Lakelyn Harger Sparks Sandite Offense in District Sweep of Southmoore

Sand Springs stretched its win streak for four Tuesday afternoon in Moore as Charles Page High School (5-1, 2-0) opened district action with a double-header against perennial powerhouse Southmoore (3-5, 1-2).

The first game was a close 2-1 win for the Sandites but the bats got hot in game two, which Sand Springs won 14-2 via five-inning run rule.

Freshman star Lakelyn Harger showed off her hitting skills as well as her speed throughout the day, going 4-of-7 with 4 doubles, 2 runs, and 5 RBIs.

In the first game the Sandites trailed 1-0 after a fourth-inning homer from Lainey King before Kenzie King tied it up on an RBI single from Bella Wilson. Kelsi Hilton scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on Harger’s first double of the day.

Junior ace Addison Hughes (4-0) continued her undefeated start to the season, surrendering 5 hits and no walks while striking out four in the complete game. Through her first four games her ERA is sitting at only 0.91.

Hilton made her season debut in the circle for game two, tossing 5 hits, 3 walks, and 1 strikeout for the win.

Wilson got the Sandites on the board with a two-run double in the bottom of the second, followed by a one-run triple from Morgan Rector, a two-run double from Harger, and a one-run double from Kaylei Rake to make it 6-0.

The Sabercats averted the shutout with a two-run double in the top of the fourth, but the Sandites got those runs back and more in the bottom of the inning.

Harger led off with a double, then Rake and Ashlyn Clark singled to load the bases. Bailey Copeland hit an RBI single, then Rake and Clark scored on errors to make it 9-0.

Kenzie and Kylie King scored on a single from Rector, Hilton singled to reload the bases, and Harger hit a bases-clearing double for the final runs of the game.

Wilson, Rector, Harger, and Rake had three hits apiece for the team’s first run-rule win of the season.

The Lady Sandites will return to action Thursday in Claremore at the Rogers State Festival. They will play Coweta (1-5) at 10:00 a.m. and Collinsville (3-1) at 11:45 a.m.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Places Third at Bixby Tournament

The Charles Page High School softball (15-9, 5-3) started a successful week with a pair of perfect games and ended it with a third-place finish at the Bixby tournament.

The Sandites celebrated Senior Night with a perfect double-header Tuesday against the combined team of Tulsa Memorial and Booker T. Washington (0-15, 0-7).

Kelsi Hilton (7-1) struck out 10 and the Sandites totaled 15 hits in a 20-0 game-one rout. Addie Hughes (8-8) struck out 10 and the Sandites recorded 13 hits in the 10-0 second game. 

The Sandites rode that momentum into a crucial 8-3 district win Thursday against Bartlesville (11-8, 3-4) behind a six-strikeout performance from Hughes. 

On Friday the Sandites rolled to a 14-0 shutout of Union (6-18) in the first round of the Bixby tournament. Hughes pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts and Mikenna Stephens went 3-of-4 at the plate with four RBI.

Hilton struck out seven in a 4-2 win over El Reno (4-9) while also recording three RBI in the second game of the tournament.

The win streak came to a close in a 6-0 loss against Perry (24-5) Friday evening but the Sandites got back in the win column with a 5-1 victory over Raymore Peculiar (7-6) Saturday morning. 

To cap off the week, Hilton hit a walk-off RBI single to prevail 5-4 over Coweta (16-7) and pay back an August defeat. 

Hilton batted .583 on the week with a team-high 14 hits, three triples, 13 RBI, and 11 runs. Morgan Rector was .565 at the plate with 13 hits, six RBI, and 12 runs.

Hilton went 3-0 in the circle with a 1.44 ERA and Hughes was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with a key district game at Jenks (19-3, 10-0), then will travel to Stillwater (14-6, 6-3) Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Cross Country

Josie Grona led the Sandite elementary with a fourth-place finish at the Sapulpa Chieftain meet, Saturday, September 3rd. She ran the one-mile race in 6:23.36. Kellen Adkins was 18th to lead the boys in 6:47.05.

