Sand Springs Football: Blake Jones scores 4 TDs in 53-26 rout of Sapulpa

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*A version of this story was originally published in the Tulsa World.

For the first time in the 99-year history of the Highway 97 Rivalry, the Sandites can boast of hanging half a hundred on their archrivals. 

After trailing 14-0 early in the first quarter, Class 6A-II No. 8 ranked Charles Page High School rattled off 30 straight points to close the first half of their season opener against 5A No. 9 Sapulpa, then coasted to a 53-26 final score.

“Sapulpa’s a very well-coached football team,” said second-year Sandite Head Coach Bobby Klinck about the Chieftains’ early lead. “I’ve coached with Tim Holt before. I knew they were going to come out here with a great game plan against us and I’m not surprised by it.”

The Sandites have won the series back-to-back under Klinck, and they’ve won it seven of the past eight seasons, evening the all-time record to 45-45-5. Sapulpa had held the overall series lead since 1945.

It didn’t start pretty, though.

D’Angelo Mitchell set up the Chieftains’ opening drive with a 47-yard kick return, and Sapulpa marched the remaining 50 yards in only five plays, scoring on a 12-yard pass from Zac Mason to Xander Konell.

The Chieftains got another short field on a mishandled punt attempt at the Sandite 49-yard line. Mason soon found Mitchell on a 47-yard pass and Ethan Peterson’s kick gave the visitors a 14-0 lead.

There were other mistakes throughout the game, too. Sand Springs committed 12 penalties for 125 yards, including a few unsportsmanlike calls. 

“We’ve got to be smarter in terms of the after-whistle penalties,” said Klinck. “We talk about emotional stability all the time with our team and we didn’t have that today. So we’ve definitely got to figure some things out in terms of making the other team earn everything they get.”

The Sandites did a pretty good job of stopping Sapulpa outside of those first two drives. The defense forced five punts and two turnovers on downs. Drake Fain sacked Mason for a safety in the first quarter, and Chase White picked him off on a fourth-down pass attempt in the endzone. 

The offense also showed up, anchored by lots of returning star power in the skill positions, while a brand new offensive line showed that they could hang with the best of them. 

“(Offensive Line) Coach (Jason) Medrano’s just done an unbelievable job,” said Klinck. “I’m so happy we were able to get him on board. Just the physicality and the mentality he brings to that front - it was evident. I was telling the offense ‘let’s run the ball, let’s run the ball. They haven’t stopped it yet.’ That’s a great weapon to have.”

Running the ball proved very successful, as Blake Jones amassed 181 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries. Jones was in and out last season with injuries, but he made his presence known Friday night with a new career-best performance.

Also putting up big numbers was third-year veteran quarterback Ty Pennington, who was 16-of-25 passing for 245 yards and three scores. He had help from two triple-digit receivers.

In the first half, his primary target was backup quarterback Brody Rutledge, who finished the night with five receptions for 112 yards and two scores. His first two catches were touchdowns of 49 yards and 44 yards, the second of which gave Sand Springs the lead once and for all.

“I think it goes past the football field, just that personal relationship we have,” said Pennington of his receiver. “I trust him, he trusts me, it just showed on the field tonight. He had a big night.”

Jacob Blevins also had a big night, with nine receptions for 118 yards and a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

First-year Sandite kicker Logan Wolfe connected on all six of his PATs, as well as a 27-yard field goal. 

“I was proud of The Wolfe,” said Klinck. “For a guy who’s been a soccer guy, probably hasn’t played in front of this many people before, I thought he did an absolutely great job, especially on kickoffs. He’s going to become a weapon for us.”

Overall, the Sandites outgained the Chieftains 421 yards to 297. Mason finished the game 11-of-22 passing for 126 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Tyreese Jones also gave the Sandites fits at times, rushing for 138 yards with another 15 by air. He scored one touchdown on a 61-yard breakaway run in the third quarter.

