Sandites take second at Wooden Bat Tournament

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (19-7) made their way to the finals of the Sand Springs/Broken Arrow Wooden Bat Tournament with wins over Sapulpa and Muskogee, and drew first blood against Broken Arrow, but the Tigers (19-8) racked up a 6-1 lead by the bottom of the fourth and held on for the win. 

Josh Cordell (2-2) picked up the loss on the mound, giving up six hits and two walks for six runs and two earned runs. Conner Dennis (1-0) and Brock Youngblood (3-0) each took turns on the mound for one inning each and didn't give up any hits or runs, but were unable to sway the tide of the game in the Sandites' favor. 

Keaton Stamp pitched a no-hitter in the first inning for the Tigers. Brady Bean singled and survived four pickoff attempts before finally being caught stealing by Joey Montgomery to end the inning.

Malachi Walton scored on a Hunter Greathouse sacrifice in the top of the second, but Treyce and Trevor Tolbert both flied out to center field to end the inning with Tyler McCallie stranded on third after a double. 

The bottom of the second is what did the Sandites in. Devon Johnson singled and the bases were loaded as Cordell walked Mack Chambers and Drew Lowe. Kade Goines reached third on an error by McCallie, allowing all three runners to score. Austin Hulet sacrificed to score Goines and the Tigers took a 4-1 lead.

Josh Taber reached on an error in the top of the third but was caught stealing. Bean scored for Broken Arrow in the bottom on a steal of home. The Tigers pitched a no hitter in the top of the fourth, then added to their lead on a Goines sacrifice that scored Chambers. 

Neither team managed a hit in the fifth, through Broken Arrow did strand a walker. Finally, the Sandites began to rally in the top of the sixth with singles from Taber and Rhett Rutledge. Jake Ward was hit by pitch to load the bases and Montgomery scored two on a double. Treyce Tolbert batted in Ward on a fielder's choice that outed Montgomery at third, and McCallie was outed at first on a dropped third strike to end the inning 6-4.

Youngblood pitched a no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth, but Jon Gilton retaliated with a no-hitter in the top of the seventh to secure the victory and the tournament championship. 

Sand Springs will return to action Monday at 6:00 pm at Union (11-9), whom they've already defeated once this season in a close 7-6 thriller at the Bixby Tournament. 

Fantastic performance from Rutledge not enough to hold off Bartlesville upset

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Bartlesville Bruins (5-17) dropped losses to Bixby and Broken Arrow on day one of the Sand Springs/Broken Arrow Wooden Bat Tournament, but pulled out a surprising come-from-behind upset over their hosts in Sand Springs.

The Sandites (19-6) claimed a two-run lead twice in the affair, and twice gave up four-run innings to their challenger. Rhett Rutledge (1-1) got his first loss on the mound this season, giving up four hits, four runs, and four walks, but struck out four and none of the runs were earned. Joey Montgomery (1-2) got the start on the mound and pitched into the fourth inning before being relieved with the game tied 2-2. Trevor Doyle got the win for Bartlesville, who went through four pitchers in the affair.

Montgomery struck out one and pitched a no-hitter in the first and the Sandites took the lead as Rutledge tripled and scored on a balk. Montgomery only gave up one hit in the second and two in the third, but neither scored. Again, it was Rutledge with a run in the bottom in the third, singling and being brought in on a Tyler McCallie walk on loaded bases. 

In the top of the fourth, Bartlesville took their first lead as Zac Boyes and Tate Holman were each hit by pitch. Pierson Lavery sacrificed to bring in Boyes and Holman scored on a single by Derek Hill to tie it up. Montgomery walked one more and Rutledge took over on the mound. Garrett Meidl singled to score Hill and Zach Snow for the 4-2 advantage.

Bartlesville pitched their first no-hitter in the bottom of the fourth and continued to get on base in the top of the fifth with two walks and a single, but failed to score. University of Oklahoma-commit Jake Terry singled, stole second and third, then scored on an error to make it 4-3.

Rutledge had a great inning pitching in the sixth, striking out three and only giving up a single, and the Sandites capitalized on it, reclaiming their lead 6-3. Rutledge doubled to score Ty Fain and Josh Taber, then scored on a passed ball. 

The Bruins won it in the top of the seventh, however, as AJ Archambo walked and Boyes reached first on catcher's interference. Rutledge put out courtesy runner Lukas Rietfors at second on a fielder's choice that allowed Tate Holman to reach first. Doyle reached on a error at short stop to score Archambo. Lavery struck out, but Hill was intentionally walked to load the bases, then Snow walked to score Tate. Meidl singled to score Doyle and Hill advanced to home on a throw before the Sandites finally came in to bat.

Treyce Tolbert and McCallie were both put out, but Trevor Tolbert doubled, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on an error to make it 8-7. Ty Fain advanced as far as third and it looked like the Sandites would tie it, but Doyle struck out Taber to fend off the rally. 

Sandite Baseball wins fifth straight with 8-2 victory over Sapulpa; Brock Youngblood undefeated on the mound

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (19-5) is on a roll after winning their last five games by a combined score of 59 to 10. Sophomore pitcher Brock Youngblood is 3-0 on the mound and has only allowed three earned runs total in games where he started. 

The Sapulpa Chieftains (2-13) have dropped three games against their Highway 97 rivals this season. In week one the Sandites won 7-2, followed by an 11-3 victory last week. 

Youngblood was a machine, pitching no-hitters in the first and second innings with strikeouts in each, before Sapulpa finally found base in the top of the third. Cale Collins singled to left field, advanced to second on an error, then came home on another for the 1-0 lead. Sand Springs had managed two walks and a single in the bottom of the second, but stranded all three. Jarrett Dilley scored a runner on a sacrifice to make it 2-0.

