Sandite Baseball run-rules Notre Dame Prep 14-2 in 5 innings

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Jake Ward is undefeated from the mound this season.

Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School (5-2) varsity baseball team got off to a rough start in the Best of the West tournament in Phoenix, Arizona, this week, dropping two of their first three games to bring their undefeated streak to an end. They seem to be back on track, however, after dominating Notre Dame Prep (6-8) with ten runs in the first three innings Tuesday evening. 

The Scottsdale, Arizona team came into the game 1-2 for the tournament, the same as Sand Springs, with losses to Westmoore and Edmond Santa Fe, and a 15-5 win over Yukon. 

Jake Ward (3-0) remains undefeated on the mound after pitching 67% strikes for six strikeouts,  four hits, one walk, and zero earned runs.

Treyce Tolbert was walked to start the first. Rhett Rutledge flied out to centerfield and Tolbert stole second while Ward struck out swinging. Joey Montgomery reached on an error and scored Tolbert and was replaced on base by Cody Motes. Hunter Greathouse doubled and Motes reached third, then Josh Taber singled to score Motes. Greathouse stole home with Trevor Tolbert at bat, then Tolbert doubled to score Taber. He was caught stealing third with Jake Terry at bat, however, and the Saints came in trailing 4-0.

Luke Patty and Nathan Pierce singled for the Saints, but both were left stranded to end the inning. 

Terry, a University of Oklahoma commit, was hit by a pitch to start the second inning, followed by Mack Thompson with a walk. Treyce Tolbert singled to score Terry, Rutledge sacrificed to advance the runners on base, then Ward batted in Tolbert with a single. Ty Fain replaced Ward on base and advanced to second off a Montgomery single. Montgomery was replaced by Motes. Fain scored on a Greathouse single, then both Motes and Greathouse scored on a center field double from Trevor Tolbert. 

The Saints stranded two in the second inning and didn't get another hit till the bottom of the fifth. Sand Springs stranded Rutledge in the top of the third, but came out for another explosive inning in the fourth.

Riley Rutledge singled, Kameron Adcock walked, and Trevor Tolbert (a Southwestern Christian University signee) brought in Rutledge with a line drive single to center field. Terry tripled to center field scoring Adcock and Tolbert, then was batted in on a sacrifice from Fain for a 14-0 advantage.

The Sandites stranded Tyler McCallie (running for Ward, who walked) in the top of the fifth. Notre Dame finally reached base on a Riley Rutledge error and Orrie Tawes came home on a Jarrett Pille double for the first run of the game for the Saints. Pille came in on a sacrifice, but the inning would come to a close soon after and the Sandites were back in the win column with their biggest victory of the season thus far. 

Chaparral Firebirds edge out Sandite Baseball 2-1 at Best of the West

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Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (4-2) gave up their second loss of the season 2-1 to Chaparral High (11-2) at the Best of the West tournament in Phoenix, Arizona Tuesday. 

Josh Cordell (0-1) got the loss on the mound for the Sandites in his first time pitching this season. He gave up six hits, two walks, and two runs, but struck out three and threw 65% strikes. 

Neither team got off a hit in the first inning. Tyler Stokes was walked for the Firebirds, but was picked off at first base. Joey Montgomery reached first on an error to start the second, then stole second on another error with Hunter Greathouse at bat and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly, but was ultimately left stranded as both Josh Taber and Jake Terry were put out on right field flies. 

Chaparral stranded one in the second and Page stranded Treyce Tolbert in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning Ian McMillan singled to left field, stole second with Stokes at bat, and was batted home on a Jacob Gonzalez single. Gonzalez and Stokes, who was walked, were both left stranded by Harrison Jones, but the Firebirds had a 1-0 lead going into the fourth.

Jake Ward singled to start the fourth, but Montgomery, Greathouse, and Taber all flied out to bring in Chaparral for another successful offensive performance.

Alex Segal hit a lead-off double, followed by Hampton with a bunt single. Gianni Tomasi batted in Segal on a sacrifice fly to right field for the second run of the game, and that was all the Firebirds would need.

Tyler McCallie doubled with a hard grounder to left field and was batted in on a line drive double by Treyce Tolbert. By that point the Sandites had two outs and Tolbert was stranded on a fly by Rhett Rutledge.