Sandite Football will return to action next Friday at 7:00 p.m. with a road game against 5A No. 6 Bishop Kelley (0-1). Sapulpa will host unranked Edison Prep Academy (0-0), which is now led by former Chieftain Head Coach Robert Borgstadt, who resigned from Sapulpa in January.

Oklahoma Boys High School Basketball: Week Six Rankings and Predictions

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Few games were played over Christmas Break this past week and the four undefeated teams had bye weeks. The OSSAA has released their week six rankings and the Big Ten conference has moved slightly ahead of Central Oklahoma in overall team standings.

No. 1 Edmond North (Last week No. 1)

Edmond North (6-0) brought in seventeen first-place votes after a bye week. The Huskies hold the No. 4 offense, No. 10 defense, and No. 3 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action Wednesday at the Tournament of Champions with a first-round match against Class A No. 1 Ft. Cobb-Broxton (8-0).

The pick: Ed North 65 Ft. Cobb 48

No. 2 Midwest City (2)

Midwest City (6-1) received one first-place vote after a bye week. The Bombers hold the No. 1 offense and No. 2 margin of victory in 6A and are undefeated in the Big Ten. They will return to action Wednesday at the Tournament of Champions with a first-round match against 4A No. 2 Tulsa Central (6-2).

The pick: MWC 65 Central 60

No. 3 Union (3)

Union (3-0) received one first-place vote after a bye week. The Redskins hold the No. 17 offense, No. 1 defense, and No. 8 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action Wednesday at the Tournament of Champions with a first-round match against 3A No. 4 Tahlequah Sequoyah (5-2).

The pick: Union 58 Sequoyah 53

No. 4 Putnam City North (4)

Putnam City North (6-2) didn't play any games last week. The Panthers hold the No. 5 offense and No. 11 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action after the new year at the Putnam City Invitational.

No. 5 Edmond Santa Fe (tied for 5)

Edmond Santa Fe (6-1) didn't play any games last week and are still undefeated in the Central Oklahoma Conference. The Wolves hold the No. 13 offense, No. 8 defense, and No. 7 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action after the new year at the Bishop McGuinness Tournament.

No. 6 Westmoore (tied for 5)

Westmoore (7-0) didn't play any games last week. The Jaguars hold the No. 9 offense, No. 5 defense, and No. 4 margin of victory in 6A. They will return to action Wednesday at the Duncan Holiday Tournament with a first round matchup against unranked U.S. Grant (1-3).

The pick: Westmoore 76 Grant 44

No. 7 Norman North (8)

Norman North (2-2) didn't play any games last week. The Timberwolves hold the No. 2 offense and No. 13 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year when they host No. 6 Westmoore (7-0).

No. 8 Putnam City West (7)

Putnam West (6-4) dropped a spot in the rankings after going 1-3 in the Tarkanian Classic last week in Las Vegas. The Patriots fell 64-59 to Bishop O'Dowd, 53-44 to Clark, Nevada, and 71-68 to Windermere Prep, Florida. They defeated Cathedral Catholic 54-46. They hold the No. 12 offense and No. 15 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year at the Putnam City Invitational.

No. 9 Broken Arrow (10)

Broken Arrow (5-2) moved up a spot after a bye week. The Tigers hold the No. 18 offense, No. 2 defense, and No. 12 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year at the Skiatook Invitational.

No. 10 Muskogee (11)

Muskogee (6-0) moved up a spot after a bye week. The Roughers hold the No. 7 offense, No. 14 defense, and No. 6 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year when they travel to unranked Jenks (0-6).

No. 11 Booker T. Washington (9)

Booker T. Washington (5-2) slipped a few spots in the rankings despite a dominating 91-65 victory over 4A No. 11 McLain (3-4). RJ Fuqua scored an incredible 38 points in the onslaught and two other players also doubled. The Hornets hold the No. 6 offense and No. 14 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year at the Skiatook Tournament.

