Two Sandites headed to NCAA Softball Super Regionals, and other alumni updates

The No. 13 ranked Oklahoma State University Cowgirl Softball team (42-14) won its first Regional Championship since 2011 Saturday afternoon, squeezing out a 2-1 come-from-behind Finals win over No. 25 Tulsa (37-20). The Pokes also won 3-1 against the West Coast Conference Champions from BYU (30-26) and beat Tulsa 13-10 in their first meeting of the tournament.

The Cowgirl roster includes two former Sand Springs standouts in sophomore Sydney Pennington and senior Mallory Goodman.

Pennington played third base throughout the three-game tournament, recording two put outs and eight assists. At the plate she was 2-of-10 with 2 runs and 1 RBI, hitting a solo homer in the top of the second inning in the first game against Tulsa. 

Pennington is .250 on the season with 30 runs, 42 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 10 homers, 33 RBI, a .482 slugging average, .314 on-base-percentage, and a .948 fielding average. In her career she’s .277 with 57 runs, 102 hits, 18 doubles, 1 triple, 17 homers, and 76 RBI.

Goodman hasn’t seen any action this season, but she’s .241 in her career with 17 runs, 28 hits, 5 doubles, 3 homers, a .362 slugging average, and .343 on-base-percentage.

The Pokes will return to action Thursday and Friday against the defending National Champions from No. 4 Florida State (54-8) at the Tallahassee Super Regional. Game times are 6:00 p.m. CT Thursday, 2:00 p.m. CT Friday, and 11:00 a.m. CT Saturday (if necessary). Thursday and Saturday’s games will be on ESPN and Friday’s game will be on ESPN2.

Other softball news…

Central Christian College senior Breanna Bill batted .271 this season with a .388 slugging average, 23 runs, 35 hits, 4 doubles, 4 triples, 1 home run, 11 RBI, and 8 sacrifices. The Tigers went 16-38 overall and 8-28 in the SAC.

1983 grad Randall King led the Broken Arrow High School Slow Pitch Softball team to a 23-9 record, Class 6A No. 5 ranking, and State Tournament appearance.

2011 grad Joely Rogers finished her first season as Pitching Coach at Coffeyville Community College, helping the Ravens to a 7-34 record.

Sophomore Jessica Collins batted .284 with a .327 on-base percentage, .561 slugging average, 32 runs, 42 hits, 5 doubles, 12 home runs, and 33 RBI at Connors State College as the Cowgirls went 16-31 overall and 11-22 in conference. She went 1-5 on the mound, throwing 5 strikeouts in 34 innings with a 9.34 ERA and .948 fielding percentage.

Northeastern State University went 28-27 overall and 14-12 in conference. Junior Jessica Schuler batted .297 with 29 runs, 47 hits, 33 RBI, 14 doubles, 5 homers, a .481 slugging average, .386 on-base percentage, and a .991 fielding percentage.

Junior Kennedy “Goose” Salyers finished the season .234 at the plate with 5 runs, 11 hits, 1 double, 1 RBI, a .255 slugging average, and a .250 on-base percentage at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The Savage Storm went 29-28 overall and 25-19 in conference.

Baseball

Rhett Rutledge is playing NCAA Division I baseball at Florida International University in his junior year, following a two-year stent at Northern Oklahoma College. He currently owns a .250 batting average and .300 slugging average on the season with five hits, seven runs, and one RBI, with a .905 fielding percentage. The Panthers are 22-29 overall and will return to action Thursday with a three-day three-game home series against Louisiana Tech.

Sophomores Mack Thompson and Treyce Tolbert saw action on a 24-22 Rose State College baseball team, the school’s best record since 2013. Thompson ended the season with a .879 fielding percentage, .337 batting average, .413 on-base percentage, and .402 slugging average, recording 31 hits, 6 doubles, 20 runs, and 16 RBI. Tolbert finished with a .909 fielding percentage, .297 batting average, .360 on-base percentage, and .436 slugging average, with 30 hits, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 17 runs, and 19 RBI.

Berryhill grad and native Sandite Jacob Bailey is seeing reduced duty with the Seminole State baseball team. He is 1-0 on the mound in 3.2 innings pitched with a 0.0 ERA and 6 strikeouts. Last season he was 6-1 for a 4.14 ERA. Seminole went 39-14 this season.

University of Oklahoma sophomore Jake Terry has pitched two innings this season and thrown one strikeout. His career ERA stands at 7.53. The Sooners are 31-20 overall and 9-12 in Big 12 action. They will play a three-game Red River Rivalry series this week to conclude the regular season.

CPHS Class of 1981 grad Mike Moore is Head Baseball Coach at Jay High School, and recently wrapped up the season with an 18-14 record.

Basketball

University of Central Oklahoma freshman Colt Savage scored 84 points with 25 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals for the Men’s Basketball team this past season, helping the Broncos to an 11-17 record. He shot 55.6% on field goals, 50% on three-pointers, and 90% on free throws.

Football

Sophomore Jacob Taber and the Fort Hays State University football team earned their second-straight MIAA Conference Title with a 9-3 overall record and 6-0 undefeated performance on their home turf. Taber played in all twelve games, recording 4 total tackles.

