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Ray High Bearcats
The Ray baseball team won its first six games of the season despite losing a number of players to graduation and new head coach Frank Lechuga take over the program. The Cats suffered their first lost to Phoenix Christian in the Salt River/Chandler Prep tourney two weekends ago but followed with three-straight wins last week, including a 19 – 17 victory in eight innings against Superior last Wednesday.
Player of the Game Jordan Pace, a junior, went 4-for-6 with triple, a homerun, and eight RBI to lead the Bearcats. Younger brother Jaden Pace, a freshman, also had four hits and drove in two runs in the extra-inning win. Junior Brett Fackiner had two hits and two RBI. Austin Huffman, John Wernett and Anthony Lopez each had an extra-base hit in the game.
The Cats scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings before the Panthers took the lead with a run in the top of the eight. Jordan Pace provided the heroics in the bottom half of the eighth with a walk-off three-run homerun to end the game.
The Cats, now 9 – 2 on the season, are getting contributions from their entire roster, including a few freshmen.
Upcoming schedule: Mar. 29 vs. Am Leadership Academy, Mar. 31 at San Manuel, and Apr. 1 vs. Hayden. All games are scheduled for 4 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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