Sandites win Bixby Tournament with 10-6 victory over Spartans

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Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (14-3) got a rematch against the Spartans (12-2) Saturday evening at Bixby. The tournament was a five team pool and despite a Friday night loss to the Spartans, the Sandites got to play them in the Championship round as they defeated the other three teams.

The Spartans rode a ten-game win streak after beating Union Saturday afternoon while the Sandites had just rebounded from their 4-1 Friday night loss with an 8-0 run-rule shutout of Life Prep Academy.

Christian Byford got the start on the mound for the Spartans and was replaced before he had pitched even a third of an inning after walking Treyce Tolbert, Hunter Greathouse, and Jake Ward consecutively. David Ryan took over on loaded bases and Greathouse came back to bat, replaced on base by Malachi Walton. The new pitching change seemed to work as Greathouse was struck out for only the second time this season. Josh Taber was up next and scored Treyce Tolbert on a single-by-error, but Ward was put out at second. Trevor Tolbert went to bat and Walton stole home, then Taber stole second and third on passed balls and came home on Tolbert’s single. Tolbert would be left stranded as Joey Montgomery flied out to center, but the Sandites had successfully taken a 3-0 lead.

Rhett Rutledge (1-0) went to the mound for the Sandites in his first time pitching this season. Gavin Staton grounded out to third, Cade Cabbiness struck out swinging. Breydon Daniel doubled on a McCallie error in left field and stole third on a passed ball but was ultimately left stranded as Cade Cavalli flied out to left.

McCallie was up next to bat for the Sandites and flied out to left field, but University of Oklahoma-commit Jake Terry slid into second on a close double and reached third on a Treyce Tolbert single-by-error. Rutledge grounded out to Ryan on a sacrifice scoring Terry and the Sandites took a 4-0 lead. Ward was hit by pitch and Greathouse drew a walk to load the bases, but Taber flied out to left field and the Spartans came in to bat.

The bottom of the second was a no hitter as Nic Swanson grounded out to Rutledge, Jeremy Goodwin flied out to left field, and Zac Tryon struck out swinging. Trevor Tolbert struck out for the first Sandite at-bat, but Montgomery was walked, McCallie singled, and Terry singled to load the bases. Treyce Tolbert singled to bring home Montgomery and McCallie scored on a Rutledge sacrifice. Ward walked to load the bases but all three would be left stranded as Greathouse flied out to short.

Staton and Matthew Henderson both flied out to Taber in right field but Daniel doubled on an error and reached third on a Tanner Griffin single. Cavalli smacked a center field fly and Daniel came home shortly before Griffin was outed at second to end the inning 6-1.

The Spartans were finally beginning to make plays and pitched a no hitter in the top of the fourth as Taber grounded out to first, Trevor Tolbert struck out, and Montgomery flied out to right field. Cavalli doubled to left field and Cole Parker singled but Parker was put out at second on a fielder’s choice.

Ryan pitched another no-hitter inning in the top of the fifth, but the Sandites were equally savvy on defense and Rutledge struck out Staton, Ward caught out Henderson on a popup, and Rutledge scooped a grounder from Daniel and put him out at first.

Rutledge hit a leadoff line drive single in the top of the sixth, followed by Ward who was hit by pitch, and Greathouse who reached on an error to load the bases. Taber came in to clean up and batted in Rutledge and Ward with a single. Trevor Tolbert flied out to left field and Greathouse was put out at home, but Montgomery was hit by pitch and McCallie doubled to score Taber and Montgomery. Terry flied out in foul territory but the Sandites had furthered their lead to 10-1.

Griffin singled to start things off for the Spartans and the Sandites helped him along with a series of errors. Cavalli reached on a McCallie error, Swanson reached on an error by Ward to load the bases, and Griffin scored on an error by Trevor Tolbert. Goodwin was walked and Parker sacrificed to score Cavalli. Tryon walked to load the bases with one out and Staton came to bat. Brock Youngblood (1-0) relieved Rutledge on the mound. Staton hit a grounder to short and was outed in a double play to second and Sand Springs came in to bat the top of the seventh with a 10-3 lead.

Treyce Tolbert grounded out to second but Rutledge doubled to center field and Ward drew a walk. Greathouse flied out in foul territory, Taber walked to load the bases, but Trevor Tolbert struck out and it came down to the bottom of the seventh for the Spartans.

Henderson, Daniel, and Griffin all singled to load the bases with no outs. Cavalli brought in Henderson and Daniel with a double to the center field fence. Swanson drew a walk to reload the bases. Goodwin flied out to right field but scored Griffin to make it 10-6. Parker was next to bat and was put out at first on a double play along with Cavalli at home.

The Sandites dealt the Spartans a triple insult, ending their ten-game win streak, beating them at their own tournament, and paying them back for their previous night's loss. The Spartans will have their chance to even the score this upcoming week, however, as the two teams will meet at Sand Springs Monday night and at Bixby Tuesday night.