NIAGARA FALLS —Gavyn Boyle stepped up to the plate and kicked the dirt. Two of his teammates reached base and it was his job to bring them home.
He popped up in his first at-bat against Jamestown for Niagara Falls, the 6-foot-3 designated hitter went back up, looking for that one ball to connect his barrel. It just so happened that what Boyle sought after came on the first pitch, making team history in the process.
With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the fourth, the Gasport resident sent a first-pitch slider over the right field wall for a three-run home run during an eventual 4-3 loss to the Tarp Skunks Tuesday at Sal Maglie Stadium. The moment not only marked Boyle’s first home run with the Americans, but also the first in program history in what was their 12th game of existence.
“Pretty just hunt the one pitch and then, once I get it, just get some damage, do some damage with it and foul off the other ones, if I have to,” Boyle said. “But once I get that one pitch that I’m looking for, I’m trying to do everything I can to drive it somewhere hard.”
Making contact and producing runs was the theme of Boyle’s career long before signing with the Americans in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League in May. Six years ago, as an eighth-grader, Boyle was second on Royalton-Hartland with 24 RBIs and fifth with a .411 average as it won the Section VI Class B crown and advanced to the state semifinals.
Boyle remained with the Rams through his junior year in 2021, posting a .393 batting average and 44 career runs in three seasons. But going into his senior year, and with goals to play at the collegiate level, Boyle moved down to Lexington, South Carolina and enrolled in the P27 Baseball Academy.
Founded by Corey Warner, P27 Academy has produced over 100 Division I commits since opening in 2018. The Academy allowed Boyle to continue working on his hitting craft through one-hour batting and weightlifting sessions a day followed by two-to-three hour team
Enrolling in the P27 Academy gave Boyle a chance to compete against other baseball academies from the Southeast region. But it also gave Boyle an opportunity to develop a sense of what life would be ahead.
“I got to live out like a college student, just my senior year of high school, so, then I got used to that,” Boyle said. “And then I was just around good ballplayers. It was really nice to be around. We pushed each other and did everything that we could to make each other better (and) win games.”
Competing in the P27 Academy came a year after Boyle verbally committed to Virginia Commonwealth University. Becoming a Ram came after connecting with head coach Shawn Stiffler and former pitching coach, Mike McRae, who formerly coached at Canisius, and later left to coach at William & Mary.
Boyle was already on campus two years ago through a mandatory freshman summer school program when news broke that Stiffler accepted the head coaching position at Notre Dame. Boyle had redshirted for the 2023 season but, with a new coaching staff in the fold, he began looking at returning home to play.
Last year, Boyle contacted SUNY Niagara head coach Matt Clingersmith. Clingersmith was a coach Boyle previously played for with the Junior Thunderwolves nearly a decade ago and knew of the Thunderwolves’ previous success.
“I just wanted to be able to play somewhere else and come back home,” Boyle said. “I thought (SUNY Niagara) would be the best option … Coach Cling, I've known my entire life. And, basically, see if I can get somewhere else now.”
This spring, Boyle’s bat made an impact for the Thunderwolves. In his freshman season, Boyle received NJCAA Division III second-team All-American honors and batted .395 along with eight home runs and 57 RBIs.
Clingersmith knew Boyle had the talent to become an offensive threat, dating back to coaching him on the Junior Thunderwolves and competing for Team New York as a 16-year old in the Junior Future Games four years ago. Through repetition at the plate, Boyle’s progression has grown on each team he’s played on.
“His raw power is separate from anybody else I’ve ever seen,” Clingersmith said. “And then his height and strength, he’s always a bigger kid. And, he’s a left-handed hitter, which is rare with that raw power. Everybody’s looking for elite left-handed hitters and he checks every box.”
Following the summer season with the Americans, Boyle is determined to produce once again for the Thunderwolves next spring. But, at the same time, he’s slowly looking ahead for the next destination, hopefully at the Division I level again, but is confident more schools will reach out over the following year.
His approach for the next season, though, is to start delivering with an open mind and allow the game to come to him. It starts with taking some breaths at the plate.
“Just not letting stuff carry on and basically just keep it on my shoulders and not create a lot of pressure on me,” Boyle said. “Be more loose and relaxed.”
