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- 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