The Charles Page High School varsity softball team improved to 14-3 overall Thursday evening at the Sandite Sporting Complex in a 9-6 come-from-behind defeat of the Jenks Lady Trojans. First-Baseman Jessica Schuler led the scoring with 4 RBIs and 1 run, followed by Jessica Collins with 3 runs of her own.

Junior Sydney Pennington got the start and the win on the mound and Jenks was first at bat. It was a rough beginning as the first batter up hit a double into left field on the fourth pitch of the game, followed by a single then two walks, which left the bases loaded and a Lady Trojan walking in for the point with no outs to start the inning. By the time the home team came in to bat, they were already behind by four runs. This is unusual for a team that wins by an average of 5 runs per game. Kennedy “Goose” Salyers was the lone Sandite to score in the first inning, on a sacrifice fly from Schuler. 4-1.

The second inning was uneventful as neither team scored, though Pennington got her first of five strikeouts for the evening. Presnell hit a single, but was tagged out trying to steal second.

Jenks’s Kate Kouplen walked to first to start the third inning, but was tagged out along with Megan Henderson on an impressive double-play by Kimi Presnell who caught the line drive and sent it to Schuler who tagged Kouplen off-base. That duo was the star of the next play as well, as Presnell scooped up a groundball and sent it to first base to tag out Raegan Berkinshaw.

The bottom of the third is where the Lady Sandites came alive. Salyers and Collins both hit singles. Collins’s went straight through the third baseman’s glove. Pennington was intentionally walked every time she was at bat. With no outs and the bases loaded, Schuler smacked a 2RBI single into right field. Kalli Mallory was walked, then replaced by curtesy-runner Caley Thompson. The bases were loaded once again. Madelyn Blair let loose a sacrifice fly to bring Pennington home. The inning ended tied 4-4.

Jenks retook the lead in the fourth inning with an RBI double from Brenlyn McCoy which brought home Maggie McClary, followed by Liz Carson coming home on an RBI sacrifice from Ally Ryan. The Sandites returned to bat trailing 6-4. They quickly tied things back up, however, with an RBI Double from Salyers that brought home Presnell, and a sacrifice fly from Mallory that brought home Collins. 6-6.

Neither team scored in the fifth inning and Jenks failed to get on base in the sixth, which gave the home team the chance to take the lead. Collins and Pennington were both walked. Schuler hit an RBI single that scored Collins. With Pennington on third and Schuler on second, Stella Millican hit a 2RBI single that gave the girls their final score of the evening as the Lady Trojans never got on base in the seventh inning. I asked Stella how it felt hitting that 2 RBI single and she said “It was amazing. It feels like all the hard work is finally paying off.”

The Lady Sandites are undefeated 7-0 in district play and will travel to Bixby next Tuesday for their next district game.