Weekly sports roundup: Sandites win OBN fishing tournament at Lake Texoma

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Two teams of Sandites won first place in their divisions at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Lake Texoma, Sunday, April 3rd. 

Eli Rogers and Carrick Cooke won the high school division with five fish weighing 12.45 pounds for a $656 payout. 

Caden Strawn and Drew Turner won the youth division with four fish weighing 9.8 pounds. 

Softball

The No. 14 Sandite Slow Pitch team (5-7) went 0-3 this week, falling 13-10 to No. 4 Moore (11-5), 18-0 to No. 1 Southmoore (15-2), and 14-12 to Kellyville (5-12).

Soccer

District leader Jenks (6-1, 3-0) spoiled the Lady Sandites’ five-match win streak 4-0 on Tuesday but Sand Springs bounced back on Friday with a 9-0 road win against Choctaw (1-7, 0-3).

Freshman Lainey Stanfill scored five goals in the rout, and has 18 on the season. Ava Watts scored two, and Alyssa Cunningham and Karsen Lynch scored one each.

The Sandites (9-3, 2-1) are having their best season since 2016 and don’t show any signs of slowing down. They will host Putnam City (3-8, 0-3) on Tuesday before traveling to Stillwater (4-6, 1-1) on Friday.

The boys (0-8, 0-3) are still looking for their first win after falling 10-0 to Jenks and 3-1 to Choctaw. 

Track and Field

The Sandite track teams competed at the Jim Thorpe Invitational in Shawnee on Friday and crowned two champions. The boys took seventh place and the girls finished sixth.

Briona Searcy won the long jump with a mark of 14 ft. 11.5 in. and Jestin Rawlins won the discus throw with a distance of 147 ft. 

Gracie Gifford placed third in the 3200-meter run in 13:15.45 and sixth in the 1600 in 6:38.99.

Hannah George was fifth in the long jump at 13 ft. 3 in. Kelsi Hilton was fourth in the 3200 13:56.44. Brynley Smith finished fifth in the 400 in 1:12.05.

Dalton Wilcox placed second in the 800-meter run in 2:19.19. Noah Hanlon placed sixth in the 3200 in 11:45.99. 

Matthew Shelton placed third in shot put with a distance of 41 ft. 6 in. Alex Turner was fourth in discus with a distance of 105 ft. 1 in. 

The girls placed third in the 4x800 relay and fourth in the 4x100. The boys placed fifth in the 4x100 and fifth in the 4x800.

Layne Kirkendoll competed solo at the Jenks meet that morning and won the high jump at 5 ft. 6 in. She also placed second in long jump at 18 ft. 1 in.

Taya Freese leads seniors to powder puff championship

View fullsize

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Taya Freese doesn’t play any sports, but perhaps if the OSSAA had girls football she might be a household name in Oklahoma. 

The senior put on a show Thursday night at Memorial Stadium, leading the senior powder puff team to wins over the juniors and underclassmen. 

“It was a crazy experience,” said Freese. “I didn’t expect any of it, but it was very fun. It was kind of competitive but fun at the same time; it was a perfect mix.”

The Charles Page High School powder puff games aren’t held every year. COVID-19, lack of volunteers, and low interest have caused it to be canceled in years past, but the Senior Celebration committee pulled off a successful event this time around, raising $2722 for the annual celebration of the school’s seniors. 

Every year, the night of graduation, the town puts on an all-night lock-in celebration with free food, games, entertainment, and giveaways at the Case Community Center. 

The powder puff teams are all coached by high school boys, and the boys also put together all-male cheer teams for the halftime entertainment. 

The juniors won the first game of the evening, 6-0 against a combined underclassmen team of sophomores and freshmen.

After a scoreless regulation, Hailey Jackson made a key interception for the Hoosier Mommyz in overtime, then caught the game-winning 10-yard touchdown pass from Lilly Oakley to knock off the Benchwarmers. 

The juniors met their match in the Bad News Babes, however, and the seniors won 6-0 behind a 22-yard touchdown run from Journey Armstead late in the first half. 

