Perfect Game

There was little the North Carroll Panthers could do last night at Randazzo Park. They were up against perfection.McDonough junior pitcher Clarisa Crowell, with an untouchable, rising fastball, retired all 21 North Carroll batters she faced to lead the Charles County team to a 4-0 win and its third straight Class 3A state title.Crowell, a right-hander, became the fifth pitcher to throw a perfect game in a Maryland state final. Jenny Parsons, of Glen Burnie, was the first to accomplish the feat in 1989.

Ken Dunstan, bowling in the Baltimore County Industria League, rolled a 300 game Tuesday at Fair Lanes Towson.Dunstan had a 665 series, combining games of 183 and 182 with his perfect game. Ron Young, rolling in the same league on the same night, had a 279 game.*Erica Breadson, 11, rolling in open competition at Fair Lanes Dundalk last Sunday, bowled a 602 set, the highest score of her brief career.*Baltimoreans James Gross and Don Patterson will be competing the $1 million Hardee's Deluxe Bowling Tournament at Sam's Town Bowling Center this week.

EVEN YOGI BERRA, known for witticisms so absurd they're brilliant, would be at a loss to explain the bizarre summer Baltimore baseball fans continue to endure.On Sunday, David Cone of the rival New York Yankees pitched a perfect game, retiring all 27 batters he faced. He threw just 88 pitches. Because any mistake can undo a perfect game, the feat has been accomplished in the major leagues only 14 times this century.Mr. Cone's milestone was made more dramatic by the presence of Yankee greats from the past, who participated in ceremonies in honor of Mr. Berra.

Few high school pitchers can claim to have thrown a perfect game. Fewer still can say they pitched one in their final high school start.But Mount St. Joe senior left-hander Ryan Clark of Ellicott City can make both claims."

Archbishop Spalding's Jason Patten said he started thinking about a perfect game in the fifth inning of last Wednesday's game against St. Paul's. "I had had great location with my fastball and was hitting my spots well," said Patten, who threw the first perfect game of six innings or more since North County's Mike Wooden in 1994. "I mixed in sliders to their best hitter, Jack Carey, and struck him out once. I started thinking about in the fifth inning or so. I thought, 'Wow, I just need a couple more outs.

NEW YORK -- Moments before the first pitch, Don Larsen went to the mound and shook David Cone's hand. But neither of them had any way of knowing what was about to rub off.Cone called it "Yankee magic," which may be the only way to explain what happened at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon. After watching Larsen and Yogi Berra recreate the final out from one perfect game, Cone went out and threw one of his own.The 36-year-old right-hander pitched the 14th perfect game in modern major-league history, the third by a Yankee, and the second by a Yankee in 14 months.

John Stewart struck out 10 and pitched a perfect game for host St. Mary's as the Saints defeated Mount Carmel, 8-0, yesterday. The Saints (2-2) handed the Cougars (3-1) their first loss. Stewart also went 2-for-3 and had three RBIs. No. 8 Franklin 16, New Town 3 -- Matt Levinson (two RBIs) hit a double and a triple in a five-inning win for the visiting Indians (1-1) over the Titans (0-1). Franklin scored eight runs in the second inning. Hereford 6, Lansdowne 1 -- Billy Pearson pitched five innings, struck out four and hit a single as the visiting Bulls (2-0)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Their role models are the 1985 Villanova Wildcats and the 1983 North Carolina State Wolfpack.If the Syracuse Orangemen finally are going to shed an onerous label, that's who they have to be, who they want to emulate, the path they need to follow.It's the path of most resistance.Syracuse, the school with a long history of underachieving, will attempt to pull off the NCAA tournament's biggest coup in 11 years when it battles 14-point favorite Kentucky in college basketball's national championship game at the Meadowlands tonight.

It became obvious early yesterday afternoon: the only thing that could stop top-ranked Archbishop Spalding from the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference crown was the weather. The Cavaliers put up three runs in the first inning against Mount de Sales and then all that was left was whether sophomore pitcher Jessica Saunders would finish the day perfect. After Saunders retired the first 18 Sailors in order, disrupted with a 30-minute delay due to lightning in the third inning, Cynthia Clark led off the top of the seventh with a bunt single.

Junior Amanda Fefel pitched a perfect game to lead No. 12 Catonsville (5-0) to a 4-0 softball victory over visiting Bel Air yesterday. The perfect game is the first for Fefel (5-0), who struck out 11, and only the second in coach Bill Nelson's nine-year tenure. "They came out and tried to put a little pressure on defense by bunting. [Bel Air] had a hard time bunting because her ball had a lot of movement on it today," Nelson said. "Out of the 10 [non-strikeout] outs, only one ball made it to the outfield."