Sandites Go 1-2 at Tough Owasso Festival, Beat Bartlesville

The Charles Page High School fast-pitch softball team (8-3) got a preview of the post-season this weekend at the Owasso Festival, sandwiching a win against Bartlesville between a pair of losses to last year’s top dogs.

On Friday the Sandites fell 10-0 to undefeated host Owasso (13-0) in a four-inning affair before winning 6-3 against Bartlesville (3-8). On Saturday they suffered another setback, 7-0 against defending State Champion Edmond Memorial (7-4).

Winners of six in a row coming into the Friday showcase, the Sandites fell behind early against the Rams as Jayelle Austin hit a homer on Owasso’s first at-bat.

The Rams loaded the bases on two walks and a single before the Sandites swapped Kelsi Hilton (1-1) out for Addison Hughes (5-1), who gave up a grand slam to Karson Holson.

Owasso scored four more runs on a pair of errors in the third and fourth innings then capped it off with an RBI single from Tulsa-commit Brookley Foster for the walkoff.

Preslee Downing got the win for the Rams, surrendering only one hit with eight strikeouts.

Kylie King (2-1) got the girls back on track, pitching four hits and three strikeouts against the Bruins. Seven different players recorded one hit apiece and six players scored runs.

A pair of first-inning errors gave Bartlesville its only lead but Bella Wilson, Morgan Rector, and Hilton hit back-to-back-to-back doubles, followed by singles from Lakelyn Harger and Kaylei Rake.

Harger scored on a groundout by Ashlyn Clark, Rake scored on a passed ball, then Kenzie King scored on a groundout by Bailey Copeland for the 6-1 lead before the inning came to a close.

Two more errors set up Chloe Robbins for an RBI single in the second, then Isabell Daniels scored on a groundout by Mady Nachbor in the fifth for the final run of the game.

Hughes took her first loss of the season against the Bulldogs, tossing seven hits, three walks, and two strikeouts in 3.2 innings before being relieved by King, who surrendered three hits in 1.2 innings.

UCF-commit Beth Damon got Edmond Memorial on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, then Kensington Perrotti hit an RBI double in the third. ACU-commit Ari Maxwell added a solo homer in the fourth to kick off a three-hit, four-run inning.

Sand Springs stranded six runners on five hits in the shutout loss. Keegan Baker got the win with a five-strikeout two-hitter.

The Sandites will return to action Thursday at home with a district double header against Moore (9-2, 1-1).

Moore will be the fourth team thus far that the Sandites have played from last year’s State Tournament. The Sandites may have fallen to Edmond Memorial and Owasso, but they also won a district double-header against Southmoore on Tuesday.

Hughes Strikes out 8, Sandites Throttle Collinsville 8-0

It was a dominant trip to Claremore for the Charles Page High School softball team (7-1) as the Sandites didn’t allow a single run in either game of the Rogers State University Festival.

After defeating Coweta 3-0 in the first game, Sand Springs won an 8-0 shutout against Collinsville (3-3) to wrap up the day. It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Sandites and the third shutout of the season.

Addison Hughes (5-0) kept her undefeated season alive in style, pitching a four-inning two-hitter with eight strikeouts to drop her already-impressive ERA to only 0.77.

Bella Wilson, Morgan Rector, and Lakelyn Harger all recorded two hits apiece with Rector batting in a team-best three RBIs while Kylie King and Bailey Copeland scored two runs apiece.

Wilson hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the first and came in soon after on a two-run single from Harger. Rector hit a two-run single in the second to score Kylie King and Copeland.

In the third inning Kenzie King hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Harger, then Kylie King hit a double to score Kaylei Rake. Wilson’s second double of the day brought home Kylie King, then Copeland scored on an RBI single from Rector for the final run of the game.

The game clock ran out midway through the bottom of the fourth as the Sandites had one on base and no outs.

Sand Springs is off to its hottest start since 2020 and will continue its busy week with a three-game outing at the Owasso Festival.

On Friday the Sandites will play host Owasso (9-0) at 10:00 a.m. in their biggest test of the young season. The Rams have won their last four meetings with Sand Springs, last losing to the Sandites in 2020.

Sand Springs will also play Bartlesville (1-5) at noon on Friday and Jenks (4-3) at noon on Saturday.

Sandites Shut Out Coweta 3-0 at RSU Festival

Sandite Softball picked up its fifth consecutive win and second shutout of the season Thursday morning in Claremore, winning 3-0 against Coweta (1-6) in the Rogers State University Festival.

Sand Springs improved to 6-1 after out-hitting the Tigers 6 to 3 in the time-limited six-inning affair.

Freshman Kylie King (1-1) got her first win in the circle, surrendering 3 hits with 1 strikeout and no walks.

Ashlyn Clark scored the opening run on a single from Bailey Copeland in the top of the second but the Sandites stranded loaded bases after a force at home and a strikeout from Karsyn Lydens.

