BAKER CITY HERALD • TuEsDAY, NovEmBER 1, 2022 A5
SPORTS
BAKER FOOTBALL
Bulldogs’ season ends with loss to Pendleton
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Baker’s promising football season
came to a disappointing conclusion
with a 49-7 loss to Pendleton on Fri-
day, Oct. 28 at Baker Bulldog Memorial
Stadium.
Baker’s second straight loss ended
the Bulldogs’ bid for a Class 4A playoff
berth.
The Bulldogs finished 5-4 overall,
2-3 in the newly constituted Greater
Oregon League, which added four
teams this fall — Pendleton, Crook
County, Madras and The Dalles.
“Well, kids played hard,” Baker coach
Jason Ramos said. “I mean a lot of ad-
versity with, you know, starters out and
young guys having to step in and fill
roles and so, you know, up against a re-
ally, really good football team.”
Baker, already without running back
and safety Jaxon Logsdon due to injury,
lost another starter for the season’s fi-
nal game, as Rasean Jones, the dynamic
freshman wide receiver, kick returner
and defensive back, was also hurt. Ju-
nior Dash Bloomer, one of Baker’s top
tacklers, also missed Friday’s game.
The Buckaroos, 7-2 overall with a
lone Greater Oregon League loss com-
ing to league champion La Grande,
took the opening kickoff and moved
down the field, relying mainly on se-
nior running back Payton Lambert. He
ran 33 yards for the game’s first touch-
down, and Pendleton led 7-0 about
three minutes into the game.
Baker couldn’t gain a first down on
its first possession, and after taking
over on the Bulldogs’ 24 yard line, the
Buckaroos quickly scored again to lead
14-0.
The Buckaroos had two more touch-
downs in the second quarter to go up
27-0, but Baker answered with its best
offensive play of the game.
Junior wide receiver Malaki Myer
ran a perfect route and fellow junior
Paul Hobson hit Myer in stride for a
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker junior wide receiver Malaki Myer outruns Pendleton’s Trey Boston for the Bull-
dogs’ lone touchdown, on a pass from junior quarterback Paul Hobson, on Friday, Oct.
28, 2022, at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
48-yard touchdown. Junior Hudson
Spike’s PAT cut Pendleton’s lead to 27-7.
But the Buckaroos denied Baker any
momentum, scoring with 30 seconds
left in the first half on a 23-yard pass to
lead 35-7 at the break.
Pendleton scored on two short
touchdown runs in the third quarter to
make it 49-7.
“The challenge was to come out and
just compete for 48 minutes, you know,
on senior night,” Ramos said. “And I
thought for the most part we did that.
You know, we had some things didn’t
go our way, but kids played hard.”
Pendleton held Baker to 207 to-
tal yards. Hobson completed 13 of 27
passes for 150 yards. Myer had five
catches for 98 yards, and Spike had six
catches for 49 yards.
Kayden Garvin led Baker with 27
yards on 10 carries.
Senior David Shaw had six tackles,
including a tackle for loss. Senior Tate
Powell had four tackles.
The Buckaroos gained 327 yards, in-
cluding 267 rushing yards. Pendleton
converted all five of its third downs,
while Baker was just 3 for 12.
BAKER GIRLS SOCCER
Baker girls lose heartbreaker in play-in game at The Dalles
BY MIKE WEBER
For the Baker City Herald
THE DALLES — Despite
having the role as underdogs in
an OSAA Class 4A girls soccer
play-in game, the No. 23 ranked
Baker High Bulldogs played
nearly even against the No. 10
ranked The Dalles Riverhawks
and they had a chance to win
Friday afternoon, Oct. 28.
For 70 minutes of the contest,
it was a 0-0 deadlock and the
Bulldogs (5-9-1) were hoping
for an upset win over the River-
hawks (9-4-2) to reach the state
playoffs for the first time since
2018.
