BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2022 A5
SPORTS
BAKER BASEBALL IN CLASS 4A PLAYOFFS
Hidden Valley eliminates Bulldogs with shutout
The Bulldogs lose eight seniors
— Logan Capon, Marco Rosales,
Younger, Caiden Benson, Connor
Baker’s baseball season ended on
Chastain, Silas Carter, Alex Crawford
a hot day when the Bulldogs’ bats
and Cody Skidgel. Five of those se-
were cold.
niors were starters.
The temperature was 88 when Hid-
Hayden Younger had Baker’s only
“We’re going to have to rebuild,”
den Valley’s Nate Vidlak threw the
hit, a single in the third inning.
first pitch at Grants Pass in a Class 4A
Baker had two other batters reach Smith said. “We’re going to miss their
leadership and experience.”
playoff game on Wednesday, May 25. base on walks, and two were hit by
Among them, Younger, Capon and
Vidlak, who is one of the top
a pitch.
Chastain have expressed interest in
pitchers in the state, allowing just
Baker’s pitching and offense were
moving on to college ball, Smith said.
two earned runs over the past two
solid, as starter Hudson Spike held
In all, Smith says he saw continual
seasons, struck out 13 batters and
Hidden Valley scoreless in the second,
gains during the season.
allowed just five baserunners as the third and fourth innings.
“I thought we improved through-
Mustangs won 7-0.
Baker had runners on first and
out the season, and got better toward
Baker coach Tim Smith said the
second with two outs in the second,
the end.”
Bulldogs knew the challenge they
and Younger advanced to second on
Smith wished the team could have
faced in Hidden Valley, the sec-
Spike’s sacrifice in the third.
ond-ranked team that improved its
Hidden Valley added one run in the another chance at some of the lost
fifth to lead 4-0, and three more in-
games earlier.
season record to 25-2.
surance runs in the sixth.
“Ultimately that cost us seeding in
“They’re solid, they had great
A handful of errors and wayward
pitching,” Smith said. “We played
the playoffs, we might not have had to
pitches, especially in the sixth inning, face Hidden Valley (this early).”
pretty well.”
put Baker in a deeper hole.
But the damage was done in the
“This team worked hard, they per-
“As a coach that tells me we could
first inning as the Mustangs scored
severed,” Smith said. “They showed
have won if we’d made less mistakes,” quite a lot of grit in my opinion. They
three runs in the bottom of the first.
Smith said.
“We just couldn’t get the bats go-
never quit and competed every inning
Baker ends with a 13-9 record.
ing,” Smith said.
they played. I’m proud of them.”
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Hayden Younger slides safely into first base after a pickoff attempt on
Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at the Sports Complex.
Warriors will make
return to NBA Finals
Baker
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0
Hidden Valley 3 0 0 0 1 3 X – 7
BAKER SOFTBALL IN CLASS 4A PLAYOFFS
BY JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO —
Klay Thompson drained the
3-pointers. Draymond Green
anchored the defense and
even chipped in on the offen-
sive end for a change. Stephen
Curry capped off an MVP per-
formance.
The trio that led Golden
State to so much success in re-
cent years is whole again and
has the Warriors in position
for another title after advanc-
ing to the NBA Finals with a
120-110 victory over the Dallas
Mavericks on Thursday night,
May 26.
“Like I’ve said over and over
again, I’m going to keep say-
ing it: No one has proven that
they can move us off that spot,”
Green said. “That’s the mindset
we come into this thing with.
We understand what it takes to
win a championship.”
The triumvirate of Curry,
Thompson and Green is in
rarified air in NBA lore as the
core of a team that has made it
to six NBA Finals in an eight-
year span. It’s an accomplish-
ment only the greatest groups
have reached with Bill Russell’s
Celtics of the 1950s and ‘60s,
Magic Johnson’s Lakers in the
1980s and Michael Jordan’s
Bulls of the 1990s doing it.
Now the Warriors hope to
add a fourth title to the ones
they captured in 2015, ‘17 and
‘18 when the Finals start June
2 against either Boston or Mi-
ami. The Celtics lead the se-
ries 3-2 headed into Game 6 at
home on Friday night.
“We’re happy to be here, but
it would help our legacy a lot
if we completed the mission
and won the whole thing,”
Thompson said. “We can be
happy tonight, and we will
be, I’ll celebrate tonight. But
tomorrow when this Game
6 comes on, I’m turning the
page and I’m scouting because
we want to finish this thing
off the right way.”