Oakley and Jackson both intercepted Freese to keep the game close, but Karsen Lynch picked off Oakley on the final drive to seal the win. 

In the senior vs. sophomore game, Freese connected on a 40-yard pass to Avery Tanner to set up a 19-yard touchdown run from Lynch. 

Freese also appeared to toss a 43-yard TD to Tanner as the first half expired, but it was called back as the Benchwarmers apparently called for a timeout just before the snap. 

Getting to play together with a team was a special experience for Freese. “I’ve never played a sport before, so playing this was a first for me.”

“I just tried to teach her what I was taught,” said coach Ty Pennington. “She’s got a cannon.”

Pennington just wrapped up a three-year career as the Sandites’ starting quarterback and enjoyed getting to coach. “It was kind of cool, a different experience”

He was most impressed with Journey Armstead. “She played great on both sides of the ball.”

Sandite Baseball wins nine in a row, sweeps Jenks and run-rules Union

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The train keeps rolling for Sandite baseball.

The Charles Page High School varsity team (19-3, 6-2) has now won nine in a row, including a pair of crucial district bouts with Jenks (20-3, 6-2) to take second place in District 6A-3.

On Monday, April 4, the Sandites won 8-2 on the road at Jenks behind a five-strikeout, four hit performance from Jabe Schlehuber (4-0). 

Keaton Campbell went 3-of-4 at the plate with two runs and Gabe Glenn scored two runs and two RBIs with a triple. 

Tuesday’s rematch was much closer, but the Sandites still won 2-1 at home behind a two-hit pitching performance from Carson Seabolt (3-1).

Dom Ornelas hit an RBI single in the first inning and Seabolt added another in the fourth.

“(Schlehuber) and Carson (Seabolt) threw freaking great this week,” said Sand Springs coach Matt Brown.

“Those guys are giving us great outings every time they go out there, so I’ve got full confidence in both of those dudes.”

On Friday the Sandites won a 10-0 run-rule victory against NOAH (8-16) with 11 hits, including two-hit outings from Keaton Cambell, Ty Pennington, Ornelas, and Gabe Glenn.

John Keim (3-0) got the win with two hits and four strikeouts in four innings, and Kayden Campbell (2-0) threw three strikeouts in one inning of relief.

“They’re just playing together as a team, playing for each other, and when that happens good things happen,” said Brown. “They’re playing for each other, our pitchers are throwing strikes, the guys in the lineup are picking each other up, so it’s just good stuff all the way around.”

The bats stayed hot on Saturday as the Sandites won 12-2 against Union (14-9) in five innings. 

The Redhawks scored first in the top of the second, but Ornelas and Glenn hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the inning and Keaton Campbell added a three-run homer in the third.

Sand Springs scored seven more runs in the fourth on an error, six walks, an RBI single from Kayden Campbell, and a two-run single from Pennington.

Coach Brown was more happy about the bases-loaded walks than the home runs.

“They’re willing to take their walk and let the next guy do it, and that’s unselfish, man. That’s what’s good. It’s a different guy for us all the time, and they’re willing to let it be a different guy, which is awesome.”

Having already played their district meetings with Owasso, Broken Arrow, and Jenks, the Sandites are likely past the toughest part of their schedule, but Brown isn’t overlooking Southmoore (8-12, 2-6) or anybody else.

“We’re just focused on the next game we’ve got to play. Southmoore is going to show up here on Monday - they’re going to be tough. They’re a good team. And we’ve got to go out and put a good game together.”

“That’s the main thing, is just play the next game that’s in front of us, whatever it is, whatever kind of arm shows up on the mound, we play the game that’s in front of us and we’ll deal with tomorrow tomorrow.”

“We’re not ever playing against the other team, we’re playing against ourselves. We’re trying to play the best game that we can play. It doesn’t matter who shows up on the other side.”

The Sandites will play Southmoore at home Monday at 6:00 p.m. and on the road Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., followed by non-district games against Bartlesville (16-7) on Thursday and at Glenpool (6-17) on Friday. 

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Lainey Stanfill scores 4 goals in 9-0 rout of Enid

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sand Springs girls soccer team (8-2) has won five straight games and opened district action with a bang on Friday, winning 9-0 against Enid (5-4).