Jerry Lyons didn’t see any action his freshman year at Southwestern College football, but the Moundbuilders finished the season 6-5 overall and 5-5 in conference.

Payton Scott took a redshirt his freshman year at the University of Central Oklahoma, but the football team went 8-4 overall, 7-4 in conference, and won the Heart of Texas Bowl.

Golf

University of Denver golfer Carson Griggs cracked the starting lineup this season as a true freshman and helped his team to a Summit League Conference Championship with a sixth place finish out of 44 golfers. The Pioneers concluded their season Wednesday with a 12th place finish at the NCAA Stanford Regional.

Griggs placed 54th out of 96 at the Ram Masters Invitational, helping his team to a 4th place finish. He was first on his team and 13th out of 100 at the William H. Tucker Invitational. He was second on his team and 31st of 84 at the Bayou City Collegiate Tournament. He placed 30th of 90 at the Ping Cougar Classic, 67th of 75 at Regionals, 68th of 72 at the Paintbrush Invitational, 84th of 112 at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational, and 101st of 120 at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate Classic. 

Rowing

University of Oklahoma senior Hannah Hammond was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rowing Team.

Soccer

1991 grad Roger Bush led the Oral Roberts University Women to an 8-12 record. Junior Brooklyn Eardley played eight games and recorded one assist.

1999 grad Ryan Bush led the Oral Roberts University Men to a 6-7-3 record.

2012 grad Tyler McIntosh led the Midwest City Boys to a 2-12 record.

2010 grad Aaron McIntosh led the Mingo Valley Boys to a Heartland Christian Athletic Association Conference Championship in his first year as Head Coach.

Junior Kayla Foster played seven games this past season at Missouri University of Science and Technology, scoring one goal and one assist. The Miners went 4-11-1 overall and 3-9-1 in conference.

Megan Deshazo (sophomore) and Emma Peak (freshman) helped the Northern Oklahoma College (Tonkawa) team to an 8-7-1 overall record and 7-5-1 conference performance this season. Deshazo was named Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year and made the NJCAA All-Region team, leading the team in total scoring with eight goals and three assists. Deshazo is signed to play for Southwestern Christian University next season. Peak scored one goal and two assists.

Oklahoma City University freshman Abigail Banks only got to play one game this season, due to sharing the lineup with an All-Conference goalie. The Stars went 11-3-2 overall and 6-1-1 for second in conference.

Redlands Community College and sophomore Brooklyn Turner went 9-6-2 this season. Turner saw action in twelve games.

Tennis

Assistant Coach Peter McCorkle (C/o 2005) helped the Oral Roberts men’s team to a 6-12

Track and Field

Colby Community College freshman Ian Baustert finished 27th in the 800 meter run at the NJCAA Region VI Track Championships with a time of 2:09.10 last week. Earlier this season he set 4:28.77 PR in the 1500.

Grand Canyon University sophomore Cheyenne Walden finished the season 6th in the 3K Steeplechase in 11:12.13 and 23rd in the 5K run in 18:47.24 at the Western Athletic Conference Championships. Over the course of the season she set PRs of 4:45.56 in the 1500 run, 5:22.13 in the one-mile, 10:17.49 in the 3k, 17:10.40 in the 5K, and 10:54.11 in the 3K Steeple. She also won the NAU Friday Night Duals one-mile run in the season-opener, placed second in the 3K Steeple at the Aztec Invitational, and broke the school’s 5K record.

Volleyball

Kansas State sophomore Gloria Mutiri had a remarkable season this past fall, earning a multitude of accolades. She was twice named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week, made the All-Big 12 Rookie Team, and was a second team All-Big 12 selection. The American Volleyball Coaches Association selected her for the All-Midwest Region First Team, named her Midwest Freshman of the Year, and gave her an All-American Honorable Mention.

Mutiri finished the season with 271 kills, 3 assists, 15 aces, 192 digs, and 67 blocks in 98 sets. The Wildcats went 15-12 overall and 5-11 in Big 12 action. They will be taking a nine-day trip to Brazil later this month to play a series of exhibition matches in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Labette freshman Kylie Taylor recorded 2 assists, 2 aces, and 44 digs in 34 sets, helping the Cardinals to an 8-22 record.

Wrestling

Oklahoma State redshirt freshman Daton Fix won the first 26 matches of his career and went 35-2 overall this season, picking up titles at the Oklahoma City Open, the Reno Tournament of Champions, the Southern Scuffle, and the Big 12 Conference Tournament. His only losses came to All-Americans and he placed second at the NCAA Tournament.

UCO redshirt junior Cody Karstetter went 1-0 in his debut season with the Bronchos, winning an 8-3 decision in a dual with Fort Hays State.

Class of 2019 signs 23 college letters of intent

Nine more athletes from the Charles Page High School Class of 2019 signed collegiate letters of intent recently, bringing the school’s grand total to 23 thus far. Six baseball players, five softball players, four track and field athletes, three basketball players, two football players, one wrestler, one cheerleader, and one tennis player are headed to the next level.

