CPHS Softball: Lady Sandites go 4-2 at Broken Arrow Tournament, beat Owasso 6-5

After a 4-0 start to the season, the Charles Page High School Fast Pitch Softball team (5-2) endured a pair of losses on day two of the Broken Arrow Tournament before topping Owasso 6-5 in extra innings. 

On Friday the Lady Sandites got off to a hot start with wins over Choctaw (3-3), Pocola (5-4), and Broken Bow (5-2). SEE RELATED: CPHS Softball: Sandites undefeated at Broken Arrow tournament, Usher hits home run

The Moore Lions (1-4) picked up their first win of the season by dealing Sand Springs their first loss. They jumped out to a quick lead with a pair of doubles and a run from Morgan Schmidt in the top of the first.

Sand Springs bounced back quickly with four walks and an RBI single from Felicity Horn to score Raegan Rector. Ashlynn Haley relieved Morgan Max on the mound and struck out two Lady Sandites to strand loaded bases.

Heidi Noisey batted in Rylie O'Steen with a single to tie things up in the second, then Taylor McKittrick hit a two-run homer in the third to double down on the Sandites. Sabrina Usher made it a one-run game with an RBI single to score Kimi Presnell, but Elizabeth Willison caught a pop fly to strand two and bring the game to a close at 4-3.

Aaliyah Taff (1-1, 1-3) got the loss on the mound, throwing six hits and a walk.

Durant (4-2) dropped the hammer, outhitting the Lady Sandites twelve to six for a 9-4 victory.

Hannah Kaler kicked things off with a solo home run in the second inning, then the Lions combined for five hits and three runs in the third. Madison Keel scored on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, Madyson Tolbert hit an RBI single in the fifth, then Tristyn Hamilton scored loaded bases on a triple for the 9-0 advantage.

Horn was the first to cross home plate for the Sandites, scoring on a single from Cameron Clemons, then Presnell batted in Madison Lee, Clemons scored on a passed ball, and Usher batted in Presnell for the final run of the game.

Mackenzie Bechtold (1-0) pitched nine hits, five runs, one walk, and one strikeout in the first four innings, and Rector (0-1) gave up three hits, four runs, and one walk in the fifth.

Rylie Boone scored Owasso's first run on an error in the third, then Jordan Hausher hit a two-run homer. Calee Gregory brought in Teigan Denny with an RBI single in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. 

Sand Springs loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with two walks and an error. Lee scored on a fielder's choice, Madelyn Blair doubled in Jacie Taber, Elizabeth Luttrell batted in Clemons, and Rector scored on a wild pitch to tie things up.

Boone reclaimed her team's lead with a single in the top of the seventh, but Rector tied it on an error, then Clemons scored Avery Tanner with a walkoff single in the eighth.

Blair (2-0, 21-5) got the win on the mound, throwing nine hits, three strikeouts, and no walks. 

The Lady Sandites will return to action Tuesday at undefeated Ponca City (6-0) in their first district battle of the season.

CPHS Softball: Sandites undefeated at Broken Arrow tournament, Usher hits home run

The Charles Page High School Fast Pitch Softball team holds an undefeated 4-0 record after the second day of the season and the first day of the Broken Arrow Tournament.

After shutting out Tahlequah in their Thursday afternoon season opener, the Lady Sandites defeated Choctaw 3-2, Pocola 6-0, and Broken Bow 6-3 Friday at Arrowhead Park.

Choctaw (3-1) is always an exciting win for the Sandites, who were defeated 4-3 by the Yellowjackets in the 2015 State Championship. University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma-commit Madelyn Blair (1-0) pitched her first win of the season in the close battle. 

The Yellowjackets outhit the Sandites six to four, but Sand Springs benefited from three walks and an error for the payback win.

The Sandites jumped out to an early lead with a sacrifice fly from Jensen Arnold to score Kimi Presnell in the top of the first, but Lainee Brown tied it up right away with an RBI single.

