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The top-ranked and defending State Champion Ray softball team defeated No. 2-ranked Superior last Friday, 10 – 4.
The teams played three times this season with Ray sweeping Superior, which accounted for three of the Lady Panthers’ five losses.
Ray, the 1A East Region Champions, improved to 19 – 3 with last Friday’s win and Superior ended its regular season at 13 – 5.
In Friday’s win, the Lady Cats pounded out 15 hits, including three apiece by Dani Montano and Julie Meza, who also drove in three runs. Amee Kenyon, Ema Alverado and Daniella Hinojos each had two hits in the win.
Hinojos, the Lady Cats’ ace, won her 19th game of the year, throwing a five-hit complete game in which she allowed only one earned run with nine strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Superior, which held an early 2 – 0 lead after two innings, was led by Alicia Arriola, who went 2-for-2 with a triple and a homerun. The junior drove in two runs and scored another. Naomi Hing was 3-for-3 with a double and a triple in the loss.
Arriola took a tough-luck loss and was the victim of seven unearned runs scored by Ray. She fanned three and gave up a walk in the complete-game performance.
A fourth matchup between the teams will likely be in the making once the playoffs start on Apr. 29 at the Rose Mofford Softball Complex.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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