BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2022 A5 SPORTS BAKER BASEBALL AT ONTARIO Bulldogs dominate Ontario in doubleheader Baker remains in second place in GOL standings Baker drops nonleague game at Homedale BY JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald Baker locked up second place in the Greater Oregon League baseball standings and strengthened its positioning for the Class 4A playoffs with a dominating sweep of On- tario on Thursday, May 5, at Ontario. Baker won the opener 20-0 and the second game 17-1 to improve its league record to 8-2. The Bulldogs, 14-9 overall, trail only La Grande, which is 10-0 in GOL play, 21-1 overall and ranked fourth in the state. Baker’s two league losses were to La Grande in a dou- bleheader on April 20 at the Baker Sports Complex. Baker concludes its GOL schedule by traveling to La Grande for a doubleheader on Friday, May 13. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. “It’s a tall order for us,” Baker coach Tim Smith said of the upcoming rematch against La Grande. The Tigers have not only been winning, they’ve been annihilating their oppo- nents, not allowing a single run in their past 10 games. That streak includes 10-0 and 16-0 wins over Baker. “I think they’re the best team in the state overall,” Smith said of La Grande. On Thursday at Ontario, Baker led from the start, scor- ing two runs in the top of the first inning of the opener. Baker scored both runs with- out the benefit of a hit. Jaxon Logsdon and Connor Chastain both walked to start BAKER TENNIS AT NYSSA Baker drops 8 of 10 matches Baker City Herald NYSSA — On the hottest day of an otherwise chilly spring, the Baker tennis teams had a tough outing against Nyssa on Wednesday, May 4. Nyssa won eight of 10 matches. Baker’s Ashton LeTour- neau had the lone win on the boys side, winning his sin- gles match over Nyssa’s Brady Cooper, 6-3, 6-4. On the girls side, Baker’s No. 1 doubles team of Maya Smith and Olivia Jacoby rebounded from a second set loss to beat Laney Hartley and Malory Long, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. Other boys results: Singles Danny Cunningham lost to Dawson Richards, 7-6 (7- 5), 6-4 Caleb Hills lost to Seth Bal- lantyne, 6-4, 6-1 Doubles Ethan Hills and Jayden Yencopal lost to Howard Rushton and Spencer Ro- mans, 6-4, 6-4 Anthony Christopher and Weston Downing lost to Sebas- tian Berry and Porter Carlton, 6-2, 6-3 Girls singles Sarah Plummer lost to Mary Esplin, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 Campbell Vanderwiele lost to Brenna Kesler, 6-3, 6-3 Girls doubles Tristen Tritt and Riley Shaw lost to London Hartley and Belle Wagstaff, 6-2, 6-2 Daphne Thomas and Ruby Shaw lost to Courtney Carl- ton and Oyuky Amezquita, 6-1, 6-2 The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. eomediagroup.com Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald Connor Chastain at bat against Ontario on April 15, 2022, at the Baker Sports Complex. the game. Logsdon stole sec- ond and third, and scored on a passed ball. Chastain scored Baker’s second run on Logan Capon’s groundout. Two runs were more than enough for the Bulldogs with pitcher Silas Carter stifling the Tigers from the start. Carter, who had a no-hitter broken up by a single in the last inning, allowed just one hit and one walk, striking out 10 in a six-inning complete game win. Baker added three runs in the top of the third, and this time the Bulldogs used hits to add to their lead. Capon and Carter each had RBI singles. Baker extended its lead to 6-0 with a run in the fourth. After a scoreless fifth inning, Baker unleashed an offensive onslaught in the top of the sixth that resulted in 14 runs, a single-inning season high for the Bulldogs. Twenty Baker batters came to the plate during the inning, which featured seven hit bat- ters, five Baker hits, three walks and two errors. Logsdon finished the game 2 for 3 with four RBIs, Capon was 1 for 3 with three RBIs, and Carter and Cole Hester had two RBIs each. Smith said he was a bit dis- appointed with Baker’s hitting early in the game. “We didn’t swing it as well as we should against average pitching,” he said, pointing out that Baker scored both first-in- ning runs without a hit. “We didn’t really go out and earn them,” Smith said. “We capitalized on their mistakes.” The second game followed a similiar script. Baker again took a 2-0 lead after the first inning. And the Bulldogs got an- other dominating pitching performance, this time from Capon, who yielded four hits and struck out five. Smith said both Capon and Carter were “outstanding” on the mound. Smith called Baker’s defense “phenomenal,” as the Bulldogs had two errors in each game. Ontario scored its lone run, unearned, in the bottom of the third to briefly trim Bak- er’s lead to 3-1. But the Bulldogs scored five runs in the top of the fourth to take control. And Baker didn’t need any help from miscues by Ontario pitchers or fielders. Baker had eight straight hits in the inning, including an RBI double by Aldo Du- HOMEDALE, Idaho — The skies were beautiful