Sandites blank Glenpool 5-0 on Senior Night, upset Owasso

Hayden Blair hits a home run on Senior Night.

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Sand Springs high school baseball is peaking at the right time, winning four of their last five games, including a 7-5 non-district upset of Owasso Monday, April 26. The Sandites (15-19) rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit against the top-ranked team in 6A-3.

Rhen Rutledge went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs, and Dom Ornelas hit a homer. The Rams gave up three runs on bases-loaded walks, and the Sandites scored on two errors and a wild pitch. Owasso won the Tuesday rematch 1-0.

The Sandites topped Guthrie 2-1 on Thursday after Keaton Campbell tripled in the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ty Pennington. Keaton also recorded a save on the mound, and Kayden Campbell got the win. 

Senior Night saw a 5-0 shutout of Glenpool as the Sandites also celebrated seven players and three managers. Senior Hayden Blair hit a home run, Dom Ornelas hit a three-run double, and Morgan Powell got the win on the mound. On Saturday they traveled to Westmoore and picked up a 7-4 victory behind a two-hit, two-strikeout pitching performance from Jabe Schlehuber.

In college baseball news, Sandite grads Cal Watkins and Cale Savage both announced they will be continuing their careers at Washburn University. Watkins will be transferring from Seminole State, while Savage has spent the last two seasons at Northern Oklahoma College at Enid.

Basketball

Marlo Fox recently announced his decommitment from Seward County Community College. He will instead enroll at Rogers State University. Fox averaged 18.6 points per game this season to lead the Sandites.

Softball

Lady Sandite Softball ended the slow pitch season 8-18, going 1-3 in their final week of the year. On Monday, April 26, they fell 21-6 to No. 9 Union, despite a grand slam from Taylor Skipper. At Regionals they won 8-4 against Putnam City before falling 16-0 and 16-7 to No. 3 Moore. Jaden Jordan and Lauren Hammock hit home runs in the final game of the season.

Oklahoma State University senior Sydney Pennington now sits second all-time in the school home-run record book after hitting her 32nd dinger against Texas on Saturday. The school record is 35. 

Soccer

The boys soccer team fell 4-2 to Union on Monday and 2-1 to Moore on Thursday. Fernando Saldana scored both goals against the Redskins, while freshman Nick Roberts scored his first career goal at Moore. The girls fell 7-0 to Union.

Karsen Lynch committed to play at Rogers State University next season, where she will join fellow teammate Ali Day. 

Track and Field

Sand Springs took a reduced roster to the Sapulpa Track Meet on Friday. They rested several athletes before the upcoming Regional Championship, which will be Saturday at Sapulpa. The boys team placed 11th and the girls took 7th.

Alejandro Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.3, and Jestin Rawlins placed seventh in discus throw with a distance of 130 ft. 4 in. Cayla Magee placed fourth in discus with a distance of 95 ft. 8 in., and Kreedence Behnke placed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 14 ft. 1 in. 

Layne Kirkendoll sets school long jump record, wins Frontier Valley Conference

Photo courtesy of Tommy Dial.

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sandite track teams had a successful week, competing at the Jenks Invitational last Monday and the Frontier Valley Conference meet on Saturday. The team won five first-place medals between the two meets, including three conference championships.

Junior star Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump and long jump at both events, and at the FVC meet she broke her own school record in long jump with a mark of 18 ft. 8 in. She has now won 12 events this season and is undefeated in long jump. Joseph Mattison won the 200-meter FVC title in 22.37 seconds and placed fourth at Jenks. 

The team will take a reduced roster to the Sapulpa meet on Friday, and some will take the week off to rest for the Regional meet Saturday, May 8th, also at Sapulpa.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (11-18 overall, 5-9 district) split a district double-header with Putnam City Monday, April 19th, beating the Pirates 9-1 in game one before falling 4-3 in the sequel. 

Cason Savage hit a triple and a home run, scoring three runs and two RBI, and Keaton Campbell hit two doubles for two runs and two RBI in the first game. Jabe Schlehuber got the win on the mound, throwing nine strikeouts, no walks, and only one hit in five innings. 

Sand Springs out-hit the Pirates ten to six in game two, but stranded eight runners in the loss. The Sandites led 3-1 till the seventh inning when Putnam loaded the bases on two hits and a walk, and scored all three runners on an error.

They lost another close one 11-9 against Oologah on Thursday, leading 9-8 till the top of the seventh. Savage and Brooks Dudley were both 3-of-4 at the plate. 

The Sandites will host Guthrie Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Glenpool Friday at 6 p.m. 

