Stella Millican and Lady Sandite Softball hammers Booker T with 18-5 run-rule victory

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School slow-pitch softball team (3-3) got off to a slow start against the Booker T Washington Lady Hornets (4-8) Tuesday afternoon, but found their feet in the top of the third and never looked back.

Senior Mid-American Christian University-signee Stella Millican (1-3) picked up her first win on the mound for the season and batted in a team-high six runs on two singles and a triple. Oklahoma State University-commit Sydney Pennington connected for three hits as well, including a home run, and scored four runs and 2RBI. Freshman Kimi Presnall scored 3RBI and three runs with two singles and a homer.

The game started slow as there were already two outs on the board before the Sandites got on base. But they didn't stay on base for long, as the very first hit was the homer by Pennington. The Lady Hornets tied things up in the bottom of the first as Abbey Taylor singled in Jacinta Harris, but Sand Springs jumped right back ahead in the second as Madelyn Blair tripled and came in on a sacrifice fly by Millican.

In the top of the third Blair batted in Presnall, then Millican hit a 3RBI triple to score Pennington, Jessica Schuler, and Blair. Millican pitched a no-hitter in the bottom of the inning, then the Sandites doubled their score in the top of the fourth.

Kennedy "Goose" Salyers singled in Rachel Blair and Presnall batted a 3RBI homer to score Jacie Taber and Salyers. Pennington doubled and came in on a Schuler double. Madelyn Blair singled in Schuler and Cameron Clemons sacrificed to score Jessica Collins for a 13-1 advantage. 

Booker T finally found their bats in the bottom of the fourth as Kerri Alexander scored a runner with a double, then came in on a single by Taylor Carey who in turn scored on a single by Anna Powell. 

In the top of the fifth the Sandites put on the finishing touches. Pennington singled in Salyers, Madelyn Blair walked in Presnall, and Millican hit a single to score Pennington and Schuler. Clemons sacrificed to score Madelyn Blair for an 18-4 lead. Booker T scored one in the bottom of the inning and fell by run-rule.

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.

Berryhill Maidens edge out Lady Sandite Softball in extra innings

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

The Charles Page High School slow-pitch softball team (1-3) is well behind where they should be for the season after starting several weeks behind the rest of the state. The first several games were cancelled due to the other teams not having enough players, leaving the young Lady Sandites lacking in adequate slow pitch experience. Offensively the Sandites are consistently hitting to the fence, but fielding has been plagued with errors for unearned hits and runs. 

After dropping losses to Jenks and Tahlequah on Tuesday, the girls finally got in the win column Thursday evening at Berryhill against the Locust Grove Lady Pirates (3-7). Junior Oklahoma State University-commit Sydney Pennington hit two home-runs and batted in four in the 16-5 six-inning run-rule victory. Senior Northeastern State University-signee Jessica Schuler (1-0) got the win on the mound and also hit a homer.

The 5A No.13 Berryhill Maidens (6-4) would be a far tougher opponent, however.

Pennington doubled in the first to score Kennedy "Goose" Salyers, then came home on a Jessica Collins sacrifice. Madelyn Blair tripled to score Schuler, who was intentionally walked, and was stranded as the Maidens came in trailing 3-0.

Alyson Cramer doubled for Berryhill and came in on a Kaelee Escoe homer in the bottom of the first. The Lady Sandites responded quickly as Cameron Clemons singled, Jacie Taber doubled, and Salyers sacrificed to score Clemons. Kimi Presnall batted in Taber with a double, Pennington batted in Presnall with a double, and the Sandites furthered their lead to 6-2. 

The home team tied things up in the bottom of the third as Escoe singled and came in on a Cramer homer, then Kennedy Zimmerman singled to score Cooper Lawley and Ashlynn Inhofe. 

Both teams scattered hits throughout the next four innings, but neither managed a run and the game went into extra innings.

The Lady Sandites and Maidens each stranded one in the eighth, but in the top of the ninth Prenall homered in Rachel Blair and Salyers for the 9-6 advantage.

Jaeden Rosenquist hit a leadoff single for the Maidens, Escoe reached on a Presnall error, and Taylor Vaughan singled to load the bases with a single out. Rosenquist and Escoe came in on a double, then Shelby Harger singled to score Vaughan to tie it up. Baylie LaBarge was intentionally walked to load the bases and Kylie Crockett singled for the win.