No. 12 Yukon (14)

Yukon (4-3) moved up two spots despite having a bye week. The Millers hold the No. 11 offense, No. 15 defense, and No. 10 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year when they host unranked Deer Creek (3-4).

No. 13 Sapulpa (13)

Sapulpa (4-2) holds the No. 10 offense and No. 17 margin of victory in 6A. The Chieftains had a bye week last week and won't return to action till after the new year when they play the McDonalds Classic in Ada.

No. 14 Norman (12)

Norman (4-2) holds the No. 8 offense, No. 11 defense, and No. 5 margin of victory in 6A. They are coming off a bye week and won't return to action till the Bishop McGuinness Tournament in January.

No. 15 Lawton (16)

Lawton (3-1) holds the No. 14 offense, No. 19 defense, and No. 16 margin of victory in 6A. They are coming off a bye week and will return to action Wednesday at the Hobbs Invitational in New Mexico.

No. 16 Edmond Memorial (15)

Edmond Memorial (3-4) holds the No. 13 defense in 6A and will return to action after the new year against No. 5 Westmoore (7-0).

No. 17 Bixby (18)

Bixby (3-3) holds the No. 6 defense in 6A and will return to action after the new year when they host No. 18 Bartlesville (3-3).

No. 18 Bartlesville (17)

Bartlesville (3-3) holds the No. 4 defense and No. 20 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action after the new year at the Arvest Invitational.

No. 19 Mustang (20)

Mustang (2-3) holds the No. 7 defense in 6A and will return to action after the new year at the Putnam City Invitational.

No. 20 (tied) Owasso (unranked)

Owasso (1-2) holds the No. 17 defense in 6A and will return to action Tuesday at the KSA Holiday Classic in Orlando.

No. 20 (tied) Sand Springs (unranked)

Sand Springs (3-3) holds the No. 16 offense, No. 3 defense, and No. 9 margin of victory in 6A and will return to action Wednesday at the Duncan Holiday Invitational with a first-round matchup against 5A unranked Duncan (0-8).

The pick: CPHS 64 Duncan 45.

Conference Strength

1. Big Ten (53.2)
2. Central Oklahoma (50)
3. Green Country (47.7)
4. Frontier Valley (43.2)
5. All-City (29.8)

Payton Scott rushes for 3 touchdowns and 197 yards in 35-7 victory over Sapulpa

Photos: Morgan Miller

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No.6 Charles Page High School varsity football team (2-2, 1-0) secured their first district win of the season with a dominating 35-7 victory over the No. 14 Sapulpa Chieftains (0-4, 0-1) Friday night, taking a 35-0 lead in the third quarter before their rivals got on the board.

This was the 90th year of Highway 97 Rivalry and the Sandites won their third-straight installment to bring the record to 41-45-5 with the Chieftains still leading overall. The two teams, which are separated by only a few miles of Highway 97, have met consecutively since 1930 and have hated each other ever since. 

There's been a lot of bad blood over the decades and in past years fights were notorious and security was always heavier at the Sapulpa game than any other game of the year. Even this year saw an unsportsmanlike penalty on Sapulpa for an out-of-bounds shove. The week preceding the game is known as "Sapulpa Hate Week" in Sand Springs, and both schools take their rivalry trash talk to twitter where it can get pretty heated. 

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This year, however, the two teams were able to come together in solidarity to honor a Sandite who passed away shortly before the game. Swift Myers, who graduated in May of this year, was battling his seventh bout with cancer when it took his life Friday evening. His wife, Abbi Myers, tweeted that "Swift made it clear to us before he left that when he died, he didn't want people saying he lost his battle. He beat the shit out of cancer."

