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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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- ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
By MICHAEL KELLY
For the C-S-E
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The guy most upset about the seed given to the Canajoharie Cougars by the Section II boys basketball seeding committee?
Casey Russom, the head coach of the Cougars’ main rival.
“When you look at Canajoharie ... Canjo got the hose-job of the century and that’s really too bad,” the Fort Plain head coach said.
The 15-2 Cougars were granted the No. 4 seed in the Section II Class C field. While a nice seeding, the team h ...
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
FONDA — The last time the Canajoharie Cougars lost a basketball game — to Fort Plain back on Dec. 12, 2012 — it spurred a 12-game win streak that carried Canajoharie to a Western Athletic Conference North Division title and a berth in Friday’s WAC Cup championship game against Mekeel Christian Academy.
Now that MCA brought an end to that particular streak, Cougars coach Phil Schoff is hoping for a similar run — one that can carry Canaj ...
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
JOHNSTOWN — Tuesday night, Josh Gonzalez lived up to his enormous potential.
The 6-foot-5 Canajoharie sophomore forward has shown several flashes of brilliance over two varsity seasons, but in Tuesday’s WAC Cup semifinal against Schoharie, Gonzalez put it all together — a silky mid-range jump shot, deft touch around the rim and ferocious rebounding ability.
The result was an immense 27-point, 20-rebound effort that helped the Cougars power to a 19 ...
By ADAM SHINDER
For the C-S-E
JOHNSTOWN — Everything went just as Fort Plain girls basketball coach Phil Karker had planned — except for the end result.
With the Lady Hilltoppers trailing Mekeel Christian Academy by one point with two seconds left in Tuesday’s Western Athletic Conference Cup semifinal at Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Karker drew up the perfect play — Abby Boyer inbounding, with Haley Kilmartin cutting wide open toward the basket.
Boyer floated the ...
FORT PLAIN — Marcus Failing scored a game-high 26 points, including all eight of Fort Plain’s points in the overtime session to propel the Hilltoppers to an emotional 73-70 overtime victory over Saratoga Catholic in a Western Athletic Conference boys basketball game last Wednesday night, Jan. 30.
The pre-game festivities included recognition of Fort Plain’s seniors as well as paying tribute to former Fort Plain standout Bo Baker who was killed in a car accident last Friday.
&ld ...
FORT PLAIN — The Fort Plain High School baseball program will be hosting the annual Tony Curro Hitting Clinic March 2 and 3 at Fort Plain High School.
The morning session will be held both days from 9 a.m. to noon for modified, JV and varsity players in grades 9-12, while the afternoon sessions from 1 to 4 p.m. are for little league and modified players who are no older than eighth grade.
Campers must bring their own batting helmets, batting gloves and a bat. Price of the camp is $100, or ...
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