Union Baseball trumps Sandites 6-3
/By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
For the second night in a row, the Charles Page High School baseball team (19-9) was bested by the Union Redskins (14-9), marking their fourth-straight loss. The Sandites sought to use their home field advantage to find payback against Union for a 5-3 loss Monday night in Tulsa, but after giving up the lead in the third inning, they were unable to find another run for the duration of the game.
Jake Ward (4-2) got the loss on the mound, giving up six hits and four walks against three strikeouts. Daniel Smith got the win for the Redskins, striking out five and allowing only three hits.
The first inning saw more runs than the rest of the game combined, with Union drawing first blood on a single by Ryan Farrell that scored Braden Merrill and Hector Carillo. Sand Springs came out on top, however, as Joey Montgomery singled to score Josh Taber and Rhett Rutledge. Hunter Greathouse sacrificed to score Ty Fain for the 3-2 lead.
The second inning was a no-hitter and Union took the lead in the top of the third. Farrell sacrificed to score Merrill and Zack Doak sacrificed to score Carillo for the lead. Sand Springs failed to get on base in the third.
Union failed to get on base in the fourth while Sand Springs stranded one. The fifth was another no-hitter for the Redskins, who walked two but were able to end the inning on a fielder's choice that put out Taber at third.
The visitors cushioned their lead in the top of the sixth as Daniel Scheid sacrificed to score Justin Comeau. Treyce Tolbert landed a single for the Sandites, but was stranded as Union came in to bat. Merrill iced the cake on his impressive evening with a home run to make it 6-3.
Sand Springs tried to rally with singles from Jake Terry and Rutledge, but Taber and Terry were outed in a double play and Ward flied out to strand Rutledge and bring the evening to a close.
Sand Springs will return to action Friday night at Broken Arrow (20-9) who they just gave up a 6-4 loss to in the championship round at the Sand Springs/Broken Arrow Wooden Bat Tournament.
