Five Baker/Powder Valley players earn Greater Oregon League honors

League coaches put five Baker/Powder Valley players on the Greater Oregon League all-star team, a postseason nod that carried extra weight in Baker County, where high school baseball is one of the few shared public touchpoints from one end of the valley to the other.

The honor was decided by the coaches who saw the Bulldogs all season, not by fan voting or one newspaper’s call. That made the recognition a peer judgment, and it said Baker/Powder Valley was noticed for more than a single hot streak. The Bulldogs compete in OSAA Class 4A’s Greater Oregon League as Baker High School’s co-op program in Baker School District 5J, with Tim Smith listed as the team’s coach.

The season itself gave the league plenty to measure. Baker/Powder Valley beat Ontario 12-1 on May 1, fell to La Grande 9-1 on May 7 and turned around to beat Burns 9-7 on May 12. That kind of stretch shows a team that could win decisively, absorb a tough loss and come back to finish with a tight league victory still on its resume.

The roster also reflects why the all-star haul matters beyond one box score. The 2025-26 team list included Logan Crawford, Ethan Rayl, Jake McClaughry, Gerik Orszulak and Tucker Reid among the Bulldogs who spent the spring carrying the workload. In a rural county, where baseball rosters are often built around multi-sport athletes and limited numbers, five players earning league honors suggests Baker/Powder Valley had depth across several roles, not just one standout arm or bat.

That broader recognition matters for the program’s future as much as for the players themselves. A team that places five players on a league all-star list usually forced opponents to prepare for more than one threat, which is how competitive programs rebuild in smaller communities. Baker baseball has done it before: in 2010, eight Baker players were selected to Greater Oregon League all-league teams, and Dan Blankenship was named GOL Coach of the Year.

For Baker County, the 2026 honors read like more than a postseason nod. They marked a season in which the Bulldogs stayed relevant in league play, earned respect from opposing coaches and gave the program another marker to build on next year.