Sandite Softball Undefeated in Scrimmages, Opens Regular Season Monday

Another exciting season of Sandite Softball is officially underway as the fast pitch sluggers are just three days removed from their season-opener.

Shelli Brown’s 27th team is off to a promising start after going 4-0-1 in preseason scrimmages against the neighboring communities.

In a July 27th trip to Skiatook the girls scored nine unanswered runs in a 9-3 win by committee.

Seven different Sandites recorded a single hit apiece but freshman Bella Wilson had the most impactful plate appearance with a fourth-inning two-run triple to tie it at 3-3. She then scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice.

Addison Hughes, Kylie King, and Lakelyn Harger pitched two innings apiece, combining for seven strikeouts, five hits, and two walks.

The girls took another short trip north the following day to deal Sperry a 10-1 rout.

Harger set the tone with a two-run single in the top of the first but the bats didn’t get too hot till the sixth when the girls scored five runs on six hits.

Harger and King recorded two hits apiece with a team total of 11.

The same trio of Kylie King, Harger, and Hughes once again shared the circle, surrendering only two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Sand Springs returned to Skiatook on Tuesday for a 7-0 five-inning shutout. Ashlyn Clark stole the show, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs while the pitching staff struck out five with four hits.

On Wednesday the girls took a 13-3 lead at Berryhill before surrendering four runs in the bottom of the sixth to finish 13-7.

Hughes tossed eight strikeouts in three innings of action while the staff totaled 12 Ks and seven hits.

Kenzie King went 3-for-3 with three runs and Harger was 3-for-3 with four RBI and two doubles.

On Friday they wrapped up the preseason with a trip to Mannford that ended in a 4-4 tie after six innings.

Kenzie King scored on an RBI single from Harger in the top of the first, then Kaylei Rake hit an RBI double in the third to bring in Wilson. Rake stole home soon after and Morgan Rector hit an RBI single to score Bailey Copeland for the 4-0 lead.

Mannford got those runs back in the fourth, however, recording five hits to avert the loss.

Kenzie King was the hot hand at bat, going 2-for-3, while the pitching staff combined for 8 strikeouts, 9 hits, and 2 walks.

The first regular season game will be Monday at 5:00 p.m. when the girls host their 5A rivals from Sapulpa. Bixby will visit the Sandites on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., then the girls will compete at the Broken Arrow tournament over the weekend.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Goes 3-0 to End Regular Season

Sandite softball (23-14) went 3-0 in the final week of the regular season, winning 6-0 against Sperry, 8-3 against Sapulpa, and 7-2 against Collinsville.

They also received their Regional assignment and will return to action Tuesday, October 4th, at Broken Arrow with a first round game at 2:00 p.m. against Muskogee (14-22). On the other side of the bracket is Broken Arrow (25-9) vs. Putnam City North (8-23).

Sand Springs has yet to play Muskogee this season but lost a close 7-5 meeting with Broken Arrow at the Tigers’ home tournament, and beat Putnam North 1-0 twice in district action.

The Sandites have won 17 Regional titles and are aiming to return to the State Tournament for the first time 2019.

On Monday Addison Hughes tossed seven strikeouts with only four hits in the shutout at Sperry (23-10). Kenzie King went 3-of-4 at the plate with one run and one RBI.

The Sandites haven’t lost a Highway 97 Rivalry game in over a decade and this time it was Kelsi Hilton who led the charge against the Chieftains (14-17) with a seventh-inning grand slam while tossing eight strikeouts. Jaden Jordan also hit a home run.

In the final game of the regular season Hughes tossed eight strikeouts and three hits against Collinsville (9-22). The Cardinals took an early 2-0 lead but Jordan tied it with a two-run double in the third and Mikena Stephens hit the go-ahead RBI single in a five-run fourth inning.

Volleyball

The 16th ranked Sandite volleyball team (16-16, 3-5) went 5-2 last week, splitting a pair of conference matches before going 4-1 at the Southmoore Invitational.

