Sandite of the Week: Rhett Rutledge

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride recognizes Charles Page High School senior Rhett Rutledge as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Bixby Tournament this past weekend. 

Rutledge averaged .267 batting, .467 slugging, with a .368 OBP, and made his season pitching debut with a Championship round victory over the host team. 

The Sandites (12-3) won their fifth straight in the tournament opener 8-5 against Hilldale (6-9). Rutledge landed the first hit of the game with a triple and came in on the next play with a sacrifice fly from Jake Ward for the first run. He was walked on his next plate appearance and scored once more on a Hunter Greathouse double. He reached first on an error in the bottom of the sixth and scored his third run of the game on a Greathouse single. 

Their sixth straight victory was a come-from-behind extra-inning win over Union. Rutledge landed one hit in the top of the fifth and stole second on a passed ball, but was left stranded. The Sandites won that one 7-6 in eight innings. 

He failed to land a hit in the next two games (a 4-1 loss to Bixby and an 8-0 run-rule shut out of Life Prep Academy), but batted .667 in the finale and won the game on the mound. He struck out one in the first and gave up an unearned double. He grounded out on a sacrifice to score Jake Terry for a 4-0 lead in the top of the second. 

He scooped a grounder to put out a batter at first in the bottom of the second and struck out another for a no-hitter. He sacrificed again to score Treyce Tolbert in the top of the third, but gave up a run in the bottom of the inning. 

He pitched a no-hitter in the fifth, striking out one and putting out another at first on a grounder. He hit a leadoff line drive single in the top of the sixth and was batted in by Josh Taber. By the bottom of the sixth the Spartans were pushing hard for a rally and loaded the bases. Rutledge gave up one single, two runs, one earned run, and two walks before being relieved by Brock Youngblood. The Sandites went on to win the game 10-6 for the tournament championship.

Sandite Baseball run-rules Life Prep Academy 8-0 in Bixby Tournament

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Hunter Greathouse pitched no hits in his second win of the season

Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (13-3) rebounded from their Friday night loss to Bixby (11-1) with an 8-0 run-rule shutout over Life Prep Academy (1-5) Saturday morning.

Hunter Greathouse (2-0) got the win on the mound for the Sandites, pitching three innings with no hits and seven strikeouts. Jake Ward (4-0) pitched two innings in relief and struck out two while giving up three hits.

Greathouse had his hand in all three first inning outs, striking out two and catching a foul for the third.

Treyce Tolbert drew a walk for the first Sandite plate appearance, then stole his way to third before coming in on a passed ball. Ward was hit by pitch and found his way in for a run on another passed ball and curtesy runner Malachi Walton (running for Greathouse, who walked) scored on a Josh Taber single. 

Taber was put out at second, Tyler McCallie singled and stole second with Ty Fain at bat, and Fain singled to bring McCallie in. Cody Motes replaced Fain on base and promptly stole second on a passed ball and Jake Terry walked and both stole bases. Motes scored on a passed ball and Treyce Tolbert walked to load the bases. The runners would be left stranded, however, as Rutledge flew out to left field and the Sandites went to field with a 5-0 lead.

Noah Roberts flied out to left field to start the second. Ramon Hart was hit by pitch and stole second, but was stranded as Greathouse struck out two more batters.

Ward hit a close grounder to second and barely beat the ball to base for a single. Greathouse flied out to center to advance Ward. Walton made his first plate appearance of the season and grounded out to first. McCallie was hit by pitch and Fain singled to left field to score Ward. McCallie stole home on a passed ball and Terry walked but was stranded as Mack Thompson flied out and Life Prep came in to bat trailing 7-0.

Jaivin Burrows grounded out to Greathouse, AJ McDaniel struck out looking, but Beckford reached first on a dropped third strike. He would be left stranded, however, as Ricardo Seymour lined out to short. Motes and Rutledge both grounded out in the bottom of the third and Ward struck out in the first runless inning.

Ward relieved Greathouse on the mound to start the fourth. Myron Johnson grounded out to short, but Roberts singled for the first hit of the game for the Fire then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kohei Furukawa grounded out to advance Roberts, but the runner was stranded on third as Malich Barry flied out to short.

