by 
Superior Sun
The Superior baseball team, with only four upperclassmen on the roster, is currently the 13th ranked team in most current AIA rankings. The Panthers wrapped up their regular season on Monday with a double-header versus Gilbert Classical Academy. The Panthers won the first game, 14 – 4.
Last week, the Panthers defeated Pima, 11 – 5, before losing at Ray last Friday, 12 – 2. In the win versus the Roughriders, Austin Navarrette, Edgar Galindo, and Matthew Zavala each had two hits. Zavala hit a double for one of his two hits. Senior Cesar Villalobos’ lone hit was a triple. Ricky Longoria had three RBI.
Longoria was the winning pitchers against Pima. He pitched 5-1/3 innings, allowing five runs on three hits and seven walk. He struck out seven. Freshman Edgar Galindo pitched 1-2/3 scoreless innings in relief. He recorded all five outs by strikeout.
After having only four wins last season, the Panthers put together, perhaps, one of the best single-season turnarounds this year. They’re likely to be rewarded with a berth in the playoffs. They’ll have to wait until Thursday’s release of the brackets to find out whom, when and where they will play next.
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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