Kelsi Hilton led the varsity girls with a ninth place finish, running the two-mile in 13:29.31. Taigh Wright led the boys in 12:23.49.

Chloe Grona was runner-up in the junior high girls’ one-mile run, finishing in 5:59.85. Dax Wilcox was the top junior high boy, placing 14th in 5:54.46. 

On September 10th the Sandites took a depleted roster to Broken Arrow. 

Wright led the boys with a 50th place finish, running the 5K in 19:38.80. Gracie Gifford led the girls, finishing in 26:11.92 for 57th place. Melany Lamb led the junior high girls, placing 63rd in 37:08.79. 

Volleyball

The No. 15 Sandite volleyball team (7-6) snapped a five-match skid with a 3-0 sweep of Pryor (2-15) Tuesday night on the road. Sand Springs won 25-14, 25-10, and 25-14.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a conference rivalry game at 5A No. 7 Sapulpa (13-10, 1-3). Sand Springs is 0-4 in conference action.

Football

The Sandite freshman class (2-0) continued an undefeated streak stretching back to its seventh grade season, winning 34-0 against Bartlesville. The eighth graders also moved to 2-0 with a 48-14 win against the Bruins. 

Wrestling

The first-year Lady Sandite wrestling program had a successful first meeting with prospective athletes. New coach Ty Bowling hopes to have as many as 20 girls in the program this season.

Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Baseball Starts Season With Wins

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Baseball

The Sandite baseball team is off to a strong start on the season, winning its first two games 11-0 against Shawnee and 9-2 against Yukon. 

Jabe Schlehuber and Kayden Campbell combined for eight strikeouts in a no-hitter against the Wolves in Friday’s season-opener. Dom Ornelas went three-for-three at the plate with a double and a home run for 5 RBI.

Schlehuber went four-for-four at the plate on Saturday with two doubles and a homer, and Ornelas and Keaton Campbell also hit home runs.

Boys Basketball

The Sandites wrapped up a 5-18 season with a 69-54 loss at Putnam City West in the Regional playoffs. Cale Askew scored 14 points, Ethan Oakley scored 12, and JD Dickson added 10.

Soccer

The Lady Sandite soccer team won its opening week of matches, coming back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat NOAH 4-3 on Tuesday before routing Coweta 5-1 on Thursday.

Karsen Lynch scored two goals, and Lauren Foster and Lainey Stanfill also scored against NOAH. Ava Watts posted a hat trick against Coweta and Stanfill scored twice. Christina Thompson got the wins at goalie.

The boys are still looking for their first win of the Brent Lollis era, falling 4-2 to NOAH and 2-0 to Coweta.

Golf

The boys golf team placed sixth at the Olive Wildcats Golf Classic in Sapulpa. Mason Ward shot 81 to tie for tenth, Seth Benton shot 87, Drew Paden 93, Zack Downey 93, Hunter Brenner 99, Sidney Horton 101, Jacob Halpain 116. Madison Chambers shot 114 as the lone Lady Sandite.

Tennis

The boys tennis team placed 16th at the Jenks tournament led by Connor Shipman with a 13th finish in #2 Singles.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs girls placed 10th and the boys took 15th at the season-opening Owasso Track Invitational.

Freshman star Lainey Stanfill placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.79 and was third in the 200 in 26.69. Jazmin Lopez paced fifth in the 800 in 2:33.38.

Bowling

The Sand Springs boys bowling team placed second at Regionals and third at State.

Girls Powerlifting

The girls powerlifting team placed second at the North Regional with Jaden Jordan winning squat, deadlift, and overall at heavyweight. Jordan squatted 335, deadlifted 380, and benched 155 to qualify for State. Madison Thompson placed fourth at 198 and Mikah Hampton placed fifth at 108 to qualify. 

CPHS Softball: Sandites place second at Bixby Tournament, upset State Champs

View fullsize

The Charles Page High School varsity softball team (18-4) made it to the Bixby Tournament Finals Saturday evening at Bentley Fields, besting Collinsville (10-13) and Edmond Memorial (18-1) before falling to Coweta (21-2). Their win against Edmond Memorial snapped a 28-game win streak for the defending State Champions, but Coweta was riding a dominant streak of their own and made it 19-straight against the Sandites. 

