Leading off today: Mark Hanifin and Dan Wiecek combined on a 13-strikeout no-hitter yesterday as Fort Plain defeated St. Johnsville, 15-1, to give baseball coach Craig Phillips his 600th victory.

   Hanifin struck out 11 over five innings. Teammate Evan Yacowenia homered in the first inning as part of Fort Plain's 14-hit outburst.

   Phillips has coached Fort Plain to 20 league crowns, seven Section 2 titles and a 2007 NYSPHSAA Class C championship.

   "Give credit to all the kids. I wish I could mention all of them that have played for me,” he told The Daily Gazette. "I know if I retired tomorrow, I’ve been on a great run. It’s been 34 years of dedication, tradition and pride."

   Ever wonder what it takes to get a team to the top level? The Hilltoppers found out after they suffered a 1-0 loss to Schoharie on Tuesday in the first bid for No. 600.

   "I got on them the other night because I was upset," Phillips said. "I didn’t like the way they competed. "I told the guys, 'I’ll be here at 6:30 in the morning, and if you care about the program, you’ll be here, too.' The next morning, they were here."

   B'ville girls score key win: Baldwinsville held on for a 9-8 victory against West Genesee, snapping the Wildcats' winning streak at 52 girls lacrosse games.

   Kara Moschetti scored three goals to help lift the Bees (4-0) to a 9-5 lead with 4:57 to go before West Genesee pulled close with three goals on free-position shots. Baldwinsville goalie Casey Chiesa finished with 14 saves.

   Bre Hudgins scored four times for West Genny.

   Yorktown picks up win: Nanuet, coming off consecutive Section 1 Class C girls lacrosse championships, sure picked a tough way to open its season -- vs. two-time Class B champion Yorktown.

   "We like to always open up with a tough team and see what we're made of," Nanuet coach Karen Leitner told The Journal News. "We like that challenge."

   She possibly likes it a little less this morning, though Nanuet put up a strong fight after falling behind big in yesterday's 17-14 loss. Yorktown, coming off a nice win over Ward Melville in its opener, broke to a nine-goal lead against Nanuet and then held on.

   Jaimie Morrison (four assists), Patricia Kaishian, Gabrielle Veteri and Lindsay Scott scored hat tricks for the Cornhuskers. Nanuet was led by Lauren Kahn (three goals, five assists) and K.C. Jentzen (four goals), both fresh from the basketball team's victory in the Federation

Class B tournament in Glens Falls.

   Yorktown held an 11-6 lead at halftime and built it out to 15-6 just 4:15 into the second half on Veteri's goal. It was 16-7 with 18:32 remaing before Nanuet went on a 7-1 rampage and then ran out of gas.

   Overpowering performance: Eighteen Manhattan Bridges batters stepped into the box Wednesday against Nolan Becker. All of them had a long, slow walk back to the bench.

   Becker, a 6-foot-6 left-hander at Stuyvesant who will attend Yale in the fall, struck out all 18 en route to a 10-0 victory as the Hitmen improved to 4-0 in the Manhattan A West League. Just three hitters made contact, and none managed to put the ball in play.

   "Anybody that throws a perfect game, no matter who you are, who you are pitching against, it’s something special,” seventh-year coach John Carlesi told FiveBoroSports.com.

   Carlesi had some fun along the way teaching Becker's teammates about baseball tradition. He reminded several players not to talk about the perfect game with Becker between innings. "One of the JV kids almost came over to him and I said, 'If you do, you won’t be playing baseball anymore,'” Carlesi said.

   In addition to his 2-0 start on the mound with 30 strikeouts in 11 innings, Becker is hitting .636 with a home run and 10 RBIs.

   Horseheads stays in-house: Horseheads has called on former JV coach Damian Saks to lead the varsity football team. He replaces Mike McLain, who resigned in January after a 2-7 season.

   Saks coached the JVs for six seasons before taking off 2008 while working on his administrative degree.

   Lance, a lot: The Lance Stephenson saga continues, wtih The Daily News reporting that Kansas coach Bill Self is expected to drop in on Abraham Lincoln star guard at his Coney Island home tonday and that Stephenson plans to make an official visit to St. John's over the weekend.

   Stephenson is then expected to finally decide between Kansas and St. John's early next week. Sources told the paper Kansas is is first choice and Maryland appears to be out of the running. The Jayhawks are also waiting on Xavier Henry, an Oklahoma prospect who's more highly regarded than Stephenson and is back in play following John Calipari's decision to leave Memphis to coach at Kentucky.

   Speaking of Stephenson, FOXSports.com pro basketball analyst Charley Rosen ripped into New York's career scoring leader this week in a column.

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