A returning all-region first team selection and one of SUNY Niagara’s three NJCAA All-Americans last season, Harper is the second regional defensive player of the year selection in program history, joining Alex Minnehan in 2023. The Penn State commit is also the fifth Thunderwolf to earn regional player of the year honors since 2014 (Chris Beer 2014, Matt Matre 2016, Ryan Birchard 2023, Andrew Johnson 2024).
In 55 games, Harper is second in NJCAA Division III in batting average (.550), third in home runs (16) and fourth in runs batted in (83), all team-highs. Harper, who was also named the Region III tournament’s Most Valuable Player, is 12-for-19 with two home runs and 15 runs batted in during this postseason.
Harper enters the World Series as SUNY Niagara’s modern era leader — since 2007 — in career hits (161) and runs batted in (121) and his 19 home runs are tied with former teammate Gavyn Boyle for the most in this span. Harper tied Boyle’s total with a two-run home run in the ninth against Herkimer in Game One of the NJCAA Region III Championship series Saturday in Auburn.
After recording only one win in three starts last season, Bazinet took the mantle as SUNY Niagara’s No. 1 option in the starting rotation as a sophomore. The George Mason commit is an unbeaten 11-0 in 11 starts — the most wins in NJCAA Division III — threw 80 strikeouts and 18 walks in 65 innings and posted a team-best 1.66 ERA.
Bazinet 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 and has thrown at least six innings in seven starts this season, including a seven-inning, five-hitter with six punch-outs in SUNY Niagara's regional semifinal win versus Hudson Valley May 15. Bazinet's 12 career wins are tied for sixth in the modern era, joining 2010 graduate Paul McKenna and 2025 graduate Aidan Paul, and his 109 career strikeouts are eighth-most in this span.
In his lone season at SUNY Niagara, Gravelle made an impact as its lead-off batter and starting shortstop. A NCAA Division I Toledo transfer, Gravelle has appeared in 47 games with a .440 batting average, second in stolen bases (26) and third in runs batted in (59) on the Thunderwolves.
Gravelle also recorded two of his three home runs during SUNY Niagara's regional semifinal game versus Hudson Valley May 15 at Falcon Park, where he also recorded his very first home run with the blue-and-gold in the season-opener versus Cayuga Community College on Feb. 28. Gravelle has recorded a hit in 10 of his last 13 appearances, dating back to a two-game series at Genessee on April 28, and enters the World Series with eight multi-hit games in this stretch.
Allen joined the three sophomores on the all-region first team after his play on the mound and in the outfield. In 11 appearances (10 starts), Allen has thrown in 60.1 innings, is fourth in NJCAA Division III with a team-high 81 strikeouts plus 26 walks and has posted a 2.39 ERA.
The right-hander posted six outings of at least six innings and 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. Allen also drove in a season-high three runs in victories against County College of Morris (March 17) and Finger Lakes Community College (March 29) and enters the World Series with a .386 batting average and 35 runs accounted for (15 RBI) in 34 games at the plate.
Gruarin made the all-regional second team and has recorded a .380 batting average with three home runs and 41 runs driven in — the most among all of SUNY Niagara's freshmen — in 41 games. Gruarin has also posted a team-high seven triples, tied for the fifth most in the modern era, and his 10 stolen bases are tied for third on the team.
Gruarin has recorded a hit in 17 of his last 20 appearances since Game Two in the Jamestown series April 12 at Sal Maglie Stadium, including eight multi-hit games. The outfielder had a two-home run performance in a 14-2 win against rival Erie Community College on April 21 and is currently 7-for-20 (.350) with eight runs batted in the postseason (six games).
SUNY Niagara (51-6) continues its season in the double-elimination NJCAA Division III World Series and with a 9:30 a.m. contest versus Northern Essex Community College in Johnson City, Tennessee. The Thunderwolves won both seven-inning contests against the Knights — 7-2 and 5-0 — on March 14 at the RussMatt Invitational in Florida and are 6-1 in the series since 2017.
