Lady Sandites head to Bixby with eleven straight wins, seven by shutout

Madelyn Blair leads Lady Sandites to victory at Jenks

by: Virgil Noah, Staff Writer

The Charles Page High School Lady Sandite Softball Team (14-3, 5-0) extended their winning streak to nine games Thursday against the Jenks High School Lady Trojans (6-9, 4-5). Their streak of six consecutive shutouts would come to an end, but Madelyn Blair (5-2) did a great job holding Jenks in check allowing just two earned runs while striking out six batters in seven innings of work from the mound.

Each team went remotely quietly in the first two innings, each picking up hits, but failing to score. Felicity Horn led off the top of the third inning with a walk, Jessica Collins bunted her way to first base, and Sydney Pennington drew a walk to load the bases. Madelyn Blair picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice that scored Horn but outed Pennington at second, and Collins scored on an illegal pitch by Lady Trojan pitcher Lauren Watkins.

Sand Springs added three more runs in the fourth inning. Kimi Presnell, Cameron Clemons, and Rachel Blair all singled, and Presnell advanced to home on a throw. Horn reached on a fielder's choice that outed Clemons at third, and Horn and Blair both advanced on a wild pitch. Collins singled to score Blair, and Horn scored on a throw. Things looked promising for Jenks in their half of the fourth as Brenlyn McCoy singled to lead off the inning, but the next batter, Ally Ryan, lined a pitch right to Presnell who tagged out McCoy for an unassisted double play, and the visitors would make it out of the inning unscathed with a 5-0 advantage. 

Presnell reached on a fielder's choice in the top of the fifth, stole second and eventually scored after a wild pitch and an error. Chancy Hupp got Jenks on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two RBI double, but an RBI double by Madelyn Blair and two more runs scored on errors would put the game away for the Lady Sandites.

Sandites go undefeated at OSU Festival in extra innings

by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Lady Sandites picked up their tenth and eleventh-straight wins at the OSU Festival Friday afternoon. Sophomore Jacie Taber (6-1) got the win on the mound against Piedmont (6-5) with six strikeouts against four hits. Madelyn Blair led in scoring with four RBI.

The Sandites got on the board early in the game with a sacrifice hit from Blair to score freshman Felicity Horn. In the bottom of the third Blair doubled to score Horn, Jessica Collins, and Sydney Pennington, but was left stranded.

Pennington added another run in the bottom of the fifth after tagging up on a flyout from Taber. 

In the second game of the festival the girls faced Muskogee (3-7) for the second time in a week. The Roughers were no challenge for the Sandites at the Rogers State festival, but this game would be a far cry from last Friday's 11-0 shutout.

With Lexy Watson on the mound, Muskogee gave up only five hits, as opposed to fourteen hits the last time the two teams met. The Sandites had to use two pitchers for the first time this season, starting with Oklahoma State University-commit Sydney Pennington (3-0), but trading to Madelyn Blair (5-2) in the bottom of the fifth

Felicity Horn got on base in the top of the first on a walk, but was stranded on third. Neither team reached again till Shania Henry walked in the bottom of the third. Kennedy Glass reached on a fielder's choice and was joined on base by Dymin Purdin who drew a walk. Brookelyn Gilmore singled with a groundball and Glass advanced home while Purdin was put out at third while advancing on the play. 

The Sandites tied things up in the top of the fifth as Elizabeth Luttrell singled to score Kimi Presnell who also singled. 

Muskogee threatened again in the bottom of the fifth as Purdin singled and Henry was hit by pitch. Blair relieved Pennington on the mound and the Sandites picked up an out on a fielder's choice at third. Phynix Coleman reached on an error at second to load the bases, but Purdin flied out to Rachel Blair and Gilmore grounded out to Madelyn Blair to save the inning.

The two teams remained tied up through the bottom of the seventh when the Roughers once again threatened with a pair of runners on base. Blair struck out two, hit one, and gave up a single before Gilmore flied out to strand the runners. 

The game entered an international tie-breaker and Makenna Skaggs was placed on second to speed up game-play. Clemons sacrificed to advance Skaggs to third, and Sabrina Usher hit a line drive single into right field for the go-ahead run. 

Gilmore was placed on second for the Roughers and advanced to third on a passed ball. Kayleigh Phillips walked, but the runners were stranded after three flyouts to net the Sandites the win. 

The Lady Sandites will return to action Tuesday evening in Bixby when they play a district game against the Lady Spartans (6-9, 5-2). The Sandites and Spartans are second and third, respectively, in district standings. Bixby is coming off a 6-1 win over Putnam City. The game was originally scheduled for Sand Springs, but was moved due to standing water on the field after a soaking Monday night. First pitch is at 5:00 p.m.

Lady Sandite Softball wins six-straight shutouts, run-rules Muskogee 11-0

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sydney Pennington is batting over .500 this season and scored three runs against Muskogee.

Charles Page High School junior Madelyn Blair (3-2) got it done on the mound Friday evening for the Lady Sandites (11-3, 4-0) pitching five strikeouts over four innings and only giving up two hits in an 11-0 run-rule shutout over the Muskogee Lady Roughers (3-3). Oklahoma State University-commit Sydney Pennington was the leading batter for the evening with three runs and three RBI, including a home run.

The Lady Sandites didn't waste any time in getting on base with a single from Jessica Collins. Pennington reached on an error and Sabrina Usher scored Collins with a single. Kimi Presnell singled in Pennington, but was left stranded with Usher.

