Muskogee can't get away from Sand Springs, dropping three straight by a combined 43-1

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Muskogee Roughers (2-18) are probably wishing they were in a different district by this point. The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (18-5) warmed up Monday night at home with a 3-0 shutout of Muskogee, completely annihilated them 32-1 Tuesday night in Muskogee, then finished off the series with an 8-0 shutout Thursday afternoon at the Sand Springs/Broken Arrow Wooden Bat Tournament.

Sophomore Conner Dennis (1-0) made his first trip to the mound this season and made an excellent debut, throwing 67% strikes and giving up just a single hit, one walk, and four strikeouts. Josh Taber led the offense for the Sandites, scoring three runs on four plate appearances.

The lone hit of the night for Muskogee came on the second pitch of the game. Muskogee pitcher Ke'shawn Ballard, who got the loss on the mound, connected for a single into left field, but was ultimately stranded on second.

Taber connected for a lead off single in the bottom of the first and scored on a passed ball along with Rhett Rutledge. Treyce Tolbert sacrificed to score Jake Ward and Malachi Walton scored on an error for a 4-0 lead.

Dennis struck out Corey Landrum in the second, Landrum and Karrington Ashley in the fifth, and Mathis Givens in the sixth. The lone walk was Riley Foster who was hit by pitch in the sixth.

Malachi Walton ran courtesy for Joey Montgomery in the bottom of the third, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a balk. Mack Thompson singled in the fourth, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a sacrifice by Rhett Rutledge, and scored on a passed ball with Ward at bat. Ward reached on an error to score Taber, who walked. 

Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, Taber walked yet again. He stole second, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a hit by Ward for the game-wining run-rule. This marked the fourth straight win for Sand Springs.

Sandite Baseball hammers Muskogee 32-1; Terry, Rutledge, and McCallie hit homers

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (17-5) hammered the Muskogee Roughers (2-16) 32-1 in the highest-scoring game in years for the Sandites. Josh Cordell (2-1) got the win on the mound, striking out twelve, walking none, and allowing only one unearned run over five innings. 

Sand Springs scored 18 runs in the first inning alone, putting the game in the bag before a Rougher had even stepped on plate. The run-rule doesn't kick in till the fifth inning so there was nothing Muskogee could do to end the slaughter. 

Leading the scoring onslaught was Rhett Rutledge with 4 runs, 4RBI, and 3 hits.

Josh Taber and Rutledge scored first, each on passed balls. Jake Ward doubled and scored on a Treyce Tolbert single. Malachi Walton came home on a throw, Tyler McCallie singled in Hunter Greathouse, Jake Terry walked in Tolbert for a 6-0 lead and the Sandites rounded out the batting order before the Roughers managed their first out. 

Rutledge sacrificed to score McCallie, Ward singled in Tolbert, Terry score on a passed ball, Tolbert singled in Ward and Walton, and Greathouse scored on a passed ball. McCallie homered in Treyce Tolbert, Terry homered in Trevor Tolbert, and Rutledge homered in Taber for the 18-0 lead before the inning finally came to a close.

Cordell struck out the side in the bottom of the first, and the Sandites were at it again, scoring three in the top of the second. McCallie singled in Greathouse, Terry doubled in Treyce Tolbert, and Taber sacrificed to score McCallie to make it 21-0.

The lone Rougher run of the game came in the bottom of the second. Cordell struck out Mathis Givens and Riley Foster, but gave up singles to Cale Hutchens and Corey Landrum. Karrington Ashley reached on an error to score Hutchens, but was put out at second on a fielders' choice on the next hit.

Ty Fain hit a sacrifice fly in the third to score Ward and Cordell struck out the side. Brock Youngblood batted in Riley Rutledge on a single in the fourth and Treyce Tolbert singled in Rhett Rutledge to make it 24-0. Cordell gave up two singles in the bottom of the fourth, but struck out two to strand the runners. 

The fifth inning was a well placed exclamation mark on an already incredible game. Youngblood singled in Mack Thompson, Montgomery walked in Kameron Adcock, Walton singled in Rhett Rutledge, Treyce Tolbert singled in Youngblood, Fain singled in Montgomery, Thompson walked in Walton, and Riley Rutledge rounded out the batting order and walked in Treyce Tolbert. Rhett Rutledge walked in Fain for the final run of the game to make it 32-1 and Cordell struck out two to bring the game to a close after five unbelievable innings. 

Sand Springs returns to the field Thursday at the Sand Springs Wooden Bat Tournament with two more games against the Roughers at 12:00 and 2:30, followed by Sapulpa at 5:00.

OU-commit Jake Terry pitches shutout win over Muskogee

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (16-5) has more than its fair share of talented pitchers. University of Oklahoma-commit Jake Terry (5-1) is one of the best in the state. The junior has pitched 31 innings against 148 batters this season and has only given up 29 hits and 10 earned runs. That record improved Monday night when he gave up only two hits in a shutout win over Muskogee where he struck out nine over six innings. He currently leads the team in strikeouts and strikeouts per inning.

Offensively it was a low scoring game as the Sandites only scored three runs, all of which came in the bottom of the second. Joey Montgomery and Tyler McCallie were hit by pitch and Josh Taber reached base on balls. Courtesy runner Malachi Walton scored on a wild pitch and Terry batted in Taber and McCallie on a 2RBI single for the 3-0 advantage.