Soccer

The varsity girls (7-5, 1-4) fell 1-0 to Bixby last Tuesday in an overtime shootout. The girls made it through regulation and both OT periods without giving up a goal, despite playing shorthanded after two players fouled out. Alyssa Perry and Katie Webb made their PKs, but the Spartans won the shootout.

The Sandite boys (7-4, 3-1) won their district match with Bixby 3-0 behind goals from Jack Bratcher, Fernando Saldana, and Cameron Summerton. 

The girls started their game against Booker T. Washington last Friday, but it was rained out before either team scored. That match will be made up Friday, with girls at 6 p.m. and boys at 8 p.m. The boys will also play a make-up match Thursday at Moore at 7 p.m.

Slow Pitch Softball

Raegan Rector and Jaden Jordan hit home runs, and Lauren Hammock hit a grand slam against Broken Arrow Thursday, but the No. 2 ranked Tigers rolled to a 20-11 win after scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh. No. 15 Sand Springs (7-15) will travel to No. 3 Moore Thursday for the Regional tournament, starting with Putnam City at 11 a.m.

Wrestling

Former two-time State Champion Sandite Riley Weir went 4-3 at the NJCAA National Championships for eighth place at 125 pounds. Weir is in his freshman year at Labette Community College.

Sandite Soccer Slays on Senior Night

*A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Sandite Soccer couldn’t have had a better Senior Night, as both the boys and girls teams rolled to lopsided district shutouts against Putnam City West, Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

The girls won their match 4-0 to snap a three-game losing streak. They previously lost 2-0 Tuesday at Moore while playing without starting goalie Ali Day, but the Rogers State-bound senior returned from injury for the clean sheet against the Patriots. Teagan Smith scored two goals, and Lauren Foster and Evyn Morrow scored one apiece. Josie Gelsthorpe added an assist.

“This group of seniors has been a pretty impactful group,” said Head Coach Matthew Watkins. “Through the coaches turnover over the years, they’ve kind of been a solid set that have really started setting the foundation for Sandite soccer in the future. It’s just a good group of girls. Quality leadership on the field and off.”

The girls are 7-4 on the season with three matches left, and one more win will give them their best mark since 2016.

The boys stormed out to a 5-0 lead at the half and ultimately won 8-0 behind a hat trick from Fernando Saldana. Jack Bratcher added two goals, and Joel Hendricks, Zach Heinen, and Cameron Summerton scored one piece. Bratcher and Saldana had two assists each, and Xander Quiroga made two saves for the clean sheet. 

“We’ve got a good group of seniors,” said Head Coach Garland Betts. “Six of them have been starting since they were freshmen, so it's a good group of kids that’s been playing together for four years. Fernando played really well, he always plays hard. That whole group of seniors, they always play hard, they always compete no matter what the score is. Fernando is a really good player, probably one of the best in the state, if not the best player in the state.”

Saldana now leads the team in scoring this season with 11 goals and one penalty kick, followed by Bratcher with 11 goals. Bratcher is signed with Oral Roberts University, but Saldana has yet to commit. 

The boys have had their past two games canceled due to severe weather. A district match at Union will be made up on Tuesday the 27th, and the Moore game will be played on the 30th. Both the boys and girls will return to action Friday at Booker T. Washington, with the girls playing at 6:00 p.m. and the boys at 8:00 p.m.

Between games, the teams honored 13 seniors: Shyanne Cooke, Day, Gelsthorpe, Alyssa Perry, Smith, Bratcher, Hayden Brooks, Isaiah Edwards, David Fancher, Heinen, Quiroga, Saldana, and Summerton. 

Layne Kirkendoll Sets Sand Springs High Jump Record

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Sandite Track and Field traveled to the Owasso Ram Relays Friday. The girls placed eighth and the boys placed ninth.

Layne Kirkendoll won her second high jump of the year, setting a new school record of 5 feet 7 inches. She also won her fourth long jump of the year with a personal-best mark of 18’06.5”, which is the second-best distance in school history. 

Noah Hanlon was among the top boys in the 3200m run with a time of 11:17.94 for sixth place. Alejandro Lopez had the fifth-best time in the 800m at 2:08.49. Morgan Lockhart was fifth in the 300m hurdles in 44.33. Greg Reed took sixth in the long jump at 19’10”.

Sakauri Wilson won her heat in the 100m and had the fourth-best time overall at 13.02 seconds. Jazmin Lopez placed fourth in the 800, finishing in 2:27.88. 

Soccer

Sandite Soccer had a tough past week, as both the boys and girls teams dropped district matches against Broken Arrow on Tuesday before having their Friday games at Union canceled due to weather.

