I met Larry Ray on a personal level many years ago when fate and the love of softball brought his daughter Bree and my daughter Brittney together as part of the Desert Thunder organization when the well-known club was in it’s infancy stages. The two would go on to win state championships playing softball for Canyon del Oro as slap hitters.
News started to slowly spread Wednesday that Larry had passed away the night before but the rumors became a sad reality when his son Taylor confirmed what we all had hoped was some sort of mistake. Taylor is in the process of contacting former softball players as he is putting together a memorial for his father.
A great athlete as a young man in high school and in college, Larry coached high school in Boulder City where he led his program to multiple state championships before becoming an assistant under Mike Candrea from 1986-1995. Ray is considered the “father’ of slap hitting and it was his expertise with the speed of left handed hitters that helped the Wildcats win championships in 1991, 1993 and 1994.
“Coach Ray was a big part of Arizona softball and when I spread the word with other teammates we were all devastated,” former pitcher, operations director and assistant coach Alicia Hollowell told AllSportsTucson. “He contributed so much to our time at Arizona. There are so many ‘Coach Ray’ stories and memories we share often when us alumni get together.”
Hollowell was the operations director when Ray departed from the program in 2012.
“Coach Ray always kept us on our toes. From the quick skipping ‘worm burner’ ground balls he would hit us at practice to the funny side comments or stories he would tell. Always lighthearted and fun,” Hollowell added.
Ray went on to start the Florida program in 1996 and he was successful from the beginning. He returned to Arizona in 2002 and he was the interim head coach in 2004 and again in 2008 when Candrea was called away to lead Team USA. Larry went on to coach at Nicholls State and Southern Utah and he returned to Tucson help coach the softball team at The Gregory School (making the playoffs in 2014) and he offered individual slapping lessons to the youth in our community.
Larry will be missed by the great softball community and by those who knew him and his family. We will update as more information becomes available.
Former Canyon del Oro and Arizona catcher Callista Balko Elmore added, “He was always so kind and approachable as a coach and person. I loved playing for him- he was so positive and encouraging. May he rest in peace. Many hearts are broken to hear this.”
Amy Chellevold-Hillenbrand, an Arizona Hall of Famer, mentioned on social media that Ray changed her life when she was with the Wildcats.
Ray discovered Chellevold-Hillenbrand at a high school softball tournament without knowing anything about her. She went to UC Santa Barbara to play volleyball, but after becoming disgruntled there, she transferred to Arizona to play softball for Candrea and Ray.
She became one of the best slap-hitters to play at Arizona, leaving with the school’s best career batting average, .415.
“Some people come in and out of our lives and don’t make an impact,” she stated. “Coach Larry Ray is one of those people who made an incredible impact, and I can say with complete certainty, completely changed my life.
“He is the reason I ended up at the University of Arizona. He saw something in me he was willing to take a gamble on and made me his project. I cannot thank him enough for his impact on the sport of softball, my life, and softball career. He will be sorely missed. My deepest condolences to the entire Ray family.”
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