Down 5-4 and riding a four-game losing streak, the Sandites needed a spark in the first round of the Bixby tournament Friday morning.
JoLee McNally stepped up to the plate with two runners on and smacked a ground ball single to center field in the top of the sixth, bringing in Morgan Rector and Kinzie King to kick off a great weekend for the Charles Page High School softball team (9-7).
After taking down Newcastle 6-5, the Sandites got a huge 5-4 upset against title contender Edmond Memorial then steamrolled Union 17-2 and El Reno 11-2 before falling 4-1 to Broken Arrow in the final game.
“They had an awesome weekend, I thought,” said head coach Shelli Brown. “The turnaround from Bartlesville where we left a lot of runner-on-base opportunities, I felt like this weekend they were able to get the runners on and push them across the plate. That was the difference.”
Prior to the tournament, the Sandites had a rough stretch of district road games at Stillwater, Jenks, Bixby, and Bartlesville.
Thursday was a tough loss, as the Sandites had previously beaten Bartlesville 12-3 at home, and led 5-0 early before the Bruins surged back with seven runs in the bottom of the third.
Friday’s win over Edmond Memorial (19-4), however, showed that this team is still capable of beating anyone in the state on any given day.
The Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead in the third inning, but the Sandites rallied in the bottom with RBI doubles from Lauren Hammock and Nataley Crawford, and Kelsi Hilton scored on a passed ball for the lead.
Crawford got the wins in the pitching circle against Edmond and Newcastle, Hilton got the win against Union, and Addie Hughes got the win against El Reno.
“Team effort for sure on the pitching,” said Brown. ”We’ve been kind of double-teaming, so I thought our pitchers did a really good job with that.”
The team’s bats also came alive during the tournament, with McNally, Hammock, Hilton, and Crawford all hitting over .500. McNally scored eight runs and four RBI and Hammock had seven runs and seven RBI over the five games.
“I’m just happy with them,” said Brown. “I told them let’s keep moving forward. I felt like we’ve made the turn a little bit here.”
The Sandites are currently 3-4 in district action, sitting fifth in the standings. They’ll be heavily favored in four of their remaining seven district games, and they’ll have home-field advantage in their rematches with Jenks, Stillwater, and Bixby.
The Sandites have hosted Regionals seven consecutive years but that streak could be in jeopardy if they don’t finish strong in district action.
“We need to focus one game at a time, win those games, and get ourselves in a good situation,” says Brown. “Whether we host or we go travel, we’re going to have to play good teams, and we’ve just got to be ready. I think it’s going to be about timing - peaking at the right time. We’re starting to get everybody back, starting to get everybody healthy, and starting to have that team chemistry that takes some time to develop.”
“I’ve seen both districts. Whether you host or you travel, you’re going to face some really good teams so I just want us to be ready for that.”
Cross Country
Sandite Cross Country traveled to the Sapulpa Chieftain meet on Saturday, September 4th.
Chloe Grona led the elementary girls to a second place finish in the one-mile, finishing in 5:54 for first place, a full 21 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and Josie Grona placed third in 6:23.
The elementary boys placed eighth, led by Canyon Carnahan in 25th place with a time of 7:26.
Junior high boys placed fifth in the one-mile, led by Taigh Wright in 11th with a time of 5:51.21. Junior high girls didn’t have a full team, but Maddyx Hampton placed 18th in 6:38.
The varsity girls didn’t have a full team, but Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the two-mile run with a time of 13:57.
The varsity boys finished sixth, led by Alejandro Lopez in 11:52 for 25th place, and Dalton Wilcox in 11:55 for 26th.
On Saturday, September 11th, the high school and junior high teams traveled to Broken Arrow. The junior high boys placed sixth in the 1.5 mile run, but were the only team with a full lineup.
Lopez led the varsity girls in 26th place with a 5K time of 22:22. Noah Hanlon led the boys in 18:56 for 42nd place. Hampton led the junior high girls with a 12:01 1.5-mile run for 33rd, and Wright led the junior high boys in 9:52 for 13th.
Football
The Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Sandite football team (2-0) will look to remain undefeated when they travel to Arkansas 3A No. 1 Shiloh Christian (2-0). Both teams will be well-rested after bye weeks.
Last year Sand Springs hosted the first-ever meeting of the two teams and topped the Saints 27-26. It would be Shiloh’s only loss of the season as they went on to earn their eighth State Championship.
Volleyball
Class 6A No. 15 ranked Sand Springs (7-11) is riding a tough nine-match losing streak after traveling to the prestigious Heather Harkness Invitational in Edmond, one of the toughest tournaments in the state.
Sandite Volleyball fell 2-0 to No. 6 Deer Creek, 2-0 to No. 4 Edmond Memorial, 2-0 to OKC Storm, 3-2 to No. 10 Edmond North, and 3-0 to No. 16 Moore.
Sand Springs will compete at the Owasso tournament this weekend with pool matches against Owasso, Edmond Memorial, and Ponca City.
