1. GLENS FALLS
he players saw the
empty seats during the
warmup session. Lots of
them.
Maybe that shouldn’t have
been surprising, given that the
Adirondack Frostbite lost the
first two games of this series
and are building on a decade
of playoff futility.
And maybe it’s just as well.
The only people who could
turn this series around were
the 20 or so skaters in the
Frostbite’s dressing room.
Which they did on
Wednesday, or at least began
to do. The Frostbite’s 6-3 victo-
ry in Game 3 sliced
Muskegon’s series lead to 2-1.
Clearly, the Frostbite will
have to energize their fan
base, instead of their fan base
energizing them. There were
only 1,324 on hand Wednesday,
about a quarter of the build-
ing’s capacity. Still, those fans
made a lot of noise.
“We saw it in warmups ...
there weren’t a lot of people
here,” veteran forward
Sylvain Cloutier said. “We’ve
still got to make our own
noise. The people that were
here, they kept it loud.”
The fans were especially
happy after the first period.
Instead of sagging at the
prospect of playing a home
game in a nearly empty build-
ing, the Frostbite played
inspired hockey and took a 3-0
lead.
“No one else was going to go
out there and do it,” Cloutier
said. “Only the guys in here
that have to be focused and be
ready.”
Owner Barry Melrose might
not have liked the empty
seats, had he been able to
attend, but he would have
CMYK
CSPORTS
T H E P O S T - S T A R
College Corner C2
Scoreboard C4
NHL/NBA C6
THURSDAY
April 27, 2006
◆ ◆
Baseball
Barry Bonds hits
career home run 711
but the Mets win in
extra innings.
PAGE C5
The Post-Star’s
weekly golf page
COMING
TOMORROW
CORRECTIONSCORES
NHL
◆ Philadelphia 4, Buffalo 2
◆ New Jersey 3, Rangers 0
NBA
◆ Detroit 109, Milwaukee 98
(See Page C6)
For questions about a story or to report sports news, please contact
the Sports Department at 792-3131 at the following extensions:
Greg Brownell, Sports Editor, Ext. 3277
To report scores, Ext. 3388
CONTACTS
PLAYOFF
SCHEDULE
Game 1
Muskegon 5,Adirondack 3
Game 2
Muskegon 4,Adirondack 2
Game 3
Adirondack 6, Muskegon 3
(Muskegon leads series, 2-1)
Friday
Muskegon at Adirondack, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday
Muskegon at Adirondack, 7:35 p.m.
Monday
Adirondack at Musk., 7:30 p.m.*
Tuesday
Adirondack at Musk., 7:30 p.m.*
* — if necessary
C O L O N I A L C U P P L AY O F F S
Flurry against Fury
Early lead gets
Frostbite back
into series
GREG
BROWNELL
C O M M E N T A R Y
NATHAN PALLACE—NPALLACE@POSTSTAR.COM
Frostbite players congratulate Mark Hurtubise (16) after scoring an early goal during the first period against Muskegon on Wednesday night at the
Glens Falls Civic Center.
A high school baseball report in Tuesday’s edition had a wrong first
name for a South Glens Falls player. Jeff Greene hit two singles in the
Bulldogs’ 11-2 loss to Queensbury.
By NICK WILLIAMS
nwilliams@poststar.com
Three-hundred miles.
That’s the farthest Newcomb
senior Travis Hurlburt has ever
traveled outside of New York.
But on July 4, he’ll log more
than 10,000 miles to Adelaide,
Australia, the site of the
Adelaide Wood Bat Tournament,
a competition for baseball play-
ers ages 16-18.
And it’s all possible because
the standout, right-handed
pitcher for the Minerva-
Newcomb
baseball team
played his best
when it count-
ed.
Last sum-
mer, Coast to
Coast Baseball
was recruiting
players from
46 states to
represent the
U.S. in an international baseball
tournament in Hawaii and
Australia. Hurlburt learned of
the opportunity shortly after
attending a baseball clinic at
Plattsburgh State. To make
either team, Hurlburt had to
beat out 20 or so players at a
combine held in Clifton Park in
early December, as well as
other hopefuls from around the
country. He said there were
only two spots available
between the two teams.
At the combine, Hurlburt said
there were players from Troy,
Schenectady and Albany, all
Class AA schools with more
than 1,000 students. Newcomb’s
enrollment is fewer than 70, K-
12.
Just days before the new
year, Hurlburt received perhaps
the most important phone call of
his life. He was selected for the
team.
“I just went down there and I
wanted to show what I had. I
just showed a little more (than
everyone else),” Hurlburt said.
There was a small catch,
though. The trip would cost
$5,000.
What resulted next was an act
of humanitarianism.
Hurlburt knew he couldn’t
raise the funds on his own, so he
set out to ask the community for
aid. He submitted a letter in a
local tabloid, set up jars at mar-
kets and contacted local busi-
nesses to raise money for the
trip.
Now, he’s close to raising the
full amount.
His coach, Ed La Course, said
he couldn’t be happier for his
star pitcher.
“I’m delighted for him,” La
Course said.
Hurlburt transferred from
Ticonderoga in 2004 and told La
Course he was interested in
playing baseball. After a few
tosses with a football after
school one day, La Course knew
Hurlburt was something special.
