Sandites Go 1-1 at Regional Tournament, Will Rematch Edmond Memorial on Friday
/Late-game heroics boosted the Charles Page High School softball team (19-14) to a 6-2 win over Stillwater (18-14) in the first round of the Regional Championship Thursday afternoon in Edmond.
After trailing 2-0 through four innings, the Sandites got hot and scored runs in each of the remaining innings to extend their season.
Calle Cox hit an RBI single in the third inning to put the Pioneers on the board and Jaelynn Wilhelm padded the lead with a double in the fourth, but those would be the only runs the Sandites surrendered.
Kenzie King walked in the top of the fifth and scored on a sacrifice hit from Kaylei Rake, then Bella Wilson brought in Ashlyn Clark with a two-out single to tie it up.
Kelsi Hilton led off the sixth with a double, took third on a sacrifice fly from Lakelyn Harger, and gave her team the lead on a single from Morgan Rector.
Wilson hit a one-out single in the seventh, took third on a double from Bailey Copeland, and scored on a single from Hilton. Harger added another RBI single to score Copeland and Hilton scored the final run of the game on a sacrifice hit from Rector.
Wilhelm drew a lead-off walk to give the Pioneers hope but was left stranded at third on Addison Hughes’s sixth strikeout of the night.
Hughes (12-7) went the distance in the circle, surrendering eight hits and two walks to go with her six strikeouts.
In the second game, however, the girls fell 11-3 to host Edmond Memorial (25-9), the defending State Champions.
Sand Springs led 2-0 through two innings after Rector’s two-run double in the bottom of the first, but the Bulldogs took the lead once and for all in the top of the third with four singles, a walk, and a double.
The Sandites loaded the bases with three singles and a walk in the bottom of the inning but only Hilton found her way home, on a single from Kenzie King.
Memorial exploded in the top of the fourth, scoring seven runs on seven hits, including a two-run homer by Keegan Baker.
Hilton (5-4) got the start and the loss in the circle, surrendering 14 hits and one walk. Kylie King closed out the game and allowed only two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Baker, a heavily recruited Division I prospect, allowed only five hits and four walks to the Sandites while striking out eight.
Sand Springs and Edmond Memorial will play again Friday at 11:00 a.m. If Sand Springs wins it’ll force an if-necessary game for the Regional title.