6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
BAKER BASEBALL
Baker rolls past
Tigers in twinbill
BAKER SOFTBALL
Ontario sweeps Baker in doubleheader
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
As the wind blew through
the Baker Sports Complex
Tuesday, May 4, the On-
tario Tigers swept Baker in
a Greater Oregon League
softball doubleheader.
Ontario won the opener 16-
0, and the nightcap 11-1.
Although the Tigers took
command immediately, with
10 runs in the top of the fi rst
inning of the fi rst game, Bak-
er coach Sonny Gulick said he
was proud of starting pitcher
Teygan Coley’s resolve.
“I thought she played really
gritty, considering at the plate
and in the fi eld we weren’t
doing a really good job sup-
porting her,” Gulick said of
the sophomore pitcher.
Outside of a couple of base
hits from sophomore Taylor
Gyllenberg and Coley herself,
the Bulldogs were unable
to spark any sort of mo-
mentum offensively, strik-
ing eight times in the fi rst
game.
Ontario scored six more
runs in the next two innings
and eventually triggered the
mercy rule.
In game two, Gulick
tabbed sophomore Kaycee
Cuzick to pitch, and he was
pleased with her effort.
“I thought she did a great
job, she threw lots of strikes,
and was able to keep us in it
through six (innings),” Gu-
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Taylor Gyllenberg takes a swing during a softball doubleheader against On-
tario on Tuesday, May 4 at the Baker Sports Complex.
lick said. “I really thought
Kaycee was going to get us
through seven today.”
After putting up three
runs in the fi rst, Ontario
gained and maintained their
lead for game two.
Baker scored its lone run
in the sixth inning when
sophomore Kaci Anderson
crossed the plate, but with
Ontario leading by 10 runs
the game didn’t move to a
seventh inning due to the
mercy rule.
“I loved how we changed
our mentality for game
two, it was obvious we were
there to at least have them
get us out, not just give an
out away,” Gulick said.
He believes that the
mentality the Bulldogs de-
veloped in the second game
should be their goal for the
rest of the season.
“It was like watching
a different team play, we
looked far more grown up
in game two then we did
in game one, and that was
good to see,” Gulick said.
He’s also excited about the
potential of a team made
of primarily of sophomores,
many of whom are play-
ing both junior varsity and
varsity.
The two teams combined
to win all six of their games
last week.
“So many of those kids
are playing JV and they’ve
got to learn what a win is
like,” Gulick said. “Now we
just have to fi gure out how
to not make the mistakes
that hurt us, so we can fi nd
what a couple of wins on the
varsity level could be like.”
Gulick is thankful for
both his players and their
parents for being supportive.
“When you are going
through growing pains, and
trying to build a program,
they’re going to be some
rough patches,” he said. “I
sure do appreciate the kids
and the parents being so
positive with how things are
going.”
Baker’s varsity team
travels to La Grande today
for a doubleheader starting at
2 p.m.
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
The Baker baseball team went on the road Tuesday,
May 4 and returned from Ontario with two wins, 5-1
and 18-1.
In the opener, Baker senior Mason Van Arsdall faced
off against Ontario ace Nick Esplin. Van Arsdall allowed
seven hits over 6.2 innings, and Zander Arriaga got the
fi nal out after Van Arsdall reached his pitch limit.
“They (Ontario) had a lot of fi elding errors, we might
have had one earned run out of fi ve, it was a pitching
battle basically,” Baker coach Tim Smith said.
Van Arsdall and Hudson Spike each had a double and
an RBI for Baker, which largely struggled with Esplin,
recording 14 strikeouts.
Smith also credited Hayden Younger, Baker’s speedy
leadoff hitter who was hit by a pitch and stole two
bases, for giving the Bulldogs a spark.
“He (Younger) hit the ball well, we were a menace on
the bases, (and) he was probably the main cog in getting
that thing going,” Smith said of Younger, who scored one
of Baker’s fi ve runs.
In the nightcap, sophomore Thomas Smithson took
the mound and held Ontario scoreless over 2.1 innings.
