CPHS Baseball: JV Gold 2-4 on season, shut out Putnam West 9-0

The Charles Page High School JV Gold baseball team is 2-4 on the season going into Spring Break with a 12-7 win against Edmond Memorial and a 9-0 shut out of Putnam City West. They fell 2-1 to Bixby, 7-6 and 8-1 to Jenks, and 9-7 to Union.

The Sandites held a slim 6-5 lead against Edmond Memorial before piling on six runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sand Springs benefited from nine errors and out-hit the Bulldogs nine to six. Rhen Rutledge, Jabe Schlehuber, Mark Morgan, and Gage Elliott notched two hits apiece, and Elliott had a team-high two RBI. Brody Rutledge led the team in runs with three. Hunter Lowrance pitched two hits, four walks, and four strikeouts in three innings. Schlehuber threw four hits, seven walks, and three strikeouts in two innings.

Sand Springs trailed 1-0 against Bixby till Jacob Blevins hit an RBI single to score Brody Rutledge in the top of the sixth. The Spartans walked off the win in the bottom of the seventh with a bases loaded walk. Blevins led the team with two hits, and Rhen Rutledge had a triple. Blevins threw four hits, one walk, and six strikeouts in four innings, and Brody Rutledge threw five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts in two innings.

In the first half of a double-header with Jenks the Sandites rallied from a 7-0 deficit with six runs in the top of the seventh but came up shy. They out-hit the Trojans eight to three, but committed three errors and stranded twelve base runners. Rhen Rutledge was 3-of-4 at the plate with one double. Mark Morgan also doubled and scored a team-high three RBI. Lowrance threw two hits, one strikeout, and two walks in three innings. Morgan threw one hit, three strikeouts, and four walks in two innings. Drake Fain threw one strikeout and two walks in one inning.

They weren’t able to replicate that closeness in the second game against Jenks, despite matching the Trojans in hits with two apiece. They committed four errors, threw ten walks, and stranded seven. Lowrance and Morgan recorded one hit apiece. Brody Rutledge scored the lone run and Elliott had the RBI. Elliott handled most of the pitching with one hit, five strikeouts, and three walks in three innings. Schlehuber and Kyle Morrall also saw action on the mound.

On Tuesday Blevins and Morrall combined for a five-inning one-hitter shut out against Putnam West. Blevins pitched 4.2 innings and threw one hit, eight strikeouts, and four walks. Morrall threw a strikeout for the final at-bat. Lowrance was 2-for-2 at the plate with two doubles for a team-high four RBI. Rhen Rutledge, Elliott, and Fain had two runs apiece.

Union took a 9-4 lead in the fifth but Sand Springs tallied three runs in the bottom of the seventh to try and even the score. The Sandites had seven hits to Union’s six but committed six errors. Rhen and Brody Rutledge had two hits apiece and Nathan Gibson scored a team-high two runs. Lowrance tossed five hits, two strikeouts, and two walks in three innings. Elliott had no hits, two walks, and five strikeouts in three innings. Brody Rutledge tossed one hit, two strikeouts, and three walks in one inning.

CPHS Baseball: Sandites win 8-6 rematch with Edmond Memorial

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team picked up the first win of the Matt Brown era Tuesday night in Edmond, beating Memorial High School 8-6 to pay back Monday’s 6-3 loss. Both teams are now 1-1 overall and 1-1 in district action.

On Monday the Sandites took 3-0 lead against the Bulldogs before giving up six unanswered runs. They made up for it on the road, scoring five runs in the first inning. Memorial responded with four one-run innings, but the Sandites rallied and outscored the Bulldogs 3-2 in the sixth.

Sand Springs loaded the bases right out of the gate with an error and two walks, then Kiefer Massey tripled to bring in Brycen Peterman, Ty Pennington, and Kaden Young. Massey scored on a ground out from Jacob Shields, then Kaegan Murray hit a sacrifice fly to score Keaton Campbell, who was walked.

Hayden Blair also hit a triple in the first, but was stranded after Jake Coleman was relieved on the mound by Hunter Lenochan, who limited the Sandite offense and only gave up four hits, one run, and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings.

Northeastern State University-committed senior Tatum Watie (1-0) got the start and the win on the mound, throwing four hits, four walks, and five strikeouts in four innings. Two of those singles came in the first inning, and Noah Kang scored on a passed ball to get the Bulldogs on the board.

Aaron Weber hit a triple for Edmond in the second inning and scored on an error at third. Weston Hicks was hit by pitch in the fourth and courtesy runner Major Kerr took third on an error and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3.

Pennington drew a walk in the fifth but was put out on a double play, then Massey and Campbell both hit singles, but Massey was caught advancing to home. A walk and an error set up Trace Evans for a sacrifice fly that scored Peyton Medeiros.