After seven long bouts with the condition, Myers is finally at peace in Heaven, and for this year, the two football teams put aside their rivalry and met in the field after the game to honor and remember him. Swift's classmate America Higgins tweeted "I honestly I can't even consider Sapulpa a rival after their support they showed tonight." Even before the game, Sapulpa students were hanging banners throughout the school bearing the #SWIFTSTRONG motto, and brought those banners to the game as well. Wrestling National Champion Daton Fix posted that "Heaven gained an amazing person tonight. One of the toughest guys I will ever know. A fighter and a winner. #SwiftStrong forever."

The game itself was a dominating performance by the Sandites, who rushed for over 300 yards and held the Chieftains to a mere 12 first downs and forced six turnovers. Hunter Greathouse led the Sandites in passing with 5 completions for 76 yards and a touchdown, while Payton Scott led the ground game for both teams with 29 carries for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dalton Morgan also played a significant factor on the ground with 11 carries for 100 yards. Sophomore Hayden Cramer led the defense with six solo tackles, followed by Tyler Delozier with five tackles and an interception.

Sandite Flag Crew members are painted with the Flash symbol, which has been adopted by #SWIFTSTRONG supporters.

Sapulpa quarterback Cameron Elder completed 8 of 13 passes for 53 yards and 1 interception. The ground game was fairly split between Elder and Dayton Vann with 59 yards each, but led by Marcus Henderson with 67 yards on 8 carries. Trevin Inks and Stanley White had four tackles each, and B.J. Dansby had the lone tackle-for-loss for the Chieftains.

Sapulpa got the ball to start but was held to fourth-and-two and had to punt less than two minutes into the game. The Sandites got on the board midway through the first quarter with a two-yard run from Scott to cap off a methodical 13-play, 72-yard drive. Kasey Bales kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead. 

Sapulpa's next drive ate up the rest of the first quarter and two minutes of the second as they drove 51 yards to the Sandites' 29 before a tackle for loss by Jerry Lyons and fumbled snap forced them back to fourth and nineteen and they had to punt. Less than three minutes later, Scott pushed in yet another touchdown on a one-yard run to make it 14-0.

The Chieftains had yet another drive end without a first down after a third-and-seven pass was nearly picked off by Cody Motes, but was dropped. The punt gave Sand Springs the field at their 36 and they needed only five plays to score. Scott picked up a first down on a ten-yard run, and an offsides penalty put the Sandites at the Sapulpa 49. Greathouse pitched the ball to Scott, who reversed it back to Greathouse for a 46-yard pass to Bales who was barely stopped by Aaron Sechrist at the three-yard-line. Two plays later, Greathouse punched in the touchdown on a 1-yard sneak to make it 21-0 after the Bales kick.

Dansby got a huge kickoff return to the Sandite 38, and a 37-yard run from Henderson put the Chieftains at first-and-goal from the one-yard line. An illegal procedure on the Chieftains, followed by a sack from Gage Fain pushed Sapulpa back to the 7, and Tyler Delozier picked off a pass from Elder and returned it to the 47 before being forced out by Inks. 

Sapulpa nearly got the ball back as Greathouse nearly threw an interception in the endzone, but intended-receiver Kasey Bales managed to swat the ball away from the Chieftain defender. A few plays later, Greathouse connected from eleven yards out to Mack Thompson for the score. With 29 seconds left in the half, Bales sent in the point-after to make it 28-0.

The Sandites were only two minutes into the second half when they scored once more on a five-yard run from Scott to make it 35-0.

Sapulpa finally got on the scoreboard on the corresponding drive. Henderson picked up a fifteen-yard run, Elder connected with Dansby for thirteen yards, then went 36 yards on a keeper to score. Bobby Schmidt sent in the extra point to make it 35-7 where the score would remain for the duration.

The Sandites put together a big drive on their next possession, starting at their 15. Scott found a first down in a twelve-yard run, then Bales snagged a lateral and ran it eleven yards. A facemask penalty put the Sandites at the Sapulpa 42, and a run by Morgan took them to the 35. A handoff to Scott should have been a loss of two, but the running back was bolstered by offensive lineman Lincoln Adams who pushed it into a three yard gain and a first down.