The Sandites fielded three outs to end the inning and came in for a big rally attempt. Ward struck out swinging, but Montgomery doubled to right field and courtesy runner Mack Thompson reached third on a grounder from Greathouse. Kameron Adcock replaced Greathouse and Taber was walked to load the bases with one out. Thompson was caught stealing, however, and Jake Terry struck out swinging to strand the Sandite rally attempt along with two runners. 

Cordell struck out two in the bottom of the sixth, but none of the Sandites landed on base to start the seventh and the Firebirds walked away with their third win of the tournament.



Sandite of the Week: Trevor Tolbert

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School senior Trevor Tolbert as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance against Booker T Washington last week at OneOK field.

Tolbert is signed with Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma, and is the son of Jason and Deena Tolbert. His cousin, Treyce, also plays for Sandite baseball.

Tolbert, who currently owns a .250 batting average for the season, batted two-for-two last Monday for two RBIs off a single and a triple and scored one run. He sits at a .500 slugging average and a .454 OBP with five putouts and five assists for the season.

The Sandites have won their first four games by a combined score of 22-5, including a 3-1 upset of Greenway High who run-ruled them twice in a double-header last season. 

Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. Bylaws prevent the giving of the award to anyone for two consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of a three-person staff committee. 

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

Sandite Baseball wins fourth-straight at Best of the West opener

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (4-0) won their first game at the Best of the West tournament in Phoenix, Arizona 3-1 over the Greenway High Demons (6-1). University of Oklahoma commit Jake Terry (2-0) got the win on the mound with five strikeouts, three walks, and nine hits.

The game came down to the very last pitch. Neither team got on the scoreboard till Josh Taber singled in the top of the third, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Terry, and scored on a catcher's error.

The Demons found their first run in the bottom of the fourth. Bryce Mackey singled and advanced to second on a walk by Justin Freeman. With two outs on the board, Jesus Macias grounded to short for a single and loaded the bases. Mackey took home on a Terry balk, but the others would be left stranded as James Gamble was struck out looking. 

The game remained tied up till the seventh inning. Jake Ward reached second on an error and Kameron Adcock subbed in to pinch run. Joey Montgomery grounded out to third, Hunter Greathouse was walked, and Ty Fain was struck out swinging. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, then Taber batted them both in with a line drive single to right field. Terry grounded out to bring in the Demons.

Cristian Platero flied out to Taber in right field and McDonald was struck out swinging, but Riley Miller singled, Kona Quiggle doubled, and Mackey was walked to load the bases. It came down to Freeman to bring them home for the win, but he was put out on a caught line drive to Treyce Tolbert in center field for the Sandites' fourth straight win of the season. 

Undefeated Sandites win third straight with 6-2 victory at OneOK Field

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Jake Ward pitched 9 strikeouts in a win over Booker T Washington Monday night.

Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Jake Ward had one heck of a night on the mound. The Charles Page High School pitcher won his second game of the season with nine strikeouts and only allowed two walks and four hits while throwing 49% strikes. 

The Sandites started their season last week and have racked up wins against Tulsa NOAH, Sapulpa, and Booker T Washington thus far to remain one of only 14 undefeated 6A teams. Monday night the Sandites took on the Hornets at OneOK Stadium in downtown Tulsa, the home of the Drillers, and easily handled their opponent.

The team batted just under .400 and Treyce Tolbert lead the team with two runs (coming from walks) along with cousin Trevor Tolbert who batted in two runners in two at-bats. 

Ward started on fire, striking out the first four batters before Cole Mendenhall finally got off a single in the top of the second. With one out on the board, Hunter Greathouse was the first Sandite to get on base with a left field single in the bottom of the second. Treyce Tolbert was walked and Jake Terry hit a sacrifice fly to advance the runners on base. Trevor Tolbert brought Greathouse home with a line drive single into right field, then Ty Fain brought home Treyce with a bunt and a fielding error. Trevor was put out at third and the Sandites went to field with a 2-0 lead.

The Hornets failed to get off a hit in the third and the Sandites scored another run as Rhett Rutledge was hit by a pitch and walked, then stole second and advanced to home on a single by Joey Montgomery. 

Booker T finally got on the board in the fourth inning as Davin Gummere was walked, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice hit by DJ Hall, and stole home on a catcher's error with Mendenhall at bat. 