The Sandites got back to scoring in the sixth. Murray singled and Gabe Glenn walked, prompting Memorial to change pitchers once again. Evans took over on the mound and gave up a single to Peterman, but Murray was caught advancing to home. Pennington drew another walk, and Ethan Sartin came up with a clutch 3RBI double.

Memorial also rallied in the sixth with their most productive inning. Watie threw two strikeouts, but also hit two batters with the pitch and gave up a 2RBI single to Lenochan. Sebastian Cassidy (0-1, 4-4) took over and ended the inning with a strikeout. Cassidy threw one walk and three strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh to save the game.

Sandite baseball will return to action Friday at 6:00 p.m. with a non-district home game against Shawnee (2-0). Edmond Memorial will will host Westmoore Thursday at 5:00 p.m. in the Jaguars’ season opener.

CPHS Baseball: Sandites drop season opener 6-3 to Edmond Memorial

The Charles Page High School baseball team jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first two innings of their season opener against Edmond Memorial, but the Bulldogs tied it up in the third and scored three more runs in the top of the seventh for the 6-3 comeback district win.

The game was fairly evenly matched. Sand Springs had seven hits to Edmond’s six. The Sandites benefited from nine walks, but gave up eight. Both teams committed three errors.

Jaxon Skaggs (0-0, 3-2) got the start on the mound and tossed five hits, eight strikeouts, and five walks in six innings. He gave up two walks and a single in the first inning to load the bases, but Jacob Shields caught a line drive to right field to save the inning.

Brycen Peterman hit a leadoff single for the Sandites, and Keaton Campbell brought in Peterman and Gabe Glenn on a double. Shields hit a double in the second inning and scored the Sandites’ final run on an error.

Edmond scored three runs on three walks and three singles in the third. The Sandites had zero difficulty in getting on base, but couldn’t get anyone back home. They stranded two in the third, three in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth. Skaggs was extremely productive on the mound, striking out the side in the fifth.

Sebastian Cassidy (0-1, 4-4) took over in the seventh inning and received the loss, throwing one hit, two strikeouts, and three walks. An error from Peterman and three straight walks gave the Bulldogs the lead, and Aaron Weber hit a 2RBI single for the final runs of the game.

Cassity finished strong with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, but Noah Kang tossed three strikeouts in the bottom of the inning, stranding Kaegan Murray and Shields, who were walked.

The Sandites will travel to Edmond Memorial Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. for a rematch. The Bulldog baseball field is located at 1001 South Rankin Street in Edmond.

CPHS Basketball: Davon Richardson scores 1,000th career point with Sand Springs

Charles Page High School senior and University of Central Oklahoma commit Davon Richardson recently scored his 1,000th career point with the Sandites, a mark made even more impressive by the fact that he hasn’t even played three full seasons in Sand Springs.

Richardson scored at least 191 points as a freshman at Tulsa Central (we’re missing data on a few games) before moving to Sand Springs. He scored 357 points his sophomore year and 361 as a junior. His 20-point effort against Union on Friday pushed him to the 1,000 career mark (with Sand Springs), and his 19-point game against Owasso on Tuesday put him over 300 for the season. Including his time at Tulsa, he has scored over 1,200 in his career.

The 6’4” stud has also been a beast on the boards throughout his career, averaging 6.8 as a sophomore, 8.4 as a junior and 8.2 as a senior. He owns 16 career double-doubles with six this season.

Richardson is shooting 46.2% on field goals this season, 21.7% on threes, 55.3% on twos, and 69.8% on free throws. He averages 2.4 offensive rebounds, 5.8 defensive rebounds, 1.9 assist, 2.0 steals, 0.8 blocks, 2.7 fouls, and 15.8 points.

He has led the team in scoring four times this season and 25 times in his career. He scored a season-high 28 points last month against Bartlesville, and a career-high 44 points against Owasso as a sophomore.

Richardson is the sixth Sandite to join the 1,000 point club and the second since the arrival of Head Coach Eric Savage. Glen Buntin leads all Sandites with 1,720 points, followed by current UCO sophomore Colt Savage with 1,697. NAIA National Champion Nick Tate scored 1,282 for the Sandites, Justin Clemons scored 1,194, and Oklahoma State’s Ward Sherrill scored 1,009.

Brooks Haddock scored 1,427 career points, but spent his latter two seasons at Muskogee after scoring 687 at Sand Springs in his first two years. Junior Marlo Fox has a good shot at joining the club, sitting at 606 points currently. He is averaging 17.4 points per game this year and will likely take an even bigger role next year when the Sandites lose Richardson and Josh Minney.