The team won a 3-0 sweep of Muskogee on Tuesday but fell 3-1 to Booker T. Washington on Thursday. They put up a great fight against the Hornets, however, losing close sets of 25-17, 28-26, and 25-22 after winning the first 28-26.

In Moore the girls lost 2-1 to conference foe Bartlesville, but won 2-1 against No. 12 Moore, 2-1 against Bishop Kelley JV, 3-0 against Shawnee, and 3-1 against Southmoore.

The Sandites have one last regular season match Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against No. 1 Jenks (26-4, 7-0).

Cross Country

Josie Grona took first place in the elementary meet at Kiefer Saturday morning, running the one-mile in 6:14.92. Sophie Grona finished fifth in 7:05.26 and the team took eighth.

The elementary boys also placed eighth, led by Kellen Adkins with a 6:30.74 mile for tenth place.

Shooting

Caden Shea won the Muscogee Nation Trap Shoot Wednesday with a score of 24.

Fishing

Gabriel Castellano and Ean Williams took 22nd place at the Oklahoma Bass Nation season opener Saturday on Ft. Gibson Lake. The duo caught five fish weighing 7.32 pounds. Nate Griffin and Eli Rogers placed 31st, Caden Strawn and Drew Turner placed 46th, Decana Plummer and Gunner Beasley placed 47th, and Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter placed 49th.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Volleyball Sweeps Bartlesville on Senior Night

Cross Country

Freshman Taigh Wright led the varsity boys to a 10th place finish at the Holland Hall invitational, Saturday, September 17th. Wright ran the 5K in 19:45.14 for 37th place.

The varsity girls finished in 11th place, led by Kelsi Hilton with a 15th place performance in 22:47.78.

Wyatt Shaw led the junior high boys to a 9th place finish, running the two-mile in 12:59.93 for 30th place. Alliyah Watts placed 100th for the girls in 17:56.76.

The elementary boys took 8th place in the one-mile run, led by Kellen Adkins with a time of 6:35.03 for 8th. The elementary girls took 9th, led by Sophie Grona with a 7:33.32 mile for 10th place.

The Sandites competed at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, September 24th. Neither the boys nor girls had enough finishers to earn a team place.

Gracie Gibson led the girls with a time of 25:04.6 for 162nd place. Rafi Huff led the boys, finishing in 20:48.1 for 200th place.

Softball

The Charles Page High School softball team (20-14, 8-6) went 5-3 in a busy week, improving to third in district play.

The Sandites lost 8-4 to Bixby (12-15, 7-6) on Monday after committing an uncharacteristic six errors, but paid the Spartans back with a 7-2 road win on Thursday.

Addison Hughes (11-10) pitched both games, striking out eight on Monday and 11 on Thursday.

On Tuesday the Sandites won a district double-header against Putnam City North (8-22, 3-11). Kelsi Hilton (9-4) got the win in game one with four hits and five strikeouts and Hughes tossed eight strikeouts with two hits in the sequel.

Sand Springs played at the Tahlequah festival over the weekend, opening with a 5-2 loss to Edmond Deer Creek (25-9) but won the second game 4-2 against Moore (21-7).

Kenzie King was 2-for-3 at the plate against Moore with a run and two RBI.

On Saturday they won 9-2 against Fort Gibson (14-17) but lost 6-4 to Grove (20-7). Kelby Little was 3-for-3 against Fort Gibson with three RBI, and King had a team-high three runs.

Hilton and Little were both .474 at the plate on the week. Hilton led in slugging average at .789 with two doubles and two triples, and had a team-high five RBI. Morgan Rector led the team in runs with six.

Hughes maintained a 2.57 ERA in 32 ⅔ innings while Hilton had a 2.23 ERA in 15 ⅔ innings.

Sand Springs has two games left in the regular season: Monday at Sperry (21-7) and Thursday at home against Oologah (9-18). Regional tournament assignments should be released on Friday.

