All in the family: Ayla Ray's heroics for Austintown Fitch softball bring back memories of her dad's big play

AKRON, Ohio – Austintown Fitch shortstop Ayla Ray raised the index finger of her right hand up in the air as she headed towards first base. The junior knew the ball she had just crushed was clearing the right field fence at Firestone Stadium to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead in the OHSAA Division I state championship game this past Saturday.

While Ayla was rounding the bases and her teammates were pouring out of the dugout to meet her at the plate, her father Renauld Ray was in the top row of the stands on the first base side trying to hold in his emotions.

“It's just a beautiful situation, and I'm so happy for her,” Renauld Ray said.

But it was easy for anyone who knows Renauld’s story to instantly ask him one question – was he more emotional during Ayla’s home run trot or during his most well-known athletic achievement?

“I said coming in, I think I'm more nervous as a parent than as a kid,” Renauld Ray said. “And now I get it how when as a kid, my dad would be all excited about things and he'd be like, ‘Oh, you guys gave me a heart attack.’ And we would be like ‘we had it the whole time, what are you talking about?’

“But now when you're up in the stands, you have no control over it. It's just a situation where all you can do is just pray that what they have done over and over and over works in their favor.”

That athletic feat mentioned earlier for Renauld Ray?

In the 1997 college football Division I-AA national championship game, Youngstown State trailed McNeese State 9-3 in the fourth quarter. But quarterback Demond Tidwell found Ray for a touchdown that turned out to be the game-winner to give the Penguins and head coach Jim Tressel their fourth national championship in seven seasons.

The former wide receiver downplays his part in the sequence of events that led to him holding the ball in the endzone, however.

“I did nothing special,” Renauld Ray said. “I ran my route, the quarterback threw a good pass, the (offensive) line did a great job blocking and the center made a good quarterback-center exchange. All I had to do was my part and just catch the ball.”

It’s a play he hasn’t even talked to his daughter about, but he knows people around town have told Ayla about her dad’s heroics. What Renauld has told Ayla is more about the moment and how to be prepared to handle it.

“I talk to her more about the pressure of the situation and not letting the situation be too big for her,” Renauld said. “I didn’t tell her why I knew how not to let the situation be too big. But I tried to teach her to just play the game how it's supposed to be played and things are always going to turn out the right way.”

Not only is Ayla following in her dad’s footsteps by going to Youngstown State, but like father, like daughter, Ayla gave credit to her teammates for her big moment.

“It felt great knowing I was put in that situation for my team,” Ayla Ray said. “Their energy really built me up, and off the bat I knew that ball was gone.”

Ayla didn’t have to worry about the pressure of the moment because she had already put in the work to get herself prepared for when the opportunity presented itself.

“She did what her hitting coach teaches her to do and that is to just take nice level swings,” Renauld Ray said. “And I think the velocity of the pitcher’s pitch allowed her mechanics to take the ball where it went.”

After a rare strikeout in her first at-bat against Anthony Wayne pitcher Brooklyn Patchen, Ray made the necessary changes in her approach. In her next at-bat, she led off the third inning with a bunt single. And then in the fifth, she led off the Fitch half of the inning with the solo blast that gave the Falcons their first lead of the day, one they never relinquished in a 6-1 victory.

The success didn’t come as a surprise to Fitch head coach Steven Ward, as he has seen Ray come up big for his team numerous times.

“It sounds cliché when we talk about this team, but big players come up big in big moments,” Ward said. “And you talk about that situation, Ayla struggled her first at-bat and then bam. Because that’s what great players do, they make in-game adjustments.”

This season, Ray hit .534 with six homers, seven doubles, four triples, 19 RBIs and 34 runs scored out of the leadoff spot for the Falcons. It led to Ward heaping praise on his shortstop as they celebrated the state title.

“I want to say on the record, that Ayla is not only one of the best hitters in the state, I think she is one of the best hitters in the country," Ward said.

And she also has championship playmaking ability in her genes.