For four innings, things couldn’t have gone much better for the Sandites.
Starting pitcher Kayden Campbell (6-3) surrendered only one hit and no walks while fanning five. The Sandites held a 3-0 lead with five times as many hits as the Jaguars.
But a fifth inning spark against Campbell and a sixth-inning flurry off of reliever Wyatt Rutledge gave Westmoore the edge as the Jaguars claimed their first State Championship since 1994, 7-4, to deprive the Sandites of their first ever crown.
“That’s a really good team over there and they capitalized when they had chances and that’s kind of the way that baseball works,” said head coach Matt Brown.
It was going to be a Cinderella story for either team, as both finished third in their districts and had to go on the road for their Regional titles.
Westmoore (25-17) was making its fifth finals appearance after coming up short in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Sand Springs (29-12) was making its first finals appearance since 1978 and first State Tournament appearance since 2011.
Sand Springs struck first in the top of the second after a lead-off walk from Jackson Turney and a line drive single from Alex Dudley set up freshman Sutton Cook for a three-run blast over the left field wall.
Gatlin Gunn and Jace Arnold also singled in the inning but were left stranded. The Sandites put two on base in the third, but stranded Turney after Rutledge was doubled off at second on a line drive from Dudley.
Runs were in short supply for both teams and the Sandites held their 3-0 lead through the top of the fifth.
Then Westmoore loaded the bases with no outs on a single, an error, and a walk. Dudley turned a 6-4-2 double play, but not before Jacob Wehba scored from third. Oklahoma-commit Josiah Kemp added an RBI single to make it a one-score game before Campbell caught Tanner Fallwell looking to end the inning.
Rutledge took over on the mound in the sixth and surrendered three singles and a walk to tie the game with bases loaded and no outs. Gage Geiger tagged up on a pop fly for the lead and Deacon Frazee added an RBI single before Arnold took over on the mound.
“Wyatt’s been awesome for us all year,” said Brown. “If I could do it again, I’d go back and put him right in the game again.”
Frazee scored off another sacrifice fly to make it 7-3 before the inning ended on an offensive interference call against Kemp.
Sand Springs didn’t go down without a fight. Gunn hit a one-out single, took second on a passed ball, and scored on a double from Arnold. Then Rutledge singled on a pop fly to center field to bring the tying run to the plate.
But, it wasn’t meant to be. Jackson Turney flied out to Kemp in center field to end the game.
“This team’s full of fighters,” said Brown. “This team just competed their absolute tails off all year. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
“These kids went out and won the games that were put in front of them, they’ve done everything they were asked to do, they played their absolute hearts out.”
It’s hard to beat a good team three times, a fact that Owasso learned the day before after falling 2-0 to Sand Springs, who it had swept 5-0 and 8-3 in the regular season.
This time it was the Sandites who had to learn that lesson against Westmoore, who it had beaten 6-1 and 24-13 just a month ago.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times in a year,” said Arnold. “We had them two-nothing, but they got us the last time.”
Arnold, together with Gunn, Campbell, Eli Buxton, Miller Tavaglione, Jackson Stewart, Connor Graham, Cole Pearson, Jesse Manuel, and Rutledge, make up a senior class that went 107-50 over four years, the Sandites’ winningest record since the Class of 2012 went 104-44.
“What a great testament to our kids,” said Brown. “Our seniors have set a standard of excellence that falls to the guys who are younger now to hold that standard of excellence. These guys that are walking out the door have won 89 games in three years…these guys have set a bar for the program.”
“I’m just proud of our kids. I’m proud of the way they that played today, I’m proud of the way that they represented our school and our town and they should be proud of themselves as well.”
