TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
SPORTS
BAKER FOOTBALL
BAKER CROSS-COUNTRY
Bucks corral Bulldogs, 49-26 Baker sweeps
district meet
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Baker came away with
good experience, but also a
loss, after traveling to Pendle-
ton on Friday, April 2 to take
on the Buckaroos at Round-
Up Stadium.
Pendleton (4-1) topped
Baker (2-3), 49-26.
It wasn’t clear until earlier
in the week who the Bulldogs
would play in their penulti-
mate game of this pandemic-
shortened season, or even if
they would play at all after a
contest with Milwaukie was
canceled.
But the match up with
Class 5A Pendleton came
together quickly.
“We were just happy to
have a game,” Baker coach
Jason Ramos said. “It worked
out well that we were able to
play. It was a good challenge,
they were the best team
we’ve seen all year.”
The feeling was mutual, as
Pendleton coach Erik Davis
told the East Oregonian.
“There was zero hesitation
to play us and I appreciate
that,” Davis said of Baker.
“They have some good foot-
ball players. They had a good
tailback and a couple of line-
men who were tough to block.
They are a good 4A program.”
Preparing for Pendleton
was a tough task, Ramos
said, as multiple players
missed practice due to illness.
The Bulldogs stayed with
the Buckaroos early on.
After Pendleton took a
7-0 lead in the fi rst quarter,
Baker senior quarterback
Gabe Gambleton ran in from
seven yards to cut the lead
to 7-6.
After another Buckaroo
touchdown, Baker senior
running back Gauge Bloomer,
who led all rushers with 173
yards on 25 carries, scored
from three yards out, and
Baker trailed just 14-12.
“We were very effectively
running the ball for most of
the game,” Ramos said. “It
was nice to have (Bloomer)
back full strength, he ran the
ball hard and the guys up
front did a nice job blocking.
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Baker’s Gauge Bloomer (5) gains some of his 173 rushing yards on Friday, April 2
against Pendleton at Round-Up Stadium.
Gauge did some good work on
the ground.”
Led by Bloomer, Baker
outgained Pendleton on the
ground, 186 yards to 151.
Pendleton dominated
much of the rest of the way,
scoring twice more in the
second quarter to lead 28-12
at halftime, then tacking on
two more scores in the third
quarter to push the lead to
42-14.
Baker senior Kaden Myer
caught a pair of touchdown
passes from Gambleton in the
fourth quarter, from 11 and
29 yards, to narrow the fi nal
margin.
Ramos said that despite
Pendleton’s two touchdowns
in the second quarter, he felt
good about Baker’s position,
trailing 28-12 at halftime.
“We just felt like if we went
out and put another score on
the board, we can get back
into the game, so it was just
a matter of adjusting a little
bit to their defensive adjust-
ments and how we were
going to attack that, and try
to clean up our defensive
alignments and miscues,”
Ramos said.
In the loss was a lesson, he
said.
“We have to play clean and
we have to execute within our
gameplan in order for us to
be in a ballgame with a team
like Pendleton,” he said.
Pendleton senior quarter-
back Brogan Biggerstaff had
297 yards passing and four
touchdowns, and senior Tyas-
in Burns had 250 all-purpose
yards for the Buckaroos.
Baker concludes its season
this Friday, April 9 at 7 p.m.
at La Grande.
“We got some work to do on
the defensive side of the ball
this week, so we are going to
try to get better this week,”
Ramos said. “Offensively we
are just going to be fi ne-
tuning what we are already
doing. We are familiar with
La Grande in terms of what
BAKER BOYS SOCCER
Baker tops Four Rivers in
final match of the season
Rilee, new opportunities.
“I moved the two seniors
The Baker boys soccer
to play the striker position
team completed its season
for about 20 minutes to give
with a sound 4-1 defeat of
them a chance to experience
the Four Rivers Falcons on
how it is to play out front,”
Friday, April 2 at the Baker Benites said.
Sports Complex.
Another change Benites
The win over Four Rivers, made was taking junior
a charter school in Ontario, goalkeeper Silas Carter out
gave the Bulldogs a season
of goal to play on the fi eld,
record of 3-6.
giving freshman keeper
“It was a good game, we
Noah Lien more experience.
took over from the start
“He did an excellent
of the game,” coach Victor
job for being a freshman,”
Benites said.
Benites said of Lien.
