Flintridge Prep softball unable to sustain early lead
PASADENA — It was a promising start for the Flintridge Prep softball team.
Competing Monday afternoon in a Prep League game against Mayfield, the Rebels jumped out to a four-run lead in the top of the second inning.
However, that advantage didn’t last long. Flintridge Prep’s pitching faltered and the Cubs picked up their offense, resulting in a 15-5 five-inning loss for the Rebels at Brookside Park.
“I thought we were in a good position when we were able to get out to that early lead,” Rebels coach Julia Mejia said. “But then [Mayfield] started hitting the ball hard, they clutched up and they started doing the things that they needed to do.
“I give credit to the Mayfield hitters because they were able to put the ball in play and they put a lot of pressure on our defense. But we also didn’t make some of the key plays when we needed to, which helped them maintain their momentum.”
Flintritge Prep (1-4, 1-3 in league), which tied for fifth in league and didn’t qualify for the playoffs in 2017, scored a run in the top of the first inning with two outs. Emma Stellar (two for three with a double, run scored and run batted in) singled to left-center field and was plated by a double to left-center by Libby Penn.
After silencing the Cubs (7-2, 2-0) in the bottom of the first, the Rebels pushed across three runs in the top of the second to make it 4-0. Kate Huntley (two for three) singled to center and Madeline Montes (two for two with a walk and a run scored) singled just inside the bag at third. Natalie Dale followed with a bunt to the pitcher, who made a throwing error to third allowing Huntley to score. The next batter was Melissa Grande (two for three with a double, two RBI and a run scored), who blooped a base hit to shallow right field to score Montes and Dale.
“The girls do a really great job at staying up and they don’t get down when they fall behind,” Mayfield coach Barry Evans said. “This is our first game back after our break and we didn’t get much practice in last week.
“We started off kind of slow, but I was happy that were were able to pick it up. It is still a learning process for a lot of them and we’re just trying to help them be better players.”
Mayfield scored three runs in the bottom of the second to cut the Flintridge Prep lead to 4-3.
The Cubs took the lead for good in the third inning, scoring three runs on two hits while taking advantage of an error, a hit batsman and three wild pitches to take a 6-4 lead.
The Rebels got a run back in the fourth to make it 6-5. Grande doubled to right field and came around on a double to right by Stellar.
More Flintridge Prep miscues led to four Cubs runs in the fourth for a 10-5 lead.
Mayfield ended the game on the bottom of the fifth with five runs on one hit, two walks, one hit batsman, two wild pitches and one passed ball.
“Just being able to keep the ball in the zone more with our pitching would help us a lot,” Mejia said. “We did give them some extra bases and they helped them score some of those runs.”
Mayfield’s Julia Watson was two for three with two doubles, a walk, one RBI and two runs scored, while Alyssa Romo was hit by pitches three times and scored all three times.