Sand Springs retaliated quickly, however, scoring seven runs on three walks and three hits in the bottom of the same inning. Jake Ward doubled to score Jacob Taber and Rhett Rutledge, then came home on a single by Treyce Tolbert that also scored Ty Fain. Trevor Tolbert batted in Hunter Greathouse and Treyce Tolbert and made it all the way to home on a series of errors.

The final run of the game came from Ward who doubled and was batted in by Greathouse. 

In all, Youngblood threw 73% strikes for four strikeouts and only four hits. He gave up two runs, but both were unearned.

The Sandites will next play Bartlesville (5-17) in the third round of the Wooden Bat Tournament at 6:00 pm Friday evening. Saturday at noon they'll meet up with the Bixby Spartans (21-5) who they have a 2-2 record against this season, beating them once at home and once at the Spartans' own tournament, in the championship round. 

Muskogee can't get away from Sand Springs, dropping three straight by a combined 43-1

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Muskogee Roughers (2-18) are probably wishing they were in a different district by this point. The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team (18-5) warmed up Monday night at home with a 3-0 shutout of Muskogee, completely annihilated them 32-1 Tuesday night in Muskogee, then finished off the series with an 8-0 shutout Thursday afternoon at the Sand Springs/Broken Arrow Wooden Bat Tournament.

Sophomore Conner Dennis (1-0) made his first trip to the mound this season and made an excellent debut, throwing 67% strikes and giving up just a single hit, one walk, and four strikeouts. Josh Taber led the offense for the Sandites, scoring three runs on four plate appearances.

The lone hit of the night for Muskogee came on the second pitch of the game. Muskogee pitcher Ke'shawn Ballard, who got the loss on the mound, connected for a single into left field, but was ultimately stranded on second.

Taber connected for a lead off single in the bottom of the first and scored on a passed ball along with Rhett Rutledge. Treyce Tolbert sacrificed to score Jake Ward and Malachi Walton scored on an error for a 4-0 lead.

Dennis struck out Corey Landrum in the second, Landrum and Karrington Ashley in the fifth, and Mathis Givens in the sixth. The lone walk was Riley Foster who was hit by pitch in the sixth.

Malachi Walton ran courtesy for Joey Montgomery in the bottom of the third, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a balk. Mack Thompson singled in the fourth, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a sacrifice by Rhett Rutledge, and scored on a passed ball with Ward at bat. Ward reached on an error to score Taber, who walked. 

Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, Taber walked yet again. He stole second, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a hit by Ward for the game-wining run-rule. This marked the fourth straight win for Sand Springs.

Sandite Baseball hammers Muskogee 32-1; Terry, Rutledge, and McCallie hit homers

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (17-5) hammered the Muskogee Roughers (2-16) 32-1 in the highest-scoring game in years for the Sandites. Josh Cordell (2-1) got the win on the mound, striking out twelve, walking none, and allowing only one unearned run over five innings. 

Sand Springs scored 18 runs in the first inning alone, putting the game in the bag before a Rougher had even stepped on plate. The run-rule doesn't kick in till the fifth inning so there was nothing Muskogee could do to end the slaughter. 

Leading the scoring onslaught was Rhett Rutledge with 4 runs, 4RBI, and 3 hits.

Josh Taber and Rutledge scored first, each on passed balls. Jake Ward doubled and scored on a Treyce Tolbert single. Malachi Walton came home on a throw, Tyler McCallie singled in Hunter Greathouse, Jake Terry walked in Tolbert for a 6-0 lead and the Sandites rounded out the batting order before the Roughers managed their first out. 

Rutledge sacrificed to score McCallie, Ward singled in Tolbert, Terry score on a passed ball, Tolbert singled in Ward and Walton, and Greathouse scored on a passed ball. McCallie homered in Treyce Tolbert, Terry homered in Trevor Tolbert, and Rutledge homered in Taber for the 18-0 lead before the inning finally came to a close.

Cordell struck out the side in the bottom of the first, and the Sandites were at it again, scoring three in the top of the second. McCallie singled in Greathouse, Terry doubled in Treyce Tolbert, and Taber sacrificed to score McCallie to make it 21-0.

The lone Rougher run of the game came in the bottom of the second. Cordell struck out Mathis Givens and Riley Foster, but gave up singles to Cale Hutchens and Corey Landrum. Karrington Ashley reached on an error to score Hutchens, but was put out at second on a fielders' choice on the next hit.

Ty Fain hit a sacrifice fly in the third to score Ward and Cordell struck out the side. Brock Youngblood batted in Riley Rutledge on a single in the fourth and Treyce Tolbert singled in Rhett Rutledge to make it 24-0. Cordell gave up two singles in the bottom of the fourth, but struck out two to strand the runners. 

The fifth inning was a well placed exclamation mark on an already incredible game. Youngblood singled in Mack Thompson, Montgomery walked in Kameron Adcock, Walton singled in Rhett Rutledge, Treyce Tolbert singled in Youngblood, Fain singled in Montgomery, Thompson walked in Walton, and Riley Rutledge rounded out the batting order and walked in Treyce Tolbert. Rhett Rutledge walked in Fain for the final run of the game to make it 32-1 and Cordell struck out two to bring the game to a close after five unbelievable innings. 

Sand Springs returns to the field Thursday at the Sand Springs Wooden Bat Tournament with two more games against the Roughers at 12:00 and 2:30, followed by Sapulpa at 5:00.