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Ray High Bearcats
The Ray softball team handily defeated rival Hayden in last Tuesday’s season-opener, cruising to a 10 – 0 shutout win.
Senior Stormee Galka earned the complete-game shutout victory, allowing only two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.
Galka, a Maryville University commit, was also 1-for-3 at the plate.
“We played solid all the around,” Ray head coach Rikki Galka told the Copper Basin News after the game. “The pitching and fielding was good and our hitting started slow but it came around.”
The game was scoreless for the first two innings before the Lady Cats scored a run in the fourth and added two more in the fifth. They broke the game open with a seven-run fifth inning to put the game away.
Sophomore Janae Ruiz had three hits, including a triple and drove in a run. Freshman Tara Lorona went 1-for-2 with three RBI. Junior Dani Montano hit an RBI-double in the win.
Lorona is one of five talented freshmen on this year’s Bearcats team that figures to be a state title contender.
“This is probably the best team I’ve ever coached,” Rikki Galka said. “The freshmen really help us a deep team.”
Upcoming schedule: The following games are all part of the Salt River-Chandler Prep Softball Classic: Mar. 17 vs. Northland Prep at Arizona Lutheran Academy (1 p.m.) and Mar. 18 vs. AZ Lutheran at AZ Lutheran Academy (9 a.m.), and Mar. 18 vs. Antelope at AZ Lutheran Academy (3 p.m.).
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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