Sandite Baseball notches first district win 7-6 against Moore

Braden Askew scored two runs in the Tuesday night win over Moore. (Photo: Scott Emigh).

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Varsity Baseball team (5-6 overall, 1-3 district) notched their first district win in a Tuesday night home game against the Moore Lions (4-4, 1-3), avenging a road loss from the day before.

SEE RELATED: Sandite Baseball falls 13-3 at Moore

Josh Cordell (2-0) got the start and the win on the mound with seven strikeouts against nine hits and four earned runs. Brock Youngblood (0-2) pitched the last two innings and struck out two with one hit and two earned runs. He was credited with his first save of the season.

Both teams stranded runners in the first two innings, but the visitors struck first in the top of the third with an RBI single from Joe Balak to score AJ Moore. 

Cal Watkins tied it up for the Sandites in the bottom of the fourth with a double to left field, scoring Braden Askew. Josh Taber gave Sand Springs their first lead of the game with a sacrifice to score Braden Millican, then Watkins came home on an error.

Moore tied things up in the fifth inning with yet another Balak RBI, this time to score Josh Detweiler. Casey Cooper, who hit two home runs in the Monday night loss at Moore, hit a two-run homer for the lead. 

The Sandites battled back in the bottom of the inning as Ty Steelman singled, Askew was hit by pitch, and Cale Savage reached on error to load the bases with no outs. Millican scored Steelman on a bunt, Askew scored on a passed ball, and Savage scored on a sacrifice from Kameron Adcock to make it 6-4. Thompson stole home in the sixth inning for the final Sandite score of the night.

Balak drew a walk in the top of the seventh and scored on a home run from Drew White to cut it to 7-6 with only one out, but Adock made a catch in foul territory and Youngblood struck out Blake Perry to clinch the victory.

The Sandites will return to action this Friday at the Collinsville tournament with an 11:00 a.m. game against Rogers, followed by a 4:00 p.m. game against Parkhill Christian Academy.

Sandite Tennis places fourteenth at Union Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School tennis team recently competed at the Union March Invitational. Both the Boys' and Girls' teams tied for fourteenth place.

Dakota Mitchell competed in Boys' #1 Singles and took eleventh place with wins over Lane Hutchison of Broken Arrow and Colton Wion of Henryetta. Connor Coney competed in #2 Singles and took twelfth place. He defeated Josiah Frisbee of Oklahoma Bible Academy.

Logan Bateman and Quintin Wimer took fifteenth place in #1 Doubles with a win over the Stillwater team. Caleb Bundy and Brock Smith took fourteenth place in #2 Doubles, also defeating Stillwater.

Abigail McGhee completed in Girls' #1 Singles and placed thirteenth with wins over Sophie Frasier of Booker T. Washington and Libby Roark of Stillwater. 

Delaney Blaylock and Hallie West competed in #1 Doubles and took twelfth place with a win over the Stillwater team. Betsy Almarez and Alesha Milsap placed sixteenth in #2 Doubles.

CPHS Senior Kierra McGee signs to play college ball for Redlands Community College

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Kierra McGee has signed with Redlands Community College to continue her basketball career. The 5'8" guard was a key player on the Lady Sandites' State Tournament team, starting all 26 games this season.

Redlands is located in El Reno, Oklahoma and is a member of the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA). The Lady Cougars went 17-12 this year, 23-8 last season, and haven't finished with a losing record since 2014. In 2013 they made the Division I National Tournament. Head Coach Jay Niehues has been with the program for three years.

McGee started her career at Union High School and transferred to Sand Springs for her senior season. She was fifth on the team in scoring and rebounding with 8.69 points and 3.23 boards per game. She was third in assists and fourth in steals. She led her team on four different occasions, including a career-high 17-point performance against Cascia Hall. She scored team-highs of 16 against Bixby, 12 against Field Kindley, and 14 against Nathan Hale. 

The Lady Sandites finished the season ranked third in the State with a 24-2 record. They won the Bishop Kelley Invitational, Coffeyville Interstate Classic, and Frontier Valley Conference, went undefeated in the Regional and Area playoffs, and defeated No. 13 Mustang 42-24 in the State Quarterfinals before falling 64-54 to State Runner-Up No. 4 Deer Creek in the Semifinals. 

Sandite Baseball falls 13-3 at Moore

Senior Mack Thompson recorded a run and an RBI in a Monday night loss at Moore. (Photo: Scott Emigh).

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Varsity Baseball team (4-6 overall, 0-3 district) is still looking for their first district win after suffering a 13-3 defeat at Moore High School (4-3, 1-2). The Sandites took a two run lead to start the Monday evening game, but the home team took advantage of a series of errors and walks to score eleven runs in the first inning.

Seniors Josh Taber and Mack Thompson got the Sandites off to a good start offensively with a pair of singles. Taber scored first on a wild pitch with Treyce Tolbert at bat, then Tolbert brought Thompson home on a sacrifice fly to left field.

Their solid offense was undone, however, as the Sandites struggled defensively in the beginning. Josh Detweiler singled and scored on a single from Joe Balak. Matt Reeves walked and scored with Balak on a home run from Casey Cooper. Drew White walked, Grant Reeves reached on catcher's interference, and Blake Girard reached on an error at shortstop to load the bases.

AJ Moore walked in White, Bryce Mosier singled to score Grant Reeves, Detweiler singled to score Girard, and Matt Reeves reached on an error at first that allowed Moore and Mosier to score for a 9-2 lead. Cooper made yet another big plate appearance with a sacrifice fly to score Detweiler and Matt Reeves before the inning ended.