Riley Weir signed to wrestle with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami. The community college competes in the NJCAA and owns three team National Titles. They finished last season second in the National Tournament under Head Coach Joe Renfro (174-34-3).

Weir missed the post-season of his senior year due to injury, but finished his high school career as a two-time State Champion with a 108-34 record, 49 pins, 10 technical falls, and 16 major decisions. He also holds the school record for fastest technical fall at 1:48.

Aden Baughman signed with the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and will compete at the NCAA Division I level in track and field and cross country in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons placed fourth at their recent Conference meet

Baughman holds twenty individual titles, including two 6A State Championships in the 800-meter run. He holds personal records of 49.12 in the 300 hurdles, 50.13 in the 400 dash, 1:53.16 in the 800, 4:30.42 in the 1600, and 10:48.89 in the 3200.

Mitchell Mefford signed with the Oral Roberts University Track and Field Team and will be throwing Discus and Shot Put. Mefford ended his high school career with four Discus titles, including the 6A State Championship, and a personal best mark of 159’01.00”. In Shot Put his PR is 41’10.50.”

ORU is a private university in Tulsa, competing at the NCAA Division I level in the Summit League conference. The men’s team placed fourth in this season’s Conference Meet. They are led by Joe Dial in 24th year as Head Coach.

Jacob Smith signed with Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Smith will run track and cross country with the Bees, competing in the NAIA Sun Conference. Smith holds a 3200 meter PR of 10:22.07 and a 1600 PR of 4:39.94. He holds two individual track titles.

Sara Abbet signed with the track and cross country teams at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma. Abbet holds personal records of 3:12.32 in the 800, 6:28.9 in the 1600, 13:49.23 in the 3200, and 23:21.6 in the 5K. SNU is led by 15th-year Head Coach Billy Miller and competes at the NCAA Division 2 level in the Great American Conference.

Ben Banker signed with the Eastern Oklahoma State College baseball team, joining teammates John Miller and Tyler Ash, who signed earlier this year. Banker finished his high school pitching career with a 2.03 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, and 7-2 record in 51.2 innings.

EOSC is a public community college in Wilburton competing in the NJCAA. Matt Parker (349-133) took the reigns this year after seven winning seasons at Oklahoma Wesleyan. The Mountaineers just finished the season with a 24-22 record, falling in the first round of the Region Two playoffs.

Abbie White signed with the Northern Oklahoma College Cheer team. NOC is a public community college in Tonkawa. The Mavericks are coached by Karri Morrill in her twelfth season. In February they won the Small Two-Year College Co-Ed Title at the United Spirit Association Collegiate Championships in Anaheim, California.

JT Bristow recently signed to play football at Lyon College. Lyon is a private Presbyterian college in Batesville, Arkansas, competing in the NAIA and American Midwest Conference. The Scots went 4-7 last season under first-year head coach Casey Creehan. Primarily an offensive lineman, Bristow also recorded 22 tackles and one offensive fumble recovery last season.

Logan Bateman recently signed with the Oklahoma Baptist University tennis team. Bateman is a #1 Singles State Qualifier, with a season-best performance of second place at the Bartlesville Invitational. OBU is a private NCAA Division Two university in Shawnee, competing in the Great American Conference. The Bison went 6-13 this season in duals, led by first-year head coach Jason Proctor.

SEE RELATED:
CPHS Baseball: Kyler Copeland signs with College of the Ozarks
CPHS Baseball: Cal Watkins signs with Seminole State College
CPHS Baseball: Cale Savage signs with Northern Oklahoma College
CPHS Baseball: Tyler Ash & John Miller sign with Eastern Oklahoma State College
CPHS Softball: Madelyn Blair signs with University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
CPHS Softball: Cameron Clemons signs with Northeastern State University
CPHS Softball: Elizabeth Luttrell signs with Cowley County College
CPHS Softball: Kimi Presnell signs with Rogers State University
CPHS Softball: Jacie Taber signs with Missouri State University
CPHS Basketball: Destiny Johnson signs with University of Tulsa
CPHS Basketball: Holly Kersgieter signs with University of Kansas
CPHS Basketball: Isabella Regalado signs with Northeastern State University
CPHS Football: Caden Pennington commits to Northeastern State University

Megan Deshazo signs LOI to play college soccer at Northern Oklahoma College

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Seven Sand Springs High School students signed letters-of-intent Wednesday morning in the Ed Dubie Field House, bringing the grand total of college-bound athletes from the Class of 2017 to fourteen.

Sand Springs has two softball players, two cross-country runners, two baseball players, one basketball player, three football players, one volleyball player, and two soccer players all headed to the next level.

Megan Deshazo accepted a soccer scholarship to Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa. The Tonkawa Mavericks participate in the NJCAA and are coached by Juan de Dios Castillo. They finished the 2016 season with a 19-2-1 record and fell in the second round of the District Tournament. Deshazo scored a team-high 13 goals in the 2016 season with a hat trick against East Central and a double-hat trick against Putnam City North. She was the CPHS Offensive MVP and the 2016 Sandite Pride Offensive Player of the Year. The Lady Sandites went 9-6 last season.