Freshman star Lainey Stanfill scored four goals and Ava Watts scored a hat trick in the rout. Alyssa Cunningham and Carson Sargent also scored goals for the Sandites.

“Laynie’s having a standout year,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “No words to describe what I’m seeing from her.”

“We’ve got one of the best defenses in the state and we look to keep them healthy and just keep going forward. 

On Tuesday they won 1-0 against Ponca City, with Stanfill scoring the lone goal on an assist from Karsen Lynch. 

The boys soccer team (0-6) is still looking for its first win after falling 5-0 to both Ponca City (2-7) and Enid (7-2). 

“This is a very young team this year,” said head coach Brent Lollis. “We played eight freshmen during the course of that game.”

“We knew going into this year that it would be a rebuilding year. First-year coaching staff, graduated a lot of guys who are good college-level players, so this was about taking a step forward.”

“They were organized, they knew their matchup, and I told them in the locker room at halftime; that was the best they’ve played all season. These freshmen are getting some valuable experience that most 6A freshmen don’t get.”

One freshman in particular stole the show for the Sandites. Midfielder Eddie Hernandez made his first appearance at goalie and notched 15 saves as the aggressive Enid forwards kept him on his toes at all times. 

“He came in for our senior goalkeeper who’s having some health issues. And as I told him at halftime, he just played out of his mind. He led the team, made tons of saves, and kept us in the game the first half.”

Sandite soccer will return to action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with district home matches against Jenks before traveling to Choctaw on Friday.

Fishing

Sandite duo Mack Taylor and Parker Haling took second place out of 81 teams at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Lake Texoma Saturday with five fish totaling 12.1 pounds. They also had the largest single fish of the tournament at 5.45 pounds.

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey took 23rd place with a 3.6-pound fish, and Nathaniel Griffin and Jaxon Trotter placed 26th with a 3.15-pound fish.

Golf

The Sandite golf teams competed at the Edison Invitational in Claremore last week, with the girls playing Heritage Hill on Tuesday and the boys on Thursday.

Gina Foster shot 111 and Madison Chambers shot 114 for the girls.

Mason Ward led the boys with an 82. Zane Downey shot 87, Cameron Villines 92, Seth Benton 93, and Drew Paden 97.

Slow Pitch Softball

The No. 16 Lady Sandites (5-4) won a 6-3 battle with Berryhill on Tuesday before going 2-2 at the Haskell Tournament on Thursday. They won 7-5 against No. 4 Jenks and 12-0 against McAlester before falling 13-5 to Ft. Gibson and 12-2 to Haskell.

Tennis

The Lady Sandite tennis team competed at the Skiatook Quad on Tuesday and won a Highway 97 rivalry dual with Sapulpa.

Abbie Dunn won in No. 2 Singles, Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder won No. 1 Doubles, and Jayden Smith and Gracie Young won No. 2 Doubles against Sapulpa.

Kira Shipley won her No. 1 Singles match against Skiatook, and Shipman and Snyder won their match against Bristow.

Track and Field

The girls track team placed 13th and the boys took 16th at Tahlequah on Friday with one champion. 

Jestin Rawlins won the boys discus throw with a mark of 143 ft. 9 in.

Layne Kirkendoll placed second in high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 2 in., and was fourth in long jump with a distance of 16 ft. 10 in.

Sandite Baseball celebrates Teacher Night, beat Midwest City, Bishop Kelley, Broken Arrow

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The student-athletes of the Sand Springs baseball team put an emphasis on the “student” part of their title by acknowledging the teachers in their lives Friday night at the Sandite Baseball Complex.

Each senior member of the Charles Page High School squad selected their all-time favorite teacher to come throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a 10-2 run-rule win over Midwest City.

Keaton Campbell selected CPHS English teacher Heather Miller as his all-time favorite. 

“Keaton was such a great kid in class,” said Miller, who taught the shortstop during his sophomore year. 

“He was always energetic and enthusiastic about learning. It just felt really nice that he thought I impacted his whole educational experience.”