The last time the Warriors
made it to the Finals they fell
short, starting a two-year spiral
filled with losing and injuries.
Thompson tore his left ACL
during a season-ending Game
6 loss in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Kevin Durant tore his Achil-
les’ tendon earlier that series
and then left for Brooklyn that
summer, leading to the War-
riors finishing an NBA-worst
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Left to right, Baker’s Brooklyn Rayl, Ashlyn Dalton and Kaycee Cuzick in action on April 15, 2022.
Eugene’s Marist ends
Baker’s softball season
Marist didn’t commit an error.
The Spartans had four
The first inning set the tone home runs, two by Paige Do-
in Baker’s Class 4A softball
err.
playoff game at Marist Cath-
Miranda Hopkins ended
olic of Eugene on Wednesday, the game by the 10-run rule
May 25.
when she led off the bot-
After Marist pitcher Ma-
tom of the sixth with a solo
lia Williams struck out the
home run.
side in the top of the first, the
Despite the loss, Gulick was
top-ranked Spartans scored
pleased with Baker’s defense.
three runs in the bottom of
The Bulldogs committed just
the inning on a pair of home
two errors.
runs to take an early lead they
“Ashlyn Dalton was fantas-
wouldn’t relinquish.
tic at short and Lexi Rupel had
The trend continued, with a few nice plays,” Gulick said.
Williams dominating on the
Dalton had five putouts,
mound, throwing a complete and Rupel caught back-to-
game no-hitter and striking
back fly balls in center field.
out 17, and the Spartans get-
“Late in the contest, Oak-
ting timely hits. Marist went
ley Anderson and Kaydence
on to win 10-0 in six innings, Thomas made nice grabs to
ending Baker’s season.
get us out of easiest inning,
“Marist is a good team,”
defensively,” Gulick said.
Baker coach Sonny Gulick
Baker, which ended the
said. “They have a lot of play- season with a 9-14 record,
off experience.”
advanced to the playoffs
After hitting Baker leadoff for the first time since 2018
hitter Kiley Jo Aldrich, Wil-
with a thrilling 14-13 win
liams allowed just two other
over Philomath on Friday,
baserunners, both on walks.
May 20.
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) drives against Dallas Mav-
ericks’ Dwight Powell (7) in the third quarter of Game 5 of their NBA
Western Conference Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.,
on Thursday, May 26, 2022.
15-50 in the pandemic short-
ened 2019-20 season.
Thompson then tore his
right Achilles’ tendon just be-
fore the start of the next season
and the Warriors were unable
to make it back to the playoffs,
getting knocked out by Mem-
phis in the play-in game.
But Thompson returned
in January and the combina-
tion of the aging trio of stars
with an infusion of youth from
players like Andrew Wiggins,
Jordan Poole and others has
Golden State back at the top of
the league again.
“We never lost the faith, but
you understand how hard of
a process it was going to be to
climb the mountain again,”
Curry said. “I think internally
we are all extremely proud of
what it took to get back here.
Yeah, it’s definitely sweet based
on what we went through.”
Thompson led the way in
the clinching Game 5 win of
the Western Conference fi-
nals over Dallas, making eight
3-pointers for a record-setting
fifth time in his playoff career
and scoring 32 points.
Green added 17 points, six
rebounds and nine assists to
go along with his usual defen-
sive brilliance and Curry had
15 points and nine assists as
he was named series MVP.
It’s a level of play that re-
minds coach Steve Kerr of
the Bulls teams he played on
with Jordan and Scottie Pip-
pen that won so many titles in
the 1990s.
“The common denomi-
nator is just talented players
who are fierce competitors,”
Kerr said. “Whether you talk
about Michael and Scottie,
Steph, Draymond, Klay, it
takes a special kind of athlete
to have both dynamics. The
skill and the athleticism and
all that, but to also be just in-
credibly competitive and to
want to win so badly. It’s the
only way you can have a run
like that because you get ex-
hausted, you get tired, you
get frustrated. If you don’t
have that type of competitive
desire and that type of skill
combined, it’s just not going
to happen six times out of
eight years.”
Baker 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Marist 3 4 0 2 0 1 — 10
Cuzick and K. Anderson. Wil-
liams and Hopkins.