Elexis Watson and Amber Purdin each drew walks over the next two innings but the Roughers failed to bring them home. Makenna Skaggs hit a single for the Sandites but was left stranded in the top of the second. 

Sand Springs blew the game wide open in the top of the third as Pennington hit a lead-off double to center field and scored on a double by Usher. Presnell reached on an error that allowed Usher to score. Jacie Taber singled and scored on a 2RBI single from Cameron Clemons. Skaggs and Collins both hit singles with Collins scoring Clemons, then Pennington rounded out the batting order for a 3RBI homer for the 10-0 advantage. Madelyn Blair hit a single but was left stranded.

Watson and Brookelyn Gilmore both singled in the bottom of the third but were left on base. 

Jensen Arnold made her season-debut behind the plate in the top of the fourth and doubled, then scored on a single from Rachel Blair to make it 11-0. Madelyn Blair retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning and the Sandites secured the victory via run-rule.

Jacie Taber has pitched double digit strikeouts in each of her last two games.

In the second game of the Rogers State Festival in Claremore, sophomore Jacie Taber (5-1) continued to prove herself as an outstanding pitcher and led her team to a 3-0 victory over Pryor (7-4).

Thursday evening Taber pitched ten strikeouts in a 10-0 shutout of Sapulpa. Friday evening she pitched ten strikeouts over Pryor with only two hits in the five inning game. University of Oklahoma-commit Olivia Rains also fared well on the mound for Pryor with six strikeouts and only one hit.

Pryor was the first to threaten as Hunter Gilstrap drew a walk and Rains reached on error in the bottom of the first. Taber struck out MKayla Hillman and Payton White to strand the two runners.

In the top of the second Presnell drew a walk, Taber reached on error, and both nabbed an extra base on a passed ball before being stranded. Pryor's Maeme Ward was walked and stranded in the bottom of the inning. Gilstrap and Olivia Cummings were both walked in the bottom of the third and Rains hit a single, but Taber struck out White and Kennedy Cramer to save the inning. 

Madelyn Blair reached on a dropped third strike in the top of the fourth and Halee Nichols reached on an error in the bottom of the inning. Both were stranded. 

Sand Springs finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth thanks to a series of errors from the Pryor defense. Rachel Blair reached on error, Skaggs walked, and Collins reached on an error that scored Blair. Pennington singled to score Skaggs and Madelyn Blair reached on an error to score Collins for the 3-0 advantage. 

The Tigers tried to rally with a single from Gilstrap, a walk from White, and a reach on error from Cummings, but Rains and Hillman were struck out and Cramer grounded out to first to end the inning and the game. 

The Lady Sandites will return to action Thursday at 5:00 p.m. at Jenks (4-7). 

Undefeated Sandite Volleyball shuts down Catoosa in straight sets

Photo by: Morgan Miller

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team is off to a great start this year, winning their first two matches by substantial margins. Entering their third year under Head Coach Janna Green, the two seniors on the team got to play against their former head coach in Caleb Horton Thursday night at their home debut against Catoosa. 

The teams took to the road Tuesday for the season-opener and defeated Muskogee (1-1) three sets to one. Varsity won the first game 27-25, lost the second 19-25, but rebounded with solid and decisive wins of 25-19 and 25-21 to secure the win. The JV squad lost their match 2-1 with sets of 18-25, 25-19, and 10-15. The freshman team lost 21-25 and 19-25. 

In their first home match the Lady Sandites took on Catoosa (0-1) and swept all sets at all divisions. The 4A State Quarterfinalists were little match for the vastly improved Sand Springs program that Green has been building. This time last year the Lady Sandites were 0-2 and were dominated 3-0 by both Catoosa and Muskogee.

Sand Springs got off to a fast 3-0 lead and doubled the Lady Indians throughout the game. The Sandites built up a 12-6 lead thanks to hard-hitting attacks from Gloria Mutiri and Lee Leslie. Freshman Tiffany Maxey scored an ace for the Indians but they were unable  to capitalize on it and the Sandites surged forward for a 25-13 finish after a kill from Mutiri.

In game two the Indians were the ones to take the lead after a series of Sandite faults gave up the first four points to Catoosa. Devree Youngblood and MaKenzie Ward combined for a hard block to get the Sandites back on track and the competitive matchup continued till the teams were tied 8-8. Sand Springs took their first lead off a block from Mutiri, but Catoosa's Melissa Velazquez tied things right back up. Mutiri reclaimed the lead before Makenna Cypert's overserve put it at 10-10. From then on Sand Springs never trailed, but the Indians did tie things up four more times before the home team ultimately pulled in the 25-21 win with a kill from Youngblood. 

The final set was another back-and-forth affair before Sand Springs blew ahead from a close 17-16 to a final score of 25-17.

Mutiri was the leading scorer for the evening with twenty-two total kills, including four blocks and two aces. Eleven of her kills came in the third game alone. Youngblood recorded seven kills and Leslie recorded six. Madison Burris and MaKenzie Ward were crucial in setting up the plays with seven and eleven assists, respectively. 

The JV and freshman teams also won their matches with sweeps. JV won sets of 25-16 and 25-17. The freshmen won 25-10 and 28-26.

The Sandites will return to action Monday at Bishop Kelley (1-0) then will play a home match against Jenks (3-1) on Tuesday. Thursday they'll travel to Ponca City (1-1) before wrapping up the week at the Catoosa Tournament Friday and Saturday.