The boys (5-4 overall, 1-1 district) fell 3-0 Tuesday at Memorial Stadium, while the girls (6-3, 0-2) fell 5-1 to Broken Arrow. Teagan Smith scored her third goal of the season three minutes into the match, but the Tigers rattled off five unanswered to end the game.

Sand Springs will host Putnam City West for their final home games of the regular season Friday night at Memorial Stadium. 

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (10-13, 4-6) went 0-3 last week, dropping two close district games against Stillwater, and an 8-1 trip to Union. 

Stillwater won 7-5 on Monday and 11-10 on Tuesday. Dom Ornelas hit a home run in both games, and Keaton Campbell and Ty Pennington also went yard on Tuesday. Pennington was 3-for-3 at the plate Tuesday. 

Friday’s game at Bixby was canceled due to weather, and they returned to action Saturday at Union. The Sandites put up seven hits, including three doubles, but stranded six in the loss. 

The Sandite sluggers will return to action Thursday at 6:00 p.m. with a non-district home game against Tulsa NOAH. 

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Softball snapped a five-game skid Thursday with a 5-0 win over Owasso. They went 0-4 Monday and Tuesday at the Jenks Festival, then fell 11-10 to Jenks on Thursday. 

A 12-run inning and a home run from Jaden Jordan wasn’t quite enough Monday against Red Oak. Down 17-0 after two innings, the girls rallied to cut it to 17-14 before running out of steam. In game two they led 9-7 before Haskell rallied with four runs in the fifth. 

The Sandites lost another close one Tuesday against Choctaw, 9-8, then Mustang won 14-3 in the final game of the festival. 

Jordan homered, Raegan Rector tripled, and the Sandites led Jenks 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans won on a walkoff single. 

The win over Owasso didn’t come with much fireworks, but they got their second shutout of the year behind Kaden Barnes’s pitching. Kelsi Hilton supplied two hits, two RBI, and one run to pace the offense.

The girls will host Jenks Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

Fishing

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey had yet another hot finish on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school trail, placing fifth on Keystone Lake Saturday. The duo just won their previous event on Grand Lake. 

Norris and Casey caught three fish, weighing 9.07 pounds, with their biggest coming in at 3.91. Kyle and Kale Hilligoss placed 26th with two fish weighing 4.22 pounds, and Mack Taylor and Reese David placed 28th with two fish weighing 3.96 pounds.

Fernando Saldana sparks Sandites in district soccer opener

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball picked up a key 7-3 district win at Broken Arrow Monday, March 29th. The team recorded 11 hits with four doubles, and got it done on the mound as well. Jabe Schlehuber tossed five strikeouts for the win, and Eli Buxton recorded the save. Broken Arrow won the rematch on Tuesday, 8-7. Dom Ornelas hit a three-run homer for the 6-3 lead in the third, but the Tigers rallied with four runs in the fifth.

The Sandites headed to Jenks Friday for a non-district game and lost 2-1 on a walkoff error. They returned to form Saturday, however, with a 13-1 run-rule victory against Midwest City. Keaton Campbell went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two runs, and four RBI, while Kayden Campbell got the win on the mound with six strikeouts and only one hit.

Sand Springs is 10-10 overall and 4-4 in district play. They will play Friday at Bixby at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at Union. 

Soccer

The Sand Springs boys’ soccer team (5-4) kicked off district play with a 3-2 win against Edmond Memorial Friday night. Fernando Saldana scored two goals, Jack Bratcher added one, and Xander Quiroga made five saves. Bratcher leads the team with nine goals this season, followed by Saldana with eight.

Lady Sandite Soccer (6-2) suffered a 1-0 loss in their district debut, snapping a four-match win streak. Both teams will travel to Union Friday for a district match. Girls will play at 6:00 p.m., followed by boys at 8:00 p.m.

Slow Pitch Softball

The Sand Springs slow pitch softball team (6-5) won a rivalry double-header against Sapulpa in dominant fashion, Monday, March 29th, beating the Chieftains 28-5 and 23-0, but hit a rough patch later in the week.

Raegan Rector hit two home runs in the first game, scoring three runs and six RBI. Lauren Hammock got the win, only giving up two hits with one strikeout in the three-inning game. 

Rector hit a triple in game two, and scored two runs and five RBI. Kaden Barnes pitched the three inning shutout, tossing one hit, one strikeout, and no walks.

On Tuesday Rector hit two more homers, scoring six RBI in a 21-13 loss to Berryhill. Taylor Skipper also had a homer and was 3-for-3 at the plate. They also fell 20-3 to Broken Arrow, with yet another homer from Rector. 

