CPHS Softball: Lady Sandites finish season with first winning record since 2016
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Sand Springs has never been as competitive in slow pitch as they are in fast pitch. Seniors rarely compete in the spring, and the girls have never qualified for the State Tournament. They came close this year, however, finishing with their first winning record in three seasons.
Of the five college-bound Sandite sluggers, only one returned for the spring season, and Cowley County Community College-commit Elizabeth Luttrell led her particularly talented underclassmen to a 14-9 record.
Luttrell handled the vast majority of the pitching and went 11-9 on the mound with a 10.33 ERA, 2.99 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts. She also led the team in hits (41), RBI (47), home runs (17), and grand slams (3). She hit home runs in five-straight games to start the season.
Six players batted over .500 on the season, led by junior standout Sabrina Usher with a .638 batting average, 1.29 slugging average, and .716 on-base percentage. Usher had 33 runs, 37 hits, 14 homers, 38 RBI, and one grand slam. She also had a team-high 16 walks, mostly intentional.
Luttrell and Usher tied with a team-high three homers in a single game. Both did it in the third game of the season against Owasso. The two also had a team-best five consecutive games with an RBI.
Felicity Horn led the team with 29 singles. Makenna Skaggs led with 7 doubles. Skaggs, Horn, and Raegan Rector all had two triples apiece.
Madison Lee, Horn, Rector, Rachael Jones, Avery Tanner, Skaggs, and Mackenzie Bechtold all hit dingers this season. Skaggs, Horn, Rector, Usher, Luttrell, and Bechtold all hit 50% or higher at the plate.
Rector scored runs in a team-best thirteen consecutive games while Skaggs had a team-best nineteen-straight games with a hit. Bechtold and Tanner had seven games apiece with perfect plate performances. Tanner had five perfect games in a row with hits on ten-straight at-bats.
Sophomore Aliyah Taff was the only other pitcher for the team, earning a 3-0 record, 7.44 ERA, and 2.5 WHIP. Bechtold was in on a team-high eleven double plays.
The season came to an end with a 2-2 performance at the Regional Tournament Wednesday at Union. The girls shut out Enid 14-0 in the first game and beat Union 20-8 in game three, but fell 12-10 and 22-12 to the host Redskins in the best-of-three finals series.
Sand Springs outhit the Pacers 14 to 4 for their second shut out of the season. Rector scored on an error in the first inning, then the girls scored the remaining thirteen runs in the third for a run-rule victory. Rector, Horn, Luttrell, and Skaggs hit RBI singles. Usher had a 2RBI triple, and Tanner and Horn both batted in runs on doubles.
The Sandites never led in their first game against Union, but tied it 10-10 going into the seventh, despite being outhit 21 to 14. Usher hit two solo homers and Lee scored a three-run blast in the second. After Usher’s first two hits the Redskins intentionally walked her twice.
Union made the mistake of pitching to Usher in their rematch, and she went yard twice more. She was three-for-three at the plate with three runs and six RBI. Luttrell also had two homers: a solo shot and a grand slam.
Usher gave the Sandites a 3-0 lead with her first dinger, then Luttrell sent one over the same section of fence. Jones had a two-run homer that same inning.
The Redskins cut it to 7-6 in the top of the third, but the visitors quickly retaliated. Tanner, Rector, and Horn all batted in runs before Luttrell’s grand slam made it 14-6. Tanner walked in a free run in the fourth then Horn scored a two-run single before Usher’s three-run homer concluded the run-rule win.
Union rallied in the final game, outhitting the Sandites 27-16. Sand Springs led after the first and second innings, but went scoreless through three and fell too far behind to come back.
Rector hit a solo blast in the first, then Horn, Usher, and Skaggs scored runs for a 4-0 lead. Union tied it up briefly, Luttrell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second, then the Redskins went on a warpath.
Both teams had their best inning in the sixth. Union scored eight for a 22-5 lead. Horn hit a 2RBI double, Usher hit an RBI single, Luttrell hit a 3RBI homer, and Jones hit an RBI double for the final run of the game.
The Lady Sandites improved from a 9-12 Slow Pitch record in 2018. The Fast Pitch team went 23-9 in the fall and won their fourth-straight Regional title. They are coached by Shelli Brown in her 22nd year. Brown holds a 550-303 fast pitch record, but slow pitch records are harder to find. The Lady Sandites are 65-51 since 2014 in the spring.
In addition to Luttrell, four other Lady Sandites have also signed collegiate letters of intent. Jacie Taber is headed to Missouri State University, Kimi Presnell will play at Rogers State University, Cameron Clemons will compete at Southern Arkansas University, and Madelyn Blair will play at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
Season Slow Pitch stats
Batting Average
(Minimum 30 at-bats)
.638 Usher
.563 Horn
.562 Luttrell
.533 Rector
.524 Bechtold
.522 Skaggs
.481 Tanner
.426 Hawkins
.424 Jones
.387 Lee
.289 Taff
.400 Smith
.333 Burks
Slugging Average
1.29 Usher
1.27 Luttrell
.855 Skaggs
.853 Rector
.803 Horn
.788 Jones
.667 Bechtold
.648 Tanner
.468 Lee
.352 Hawkins
.333 Taff
.400 Smith
.333 Burks
On Base %
.716 Usher
.600 Horn
.578 Rector
.571 Luttrell
.557 Bechtold
.553 Skaggs
.548 Tanner
.530 Hawkins
.433 Lee
.423 Jones
.333 Taff
.400 Smith
.333 Burks
Runs
37 Horn
35 Rector
33 Usher
24 Luttrell
24 Skaggs
22 Tanner
22 Lee
20 Jones
18 Hawkins
17 Bechtold
11 Taff
10 Burks
2 Smith
1 Harper
RBI
47 Luttrell
38 Usher
29 Lee
26 Horn
25 Rector
24 Tanner
24 Jones
23 Skaggs
18 Bechtold
11 Taff
7 Hawkins
2 Burks
1 Smith
Hits
41 Luttrell
40 Horn
40 Rector
37 Usher
36 Skaggs
33 Bechtold
28 Jones
26 Tanner
24 Lee
23 Hawkins
13 Taff
2 Smith
2 Burks
Singles
29 Horn
28 Bechtold
26 Rector
23 Skaggs
21 Luttrell
21 Hawkins
20 Usher
18 Lee
16 Jones
16 Tanner
11 Taff
2 Smith
2 Burks
Doubles
7 Skaggs
6 Horn
6 Jones
5 Tanner
4 Rector
2 Lee
2 Luttrell
2 Taff
2 Usher
1 Bechtold
Triples
2 Horn
2 Skaggs
2 Rector
1 Tanner
1 Usher
1 Lee
Home Runs
17 Luttrell
14 Usher
6 Rector
6 Jones
4 Skaggs
3 Bechtold
3 Horn
2 Tanner
2 Lee
Grand Slams
3 Luttrell
1 Usher
ERA
7.44 Taff
10.33 Luttrell
W-L Record
3-0 Taff
11-9 Luttrell
WHIP
2.50 Taff
2.99 Luttrell
K%
58.5% Luttrell
50.8% Taff
K
27 Luttrell
3 Taff
Average Box Score
CPHS
Runs: 12
Hits: 15
Walks: 3
Strikeouts: 1
Errors: 0
Batting: .481
Slugging: .763
ERA: 10.24
WHIP: 2.95
K: 58%
Opponent
Runs: 9
Hits: 12
Walks: 3
Strikeouts: 1
Errors: 2
Batting: .440
Slugging: .723
ERA: 14.26
WHIP: 3.57
K: 58%
