Baker Ruthers take fourth at state

Baker had to settle for fourth after losing 14-7 to Union County in the third-place game at Elks Memorial Field on the Treasure Valley Community College campus.

Baker opened tournament play last Tuesday with a 7-4 loss to the Tualatin Hills Beavers. Baker then defeated the Tualatin Hills Royals 11-1 in six innings Wednesday.

Thursday, Baker ended pool play by losing 8-6 to Clackamas, earning the third seed in bracket play.

Friday, Baker came from behind in the eighth inning to edge Southeast Portland 9-8 to advance in championship bracket play. Then, Saturday, Baker lost 6-5 to Blue Mountain to fall into the third-place game.

“I’m proud of these kids,” said Baker coach Nathan Hull.

“They played hard for me. It was a good experience for the kids.”

Tualatin Hills Beavers 7, Baker 4

Dustin Hull led Baker with a triple and two RBIs.

Braden Phillips and Austin Cline each added singles.

“We were just not hitting the ball,” Coach Hull said.

Baker 11, Tualatin Hills Royals 1

Alex Turner topped Baker with a single and double. Kody Younger added a pair of singles.

Anthony Shankle had a double. Hull, Phillips, Cline and Darren Dolby each added singles.

Clackamas 8, Baker 6

Shankle led the way with a triple. Younger, Hull and Dillon Blankenship each added a double.

Turner chipped in a pair of singles. Phillips and Cline each added a single.

Baker 9, Southeast Portland 8

Hull lined a bases-loaded single down the thirdbase line to drive home the winning run in the eighth.

Hull and Dolby each finished with two singles. Turner and Shankle each had a double and a single.

Blankenship, Cline and Jesse Corr each had a single.

Blue Mountain 6, Baker 5

Shankle, Phillips and Dolby each finished with two singles.

Younger, Blankenship, Cline and Kipp Miller each added a single.

“We lost this one in the seventh inning,” Hull said.

Union County 14, Baker 7

Miller led the way with three singles.

Turner added a triple and a single, Shankle two singles, Hull a single, Dolby a single and Corr a single.

  The members of the 15-year-old Baker City National Team are: Shankle, Austin Fisher, Blankenship, Phillips, Cline, Danny O’Neal, Dolby, Hull, Corr, Younger, Miller, and Turner. Manager is Nathan Hull and coaches are Kay Burritt and Corey Younger.