BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2022 A3 SPORTS BAKER BASEBALL Bulldog baseball off to 3-0 start The second game featured a lot more offense, as Heppner/Ione Baker was just waiting to play an jumped ahead 3-0 after one inning extra inning, apparently. and 7-4 after two. The Bulldog baseball team Baker whittled away at the lead, erupted for 11 runs in the final in- scoring two runs in the top of the ning of a doubleheader on Thurs- sixth to tie the score at 7. Heppner/ day, March 17, at Heppner, turn- Ione went ahead 8-7 with a run in ing a tie into a 19-8 win in eight the bottom half, but Baker got an- innings and completing a sweep of other run in the top of the seventh Heppner/Ione. to make it 8-8. Baker, which won the first game Smith said Heppner/Ione had the 7-2, improved to 3-0 on the season. potential game-winning run at third “I thought we played pretty well base with one out in the bottom of defensively in both games, our in- the seventh, but Capon, who was field was solid,” Baker coach Tim Baker’s second relief pitcher, had a Smith said. strikeout and induced a ground ball He said he thought Baker hit to force extra innings. the ball better than in the sea- And that’s when, as Smith put it, son opener at Parma, Idaho, on “the floodgates opened.” Wednesday, March 16, although he Most of the Baker line up had a lamented the seven runners Baker hit as Baker pushed 11 runs across left on base in the first game at Hep- the plate to take a 19-8 lead. pner. Capon held Heppner/Ione score- “It could have been a bigger score less in the bottom of the eighth. for sure,” Smith said. “We came out in the top of the Connor Chastain started on the eighth and really put it to them,” mound and allowed just three hits Smith said. and two runs in 5.2 innings, strik- Logsdon went 4 for 5 and drove in ing out six. four runs. Younger was 3 for 4 with “Connor threw one of the bet- 2 RBI, Chastain 3 for 5 with an RBI, ter games he’s thrown at the var- Cody Skidgel 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, Kai sity level,” Smith said. “Whenever Ogan 3 for 6 with 3 RBI, Hudson we can get at least five innings out Spike 2 for 6 with 2 RBI, and Caiden of our starter we’re going to be in Benson 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. good shape.” Alex Crawford relieved Chastain At Parma, Idaho and held Heppner/Ione scoreless Baker opened its season at Parma over the final 1.1 innings. with a performance that was the re- Chastain helped himself at the verse of what Smith anticipated. plate, driving in a pair of runs. The Bulldogs struggled at the Jaxon Logsdon, Logan Capon and plate, with no extra-base hits and 15 Hayden Younger each had two hits. strikeouts. BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com But Baker played solid defense, with no errors, and four Baker pitchers combined to allow seven hits and two runs in a 5-2 win. “We played better defensively than we did offensively, which I didn’t expect would be the case,” Smith said. With weather forcing Baker to spend much of its practice time in the batting cages rather than on the field, he anticipated a better offen- sive showing. “It shows that live hitting is differ- ent than being in the cages,” Smith said. “We’ve got things to work on. It was a rough win.” Smith said starting pitcher Chastain and a trio of relievers — Thomas Smithson, Silas Carter and Capon — all threw well for their first outing of the season. With a doubleheader scheduled the next day, Smith had to limit pitch counts against Parma. Pitch- ers who throw more than 25 pitches can’t pitch the next day, so Smith capped Chastain, Smithson and Ca- pon to that threshold. Carter, who came on in the fourth and threw 51 pitches over three in- nings, earned the win. He struck out four batters, walked two and allowed only one run. Baker scored all its runs in the fifth inning, breaking up a scoreless game through four. Smithson had the biggest hit with a two-run single. Cody Skidgel also had an RBI single. Although Baker hitters struggled to make solid contact at the plate, Smith said he was pleased with the AT PARMA Baker 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 — 5 Parma 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 — 2 Chastain, Smithson (2), Carter (4), Ca- pon (7) and Logsdon. Powers, Hult- man (5) and Heffelfinger. WP: Carter. LP: Powers. GAME ONE AT HEPPNER/IONE Baker 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 — 7 Hepp./Ione 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 2 Chastain, Crawford (6) and Logsdon. Ashbeck, Eynetich (7) and Proud- foot. WP: Chastain. LP: Ashbeck. 2B: Capon. GAME TWO AT HEPPNER/IONE Baker 0 4 0 1 0 2 1 11 — 19 Hepp./Ione 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 8 Smithson, Benson (2), Capon (7) and Logsdon. Nation, Eynetich (8), Wilkins (8) and Proudfoot. WP: Capon. LP: Eynetich. 