A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2022
SPORTS
BAKER BASEBALL DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST LA GRANDE
BAKER TENNIS
Tigers dominate Baker in twinbill Baker tops Vale,
Baker falls to
4-2 in Greater
Oregon League
La Grande 2 2 0 0 6 — 10
Baker
0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Schow and Jorgensen. Car-
ter, Spike (5) and Logsdon.
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
About the time the skies
opened up, so did the flood-
gate of runs for the La Grande
baseball team.
In a pivotal doubleheader
pitting Baker against the Ti-
gers, both sporting 4-0 records
in the Greater Oregon League,
La Grande turned a close first
game into a rout with six runs
in the soggy fifth inning on
Wednesday, April 20.
The Tigers dominated
thereafter, winning the first
game 10-0 and the second
game 16-0, both games end-
ing after five innings, to take
control of the league race on
a chilly afternoon with occa-
sional rain squalls and wind
gusts buffeting the Baker
Sports Complex.
The Bulldogs dropped to
4-2 in league play, 8-8 overall.
The Tigers, ranked fifth in
the state in the Class 4A rat-
ings, improved to 15-1 overall
and 6-0 in the GOL.
La Grande hasn’t allowed a
run in its last four games.
Baker managed two hits on
Wednesday, one in each game.
“We had opportunities,”
Baker coach Tim Smith said.
“Their pitchers had command
of the strike zone and they
kept us off balance. We had
a few hard hits but we hit the
ball up in the air a little too
much. We kind of struggled at
the plate.”
The Tigers took a 4-0 lead
with a pair of runs in each of
the first two innings of the
first game. La Grande scored
three of those runs with two
outs. Noah McIlmoil had the
biggest hit, a two-run single
with two outs in the top of
the first.
Baker had a promising start
in its first at bat, as leadoff hit-
ter Hayden Younger singled,
and advanced to second on
Hudson Spike’s sacrifice.
But Younger was stranded
on second after La Grande
starter Jace Schow induced a
competes at Parma
GAME ONE
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Baker’s tennis teams won
three of five boys matches,
and four of five girls matches,
against Vale on Friday morn-
ing, April 22, at the Ash Grove
courts in Baker City.
The Bulldogs dominated the
singles matches, winning all
three boys and all three girls
matches.
It was Baker’s fourth match
in five days.
GAME TWO
La Grande 3 3 3 7 0 — 16
Baker
0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Tsiatsos and Jorgensen.
Capon, Chastain (3) and
Logsdon.
first game, gave up a single
hit and one walk. He struck
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald out three.
Baker’s Hayden Younger slides safely into first base after a pickoff
Smith said Baker pitchers
yielded too many “free passes”
attempt on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at the Sports Complex.
— walks and hit batters.
fly out and finished the inning
“We certainly didn’t
And although he was
with a strikeout.
threaten at any point of the
pleased with Baker’s defense in
Baker pitcher Silas Carter
game offensively,” Smith said. the outfield, Smith said Baker
held the Tigers scoreless in the “To score runs you have to
infielders made too many mis-
third and fourth to keep the
have baserunners, and we
takes for the Bulldogs to com-
Bulldogs within reach.
didn’t.”
pete against a team as strong as
The Baker defense make
La Grande dominated the
La Grande.
some key plays, including a
second game from the start.
“When our pitchers did
6-4-3 double play — Cole Hes-
Devin Bell got things
throw ground balls we didn’t
ter to Younger to Kai Ogan — started for the Tigers with a
make the plays,” Smith said.
that ended the top of the third. triple to deep right field that “We have to play error-free
The fifth inning, though,
scored Schow, who led off
defense and command the
was a mess — and not only
with a walk.
strike zone in order to keep it
due to the heavy rain shower
La Grande scored two more close against that team, and
that moved in from the south. runs, one on an error, one on we didn’t do either. A team
After a leadoff walk to Cole a passed ball, to lead 3-0 after like that is going to capitalize
Jorgensen, Smith summoned half an inning.
on mistakes.”
Spike from center field to re-
The Tigers extended their
Smith said the challenge for
place Carter on the mound.
lead to 6-0 in the second, all
Baker’s coaching staff is to bol-
Spike walked McIlmoil, and with two outs.
ster the team’s mental strength.
Nick Bornstedt followed with
Baker hit a few hard balls
He said the Bulldogs tend to
a single that scored Jorgensen against La Grande’s Sam Tsi-
get down on themselves after
and gave La Grande a 5-0 lead. atsos — notably Connor
one mistake, letting a single er-
After a groundout, Jarett
Chastain’s line drive to deep
ror compound itself and lead
Armstrong doubled down the center in the bottom of the
to multiple miscues.
left field line to score two more second after Hester singled
“We need to practice harder
runs and boost the Tigers’ lead with two outs.
and with more focus,” Smith
to 7-0.
