Last Updated: Thursday, June 13, 2013 12:51:24 AM
FORT PLAIN -- The Fort Plain Central School Athletic Department has announced names of those honored during Friday's Spring Sports and Annual Athletics Awards.
Joe Ray, Second Effort Award, baseball; Abby Boyer, Second Effort Award, softball; Brianna Swartz, Second Effort Award, girls track; Simeon Sammons, Second Effort Award, boys track; Brandy Walters, D'Arcangelis Softball Super-Sub Award; Eric Orolgio, D'Arcangelis Softball Super-Sub Award; Zach Sweet, Bo Baker Highest Batting Average; Chri ...
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 8:28:05 PM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
TROY -- Each one of them bathed in sweat on a muggy last Thursday night at Joe Bruno Stadium, the Fort Plain Hilltoppers leaned on the railing of the third base dugout, looking across the diamond as the Voorheesville Blackbirds erupted in the celebration the Hilltoppers had been hoping to have themselves since well before this season began.
For this group of 'Toppers, it simply wasn't in the cards.
With ace pitcher Marcus Failing unavailable to start Thursday's Sec ...
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 8:08:47 PM
Staff report
Fort Plain's Marcus Failing was named the Western Athletic Conference North Division's most valuable player, while Hilltoppers coach Craig Phillips was named the coach of the year when the league released its 2013 all-star teams Friday.
Failing was the WAC's top pitcher this season, posting a 9-0 record and 1.04 earned run average while racking up 106 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings to lead the Hilltoppers to a 19-3 record, an undefeated 16-0 season in WAC play and a berth in the Secti ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 30, 2013 1:12:28 AM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
As the Fort Plain Hilltoppers jubilantly jogged off the diamond Tuesday afternoon at Shuttleworth Park, one pervasive though echoed throughout every member of the team: "We're going home."
And they certainly weren't talking about the 30-minute bus ride back to Fort Plain.
Rather, the complete game four-hitter from Marcus Failing and the fifth-inning RBI double from Dakota Nemecek that lifted Fort Plain to a 2-1 win over Hoosic Valley booked the Hilltoppers a ticket ...
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 5:20:26 AM
Staff report
FORT PLAIN -- Seth Ferguson won three individual titles to lead to lead the Canajoharie boys to a third-place finish, while the Canajoharie girls were a close runner-up to Middleburgh in Saturday's Section II Group 5 Track and Field Championships at the Fort Plain Athletic Complex.
Ferguson, a senior, won the 110-meter hurdles, the 400-meter hurdles and the triple jump to lead the Cougars to a third-place finish with 98 team points, 13 behind team champion Berne-Knox-Westerlo and se ...
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:56:46 PM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
The Fort Plain Hilltoppers are in a familiar place as the top seed in the Section II Class C baseball playoffs -- but according to longtime head coach Craig Phillips, that doesn't make the Hilltoppers' path to a 10th sectional title in any way easy.
Following an undefeated season in the Western Athletic Conference, the Hilltoppers (17-2, 16-0 WAC) were given the No. 1 seed in the Class C sectional tournament. With only 15 teams drawing into the field, Fort Plain ha ...
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:54:24 PM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
DELANSON -- Canajoharie baseball head coach Brent Watterson gathered his team in the third-base dugout at Duanesburg High School and gave his team one last speech about what the Cougars had accomplished this season.
The collection of vacant stares back at him told the story. Whatever words Watterson had for his players weren't going to do anything to heal the gut-punch loss they had just been dealt.
Three times in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday, Canajohar ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 16, 2013 3:29:52 AM
Staff report
FORT PLAIN -- Marcus Failing's left arm and a couple of timely hits delivered the Fort Plain Hilltoppers a Western Athletic Conference North Division championship.
Failing tossed a complete game, four-hit shutout and racked up 13 strikeouts against just three walks in pitching the Hilltoppers to a 2-0 victory over Saratoga Central Catholic Tuesday, clinching the WAC title outright to give Fort Plain its 22nd league crown under head coach Craig Phillips.
Trent Douglas drove in what t ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 16, 2013 3:28:41 AM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
CANAJOHARIE -- The rain started to pour down, and the Fort Plain Hilltoppers started to pile up the runs.
