BAKER/POWDER VALLEY BASEBALL: Bulldogs roll past Weiser, 13-6
Published 6:38 pm Friday, April 11, 2025
Baker third baseman Clay Stevens waits for a throw as a Weiser runner slides into base on April 11, 2025, at the Sports Complex. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)
Baker catcher John Garcia dives to make a play against Weiser on April 11, 2025. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)
Baker's Clay Stevens takes a swing against Weiser on April 11, 2025. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)
Baker second baseman Jake McClaughry, left, and first baseman Zane Morgan against Weiser on April 11, 2025. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)
Baker's Ethan Fletcher at bat against Weiser on April 11, 2025. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)
Baker shrugged off a rough start, scored in every inning and rolled past Weiser 13-6 in a nonleague baseball game Friday, April 11, at the Sports Complex.
Jake McClaughry drove in three runs with a triple off the left field fence in the second inning, and Jaxon Logsdon pounded a fastball over that fence in the sixth for the game’s final run.
Colby Capon started on the mound and was relieved by Andy Richards in the fourth inning.
“I thought we won all three phases today,” Baker coach Tim Smith said.
He was pleased with both Baker pitchers and by the Bulldog defense, which had only one error. Baker has committed just two errors in its past three games.
Smith said that although Baker’s hitting was “kind of a rollercoaster,” he was pleased that the Bulldogs were more aggressive in swinging at fastballs on the first pitch of an at-bat or early in the count.
“We need to be ready for that,” he said.
McClaughry’s three-run double, and his triple to right center in the sixth inning just after Logsdon’s home run, were on first pitches.
Weiser scored first, plating two runs in the top of the first.
Baker answered with a run in the bottom of the inning when McClaughry singled to score John Garcia, who also singled.
After Capon held Weiser scoreless in the second, the Bulldogs took control with five runs in the bottom of the inning.
Clay Stevens led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.
After an out, four straight walks plated two runs.
McClaughry then pounded a first pitch to the wall for a bases-clearing double that gave Baker a 6-2 lead.
Stevens led off the third with a double, and Ethan Fletcher followed with another double to score Stevens.
Logsdon drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to make it 8-2 after three innings.
Just when it looked as though Baker might end the game early by 10-run rule, the Wolverines rallied.
A three-run double in the fourth cut the lead to 8-5.
But the rally was short-lived.
Baker responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of four more walks.
Austin Engstrom also drove in a run with a single through the hole between shortstop and third base, and Baker led 10-5.
Weiser scored a run in the top of the fifth, but Baker got the run back, and more, in the bottom of the inning when Aldo Duran singled up the middle to drive home Zane Morgan, who was hit by a pitch, and Fletcher, who walked.
Stevens made consecutive plays in the top of the sixth at third base, first snaring a soft liner with a diving catch, then grabbing a slow roller and making a laser throw to Morgan at first.
After Logsdon’s towering home run in the bottom of the sixth, McClaughry tripled but was stranded there.
Richards set down the Wolverines in order in the top of the seventh.
Baker improved to 7-4 overall. The Bulldogs continue an eight-game homestand, and return to Greater Oregon League play, by playing host to Pendleton on April 18 for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
Jayson has worked at the Baker City Herald since November 1992, starting as a reporter. He has been editor since December 2007. He graduated from the University of Oregon Journalism School in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in news-editorial journalism.
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