Sand Springs put two on base in the third but gave up a double play and stranded one, then stranded two more in the fourth. The Sandites ultimately left seven runners on base throughout the game.

Kaylei Rake hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to bring in Kelsi Hilton and Copeland added another RBI with a single to score Kenzie King in the sixth.

The Sandites will return to action at 11:45 a.m. against Collinsville (3-1).

Volleyball Falls to Booker T. Washington in 3-2 Thriller

In a rematch of last year’s Regional elimination game, once again it was Booker T. Washington who emerged victorious in its season opener Tuesday night at Sand Springs (5-4, 0-2.

The Hornets won an exhilarating five-set conference match, pulling away late after a mostly neck-and-neck battle.

“That’s the best volleyball I’ve seen us play,” said head coach Skylar Jackson.

“We’re not a big team so we have to be aggressive in a lot of the moments that other teams wouldn’t be aggressive. And we saw that in the end of the first, second, third, and most of the fourth set. We just let off the gas and we shouldn’t have.”

Sand Springs lost the first set close but won games two and three for the lead before Washington won the final two.

5’11” sophomore Arriana Brown kept the Sandites on their toes all night, tallying 29 kills and 2 aces.

The Hornets first pulled away with a four-point run to go up 13-9 in the first set, though the Sandites eventually battled back to tie it at 19-19 on an ace from Evyn Morrow. A tipped ball from Brenna Weaver got Washington back out front, however, and they won a close 25-22 on a block from Brooklyn Nerio and Brooklyn Dalgarn.

In game two the Sandites stormed out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed, though a late six-point run from the Hornets cut it as close as 19-17. A kill from Adelynn Ray snapped the Hornets’ momentum and Averi Tippit served an ace to follow it up. Patience Pearce secured the 25-20 victory with a block.

In game three the Sandites trailed through most of the set before scoring four in a row to take the 18-16 advantage. Tippit scored the go-ahead point after making an incredible dig on a slam from Brown that shot like a rocket to the back of the Hornet court.

Plays like that were routine for the Sandites, whose defense repeatedly pushed the Hornets and drew cheers from the crowd as even the most hard-hit and well-placed balls were never given up on.

“They’re a team that works hard and they want to win,” said Jackson. “They want to win for each other and that sounds pretty cliché, but we’ve got eight seniors and there’s a good chunk of them out there all the time. They want to win this year."

A series of offensive errors gave Washington the 23-21 lead but a service error gave the Sandites a spark. Shope followed it with a kill, Morrow served an ace, and Tippit capped off the four-point run with a tip to win 25-23.

In game four, however, Washington used a commanding seven-point run to go up 15-7 and the Sandites never recovered, ultimately falling 25-17.

Weaver opened the tie-breaker set with back-to-back kills to ensure the Sandites never took the lead. The home team got as close as 8-6 before Washington rattled off six points in a row on an uncharacteristic five errors from the Sandites. Lauren Pero and Carly Alexander combined on a block for the 15-7 victory.

Jayden Smith was the offensive star for the Sandites with 14 kills, followed by Ray with 7 and Claire Day with 5. Ray and Hannah McKelvey had 11 assists apiece.

Defensively there was no shortage of star power. Morrow led the team with 22 digs, Ray added 16, and Smith had 9.

The Sandites will take a week off before traveling to Union (1-1, 1-1) for a conference match on Tuesday. The RedHawks have won six in a row against the Sandites since 2018 but last year’s meeting was a close 27-25, 25-19, 27-25.

BTW 3 CPHS 2 (25-22, 20-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-7)
Kills: BTW 56, CPHS 34.
Blocks: BTW 3, CPHS 5.
Aces: BTW 7, CPHS 7.
Errors: BTW 32, CPHS 30.
Service Errors: BTW 18, CPHS 10.

Sand Springs Stats
Kills: Smith 14, Ray 7, Day 5, Shope 4, Tippit 2, Pearce 1, DeBerry 1.
Assists: McKelvey 11, Ray 11, Morrow 2, Pearce 2, Smith 1, Day 1.
Solo Blocks: Pearce 1.
Block Assists: Ray 3, Pearce 2, Tippit 2, Smith 1.
Digs: Morrow 22, Ray 16, Smith 9, Shope 7, McKelvey 6, Tippit 4, Casey 3, Day 2, Pearce 1.
Aces: Tippit 2, Morrow 2, McKelvey 1, Shope 1.

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.

Volleyball Places Second at Sandite Invitational, Evyn Morrow Named All-Tournament

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The Charles Page High School volleyball team (5-3) failed to defend its home tournament for a third consecutive year, but it did take second place at the Sandite Invitational with a 4-2 record.

“I feel like we’re doing pretty good,” said senior libero Evyn Morrow, who was named to the All-Tournament team. “I think our team chemistry is pretty great this year and I feel like we’re off to a great start.”