“He was throwing the football
like a professional,” he said. “He
has an arm like a rocket.”
La Course said he’s relieved
Hurlburt has the opportunity to
show his talent outside of the
Mountain and Valley Athletic
Conference, the school’s small-
ish league.
After receiving only three let-
ters of interest from area col-
leges, Hurlburt said he hopes
the tournament will lead to
interest from bigger schools
and maybe some minor-league
teams. He feels every young
baseball player should attempt
to make the Coast to Coast
team.
“It’s a great experience. It’s
not just about meeting new peo-
ple, but about love for the
game,” he said.
HURLBURT
Headed halfway around the world
A perfect
afternoon
Newcomb pitcher
Travis Hurlburt
going to Australia
What to
make of
Young
QB has had stock
fluctuate, even
with national title
By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press
Nobody quite knows what to
make of Vince Young.
A quarterback? For sure. The
best one on this weekend’s draft
board? Well, it’s funny how a
player’s stock can rise and fall in
the span of weeks and months.
The Texas quarterback, one of
the best “athletes” in the draft,
once struggled so much with the
Longhorns that some felt he’d be
better off at another position.
These days, that conversation is
long gone. But so is some of the
luster from his Rose Bowl per-
formance, a game in which he led
the Longhorns to the national
title and, at least for a time, sur-
passed USC’s Matt Leinart in
many opinions as the best quar-
terback, maybe the best player,
in the draft.
“It’s been kind of up and
down,” said ESPN draft expert
Mel Kiper, who most recently
rated Young the fourth-best play-
er available. “But my attitude is
that any quarterback taken in the
draft is going to be a project.”
Floyd Reese, general manager
for the Tennessee Titans, who are
considering taking Young with
the third pick, said, “I don’t think
I’ve seen a quarterback with the
athleticism he has, and we had
Steve McNair for a while.”
Indeed, Young’s athleticism is
stunning. And his timing was
impeccable. He showed off the
whole package, playing for the
national title on Jan. 4 in the Rose
Bowl. He passed for 267 yards,
ran for 200 more and scrambled
8 yards on fourth down with 19
seconds left for the winning
touchdown — his third of the
night — in a 41-38 win over
Leinart and USC.
It was sweet redemption for
the junior out of Houston, who
was bitterly disappointed after
losing the Heisman Trophy to
USC’s Reggie Bush. And Young
Staff Report
Wanted: a Las Vegas
oddsmaker or mathemati-
cian to figure out the prob-
ability of the following.
All three Foothills
Council softball games
played Wednesday result-
ed in perfect games. South
Glens Falls’ Marissa
Carpenter, Queensbury’s
Andrea Ogden and Glens
Falls’ Jill Sullivan each
pitched a perfect game.
Carpenter’s came in a
10-0 win over Scotia. It
was her second perfect
game of the season.
Ogden’s first perfect game
of the season came in the
Spartans’ 17-0 win over
Johnstown, while
Sullivan’s first perfect
game came in the Indians’
15-0 win over Gloversville.
Meanwhile, in the
Wasaren League,
Stillwater junior
Samantha Aycock record-
ed a no-hitter her first
career complete game, a 3-
0 win over Hoosick Falls.
For more local sports,
please see Page C3, C6.
Please see YOUNG, Back Page
By WARREN ALBER
alber@poststar.com
GLENS FALLS ◆ Must-win
games are played by desperate
teams, and the Adirondack
Frostbite were desperate
Wednesday night.
Their desperation
showed in their
hard-hitting play
from the drop of the
puck to an early two-
goal lead that they
ground to a 6-3 victo-
ry over the
Muskegon Fury, put-
ting the Frostbite
right back into their opening-
round Colonial Cup playoff
series.
Adirondack now trails the best-
of-seven series, two games to one
— with the home team winning
every game. Games 4 and 5 are
Friday and Saturday at the Civic
Center.
“We needed to come out and
get the lead and we needed to
win,” said captain Hugo Belanger,
who scored a goal and assisted on
two others. “I think it showed.
They didn’t have that desperation
that we had in the first five min-
utes, they stepped back a little bit
to see what we were going to do
and we took it to them a little bit
and came out with a win.”
After losing twice in Muskegon
last weekend, Frostbite coach
Dane Jackson called Game 3 a
must win. His team, Jackson
believed, could not afford to fall
three games down to the two-time
defending Colonial Cup champion
Fury. The Frostbite responded
from the drop of the puck, play-
ing like their hair was on fire and
there was no water to be found.
Finally given the opportunity,
through self-discipline or the offi-
ciating of referee Chris Brown, to
roll their lines and grind away at
the Fury five-on-five, Mark
Hurtubise and Sylvain Cloutier
scored on consecutive shots for a
2-0 lead 4:35 into the game —
before Muskegon even had a shot
— igniting the 1,324 fans on hand.
Greg Koehler picked the upper
right corner for a power-play goal
late in the period, giving the
Frostbite a 3-0 lead. The Fury
never got closer than two goals.
“It seemed like the puck was
bouncing for us in the first peri-
od,” rookie Kevin Watters said.
The puck continued to bounce
the Frostbite’s way through the
early part of the second period,
Frostbite
6
Fury
3
Please see FROSTBITE, Back Page
Frostbite make case to their fans
Please see BROWNELL, Back Page
T