Sandite Baseball wins Best of the West tournament

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The Sand Springs baseball team won the 2022 Best of the West tournament in Peoria, Arizona. Photo courtesy of Carrie Schlehuber.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

In the second round of the Best of the West tournament in Arizona, the Sandite baseball team (8-2) took a huge loss. 

They won the game 10-3 against Bradshaw Mountain (6-3), but lost Jacob Shields in the process. 

“He was just running, trying to catch a fly ball in the outfield,” said head coach Matt Brown.” It was kind of a freak deal, he got rolled up on his foot.”

The senior center fielder had unexpectedly ended his career, breaking his fibula. That loss, however, motivated the Sandites to win their first tournament title since 2018. 

Sand Springs went 5-0 at the tournament and won 9-8 against Boulder Creek (8-3) in the finals after a huge comeback.

“Those kids just rallied behind him,” said Brown. “They were playing for him and they were not going to give up because he doesn’t give up.”

“It was like there was no other option but for them to come back and win, just because they were doing it for him, for their buddy that they love.”

The Sandites were down 7-3 in the bottom of the sixth in the tournament finals, but rallied to a 9-7 lead with an RBI single from Kayden Campbell, a two-run triple from Jabe Schlehuber, an RBI single from Keaton Campbell, and a two-run single from Gabe Glenn.

“Everybody was a little bit down after Tuesday and upset because we knew he was hurt,” said Brown. “He’s such a big part of our team.”

“The guys who filled in did a great job. They were battling at the plate for him. He was on a plane back to go see his orthopedist so he didn’t get to be there for the rest of the games, but he was watching them online and we got to talk to him on FaceTime in the huddle after the game when we won and it was pretty special.”

“You feel so awful for him because it’s the same senior group that had their entire sophomore year taken away when they canceled our season (due to COVID). He’s been a three-year starter for us, he played a little bit as a freshman too. He’s a really good player who just has caught some bad breaks.”

The lead-off hitter for the Sandites had already made up his mind not to play college ball and is preparing for a career as a firefighter, taking EMT training at Tulsa Tech all year.

He will continue to travel to tournaments and be with the Sandites throughout the season, however. 

The Sandites had to make three big rallies over the course of the tournament and also trailed 6-2 in pool play against Cherry Creek (0-4), and were down 5-2 against Tolleson Union (6-4) in the semifinals.

Keaton Campbell hit an RBI double, Dom Ornelas and Glenn scored on errors, and Jason Clark scored on a bases-loaded walk to lift the Sandites over Cherry Creek on Tuesday.

Then, in Wednesday’s semifinal round, Schlehuber hit an RBI double in the sixth and Wyatt Rutledge walked in on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Glenn hit a two-out, full-count double to clear the bases and put his team on top, and Schlehuber added a two-run single in the seventh.

A deep bullpen also proved to be a difference-maker for the Sandites.

The Sandites won 6-1 against Centennial (5-5) in the tournament opener behind a three-hit, four-strikeout performance from Schlehuber (2-0).

Kayden Campbell (1-0) threw eight strikeouts in the win against Bradshaw Mountain, Rutledge (1-0) only gave up two hits in two innings against Cherry Creek, Jace Arnold (3-0) threw seven strikeouts against Tolleson, and John Keim (1-0) only gave up three hits to Boulder Creek.

Sophomore closer Eli Buxton recorded saves in both the semifinals and finals, including a clutch bases-loaded strikeout against Tolleson. 

“We threw 60 innings with freshmen last year on the mound, which is unheard of for a 6A program,” said Brown. 

“One of those guys in the semifinals goes six and two-thirds and gets the W. Eli Buxton was a freshman last year, and Jace Arnold was too. Eli Buxton gets the save in both games. Is that going to happen for them if we don’t throw them last year? Probably not because they’re not ready. They still need that experience.”

“We kept running them out there because they were good and they needed the work. And now it’s really paying off for us.”

Buxton was named the tournament MVP pitcher after only surrendering one run in the tournament, and Glenn was named Offensive MVP for going 8-of-16 at the plate with 8 RBI and 4 runs. 

Sand Springs will return to action Monday and Tuesday with district games against Ponca City (3-5, 2-0). They will then compete at the Bartlesville tournament over the weekend.