Sand Springs only put twelve on base over the course of the game and only managed five base hits, but Terry's pitching coupled with talented fielding that gave up zero errors was enough to fend off the Roughers (2-16) for the duration.

 

Undefeated Union soccer teams too much for Sandites

By: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director
Photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Girls Soccer team (8-2) carried a large amount of momentum into unquestionably their toughest matchup of the year. The Lady Sandites had won 6 straight including the Edison Green and White Tournament Championship beating Tulsa Memorial, Booker T. Washington, and Tulsa Edison by a combined score of 8-3. The Union High School Lady Redskins (8-0) entered the match undefeated and ranked #2 in the nation. They feature three Division 1 commits in Brianna Amos, Taylor Malham, and Parker Goins. Goins and Malham are both juniors committed to the University of Arkansas. Amos is a sophomore, and is committed to the University of Central Arkansas. 

The Lady Redskins raced out to a two goal lead five minutes in on goals from Amos and Malham. Payton Lieb then scored back-to-back goals on assists from Malham, and Malham scored her second goal of the half in the 32' to put Union up 5-0. Sand Springs managed to get off three shots just before half, but the hits from Oral Roberts University commit Brooklyn Eardley, and Lauren Tavaglione went just wide of goal, and Megan Deshazo's shot attempt was dove on by Redskin keeper Paige Hobart. 

Sandite keeper Abigail Banks and the back line really tightened things up in the second half though, as Banks made a multitude of impressive saves and Union was only able to score one goal. Sand Springs was held to just four shots for the entire game by the Redskins' stifling defense and lost by a final score of 6-0.  

The Charles Page High School Boys (2-8) traveled to the Union Soccer Complex to face the Union High School boys soccer team (9-0) who also came in nationally ranked, at #8. 

Sand Springs played extremely well defensively allowing just one goal in the first half, coming on a penalty kick from Aaron Ugbah in the 27'.  Sandite goalie Edgar Soberano read the kick and dove for it, but Ugbah placed it just past Soberano's fingertips. 

Charles Page managed just 2 shots for the match, the only one on goal coming from the left foot of midfielder Alex Hernandez. The shot came from well outside the box and was saved by the Redskin keeper. Danny Perez put the nail in the Sandites' coffin with a goal in the 69' to push the lead to 2-0. 

Defensively the Sandites played very impressively, allowing just two goals to a team that has outscored their opponents 30-5 for the year. The back line is composed of Billy Pelfrey, Gabe Jeffus, Kristian Fairchild, and Kaleb Brooks.  

Sand Springs will play next at home on Friday against Putnam City North, Varsity Girls at 6 pm. and Varsity Boys at 8 pm. 

Sandite Baseball gets revenge on Enid with 8-7 victory

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

After a surprising 5-0 upset by the Plainsmen (6-9) in the first game of a double-header Saturday evening, the Charles Page High School baseball team (15-5) doubled down in round two and edged out the home team 8-7. 

Joey Montgomery (1-2) got the win on the mound for the Sandites, pitching 3 1/2 innings, while Rhett Rutledge (1-0) got the save, pitching the remainder and giving up only 3 hits, no runs, no walks, and striking out five.

Initially, it looked like the Sandites were in for back-to-back losses, as the Plainsmen took an early and aggressive lead. On the second pitch of the game, Johny Chavez smacked a home run grounder to left field to draw first blood. The Sandites tied things up in the bottom of the first, however, as Treyce Tolbert and Rutledge were walked and Jake Ward singled to score Tolbert.

Gavin Chambers got on base with a walk, took second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a single by Mason Skrimmager, and scored on a balk to reclaim the lead in the second. In the third, Bobby Russell sacrificed to score Tanner Lingenfelter.

Sand Springs finally took the lead in the bottom of the third. Josh Taber singled in Rutledge, Montgomery singled in Ward, McCallie walked in Hunter Greathouse, Ty Fain walked in Taber, Treyce Tolbert walked in Malachi Walton, Rutledge singled in McCallie, and Ward sacrificed to score Mack Thompson for an 8-3 lead.

The Plainsmen responded immediately, however, as Austin Whitehead singled in Chambers. Rutledge replaced Montgomery on the mound with loaded bases and a single out. Rutledge struck out his first two batters, but not before Skrimmager and Devin Pratt each stole home, and Chavez came home on a throw to make it 8-7.

From there it was a game of fielding more than slugging as the teams put only five runners on base, total, over the next three innings and neither team scored. 

Sandite of the Week: Ethan Baxter

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School freshman Ethan Baxter as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Tulsa Edison Green and White Tournament this past weekend.

Baxter leads his team in scoring this season with four goals, three of them coming in a single game this weekend. His hat trick led his team to a 4-1 victory over Regent Prep to snap a five-game losing streak. 

He scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 shutout of Muskogee in the opening week. He scored his first goal of the Regent game on a header less than 8 minutes into the game, then added his second exactly 4 minutes later. 

The Sandites are now 2-7 for the season and came in 6th of 8 teams in the Edison Tournament.


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.