Sand Springs is currently ranked ninth in Class 6A with three games left in the regular season. They are 15-4 overall, their best mark of the Savage era. The season has had a lot of highs and lows. They beat No. 6 Union and No. 2 Booker T. Washington during an 11-1 start to the year, but they’re currently having to adapt to the losses of Jaeden Hurd and Daren Hawkins who both suffered season-ending ACL injuries.

Sandite basketball will return to action Friday at 8:00 p.m. with a huge Frontier Valley Conference road games at No.3 Jenks (17-2, 9-2), followed by No. 1 Booker T. Washington (14-5, 10-1) next Tuesday. The Sandites are currently 7-4 for fourth place in the league. Their next and final home game will be next Friday against No. 11 Broken Arrow (14-6, 6-5) when they look to repay a 63-51 January loss. Regional/Area playoff assignments are set to be released Thursday afternoon.

OSSAA 6A Wrestling: Dual State Preview

For the first time in several years the OSSAA Dual State Wrestling Tournament won’t be held at Shawnee’s Firelake Arena. This year the event, which includes all four school size classifications, will be held at the Stride Bank Center in Enid.

Class 6A will compete at 2:00 p.m. Friday, February 14th with semifinals Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. The tournament is single-elimination with no consolation bracket. The quarterfinals will begin with the 145-pound weight class, with semifinals starting at 113 and finals at 120.

Sand Springs advanced to the tournament for the fifth-straight year with district wins of 52-27 against Sapulpa, 65-12 against Muskogee, and 45-28 against Ponca City.

The Sandites will have to start the event against the only undefeated team in 6A, No. 3 Choctaw (10-0). The Yellowjackets have made the finals four out of the past five years and have a long history of knocking the Sandites out of contention. Sand Springs is 1-6 against Choctaw at Dual State.

If Sand Springs pulls off the upset against the Yellowjackets, they will take on either Mustang or Stillwater. They beat Stillwater 36-31 in the season opener, and are 0-2 against Mustang this season with losses off 58-9 and 60-15. The Sandites are 26-6-1 against Stillwater since the invention of Dual State in 1989, though none of those duals were post-season. They are 0-3 against Mustang, including a dual state appearance in 2018.

On the other side of the bracket: Sand Springs is 9-20 against Broken Arrow in the Dual State era, and won their only Dual State title 36-28 against the Tigers in 2017. They are 1-1 against Edmond Memorial, 1-3 against Edmond North (with a 34-31 quarterfinal win last year, and 18-4 against Union (with a Dual State win in 2016).

Likely Sand Springs vs. Choctaw lineups:

Sand Springs
106 Shane Wolf (13-13)
113 Mitchell Smith (14-5)
120 Caden Vaughn (9-5)
126 Seth Jones (21-4)
132 Carter Goodman (8-11)
138 Blake Jones (21-9)
145 Preston Medlin (18-13)
152 Chase White (8-18)
160 Chris Kirby (27-8)
170 Dakota Taylor (3-17)
182 Sango Whitehorn (8-21)
195 Brooks Dudley (21-16)
220 Josh Fincannon (29-10)
285 Robbie Parrish (7-15)

Choctaw
106 Mason Hanna
113 Caden Holman (Junior High State Champ)
120 Cale Walden (Junior High State Finalist)
126 Jackson Speer
132 Caleb Williams (State Qualifier)
138 Shaun Muse (Junior High State Champ)
145 Landon Eaton
152 Gabe Johnson (State Champion)
160 Chandler Holman (Junior High State Champ)
170 Zeke Coleman (Junior High State Champ)
182 Dylan Ward (State Qualifier)
195 Cory Monroe (Junior High State Champ)
220 Donny Wingat
285 Marquon Journey (State Champ)

Team Bios

No. 1 Broken Arrow (13-2).
Average Dual Score: 49-17.
Returning State Qualifiers: Bryce Cockrell, Blazik Perez, Tye Rozell.
Returning State Finalists: Jackson Cockrell, Jared Hill, Bryce Mattioda.
Defending State Champions: Emmanuel Skillings.
Dual State Champions: 2019, 2014, 2011, 2008, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1998.
State Champions: 2019, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998.

No. 6 Edmond Memorial (10-7).
Average Dual Score: 39-33.
Returning State Qualifiers: Hudson Hollander, Garrett Johnson, Jake McCain, Bam West, Jackson Oplotnik, Colby Simpson, Noah Kenney.
Defending State Champs: Cruz Aguilar.
State Champions: 1988.

No. 4 Edmond North (9-2).
Average Dual Score: 49-17.
Returning State Qualifiers: Nate Becker, Josh Parks, Jaxon Randall, Braden Bowman, Trey Bowman, Christian Cantu.
Dual State Champions: 2013.
State Champions: 2013.