over Homedale, Idaho, as the Baker baseball team arrived for a nonleague game on Wednesday, May 4, but the Trojans weren’t as accommodating. Homedale played error-free defense and amassed 13 hits in claim- ing a 13-3 win that ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule. The first inning seemed to promise a different game, however. Baker loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first, but a groundout left the runners high and dry. Homedale went scoreless in the first inning as well, but the Trojans broke through with five runs in the second. Baker trimmed the lead to 5-3 with three runs in the third. Hudson Spike drove in Baker’s first run with a single, and Cole Hester had a two-run double later in the inning. The Trojans added one run in the bottom of the third, and then took control with four more runs in the fourth to push the lead to 10-3. Baker hurt itself with four errors, and although only two miscues led directly to runs, the mistakes gave Homedale extra opportunities that the Trojans took advantage of. Baker had eight hits, with Spike, Connor Chastain and Jaxon Logs- don getting two each. Homedale gained a measure of revenge after losing to Baker, 8-6, on March 30 at the Baker Sports Complex. — Ian Crawford ran and a two-run triple from Logsdon. Hudson Spike’s RBI single boosted Baker’s lead to 8-1. As in the first game, Baker finished the second with a big inning. This time the Bulldogs plated nine runs on seven hits. Smith said Baker batters were much more effective in the latter portions of both games, waiting on pitches and driving balls into the gaps. “From the third inning on of both games we hit the ball well,” he said. Baker finished with 17 hits in the second game. Duran was 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Cody Skidgel, Capon and Logsdon had two RBIs each. Baker will host a playoff game on May 21, the oppo- nent to be determined. GAME ONE Baker 2 0 3 1 0 14 — 20 Ontario 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Carter and Logsdon. Beces- sil, Martinez (6), Bervelos (6), Ramirez (6) and Cole. GAME TWO Baker 2 1 0 5 9 — 17 Ontario 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 Capon and Logsdon, Smith- son (5). Cole, Ramirez (5) and Calderon. Smith said Baker can in- crease its seeding position “quite a bit” by winning at least one game at La Grande on May 13. The higher Baker’s seed, the lower rated its play- off opponent will be. BAKER SOFTBALL AT ONTARIO Baker drops two games at Ontario The Bulldogs had 10 hits to Ontario’s five in the sec- ond game. “We had our opportuni- ties for more runs,” Gulick said. After Ontario took a 6-2 lead after five innings, Baker scored single runs in the sixth and seventh, but stranded multiple runners in each inning. Kiley Jo Aldrich, Rayl, Kaycee Cuzick, Kaci An- BY IAN CRAWFORD icrawford@bakercityherald.com Baker’s softball team re- bounded from a tough loss in the first game to take the lead in the second game of a doubleheader at Ontario on Thursday, May 5, but the Bulldogs couldn’t keep up with the Tigers and lost 7-5. Ontario dominated the first game, 16-1 in four in- nings. “Errors extended innings and Ontario hitters pun- ished us hard,” Baker coach Sonny Gulick said. “In the field we didn’t help our- selves out.” Baker committed six er- rors in the first game, and nine in the second. Game one was an uphill battle, with Ontario ahead nearly from the start. After the Tigers scored two runs with one out, Baker rightfielder Lexi Rupel made a great play to limit the damage. Rupel caught a fly ball in right field and fired the ball to catcher Kaci Anderson, who tagged out an Ontario runner who tagged up at third. The Bulldogs couldn’t get much going on offense, though, against Ontario pitcher Belle Naverrete. Ashlyn Dalton doubled in the third to drive in Te’ygan Coley for Baker’s lone run. It was also Baker’s only hit. Baker showed its resolve in the second game, taking a 2-0 lead after a half inning. Baker scored both runs with two outs, taking advantage derson and Dalton each reached base at least twice in the second game. Baker, which dropped to 2-8 in the Greater Oregon League and 8-10 overall, will play nonleague games at Nyssa on Monday, May 9, and at Grant Union on Tuesday, May 10, before fin- ishing its league schedule at La Grande for a double- header starting at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 13. Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald Te’ygan Coley makes a play at first base on April 15, 2022. of an Ontario error for one run, and Makayla Rabourne stealing home for the other. Ontario got a run back in the bottom of the first, but Baker struck again in the top of the third when Kaci Anderson doubled to score Brooklyn Rayl and give Baker a 3-1 lead. “I was proud of the ap- proach we had in the sec- ond game,” Gulick said. “We cut down on strike- outs and did a much better job making Ontario make plays.” Baker struck out nine times in the first game, but just five times in the second. 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