Senior Mid-American Christian University-signee Stella Millican (0-3) got the loss on the mound for the Lady Sandites while LaBarge got the win for the Maidens. Sand Springs will return to action Monday at the Jenks festival.

Sandite of the Week

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  • By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
  • Photo: Debi Ropp

In lieu of recognizing a single Sandite of the Week, we would like to recognize the entirety of the Sandite Offensive Line this week for their outstanding efforts this entire season, and the Stillwater game in particular.

Friday Night the Sand Springs football team traveled to Pioneer Stadium for their fourth-consecutive playoff appearance. Not only was it a win, but it was the biggest post-season win in 64 years since a 54-0 shutout of Poteau in 1951.

Lane Lettich and Payton Scott both rushed for over 100 yards each, and Hunter Greathouse had time and coverage to connect on all 11 of his passes for 181 yards. All of that is made possible by the outstanding offensive line. "They put in all the work, and that's where the play starts." says Greathouse. 

The Offensive line has put up some impressive stats this season, allowing less than three tackles-for-loss per game. The run game has seen an average of 4.9 yards-per-carry, and Sand Springs converted 84% of first down-attempts against Stillwater--their highest rate since week 3 against Guthrie. The team averages less than 20 lost yards per game, less than 3 fouls per game, and is 61% on fourth-down conversion. 

The usual starting lineup is 

  • Left Tackle: Andrew Biggs, senior
  • Left Guard: Zac Blake, sophomore
  • Center: Danny Ropp, junior
  • Right Guard: Harold Dodson, senior
  • Right Tackle: Lincoln Adams, junior
  • Tight End: Jake Ward, senior

Other OL players include

  • Michael Carper, junior
  • Elijah Titone, senior
  • Robert Hunter, senior
  • Ethan Hooper, sophomore
  • Blake Wadley, senior
  • Cristian Rodriguez, sophomore
  • Kobe Chen, sophomore
  • Seth Blackburn, sophomore
  • Dell Prince, sophomore

Jay Fleischman, a three year starting safety at OSU, is the special teams and OLB coach for Charles Page. 

The Sand Springs Sandites (6-4) will take on Booker T Washington (10-0) this Friday at George F. Collins Stadium in Sapulpa in the State Semi-Final playoff.

Sandite All-Stars: Your leaders in offense

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

It's been a tremendous season for the Sandites. While they're technically 5-4, on the field they're 7-2, not even including the Guthrie game that we were leading 18-7 when it was called off due to lightning. Two of our losses come from forfeitures (due to an ineligible player) that were actually wins of 61-8 and 33-7. So while the books say otherwise--we all know that realistically Sand Springs is 8-2, which (were it official) would make it our best record since 1997.

Not to mention we beat Booker T in total yardage of 232-217 and we're the only team to score first on them all season. We're also one of only two teams to lead them at any point all season. We also dealt Bixby their first shut out in seven years.

So who are the incredible players that have made all this impossible?

The following stats include both forfeitures and the Guthrie game. Whether officially recognized or not, they did happen.

Passing

The leader in passing is first-year starting junior quarterback Hunter Greathouse who has completed 71 of 140 for 1271 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 9 yards per pass attempt and 18 per completion. His season long is 70 yards against Guthrie, but has connected for huge throws in every game he's been in, including 63-yarders against Booker T and Bixby, and a 60 against Claremore. His best game this season was against Sapulpa when he threw 10-18-0-204 for 3 touchdowns. He is currently third in 6A-II.

  • Multi-purpose junior Kasey Bales also has a 37 yard pass against Enid and is 1 for 2 this season.
  • Freshman QB Caden Pennington connected on 1 of 2 passes at Hale for 8 yards. 
  • Senior holder Jacob Taber has had to throw a couple of passes this season due to bad snaps and is 1 of 2 for 5 yards.

Receiving

Senior Trace Fleischman is the go-to-guy on receptions with 26 catches for 593 yards and 4 touchdowns. His longest reception of the season was 70 yards against Guthrie. He is the #4 receiver in class 6A-II.

Kasey Bales is the only Sandite with both passing and receiving yards this season. He has 17 catches for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns. His longest reception of the season was 63 yards against Bixby.

Sand Springs has several other talented receivers.

  • Lane Lettich 10-165 and 2 touchdowns, long 44.
  • Ty Fain 7-107 and 1 touchdown, long 37.
  • Payton Scott 2-74 and 1 touchdown, long 59.
  • Josh Taber 4-50 and 1 touchdown (on his first play of the season), long 27.
  • Jake Ward 4-34, long 13.
  • Dalton Honneycut 2-26, long 13.

