by 
Copper Basin News
For much of the season, the Ray softball team sat at the top of the Division IV rankings from week to week. But as the regular season started to come to a close, there appeared to be a chink in their armor – defense. That “chink” proved to be too much to overcome in a 5 – 4 loss to eventual state champion Superior in last Friday’s quarterfinal game.
The Lady Cats committed six errors against the Panthers and trailed 5 – 1 heading into their last at-bat in the seventh inning.
Ray scored three runs in their half of the seventh, two of them coming an RBI hit by freshman Ema Alvarado. Junior Savannah Willis drove in another.
The Lady Cats had an opportunity to tie or perhaps win the game with tying and winning runs on base before the final out was made.
Ray head coach Rikki Galka knew her team couldn’t afford to continue the display of shoddy defense if it was to win the state championship. Still, she remained positive after the loss.
“We played as a team,” she told theCopper Basin News. “We just came up short.”
Junior starting pitcher Stormee Galka allowed two earned runs on only three hits in the complete-game outing. She struck out five and walked one. She also tried to help herself at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
Galka and Willis, two juniors, return next season and could be among the top players in the state. Add to that the experience a number of freshman received this season and the Lady Cats figure to be right back in the state title hunt a year from now.
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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