Leading off today: I don't lead many blog entries with international sports news, but it's also not very often that a high school baseball team surrenders 66 runs — in an inning and a third.

   The coach of Kawamoto technical high school threw in the towel less than two innings into the lopsided loss, Tokyo-area media reported on Thursday. He said he did so to spare his pitcher’s arm, but that's a little suspect: The hurler had already thrown more than 250 pitches, failing completely in the second inning after holding Shunsukan to 26 runs in the first.

   "At that pace the pitcher would have thrown around 500 pitches in four innings," Kawamoto’s coach was quoted as saying, apparently with a straight face. "There was a danger he could get injured."

   Shunshukan was officially credited with a 9-0 victory.

   Turf wars: New Jersey could be the first battleground in the debate over the safety of the new generation of artificial turf. USA Today reported yesterday that The Consumer Product Safety Commission has begun investigating potential hazards from lead in some artificial turf sports fields across the country, and two fields in New Jersey were closed after state health regulators said they found high levels of lead in turf fiber samples.

   California State Sen. Abel Maldonado said federal scrutiny could help his bill calling for a state study of the health and environmental impacts of synthetic turf. "These fields are a problem," Maldonado said. "Having (the CPSC) come up with a study is huge for me."

   The CPSC said it is "looking into the use of lead in outdoor synthetic field surfaces."

   Eddy Bresnitz, New Jersey's deputy health commissioner, said athletes could potentially be exposed to dust contaminated with lead. State officials advise players to wash up and launder their clothes after playing on artificial turf.

   Synthetic Turf Council President Rick Doyle said New Jersey officials relied upon "incorrect criteria."

   Badminton breakthrough: When Jennifer LaCara defeated Amanda Christie, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, at second singles for

Whitman on Tuesday, it was more than just another badminton match. It sparked her team to a 5-4 win over Miller Place, marking the first loss in the sport for a Miller Place girls-only team. The program has won 35 consecutive county championships.

   Whitman's doubles teams swept their four matches.

   The rematch is May 15 at Whitman.

   The road to recovery: Adrian Gordon, 20, walked out of Southside Hospital in Bay Shore today less than three months after doctors assumed the former high school sprinter might forever be a quadriplegic.

   "I treated it like a sprint," the Mount Vernon student said of his recovery.

   Gordon was asleep in a friend's car on Jan. 9 when a tire blowout on the Long Island Expressway sent the car out of control. He fractured his spine when he was thrown from the car. Following emergency surgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Gordon was initially able to move only his eyelids. He regained movement in his toes two weeks later.

   He was transferred to a rehabilitation unit seven weeks ago. He showed off for media yesterday by getting up from his wheelchair and walking with the help of crutches.

   Double duty: Check out a good read on Joe Minucci. Besides being an assistant football coach at St. Anthony's, he's also a defensive end for the AFL Cleveland Gladiators.

   Minucci, 26, earned All-Long Island honors at St. A's and went on to play collegiately at Delaware.

   Minucci spent three seasons with the Nashville Kats, missed part of last season with injuries and moved on to Cleveland after his former team disbanded. He has recorded 10 tackles, including four sacks, through five games.

   "He's knows his stuff. He's an intense guy that knows his stuff. He's a great coach and I loved working with him," said St. Anthony's senior center Austen Fletcher.

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