Sixth Grade Center principal Angelia Noel was honored to be chosen by third-baseman Gabe Glenn, who she taught in fourth grade before moving into administration. 

“I hope I’ve made a pretty positive impact on him,” said Noel. “He’s a great kid and he’s going to do great things.”

“These seniors are amazing and we are so proud of them, and we are excited to see what they do in the future.”

Center-fielder Jacob Shields selected his seventh-grade math teacher Rebecca Davis as his all-time favorite teacher. 

“She was really nice and I always came and talked to her even when I didn’t have her class,” said Shields.

Other teachers recognized by the Sandites included Atticus Dellinger, Lorrie Bailey, Kendra Roulet, Katie Dickerson, Laurie Starling, Starr Corbin, Ben Riggs, and Jerie Carter.

After the ceremony, the Sandites (15-3) gave up two unearned runs to the Bombers (5-8) in the top of the first inning before settling down and dominating the rest of the game.

Brody Rutledge, Dom Ornelas, and Keaton Campbell all hit home runs in the game, and Brooks Dudley pinch-hit a two-run double to end the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.

John Keim (2-0) got the win on the mound with six strikeouts, three hits, no walks, and no earned runs in four innings. Gage Elliott tossed two innings of relief and only surrendered one hit with no runs or walks.

On Saturday the Sandites won 6-3 against Bishop Kelley (11-5) behind a three-hit performance from Ty Pennington. The senior left-fielder went 3-of-4 at the plate with three doubles and three RBIs.

Jace Arnold (4-0) got the win on the mound with six hits, two strikeouts, and four walks in 4.2 innings. Kayden Campbell (2-0) threw two hits and three strikeouts in 1.1 innings, and Eli Buxton got the save with one hit, two walks, and two strikeouts in the seventh.

The Sandites also picked up a pair of huge district wins against Broken Arrow (11-7, 4-2) on Monday and Tuesday to improve to 4-2 in district action.

Monday’s road battle went 11 innings, with Jabe Schlehuber (3-0) tossing seven hits, four strikeouts, and three walks in 6.1 innings before Buxton took over. The closer got his first win of the season with two hits, five strikeouts, and four walks in 4.2 innings.

Broken Arrow took a 2-0 lead in the first inning but Pennington tied it up on an RBI single from Ornelas in the third, then hit an RBI double to bring in Keaton Campbell in the fifth.

The Tigers tied it back up in the bottom of the fifth and the game remained scoreless till Kayden Campbell scored the winning run on a double from Schlehuber in the eleventh. 

In Tuesday’s rematch the Sandites won 5-3 behind a four-hit, two-strikeout performance from Carson Seabolt (2-1) in six innings. Kayden Campbell tossed two hits and two strikeouts in the final inning to earn the save.

The Sandites took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run homer by Glenn, but the Tigers tied it up in the sixth. Two walks and an error put the Sandites back on top and Kayden Campbell threw a clutch strikeout to strand two runners and end the game.

Sandite Baseball will return to district action Monday and Tuesday with a home-and-away series against Jenks, followed by non-district home games against NOAH on Friday and Union on Saturday.

Weekly Roundup: Armstead Gets All-State, Track Crowns Five Champions

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Baseball

Following its tournament championship at Peoria, Arizona, the Sandite baseball team (11-3, 2-2) pushed its winning streak to eight before taking a loss on Thursday at the Bartlesville Tournament. 

The Sandites started the week with a Monday district rainout at Ponca City (5-6, 2-2), but run-ruled the Wildcats on Tuesday, 12-2, in five innings.

Sand Springs talled ten hits, led by Carson Seabolt with a 3-of-3, four RBI performance at the plate. Keaton Campbell, Ty Pennington, and Miller Tavaglione all hit triples in the game. Jabe Schlehuber (3-0) tossed eleven strikeouts to remain undefeated on the mound.

On Thursday the Sandites met the Wildcats again in the first round of the Bartlesville tournament and used it as a makeup for the district rainout. 

This time they won 8-0 behind a four-hit, four strikeout performance from Seabolt (1-1) who pitched all seven innings. Nathan Gibson and Brody Rutledge both went 3-of-4 at the plate and the team tallied 14 hits.