Volleyball

Sand Springs (11-14, 2-4) picked up its second conference win of the season on Tuesday in a 3-0 Senior Night sweep of Bartlesville (9-9, 2-4) but ended the week on a five match losing streak.

The Sandites competed in the Bishop McGuinness tournament over the weekend and lost to Edmond Deer Creek, Bishop McGuinness, Choctaw, and Yukon, with a second loss to Choctaw in the seventh place match.

Sand Springs will travel to Muskogee (8-7, 0-6) Tuesday and Booker T. Washington (8-11, 3-3) on Thursday.

Football

The junior high football teams continued their undefeated seasons with wins against Sapulpa on Tuesday. The freshmen won 48-6 and the eighth graders won 46-6 as both teams moved to 4-0.

Wrestling

The Church That Matters tailgate party raised $2660 for the wrestling program at Friday night’s Homecoming football game and the wrestling program pledged 50% to the family of Ethan Gibson to help with his funeral.

Sports Roundup: Daton Fix wins World Freestyle Silver

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sand Springs fast-pitch softball team (16-13) has received its Regional assignment. The Sandites will be traveling to Owasso on Tuesday and Wednesday October 5-6th. 

In the first round they will play Muskogee (17-16) Tuesday at 12:30 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. On the other side of the bracket is Owasso (27-5) vs. the combined Tulsa Memorial / Booker T. Washington team (2-21). 

Sand Springs previously lost 8-0 to Owasso in the second game of the season while it was short five starters due to injuries and COVID protocols. They beat the Tulsa Public Schools team 16-0 twice in district play.

Sand Springs has won ten Regional Championships in its 25 years under head coach Shelli Brown, including five in a row from 2015 to 2019 before coming up one game short last season. The team will look for its 18th in school history. 

Sand Springs finished the regular season with a 7-2 senior night win over Sperry, Monday, September 27th. 

After giving up two runs in the top of the first inning, the Sandites tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Lauren Hammock hit a double and scored on an error, then Kelsi Hilton hit an RBI double to score Nataley Crawford.

Avery Tanner’s RBI single gave her team the lead in the fifth, then Crawford added a two-run double. Hammock scored on a passed ball and Crawford made it 7-2 on a ground out for the final run of the game.

Hilton picked up the win in the pitcher’s circle with no hits, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts in four innings. 

The final game of the regular season, scheduled for Thursday at Oologah, was canceled due to rain.

Cross Country

The Sand Springs Varsity Boys Cross Country team placed seventh and the girls took ninth at Claremore, Friday, October 1st. 

Jazmin Lopez placed 13th in the 5K run, finishing in 21:57 to lead the girls. Alejandro Lopez led the boys in 18:01 for 28th place, closely followed by Noah Hanlon in 18:03 for 31st. 

The junior high boys placed ninth in the two-mile run, led by Taigh Wright in 12:05 for 20th. 

Volleyball

The Class 6A No. 16 Sandite Volleyball team (13-18) lost a 3-0 set to No. 3 Jenks on Tuesday, September 28th. The Sandites are 2-5 in Frontier Valley Conference action.

Senior setter Tehya Johnson surpassed the 1,000 assist career milestone in the match, and Layla Lenex set the school record in career blocks.

The Sandites were supposed to host Booker T. Washington on Thursday, but that match was canceled due to a leak in the roof of the Ed Dubie Field House, and will not be rescheduled. 

Sand Springs will host 5A No. 12 Glenpool (13-16) for senior night Tuesday, October 5th at 6:00 p.m. and will wrap up regular season action at No. 9 Union (21-9, 4-3) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Wrestling

Charles Page High School graduate Daton Fix placed second at the Senior Freestyle World Championship finals Sunday in Oslo, Norway. 

The Oklahoma State University redshirt junior won his first four matches by technical superiority, outscoring his opponents 41-0. 

