Baker meets Astoria Saturday

The first pitch is set for 10 a.m. at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer. Baker advanced to the title game after a 3-2 win over Henley in the semifinals. Astoria advanced after defeating Hidden Valley 8-2.

Baker coach Dan Blankenship said Saturday’s game carries a little more meaning for the Bulldogs since it was Astoria who eliminated the Bulldogs from last year’s playoffs with a controversial 6-5 second-round win.

“The boys have talked about getting a rematch,” Blankenship said. “We’ll come at them with what we’ve got.”

Blankenship said the Bulldogs (sporting a school-record 25-3 record) aren’t going to be happy just making the title game.

“We’re excited about getting there, but we’re going there to win,” he said. “We can’t ask for anything more. We’re where we want to be. This is the game the kids have played for all season. There’s no surrender in these boys.

“The kids have not played their best game yet in the playoffs. We’ll come ready to play.”

Blankenship plans to use the same lineup he has used all season.

Catcher Grant Marcum (3 homers, 15 RBIs) will lead off. Cole Brown (4 HR, 19 RBI) will bat second and pitch.

Derek Blankenship (4 HR, 37 RBI) will hit third and play shortstop. He will be followed by first baseman Dekker Smith (8 HR, 36 RBI).

Jordan Harlow (7 HR, 46 RBI) will bat fifth and play second base. Trace Richardson (6 HR, 30 RBI) bats sixth in center field. Jon Woolard (2 HR, 16 RBI) bats seventh in right field.

Will Barr (1 HR, 12 RBI) plays third base and bats eighth. The ninth slot will be either Alex Clark, Stephen Talbot or Coleman Lay.

“Cole Brown (8-3) will start on the mound for us, and Derek (Blankenship) (3-0, 3 saves) will pitch too,” Blankenship said. “Those two guys have got us here.”

Astoria is on a streak

Top-ranked Astoria (26-1) enters the title game on a 22-game winning streak.

“This team has won 26 games so they have to be a good team,” Blankenship said.

The Fishermen are coached by Dave Gasser, the winning Oregon high school baseball coach in state history, with 634 career wins. (Blankenship has 209 wins at BHS.)

Gasser and the Fishermen reached the 2008 title game before losing 8-4 to Newport. Astoria was the Class 3A champion (now 4A) in 2006 with a 9-2 win over Sherwood.

Astoria enters Saturday’s game with a team batting average of .394.

Cowapa Player of the Year Jordan Poyer leads the team with a .465 average, nine home runs and 39 RBIs. Poyer also is 9-1 on the mound with a 2.00 earned-run average. He has struck out 110 batters in 70 innings.

Taylor Landwehr, a Cowapa first-team pitcher, is 11-0 with a 1.05 ERA. He has struck out 79 hitters in 61 innings. Reliever Max Johnson is 6-0 with a 0.87 ERA, striking out 42 in 31 innings.

“I think we’ll probably see Landwehr, then if he gets in trouble, Poyer,” Blankenship said. “Johnson is their closer.”

The Fishermen field an all-first team infield with first baseman Mason Brause, second baseman Ian Erickson, shortstop Marc Gallegos, and third baseman Marcus Brown.

Catcher Dane Lund and outfielders Poyer and Johnson also were named all-league first team.