Robson Ranch Raptors championship team
Paul Gayer
This year Robson Ranch Softball Club has three teams that compete in the Palm Creek Winter League. Playing in Division B is the RR Raptors, coached by Paul Lewinski. Every Tuesday and Thursday the team travels to Palm Creek to play against teams from Fiesta Grande/Sundance and the two teams from Palm Creek. As of this writing the team holds an impressive record of 7-2.
On February 5 and 6, Robson Ranch Raptors hosted a two-day softball tournament. Teams from Palm Creek and Fiesta Grande in Casa Grande; and View Point in Mesa, competed in the tournament; unfortunately, POW from Tucson had to withdraw at the last minute. The weather was perfect for all the players and spectators!
With the first day’s game record determining seeding for the championship games, the Raptors came on strong. Behind excellent pitching by John Sutton and Tony Hafer and great fielding by the players, the team won all three of the games. Palm Creek proved to be the toughest team, which Raptors beat 8-4; next came View Point, which the Raptors won by the 11-run mercy rule 15-4. The last game of the day the Raptors won 13-7 against Fiesta Grande.
The championship games were played on Saturday. First game of the day brought Fiesta Grande to the field against us. After seven innings and the scored tied, International Tie Breaking rules went into effect. Everyone was holding his breath as the winning run for us crossed home plate, winning the game 11-10. That set up the final game for the championship against Palm Creek. By a score of 11-7, Robson Ranch Raptors won the tournament with an impressive record of 5-0!
Thanks to Paul Lewinski who coached the team to victory, to all the volunteers who assisted in score keeping and announcing and to the fans who supported the team.