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Pitching with a purpose
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| Flintridge Prep junior pitching standout Lydia Kay. (ALEX COLLINS/News-Press) |
Burgeoning Flintridge Prep junior hoping to help Rebels earn a league co-championship
Before she even stepped foot on the Flintridge Prep campus as a student, Lydia Kay made a decision that would dramatically impact the Rebels softball program for several seasons to come.
Kay took the initiative to become a pitcher and three years later, the Rebels are thankful she did.
“In eighth grade, I heard our high school team wasn’t going to have a pitcher and I hadn’t heard of anyone coming in who was going to pitch either,” said Kay, a junior who is in the midst of her third varsity season. “So I just started pitching on my own with my dad and then I got a pitching coach and I’ve been going to him ever since. ...I just knew that without a pitcher, our team wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere and I wanted to be part of helping our team kind of be something.”
Kay and the Rebels are certainly part of something now.
After two straight sub-.500 seasons, Flintridge Prep (12-6, 8-3 in league) has flourished this year and is in the thick of a heated race for the Prep League championship.
Despite dropping a 10-2 decision to Pasadena Poly (12-9, 9-2) on Wednesday, the Rebels get another shot at the Panthers today at 3:30 p.m. at Poly. A victory by Prep would give the Rebels a share of the league championship and would represent exactly how far the team’s core has come in three seasons.
“The first two years were kind of like developing and training, but we knew by junior year that we would have worked so hard and it all would have paid off,” said Kay, who was one of nine freshman players on varsity two seasons ago.
Any good softball team needs a steady force in the circle each and every game and Kay has developed into that for the Rebels.
She owns a 10-5 overall record this season, 7-3 in league, while compiling a 2.38 earned run average.
Kay has lived up to her last name by striking out 88 batters in 85 innings, including a season-high 11 strikeouts against Webb on April 8. Opposing batters are managing to hit at just a .216 clip.
“Lydia took it upon herself and became a pitcher,” said Rebels Coach Julie Jaime, whose first season piloting Prep coincided with Kay’s freshman season. “She’s been doing a great job since. She takes lessons, works hard.”
One of the biggest area’s Kay has tried to work on is her control. Walks can lead to big innings and limiting the number of baserunners she allows has been a top priority this season.
“I hate walking people,” said Kay, who has issued 40 free passes this season. “That’s one of the main things I’m trying to cut down on this year and I have, which is one of the things making the major difference, at least for me.”
The southpaw’s consistency and knack for getting the big out in pressure-packed situations has been instrumental in the Rebels already securing a spot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. The Rebels will find out their playoff seeding when the pairings are announced on Monday.
“She definitely keeps on improving,” said shortstop Alina Khodadian of Kay. “I think that makes all of us work hard. We wouldn’t be anything without a solid pitcher, so I mean Lydia is the starting point for all of our success.”
The Rebels’ road to success hasn’t been without its share of potholes. Prep combined to win just five league games in the two years prior to this, but the experience and lessons learned along the way appear to be paying dividends.
“As juniors, they’ve been there and made the mistakes and they know how to overcome them,” Jaime said of her core of players, who have been with her since their freshman season. “They have the maturity to handle situations better.”
One of the areas where that maturity shines through is in the field. The Rebels have worked hard to shore up a defense that was shaky last season.
“The defense is helping out a lot more, not to mention the offense,” Jaime said. “Last year we were averaging close to six errors [a game]. This year our defense has been able to back her up.”
Also lending Kay a supporting hand has been the Rebels’ potent lineup. Prep is averaging almost nine runs a game this season, which has helped ease some of the pressure on Kay.
“Our whole lineup is strong, one through nine,” Kay said. “Every time we go up to bat I know something good is going to happen.”
Proving her talents aren’t limited to pitching, Kay is getting it down with the bat this season too.
After not hitting at all in her freshman year due to a back injury, Kay has blossomed into a threat at the plate. She is hitting .333 with 12 runs batted in and is in the top three on the team in on-base percentage (.475) and walks (12).
While Kay’s hitting has been a big boost, it’s pitching where her presence has been felt the most.