But La Grande center-
said. “If you’re not executing
Another groundout put
fielder Cesar Rodriguez made in practice you can’t expect to
Baker one out from ending the an over the shoulder catch of
perform in a game situation.”
rally, but La Grande had two
Chastain’s drive to end the in-
Baker will travel to La
more hits and also benefited
ning and likely save a run. Had Grande on Saturday, April 23,
from a hit batter, a walk and an Chastain’s hit been 10 feet to
for a nonleague game against
error to score three more runs. the right the ball likely would Philomath at 2 p.m.
Baker, needing to score at
have bounced off the wall for a
The Bulldogs then return to
least one run in the fifth to
double or triple.
the Sports Complex on Mon-
keep the game from ending
“Plays like that can change
day, April 25 for another non-
by 10-run rule, went down
the momentum in a game,”
league game against Heppner/
in order.
Smith said.
Ione with the first pitch at
Schow allowed only one hit
La Grande scored three
5 p.m. Monday is Pink Night,
— Younger’s leadoff single — more runs in the third and
with the Bulldogs wearing
and struck out six while yield- seven runs in the fourth.
pink uniforms to raise aware-
ing only one walk.
Tsiatsos, like Schow in the ness about breast cancer.
Boys singles
Danny Cunningham beat
Braxton Baire, 6-2, 6-4
Caleb Hills beat AJ Sigrah,
6-1, 6-1
Ashton LeTourneau beat
Sam Mendieta, 6-2, 6-2
Boys doubles
Ethan Hills and Jayden
Yencopal lost to Luke Mc-
Gourty and John Wolfe, 6-1, 6-1
Noah Lien and Weston
Downing lost to Kailey Mc-
Gourty and Jessi Arriola, 6-3, 6-0
rarities this spring — Baker’s
top boys singles player, Danny
Cunningham, lost the first set
against Hayden Ankenbauer,
7-5, but rallied to win the sec-
ond set 6-4 and force a third.
Ankenbauer prevailed in
the decisive set, again by a 7-5
score.
Baker players also had a
chance to “test the waters and
play mixed doubles,” Younger
said.
Mixed doubles is a separate
category for Idaho schools, but
it’s not an official division for
now in Oregon, although some
leagues have unofficial mixed
doubles matches.
Results from other matches
(names for Parma players not
available for all matches):
Boys Singles
Caleb Hills lost to Bryant
Sitts, 6-4, 6-1
Anthony Christopher lost to
Colton Capistran, 6-2
Boys Doubles
Ethan Hills and Jayden
Girls singles
Yencopal lost to Bronson Bells
Sarah Plummer beat Ali Al- and Braden Hancock, 6-0, 6-1
dred, 6-1, 6-1
Noah Lien and Weston
Isabel Cunningham beat Au- Downing lost to Cade Grambo
tumn Jones, 6-0, 6-0
and Matt Mikelson, 6-2, 6-3
Campbell Vanderwiele beat
Lincoln Nemec and Diego
Livia Flynn, 6-3, 6-3
Jones-Bedolla lost in a pro
set, 8-4
Girls doubles
Maya Smith and Olivia
Girls Singles
Jacoby lost to Brenda Ramirez
Campbell Vanderwiele lost
and Elise Seals, 7-5, 7-5
to Lexi Atkinson, 6-0, 6-0
Tristen Tritt and Riley Shaw
Daphne Thomas lost 6-0
beat Giselle Bahena and Au-
tumn Jones, 0-6, 6-4, 12-10
Girls Doubles
(tiebreaker)
Maya Smith and Olivia
Two days earlier, on Wednes- Jacoby lost to Maryn Wagstaff
day, April 20, Baker traveled to and Julie Page, 6-2, 6-3
Parma, Idaho, and came away
Tristen Tritt and Riley Shaw
with two match wins.
lost to Brooklyn Mann and
“Every match the kids im-
Hailey Sitts, 6-0, 6-0
prove,” Baker coach Amy
Campbell Vanderwiele and
Younger said. “All the matches Ruby Warner lost in a pro
had great competition.”
set, 8-1
On the girls side, Isabel Cun-
ningham beat Parma’s Makayla Mixed Doubles
Searle in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Ethan Hills and Maya Smith
In boys singles, Ashton Le- lost to Evan Weber and Karli
Tourneau beat Noah Enos,
Hancock, 6-0, 6-0
6-0, 6-1.
Caleb Hills and Olivia Jacoby
On a day that Younger said
lost to Wyatt Jemmett and Abbi
was “beautiful” and “sunny” — Searle, 6-0, 7-5
Then
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