Sand Springs beat Collinsville 10-1 and Raegan Rector (1-0) picked up her first win in the pitcher’s circle with six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. Madalyn Aunko got the loss with 11 hits, four walks, and three strikeouts. Madison Lee scored four runs and JoLee McNally scored four RBI on two hits, including a double. 

The Sandites built a 6-0 lead against Edmond Memorial before giving up five runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Bulldogs had two runners in scoring position but Lee snagged a ground ball and made the play to first to end the game. Aliyah Taff (11-4, 28-15) threw nine hits, four walks, and one strikeout for the win. The Sandites tallied eight hits, including a grand slam from Jaden Jordan and an RBI triple from McNally.

The Sandite took a 5-3 lead against Coweta before once again giving up five runs in the sixth. Nataley Crawford (6-0, 9-2) got the start in the circle and tossed nine hits with one strikeout, but Taff took the loss with five hits and three strikeouts. Coweta’s Tarun Robinson threw seven hits, three walks, and two strikeouts for the win. 

Jordan and Avery Tanner scored on passed balls in the bottom of the second, but the Tigers loaded the bases in the third with a trio of singles and Braedyn Sheofee scored all three of them with a double. McNally scored on a wild pitch to tie it back up and Olivia Alexander gave her team the lead with an RBI double, followed by an RBI single from Lee. Taff struck out the side in the fifth but the Tigers hit their stride in the sixth with a double and three singles, capped by a two-run homer from Kayley Lott. 

Sandite softball will return to action Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with a district home game against Muskogee (0-11, 0-8), who they previously beat 16-6 in August. The Sandites are 5-2 in district action.

CPHS Softball: Sandites roll Lincoln Christian 11-1, lose to Coweta in extra inning

The Charles Page High School varsity softball team (9-1) started its season on the best undefeated run in many years, but after beating Lincoln Christian 11-1 in the first game of the Rogers State University festival, they fell 5-4 to Coweta in an international tiebreaker Thursday afternoon.

Against Lincoln Christian (2-7) they needed only four innings to secure the win. Nataley Crawford (3-0, 6-2) got the start and win in the pitcher’s circle, throwing four hits, four strikeouts, and two walks in three innings. Raegan Rector made her season pitching debut with two strikeouts in relief.

The girls wasted no time in jumping out to a commanding lead, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Madison Lee capitalized on a walk with two stolen bases and scored the first run on an error. Rector and Jaden Jordan also drew walks and came in on a double from Aliyah Taff, who went on to score on a wild pitch. Drew Hawkins singled, Lauren Hammock walked, and Nately Crawford brought them both in on a single before the inning came to a close.

The Bulldogs put two runners on base in the second, but both were stranded after Crawford struck out the next three batters. Rector hit a double in the bottom of the inning, then scored on a triple from Taff. Taff scored on an error to make it 8-0.

Adyson Roberts hit a single in the third, took third on a double from Mackenzie Kelley, then stole home to avert the shutout, but Sand Springs went right back to scoring in the bottom of the inning. Lee scored on a single from Avery Tanner, who came in on a passed ball to make it 10-1. Lee finished the game off with an RBI single to score Lauren Hammock and the game ended mid-inning.

Roberts got the loss for the Bulldogs, throwing eight hits, four strikeouts, and eight walks in 3.1 innings.

The loss to Coweta was nearly a come-from-behind victory as the girls scored three runs in the top of the seventh for a 4-3 advantage. The Tigers forced extra innings, however, and won it in an international tiebreaker.

Lee and Jordan hit a pair of doubles in the top of the first for the 1-0 lead, but Kayley Lott doubled in Chaney Helton to tie it. The Sandites stranded seven runners over the next four innings and Coweta took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with three singles and a pair of runs from Helton and Sherri Mason.