As she trots out to take her spot in the circle for today’s season finale against Poly, Kay will have the chance to pitch her team to a championship — just the way she envisioned it when she decided to become a pitcher three years ago.
Kay took the initiative to become a pitcher and three years later, the Rebels are thankful she did.
“In eighth grade, I heard our high school team wasn’t going to have a pitcher and I hadn’t heard of anyone coming in who was going to pitch either,” said Kay, a junior who is in the midst of her third varsity season. “So I just started pitching on my own with my dad and then I got a pitching coach and I’ve been going to him ever since. ...I just knew that without a pitcher, our team wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere and I wanted to be part of helping our team kind of be something.”
Kay and the Rebels are certainly part of something now.
After two straight sub-.500 seasons, Flintridge Prep (12-6, 8-3 in league) has flourished this year and is in the thick of a heated race for the Prep League championship.
Despite dropping a 10-2 decision to Pasadena Poly (12-9, 9-2) on Wednesday, the Rebels get another shot at the Panthers today at 3:30 p.m. at Poly. A victory by Prep would give the Rebels a share of the league championship and would represent exactly how far the team’s core has come in three seasons.
“The first two years were kind of like developing and training, but we knew by junior year that we would have worked so hard and it all would have paid off,” said Kay, who was one of nine freshman players on varsity two seasons ago.
Any good softball team needs a steady force in the circle each and every game and Kay has developed into that for the Rebels.
She owns a 10-5 overall record this season, 7-3 in league, while compiling a 2.38 earned run average.
Kay has lived up to her last name by striking out 88 batters in 85 innings, including a season-high 11 strikeouts against Webb on April 8. Opposing batters are managing to hit at just a .216 clip.
“Lydia took it upon herself and became a pitcher,” said Rebels Coach Julie Jaime, whose first season piloting Prep coincided with Kay’s freshman season. “She’s been doing a great job since. She takes lessons, works hard.”
One of the biggest area’s Kay has tried to work on is her control. Walks can lead to big innings and limiting the number of baserunners she allows has been a top priority this season.
“I hate walking people,” said Kay, who has issued 40 free passes this season. “That’s one of the main things I’m trying to cut down on this year and I have, which is one of the things making the major difference, at least for me.”
The southpaw’s consistency and knack for getting the big out in pressure-packed situations has been instrumental in the Rebels already securing a spot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. The Rebels will find out their playoff seeding when the pairings are announced on Monday.
“She definitely keeps on improving,” said shortstop Alina Khodadian of Kay. “I think that makes all of us work hard. We wouldn’t be anything without a solid pitcher, so I mean Lydia is the starting point for all of our success.”
The Rebels’ road to success hasn’t been without its share of potholes. Prep combined to win just five league games in the two years prior to this, but the experience and lessons learned along the way appear to be paying dividends.
“As juniors, they’ve been there and made the mistakes and they know how to overcome them,” Jaime said of her core of players, who have been with her since their freshman season. “They have the maturity to handle situations better.”
One of the areas where that maturity shines through is in the field. The Rebels have worked hard to shore up a defense that was shaky last season.
“The defense is helping out a lot more, not to mention the offense,” Jaime said. “Last year we were averaging close to six errors [a game]. This year our defense has been able to back her up.”
Also lending Kay a supporting hand has been the Rebels’ potent lineup. Prep is averaging almost nine runs a game this season, which has helped ease some of the pressure on Kay.
“Our whole lineup is strong, one through nine,” Kay said. “Every time we go up to bat I know something good is going to happen.”
Proving her talents aren’t limited to pitching, Kay is getting it down with the bat this season too.
After not hitting at all in her freshman year due to a back injury, Kay has blossomed into a threat at the plate. She is hitting .333 with 12 runs batted in and is in the top three on the team in on-base percentage (.475) and walks (12).
While Kay’s hitting has been a big boost, it’s pitching where her presence has been felt the most.
As she trots out to take her spot in the circle for today’s season finale against Poly, Kay will have the chance to pitch her team to a championship — just the way she envisioned it when she decided to become a pitcher three years ago.
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