8A — BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2019
BAKER FOOTBALL TRAVELS TO WASHINGTON COAST TO TAKE ON PE-ELL/WILLAPA VALLEY
Bulldogs overcome long trip to win, 30-14
Why The
Long Trip?
Baker scheduled Fri-
day’s game this summer
after Mac-Hi decided not
to play a Greater Oregon
League football sched-
ule, leaving the Bulldogs
with an open date.
Pe Ell is near Willapa
Bay, on the Washington
coast between Aberdeen
and Long Beach, about
a 7-hour bus trip from
Baker City.
By Gerry Steele
gsteele@bakercityherald.com
Baker’s football team
traveled almost to the
Washington coast Friday for a
nonleague game with Pe Ell/
Willapa Valley.
After a slow start, Baker
stopped the Titans 30-14 to
improve its season record to
4-2.
“After a 7-hour bus ride
we did what we needed to
do to win,” said Baker coach
Jason Ramos. “We weren’t
really happy with the way we
played. But it was a win.”
Ramos said Pe Ell, which
has an enrollment of about
100, marched down the fi eld
on its opening drive to open
the scoring.
“They moved the ball well,”
he said. “Then we made some
defensive adjustments.”
Baker also answered with
a drive of its own, ending in
a 5-yard Spencer Smith-to-
Riley Flanagan touchdown
pass.
“We marched down the
fi eld, mostly on the ground,”
Ramos said.
The fi rst quarter ended tied
Photo by Robert Hilson
Gage Bloomer runs for some of his 78 yards Friday in Baker’s 30-14 victory.
7-7.
In the second quarter it
was more of the same for the
Bulldogs.
Smith, who fi nished with
two passing TDs and two
rushing touchdowns, scored
on a 3-yard run. The play was
set by a 34-yard Flanagan
reception to the 1-yard line.
That was the only score
in the quarter, which ended
with Baker leading 14-7 at
halftime.
“We told the kids at half-
time that we needed to get
things going, only leading
14-7,” Ramos said.
The Bulldogs answered the
challenge by scoring twice
in the third quarter. Smith
again connected with Flana-
gan from 24 yards, and added
another 12-yard rushing
touchdown to build Baker’s
lead to 27-7.
Mahonri Rushton added
a 25-yard fi eld goal in the
fourth quarter to complete
the scoring.
Smith fi nished 7-of-18
passing for 113 yards. Gauge
BAKER BOYS SOCCER
Bloomer led Baker’s ground
game with 78 yards on 19
carries. Flanagan caught four
passes for 65 yards.
Baker hosts Ontario Friday
at 7 p.m. in Baker’s Home-
coming game at Bulldog
Memorial Stadium.
BAKER GIRLS SOCCER
La Grande stops Baker, 5-0
By Gerry Steele
gsteele@bakercityherald.com
Kathy Orr / Baker City Herald
Baker’s Zach Morrison knocks down a kicked ball against La Grande Saturday.
Baker shuts out Tigers 1-0
for first Greater Oregon win
■ Baker’s Jorge Duran scores match’s only goal Saturday
“He kicked the ball with his
left foot. I looked away and
Jorge Duran scored just
when I looked back he had
10 minutes into the match
scored,” Benites said.
Saturday, and Baker made
La Grande actually had
the goal stand up for a 1-0
the fi rst opportunity to score
Greater Oregon League boys shortly after the opening
soccer win over La Grande at kickoff.
the Baker Sports Complex.
A La Grande shot caromed
The win was Baker’s fi rst
off the Baker crossbar. Baker
in GOL play. The Bulldogs
keeper Silas Carter knocked
are 1-3 in the league. The loss down the rebound, but La
dropped La Grande to 2-2 in Grande had another try at
the GOL.
a second rebound. Carter
Baker coach Victor Benites quickly wrapped his arms
said he wasn’t sure how Du- around the ball to end the
ran scored from outside the
threat.
penalty area.
Baker controlled the tempo
By Gerry Steele
gsteele@bakercityherald.com
most of the rest of the match.
That is until late in the sec-
ond half.
La Grande made several
runs at Carter in an attempt
to tie the match. But Baker’s
defense kept the Tigers out of
the net.
Carter put the exclama-
tion point on the win when
he made a diving save of one
fi nal La Grande shot at the
fi nal whistle.
Baker has two remaining
GOL home matches, Satur-
day at 2 p.m. against Ontario
and Oct. 26 against Mac-Hi,
also at 2 p.m.
Baker’s Greater Oregon
League girls soccer match
against La Grande Satur-
day was like two matches
in one.
La Grande dominated
the fi rst half, scoring four
goals. Baker’s defense then
tightened, allowing just one
more score after halftime
but eventually losing the
match 5-0.
“The girls played a better
second half,” said Baker
coach Kristen Rushton. “I
told the girls at halftime
that we play soccer because
it makes us happy, and no
one can take your happi-
ness away.”
La Grande scored in
bunches in the fi rst half.
The Tigers’ fi rst goal
came with 21:15 left in the
half. La Grande’s second
goal came just 17 seconds
later.
La Grande nearly
equalled that later in the
half when the Tigers scored
two more goals just 50
seconds apart.
Despite the loss Rushton
Kathy Orr / Baker City Herald
Baker’s Brooklyn Jaca, 5, and Maya Smith, 6, look to
control the ball against La Grande Saturday.
said she was proud of the
Bulldogs.
“I’m just super proud of
this team,” she said. “They
played them much better
than the fi rst time. We’re
just getting better every
EOU BASEBALL
Continued from Page 6A
Baseball, Insko said, will play its home
game at Optimist Field inside Pioneer
Park, the home of the La Grande baseball
team. He said the school will also look at
options to play home games in Baker City.
In the tong term, though, EOU will look
to build a new baseball fi eld on campus.
With the university’s new fi eldhouse set to
soon break ground at Snowfl ake Field —
the Mountaineers’ old baseball facility —
Weissenfl uh said the hope is for a baseball
park to be built adjacent to Eastern’s
softball fi eld.
game.”
Baker has two more
home GOL matches in the
regular season. The Bull-
dogs host Ontario Saturday,
and Mac-Hi Oct. 26. Both
matches start at noon.
“(We are) hoping to make it a joint
complex, that way they can share ameni-
ties,” she said, noting it would be where the
current practice fi elds for soccer are.
Once the sports are in place, it will give
the athletic department 15 sports. Baseball
will be the seventh men’s sport, joining
football, basketball, wrestling, cross county,
track and fi eld and soccer. Eight women’s
sports will now be available, as lacrosse
joins softball, basketball, wrestling, cross
county, track and fi eld, soccer and volley-
ball.
EOU most recently added men’s and
women’s wrestling, bringing them on in
2016. Men’s soccer was added in 2015.