BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022 A3
LOCAL & SPORTS
BAKER SOFTBALL DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST BURNS
Missed chances cost Baker in losses to Burns
Baker strands
runner at 3rd
in each of last
4 innings in
second game
BMS softball team
opens season
Baker Middle School,
which has a softball program
for the first time, started its
season on Saturday, April 2,
at Fruitland. A Baker team of
eighth and seventh graders
beat McCall, Idaho, 14-6, in
their first game, which went
four innings. The second
game, against Nyssa, ended
in a 7-7 tie after five innings
after reaching a time limit.
Against McCall, Colbi
Bachman and Macey Mor-
gan each had two RBIs. Kate
Nelson, Reagan Ritter, Kel-
lee Dixon and Raegan Gu-
lick each drove in a run. Rit-
ter and Gulick each pitched
two innings.
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The modest span of 60 feet
might as well have been a mile
for the Baker softball team.
That smaller span of dirt lies
between third base and home
plate.
But short though it may be,
it’s also the yawning difference
between winning and losing.
The Bulldogs had no trou-
ble reaching third base during
the second game of a double-
header against Burns on Friday
afternoon, April 1, at the Baker
Sports Complex.
But Baker, which was seek-
ing a split after losing the first
game, never managed the key
hit needed to bring any of those
runners that final 60 feet and
get the Bulldogs on the score-
board.
Burns completed the sweep
with a 5-0 win behind the mas-
terful pitching of Ayla Davies,
who got 17 of her team’s 21
outs on strikeouts and walked
only one batter.
Baker coach Sonny Gulick
balanced his disappointment at
the two losses, which followed
a 3-0 start to the season, with
optimism based on the Bull-
dogs’ resilience.
After Baker fell behind 14-2
in the first game, the Bulldogs
rallied with two outs in the sev-
enth inning, scoring four runs
to make the final score more
respectable at 14-6.
More importantly, Gulick
said, Baker carried over that
momentum into the second
game.
“We were feisty,” he said. “We
never quit, and that’s what I
love to see. I’m very happy with
the growth we showed between
the two games.”
Still and all, Gulick lamented
the many missed chances in
the much more competitive
second game.
“We had our opportunities,”
he said.
An understatement, to be
sure.
Baker moved a runner to
third base in each of the final
four innings.
But in each inning, Davies
pitched her way out of trouble
with a combination of blazing
speed and an occasional chan-
geup that kept Baker batters a
bit off balance.
“We hadn’t seen velocity
like that,” Gulick said of Da-
vies, who also was the winning
pitcher in the first game. “We
started figuring things out, but
we could never get two hits in
a row.”
Baker actually outhit the Hi-
landers in both games — 8 to 7
in the first game and 10 to 5 in
the second.
But Burns got a lot more out
Defense
Continued from Page A1
Klecker said Keys reached
out to him about scheduling a
women’s self defense class.
Klecker, who previously
worked for the Lincoln County
Sheriff’s Office in Newport,
said he taught similar classes
throughout Lincoln County.
“This is something I’ve
wanted to do for a long time
since I moved over here but
with COVID hitting, it was al-
most impossible,” said Klecker,
who is a survival skills instruc-
tor. “They are a lot of fun. I re-
ally enjoy them.”
Joining Klecker and Keys as
instructors in Saturday’s course
in Baker City were two officers
with the Baker County Sher-
iff’s Office, patrol deputy Matt
Rosin and patrol Cpl. Kyle Ebe-
ling.
Among the methods Klecker
demonstrated was getting away
from someone who is sitting
on and choking you.
After demonstrating sev-
eral times how to get out of
the hold, participants paired
off and practiced the methods
slowly and carefully so as not to
harm each other.
“Speed is the enemy of re-
tention; work slow and careful,”
Klecker said.
Advocates for MayDay, in-
cluding Executive Director
Leanna Gautney, set up tables
that had several pamphlets of
information for those attend-
ing. The pamphlets listed dif-
GAME ONE
Burns 4 3 0 3 1 0 3 — 14
Baker 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 — 6
Davies, Dupuy (4) and
Medley. Cuzick, Coley (6) and
K. Anderson.
GAME TWO
Burns 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 — 5
Baker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Davis and Medley. Cuzick and
K. Anderson.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Kaycee Cuzick pitches against Burns on Friday, April 1, 2022, at the Baker Sports Complex.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Kiley Jo Aldrich slides safely into second base during the first
game of a doubleheader against Burns on Friday, April 1, 2022, at the
Sports Complex.
of its hits, including four home
runs in the first game.
Baker also struggled on de-
fense, committing 12 errors in
the first game and five in the
second.