2B: Skidgel, Younger, Spike, Benson, Logsdon. Bulldogs’ speed when they did get on base. Baker had 11 stolen bases, including three by Capon and two thefts each from Smithson, Logsdon and Spike. “We didn’t get on base a lot, but when we did we wanted to move runners into scoring position,” Smith said. “We can steal bases. It was exciting to see.” Less than half a day after return- Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald ing from Heppner, the Bulldogs headed out on Interstate 84 en route Baker baseball player Thomas Smithson to Arizona, where they’ll play four awaits a pitch during batting practice on games next week. March 15, 2022. NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Top seed Gonzaga pulls away late ally had too much size and skill for the Panthers. Drew Timme scored 22 of his 32 PORTLAND — Gon- points in the second half, zaga coach Mark Few has making up for a sluggish seen plenty of No. 16 seeds start by the Zags and a long in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. When stretch of the first half when he watched video of Georgia the tournament’s No. 1 over- State, the longtime Bulldogs’ all seed couldn’t make a bas- coach didn’t see a team that ket. Even when Gonzaga’s of- fit that profile. Few turned to be correct. fense kicked into gear af- Gonzaga spent 30 minutes ter halftime, the Panthers struggling to create any sep- didn’t fold. aration against the 16th- seeded Panthers before pulling away late for a 93-72 win on Thursday, March 17. “Once we started really breaking them down, I kept telling people that’s not a 16 seed,” Few said after Gonzaga won its 13th straight first-round game in the NCAAs. “I think they showed it to- night. Georgia State gave us quite a fight.” The Bulldogs eventu- BY TIM BOOTH Associated Press Baker City Public Works/Contributed Photo A fire on Thursday evening, March 16, 2022, scorched the city’s sewer jetter truck at the Baker City Public Works Department shops. Fire She praised the resident who reported the blaze. Continued from Page A1 “I can’t say enough how grateful I am that a citizen Fire damage was so extensive who saw something, said that it wasn’t possible to identify something,” Owen said. “It a specific part on the truck that could have been a lot worse. might have sparked the fire. He It’s bad enough.” said the truck had not had any recent mechanical issues. The public works depart- Alan (Big Al) King ment uses that truck, which March 17, 1947 – January 10, 2022 has a water tank, to dislodge Alan Lloyd King was born blockages in sewer lines. The March 17, 1947, to Lloyd truck has a pump that creates a Sterling King and Della Frances high-pressure surge of water. Ryan in Exeter, California, and Owen said city workers park the truck in what’s known died with his wife by his side on as the “warm storage” build- January 10, 2022, in Appleton, ing, which is kept at a warm Wisconsin, from Covid. enough temperature to pre- He is survived by his wife, vent the water in the sewer jet- Sheri. Children: Aaron (Rilda) ter truck from freezing. King, Becky (Jack) Zoglman, She said the truck was Ryan King and Karle (Jason) parked and shut down as Stoll. Grandchildren: Ethan usual after being used on (fiancé Alyssa) Zoglman, Grace Zoglman, Andrew Wednesday. Zoglman, Ben Winans, Xander Winans, Jonathan Stoll, “It was shut down like ev- Nick Stoll, Drew Stoll. Sister: Anita Joyce Barlow. ery other day,” Owen said. Nephew: Robert Barlow. Niece: Sarah Barlow. “We use it every day, we go A Celebration of Al’s life will be Tuesday, March 22, through the same process 2022, at 11 a.m. at Harvest Church, 3720 Birch St. in every day. There wasn’t any- Baker City. thing unique or different.” Remembrances can be made to a charity or program Flames spread elsewhere of your choice. in the warm storage building and damaged a pickup truck the city uses to spread salt and sand at icy or snowy in- tersections, as well as a street sweeper. The city likely will need to rent equipment to temporarily replace the vehicles damaged by the fire, Owen said. The building itself, which has metal siding, will need to be stripped to the studs. Fast & & Reliable Reliable “There was some electrical Fast damage,” Owen said. Call or or Text Text 24/7 Call 24/7 The city’s insurance com- Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831 pany had an adjuster look at Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831 the damage, Owen said. Eight Baker City firefighters Stay up-to-date with Microsoft’s most worked on the blaze, with mu- advanced operating system to date, tual aid from the Baker Rural Fire Protection District. 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Timme was the catalyst, topping 30 points for the fifth time in his career while also grabbing 13 rebounds. Chet Holmgren, the Zags’ 7-foot freshman, added 19 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocks. “My guys had my back and the coaches believed in me. I just had confidence from them,” said Timme, who was 3 of 7 shooting and 4 of 9 at the foul line in the first half. “It’s really reassuring. It re- ally can help give you a boost when you get a little down on yourself.” Rich, poor, old, young. Compassion doesn’t discriminate. Our calling is you.