Rebels come up short on the road

GLENDALE — Locked in a tight game, the Flintridge Prep softball team couldn’t capitalize when it needed to most in its attempt to pick up its first playoff victory since 2005.

The Rebels put some runners on base at key points, but couldn’t come through in a 4-1 loss to host Woodcrest Christian on Tuesday afternoon in a CIF Southern Section Division V wild-card contest.

Flintridge Prep, which advanced to the playoffs for the second consecutive year, stranded five. They had the tying run at the plate with two outs in the seventh, but didn’t convert.

“We put pressure back on them and we worked the count deep,” said Flintridge Prep fourth-year Coach Julie Jaime, whose team finished the season at 10-10. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t score there.”

The Rebels, who fell to Schurr in a first-round road contest last season, grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first. Stephanie Bathke led off with a triple and scored on a single to center by Lydia Kay.

Woodcrest Christian (16-9) knotted the game at 1 in the second before pushing across three runs in the fifth with two outs. Woodcrest Christian, which finished third in the Big Sky League, collected seven hits.

Flintridge Prep starting pitcher Denise van der Goot struck out 10 in her first playoff performance.

“I thought we played a good game,” said Jaime, who saw the Rebels collect five hits. “Woodcrest Christian comes from a good league.

“Denise did a nice job for us.”

Alina Khodadian finished with a team-best two hits for Flintridge Prep, which got one hit from Kate Beck and finished in third place in the Prep League behind Rio Hondo Prep and Mayfield. The Rebels ended the regular season winning four of their final five games.

Woodcrest Christian will face host Montebello in a first-round game at 3:15 p.m. Thursday.