Morrow was also named to the All-Camp team at the Licking Summer Camp in Branson where the girls went 8-2 for second place.

“She’s All-Tournament team for good reason,” said second-year head coach Skylar Jackson. “She’s the heart and soul into volleyball and into this team. She’s just a great leader. She’s a ball of energy. It’s just one of those things that comes naturally to her and she’s never going to give you less than 110-percent.”

“We graduated four starters last year that were pretty big for us and the eight seniors that we have this year are really filling in those shoes,” said Jackson.

“They’re each willing to shoulder their part of the load and they’re committed.”

Sand Springs opened the season with a trip to Bartlesville where they won a 3-0 sweep of Enid (0-8) in sets of 25-7, 25-16, and 25-20. But in the second match they lost 3-0 to the home team (2-0) in conference action, falling 25-6, 25-23, and 25-23.

In the Sandite Invitational the girls won 2-0 in a rematch with Enid and 2-1 against Yukon (3-4) before falling 2-1 to Choctaw (3-4) on Friday. After winning the first set 25-17 they lost a pair of close ones 25-23 and 25-23 to end day one.

“The match we lost was a hard-fought match,” said Jackson. “Both teams played really great volleyball and the scores were all close. I told the girls ‘there’s nothing to hang your head about. We played good ball and they played good ball. They just got us this time.’”

On Saturday they lost 2-0 to tournament newcomer Mustang (7-0), who went undefeated to win the title.

The first set was neck and neck with the Sandites leading as late as 17-16 before the Broncos pulled away to win 25-20. Mustang won the second set 25-14.

“We played a good Mustang team and didn’t play as well as we would’ve like to but I think that they rebounded well,” said Jackson.

Jayden Smith let the team offensively with 5 kills while Adelynn Ray, Alia DeBerry, Claire Day, and Averi Tippit scored 3 apiece. Ray also had 7 assists and Morrow recorded 8 digs in the loss.

They bounced back in the final match with a 2-0 sweep of Ponca City (2-5), however, winning 25-16 and 25-17.

The Sandites maintained complete control over the first set and also stormed out to 14-5 lead in the second before the Wildcats rallied to make it as close as 14-12 with a seven-point streak.

Then senior blocker Patience Pearce tipped the tide with a crucial block to kick off a four-point run for the home team and from there the girls never let off the gas.

“It was huge, especially for a kid who’s never played varsity middle,” said Jackson. “She played right side for us last year some and this year she’s in the middle. She’s still learning and asking questions all the time and getting better. She’s got that natural athleticism.”

Smith and Tippit led the attack with 6 kills apiece while Hannah McKelvey recorded 8 assists and Morrow made 9 digs. Tippit, Morrow, and Smith also served up 2 aces apiece.

“I think that we’re going to keep growing through the season and we’ll be pretty great,” said Morrow.

Sand Springs has now placed within the top three all five years of the tournament’s history.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at home with a 6:30 p.m. conference match against Booker T. Washington (0-0) in a rematch of last year’s Regional elimination game, which the Hornets won.

“We are really working on being aggressive regardless of who’s across the net from us, because that’s how we’re going to win” said Jackson. “We’re going to be aggressive from the serving line, we’re going to attack big, we’re going to play big defense. So we’re excited to see them Tuesday.”

Full Tournament Results

Matches

Mustang 2-0 Sand Springs (25-20, 25-14)
Mustang 2-0 Enid (25-18, 25-17)
Mustang 2-0 Choctaw (25-20, 25-14)
Mustang 2-0 Ponca City (25-10, 25-13)
Mustang 2-0 Yukon (25-12, 25-16)
Mustang 2-1 Southmoore (25-19, 16-25, 25-17)
Sand Springs 2-0 Enid (25-21, 25-14)
Sand Springs 2-0 Southmoore (25-19, 25-23)
Sand Springs 2-1 Yukon (23-25, 25-22, 25-23)
Sand Springs 2-0 Ponca City (25-16, 25-17)
Southmoore 2-0 Choctaw (25-10, 27-25)
Southmoore 2-1 Yukon (25-13, 22-25, 25-20)
Southmoore 2-1 Enid (18-25, 25-20, 28-26)
Yukon 2-0 Ponca City (25-15, 25-14)
Yukon 2-0 Choctaw (25-22, 25-23)
Yukon 2-1 Enid (23-25, 25-22, 25-23)
Choctaw 2-1 Sand Springs (17-25, 25-23, 25-23)
Choctaw 2-0 Enid (25-22, 25-20)
Choctaw 2-0 Ponca City (25-12, 25-17)
Ponca City 2-1 Enid (30-28, 23-25, 25-16)
Ponca City 2-0 Southmoore (25-19, 25-22)

Standings

6-0 Mustang
4-2 Sand Springs
3-3 Southmoore
3-3 Yukon
3-3 Choctaw
2-4 Ponca City
0-6 Enid