Sand Springs has never been as competitive in slow pitch as they are in fast pitch. Seniors rarely compete in the spring, and the girls have never qualified for the State Tournament. They came close this year, however, finishing with their first winning record in three seasons.
Of the five college-bound Sandite sluggers, only one returned for the spring season, and Cowley County Community College-commit Elizabeth Luttrell led her particularly talented underclassmen to a 14-9 record.
Luttrell handled the vast majority of the pitching and went 11-9 on the mound with a 10.33 ERA, 2.99 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts. She also led the team in hits (41), RBI (47), home runs (17), and grand slams (3). She hit home runs in five-straight games to start the season.
Six players batted over .500 on the season, led by junior standout Sabrina Usher with a .638 batting average, 1.29 slugging average, and .716 on-base percentage. Usher had 33 runs, 37 hits, 14 homers, 38 RBI, and one grand slam. She also had a team-high 16 walks, mostly intentional.
Luttrell and Usher tied with a team-high three homers in a single game. Both did it in the third game of the season against Owasso. The two also had a team-best five consecutive games with an RBI.
Felicity Horn led the team with 29 singles. Makenna Skaggs led with 7 doubles. Skaggs, Horn, and Raegan Rector all had two triples apiece.
Madison Lee, Horn, Rector, Rachael Jones, Avery Tanner, Skaggs, and Mackenzie Bechtold all hit dingers this season. Skaggs, Horn, Rector, Usher, Luttrell, and Bechtold all hit 50% or higher at the plate.
Rector scored runs in a team-best thirteen consecutive games while Skaggs had a team-best nineteen-straight games with a hit. Bechtold and Tanner had seven games apiece with perfect plate performances. Tanner had five perfect games in a row with hits on ten-straight at-bats.
Sophomore Aliyah Taff was the only other pitcher for the team, earning a 3-0 record, 7.44 ERA, and 2.5 WHIP. Bechtold was in on a team-high eleven double plays.
The season came to an end with a 2-2 performance at the Regional Tournament Wednesday at Union. The girls shut out Enid 14-0 in the first game and beat Union 20-8 in game three, but fell 12-10 and 22-12 to the host Redskins in the best-of-three finals series.
Sand Springs outhit the Pacers 14 to 4 for their second shut out of the season. Rector scored on an error in the first inning, then the girls scored the remaining thirteen runs in the third for a run-rule victory. Rector, Horn, Luttrell, and Skaggs hit RBI singles. Usher had a 2RBI triple, and Tanner and Horn both batted in runs on doubles.
The Sandites never led in their first game against Union, but tied it 10-10 going into the seventh, despite being outhit 21 to 14. Usher hit two solo homers and Lee scored a three-run blast in the second. After Usher’s first two hits the Redskins intentionally walked her twice.
Union made the mistake of pitching to Usher in their rematch, and she went yard twice more. She was three-for-three at the plate with three runs and six RBI. Luttrell also had two homers: a solo shot and a grand slam.
Usher gave the Sandites a 3-0 lead with her first dinger, then Luttrell sent one over the same section of fence. Jones had a two-run homer that same inning.
The Redskins cut it to 7-6 in the top of the third, but the visitors quickly retaliated. Tanner, Rector, and Horn all batted in runs before Luttrell’s grand slam made it 14-6. Tanner walked in a free run in the fourth then Horn scored a two-run single before Usher’s three-run homer concluded the run-rule win.
Union rallied in the final game, outhitting the Sandites 27-16. Sand Springs led after the first and second innings, but went scoreless through three and fell too far behind to come back.
Rector hit a solo blast in the first, then Horn, Usher, and Skaggs scored runs for a 4-0 lead. Union tied it up briefly, Luttrell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second, then the Redskins went on a warpath.
Both teams had their best inning in the sixth. Union scored eight for a 22-5 lead. Horn hit a 2RBI double, Usher hit an RBI single, Luttrell hit a 3RBI homer, and Jones hit an RBI double for the final run of the game.
The Lady Sandites improved from a 9-12 Slow Pitch record in 2018. The Fast Pitch team went 23-9 in the fall and won their fourth-straight Regional title. They are coached by Shelli Brown in her 22nd year. Brown holds a 550-303 fast pitch record, but slow pitch records are harder to find. The Lady Sandites are 65-51 since 2014 in the spring.
In addition to Luttrell, four other Lady Sandites have also signed collegiate letters of intent. Jacie Taber is headed to Missouri State University, Kimi Presnell will play at Rogers State University, Cameron Clemons will compete at Southern Arkansas University, and Madelyn Blair will play at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.