For the softball team from Santa Fe High, it was the close games it couldn’t close out. For La Mirada, close games at the end of the season were hard to come by.
Each lost Monday in the wild-card round of the CIF-SS playoffs, La Mirada 8-2 to San Clemente in Division 2 and Santa Fe 5-4 to Fullerton in Division 3. La Mirada ended its season on a five-game losing streak in which it allowed 41 runs. In their final six games of the season, the Matadores went 1-5 and gave up 54 runs, were shut out twice and were held to two runs or less four times.
Santa Fe’s 5-4 wild-card loss to Fullerton was its fourth in a row to close the season, all by one run. The Chiefs lost six one-run games this season and were beaten by three runs or less 10 times.
Monday’s loss marked the seventh time in the last eight years the Chiefs lost their playoff opener, most of those in the wild-card round.
“I call it the wild-card blues,” said Santa Fe coach Randi Berg.
Santa Fe finished the season as the third-place team in the Del Rio League at 5-5 and with a disappointing 11-18 overall record.
“It’s been a rough year all around,” Berg said. “We have a great team on paper, but I guess you can say we never really meshed.”
La Mirada entered the final week of Suburban League play tied for first place, but it was swept by league champ Cerritos and dropped to third going into the playoffs. A rash of late-season injuries didn’t help. The Matadores finished the season with an 18-12 overall mark.