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Baker and La Grande split doubleheader
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 QUICK CAR: La Grande senior Richie Carmichael belted a double in Game 1 Saturday versus Baker. Carmichael started on the mound, pitching 6 2/3 innings, yielding six hits and four runs while striking out nine batters. Observer photos/BRUCE MASON Undefeated in league. La Grande senior starting pitcher Richie Carmichael was one inning, three outs, and, perhaps, one ground ball away from maintaining this goal Saturday versus Baker at Optimist Field in Game 1. He was stellar through six innings: two runs, four hits, eight strikeouts. And here he was, tired, yet determined, taking the mound in the seventh, leading by one. Three outs, still undefeated. Three outs, sole possession of first place. “Let’s finish it right here,” Tigers manager Mark Lanman shouted to his team as they took the field. Finish it? With the kid who threw a no-hitter vs. Mac-Hi? With the kid, who, at one point this season, gave up just two hits across 17 innings? Finish it? No problem, right? No problem for Baker. The rival Bulldogs rallied with two runs in their final at-bat, stealing the doubleheader opener, 4-3, spoiling Carmichael’s season-long goal. Undefeated to defeated. “It’s a tough way to go,” Carmichael said about watching his Greater Oregon League perfection fade away. “I guess I gotta work from here — not lose any more games.” Three more outs? Yeah, that’s a tough way to go. In that seventh inning, the Bulldogs’ Cody Hensley and Mark Bunch were a pitch away from being strikeout victims. Instead, Hensley doubled, Bunch singled, two runs came across the plate, and an “L” rather than a “W” was in the books for this La Grande senior. Here was Hensley, standing in the batter’s box with a runner on first, eyeing a two-strike pitch. Crack! There it went, deep into centerfield, off the wall, run scores, tie game. Three batters later, here was Bunch. Two outs, now. And two strikes. And here was Carmichael, readying to deliver. Set. Wind. Release ... Foul ball down third base. Still alive. Let’s try again. Set. Wind. Release ... Another foul ball, this time down first base. Still alive! Let’s try again. Set. Wind. Release ... Uh-oh ... Crack! This time, Bunch laced a sharp line drive to right field. And here came Hensley, trotting down the third-base path, scoring the go-ahead run. The Baker dugout emptied. The crowd cheered. And Hensley finally touched home plate, looking down at first base, pointing at Bunch for being his two-strike, clutch-hitting partner in crime. Undefeated to defeated. “I don’t know if I should’ve pulled (Carmichael) out or left him in,” Lanman said. “I could’ve brought in another guy to pitch, but you don’t know how that’s going to go.” He paused. “It just didn’t work out how we planned.” But the plan was fine. The game was on the line, and the ace was on the hill. He got you here, so you stay with him like a poker player stays with pocket 10s. You don’t fold. You take your chances. You go the distance. Most times you win, rarely you lose. Plus ... “I wanted it in my hands,” Carmichael said. “It was my game to win or lose.” And ... “You can’t take anything away from Bunch on that (game-winning hit),” Lanman said. “He’s a great competitor.” And so are the Tigers for responding in Game 2 with their five-inning, 13-3 pounding, evening the score. Evening the score? Literally speaking, because it was Bunch on the mound this time, and he took a beating from Tigers bats, and from his own arm delivering to the plate. Bunch doesn’t have the glasses, Charlie Sheen stare, Cleveland Indians hat, jersey and stirrups, but he certainly was “Wild Thing,” in the second inning when La Grande opened the floodgates.
 NICE DOUBLE PLAY! La Grande senior Anthony Nice tracks a Baker baserunner between first and second. Nice would tag this runner, then throw to first baseman Josh Yundt for a double play. Bunch was eventually pulled with the bases loaded, meaning Andrew Tao’s 2-RBI single and a bases-loaded walk scoring Carmichael were his runs, too. So that’s 11 batters faced. Two walks. One hit batsmen. Five hits. And 10 runs, eight of which were earned. Wild thing? If another “Major League” movie is produced, Bunch may replace Sheen as the leading candidate. Meanwhile, Tigers pitcher Zach Nice was far from wild when it mattered, striking out nine batters through four innings, yielding one run on two hits. He gave up two runs in the fifth, but the game was already well out of reach. Well within reach for these Tigers and Bulldogs is wearing the GOL Crown. The split in this doubleheader means Baker and La Grande are deadlocked atop the standings at 7-3. La Grande will play one game versus Hermiston Tuesday at Optimist Field at 4 p.m., but considering the GOL race, bigger games lie ahead Saturday at Mac-Hi (4-17, 0-10) at 1 p.m. “They’re going to be crucial,” Lanman said. “We can’t lose one.”
Game 1 Baker 000 020 2 — 4 6 4 La Grande 000 120 0 — 3 4 1 WP — Hensley. LP — Carmichael. 2B —LG, Carmichael, Z.Nice; B, Hensley. Game 2 Baker 001 02 — 3 3 4 La Grande 1(10)0 0x — 13 7 0 WP — Z.Nice. LP — Bunch. 2B —B, Bunch, Hensley.
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