“I am very proud of the im-
provements we made,” Gulick
said. “We will miss the pos-
itive attitude and work ethic
Emrie (Osborn), our lone
senior, brought to this fun
group.”
With so many players po-
tentially returning, Gulick is
excited about the prospects
for 2023.
“I look forward to coaching
them again,” he said. “We had
a great season.”
Gulick said the start of a
softball program at Baker
Middle School program will
also eventually benefit the
BHS program.
He offered thanks to assis-
tants Roy Cuzick, Taylor Gu-
lick, Gussie Cook and Stepha-
nie Petrucci for their help with
this year’s team.
Oregon Department of Transportation
NOTICE OF ROAD WORK
May 10, 2022
Beginning May 31 the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) will be chip sealing 60 miles of the Baker – Copperfield Highway
(Oregon Highway 86), plus three other state routes in the Halfway area. All work is expected to be completed by end of June.
• OR 86 work will start at Oxbow/Snake River (milepost 70.8) and continue to the junction of Keating Cutoff Road (milepost 10.1,
about 10 miles east of I-84).
• OR 86-S (spur) between OR 414/Record Street in Halfway and OR 86 (milepost 53.55 - 54.70).
• OR 413/Cornucopia Highway between Eagle High School/Halfway city limits and OR 414/Record Street in Halfway (milepost 10.8 –
11.45).
• OR 414/Pine Creek Highway between Record Street and OR 86 (mileposts 0.09-1.82).
NOTE: All dates are dependent on weather conditions and other factors that may impact the project start and end times.
PARKING RESTRICTIONS: No parking in work zones
P
during
chip seal activities in downtown areas.
TRAVEL IMPACTS: Expect up to 20-minute delays,
reduced speeds, loose rock on the roadway, flaggers, and
pilot cars directing single lane traffic through the work
zones. Minor delays during nighttime/early morning hours
for road sweeping. Please reduce speed and watch for
construction activities in the area. Plan extra travel time
and slow down to prevent loose rock from flying onto other
vehicles. Crews will sweep roadway, but expect some
loose rock to be present for several days after chip seal.
Adult
Dances
Friday &
Saturday
Parade
June 6 - 12, 2022
Friday @ 2 pm
always the first full week of june
Bicycle riders should be prepared for traveling on rock chip
covered highway sections behind a pilot car with no usable
shoulders. Use alternate routes or delay travel if possible
to avoid chip seal work zone. Pedestrians, including those
with disabilities, will be provided access through or around
the work zone. 
f the impacted
highway
RANCHERS, FARMERS, PROPERTY
OWNERS:
Ed Miller Xtreme Bull Riding
Thursday, June 9, 2022 @ 6:30 pm
PRCA Rodeo & Horse Racing
Friday, June 10, 2022 @ 4 pm
Saturday, June 11, 2022 @ 2 pm
EMMA EMILY
JENNA
RICKER ARNOLDUS DENTON Sunday, June 12, 2022 @ 1:30 pm
4-H Horse Show - Mon & Tue, June 6th & 7th
Also, adjust irrigation pivots and lawn sprinklers to keep
Please
keep farm equipment off the impacted
If you
for moving livestock on these highway sections, please advise ODOT
4-H & FFA Livestock Show - Thu & . Fri,
June have 9th plans
& 10th
highway
and up to or two by days
Allen Jensen
at (541) sections
523-4566, during
cell 541-519-4934,
email af-
at
Market Animal Auction - Saturday, June 11th @ 8am
ter the chip sealing. Also, adjust irrigation pivots
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and lawn sprinklers to keep water off the roadway. If you
Tickets are available from Queen Candidates
have plans for moving livestock on these highway sections,
or online until June 6th
please advise ODOT Baker Section Maintenance Manager
Horsemanship - Sunday, June 5th @ 2pm
Allen Jensen at (541) 523-4566, cell 541-519-4934, or by
Queen’s Coronation - Tuesday, June 7th @ 7pm
email at Allen.S.JENSEN@odot.oregon.gov.
We greatly appreciate your support and cooperation
during this paving operation.
For more info on this project, contact Allen Jensen
(phone/email listed above).
For information on other eastern Oregon highway construction projects
contact Vicki Moles at 541-620-4527 Vicki.L.Moles@odot.oregon.gov
For updated road conditions check TripCheck.com
or call 511, or (800) 977-6368.