No. 10 Union (6-5).
Average Dual Score: 35-35.
Returning State Qualifiers: Caleb Rogers, Jake Rogers, Micah Walker.
Dual State Champions: 2012, 2007.
State Champions: 2009, 1982.

No. 3 Choctaw (10-0).
Average Dual Score: 62-11.
Returning State Qualifiers: Chander Holman, Shaun Muse, Dylan Ward.
Defending State Champions: Gabe Johnson, Marquon Journey.
Dual State Champions: 2018, 2016, 1997, 1996, 1994.
State Champions: 2018, 2016, 1999, 1997, 1996, 1994.

No. 8 Sand Springs (10-7).
Average Dual Score: 36-33.
Returning State Qualifiers: Seth Jones, Blake Jones, Chris Kirby.
Dual State Champions: 2017.
State Champions: 2017, 1971.

No. 5 Stillwater (9-2).
Average Dual Score: 49-19.
Returning State Qualifiers: Cade Nicholas, Tanner Robinson, Brett Black, Carson Cottrill.
Returning State Finalists: Carter Young.
Dual State Champions: 2015.
State Champions: 2014, 1970, 1969, 1954, 1931, 1924, 1923, 1922.

No. 2 Mustang (14-3).
Average Dual Score: 51-17.
Returning State Qualifiers: Shelton Chastain, Keegan Luton, Joseph Sylvester, Brannigan Reyes, Jack Kitchingham.
Defending State Champs: Tucker Owens, John Wiley, Tate Picklo, Judson Rowland.
State Champions: 1983.

OSSAA Football: 2020-2021 District Assignments released

CPHS Quarterbacks Coach Darrack Harger talks to a player during the 2019 season. (Photo: Jessica Jones).

The Charles Page High School football team will enter a new era in 2020 under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Bobby Klinck, replacing Dustin Kinard who led the Sandites for thirteen years. The new season will also feature some new teams on the schedule, following the release of new District assignments from the state’s governing athletic board.

The OSSAA released its district football assignments Wednesday afternoon, and Sand Springs will see five familiar faces and two newcomers in District 2. Bartlesville, Bixby, Booker T. Washington, Muskogee, Ponca City, and Sand Springs will remain. Shawnee and Sapulpa are dropping to 5A. Choctaw and Putnam City West are moving over from District 1.

Deer Creek, Del City, Lawton, Midwest City, and Stillwater are all returning to District 1. In addition to losing Choctaw and Putnam West to District 2, they’re also losing Putnam City to 6A Division 1. Putnam City North will drop from 6A-1, Northwest Classen will move up from 5A, and U.S. Grant is rejoining OSSAA competition after a six-year hiatus.

District 1

Stillwater went 7-0 to win their second-straight District 1 title, and were 12-1 as State Runners-Up for the second-straight year.

Del City was 6-1 in District 1 last year for second place, and 9-3 overall for their best season since 2012. Their three losses were all to State Finalists.

Midwest City was 4-3 in District 1 last year for fourth place, and was 4-7 overall for their worst season since 2012.

Putnam City North went 3-4 in 6A-1-2 last year for fifth place, and were 6-4 overall for their second-straight winning season.

Deer Creek went 3-4 in District 1 last year for fifth place, tying their previous district record. They were 5-5 overall for their best mark since 2015.

Lawton went 2-5 in District 1 for sixth place, and were 5-5 overall for their worst record since 2008.

Northwest Classen was 1-6 for seventh place in District 5A-2 and 3-7 overall. They were 2-8 on the field for their best mark since 2016, then received a third win when their final loss was overturned by a forfeit.

U.S. Grant got a six-year pardon from OSSAA competition to try and rebuild their program from the ground up. They are rejoining the league after going 6-3 on an independent schedule for their first winning record since 1998.

District 2

Bixby went 7-0 in District 2 for their second-straight district title, and have won 25-straight games for their second-straight State title.

Muskogee was 5-2 for second place in District 2 and were 8-3 overall for their third winning season in the past four years.

Choctaw went 5-2 for third place in District 1 last year and were 8-4 overall for their best mark and first post-season win since at least 2004.

Booker T. Washington went 5-2 for third place in District 2 and were 6-5 overall for their eighth-straight winning season.

Ponca City was 3-4 for fifth place in District 2 and 5-5 overall for their best record since 2005.

Bartlesville was 3-4 for sixth place in District 2 last year and 3-7 overall for their fourth-straight losing season.

Sand Springs was 1-6 for seventh place in District 2 and 2-8 overall for their third-straight losing season and worst record since 2009.

Putnam West was 0-7 in District 1 and 0-10 overall. They were shut out four times. It was their third-straight losing season and second 0-10 mark of the decade.