Morgan picked up nine yards on a run and Bales hauled in a screen to put the Sandites at the 16. Morgan ran another seven yards while carrying four Sapulpa defenders before he went down, and Scott went five more for the first down at the four-yard line. Sapulpa brought the drive to an end, however, with an endzone interception by Sechrest who ran it all the way back to the Sandite 46 before being ran down by Cameron Lierly. 

The two teams exchanged possessions from there and with five minutes left, the Sandite backups went in to play. Sophomore Caden Pennington took over at quarterback, but didn't get to make any plays. Sophomore running back Garrett McCallie picked up 14 yards on 4 carries before Sapulpa put a stop to the drive and took over possession shortly before time expired.

The Chieftains are still looking for a win this season and will host No. 2 Booker T Washington (3-2, 1-0) next Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Sandites will look to improve to a winning record as they host 6A-I Yukon (0-4) in a non-district home game Friday at 7:00 p.m.

No. 15 Lady Sandite Volleyball falls 3-1 to at 5A No. 5 Collinsville; Mutiri scores 19 kills

Photo: Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 15 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (21-13) played a tough one against 5A No. 5 Collinsville (20-9) Thursday night, falling 3-1 in a match that at times felt like a slumber party for both teams. 

The Sandites started out with a 4-0 lead in the first game thanks to back-to-back kills from Ohio State University commit Gloria Mutiri and a pair of errors from the Cardinals. They gave the points right back, however. The girls committed a pair of errors, 6'5" Arizona-basketball commit Mallory Vaughn blocked a shot from Mutiri, and Shea Thomas set up Katlynn Wheeler for the game-tying shot. 

SS Kills: Mutiri 19, Kersgieter 8, Youngblood 6, Leslie 3, MaKenzie Ward 1.
CV Kills: Flanagan 14, Wheeler 7, Vaughn 6, Haught 6.

SS Assists: Makenzie Ward 23, Burris 3, Kersgeiter 2, Leslie 1.
CV Assists: Thomas 30.

SS Blocks: Mutiri 5, Burris 1, Cypert 1, Kersgieter 1.
CV Blocks: Vaughn 5, Haught 2, Thomas 1, Wheeler 1, Flanagan 1.

SS Aces: Youngblood 2, Leslie 1, MaKenzie Ward 1. 
CV Aces: Flanagan 6, Haught 1.

SS Digs: Leslie 7, Mudd 6, Youngblood 4, Mutiri 4, Kersgieter 4, Taylor 3, MaKenzie Ward 3, Madison Ward 1, Cypert 1, Burris 1.

Sophomore Holly Kersgieter set up Lee Leslie for a kill to regain the lead, but Vaughn blocked and Megan Rice hit the go-ahead kill. Sand Springs tried to hang tight with another Kersgieter/Leslie combo, but back-to-back kills from Rice and a slew of errors led to an insurmountable lead for the Cardinals who won the set 25-16.

The home team got off to a huge 7-0 advantage in set two thanks to a block and kill from Vaughn with four aces from Ashley Flanagan. The Sandites played catch-up with blocks from Mutiri and Madison Burris, a series of Cardinal errors, and an ace from Leslie to close the gap to 9-7. Rice went on a four-kill run from there, broken up only by a Cardinal error, before the Sandites found another kill from Kersgieter. 

Collinsville surged ahead to 19-12 with kills from Flanagan and Wheeler and four Sandite errors. The girls never stopped fighting, however, and once more closed up to 19-16 thanks to a pair of errors, a block from Mutiri and Makenna Cypert, and a kill from Mutiri. The two teams exchanged three-point runs from there and ultimately the home team won 25-19 with a kill from Flanagan.

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The third set went to the Sandites who built their own 7-0 lead this time. An error from Flanagan put the girls on a run with a pair of aces from freshman Devree Youngblood and kills from Mutiri off sets by Leslie and MaKenzie Ward. 

