Baker baseball splits with North Marion

Nineteen runs.

Five home runs.

Nineteen hits, nine for extra bases.

A doubleheader sweep. Right? Not quite.

Baker put up all those offensive numbers during its non-league baseball twinbill against North Marion Saturday at the Baker Sports Complex. But, North Marion put up a few numbers of its own. The Huskies defeated Baker 6-5 in the first game before the Bulldogs rallied to win Game 2, 14-8.

“In the first game we had some opportunities to get some good big hits but we didn’t come through,” said Baker coach Dan Blankenship.

“A lot of it was just first-game jitters, getting comfortable. Saturday was the first time our pitchers have thrown off the mound.

“Then, in Game 2, I thought we came out and played with a little more passion,” Blankenship said.

Rally falls short in Game 1

The first game went back and forth with Baker’s final rally coming up just short.

Baker took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Cole Brown, who reached after being hit by a pitch, scored on Derek Blankenship’s double to center.

North Marion took a 2-1 lead in the third on RBIs by Zach Miller and A.J. Miller.

Baker answered in the bottom of the inning when Dekker Smith scored on a double steal. On the play Trace Richardson attempted a walk-off steal from first base. With Richardson in a rundown between first and second, Smith, who was on third, stole home to knot the score at 2-2.

Baker went up 3-2 in the fourth when Alex Clark walked and advanced around th ebases on three wild pitches.

North Marion again tied the score at 3-3 in the fifth on Steven Grigsby’s sacrifice fly.

Baker went back on top at 4-3 in the bottom of the inning when Smith, playing in his first game after missing last season with knee surgery, launched a home run over the left-field fence.

North Marion again answered in the sixth, scoring three runs. Chase Sterett’s RBI double and a run-scoring single by Zach Miller highlighted the inning. The Huskies’ third run scored on a passed ball.

Baker tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs Richardson laced an opposite-field homer to right to cut the deficit to 6-5. But the next hitter struck out to end the game.

Smith and Richardson each had two hits in the game.

Brown was the losing pitcher.

Long balls lift Bulldogs

Baker slugged three more homers — one each by Smith, Blankenship and Brown — in a 13-hit attack in the second game.

The Bulldogs bunched six hits with three North Marion errors to tally nine runs in the first inning.

Smith drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the first run. Blankenship scored the second on a wild pitch. Richardson and Matt Gorrell then hit back-to-back RBI singles.

Coleman Lay then reached base on an error to reload th ebases. One out later Ty Everson lined a two-run single to left. Brwon followed with a run-scoring single, and Blankenship ended the scoring with a run-producing double.

North Marion cut the deficit to 9-6 with four runs in the second inning.

Smith then added his second homer leading off the bottom of the second.

Baker increased its lead to 12-6 in the third when Brown and Blankenship hit back-to-back solo homers.

North Marion pulled within 12-8 with single runs in the fourth and fifth. Baker again answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brown drove in one run with a double. The other scored on an error.

Everson threw the first five innings to gain the win. Smith and Blankenship each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Blankenship, Brown and Gorrell each had three hits in the game. Brown drove in three runs, Blankenship two, Smith two and Everson two.

“We needed a couple of games to get comfortable at the plate,” Coach Blankenship said. “I thought Matt Gorrell did a great job behind the plate for us. Cole, Derek, Dekker, Matt all were swinging the bats well today. Take away a couple of miscues in the first game and we could have had two wins.

“North Marion is a solid ball team. Those were the kind of games we needed. Obviously we have some things to work on.”

Baker (1-1) hosts Scappoose in a single game today at 2 p.m.

First game

North Marion    0    0    2    0    1    3    0    —    6

Baker    1    0    1    1    1    0    1    —    5

Mason, Verastegui (4), Piercy (6) and Sterett. Brown, Harlow (6) and Gorrell. WP – Piercy. LP – Brown.

North Marion hits – Z. Miller 3, Sterett 2. Baker hits – Blankenship, Smith 2, Gorrell, Richardson 2.

North Marion RBI – Z. Miller 2, A. Miller, Sterett, Grigsby. Baker RBI – Blankenship, Smith, Richardson.

2B – Sterett, Blankenship. HR – Smith (1), Richardson (1).

Second game

North Marion    2    4    0    1    1    0    0    —    8

Baker    9    1    2    0    2    0    x    —    14

Grigsby, Ki. Pearson (2), Maguire (6) and Sterett. Everson, Smith (6), Blankenship (7) and Gorrell. WP – Everson. LP – Grigsby.

North Marion hits – Z. Miller, Mason 3, Sterett, A. Miller, Hayden, Grigsby, Hayes. Baker hits – Blankenship 3, Smith, Richardson, Gorrell 3, Everson, Brown 3, Woolard.

North Marion RBI – Mason 2, Sterett, A. Miller, Hayden, Grigsby. Baker RBI – Blankenship 2, Smith 2, Richardson, Gorrell, Everson 2, Brown 3.

2B – Mason, Blankenship, Brown, Woolard. HR – Blankenship (1), Smith (2), Brown (1).