Stagnant at the plate since scoring two runs in the top of the first inning last Wednesday against the Canajoharie Cougars, the Hilltoppers broke open a tie game with five runs during a sixth-inning downpour -- aided by key hits off the bench from Eric Orologio and Jesse Heroth -- then came back after a rain delay to erupt for 11 more runs in the seventh inning ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 09, 2013 3:43:31 AM
Player of the Week: Dakota Nemecek, Fort Plain. The Hilltoppers senior cleanup hitter went 3-for-3 with a single, double, triple, three runs scored and four runs batted in while also picking up his first varsity pitching win in Wednesday's 17-0 thrashing of Middleburgh.
Pitcher of the Week: Zach Dufel, Amsterdam. With apologies to Fonda-Fultonville's Zak Shaw (see below) and St. Johnsville's John Vicciarelli (15-strikeout one-hitter vs. Sharon Springs), Dufel earned this award with his stunningl ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 09, 2013 3:42:12 AM
FORT PLAIN -- In nearly four decades as the head baseball coach at Fort Plain High School, Craig Phillips has taken hundreds upon hundreds of young players under his wing.
Bo Baker was one of the ones who really stood out.
"Bo was special to me," Phillips said Thursday. "Bo was the kid who'd see me sealing my driveway, he go home, change and come and seal my driveway. I'd be picking cans up along the road for our car wash and bottle drive, he stops and helps me pick 'em up. I'd come up here and ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 09, 2013 3:39:00 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
CANAJOHARIE -- Monday's softball affair between the Canajoharie Lady Cougars and the Galway Lady Eagles was not for the faint of heart -- or the defensive-minded.
The two teams combined for 23 runs and 12 errors, as the clubs battled to a 13-10 decision in Canajoharie's favor.
After the victory, Canajoharie head coach Bridget Anderson offered a deep breath, a sigh and an explanation that the game had been a tiring one for her despite her Lady Cougars never trailin ...
Last Updated: Thursday, May 02, 2013 1:17:07 AM
SCHENECTADY -- Drew Fureno singled, doubled, stole two bases and drove in three runs as the Fort Plain Hilltoppers ran their win streak to 10 games in a 10-5 win over Mekeel Christian Academy.
Marcus Failing added an RBI triple for Fort Plain (10-0, 9-0 WAC), while Joey Ray chipped in with an RBI single. Chris Hanifin earned the complete game win, striking out eight and not allowing a walk.
St. Johnsville 10, Sharon Springs 2
Kyle Smith threw a two-hitter in his first start of the year as the S ...
Last Updated: Thursday, April 25, 2013 12:20:22 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
MAYFIELD -- After building a five-run lead early in the team's Western Athletic Conference North Division softball showdown with Fort Plain, Mayfield head coach Jamie Hurd had a constant message in between innings Tuesday for her club.
"All Coach was saying was, 'The score is zero to zero, the score is zero to zero -- keep playing your hardest,'" said center fielder Mackenzie Biggers. "She just kept saying that until it was five to five."
After Fort Plain's sixth- ...
Last Updated: Thursday, April 25, 2013 12:18:52 AM
By PAUL ANTONELLI
For the C-S-E
Dane O'Neil (Canajoharie) always had a four-seam fastball that puzzled opposing hitters, but the talented right-hander possesses so much more in 2013.
Coming off a grueling off-season workout program with strength coach Dan Gabelman, and an equally demanding baseball workout regime with pitching coach Matt Kelly, O'Neil has quietly stepped into the role as the top pitcher at Union College.
O'Neil was named Pitcher of the Week by the Liberty League. The announceme ...
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 5:19:03 PM
FORT PLAIN -- The Fort Plain High School baseball program will hold its second annual alumni games Saturday, May 11 at Phillips Field.
The first game will start at 12 Noon and is for players who graduated between 1973 and 1993. The second game will follow at 2 p.m. for alumni from the classes of 1994 to today. Registration before the day of the games will be $20, while the cost will be $25 for registering the day of the games.
To sign up, contact coach Craig Phillips at 1 Henry St., Fort Plain, ...
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 8:09:58 AM
Staff report
FORT PLAIN -- The Fort Plain Hilltoppers sent three pitchers to the mound Monday against Sharon Springs, and the Spartans couldn't hit any of them.