However, the Riverhawks’
leading scorer, Amyrah Hill (22
goals on the year) got a goal
with nine minutes left to propel
them to a 1-0 win at The Dalles
High School’s Wahtonka cam-
pus field. The Dalles advanced
to play in a Nov. 2 first round
matchup in the 16-team play-
offs. For the Bulldogs and first-
year coach Robbie Langrell, the
loss marked the conclusion of
their season.
“I am super proud of our
team, but I’m really disap-
pointed that the refs made so
many bad calls,” Langrell said.
“The girls battled hard and then
in the last 10 minutes the refs
made some bad calls and gave
them (Riverhawks) free kicks
and it just changed the whole
dynamic of the game. I’m super
proud of how amazing the girls
played. This was supposed to be
an easy win for a No. 10 ranked
mike Weber/For the Baker City Herald
Baker goalkeeper Oakley Anderson, left, leaps to make a save during the Bulldogs’ play-in match at The Dalles on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022.
mike Weber/For the Baker City Herald
Baker’s McKay Anderson, left, battles with The Dalles’ Amyrah Hill for
possession of the ball during a play-in match on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022,
at The Dalles.
team. It should’ve been a 0-0 tie
and then went into overtime,
but that didn’t happen and it’s
OK.”
The Bulldogs didn’t have a lot
of scoring opportunities as they
had a total of just seven shots
on goal, while The Dalles had
more than 20 shots on goal. The
Dalles controlled the ball of-
fensively near the Bulldogs goal
area for a majority of the first 40
minutes.
The Bulldogs had some solid
first half shots by junior Emma
Llaurado, senior McKay Ander-
son and senior Brooklyn Jaca.
Unfortunately, whenever the
Bulldogs had a potential scoring
opportunity, The Dalles junior
goalkeeper Katlyne Sorensen
was able to make a key save
to help keep Baker off the
BAKER CROSS-COUNTRY
scoreboard.
A strong offensive River-
hawks team that averages three
goals per game was shut down
for the most part by a solid de-
fensive effort by the Bulldogs.
Baker sophomore goalkeeper
Oakley Anderson (24 saves) did
a remarkable job of stopping
numerous offensive first half
scoring threats by the River-
hawks and she was instrumental
in helping to keep it a scoreless
tie for most of the game.
In the second half, Baker se-
nior Te’ygan Coley, Jaca, McKay
Anderson and Llaurado each
had solid scoring chances, but
Sorensen again proved to be
a valuable asset for the River-
hawks as she continued to make
key saves to help The Dalles get
the shutout.
In the final minute of the
game, Baker sophomore for-
ward Jaycee Gray was injured
and was unable to walk, so she
was placed on cart and moved
to the Baker bench, where she
was examined by the Baker
team personnel.
“My girls started getting hurt
because the game got dirty and
they (referees) weren’t call-
ing any fouls on them (River-
hawks),” Langrell said.
“Now we have a girl (Gray)
who might be out with an injury
and she could miss the basket-
ball season. The girls played well
and I wish they would’ve been
rewarded for it.”
The contest marked the final
game for Baker seniors Anna
Macias, Neah Thomas, Sydnee
Pierce, Kaci Anderson, Riley Jo
Shaw, Coley, McKay Anderson,
Skye Smith, Jaca, Anna Belding
and Maddy Yencopal.
“They (seniors) played really
hard,” said Langrell, who started
the season as an assistant coach.
“We only had eight players at
the beginning of the preseason
practice in August. Most of the
seniors had quit because they
were unhappy with the coach-
ing situation. When I became
head coach, I was able to get the
seniors to come back and I’m
happy they did that and stuck
with it and they had a great
season.”
BAKER BOYS SOCCER
Both Bulldog teams qualify for state meet
Pine Eagle’s Gover
also advances to state
Baker City Herald
Baker will have a big pres-
ence at the Class 4A state
cross-country championships
Saturday, Nov. 5 at Lane Com-
munity College in Eugene.
Both the Baker boys and
girls teams qualified for the
state meet with their perfor-
mances at the district meet
Friday, Oct. 28 at Treasure
Valley Community College in
Ontario.