The Thunderwolves are 10-10 in the NJCAA Division III World Series and 50-20 in the postseason over the last 10 seasons (since 2017). Under head coach Matt Clingersmith, SUNY Niagara finished as national runners-up in the World Series in 2012, 2017 and 2021.
SUNY Niagara is looking for its first national championship as a baseball program, which began in 1967, and the fourth overall in school history since athletics began in 1963. Bowling won the national title in 1976 and 1979, and wrestling won the Division III championship in March 2026 in Idaho in its 53rd season.
2026 Region III All-Glove Team:
Ryan Campbell, Onondaga, 1st Base
Kyle Kristel, Herkimer, 2nd Base
Mike Schaefer, SUNY Niagara, 3rd Base
Cam Gravelle, SUNY Niagara, Shortstop
Jeremy Recio, Cayuga, Outfield
Elijah Williams, Erie, Outfield
Logan Norman, Hudson Valley, Outifeld
Dalton Harper, SUNY Niagara, Catcher
Keegan Bazinet, SUNY Niagara, Pitcher
2026 Region III All-West Division:
Dalton Harper, SUNY Niagara, Catcher
Keegan Bazinet, SUNY Niagara, Pitcher
Mason Davey, Genesee, Pitcher
Derrick Allen, SUNY Niagara, Pitcher
Markus Brehm, Finger Lakes, Infield
Cam Gravelle, SUNY Niagara, Infield
Carlos Jara, Onondaga, Infield
Jake Higgins, Genesee, Infield
Greg Rightmyer, Genesee, Outfield
Elijah Williams, Erie, Outfield
Cameron Gruarin, SUNY Niagara, Outfield
Dominic Zona, Tompkins Cortland, Outfield
Mason Davey, Genesee, Designated Hitter
SUNY NIAGARA ALL-REGION III PLAYER OF THE YEAR SELECTIONS (SINCE 2013):
2014 Chris Beer
2016 Matt Matre
2023 Ryan Birchard; Alex Minnehan Defensive Player of the Year
2024 Andrew Johnson
2026 Dalton Harper
SUNY NIAGARA ALL-REGION III SELECTIONS (SINCE 2013):
2013 Russ McGibbon, First Team; Kyle Craig, Mike Elwood, Second Team
2014 Chris Beer, Pat Quinn, First Team
2015 Matt Matre, First Team; Joe Deluca, Second Team
2016 Michael Colosi, Matt Matre, First Team
2017 Zarley Cina, Christian Lindsay-Young, Dave Lyskawa, First Team;
Joe Milkowski, Second Team
2018 Vincent Chiarenza, Joe Kruszka, Matt Cross, First Team;
Garrett Boldt, Jarod Burmaster, Second Team
2019 Vincent Chiarenza, Kyle LaPlante, Erik Johnson, First Team; Garrett Boldt, Second Team
2021 Cal Brazier, Andrew Fairbrother, Scottie O’Bryan, Ryan Peterson, First Team;
Chad Gartland, Second Team
2022 Zach Evans, Alex Minnehan, Kyle Finn, Matthew Ferris, First Team;
Kyle Menaker, Second Team
2023 Alex Minnehan, Ryan Birchard, Nicholas Castellana, First Team; Matthew Procopio, Second Team; Howard Stuckey, Third Team
2024 Andrew Stillinger, Gavyn Boyle, Andrew Damiani, Andrew Johnson, Steven Merklel, First Team; Nigel Sebastianelli, Third Team
2025 Dalton Harper, Matt Barr, Aidan Paul, Cooper Rossano, Nigel Sebastianelli, Gavyn Boyle; Mike Schaefer, Third Team
2026 Dalton Harper, Keegan Bazinet, Derrick Allen, Cam Gravelle, First Team; Cam Gruarin, Second Team