Every postseason win is big for the Fort Plain baseball team, but its most recent conquest, in Monday’s Class C

regional semifinal with Ticonderoga, was extra special.

Dustin Baker set down 21 straight batters after a game-starting error, and the Hilltoppers backed their ace with four quick runs in an 8-0 victory over the Sentinals at Morse Athletic Complex.

The playoff no-hitter was the second in nine days for Baker, who also blanked Salem in the Section II quarterfinals. Fort Plain (25-3) hadn’t had a no-hitter before that since Todd Simzer stymied Duanesburg in 2002.

“My curveball was my best pitch today,” said Baker, who struck out seven and needed just 88 pitches to subdue Ticonderoga. “I didn’t have much on my fastball until the seventh inning. It must have been the adrenaline.”

“He’s good at hitting his spots,” Fort Plain catcher Ryan Hudyncia said after Baker, a Mohawk Valley Community College-bound righty, went to 11-0 with his third win this postseason. “Sometimes, that’s what you need.”

Shortstop Adam Cutspec bobbled a first-inning grounder off the bat of Dan Steitz, but more than made up for his miscue two batters after that with the game’s best defensive play. The University at Albany-bound Cutspec also kick-started Fort Plain’s four-run first with a double, and created the final margin with a two-run homer in the sixth.

“Adam is a great fielder, a great athlete. But I’ve got to give him some ribbing for that play to start the game,” Baker said of his fellow all-state performer.

Steitz advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt before Carr ripped a hard grounder up the middle. Cutspec dove and snared the ball, and came up throwing to nail Carr. Although the Sentinals (Section VII, 16-4) hit severall balls hard after that, none found a hole.

“I thought it was going to go through,” Fort Plain first baseman Jim Thomas said of Cutspec’s hit-saving play. “I had to do a little tippy-toe around the bag, but we got him.”

Baker got nine groundball outs, four handled cleanly by Cutspec, including the game-ender. Cutspec also snagged a line drive, and

Ticonderoga hit four flyball outs.

“We discussed taking him out before the seventh, but [assistant coach] Dale [Smith] said, ‘Let’s let him try to get it,’ ” Fort Plain coach Craig Phillips said after the game, which was played in 90-plus-

degree heat. “He’s just a phenom­enal pitcher. What are we going to do without him?”

“After about the fourth or fifth inning, I had an idea, but I wasn’t positive,” Baker said of his no-hitter, which boosted his two-year

record to 21-2. “No one was saying anything in the dugout.”

Reigning state champion Fort Plain ran its postseason winning streak to 13 games, with the run also including a 10-0 blanking of then-unbeaten Ticonderoga in the 2007 regional final. The Hilltoppers scored three first-inning runs in that triumph, and jumped on the Sentinals and starter Hunter Denno again in the rematch.

Baker singled Cutspec home in the first inning and stole second, and Tyler Barhydt reached on an error to send Baker to third. After Barhydt stole second, Thomas belted a two-run single, and Erik Kuntzsch later hit a two-out RBI single.

Mark Hanifin doubled in the third and scored on Ryan Kane’s single, and in the fifth, Barhydt doubled and scored on Thomas’ sacrifice fly. Kane, who came on after Kuntzsch was injured, singled ahead of Cutzpec’s homer.

Fort Plain will play Brushton-Moira (Section X) today at 4 in a regional title game at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam, and if successful, will advance to the state final four Saturday in Binghamton. Three more wins will give Phillips 600 for his career.

“One at a time,”said Hudyncia. “We’re not talking about anything else. Just the next game.”

Ticonderoga 000 000 0 — 0  0 2

Fort Plain 401 012 x — 8 11 1