Dale Smith finally believed Craig Phillips was retiring when Phillips kept repeating it.
“I knew he was serious,” Smith said, “when he was consistent with it every single time.”
Phillips, Fort Plain’s legendary baseball coach, had flirted with retirement on numerous occasions. It became a near-annual tradition in the last decade for the coach to make passing mention that each upcoming season was likely going to be his last one — he came close in both 2011 when he retired from teaching, and in 2016 when the Hilltoppers won Phillips his second New York state championship and the coach was dealing with an ailing hip. Then the next spring would come around, and Phillips would be back in maroon.
This time, though, it stuck.
Phillips said heading into the 2021 season that he was retiring and reiterated it at season’s end. Wednesday night, it became concrete, as for the first time since 1975 somebody other than Phillips was approved by the Fort Plain Central School District Board of Education as varsity baseball coach.
The honor — and challenge — of succeeding the man who won a NYSPHSAA-record 806 games as a baseball coach goes to Smith, a former long-time assistant to Phillips who has previously served as the Hilltoppers’ third-base and pitching coach.
Smith stepped away from his assistant coaching role about a decade ago to dedicate time to watching his daughters’ athletic careers. They’ve both grown and are playing college soccer, while Smith’s son Noah is in elementary school and is “gung ho into baseball.”
“I think it would be great for him to just sort of grow up with the ‘Hilltopper Way,’ so to speak” Smith said. “I’m doing this for myself, I’m doing this for the love of the game, the love of coach Phillips and the love of baseball. I’d like to see it continue down the road that he taught me so much about.”
The primary factor behind the 71-year-old Phillips decision to step away was health issues — both his own, and his wife Cheryl’s.
Starting in December, Phillips and Smith — a science teacher at Fort Plain Junior/Senior High School — met several times to discuss the future of the program. It took Phillips repeating at each meeting that he was firm on his decision to retire for Smith to finally accept it.
Smith finally wrote his letter applying for the position last week and was approved unanimously at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.
The role of Phillips’ successor is one he knows won’t be easy.
“Yeah, no one wants to be the guy to follow the legendary guy,” Smith said with a laugh.
The resume that Phillips leaves behind at Fort Plain is staggering.
Since taking the reins of the Hilltoppers program in 1975, Phillips led Fort Plain to 26 league titles, 12 Section II flags, a pair of state championships — Class C in 2007 and Class D in 2016 — and a field named in his honor.
Opinionated and unabashedly outspoken throughout his career, Phillips enjoyed cajoling opposing coaches and media members alike, but usually with a wry smile.
“I never hated anybody,” he said. “They had a job to do. And, I had a job to do.”
Ultimately, Phillips said, continuing to take on a huge plate of responsibilities to keep the Fort Plain program at its accustomed heights was no longer doable considering his obligations at home.
“I’m 71 years old, and I’ve done it all,” he said. “I’ve been president of the [Fort Plain Little] League, American Legion coach, Connie Mack coach, plus working on the field, things like that. But, I wouldn’t have traded my career for anything.”
With Phillips’ time as Fort Plain’s head coach officially over, questions linger over what he’ll do once baseball season arrives.
Smith said he believes Phillips will stay involved with the program in some capacity.
“He’s still a great resource,” Smith said. “He’s still going to be around if you want him to be around. I don’t know what roles he’s going to want to do or how much he’s going to want to be around.”
Phillips isn’t so sure yet.
“I just felt if I gave it up,” Phillips said, “I shouldn’t be around putting my two cents in.”
He does, however, have faith that Smith will take Phillips’ lessons and continue the “Hilltopper Way.”
“I hope I taught a lot of guys how to coach the game,” Phillips said. “I mean, I’m not the world’s greatest game coach. But I always go into practice with lesson plan, and I think that’s key. Where everybody else is practicing for an hour we’re going for three hours.
“Carry that tradition. I mean, we do have great tradition.”
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports
