TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
BAKER BOYS SOCCER
Bulldogs fall to
La Grande, 6-0
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Powder Valley senior Justin Ash, top, fi nished fi rst in the
boys second heat at the Baker Invitational cross-country
meet on Friday, March 12 at Baker High School, compet-
ing for the Baker/Powder Valley team. Baker senior Syd-
ney Keller, right won the girls second heat to lead Baker/
Powder Valley to the top spot in the team standings.
Baker girls 1st, boys 3rd at Baker
Invitational cross-country meet
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
In the middle of a mild
Friday afternoon, March 12,
cross-country teams from
around the region gathered
at Baker High School to com-
pete on a new course.
After the points were tal-
lied, the Baker/Powder Valley
girls team had fi nished fi rst
in its home invitational, and
the boys had placed third
of four teams in the second
heat, just two points behind
second-place La Grande.
Powder Valley senior Jus-
tin Ash fi nished fi rst in the
boys second heat with a time
of 16:28, and Baker senior
Sydney Keller, who won the
district meet and ninth at the
Class 4A state meet in 2019,
was the top girls runner in
her heat with a time of 20:21.
“The kids are still out here,
they are hardworking kids,
they love the sport for a lot
of reasons, so what we are
really trying to do is make it
as normal as possible,” said
Suzy Cole, who coaches the
Baker/Powder Valley girls
and boys teams. “Our goal
is to compete, just like we
would compete in the fall.”
The time of year isn’t the
only change for cross-country
runners.
The Baker Invitational,
which typically takes place
at Quail Ridge Golf Course,
was moved this year to a
new course laid out around
the high school, with teams
divided into separate heats
to comply with COVID-19
precautions that limit the
number of runners on the
course at one time.
The course starts, and fi n-
ishes, inside Baker Bulldog
Memorial Stadium.
Cole said she was pleased
with the new route.
“This was the fi rst time
we did a perimeter type of
course,” Cole said.
Baker senior Salena Bott
said she liked the course.
“The course was a lot fl at-
ter, we didn’t have any loops
so there wasn’t any repeat
scenery,” Bott said.
Bott and her fellow seniors,
competing in their last home
meet, were honored with a
brief announcement, and a
poster was hung up near the
bleachers. After a year of not
knowing if they would even
have a fi nal cross-country
season, Bott was enthusiastic
about the opportunity.
“It’s super duper exciting
that we actually get to still
run together, and fi nish our
four years of cross-country
together,” Bott said.
Baker opened its season
Monday, March 8 at Nyssa,
running in the fi rst heat. The
Baker girls placed fi rst and
the boys second.
Keller won the girls race
and Ash was second in the
boys race.
Baker Invitational
In the fi rst heat Friday at
Baker High School, Burns,
Four Rivers, Pine Eagle,
Nyssa and Vale competed
in the fi rst heat, with Burns
fi nishing fi rst behind junior
Spencer Johnson (18:39) and
freshman Tim Banks (19:02).
Baker competed in the
second heat against La
Grande, Union and Ontario.
Ash was fi rst across the line,
and Baker placed second as
a team.
In the girls heat, Keller led
the way for Baker followed
by juniors Emma Baeth
(third overall, 21:31), Sydney
Lamb (fi fth, 21:58), and
senior Corah Downing (sixth,
22:13) as Baker won the
team race.
Cole was happy with those
three times and with the
effort of the entire team in
both the Nyssa and Baker
events.
“I’m more surprised by my
other kids that were kind of
trying to fi gure out how do
I navigate COVID, the sea-
son’s weird, and they really
have stepped up and they
ran really tough on Monday
(at Nyssa). I had more PRs
(personal records) today in
just a short turnaround, that
just says a lot about their
grit,” Cole said.
Bott was proud of the ef-
fort put forth by everyone on
the team.
“It’s always super cool see-
ing everyone do their best,
and being proud of them-
selves, for how good they
ran,” Bott said.
team will travel to Harney
County this Friday, March
19, to compete in the Burns
Invitational. Results will be
available at athletic.net.
Baker Invitational Results
GIRLS, HEAT 2
TEAM STANDINGS
Baker 23, La Grande 33
Looking ahead
Cole said the Baker girls
can be competitive at the
state level.
Although the Oregon
School Activities Associa-
tion (OSAA) will not have
a state championship meet,
Class 4A coaches have been
discussing have a state meet
to fi nish the season on April
10, probably at Tillamook.
“We can be competitive
on the state level, we can be
competitive on the district
level,” Cole said. “We are
short on numbers but quality
over quantity.”
For the boys side of her
program, Cole said the team
has room to grow, as the ros-
ter is mainly sophomores.
Despite the strangeness
of running during the late
winter and spring rather
than in fall, Bott said she’s
happy just to have the chance
to compete again.
“As a team we are just
really trying to have fun
this year, and do our best for
ourselves,” Bott said.
Cole is grateful to be back
to coaching.
“I’m excited to be with the
kids, I’m excited how well
they are adapting and work-
ing. I appreciate our commu-
nity and our school district
for working so hard to give
us these opportunities and do
what we can do,” Cole said.
The Baker/Powder Valley
BAKER VOLLEYBALL
BAKER INDIVIDUALS
1., Sydney Keller, 20:21; 3.
Emma Baeth, 21:31; 5. Sydney
Lamb, 21:58; 6. Corah Down-
ing, 22:13; 8. Salena Bott,
23:25; 13. Avril Zikgraf, 25:08
BOYS, HEAT 2
TEAM STANDINGS
Union 33, La Grande 41,
Baker 51, Ontario 96
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Nyssa Invitational
Results
GIRLS, HEAT 2
TEAM STANDINGS
Baker 26, Burns 29
BAKER INDIVIDUALS
1., Sydney Keller, 21:07;
3. Emma Baeth, 22:37; 5.
Sydney Lamb, 22:48; 8. Corah
Downing, 24:54; 9. Salena
Bott, 25:12; 13. Rebekah Shaw,
27:22;
BOYS, HEAT 2
TEAM STANDINGS
Enterprise 23, Baker 43,
Burns 66, Nyssa 99, Four Riv-
ers 105
BAKER INDIVIDUALS
2., Justin Ash, 17:15; 7.
Jordan Mills, 20:44; 9. Gavin
Stone, 20:50; 12. Thaddeus
Pepera, 21:37; 13. Gabriel
Bott, 21:40; 18. Seth Mastrude,
22:40; 32. Dan Wachtel, 33:33
Blazing Fast
Internet!
ADD TO YOUR PACKAGE FOR ONLY
We can help.
19 . 99
$
/mo.
where available
2-YEAR TV PRICE GUARANTEE
$
(1 . 855 . 673 . 2372 )
1 . 855 . ORE . ADRC
ADRCofOregon.org
64
99
MO.
America’s Top 120 Package
190 CHANNELS
Including Local Channels!
CALL TODAY - For $100 Gift Card Promo Code: DISH100
for 12 Mos.
1-866-373-9175
Offer ends 7/14/21.
All offers require credit qualification, 24-month commitment with early termination fee and eAutoPay. Prices include Hopper Duo for qualifying customers. Hopper,
Hopper w/Sling or Hopper 3 $5/mo. more. Upfront fees may apply based on credit qualification.
Baker pushes
Vale to 5 sets
By Corey Kirk
BAKER INDIVIDUALS
1., Justin Ash, 16:28; 10.
Gavin Stone, 19:19; 11. Jordan
Mills, 19:38; 13. Gabriel Bott,
20:06; 16. Thaddeus Pepera,
20:56; 20. Seth Mastrude,
22:31; 26. Ryan Hansen, 29:38;
29. Dan Wachtel, 32:25
Over 60 or have a disability?
Baker’s boys soccer team played even with the
unbeaten La Grande Tigers on Friday, March 12 for
almost the entire fi rst half.
Then came the penalty kick.
La Grande was awarded that kick with about seven
minutes left in the fi rst half of a scoreless match.
The Tigers converted the kick into the match’s fi rst
goal, and that gave La Grande momentum that led to a
3-0 lead at halftime and, eventually, a 6-0 win.
Baker coach Victor Benites said he was impressed
with how Baker (0-3) was playing against La Grande
(2-0-1).
“We played really good for like 25 minutes into the
fi rst half, and then at the end they called a PK (penalty
kick) against us, everything went down after that,”
Benites said.
In the second half, a few Baker defensive miscues led
to La Grande doubling its score.
“We had a couple of mistakes there and they’re close
to the box, they took shots on goal, and they scored,”
Benites said.
Despite the result, Benites was impressed by the ef-
forts of junior goalkeeper Silas Carter, who turned back
about 14 La Grande shots.
“He had some really crazy saves in the fi rst half and
actually the second half too,” Benites said. “He had 10 to
14 saves the whole game which is really good.”
After watching a fi lm of Friday’s match, Benites said
he identifi ed some fundamentals, such as ball control,
that the Bulldogs need to work on.
“We gotta focus on getting ball control,” he said. “We
got to work on that and pass the ball more and to make
the good passes. It’s always the fi rst touch, and the ball
bounces off your knee or whatever, you can’t control it
so we got to work on that.”
After starting its abbreviated season with four
consecutive road matches — the last was today at Four
Rivers, Idaho — Baker returns to the Baker Sports
Complex for its fi nal matches.
The fi rst is set for Thursday, March 18 against Ontar-
io at 4 p.m. The Tigers blanked Baker 4-0 on March 2.
Benites is excited to see the boost of confi dence his
team will have playing on their own fi eld.
“Any time you play at home, you play better and re-
ally harder as a team, I think it’s because they know the
fi eld and everything,” Benites said.
With a team dominated by freshmen and sopho-
mores, Benites is also optimistic about the Bulldogs
showing improvement as the season progresses.
“We have a lot of things that we have to work on, but
I am pretty sure we will get better,” Benites said.
After Thursday’s match, Baker will play host to
Nyssa on Saturday, March 20 at 2 p.m.
Baker’s volleyball team started strong against Vale and
showed its resilience with a late rally, but the Bulldogs
couldn’t overcome the Vikings on their home court, losing
a fi ve-set match on Friday, March 12.
After a four-set loss to La Grande on March 8, Baker
coach Ali Abrego said she emphasized certain fundamen-
tals as the Bulldogs (1-5 on the season) prepared for Vale.
“We had to work on eliminating our errors; offensively
we were missing a ton of serves, and just having com-
munication errors in the back row between our libero and
our DS’s (defensive specialists),” Abrego said. “We focused
really hard on getting into a groove as far as rotations go,
and we served a lot this week in practice.”
That focus paid off early at Vale, as Baker won the fi rst
set, 25-19.
In the second set neither team could hold the momen-
tum, and the set went beyond the usual 25 points as both
teams strived to take the necessary two-point advantage.
Vale ended up winning the set, 29-27, but Abrego said
the tense nature of an extended set served as a lesson for
her young team, with only one senior, Hailey Zikmund, on
the roster.
“They never really had that opportunity,” Abrego said.
“Obviously when any set goes past 25, it’s intensifi ed I
would say and so our younger girls really stepped up if
needed.”
After Vale won the third set, 25-22, Baker rallied to win
the fourth set, 25-23, and force a decisive fi fth set.
Abrego said her team showed major improvements
from the previous match against La Grande.
“Our blocking and our tip coverage was much better
than it was against La Grande, that was another big area
of focus for us,” Abrego said. “Obviously when the rallies
become longer kids tire out, especially younger kids, so
I was really proud of them being able to rally back and
forth six or seven times for a given point and stay funda-
mentally sound.”
See Bulldogs/Page 6A
Imagine The Difference You Can Make
DONATE YOUR CAR
1-844-533-9173
FREE TOWING
TAX DEDUCTIBLE
Help Prevent Blindness
Get A Vision Screening Annually
Ask About A FREE 3 Day
Vacation Voucher To Over
20 Destinations!!!