After honoring Baker’s
Baker added a fourth
two seniors, Clayton Dennis goal in the second half, this
and Dakota Rilee, prior to
one from sophomore Jordan
kick-off, the Bulldogs took
Smith.
the lead and didn’t look
Benites was impressed
back.
with the Bulldogs through-
Sophomore Diego Quin-
out the match.
tela scored fi rst, followed
“I think that the commu-
later in the fi rst half by goals nication was a factor, pass-
by junior Isael Duran and
ing and helping each other,”
sophomore Diego Bedolla.
Benites said.
With a 3-0 lead at half-
The Falcons scored late to
time, Benites changed his
avoid a shutout.
lineup in the second to give
Benites said he will miss
his two seniors, Dennis and the leadership that Dennis
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
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they do. We will get a good
look at them on fi lm and see
what we need to do this week,
and just have a good week of
practice.”
Baker
6
6 0 14 — 26
Pendleton
14 14 14
7 — 49
P — 3 run (kick good)
B — Gambleton 7 run (kick failed)
P — 15 pass (kick good)
B — G. Bloomer 3 run (two-point conversion
failed)
P — 13 pass (kick good)
P — 7 run (kick good)
P — 2 run (kick good)
P — 21 pass (kick good)
B — K. Myer 11 pass from Gambleton (two-
point conversion failed)
P — 60 run (kick good)
B — K. Myer 29 pass from Gambleton
(Gambleton run)
Individual statistics (Baker only)
Rushing — G. Bloomer 25-173, Gambleton
10-25, Freeman 2-4.
Passing — Gambleton 5-21-103-2.
Receiving — Myer 3-95, Delarosa 2-8.
Annie Fowler of the East
Oregonian contributed
to this story.
Led by individual wins from seniors Sydney Keller
and Justin Ash, the Baker/Powder Valley cross-country
teams won the team titles at the district cross-country
meet Friday, April 2 at La Grande.
“I am really impressed with both Justin and Sydney,
they ran great individual races, ran with a lot of confi -
dence,” Cole said. “I’m happy with how the meet went,
the way the kids ran, obviously we are super excited to
have a district meet. It was the frosting on the cake so to
speak.”
But not the fi nal layer.
Baker now prepares for a state meet — not sanctioned
by the Oregon School Activities Association — on Satur-
day, April 10 at Eugene’s Marist High School.
On Saturday at La Grande, Baker won the boys team
title by the slimmest of margins, with 34 points to La
Grande’s 35.
The individual race was nearly as close, with Ash
crossing the line in 16:51, just four seconds ahead of La
Grande senior Cristian Mendoza.
Cole said she expected the team standings likely
would come down to a single point.
Baker sophomore Thaddeus Pepera, who fi nished sev-
enth, ran a key race, with “a great kick in the end which
ended up being that pivotal point for us,” Cole said. “That
was super exciting.”
Junior Gavin Stone placed fi fth for Baker. Gabriel Bott
was 9th, Jordan Mills 12th, Seth Mastrude 13th, and
Ryan Hansen 23rd.
In the girls race, Keller defended her 2019 district title,
winning in 20:48, almost 48 seconds ahead of runner up
Emily Tubbs, a La Grande freshman.
Baker’s Emma Baeth placed third, followed by Sydney
Lamb in fi fth, Salena Bott in seventh, Corah Downing in
8th, and Avril Zickgraf in 12th.
“Our girls’ strength is they do a great job packing it up,
and so they ran in a great pack,” Cole said.
Although there won’t be any statewide competition for
some other sports to conclude this pandemic-shortened
season for traditional fall sports, cross-country is an
exception. Coaches have been planning the state meet,
which normally takes place in November at Lane Com-
munity College in Eugene.
“We are super excited to be able to compete at state, we
really appreciate our school district’s support and letting
our kids compete as much as they can,” Cole said.
She plans to employ the same training philosophy in
preparation for the state meet, but with less mileage to
ensure the Bulldogs are well-rested.
“Ten days from state is when you start backing off a
little bit and letting your legs recover,” Cole said.
The girls race starts at 11:15 a.m., with the boys begin-
ning about noon. Results are posted at www.athletic.net.
e
c
a
e
P of Mind
and Rilee provided to their
younger teammates.
“I will miss their presence,
leadership and hard work
they did to improve their
soccer skills,” Benites said.
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