In the finals he fell 4-1 to Russia’s Abasgadzhi Magomedov in a rematch of their 2015 Cadet World Championship finals match, which Madomedov won 3-2. 

The tournament earned Fix his first Senior-level World medal, and his sixth World Championship medal at any age level. He has won one World Championship, earning Junior gold in 2017 in Finland. He currently holds a 37-10 record in Senior Freestyle. 

Oklahoma dominates Georgia 68-2 in Dual Nationals round one

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Team Oklahoma got off to a fast start against Team Georgia Blue in the first round of the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals Wednesday morning, building up a massive lead before the wrestling even started.

Jet Taylor, Jacob Butler, and Jaxen Gilmore received forfeits for 126 to 138. Tuttle's Brik Filippo wasted no time in putting points on the board with a 10-0 tech fall over Khyree Alexander, then Sand Springs's Payton Scott took down Dustin Berry 10-0 in thirty seconds flat. Ezequiel Rubio pinned Cole White in a quick twenty then Nick Mahan teched Chandler Miele 13-2.

Bear Hughes continued the winning streak with an 11-0 tech over Devyn Villafane. Zach Marcheselli received a forfeit, Tanner Hawkins picked up a 16-6 tech fall over Richard Walker, then Trenton Lieutance, Alex Fields, and Wyatt Adams all received forfeits.  Alec McDoulett teched Brandon Foster 11-0 and Westmoore's Dalton Duffield wrapped things up with a 12-0 tech of Alex Cain for a final score of 68-2 with no matches lost.

Up next for Oklahoma is Team Pennsylvania who solidly defeated Team Kansas Red 49-12 in round one. 

9 Sandites remain at State, only slightly behind Broken Arrow and Choctaw

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The remaining Sandites have about an hour long break before the next round begins at the 6A State Championship in Oklahoma City. 

Charles Page wrestling qualified eleven for the tournament with seven Regional Champions, more than either Broken Arrow or the Dual State Champions from Choctaw. Unfortunately 220 pound junior and Regional Champion Delvin Jordan was unable to participate dropping the number to nine. 

106 freshman Riley Weir (20-12) came in third at Regionals and was pitted against Choctaw's Colt Newton (40-3) in the first round and was pinned in 0:41. From there he was majored 14-4 by Yukon's Braden Fowler and eliminated. 

113 Regional Champion Michael Ritchey (22-16) was defeated in round one by Westmoore's Wes Hardin (31-11) by a narrow 5-2 decision but managed to hold the lead in the next match for a 5-3 victory over Spencer Schickram (14-9) of Ponca City. 

120 Regional Champion Blake Sargent (36-10) went into overtime with Zackery Bibb (24-5) of Capitol Hill and lost 4-2 in the tie breaker round. He fell in an early hole to Justin Gundlach (29-11) of Moore and trailed 3-2 going into the final period, but rallied for a takedown and pin at 5:14 to stay alive in the consolation bracket. 

126 two-time undefeated State Champion Daton Fix (44-0) pinned Bobby Robinson (30-13) of Deer Creek in 1:37.

132 Regional Champion Jack Karstetter (38-7) breezed through his first match with a 17-2 tech fall over Norman's Jeffrey Adams (23-12) in 5:42.  

138 Regional Champion Beau Bratcher (40-6) pinned Choctaw's Jeff Speer (23-10) in 4:48. 

145 Regional Champion Payton Scott (18-4) pinned Westmoore's Trey Painter (32-10) in 3:52.  

160 Regional Runner-Up Zane Basma (32-11) scored an 8-3 decision over Sam Hensley (31-13) of Edmond Memorial.  

170 Trace Fleischman (10-4) placed fourth at Regionals but rebounded big time at State with a 3-1 upset of West Regional Champion Jacob Schimmels (23-6) of Edmond. 

The top three teams are as close now as they have been all season with Broken Arrow at 25.5, Choctaw at 25, and Sand Springs at 23.5.  

The semi finals will begin at 7:15.