Jacie Taber reclaimed the lead with an RBI double to score Felicity Horn in the top of the second, then Emma Jackson singled in Tiffany Palmer to tie it in the fourth. Cameron Clemons smacked an RBI double in the fifth for the final run of the game.

Aaliyah Taff (1-0) got the win on the mound against Pocola (3-3), tossing three hits, two strikeouts, and three walks in seven innings.

Makenna Skaggs recorded the first hit of the game but was stranded in the top of the first inning. Pocola left two on base in the bottom of the second as Shakyrah Gladness reached on an error at third and Kena Chitwood drew a walk.

The Sandites hit pay dirt in the top of the third with an RBI single from Sabrina Usher to bring home Presnell, then Taber singled in Clemons in the fourth before scoring on a hit from Presnell.

Pocola was in hot water in the sixth inning as a walk from Horn and singles from Clemons and Taber loaded the bases with no outs. Blair scored all three on a double, then Presnell and Skaggs singled to reload the slot.

The Indians averted disaster as Usher hit a pop fly to third where Blair was tagged out, and Presnell was left stranded with a fly out from Arnold.

Pocola snagged a walk and a single in the bottom of the sixth and Mika Scott doubled in the seventh, but a strikeout and a pair of ground outs brought the game to a close.

Mackenzie Bechtold (1-0) handed Broken Bow (3-1) their first loss of the season with four hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.

Jaylee Lopez gave the Lady Savages the opening lead with an RBI double to score Jules Callaham, but Sabrina Usher hit the first Sandite home run of the season to score Skaggs for the advantage. 

Broken Bow tied it up with an RBI single from Shae Ebert in the top of the third, but Sand Springs ran away with it in the bottom of the fourth.

Elizabeth Luttrell and Horn hit back-to-back doubles and Clemons added a sacrifice fly to double the Savages 4-2, then Blair doubled in Taber and scored on an error to make it 6-3.

Callaham reached on an error in the fifth and scored on a different error for the final run of the game. 

Sand Springs will return to action Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. against Moore (0-3), then will play Durant (2-3) at 2:00 p.m., both on Field 5 at Arrowhead Park. They will begin bracket play at 4:00 p.m.

CPHS Softball: Sandites slam Tahlequah 8-0 in season opener

The Lady Sandite Fast-Pitch Softball team kicked off the season with a bang Thursday afternoon in Tahlequah, shutting out the Tigers 8-0 behind a stellar pitching performance from Jacie Taber.

Taber, an uncommitted Division One prospect, threw four strikeouts, one walk, and one hit in the five-inning outing. She also hit two singles on three at-bats with two runs and two RBI.

Sand Springs was supposed to start their season Tuesday morning at the Claremore Festival, but both games were cancelled due to weather. Tahlequah, meanwhile, had little difficulty in rattling off a pair of double-digit wins at the Pryor Festival.

The Sandites' late start put them to no disadvantage and they needed only a single inning to find their rhythm against the 5A powerhouse. 

In the second inning Taber and Elizabeth Luttrell hit a pair of singles and Felicity Horn walked to load the bases. Makenna Skaggs batted in Luttrell, Cameron Clemons batted in Taber, and Madelyn Blair batted in Horn for a quick 3-0 advantage.

Sabrina Usher kicked off the third inning with a double, Luttrell and Taber both singled again, and Usher and Luttrell both scored on Taber's hit. Taber came in on a double from Skaggs to double the score. 

Drew Hawkins drew a walk in the fourth and came in on a double from Usher, who scored the final run of the game on a ground out from Luttrell. 

Emily Sampson snagged Tahlequah's only hit of the night on a single to left field in the bottom of the fourth, but three quick fly outs left the Tiger stranded. 

The Sandites will return to action Friday afternoon at the Broken Arrow Tournament with a triple header at Arrowhead Park. Sand Springs will play Choctaw (1-0) at 1:30 p.m., Pocola (3-0) at 3:00 p.m., and Fort Gibson (0-0) at 5:00 p.m. All three games will be played on Field 7. Arrowhead Park is located at 300 East Washington Street in Broken Arrow.

