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. 

Destiny Johnson and Sandite Freshmen major factor in first winning season in half decade

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Destiny Johnson

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Three freshman started and five saw action on the Charles Page High School ladies' basketball team this season and all were major players in pushing a turn-around program the final step into their first winning season in half a decade. 

The program pulled a complete 180 after a 2011 State Tournament-appearing team graduated several starters and won only a single game the following year. 2012-2013 wasn't much better, posting a 2-20 record.

Holly Kersgieter

In 2013, Dustin Morrow took over the program and the team went 10-14, a drastic improvement, but still a losing record. Last season the girls won the regular season but went 1-2 in the playoffs for a final record of 12-12. The eighth grade girls, however, went 28-0 for an undefeated Frontier Valley Conference Championship.

This season those girls were the difference makers, adding depth to a small but talented team that lost three players the year before. Jacie Taber, Holly Kersgieter, Destiny Johnson, Kimi Presnall, and Isabella Regalado combined for 40% of the team's points this season with Johnson coming in as the second-highest scoring player on the whole team.

Bella Regalado

"DJ" Johnson continued a new tradition of freshman excellence. For the last three years, at least one freshman has registered a 200+ point season. Sydney Pennington debuted with 376 in 2012-2013, Gloria Mutiri scored 200 last season, and Johnson finished with 212 this year. She was a major inside threat, shooting 46% on two-pointers and 67% on free throws for an average of 8 points and 3 rebounds per game. She doubled nine times, led her team in scoring four times, and set a personal-best of 15 points against Owasso. She was also named to the All-Tournament team at the Bishop Kelley Invitational.

Kimi Presnell

Jacie Taber and Kimi Presnall also made an impact on the State Runner-Up Softball team this fall, then scored 21 points each in their first year at varsity basketball. 

Isabella Regalado, daughter of Vic Regalado, the Republican nominee for Tulsa County Sheriff, scored 90 points, more than 3 PPG, and set a team-high career-high of 17 in an upset win over 5A No.4 ranked Shawnee in the championship game at the Bishop Kelley Invitational. She averaged 41% on two-pointers, 50% on free throws, and snatched about 2.5 rebounds per-game, and saw action in every game this season.

Jacie Taber

Holly Kersgieter came in fourth in team-scoring with 166 points and a career-high 14 against Shawnee. Playing in every game this season, and starting most of them, she averaged 6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 45% on two-pointers and 79% on free throws.

The depth of quality competitors allowed the Sandites to run a solid bench against their opponents and give the whole team more resting time during games. The young Sandite talent will only increase next year as the girls only graduate one starter, Cierra Scott, and inherit yet another incoming class of undefeated 8th grade girls.

Sydney Pennington finishes third straight season with 300+ points

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School junior Sydney Pennington finished her third-straight season as the leading scorer for the varsity basketball team and crossed the career 1,000 mark midway through the season in a 12-point loss to No.2 Muskogee. 

The 2015-2016 school year was actually Pennington's lowest-scoring season of her career, due to sharing the ball with a team of incoming freshman stars who had just gone undefeated to claim the Frontier Valley Conference title. 

That didn't stop her from running up another 300+ point season en route to an Area playoff performance.

The Oklahoma State University softball-commit doubled in 19 of 26 games this season, led her team in ten of them, and scored a season-high 22 points in three of them. Her career-high remains a 32-point game against Muskogee during her sophomore year.

Starting all 26 games this season, Pennington averaged over 51% on both field goal attempts and free throws and made off with about 3 steals and 5 rebounds per game. With 1,106 total points over 74 starts, she's averaged just under 15 PPG and (between basketball and softball) is easily one of the most impressive athletes in school history. She was twice named Sandite of the Week.

The Lady Sandites amassed a 17-9 record, their best since the 2011 team made the State Tournament, and finished the season 5th in conference standings while ranked 11th in 6A.

Stay tuned for more highlights on CPHS athletes in the week-to-come!