THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
SPORTS
BAKER GIRLS SOCCER AT RIVERSIDE
Pirates get past
Bulldogs, 8-2
■ Baker traveled to Boardman with
just enough players to field a squad,
forcing all 11 to play the entire match
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Hailey Zikmund, center, attacks at the net against La Grande on Monday night, March 8, while teammate
Jozie Ramos, far right, looks on.
Baker falls to La Grande in 4 sets
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Coming off a win over On-
tario on Saturday, the Baker
volleyball team couldn’t main-
tain its momentum against
another group of Tigers, falling
in four sets to La Grande
on Monday, March 8, in the
Baker gym.
Baker coach Ali Abrego ex-
pected a tough match against
the Greater Oregon League
rival.
“I knew it was going to be
very strategic as far as the
mental game goes,” Abrego
said.
La Grande, which improved
to 3-0 on the season, has a vet-
eran squad, with fi ve seniors
and fi ve juniors.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile,
are a young team, with one
senior and four juniors.
Despite La Grande’s edge in
experience, Abrego said she
was confi dent that Baker
could compete well.
“Ability wise, we were
right there with them, it
was a great game to watch,”
Abrego said.
That showed in the fi rst
set, as Baker junior Lacy
Churchfi eld had three
consecutive kills to give the
Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Baker pushed its lead
to 12-6 before La Grande
reversed the momentum,
winning the set 25-21.
Baker sophomore Rylee
Elms said she was impressed
with how the Bulldogs
played throughout the
match.
“I feel like it actually
looked like we were cover-
ing today, we did a lot better
talking, we started reading
their tips really early in
which really saved us,” Elms
said.
In the second set Baker
took the lead early and held
it, taking a 25-20 win and
handing La Grande its fi rst
loss in a set this season.
“For us to go out there and
just win one, to be the fi rst
team to bring La Grande to
four (sets), I am so proud of
us,” Elms said.
The competitive play contin-
ued in the third set, with the
teams trading points most of
the way.
La Grande eventually
prevailed, 25-23, to take a 2-1
lead.
Abrego said she was proud
of Baker’s performance in the
set.
“I was super impressed,
I was really proud of them
stretching it out to the very
end playing disciplined be-
cause it’s hard to do that when
you are young and you haven’t
had that intense play before,”
Abrego said. “They played well
and played composed.”
Fighting to keep the match
going, Baker took a brief lead
about midway through the
fourth set.
But again the Tigers pulled
away, winning the set, 25-18,
and the match.
The loss dropped Baker’s
season record to 1-5.
Abrego said the La Grande
match showed her ways that
Baker can continue to improve
through its month-long season.
“Defi nitely focusing on fi ve
points at a time, you’ve got
to be the fi rst to fi ve, fi rst to
ten, fi rst to fi fteen no matter
how many matches we play,”
Abrego said. “Most important-
ly we have to play throughout
the whole match, we can’t give
up a ten-point run, we don’t let
up, really building that mind-
set of no, you are going to have
to take that from me.”
Abrego said the Bulldogs
were happy to be playing at
home, and with a limited num-
ber of fans, mainly parents and
other family, cheering from the
bleachers.
“It was nice to see family, it
was nice to hear people cheer-
ing for us,” Abrego said.
Baker, nearing the midpoint
of its 13-match schedule, trav-
els to Vale on Friday, March 12,
for a 5 p.m. PST match.
The Bulldogs then play host
to Nyssa on Monday, March
15, at 6 p.m.
Both matches will be
livestreamed for free through
the NFHS network. Informa-
tion about signing up for a
free account is available on
the Baker Bulldog Nation
Facebook page.
Elms said she’s excited
to keep practicing with her
teammates, and seeing their
work translate into wins on
the court.
“I hope that we take confi -
dence with us,” Elms said.
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Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Hailey Zikmund goes up for a hit while teammates (right to left) Lacy Church-
fi eld, Jozie Ramos and Makenzie Flanagan watch.
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With just enough players to fi eld a team, the Baker
girls soccer squad lost 8-2 Tuesday, March 9 to Riverside,
evening the Bulldogs’ record at 1-1.
With just 11 players, Baker had no reserves, and that
forced the coaching staff to rotate players into unfamiliar
positions so they weren’t running quite as much.
“In order to compensate for where we knew we might
be lacking, we switched up our initial formation we used
in Saturday’s game (a 9-1 win at Nyssa), and we were
moving people around to try and give them breaks,” as-
sistant coach Christine Teegarden said.
Riverside took a 6-1 lead into halftime. Sophomore
Brooklyn Jaca had Baker’s lone goal.
With a big defi cit, Baker coaches reverted to their origi-
nal lineup for the second half.
“We addressed a couple things that we were seeing
which really are just breakdowns that happen when the
team perceive that they are losing and there’s a little
disheartening that happens,” Teegarden said.
Coaches also emphasized the importance of defense —
and putting consistent pressure on the other team rather
than trying to jab the ball away — and Teegarden said
the Bulldogs improved in the second half.
She said she was impressed with junior Emrie Os-
borne.
“She (Emrie) said she never thought about defense that
way, or using basketball defensive positioning, so sud-
denly our backline became way stronger,” Teegarden said.
Although Baker wasn’t able to rally, the Bulldogs did
play the Pirates much more evenly, giving up just two
goals and getting a goal from sophomore Sydnee Pierce.
“I am extremely proud to say the least, I am really
excited to see their response and reminding them to trust
their teammates and let them be responsible for their
area,” Teegarden said.
Teegarden said she’s optimistic about the team’s future,
both this season and in years to come. The Bulldogs have
no seniors and just three juniors, with the bulk of the
roster being freshmen and sophomores.
“It’s exciting thinking about the coming years, and just
the potential that’s there,” Teegarden said.
After starting the season with consecutive road
matches, the Bulldogs will play three straight at the
Baker Sports Complex.
Baker played La Grande on Wednesday.
Next week the Bulldogs will take on Ontario at 4 p.m.
on Monday, March 15, followed by a match against Four
Rivers, Idaho, on Tuesday, March 16, at 5 p.m.
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