Greathouse walked to start the bottom but was caught stealing and Walton struck out. McCallie also walked but was stranded as Fain flied out to center.

In the fifth Tristen Shanelec singled to third and made his way around the bases with Burrows at bat, but was put out at home on a fielder’s choice. McDaniel and Beckford both struck out and the Sandites were back at bat. Terry hit a double to the left field fence and Thompson took a pitch to the head to advance to first. Both stole bases with Motes at bat and Motes singled to score Terry and win the game by run-rule.

The Sandites are now 3-1 in the tournament after dropping their first loss in seven games to host Bixby last night. They will next play either at 4:00 or 6:30 depending on the results of the Bixby vs. Union game at 1:30.

Spartans end Sandite win streak with 4-1 tournament victory

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Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

It come down to the wire for the Charles Page High School baseball team (12-3) as they trailed 4-1 coming in to bat the top of the seventh. Jake Terry and Treyce Tolbert were put out at first. Rhett Rutledge drew a walk and Jake Ward stepped up to bat. The first pitch was a foul, then came two balls and another foul. The slugger grounded out to third on the next pitch and the Bixby Spartans (11-1) had successfully sabotaged the Sandites’ six-game win streak.

Joey Montgomery (0-2) got the loss on the mound for the Sandites, giving up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs.

Treyce Tolbert was first to bat for the Sandites and was outed on a center field fly. Rutledge hit a popup to first, but Ward finally got the Sandites on base with a walk. Sandite of the Week Hunter Greathouse smacked a long line drive to right field for a single, but both runners were stranded as Josh Taber tipped a grounder to first and was put out.

Gavin Staton singled to center for the Spartans and came in on a Trevor Tolbert error as Cade Cabbiness grounded past second for a single. Breydon Daniel had secured the single but got greedy on and went for two and was put out by Rutledge. Cade Cavalli reached first and Cabbiness scored on a Greathouse error, but Nic Swanson grounded out to third to end the inning with a 2-0 Spartan advantage.

Trevor Tolbert drew a walk to start the second. Montgomery hit a pop fly to foul territory, Tyler McCallie flew out to right field, and Tolbert was caught stealing second to bring Bixby in to bat. Cole Henderson lined out to Rutledge at short and Jeremy Goodwin and Cole Parker both flied out to Taber in right field.

Terry led off the third for the Sandites and failed to beat his bunt to first. Treyce Tolbert struck out and Rhett Rutledge flied out to short for another scoreless inning. Montgomery struck out the first batter swinging and Cabbiness grounded out to Rutledge. Daniel singled but was put out at second on a fielder’s choice.

Sand Springs finally started to put men on the bases in the bottom of the third as Ward was walked and Greathouse hit a deep single into center field. Ward was picked off at second, however, and Taber sacrificed to advance Greathouse to second. The pressure was on Trevor Tolbert and he didn’t disappoint, scoring Greathouse on a double. Montgomery was hit by pitch, but the two runners were stranded as McCallie hit a pop fly to right field.

Cavalli singled on a leadoff grounder and Swanson reached on a combination fielder’s choice and error.  Henderson singled with a full count as Greathouse outed Cavalli at third. Goodwin reached on a controversial error call to load the bases and Swanson reached home on a passed ball after Parker flied out to center. Staton flied out next and the Sandites came in trailing 3-1.

Treyce Tolbert and Ward were walked but Terry was outed on a pop foul fly and Greathouse lined out to right field to bring in the bottom of the fifth. Cabbiness walked and Daniel singled to right. Griffin sacrificed to score Cabiness and the Spartans took a 4-1 lead. Cavalli reached on a fielder’s choice and Henderson lined out to center to usher in the sixth.

Taber grounded out to second and Trevor Tolbert hit a pop foul fly. Montgomery doubled but McCallie flied out to center leaving the Sandites just one inning to try and tie things up. Goodwin flied out to McCallie in left field. Paker tripled on a centerfield line but was picked off leaving Staton at bat with a full count and he was promptly struck out. But the seventh was no kinder to the Sandites and the Spartans came away with their ninth-straight win.

The Sandites will next take on Life Prep Academy Saturday at 11:00.