CPHS Volleyball: Sandites sweep Sapulpa 3-0 in season opener

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (1-0) notched a big win in their season opener Tuesday evening. The Lady Sandites traveled into hostile territory to take on their nemesis and prevailed with a 3-0 sweep of the Sapulpa Chieftains (0-1). 

The Sandites took a 3-0 lead right out of the gate and held their distance till a three-point run from the Chieftains tied it at 9-9. Devree Youngblood scored two blocks, one with an assist from Rachel Hines, and notched a kill to make it 12-9. From there the visitors began to run away from it and worked up to a 22-13 lead thanks to a pair of aces from Cloe Campfield, and Cheyenne Henry put the cap on the 25-17 win with an ace of her own.

Most of the second set rallies didn’t last more than a few seconds. Madison Burris scored the opening point, Audrey Malay retaliated, then Campfield scored a kill and two aces for a 5-1 lead. The teams combined for seven service errors then Youngblood hit back to back aces for a 12-7 advantage. Sand Springs surged ahead 20-13 before their hosts battled back, but ultimately the Sandites prevailed 25-20 thanks to a kill from Campfield. There were nine aces and thirteen service errors in the set.

Set three was a true Highway 97 rivalry match up. Kaitlyn Baxter scored a block for the Chieftains then Sand Springs rattled off five straight wins with a pair of aces from Raylynn Mong. Baxter tied it up with a pair of aces at 7-7 and the two teams traded punches till the Chieftains won six straight for their biggest lead of the night at 16-10.

Henry notched a pair of aces to whittle the deficit to 16-14, Sapulpa notched a kill, then the Sandites went on the longest run of the night for either team. Campfield scored three more aces, Youngblood had a pair of kills and a pair of blocks, and the visitors jumped to 22-17 before Malay broke the streak. Baxter scored one last point for her squad, then Youngblood scored two kills and a block to finish the night.

Sand Springs will hold their first home game of the season Tuesday the 14th at 6:30 p.m. against Bartlesville (1-0). The Bruins won their first match 3-2 over Muskogee (0-1).

CPHS Dance: Sandites need your help to win free airfare to Nationals

The Charles Page High School Varsity Dance Team needs your help to get to Nationals, and you can get them there with the click of a button.

Sandite Dance will be traveling to Orlando, Florida on February 1st for the Dance Team Union National Championship. This year the DTU is holding a Team Spirit Contest on Instagram, with the winning team receiving free airfare.

Fifty teams have made it to the semifinal round of the Instagram competition. Each team has posted a team photo with the hashtag #dtuteamspiritSEMIS, and the ten teams with the most likes will advance to the finals.

At press time, the Sandite post has more than 4,100 likes. Thompson Middle School in Alabaster, Alabama leads the contest with more than 41,000 likes. Westmoore High School from Moore, Oklahoma has over 18,000 for second place in the contest. The Westmoore Sabercats are the defending National Champions in Varsity Jazz and were the Runners-Up in Hip Hop. 

Sand Springs is currently eighth in the standings, and should advance to the next round if nobody leapfrogs them, but every vote is an extra layer of security. The Semifinal round of the competition ends on Wednesday, August 8th at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Click here to find the Sandites on Instagram, and click here to visit their Facebook.

Team Spirit Unofficial Standings
41,000 Thompson Middle School
18,000 Westmoore High School
8,300 Broken Arrow High School
5,700 Dakota High School
5,200 Raymore Peculiar High School
5,000 Holly High School
4,300 Mount Si High School
4,100 Charles Page High School

Sand Springs Summer Wrestling: Fix punches ticket to World Championship in Slovakia

Three Sandites competed at the USA Wrestling Freestyle National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota this week.

Oklahoma State University freshman and Charles Page High School graduate Daton Fix won a best-of-three series against Arizona State freshman Brandon Courtney, a three-time undefeated high school State Champion.