The Cardinals battled back to 7-4 with a pair of kills and a pair of errors, but the Sandites continued to hold their own, playing their most awake and competitive set of the match. The Cardinals never once led or tied in the duration of the game, though they came close at 21-19. The Sandites won 25-20 led by seven kills from the Mutiri and three by Kersgieter. 

The fourth set saw both teams step up their game, though the Sandites lead from the start till 14-14. An error from Youngblood gave Collinsville the ball and Flanagan served up fifth and sixth aces of the night. An error from Leslie and kills from Vaughn and Wheeler gave the Cardinals a six-straight run for a 16-14 lead that they held to the end. Ward set up a pair of kills for Kersgieter and served an ace late in the game to pull close at 23-21 and an error by Vaughn put the girls within a point, but Flanagan scored on a hard spike and Vaughn scored on a tipped ball for the 25-22 win. 

The Sandites were outperformed in both kills and errors by the Cardinals, who committed only 36 faults through the whole match compared to the Sandites' 44. Mutiri led both teams in kills with 19, in addition to 5 blocks. Flanagan was the leading scorer for Collinsville with 14 kills, followed by Vaughn with 11 and Rice with 10. Ward did the bulk of the setting for the Sandites with 23 assists, while Thomas did all of the setting for Collinsville and registered 30 assists. Leslie had 7 digs for the Sandites, followed by Baylee Mudd with 6.

Lady Sandite Softball takes second in district after 5-2 loss to Yukon

Photo: Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

For the second year in a row, the Yukon Millers (23-5, 13-1) spoiled the Sandites' run at a District Championship. The Charles Page High School varsity softball team (20-6, 11-3) hosted Yukon Thursday evening with an 11-2 district record to the Millers' 12-1. The Lady Sandites had already defeated the Millers on their home turf earlier this season, so a win at home to tie their records would have given the Sandites their first and only district title since 2012.

Last year the Sandites came into their final district game against Yukon undefeated at 13-0, having beaten the Millers 4-3 earlier in the season. That time Yukon was 12-1 and defeated the Sandites 4-0. The two teams split the district title, but Yukon claimed the number one seed on run differential. 

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Sand Springs drew first blood in the 5-2 loss with a single from junior Madelyn Blair to score Makenna Skaggs in the bottom of the third. Skaggs was running courtesy for sophomore pitcher Jacie Taber who doubled. Freshman Sabrina Usher hit a single to follow and advanced Blair to third, but the two were left stranded to end the inning 1-0.

In the top of the fifth, Mady Taylor was hit by pitch for a free base, and advanced to second on an error that allowed Jewell Lee to reach first. Taylor tied the game up as Rylee Uhr reached on an error, and Lee scored soon after on a single from Aleyah Holman. Cheyenne Factor was hit by pitch to load the bases, and all three runners scored on a double from Breley Webb. The Sandites gave up a double to Hannah Franklin and walked Janie Abrams to reload the bases, but pulled out the inning with a double play from Kimi Presnell at second to Blair at first.

The Sandite freshmen stepped up in the bottom of the sixth as Usher hit a double and scored on a double from Felicity Horn, but that would be the last run of the game. Senior Rachel Blair also hit a single in the inning, but was put out on a fielder's choice to bring the visitors in to bat. The Millers didn't land any hits in the seventh, but didn't need to. Madelyn Blair singled in the bottom of the inning, but was left stranded to end the game 5-2. 

Taber (8-4) got the loss on the mound with four walks and four hits against two strikeouts and zero earned runs. Webb picked up the win with one strikeout, two earned runs, nine hits, and two walks. 

