Sandite Baseball wins season-opener 10-2 against Tulsa Jaguars

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (1-0) officially kicked off the season Thursday night with a 10-2 home victory over the defending Homeschool Division I National Champions, the Tulsa NOAH Jaguars (0-1). Cowley County Community College-signed senior Hunter Greathouse (1-0) got the start and the win on the mound, striking out six batters and giving up only one hit.

The visiting Jaguars struck first after a rocky start to the game. After the first batter flied out to Treyce Tolbert in center field, Nathaniel Moss drew a walk, advanced to third on an error, then scored on a wild pitch. The next batter grounded out to Mack Thompson at shortstop, then Greathouse picked up his first strike out of the season to bring his boys in to bat.

Cal Watkins singled in the first plate appearance of his varsity career, then scored on a line drive single from Greathouse to tie the game. The Sandites took the lead in the bottom of the third as Riley Rutledge ran courtesy for Greathouse and scored on an error at third base. Jaguar pitcher Kaden Alexander walked a pair of Sandites and Braden Askew scored on a single from Kameron Adock.

Greathouse gave up a single and a walk in the top of the fourth, but followed them up with a pair of strikeouts and Brooks Antle grounded out to Ben Banker at first. The Sandites added three more runs in the bottom of the inning as Askew walked on loaded bases to score Watkins, who also walked, and Ian Baker batted in Braden Cook and Ben Banker. Banker had been hit by pitch and Cook was walked as well. 

NOAH got back on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Askew relieved Greathouse on the mound and struck out his first batter, but walked Evan Jacoby who scored on a sacrifice fly by Ben Replogle. 

Sand Springs continued to wreak havoc in the bottom of the fifth as senior Mack Thompson doubled on a fly ball to left field, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Watkins. Tolbert followed it up with a single, stole second, then advanced home on a catcher's error. Braden Millican ran courtesy for Cook, who walked, stole second, then scored on a single from Askew. Baker was next at bat and sent a line drive single into center field to score Banker for the final run of the evening.

The Sandites are returning from a 21-14 season and graduated seven players and six regular starters. They will return to action Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with a Highway 97 Rivalry game in Sapulpa. 

Mutiri and Leatherland both score 31 in shootout at BA Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 18 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (10-7) dropped their opening match at the Broken Arrow Tournament Friday morning to the Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools (3-2).

The Lady Sandites dominated the first game 25-16. The Jaguars took an early 8-5 lead, but four straight aces from junior Gloria Mutiri put the Sandites up 10-8. Marysia Erb broke up the streak and Hannah Williams served an ace to tie it up 10-10.

The Sandites won the next five rallies with three errors, a kill from Holly Kersgieter, and an ace from Mackenzie Ward. Malia Leatherland got in a kill, but Kendall Wise scored back-to-back aces to push the lead to 19-12. Ward set up kills for Lee Leslie, Mutiri, and Kersgieter and the Sandites surged to a 25-16 finish.

The second set featured far fewer Jaguar errors and far more kills from Leatherland. The heavy-hitting senior daughter of Coach Mike Leatherland was all over the place throughout the set.

Mutiri was an ever-present threat, scoring the first three kills of the game for the Sandites and joining with Ward for a block. Leatherland scored on a tipped ball and followed it up with an ace. A series of Sandite errors and another kill from Leatherland gave NOAH the 10-7 advantage before they gave it up with six errors of their own and Devree Youngblood and Madison Burris joined for a block to make it 13-11.

NOAH pulled briefly ahead before a Mutiri ace tied it at 16-16, but the Jags tried to run away with it and pushed their lead to 22-17 before the Sandites found their feet and tied it up at 23-23 with a pair of blocks from Mutiri and Burris, and Mutiri and Leslie.

The game tied at 24-24 after a kill from Leatherland, Kersgieter tipped a kill for the lead, but Leatherland tied it right back up at 25-25. Both teams exchanged errors and NOAH took the lead on a blocked tip from Mutiri. The Sandites got the side out on a service error and Burris set up Kersgieter for the 28-27 kill. A Jaguar fault sealed the victory at 29-27 and the match was solidly in the hands of Sand Springs 2-0.

The third set was a mess of errors and NOAH took a 4-1 lead before either team scored a single kill. Makenna Cypert scored the opening kill for the Sandites, Leatherland retaliated, and Mutiri spiked in another to make it 5-3. The teams exchanged service errors, Mutiri and Leslie combined on a block, and Youngblood scored a kill to make it 8-6. A kill from Kersgieter followed by three-straight Jaguar errors gave the Sandites the lead at 11-10. Leatherland scored back-to-back kills, then Mutiri did the same.

The back-and-forth affair continued all the way into extra points where the game tied for the final time at 27-27 on a block from Mutiri. Leatherland and Erb both scored kills for the 29-27 victory.

