Averill Park's Nick Cioffi, pictured here in the center, nearly pitched a no-hitter today against Bethlehem High. (Photo provided by Averill Park head coach Mike Conroy).

Cioffi allowed a one-out hit by Bethlehem's Zach Kundel in the seventh inning as the Warriors won the baseball game, 4-1. Cioffi added a double and a pair of singles at the plate.

Averill Park is now 1-0 in the Suburban Council and 2-0 overall.

The Warriors are certainly off to a good start...but can they keep it up? They will have some sort of a mini-Gold Mine cheering them on this season, which certainly can't hurt. It will be interesting to see how the Warriors keep the momentum going in the tough-as-nails Suburban Council. If they qualify for the postseason, they always have a chance in the wide-open Class A bracket.

Some more scores from Wednesday's high school action:
Baseball
Colonie 7, Columbia 3: Chris Kalica doubled and hit a home run, plating three Colonie runners and he also pitched the first five innings of the Raiders’ 11-strikeout attack on the mound in a Suburban Council victory.
Brian O’Keefe added two hits and two RBI for Colonie (1-0, 4-0).
Matt Kasper paced Columbia (0-1, 0-1) with a solo home run.
Saratoga Springs 7, Niskayuna 4: Matt Coleman scattered 10 hits and two earned runs over seven innings of work for the Blue Streaks (1-0, 2-1) in a Suburban Council victory over Niskayuna (0-1, 1-1).
Shenendehowa 3, Shaker 0: David Wixted hit a home run and Shen held Shaker to seven hits but no runs in the Suburban Council victory.
Guilderland 17, Mohonasen 5: Matt Zanotta slugged three home runs, doubled and drove in 10 runs to power the Dutchmen to victory in the Suburban Council opener for both teams.
Zanotta connected on a pair of three-run home runs and a two-run home run for Guilderland (1-0, 1-0).
Teammate Jimmy Quinn doubled, singled three times and drove in four runs and Vinny Tamburello chipped in with four singles.
Ben Dalton singled twice for the Mighty Warriors (0-1, 0-1).
Burnt Hills 5, Ballston Spa 3: Mike Fischer went 4-for-4 with a double, three singles, one RBI and a pair of stolen bases for the Spartans (1-0, 2-0) in the Suburban Council victory over the Scotties (0-1, 0-1).
Schalmont 7, South Glens Falls 0: Joe Amorosi tossed a two-hit shutout, giving up infield singles in the sixth and seventh inning en route to a non-league victory for the Sabres (1-0). Amorosi added three singles and an RBI at the plate.
Hoosick Falls 5, Mount Anthony 1: Cody LaFlamme slugged a solo home run as the Panthers defeated their Bennington, Vt. rivals in a non-league game.
Alex Lilac and Randy Tutunjian added a pair of singles and one RBI apiece for Hoosick Falls (0-0, 1-0).
Catholic Central 18, Lansingburgh 7: Brad Adams (two doubles) and Bryce McMahon (triple, two singles) each knocked in four runs to pace an 18-hit attack by the Crusaders (2-0) in a non-league victory at Knickerbacker Park.
Ryan McGrath tripled, doubled and collected three RBI for the Knights (0-2).
Albany Academy 8, Tamarac 0: Academy’s Brian Flood and Christian Miller combined to twirl a one-hitter with nine strikeouts in a non-league victory over the Bengals.
Hunter McCarthy paced the Cadets (1-0) with three singles and a run batted in.
Mechanicville 12, Cambridge 4: Mechanicville’s Alex Grayson doubled twice and hit a single, driving in four runs and he also struck out eight on the mound, earning in the win in a non-league victory over the Indians.
Sam DeCelle also hit two doubles and drove in four runs while Austin DeMarco and Dom DeVito each hit two-run singles for the Red Raiders (1-0).
Will Bromirski hit three singles and Zach Carle struck out six for Cambridge (0-1).

Softball
Bethlehem 11, Averill Park 0: Meghan Burns doubled and drove in four runs and Sammy Smaldone doubled and drove in two runs as the Eagles posted a victory over Averill Park (0-1, 0-1) in their Suburban Council opener.
Antonia Edwards and Erica Palleschi combined for nine strikeouts in the circle for Bethlehem (1-0, 1-0).
Niskayuna 8, Saratoga Springs 1: Rachel Annello went 2-for-4 with a triple and also struck out six in seven innings of work in the pitcher’s circle, leading the Silver Warriors to a Suburban Council victory.
Columbia 4, Colonie 3, 11 innings: The Blue Devils won in extra innings for the third time in as many games this season, this time edging the Garnet Raiders in the Suburban Council opener for both teams.
Hillary Fass singled twice and drove in the tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning for Columbia.
With Caitlin Cooper on second base in the 11th inning, Anna Casey laid down a sacrifice bunt and Cooper scored the winning run on an errant throw to first base for the Blue Devils (1-0, 3-0).
Columbia, which has also defeated Troy and Cohoes, has already played 31 innings this season.
Kelly Lane singled twice for the Garnet Raiders (0-1, 0-1).
Guilderland 2, Mohonasen 1: The Lady Dutch defeated the Mighty Warriors in a Suburban Council game.
Greenwich 16, Waterford 1: Abby Dusha allowed one hit and struck out 13 in five innings of work as Greenwich posted a non-league victory over the Lady Fordians (0-1).
Ali Stein and Katie Andrews hit home runs for the Witches (1-0), while Aimee Lefebvre and Christina Wilson provided Waterford’s pair of hits.
Boys Lacrosse
Niskayuna 10, Shaker 2: Mark Panneton and Colin Foster scored three goals each to propel the Silver Warriors (1-0, 1-0) to a Suburban Council triumph in the season opener for both teams.
Jimmy O’Brien tallied two goals for the Blue Bison (0-1, 0-1).