After coming in second in the district, the Sandites will get to host their own Regional tournament beginning October 6th. Though official brackets won't be released by the OSSAA until the 28th, current district standings would have the girls playing Claremore (10-18) in the preliminary round. The tournament is double elimination, so the girls will play either or both Stillwater (19-12) and Sapulpa (7-18). Those pairings aren't final, however, as some teams still have district games left to play. Ponca City (16-14) still has three district games left and could surpass Sapulpa in the standings which would send either Ponca themselves, or Norman (13-7) to Sand Springs.

The girls will get plenty of practice in before Regionals, however, as they travel to the Northeastern State University Tournament in Tahlequah Friday and Saturday. They will take on Muskogee (7-12)  at 2:00 p.m. and Moore (20-4) at 4:45 p.m. Friday. On Saturday they will play Jay (14-13) at 2:15 p.m. and Muldrow (13-13) at 3:45 p.m., followed by bracket play. 

Lady Sandite Softball defeats Bixby 13-1 and will play District Championship Thursday

Photo: Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity softball team (20-5, 11-2) played a district double-header against the Bixby Lady Spartans (15-13, 10-4) Tuesday at home and split the games. After winning the first game 13-1, the Sandites couldn't bring in a run in the second game and lost 1-0. Fortunately, they only needed one win to stay alive in the race for a district title. 

The Sandites jumped on the Spartans quick and early as Oklahoma State commit Sydney Pennington drew a walk in the top of the first, reached third on a sacrifice from Jessica Collins, and scored after tagging up on a fly out by Elizabeth Luttrell. Soon after, Cameron Clemons singled to score Collins and Makenna Skaggs for the 3-0 advantage. Felicity Horn scored on a failed fielder's choice, and Sabrina Usher reached on an error to score Clemons and Kimi Presnell to cap off the inning 6-0 after being put out at second.

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Sophomore Jacie Taber doubled in the top of the second inning to score Pennington, then came home with Skaggs on a single from Horn. She batted in another pair of runs in the top of the third, scoring Pennington and Usher on a single for the 11-0 lead.

Usher hit a double to start off the fifth inning and scored on a home run from Pennington, her ninth this season.

The Spartans hit their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, a double from Adrianna Forbus, to score Mia Gates. It would be their only run of the game, however, and the Sandites won it 13-1 after a five-inning run-rule.

Junior pitcher Madelyn Blair (8-2) picked up her sixth straight win on the mound with only one hit and two walks against four strikeouts and one run. She also hit two singles in the game.

The second leg of the double-header was an anomaly as the Sandites were shutout for only the third time this season, despite landing five base-hits and putting ten runners on base over the course of the game. 

In the first inning, Horn reached on an error and was joined by Pennington, who walked. Both were left stranded.

The Spartans scored their first and only run of the game in the top of the second with a home run from Meredith Iden. Bixby loaded the bases from there as Forbus was hit by the pitch, Brooklyn Lemon hit a single, and Kyndal Pirtle walked to load the bases. Sophomore pitcher Jacie Taber was able to save the inning, however, striking out Teri Pogue swinging. 

Presnell was stranded on a single in the bottom of the second. Sarah Tyree was stranded after a triple in the top of the third. Blair and Taber both singled in the bottom of the fourth, but Blair was caught in a double play and Taber was stranded. Horn reached on error once again in the bottom of the fifth, and Pennington walked in the sixth.

The Sandites threatened again in the bottom of the seventh. After Clemons grounded out and Jensen Arnold struck out looking, Usher drew a walk and Horn singled. Collins was next to the plate and also singled, but Usher was caught advancing on the play and the game was brought to an end.

Taber (8-3) pitched a career-best eleven strikeouts while giving up only four hits and two walks. She averages less than one run per game with five shutouts this season. This is her third double-digit strikeout game this season.

The Sandites' 11-2 district record is surpassed only by Yukon at 12-1. However, the Sandites and Millers will play the final district match for both teams Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at the Sandite Softball Complex. Sand Springs has already defeated Yukon once this season, 9-1 at the Miller's home turf. If the girls can pull off the repeat, they will match the Millers' record and win the district on head-to-head results.