In game four the Jags took the lead early on with back-to-back kills from Leatherland. Sand Springs pulled close at 7-5 with a kill from Mutiri, but Leatherland scored a kill followed by four-straight aces. The lead was comfortably NOAH’s till Mutiri scored three-straight to close it to 19-16. Mutiri scored off a Ward setup and a pair of errors put the Sandites within a point, 20-19. They would only win one rally from there and NOAH prevailed 25-20 to tie the match.

NOAH pulled a quick 4-1 lead in the final set and didn’t give up the lead till 13-13. Leslie scored an ace, but Leatherland scored two. Ward served one of her own and Mutiri followed with a block, but the girls still trailed 11-8. They got within a point on a kill from Leslie to make it 12-11, then scored a block from Burris and Mutiri to tie it up. Leatherland scored a kill from there, then put up an impressive block on one of Mutiri’s infamous spikes for the 15-13 win.

Mutiri and Leatherland tied in scoring with 31 kills each. Mutiri scored seven blocks to Leatherland’s four, but Leatherland scored seven aces to Mutiri’s five. Kersgieter added another twelve kills and Leslie scored seven. Ward led in assists with twenty-four and Burris added another twelve.

Gloria Mutiri scores 22 kills in 3-2 loss to Victory Christian

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (10-5) gave the 4A No. 4 Victory Christian Conquerors (9-3) a run for their money Thursday night at Victory. The Conquerors likely thought the match would be a breeze after winning the first set 25-14, but Sand Springs surged to victory in the next two games.

The Lady Sandites managed a mere six kills in the first game. Gloria Mutiri got the girls on the board with an assist from MaKenzie Ward, but Victory held the lead at 3-1. Senior Lee Leslie picked up a point on a solo block, but Senior Andrea Redmond responded with a tipped ball for the kill. Mutiri scored one of her signature spikes, but Redmond got in another tipped ball and the Conquerors gained a point from a Mutiri error for the 8-3 advantage. 

The Lady Sandites briefly closed the gap to 16-13 thanks to a pair of Victory errors and a kill from Mutiri off MaKenzie Ward, but the Conquerors surged ahead with four straight rally wins and an ace from Redmond. Mutiri added one more kill before Victory won the next five rallies to end things 25-14.

In the second game the Conquerors started 2-0 once again with an error from Leslie and a blocked shot by Redmond, but the Sandites battled neck-and-neck and tied things up at 3-3 with a block from Makenna Cypert, and 4-4 as Mutiri blocked a spike from Redmond. Redmond committed an error to give the Sandites the lead and Cypert added an ace to push it to 6-4. 

Sand Springs held the lead for seventeen-straight rallies before committing three straight faults to tie it at 13-13. Redmond scored a pair of kills to make it 16-14, but another Cypert ace gave Sand Springs the upper hand at 18-17. The game tied twice more at 23-23 and 24-24 before Lee Leslie got the go-ahead kill and Mutiri added a block for the 26-24 win. 

In game three the two teams exchanged errors till Mutiri scored the first kill for the Sandites to make it 3-2. The teams traded the lead three more times before Victory finally started to build ground on the Sandites and push the advantage to 17-12. A timeout for the Sandites made for a scoring catalyst and the girls won four straight rallies to force the Conquerors to use a timeout of their own. 

Freshman Devree Youngblood scored a pair of back-to-back kills and Mutiri tied things up at 22-22. A consecutive touching call gave Sand Springs the lead, Madison Ward served up an ace, and Holly Kersgieter scored the winning kill off an assist from Madison Burris. The Sandites led the match 2-1.

The fourth game was decidedly Victory's from the get-go. Youngblood scored an early kill to make it 1-1, but Victory won the next eight straight rallies. Mutiri and Redmond exchanged kills, but Redmond managed to block a pair of Mutiri's spikes and the Conquerors furthered their lead to 14-3. 

Mutiri picked up a solo block and the Sandites added another point on a waffle. Kersgieter added a block and MaKenzie Ward scored an ace, then Mutiri tipped a kill into a campfire. Ultimately the early errors were insurmountable and the Sandites lost the set 25-13.

It came down to the final set. Sand Springs scored first on an error, but gave the point right back and allowed an ace. Redmond added three more kills for an 8-5 advantage, but Sand Springs won three straight rallies with kills from Kersgieter and Youngblood to tie it up. 

Victory used a timeout to break up the Sandite momentum and the girls were unable to score again for the duration, save for a service error by the Conquerors. Victory narrowly grabbed the 15-9 win for the match.

Mutiri led her team in scoring by a landslide with 22 kills, including five blocks. MaKenzie Ward registered fifteen assists as well as two aces. Redmond led the scoring for both teams with 23 total kills including three blocks and an ace. 

The Lady Sandites will return to action Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. in round one of the Broken Arrow Tournament against Tulsa NOAH Home School. Immediately after that match they will play No. 3 Norman North (7-2) and at 3:00 p.m. they will take on Moore (1-8).