Softball: Big week in Prep League action

Here's a breakdown of the Prep League this week, enjoy ....

Mayfield (5-1) - Certainly Mayfield has a shot to win the Prep League. Their next three games (Rio Hondo Prep, Poly and Flintridge Prep) will probably decide their fate in the Prep League this year. If they win all three, then I think they will win the Prep League outright. If they win 2 of 3 then they should at least tie for first. Anything other than that and they will need help. The only player out right now is Julie Monohan who would probably be the starting third baseman if she were healthy. She cracked a bone in her arm during the first weekend of the Downey Tournament and has been out ever since. She started at 3B pretty much all year last year for Mayfield. I am definitely worried about how they will play against Rio Hondo Prep on Tuesday as they haven't done much of anything last week.

Flintridge Prep (3-1) - League wise they have played everyone once except for Webb and Westridge - both of these games they should win easily, so I would put them in a tie with Mayfield. Flintridge Prep is pretty deep in the pitching area but weak at catcher. Their best pitcher is senior Lydia Kay who is also their best catcher. Their second pitcher is Denise Van Der Goot who is solid. One of the big advantages they have is that Lydia is a lefty and Denise is a righty, so they can mix things up if they need to. The player to watch for the future on this team is freshman Stephanie Bathke. Stephanie is an excellent athlete, very fast, good bat, decent pitcher, great center fielder.

Pasadena Poly (2-2) - They won the Prep League last year and only lost two players. The Latta sisters should be two of the best hitters in the league and they are a solid fielding team. At the beginning of the season I would have definitely picked them as one of the top teams and I expect that they will still be a contender for the top spot. They should beat Webb and Chadwick and finish the first half at 4-2 in league. I think it is possible they could win all six games in the second half of their league season, but the way they are playing that may be hard to justify. They looked very solid against Flintridge Prep last Tuesday, but not so much against South Pasadena when they were without their coach and several girls.

Rio Hondo Prep (4-2) - Last year, Mayfield beat them easily at the Rose Bowl field but lost to them on the road. Mayfield beat them at their field and got lucky because as RHP was starting to mount a comeback they were caught batting out of order, ending an inning where they had a bunch of momentum. They seem to be a solid hitting and fielding team that is very good when their pitcher is on and not nearly as good when she is off. They lost in close games to Mayfield and to Flintridge Prep and could easily content for the league championship if they can turn those losses around in the second half.

Chadwick (1-3) - Last year Mayfield split with them, winning at home and losing at Chadwick. This year Mayfield beat them 4-3 on a 7th inning run, but I don't think the game was that close. They have a tremendous amount of team speed, good solid defense and good hitting, but almost no pitching. Their pitcher doesn't walk many batters but she is throwing in the low to mid 40's. I am not sure how they won so many games at the beginning of the season, but my guess is that it is because of their team speed. They might sneak up on one of the top 4 and beat them, but I don't think they can contend for one of the top 4 spots.

Westridge (1-3) - They haven't played Flintridge Prep and Webb in league yet. Not sure how they did against Poly but I assume they lost. Westridge lost quite a bit with the graduation of their seniors last year. The only pitcher on their current roster is freshman Kelly Habib. Kelly works hard at her pitching and throws a lot of strikes, but is not very fast. Nicole Martel should be one of the best hitters in the league, but I haven't seen her stats. They don't have the defense or the team speed that Chadwick has or the hitting that any of the other teams have, so I think it will be a tough year for them.

Webb (0-12) - Webb went 0-12 in league last year and is probably destined to do the same again this year. I don't know much about their team except from playing them, but they don't seem to have any strengths except that they keep coming out to play and seem to have fun. They don't have stats or a roster on Max Preps.