“He pitched two and a third with no earned runs, and
we played great defense behind him,” Smith said.
Baker didn’t commit an error in the second game, and
had only one miscue in the fi rst game.
While Smithson was keeping the Tigers in check, the
Bulldogs took control with a total of 10 runs in the fi rst
three innings, including four in the opening frame.
Baker scored at least twice in each inning of the
game, which ended after fi ve innings due to the 10-run
mercy rule.
Baker piled up 16 hits.
“We came out early putting four runs on the board,
we were swinging it well in game two,” Smith said.
Younger went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs, Connor Chastain
was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, and Andrew Zellars was 3 for 3
with an RBI.
Arriaga was 2 for 4, including a triple, and drove in a
run, and Spike and Younger each had a double.
Arriaga replaced Smithson on the mound in the
third, and Chastain threw the fi nal inning. Baker’s
three pitchers allowed fi ve hits and struck out six.
Baker (6-4) now gets another chance against its nem-
esis this season, La Grande. All four of Baker’s losses
were to the Tigers.
“I think we are capable of playing better baseball
than we’ve played against them,” Smith said. “That’s
what we are looking for, we are looking to compete and
give ourselves a chance.”
The Bulldogs travel to La Grande on Saturday, May 8
for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Sophomore Teygan Coley
was the starting pitcher in
the fi rst game of Baker’s
doubleheader against
Ontario on Tuesday, May 4
at the Sports Complex.
BAKER TENNIS
Baker falls to Ontario, 8-2
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
In their second match up of the season, the
Baker tennis team won two of 10 matches
against Ontario on Monday, May 3 at the Ash
Grove courts.
Junior Sarah Plummer beat Emma Nau-
verrete 8-4 in a pro set, then fell 6-2, 6-2 to
Laken Herrera in a regular match.
Baker coach Amy Younger said Plummer
played well against Herrera.
“They both worked very hard for every
point and game,” Younger said.
On the boys side, Baker’s lone win was the
freshmen doubles team of Noah Lien and
Weston Downing, who beat Humberto Gonza-
les and John Paul 9-8 in a pro set, winning the
tiebreaker 7-3.
Younger said sophomores Davis Macias and
Austin Hays showed promise in their 6-3, 6-3
loss to Jerred Halley and Cristeon Rodrigues.
“There were great rallies, both teams
worked hard for all games earned,” Younger
said.
Baker travels to La Grande Friday, May 7,
with matches starting at 4 p.m.
Hawks end Blazers’ win streak
By Paul Newberry
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA — Danilo Galli-
nari made seven 3-pointers and
finished with 28 points, leading
the Atlanta Hawks to a 123-114
victory over the Portland Trail
Blazers in a matchup Monday
night of teams battling for play-
off positioning in their respec-
tive conferences.
The Hawks snapped
Portland’s four-game winning
streak, which had come entirely
on the road.
Atlanta entered the night
tied for fifth in the Eastern
Conference, with the Trail Blaz-
ers holding the same spot in the
West. Both teams are looking
to avoid dropping as low as sev-
enth, which would force them
into the play-in tournament.
After getting in early Monday
from Boston, where they beat
the Celtics the previous night,
the Trail Blazers were forced
from the hotel rooms to take
refuge in a parking garage for
about a half-hour by a tornado
warning in Atlanta.
They ran out of steam in
the fourth quarter, ruining
a 33-point night for Damian
Lillard and a bit of history for
Carmelo Anthony.
The 36-year-old Anthony
scored 14 points to surpass
Elvin Hayes for 10th place on
the NBA’s career scoring list
with 27,318.
“This moment is a little bit
special,” Anthony said. “I don’t
want to downplay it. I’m excited
about it.”
The Hawks were excited
about the win, especially with
Gallinari providing a big lift off
the bench.
“It’s very important,” coach
Nate McMillan said. “You’ve got
to have a first and second unit.
He’s a big part of how we play
in that second unit.”
Bogdan Bogdanovic provided
the bulk of Atlanta’s offense
over the first two quarters,
scoring 23 of his 25 points for
the second highest-scoring half
of his career.
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