Lee kicked off a Sandite rally in the seventh with a single, then Tanner hit a double to put the team in scoring position. Rector hit a two-run double, then scored on a single from Jordan for the lead. Coweta wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and put together four singles with a run from Karley Mcnamee to force an extra inning.

In the tiebreaker inning, both teams started their at-bats with a runner on second. The Sandites failed to land a hit and left Kelsi Hilton stranded on third, while Holcomb tagged up on a line out from Denton to secure the win.

Taff (6-1, 23-15) took her first loss of the season with twelve hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts. Braedyn Sheofee got the win with ten hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.

Sandite softball will look to kick off a new win streak Friday at 10:00 a.m. when they play Stillwater (6-2) in the first round of the Stillwater Festival. They will also play Deer Creek (4-2) at 12:00 p.m.

CPHS Softball: Mackenzie Bechtold hits grand slam in 12-1 win over Claremore

Charles Page High School senior Mackenzie Bechtold didn’t have a single hit under her belt coming into the Sandites’ Thursday morning matchup with Claremore (7-4). She had an impressive slow-pitch season this spring, but in varsity fast-pitch she was 0-for-13 at the plate in her career. She blew that mark wide open.

Sand Springs (6-6) run-ruled the Zebras 12-1 in the first game of the Rogers State University Festival at the Diamond Sports Complex, and Bechtold scored two runs and five RBI in the melee, going three-for-three at the plate with a single, a double, and a grand slam.

Sabrina Usher hit the first home run of the day, scoring Aliyah Taff for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Usher, a senior, is committed to playing for Rogers State next season. Jadyn Muns scored the Zebras’ lone run in the bottom of the first, reaching on a double, and scoring on a ground ball from Emily Rogers.

The Sandites did the rest of their damage in the second inning. Bechtold hit an RBI single to score Drew Hawkins, then the Zebras got into a bases loaded situation and began hemorrhaging runs. Makenna Skaggs and Avery Tanner hit RBI singles, Bechtold scored on a passed ball, and Taff and Skaggs scored were walked in.

With an 8-1 lead, Bechtold scored the final runs of the game with a home run over the left field fence to bring in Felicity Horn, Tanner, and Hawkins.

The rest of the game was fairly uneventful. Claremore stranded singles from Paiten Reavis and Muns in the third, and from Terran Schomick and Abbey Hagen in the fourth. The game ended after fourth innings due to mercy rule.

Taff (3-3, 7-9) got the win on the mound, throwing five hits, two strikeouts, and zero walks. Alyssa Poorboy got the loss for Claremore with ten hits, three walks, and no strikeouts.

In the second game of the festival the Sandites fell 9-3 to Coweta (7-6), giving up all nine runs in the first two innings. Freshman Nataley Crawford (2-2) got the loss on the mound, throwing eight hits, two strikeouts, and one walk before being relieved.

Bechtold (1-1, 5-1) took over midway through the second with an 8-0 deficit and loaded bases. She gave up an RBI single for the final Tiger run of the game before the Skaggs and Rachel Jones caught fly balls to end the inning.

Sand Springs got four walks in the first inning, but stranded loaded bases and didn’t pick up their first hit till the third. Three walks and a single once again put the Sandites in excellent scoring position, but they were held to a single run on an RBI single from Horn.

A double from Hawkins and singles from Bechtold and Madison Lee loaded the bases for a third time in the fourth inning. Hawkins scored on a fly out from Taff, but Lauren Hammock was caught running to end the inning in a double play.

Horn scored Usher on a single in the fifth, but the game came to a close soon after.

Bechtold ended the game with three hits, three strikeouts and one walk. Tarun Robinson got the win with seven hits, four strikeouts, and eight walks.

Sand Springs will return to action Monday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. in a district battle against Jenks (6-3, 1-0) on the Trojans’ home turf.

District 6A-3 Standings
3-0 Owasso (9-4)
2-0 Sand Springs (6-6)
1-0 Jenks (6-3)
2-1 Muskogee (2-3)
1-1 Shawnee (5-8)
1-3 Sapulpa (4-7)
0-5 Ponca City (3-9)