No. 17 Lady Sandite softball run-rules No. 6 Jay 17-6 at Jenks Festival

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No.17 ranked Charles Page High School slow-pitch softball team (2-3) started in the hole against 5A No.6 Jay (18-3) Tuesday afternoon at the Jenks Festival, but took the lead in the bottom of the second and never looked back. The girls are far behind the rest of the state after an already late-starting season was further postponed due to several cancellations by opponents. The lack of slow-pitch experience caused them to drop a few upsets to start the season, but the dominating performance against the highly ranked Lady Bulldogs has demonstrated the true potential of this team. 

Senior Northeastern State University-signee Jessica Schuler (2-0) got the win on the mound, giving up four hits and six walks, but striking out one and only allowing three earned runs.

The game was a slugging fest from the get-go. Haley Dry reached on an error to start and Marissa Lokey and Jade Creekkiller were walked to load the bases. Caitlin Taylor batted in Dry, Cayla Williams scored Lokey on an error, and Jade Frazier singled in Taylor for a 3-0 advantage to start.

The Lady Sandites retaliated in the bottom of the inning, however, as freshman Kimi Presnall tripled and came in on a single by Oklahoma State--commit Sydney Pennington. Schuler doubled in Pennington and Madelyn Blair doubled in Schuler to tie the game up. 

The Sandites fielded an impressive three-pitch three-out inning in the second and took the lead on a Rachel Blair sacrifice to score Cameron Clemons. 

In the bottom of the third they expanded on their lead as Mid-American Christian University-signee Stella Millican hit a 3RBI triple to score Schuler, Jessica Collins, and Madelyn Blair, then scored on an error.

The Lady Bulldogs sought to get back on the board in the top of the fourth after Shanny Smith drew a walk, but Sandites outed her at second in a double play for another three-batter inning. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Pennington doubled and came in on a double by Schuler. Madelyn Blair singled in Schuler. Clemons singled in Collins and Blair, then came in on a single by Kennedy "Goose" Salyers for a 13-3 lead. 

The Lady Dogs fended off the fifth-inning run rule by scoring three. Dry tripled in Mataya Tanner. Lokey singled in Dry, then came home on a throw to make it 13-6. Sand Springs responded with back-to-back-to-back doubles by Schuler, Collins, and Madelyn Blair for a 15-6 advantage, then pitched a no-hitter in the top of the sixth. Jacie Taber and Salyers both singled in the bottom of the inning and Pennington smacked the 2RBI double to end the game. 

Sandite Baseball gets revenge on Enid with 8-7 victory

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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

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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.

Enid Plainsmen upset Sandites 5-0

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Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (14-5) has been having a dominating year thus far, but even the best slip up from time-to-time. The Sandites slipped up Saturday evening in Enid, and it wasn't pretty. The team managed only three hits in a 5-0 upset loss to the Plainsmen (6-8) in the first round of a double header. 

Jake Ward (5-1) got his first loss on the mound this season, giving up six hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Brock Youngblood (1-0) struck out one and gave up a single hit but was unable to pull out the save. Johny Chavez got the win for the Plainsmen, striking out eight batters.

The game was tied up with no runs till the bottom of the fourth when Mason Skrimmager batted one in on a single. Gavin Chambers came home on a throw and Skrimmager scored on a single by Johny Chavez for a 3-0 lead.

Ward and Josh Taber were the only two Sandites to get on base in the first five innings, and they were walked. 

Enid went at it again in the bottom of the fifth, scoring one on an error at second base that allowed Chambers to reach. Chambers took second on defensive indifference and stole third before scoring on a single by Skrimmager. 

With one out on the board and one on base, Youngblood was sent in to relieve Ward. Gage McNeill grounded to Rhett Rutledge at short stop and was outed in a double play to Trevor Tolbert on second to Taber at first. 

The Sandites finally put their bats to work in the top of the sixth as Rutledge and Treyce Tolbert each singled but were stranded as Youngblood grounded out to third. The Plainsmen stranded two in the bottom of the inning, one by single and one hit by pitch, but Sand Springs failed to capitalize as Trevor Tolbert was stranded after a single and the host team secured the win.