Rushing

Senior Lane Lettich is the clear leader on the ground for Sand Springs. He currently has 172 carries for 813 yards, averaging 4.73. He has 13 touchdowns and a long of 29 yards against Muskogee. His best game of the season was against Sapulpa where he carried 23 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, though he had three touchdowns against Hale as well as Claremore. Lettich is #7 in 6A-II at rushing.

Trailing Lettich is sophomore Payton Scott who will likely be the starting tailback next season. He sits at 93 carries for 705 yards and 7 touchdowns with a long of 45 against Ponca City. He averages 7.58 yards-per-carry and his season-best was a breakthrough 17-200 and 2 touchdowns against Ponca. Scott is #9 in 6A-II at rushing. 

Lawton is the only other team with two players in the top-10 for rushing yards. 

Other Sandites with rushing yards are

  • Trace Fleischman 16-86, long 31.
  • Ben Norte 14-79, long 36.
  • Hunter Greathouse 50-25 and 2 touchdowns, long 23.
  • Tony Chinchilla 2-21 and 1 touchdown, long 11.
  • Kasey Bales 3-9, long 16.
  • Jaxon Starling 1-1.

#3 Sand Springs (5-4, 5-2) will enter the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season tonight at #8 Stillwater (5-5, 3-3) and is the favorite to win. Sand Springs's offense averages 3.5 touchdowns per game.

Week 11 Rankings and Playoff Predictions

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The quarterfinals are upon us and with the top four teams all being from the same district, the predictions are all pretty easy. 

Bracket 1

#1 Booker T Washington (9-0, 7-0) District 1

#9 Choctaw (5-5, 2-4) District 2

Get ready for a swarm, because it's Hornets vs Yellowjackets and everybody's a loser in that situation. My hatred for flying pests aside, Booker T shouldn't find Choctaw to be anything more than a pesky gnat. Between Dakari Willis and Justice Hill, Booker T won't be a one-sting-wonder in this game. 

The pick: BTW 52, Choctaw 17.

Location: Booker T, Friday @ 7:00

#3 Charles Page (5-4, 5-2) District 1

#8 Stillwater (5-5, 3-3) District 2

The Pioneers might have a home field advantage, but considering Sand Springs hold numerous records in Pioneer Stadium, I don't think the Sandites are sweating it. Stillwater managed to complete only one pass in their last game against Eisenhower, and considering Sand Springs held Bixby to negative rushing yards in their last game, I'd say Stilly's in for a beat down. Keep your eyes on Cole Dixon in this game if you can keep up with him.

The pick: CPHS 27, Stillwater 3.

Location: Stillwater, Friday @ 7:00

Bracket 2

#4 Bixby (6-4, 4-3) District 1

#5 Lawton (8-1, 6-0) District 2

If there's a single game I'm unsure about, it's this one. Lawton has the better record and a third-straight undefeated district championship, but they still haven't taken on any tough competitors to weigh them against. Lawton's only opponent worth its salt is MacArthur, who beat them. Then again, Bixby's been falling further and further behind the team we thought they were going into the season. All the potential is still there, but they're not living up to it. If the Spartans manage to wake up in this game, they still have everything it takes to make another run at the title. But if I had to pick an upset, this would be it. 

The pick: Bixby 35, Lawton 28.

Location: Lawton, Saturday @ 2:00

#2 Bartlesville (9-1, 6-1) District 1

#6 Midwest City (6-3, 4-2) District 2

Theoretically, this should be a blow out. But the bombers are resilient and gave Sand Springs a lot of grief in the playoffs last year. Still, it should be Colton Penrod dropping bombs this weekend.

The pick: Bartlesville 42, MWC 35. 

Location: Bartlesville, Friday @ 7:30

My Record

  • Week 1: 10-2 (.833)
  • Week 2: 12-2 (.857)
  • Week 3: 6-3 (.666)
  • Week 4: 6-2 (.750)
  • Week 5: 5-3 (.625)
  • Week 6: 8-0 (1.00)
  • Week 7: 8-0 (1.00)
  • Week 8: 7-1 (.875)
  • Week 9: 6-2 (.750)
  • Week 10: 6-1 (.857)
  • Overall: 74-16 (.822)

*All round one playoff games will be free to past and present service members in honor of Veterans Day. From the bottoms of our hearts, we thank you for your service.