Grant Gordon
A bad beginning and a likewise lackluster conclusion spelled the end
for Flintridge Prep's baseball team.
Such was the case on Wednesday as the visiting Rebels lost to
archrival Pasadena Poly, 9-3, but it could've also been the summary
for the season series, which the Panthers swept 3-0 with their latest
Prep League win.
"[Losing to] your archrival, it's a bitter taste," Rebels'
assistant coach David Lovejoy said.
*--*
BOX SCORE
*--*
*--*
Flintridge Prep 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 -- 3 4 1
Pasadena Poly 5 0 0 0 1 3 x -- 9 7 1
*--*
*--*
Flintridge Prep IP R ER H BB K
Johnson 4 6 6 4 5 1
Stein 2 3 2 3 1 3
Totals 6 9 8 7 6 4
*--*
*--*
Pasadena Poly IP R ER H BB K
Feess 5 3 2 3 3 8
Rasmussen 2 0 0 1 0 4
Totals 7 3 2 4 3 12
*--*
*--*
WP - Feess (5-1).
LP - Johnson (0-1).
2B - FP Raines, Armand.
3B - PP-Feess.
HR - FP- Rodli (2).
SB - FP- Stein, Armand; PP- Strong, Rodriguez.
*--*
"You gotta take your hats off to Poly, they made the plays and we
didn't. That's what separates the league champs from the also-rans."
The Panthers (12-3, 7-2) are still in the thick of the league
title hunt with Rio Hondo Prep, while Wednesday's loss has the Rebels
(11-6, 6-4) resigned to the sanctuary of a CIF postseason berth that
was clinched on Tuesday with an 8-4 win against Chadwick.
Flintridge Prep's ominous outset came when Rebel starter Alex
Johnson walked the first four Panthers he faced.
In all, Johnson's opening-stanza rollercoaster saw 43 pitches,
four walks, two hits, one balk and five runs.
"He just had a hard time getting settled," Lovejoy said of Johnson
(0-1). "Once he settled down, we were OK."
Johnson faced the minimum nine batters over the next three innings
-- aided mightily by an unassisted double-play gem via second baseman
Mark Chodas.
It enabled the Rebels to get back in the game, thanks to a mighty
swing from clean-up batter Mark Rodli.
With Matt Stein and Scott Hofer on base and one out in the fourth,
Rodli laced a shot to right-center field for a three-run home run.
The home run cut Pasadena Poly's lead to 5-3.
From there, however, the Rebels' clutch hitting ceased.
"We had a nice big inning, but their pitchers toughened up,"
Lovejoy said.
Flintridge Prep stranded four runners in all, two of them in
scoring position. Its biggest problem, though, came in putting the
ball in play. In the Panthers' 7-3 win on Saturday, Pasadena Poly's
Rob Rasmussen struck out 18 Rebels. In a relief effort on Wednesday,
Rasmussen combined with starter Tim Feess to strike out 12.
The Panthers, ranked ninth in CIF Southern Section Division VI,
put the game out of reach with a three-run sixth inning.
* GRANT GORDON covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3225
or by e-mail at grant.gordon@latimes.com.