Lady Sandite Soccer wins sixth straight for Edison Tournament Championship

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Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School girls soccer team (8-1) isn't showing any signs of slowing down. The ladies have outscored their opponents by a combined 33-4 so far this season, including six shutouts. The Edison Eagles (3-5) fell 2-0 in the championship round of their Green and White Tournament Saturday night. Previously the Sandites defeated Tulsa Memorial (4-4) by 4-0 and Booker T Washington (6-2) by a close 3-2. The Sandites are the only team to defeat the Lady Hornets this season, also defeating them 2-0 earlier this week. 

The Lady Sandites wasted no time in firing off shots as Kyndal Zicker sent one a tad wide less than a minute in. Edison's Alex Hopkins retaliated with a pair of shots in the 14th minute; one snuck a tad wide, and the other was saved by Sandite keeper Abigail Banks.

Zicker drew first blood in the 19th minute, bouncing a shot off of Evann Couch, then set up Kylie Taylor for the two-goal lead just two minutes later.

Brooklyn Eardley made a great low and hard shot in the 22nd minute but Raegan Richins was equally impressive with a diving save. The two teams spend the next several minutes midfield before the Sandites made another offensive push that culminated in Emma Peak sending one wide.

The Eagles returned the ball to Sand Springs's territory a few minutes later and Jade Belauste sent a slow roller towards Banks that she easily scooped up. Zicker set up Breanna Campbell for a header with 8 minutes to go but Richins was ready with the save. 

The second half was a lot slower and had far fewer close calls. Banks saved a close one 19 minutes in, but most of the game was spent midfield. Lauren Tavaglione sent a hard shot into Richins with fourteen minutes left and DeShazo sent one just a hair high with eleven left.

Banks made yet another impressive save with two minutes to play, diving for a penalty kick by Couch, and it would be the last real shot of the game as the girls prevailed 2-0.

The Lady Sandites will return to action Tuesday night at Union who is still undefeated 7-0. 

Sandites take sixth place at Edison Green and White Tournament

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Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School boys (2-7) settled for a sixth place finish at the Edison Green and White Tournament Saturday afternoon, falling 2-0 to the host team for a 1-2 tournament record. 

The Eagles (5-3) got off to a heavy offensive early on and the bulk of the first half was spent in Sandite territory, with shots ringing out left and right. Steven Astin got off one shot that was completely undefended and miraculously caught the goal post for the save.

Sophomore Blake Faulkner was all over the ball but took a while to get sighted in. His first shot deflected off a Sandite defender, two minutes later he sent one wide left, and two minutes after that he sent one high through the football goal posts. Finally he found his mark in the 12th minute and found an opening under triple coverage to fire a shot right to the center of the goal. 

Edison didn't stop their press there. Cameron Chamberlin took a shot just two minutes later, then Eddie Vargas bounced one off a Sandite's back a few minutes later. 

Sand Springs finally began to make some offensive moves in the 21st minute as Ethan Baxter, who just recorded a hat trick in Friday's victory over Regent Prep, made a close run at goal but was tripped up by the Eagle goalie who made a dive at the ball. 

Austin Morrison had a very close shot as he bounced a header off the ground in front of the goal and it just narrowly flew high. Alex Hernandez sent in a corner kick soon after and Kaleb Brooks sent a header high and wide. 

From there, however, the Eagles returned to the offense for the duration of the half. Vargas and Angel Torres each took long shots that sailed high. In the final minute Sand Springs tried to rally as Hernandez took a wide shot with 45 seconds left and Cade Loomin made a run at goal in the final seconds, but regulation expired with the Sandites in a 1-0 hole.

The second half was a lot slower, but Edison furthered their lead to 2-0 with a goal in the 11th minute by Jack Coon. Hernandez got off another pair of shots for the Sandites, sending one high and one wide, and Morrison got another close call as he tipped one off the post with 2:40 remaining. Unfortunately the boys were unable to rally and ran out of steam.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday night at Union (6-0).