Baker wins; Astoria next for title

HENLEY— Baker defeated Henley 3-2 in its Class 4A state semifinal baseball game Wednesday to advance to the state title game for the first time in school history.

Baker will play top-ranked Astoria Saturday at Salem-Keizer Stadium. According to the OSAA site the game will start at 10 a.m.

Dekker Smith's sacrifice fly scored Cole Brown with the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, giving Baker a 3-2 edge.

Brown and Derek Blankenship opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Smith then drove Brown home with a deep fly ball. Baker was still batting in the inning.

Henley had tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth on a Baker error.

Blankenship's solo home run leading off the top of the fourth inning gave Baker a 2-1 lead.

Baker had scored a run in the top of the third inning to tie Henley 1-1 going to the bottom of the inning.

Grant Marcum's two-out double scored Jon Woolard with the tying run. Woolard singled, and Alex Clark reached on an error before Marcum's hit. Clark was tagged out at the plate trying to follow Woolard.

Baker had gone down in order in both the first and second innings. 

Henley picked up its run in the bottom of the first when a batter walked, was called safe at second on a steal attempt, went to third, then scored despite apparently not tagging on a fly ball.