Sand Springs wouldn't take that lying down, however, and scored three more that inning. Treyce Tolbert was walked once more and stole second, then came home on a triple by Trevor. The elder cousin would come home soon after on a groundball single from Josh Taber. Taber then took second on a left field fly from Rutledge and stole third, then home on a catcher's error. Rutledge stole second and third in pursuit of Taber, but was left stranded along with Ward (walked) after Montgomery was put out at first. 

The fifth inning was devoid of hits from either team. Booker T put one runner on base in the sixth after a catcher's error, but he would be left stranded. Mack Thompson hit a double for the Sandites in his first and only at-bat, but was put out at third after a groundball by Taber. Taber, who plays wide-receiver for the State Runner-Up football team, continued to show off his quick feet as he stole second and third, but was left stranded along with Phillips who was walked.

The Hornets finally scored again in the seventh as Mendenhall was hit by a pitch and found his way home on a single by Ben Curry. Curry would be left stranded however as Ben Curry was put out at second on a single by Connor O'Malley. Their rally attempt fell short and the Sandites retained their standing as one of the teams to beat and brought home a memorable experience from a minor league field. 

Baring a weather delay, the Sandites will next take on Enid (1-1) Tuesday night at 5:30 at the Sandite Athletic Complex. 

Undefeated Sandite baseball easily handles Highway 97 rival Sapulpa, 7-2

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By: Scott Emigh and Deena Tolbert

The Charles Page High School baseball team won their second game of the season Saturday afternoon at Sapulpa (0-2), easily handling their Highway 97 rivals.

Gunnar Phillips and Jake Ward each drew walks to start the game and made their way around the bases for an early lead. Hunter Greathouse hit a line drive down the third baseline and was batted in by Treyce Tolbert who nailed the left field fence. The Chieftains came in to bat soon after, trailing 3-0.

Jake Terry (1-0) got the start on the mound for the Sandites and struck out two batters in the first inning, only giving up a single. 

Rhett Rutledge drew a walk in the top of the second but was caught in a pickle with Phillips at bat for the third out after Terry was outed on a pop fly to right field and Ty Fain was put out with a hit to right field. Sapulpa got off a single but stranded the runner with a strikeout on the fourth batter.

The third inning was more of the same for the Sandites as Jake Ward got the lone hit and Phillips, who was walked, was put out at second. Ward was picked off at first and Joey Montgomery hit the ball to second and was put out. Sapulpa got off a single and the runner stole second on a throwing error by Terry. The next two batters were struck out, however, and Rutledge threw out the final batter at first.

The fourth inning saw Hunter Greathouse hit a double to centerfield and stole third off an errant pitch. Trevor Tolbert was walked and the Chieftains switched pitchers. Treyce Tolbert was walked and Sapulpa switched pitchers again. Terry hit a pop fly to center for a single by catching error and Greathouse made it home for a 4-0 lead with the bases still loaded. Fain struck out but Rutledge was walked and Trevor Tolbert came home. Phillips bunted and was put out along with Treyce Tolbert in a double play and Ward was outed on a pop fly to right field.

Sapulpa put two on base with a walk and a single but both were left stranded and the Sandites took a 5-0 lead into the fifth. 

Montgomery hit a single off a fielding error and made it to second on a sacrifice bunt by Trevor Tolbert but was put out after Treyce Tolbert hit a line drive to third. Sapulpa got off another single but Trevor Tolbert put the runner out in a double play off the next batter's hit.

Terry doubled to start the sixth and was replaced on base by courtesy runner Mack Thompson who advanced to third on a sacrifice fly hit by Rutledge. Phillips batted him in on a line drive over second, then Ward smacked a double into the centerfield wall. Montgomery hit a line down third to score Phillips, but Ward was caught in a pickle and the Sandites improved to a 7-0 lead.

Josh Cordell relieved Terry on the mound and Sapulpa finally managed to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. The seventh saw Treyce Tolbert and Josh Cordell walked and stranded. Sapulpa got off a double but was unable to score. Cordell pitched his first strikeout of the season and the Sandites pulled in a 7-2 victory to remain undefeated.

The Sandites will next take on Booker T Washington Monday evening at OneOK Field in downtown Tulsa at 5:30. The Hornets are 0-2 for the season after giving up an 8-0 shutout to Broken Arrow today and being edged out 10-9 by Muskogee earlier this week.