The success streak came to an end in a six-inning 8-0 loss to Highway 97 rival Sapulpa (8-5). Sand Springs managed five hits while only surrendering seven, but left seven runners stranded on base and committed four errors.

They got back in the win column on Friday with a 6-1 win over Bartlesville (8-4) behind a seven-hit, two-strikeout performance from Kayden Campbell (2-0).

Dom Ornelas went 2-of-3 with a double and an RBI and Gabe Glenn was 2-of-4 with a double, a run, and two RBIs.

The Sandites will return to action Monday at Broken Arrow (9-5, 4-0) in district action, with home games against Broken Arrow on Tuesday, Midwest City on Friday, and Bishop Kelley on Saturday.

Friday will be Teacher Appreciation Night at the Sandite Baseball Complex, and all Sand Springs teachers will get free entry with their school ID.

Girls Basketball

Senior star Journey Armstead was selected to the Large East All-State basketball team by the OGBCA, and Sandites coach Josh Berry was selected to lead the team. The All-State game will be played June 4th at Mustang High School at 2:00 p.m.

Berry holds a 50-21 record after three years with the Lady Sandites and took them to the State semifinals this season. Armstead wrapped up her four-year starting career with 1,525 points and is still deciding on a college 

Boys Golf

The Sandites took third place at their home tournament Tuesday at the Canyons at Blackjack Ridge. 

Seth Benton shot an 85 for sixth place, followed by Drew Paden in seventh. Mason Ward shot 89, Zane Downey shot 95, and Cameron Villines shot 98 with an ace on hole nine.

Boys Soccer

The boys’ soccer team is still searching for its first win after falling 4-0 to Bixby on Tuesday. They picked up a program win on Friday however in the form of a successful first Boys Soccer Night at Memorial Stadium. The Sandites hosted dozens of local junior high club players who will be the future of the program in a night filled with games, activities, and giveaways.

Softball

The No. 16 ranked Sand Springs slow-pitch softball team is off to a 2-2 start on the season, losing 7-6 to No. 13 Union and 14-2 to No. 2 Broken Arrow, but picking up wins of 9-7 against Bartlesville and 17-5 against No. 10 Bixby.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at Berryhill at 5:00 p.m. before competing at the Haskell Tournament on Thursday.

Girls Tennis

The girls tennis team had a successful event at the Edison Tournament on Wednesday. Kira Shipley placed seventh in #1 Singles, Catilin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder placed sixth in #1 Doubles, and Abbie Dunn and Macie Willits placed seventh in #2 Doubles.

“These girls are all brand new to tennis and are playing opponents who have been playing for years and are juniors and/or seniors,” said head coach Dana Peacock. “Pretty proud of them!”

Track and Field 

The Sand Springs boys placed ninth and the girls took fifth at the Okmulgee Bulldog Invitational on Friday, winning five total events. 

Kelsi Hilton won the 1600-meter run in 6:23.25 and the 3200-meter run in 11:39.50. She also placed second in the 800 behind fellow Sandite Jazmin Lopez. Lopez won with a time of 2:32.64.

Sam English won the 1600 boys' run in 5:16.69 and Lucy Beckner won the girls’ long jump at 14 ft. 9 in.

Gracie Gifford placed third in the 3200, Briona Searcy placed third in the long jump, and Hannah George placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles.

Dalton Wilcox placed second and Alex Lopez took fourth in the 800. Alex Turner placed second in the discus throw and Matthew Shelton placed third in the shot put. Michael Lopez placed fifth and Michael Johnson took sixth in the 1600. 

Noah Hanlon placed third in the 1600 and fifth in the 3200. Preston Kennedy placed fifth in both the high jump and the long jump. 

The boys relay teams placed second in the 4x800, fifth in the 4x100, and fifth in the 4x200. The girls relay teams placed third in the 4x200 and fifth in the 4x100.

Sandite alum and Oral Roberts University sophomore Aden Baughman took first place in two events at the ORU Invite. He won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.54 and the 400-meter dash in 48.56 seconds.