Baker Middle School athletes set four new school records at the Baker Invitational track and field meet May 6 at Baker High School.

Nate Baeth set two of the records — in the eighth-grade boys 800 and triple jump. In the 800 Baeth was clocked in 2:22.79, breaking the old recod of 2:22.84 set by Travis Detwiler in 1997. In the triple jump, Baeth leapt 35 feet, 5 inches, to better his own mark set earlier this season.

Michelle Freese set two new girls seventh-grade marks. Freese threw the shot 34 feet, 6.5 inches to break the old record of 34 feet, 1.5 inches by Sarah Swanson in 2007. Freese also bettered the girls long jump record by seven inches. The old record was set in 1975 by Gere (Richardson) Bloom.

Baker braced for Saturday’s crucial doubleheader against GOL rival Ontario by downing Grant Union 9-4 in a non-league game Wednesday at John Day.

The game against the Class 3A Prospectors was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed because Grant Union’s field was soggy.

Wednesday’s win, which was highlighted by Trace Richardson’s three-run homer in the seventh inning, gives the Bulldogs a measure of momentum they lacked after a disappointing split with La Grande in a doubleheader last week.

“We swung the bats pretty well,” Baker Coach Dan Blankenship said. “It was nice to see us hitting the ball hard.”

That doubleheader split left Baker and La Grande tied for second in the GOL with 6-4 records, one game behind Ontario.

JOHN DAY — Baker breezed to 17-2 win over Grant Union in a non-league softball game Wednesday.

The game was actually quite competitive for the first two innings.

After Baker took a 2-0 lead on Laura Wilson’s single in the top of the second, the Prospectors scored once in the bottom of the inning.

Baker extended its lead to 3-1 after three innings, then put the game away with four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth.

The Bulldogs finished the game strong, with a seven-run seventh.

The Baker girls placed fourth as a team and missed out on a state berth, but Emily Smith qualified for state by finishing fourth in the individual standings at district.

Dru Simonski-Davis led the Bulldog boys with a two-day total of 176, which put him a tie for third with La Grande’s Nathan Ladendorff.

Simonski-Davis followed his opening-round 82 with a 94 on Tuesday.

Baker’s Luke Buehler placed fifth with a 196. Pat Vaughan carded a 202, Zach Thatcher 203, and Jayden Uttenreuther 212.

Ninety-two people, from age 7 to 77, participated in the mini triathlon sponsored by the Baker County Family YMCA on May 8. That total included 58 women and 34 men.

The distances were a 400-yard swim, a six-mile bike ride and a one-mile run.

Below are the top three finishers in each age bracket. The total includes the transition times from swim to bike, and bike to run.

LA GRANDE — Any hopes La Grande had of advancing to the playoffs left town with Baker Saturday as the Bulldogs swept their rivals 6-5 and 10-5.

The Tigers jumped out early in the first game with a pair of squeeze bunts to fuel a five-run third inning.

However, Baker bounced back to tie the game with five runs in the fourth.

Tori Brown started the rally with a leadoff double. Sierra Howerton later hit a triple, one of her three hits.

The Bulldogs pushed across the winning run in the sixth when Howerton singled home Becca Joseph, who had doubled.

LA GRANDE — It wasn’t exactly what they wanted, but they’ll have to take it. The La Grande baseball team picked up a split this weekend with rival Baker, winning Game 1 4-1 and falling late in Game 2, 7-6.

“I’m not real happy with a split,” LHS head coach Mark Lanman said. “I thought we played good enough to win both games. I think we deserved to win.”

Baker got on the board with one run in the second inning after failing to score in the first inning with the bases loaded.

The Tigers tied the game in the fourth inning, then took the lead in the fifth on a 2-run single by Evan Humphrey.

Coach George Keister said Baker’s No. 1 singles player, Dan Sizer, was out with a case of mononucleosis. The No. 2 singles player, Jordan Curtis, also was out because of illness. Keister said he hopes to have Curtis back early this week and Sizer is expected back in time to play at the district tournament Thursday at Vale.

Although the weather isn't expected to cooperate early in the week, Keister said he hopes the teams will be able to get in some practice in preparation for the district tournament. The top four singles teams and the top four doubles teams will advance to the state competition at Eugene.

Haley Adams won the javelin and Tori Wirth the shot put Friday as the Baker girls finished first in the team standings at the Baker Invite track and field meet.

The Baker boys, led by double winner Jake Eastland (javelin and pole vault), Mitko Smith’s win in the 100 meters and the first-place 400 relay team (Stephen Brock, Ben Frix, Roberto Kitch, Mitko Smith), finished second overall.

Powder Valley finished seventh in the boys standings and ninth in the girls meet.

Baker Middle School boys track team came away with first place at the 12-team Mount Vernon Middle School meet in John Day on Saturday, May 1.  Eighth-grader Nate Baeth set a school record in the triple-jump with a jump of 34 feet, 11 inches in the competition, eclipsing the 34-feet-8fi-inch record set by Colten Richards in 2009. Baeth also posted a first-place finish in the long jump, and finished first in the 800 meter run.

 The Baker girls finished eighth place out of a twelve-team field. Michelle Freese placed second in the shot put at 33 feet, 4 inches, and Charlie Carpenter finished with a fourth-place time of 13.4 seconds in the 100 meter run.