On Thursday they went 2-3 at the Haskell Tournament, beating Fort Gibson 9-4 and Bristow 9-1, but they fell 17-5 to Haskell, 13-2 to Oktaha, and 7-6 to Bixby.

Sandite Softball will travel to Jenks Thursday at 5:00 p.m. to play the Trojans and Owasso.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs boys and girls track teams both placed sixth at the Broken Arrow Track Classic Saturday. Joseph Mattison was the star of the show, running the 200-meter dash in 22.18 seconds for third place. He also jumped 20’06.5” for third place in the long jump.

Wrestling

The Keystone Kids hosted an OK USA tournament Saturday at Clyde Boyd Middle School and seven Sand Springs wrestlers won their brackets. Colton Lambert, Kason Wolfe, Ethan Norton, and Parker Ingram placed first in freestyle, Jesse Moore won in Greco, and Samuel Moore won his bracket in both styles. 

Sandite Athletics Weekly Roundup

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Boys Soccer

The Sand Springs boys’ soccer team (4-4) fell 2-1 in non-district play at Enid, Tuesday, March 23rd, with Brian Boyles scoring the lone goal. They placed fourth at the Holland Hall tournament last week, beating Oklahoma Christian School 6-0 on Thursday before falling 2-1 to Holland Hall Friday and 7-3 to Owasso on Saturday. 

Fernando Saldana scored a hat trick against OCS and Jack Bratcher had a brace. Cameron Summerton added the sixth goal, his first of the season. Saldana scored one goal against Holland Hall and another against Owasso. Bratcher and Mason Ritter also had goals against Owasso. 

The boys were short handed in their placement match, playing without NSU-bound David Fancher and goalkeeper Xander Quiroga, among others. Junior backup Shawn Hayes made ten saves in the loss.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball went 3-2 last week and is 8-8 overall. Jabe Schlehuber got the win and Eli Buxton recorded a save in a 4-2 district game at Bartlesville, Tuesday, March 23rd. Bartlesville won the rematch 6-4 on Wednesday.

The Sandites returned to Bartlesville on Thursday and Friday for a festival. Gage Elliott went the distance in a 10-2 win over Ponca City Thursday, only giving up three hits, then Kayden Campbell recorded a 7-4 rivalry win against Sapulpa with another save from Buxton. Schlehuber and Ty Pennington both hit triples in the win. Bishop Kelley scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh for an 8-7 walk-off on Friday.

Rhen Rutledge paced the offense, going 7-of-15 at the plate last week with seven runs, two RBI, a double, and a triple. Cason Savage also hit a triple in the Wednesday loss to Bartlesville.

Sand Springs will travel to Jenks Friday for a non-district game, and will host Midwest City Saturday at noon.

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Slow Pitch started the season with a pair of wins Tuesday, March 23rd at Union High School. They beat Berryhill 13-1 in a three-inning run rule and survived a 12-11 shootout with the host team. 

Lauren Hammock got the win against Berryhill, only giving up one hit. Jaden Jordan hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give her team the lead, and Kelsi Hilton and Kaden Barnes both hit RBI triples. Hilton added a grand slam in the second inning, then Hammock threw a bases-loaded strikeout for the win. 

Barnes got the win against Union and Hammock recorded a save. Jordan went a perfect three-for-three at the plate with two home runs and six RBI. 

Sand Springs Softball will compete at the Haskell Tournament on Thursday, where they are the defending tournament champions.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs boys placed sixth and the girls took fifth Friday at the Muskogee Track Classic. Two Lady Sandites brought home three gold medals from the event. 

Jazmin Lopez won the 800-meter run in 2:29.87. Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump with a mark of 5’04.00” and the long jump with a distance of 17’06.00.” Jayda Rowe placed second in the discus throw with a mark of 105’07.00”, ranking her second in Sand Springs history in the event. 

Alejandro Lopez placed second in the 800-meter run in 2:04.95, less than half a second behind the winner. Joseph Mattison placed third in the 100-meter dash in 11.27, third in the 200 in 23.15, and third in the long jump at 19’07.00”.

The girls 4x100 relay team placed third in 52.04 seconds, the 4x400 placed fourth in 4:29.49, and the 4x200 placed fifth in 1:56.22. 

The boys 4x800 relay team placed fourth in 8:48.62, the 4x400 placed fourth in 3:41.33, and the 4x200 placed fifth in 1:38.57. 

Sandite Track will next compete at the Broken Arrow Track Classic Saturday at 10:00 a.m.