Fort Plain's Trent Douglas, Jesse Heroth and Zack Sweet combined on a no-hitter, and eighth grader Drew Fureno ripped four singles and drove in three runs as the Hilltoppers cruised to a 12-0 victory in Western Athletic Conference baseball action at Phillips Field.
Douglas went the first four innings for Fort Plain (3-0, 3-0 WAC), befor ...
Last Updated: Thursday, April 11, 2013 1:58:18 PM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
FORT PLAIN -- After a stretch of five Section II Class C baseball champions in six seasons from 2006 through 2011, the Fort Plain Hilltoppers' 1-0 loss to Hoosick Falls in the 2012 sectional quarterfinals left a bitter aftertaste.
The Hilltoppers still feel the disappointment more than 10 months later, and it has a team with seven seniors on its roster itching for a chance to add yet another sectional crown to Fort Plain's already impressive legacy.
"It's more than ...
Last Updated: Thursday, April 04, 2013 9:21:44 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
FORT PLAIN — Heading into the 2013 high school softball season, the Fort Plain Lady Hilltoppers return their core from a season ago when the club was the winner of the Western Athletic Conference North Division.
The familiarity this year's squad has with each other is apparent in the unyielding similarity between the answers of several players when asked what the goal is for this season.
"Do the same thing as last year, but go further," says senior infielder ...
Last Updated: Sunday, March 31, 2013 6:11:28 AM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
CANAJOHARIE — There were spots where Canajoharie baseball coach Brent Watterson had plenty of confidence heading into preseason practice — a pair of three-year starters in the middle of the infield, experience and talent in the corner outfield spots — but he just wasn't certain about his team's pitching.
"That was my biggest worry coming in," Watterson said.
It was a sentiment echoed by one of the Cougars expected to carry much of the load on the ...
Last Updated: Thursday, March 28, 2013 12:54:48 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
CANAJOHARIE — There is confidence and optimism this preseason for the Canajoharie softball team — as well as a healthy dose of skepticism.
Fresh off an up-and-down season a year ago in the Western Athletic Conference, the Lady Cougars enter the 2013 campaign with a few key parts back and several capable youngsters filling in the spots left open after several players graduated from the 2012 club.
"It's definitely been hard adjusting (with all the new pl ...
Last Updated: Thursday, March 07, 2013 9:03:12 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
In a season in which five local high school girls basketball teams won a game in the sectional tournaments, the Fort Plain Lady Hilltoppers stuck out.
Head coach Phil Karker's club won the Western Athletic Conference North Division and an area-best 16 games before falling in the Section II Class C quarterfinals to top-ranked Hoosic Valley. Leading the way for the Lady Hilltoppers was junior forward Abby Boyer, the Recorder's Girls Basketball Player of the Year for ...
Last Updated: Thursday, March 07, 2013 9:05:26 AM
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
GLENS FALLS — So good at keeping games under control all season long, the Canajoharie Cougars had a lapse at the worst possible time during last Wednesday night's Section II Class C semifinal loss to Hoosic Valley.
Down by 12 with 1.8 seconds left in the first half, the Cougars tried to inbound the ball off a free throw from Hoosic Valley's Mike Pierre, but Indians' sophomore star John Rooney snuck in from near half court, picked off the pass, dribbled to the ...
Last Updated: Thursday, February 28, 2013 11:11:11 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
SCHAGHTICOKE — Minutes after Friday night’s 64-32 loss to No. 1 Hoosic Valley, the No. 8 Fort Plain Lady Hilltoppers were already looking for ways to find the positive in a humbling defeat.
“This makes us realize we still have a lot more work to do,” said Fort Plain junior Abby Boyer. “It sucks losing the games that actually count, but we’ve just got to work hard in the offseason.”
The Lady Hilltoppers (16-3) finished thei ...
Last Updated: Thursday, February 21, 2013 10:06:09 AM
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
FORT PLAIN — A year ago, the Fort Plain Lady Hilltoppers basketball team got to the Section II Class C tournament with a full head of steam. Promptly, everything went wrong for the young squad — not only did head coach Phil Karker’s club lose its first-round game by 30 points, but point guard Haley Kilmartin suffered a torn ACL in the defeat.
Now a year older and back in the tournament as a No. 8 seed, everything went right for the Lady Hilltoppe ...
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