Fix dealt his foe a pair of technical falls at 11-0 and 10-0 to secure his spot on the Junior World Team. The defending Junior Freestyle World Champion, Fix attempted to dethrone Senior World Silver Medalist Thomas Gilman last month. Gilman won the two matches 6-3 and 2-1.

While Gilman represents the United States in Budapest, Hungary in October, Fix will aim to repeat his Junior Championship in Trnava, Slovakia in September.

CPHS sophomore Carter Young (45-9) got off to a great start at 113 pounds in the Cadet competition, winning his first three matches by technical fall before falling 12-6 to nationally ranked No. 12 Anthony Noto. Christian Forbes (14-2) competed at 94 pounds and went 4-2.

The Cox Business Center in Tulsa recently hosted the Junior National Duals.

The Oklahoma Outlaws placed second in the nation in the Greco-Roman Junior National Duals despite losing two bouts. They placed second in the D Pool, defeating Florida 49-17 and Kansas 40-23 before falling 42-24 to Washington. In the Gold Pool they defeated Ohio 40-27, California 35-30, and Iowa 39-27 before falling 44-21 to Illinois in the finals. Washington fell 44-23 to Illinois in pool play and topped Ohio 35-32 in the 3rd Place Match.

The Outlaws placed fourth in the nation in Junior Freestyle. They started the tournament with five straight wins before falling in the Gold Pool. Oklahoma defeated Georgia 47-16, Pennsylvania 33-31, Nebraska 46-20, Washington 43-22, and North Dakota 44-25. Ohio ended the streak at 38-30 and Illinois won the placement round 50-15. Ohio edged out Minnesota 33-32 for the title. Young went 3-1 in the freestyle competition with two technical falls.

Oklahoma placed sixth at the Cadet Freestyle Nationals in Spokane, Washington, defeating North Carolina Red 78-0, Washington B 64-12, Florida 58-23, and Washington 43-31. They fell 39-35 to Minnesota, 55-20 to Pennsylvania, 44-35 to Illinois, and 40-38 to Kansas. Pennsylvania won the tournament 45-29 over Minnesota.

The Cadet Greco Roman team also placed sixth, defeating Utah 48-33, Colorado 47-28, and Georgia 39-27. They fell 41-38 to Minnesota, 48-27 to Washington, 42-31 to Kansas, and 40-38 to Pennsylvania. Illinois won the tournament 39-36 over Washington.  

Young (35-2 GR) also competed with the Cadet team and finished 4-1 in Freestyle with three tech falls and a pin. His only loss came on criteria. In Greco he went 5-1 with two techs and a pin.

Oklahoma Blue placed fifth at the Schoolboy Freestyle Duals in Indianapolis, Indiana. They defeated South Carolina 82-3, Nebraska 58-22, Minnesota 62-17, Georgia 59-21, and Ohio 42-37. Michigan topped the Okies 41-40, Illinois won 43-33, and Pennsylvania won 45-36. In the placement match the Oklahomans edged out Washington 39-37. Illinois steamrolled Michigan 55-25 for the title.

Team Big wrestler Clayton Giddens-Buttram (17-0) went undefeated with seven technical falls and two pins, outscoring his opponents 83-6. Abraham Flores (17-5) and Ethan White (23-11) won two tech falls apiece.

Oklahoma Red finished sixteenth overall with wins over Tennessee and Maryland. Rhett Peak (19-10) won four of his five matches with two tech falls and a pin. Josey Jernegan (5-6) won three tech falls. Jim Mullin (6-2) won two tech falls.

Oklahoma Red placed ninth in Greco Roman and Oklahoma Blue finished seventeenth. Giddens (9-1) recorded four tech falls and a pin and only lost one decision. Flores (13-8) won one pin and one tech fall, Ethan White (14-4) won three pins, and Peak (13-8) won one tech fall.

The Charles Page High School wrestling facilities are open from 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. this summer on Tuesdays and Thursdays to all ages. The Sandites have been a top-three team at the OSSAA 6A State Tournament for the past four years, including a State Title in 2017. They will return two State Champions in 2018 under first-year Head Coach Jarrod Patterson.