Sand Springs scored one run in the top of the second as Braden Millican walked, and courtesy runner Garrett McCallie came home on a single from Thompson. That would be their last run of the game, however.

Once again Cooper was a thorn in the Sandites' side, scoring Matt Reeves with yet another home run for the final score of the game, 13-3. 

The Sandites stranded two in the fourth and one in the fifth, but they were unable to find home plate and Moore secured the victory by run-rule. 

Greathouse (2-2) got the start and the loss on the mound, giving up nine runs, six earned runs, four hits, and three walks. Millican (0-0) pitched three innings and gave up four runs, two earned runs, four hits, and one walk. Steelman (0-0) pitched one inning and recorded one strikeout with no hits or runs. 

The Sandites and Lions will get a rematch Tuesday evening in Sand Springs at 6:00 p.m.

Four Sandite Seniors compete in All-Star showcase, dominate Arkansas State Champs

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Four Charles Page High School seniors haven't slowed down a bit since concluding their high school careers last month at the OSSAA 6A State Tournament.

Daton Fix, Jack Karstetter, Zane Basma, and Delvin Jordan competed for Team Oklahoma at the Battle of the Bad in Miami, Oklahoma, and won seven of their eight matches.

In the semifinal dual Oklahoma handily defeated Arkansas 57-10 and all four Sandites won their matches. Fix wrestled at 126 pounds and pinned two-time State Champion Michael Crockett in 4:08 for an 18-0 team lead. Karstetter scored a 21-8 major decision against State Champion Chance McCrary at 138 pounds for a 25-0 team lead. Basma wrestled at 160 and pinned three-time State Champion Jimmy Noel for a 31-10 team lead. Jordan competed at heavyweight and scored a 10-1 major decision over two-time State-placer Tim Wooten. 

The Sandites are currently raising funds for State Championship rings to commemorate their perfect season. Click HERE to donate.

In the Championship round Kansas took a 10-0 lead against Oklahoma before Fix teched three-time State Qualifier Darion Bailey 22-7. Karstetter cut the deficit to 10-8 with a 9-5 decision over three-time State Qualifier Levi Green. Kansas went on a run from there with four-straight victories including a close 8-4 decision by State Runner-Up Brandon Mlekus over Basma for a 28-8 advantage. Oklahoma won three-straight and the Okies trailed 28-20 with two matches left. Jordan won his match against State Runner-Up Deveron Duncan, but the 6-5 decision wasn't enough to keep Oklahoma in contention. Ultimately it didn't matter, as Kansas won the heavyweight match for a 34-23 victory. 

From there, Fix and Karstetter joined up with Team Border at the Missouri Border Brawl in St. Louis. Fix pinned Northwestern University-signed State Champion Colin Valdiviez in 3:46, but Karstetter fell 20-9 to Army-signed State Champion Taylor Brown.

Fix and Karstetter both won State Championships this past month, while Jordan was a Runner-Up and Basma also qualified for the tournament. Fix is signed to wrestle for Oklahoma State University, while Jordan will play football for Pittsburg State University. 

Sandite Baseball tops Fossil Ridge 10-6 at Best of the West Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (4-5) took on the Fossil Ridge Sabercats (2-4) in the final round of the Best of the West tournament in Phoenix, Arizona and slugged their way to a 10-6 victory in their best batting performance of the season. 

While the Sandites were .548 at the plate with seventeen hits and only three strikeouts, they struggled defensively, giving up ten hits and two walks against five strikeouts. They also committed three errors. Ben Banker (1-0) got the start and the win with two other pitchers picking up valuable experience. 

Sand Springs jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Josh Taber singled and was joined on base by Mack Thompson with a walk. Both advanced on a bunt from Treyce Tolbert, and Taber scored on a dropped third strike to draw first blood. Thompson wasn't far behind him, scoring on a single from Braden Askew who in turn scored on an error at the mound.

The Sabercats cut into their deficit in the top of the third as Justin Durnill singled and scored on a triple from Tanner Hoke, who in turn crossed home on a single from Calvin Marley. Marley was left stranded after a strikeout of Alex Paul, and the Sandites came in to cushion their lead.

Thompson doubled and scored on a Tolbert single. Tolbert was caught trying for home on a Greathouse single, but Greathouse scored on a Cale Savage single to make it 5-2. 

Askew (0-2) took over on the mound in the top of the fourth and pitched one strikeout and one walk. The Sandites landed two hits in the bottom of the inning-- a single from Taber and a double from Thompson-- but both were left stranded. 

Fossil Ridge made another comeback attempt in the fifth as Nic Gidley reached on error and scored on a double by Hoke. Hoke crossed home on a single from Marley, but once again Marley was left stranded and the Sabercats trailed by one. 

Sand Springs put the game away once and for all in the bottom of the sixth as Braden Cook walked, Taber was hit by pitch, and Thompson singled to lead the bases. Tolbert hit a ground ball to left field to score Taber and courtesy runner Kameron Adcock, then Greathouse scored courtesy runner Braden Millican on a sacrifice fly to center field. Tolbert came in on a double from Askew, who in turn scored on a single from Savage.

Thompson (0-0) took over the mound for the seventh inning and gave up three hits, including a double from Bridger Keally to score Marley. Gidley also crossed home on an error, but Thompson struck out Everette Barnes to strand two and bring the game to a close.

The Sandites will return to action next Monday with a district road game at Moore High School (1-3, 0-2).