The scorebook in the latter
half of the second game was
a litany of frustrations for the
Bulldogs.
Unlike the first game, in
which Burns led 7-0 after two
innings, the nightcap was close
throughout.
With Kaycee Cuzick throw-
ing well in the the circle for
Baker, Burns led just 2-0 after
three innings.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Kaci Anderson led off with
a single, and with one out
Te’ygan Coley hit a ground rule
double to center.
But Davies struck out the
next two batters to end the
threat.
Gulick gave a rueful chuckle
when he pointed out that Co-
First baseman Te’ygan Coley
catches a pop fly on Friday, April
1, 2022, against Burns at the
Baker Sports Complex.
ley was in effect punished for
hitting the ball too hard. If her
drive had been a little shorter,
and not bounced over the
fence, Anderson almost cer-
tainly would have scored. But
because it was a ground rule
double, Anderson had to stay
at third.
“A good hit cost us a run,”
Gulick said.
In the bottom of the fifth,
Baker’s scoring chance came
with two outs.
people MayDay works with are defense training course twice a
women, Gautney said anyone, year, in spring and fall.
The goal is to make the
regardless of gender or sexual
orientation, can potentially be training available to everyone,
The nonprofit helps victims
a victim who can benefit from for free.
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“It’s a way to bring the com-
an advocacy group such as
assault, and elder and child
munity together and bring in
MayDay.
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or whether you have a situation ney said.
at 1-888-213-4134. More in-
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like the Kardashians, up to that
formation at www.mayday-
Saturday’s event, Gautney said
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inc.net
for people to leave, it’s hard for many of those who attended
said they will be bringing
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and everyone has a right to live friends and family to the next
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Gautney said MayDay would
to be informed on what is hap-
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Makayla Rabourne tripled to
right field, and Cuzick walked.
But Davies got yet another
strikeout to end the inning and
add another zero to Baker’s lin-
escore.
Baker had another leadoff hit
in the bottom of the sixth, when
Oakley Anderson singled. She
advanced to second on Coley’s
groundout and to third on a
wild pitch.
In a repeat of the fourth, Da-
vies bore down and struck out
two straight batters.
Burns boosted its lead to 5-0
with a run in the sixth and two
more in the seventh on Ashley
Wright’s two-run double.
But Baker tried to rally again.
Kiley Jo Aldrich reached on
an error, and Brooklyn Rayl
followed with a single. Aldrich
advanced to third, and Rayl to
second, on a wild pitch, and the
Bulldogs had two runners in
scoring position with no outs.
Davies, though, wasn’t about
to surrender the shutout.
She got three straight outs
— including her 16th and 17th
strikeouts — to finish it.
Gulick praised Cuzick’s
pitching with keeping Baker
in position for a potential
game-changing rally.
She had nine strikeouts and
walked only one batter.
“Kaycee was great in the cir-
cle,” Gulick said.
He was also pleased with
Baker’s defense in the second
game — particularly after the
struggles in the first game.
Gulick said he was thank-
ful that Rabourne, who hasn’t
played outfield, agreed to do
so. He said he wanted to keep
her bat in the lineup. She was 1
for 3 with two RBIs in the first
game, and 3 for 4 in the second.
Even without the assistance
from Baker’s errors, the Hilan-
ders controlled the first game
from the start.
Merissa Medley and Wright
hit back-to-back home runs in
the first inning — Medley’s a
three-run shot — to give Burns
an early 4-0 lead.
The duo repeated that feat in
the fourth inning to boost the
Hilanders’ lead to 10-0.
Although Baker’s record
dropped to 3-2, Gulick said he
believes the Bulldogs are im-
proving.
“Burns is a good team, and
we showed we can play with
a team like that,” he said. “It
makes me feel good that we’re
moving forward.”
The Hilanders are 10-1 and
the top-ranked Class 3A team.
Their only loss was their open-
ing game, 4-0 to Grant Union/
Prairie City on March 17.
Grant Union is unbeaten and
the top-ranked Class 2A team.
Baker returns to the Sports
Complex Tuesday, April 5,
playing host to Nyssa in a sin-
gle game starting at 3 p.m.
Coordinator Ben Klecker and
all the DT Instructors from
our local Sheriff’s Office, Po-
lice Department and State Po-
lice who participated in this
excellent training provided at
no cost to our community, as
well!” Gautney wrote. “Their
volunteer time dedication,
giving up personal time on a
Saturday, showed true selfless-
ness! We are honored to have
been able to host alongside
them, as they brought self de-
fense wisdom and a greater
level of confidence to survivors
in our community!”
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