“It was a fantastic finish
for our regular season,” Baker
coach Suzy Cole said. “We are
looking forward to heading to
Eugene.”
Baker won the boys team ti-
tle — the sixth straight for the
Bulldogs — and the girls fin-
ished second.
The Baker boys, led by
sophomore Daniel Brown’s in-
dividual title and senior Thad-
deus Pepera in fourth place,
had five runners in the top 10.
Baker finished with 27 points,
well ahead of runner-up La
Grande, with 43.
“Daniel and Thaddeus went
out in a group of four for about
the first mile and a half before
Daniel opened it up, and was
too much for the others to stay
with him,” Cole said.
The Baker girls had 45
points, finishing second to La
Grande (21).
Sophomore Sofie Kaaen was
fourth overall, and freshman
Gwen Rasmussen (seventh)
and junior Maddy Gagnon
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald, File
Baker goalkeeper Noah Lien makes a save on Sept. 8, 2022, against
McCall.
Baker boys’ season
ends with play-in loss
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
stephanie Brown/Contributed Photo
stephanie Brown/Contributed Photo
stephanie Brown/Contributed Photo
Baker junior Katie Spaugh
finished 15th at the district
cross-country meet on Friday,
Oct. 28, 2022, at Treasure Valley
Community College in Ontario.
Baker sophomore Daniel Brown
won the individual title at the
district cross-country meet on
Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, at Treasure
Valley Community College in On-
tario.
Baker freshman Gwen Rasmus-
sen finished seventh at the dis-
trict cross-country meet on Fri-
day, Oct. 28, 2022, at Treasure
Valley Community College in
Ontario.
sixth at the district meet Oct.
28 in Pendleton.
Baker’s individual results
from the district meet:
Cikanek, 19:06.15; 14th, Seth
Mastrude, 19:28.72.
(eighth) were also in the top 10.
“Sofie Kaaen continues to
get more confident all the time,
as does Maddie Gagnon,” Cole
said.
Tanner Lucas won the boys
JV race.
Pine Eagle senior Cooper
Gover qualified as an individ-
ual for the Class 1A/2A boys
meet, also Nov. 5 at Lane Com-
munity College, by finishing
Boys
1st, Daniel Brown, 17:33.82;
4th, Thaddeus Pepera,
18:08.09; 6th, Angel DeAr-
cos, 18:17.53; 7th, Jordan
Mills, 18:19.03; 9th, Nate Jen-
sen, 18:57.82; 11th, Karsten
Girls
4th, Sofie Kaaen, 20:35.85;
7th, Gwen Rasmussen,
21:38.42; 8th, Maddy Gagnon,
22:11.42; 12th, Annastasia
Johnson, 23:30.98; 15th, Katie
Spaugh, 24:08.49; 16th, Sage
Cuzick, 24:28.21; 17th, Tyler
Gressley, 24:58.07.
The Baker boys soccer season
ended with a 3-0 loss to Mo-
lalla in a Class 4A play-in game
on Saturday, Oct. 29, but coach
Victor Benites was pleased with
the team’s progress.
“It’s a good feeling being able
to look back and see that all the
hard work kids and coaches put
in to get this far,” Benites said.
Baker didn’t qualify for the
playoffs in 2021.
On Saturday against Mo-
lalla — the match was played at
nearby Estacada High School —
the Bulldogs had trouble con-
trolling the field.
Molalla scored two goals to
lead 2-0 at halftime, but the
deficit could have been larger if
not for Baker goalkeeper Noah
Lien.
“Noah had some really good
“It’s a good feeling being
able to look back and see
that all the hard work kids
and coaches put in to get
this far.”
— Victor Benites, coach
saves,” Benites said.
Molalla added a third goal
late in the second half for the fi-
nal margin.
“I thought we played a good
game, we had some good
chances to score,” Benites said.
After a season record of 3-7-
4, Benites is optimistic about the
prospects for 2023.
“I’m only losing seven play-
ers out of this year, so I have a
bunch of them coming back,”
he said.