5th Annual Monster Ball raises $3,000 for Special Olympics; weekly sports roundup
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A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.
Monsters, inmates, and movie characters came together for a good cause Thursday evening at the Sandite Sports Complex. The fifth-annual Monster Ball softball game raised over $3,000 for Sandite Special Olympics, and featured more Halloween-themed festivities than ever before.
The event began in 2016 when Jessica Collins, then a senior softball player and Special Olympics partner at Charles Page High School, came up with the idea.
“She was the brainchild of this whole thing,” said Carrie Schlehuber, Director of Special Education for Sand Springs Public Schools. “Since then it’s really just been a cooperative effort between softball coaches, baseball coaches, and the Special Olympics coaches.”
This was the fifth event in six years, with a rainout in 2019. In the past it’s always been just a softball game, with dizzy bat races and the occasional home-run derby. This year, however, it was bigger than ever with a trunk-or-treat and hayrides to increase attendance and raise extra money.
“This year Megan Elliott and Tamera Ornelas were the big organizers,” said Schlehuber. “They came up with the trunk-or-treat, the hayride, the costumed run on the bases, all those extra things we did for the kids in the community.”
The add-ons made it the most profitable fundraiser yet, but the highlight of the evening remained the slow-pitch softball game.
The game pits the Sandite softball team versus the baseball team, with all players fully costumed. The baseball team bats with their non-dominant hands, but even with that disadvantage the boys prevailed 3-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, Nathan Gibson, dressed as Mario, got the boys on the board with an RBI single to score Jacob Shields, dressed as Buzz Lightyear. Gibson came in on a single from Gage Elliott, dressed as Alan from The Hangover, then Elliott scored on a triple from Jace Arnold in a deer onesie.
The game was the lowest-scoring in the history of the event, and the first without any home runs.
The series is now tied at 2-2 with the softball team winning the first and third years, and the baseball team winning the second year. Last year the game saw mixed rosters due to a shortage of softball players while many were quarantined.
“It’s just so huge for us,” said Schlehuber, about the community involvement. “We’re always blown away by the fact that our athletic teams, our student body, our parents, everybody is so willing to be helpful, donate money, donate time. By far, this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had. I would say probably triple the amount of people that we’ve had in the past.”
“Every dollar that we can raise as a fundraiser is money that our Special Olympics athletes and their families don’t have to pay to go towards the State Games when we go to Stillwater in May.”
The cross country season came to a close for Sand Springs, as neither the boys nor the girls teams qualified for State.
The girls placed 14th and the boys took 13th at the OSSAA 6A-East Regional Championship at Mohawk Park, Saturday in Tulsa.
Jazmin Lopez led the girls team with a 45th place finish, running the 5K in 22:01. Freshman Gracie Gifford finished in 25:51, and Lauren Foster ran it in 26:42. The entire girls team will be back next year, with no graduating seniors.
Senior Noah Hanlon led the boys in 45h place with a time of 18:15, followed by Alejandro Lopez in 18:43, and Dalton Wilcox in 19:07. The boys team will graduate four of their top six, opening the door for new stars in the coming season.
The State Championship will be held at Edmond Santa Fe High School on Saturday.
Softball
Six members of the Sandite fast-pitch softball team received district accolades this past week. Raegan Rector was named Defensive Player of the Year, Jolee McNally was named an All-District outfielder, and Kelsi Hilton and Lauren Hammock got nods as All-District utility players. Avery Tanner and Nataley Crawford both received honorable mentions.
