| John Ray |
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2005 Division I All-Independent First-Team
2004 Division I All-Independent First-Team
In three years with the program, has proven to be one of the top home run hitters in the country, and one of the best in school history ... his 28 career home runs ranks fifth in Northern Colorado history ... averages a home run every 18.8 at-bats (526 at-bats/28 home runs) ... 526 career at-bats ranks sixth in school history ... holds the school record for home runs by a freshman (12) and shares the school record for at-bats in a game (7).
2006: Played in 50 games, starting 47, during his junior season ... started 43 times at catcher, twice at designated hitter and once each at first and third base ... remained an excellent defensive catcher, throwing out 19 runners who tried to steal against him, the fourth most among Division I Independent players, and had a .990 fielding percentage (only four errors in 335 chances) ... had seven at-bats against No. 29 Wichita State (May 10), which tied a school record ... struggled with his power all season long, hitting only five home runs, after double-digit round tripper totals his first two seasons ... finished strong, however, hitting two home runs in his final 10 games and was named to the All-Tournament team at the Division I Independent Invitational after going 7-for-18 (.389) with the two home runs and five RBI ... did not hit his first home run of the season until April 8 against South Dakota State; that was in his 94th at-bat of the season and dating back to 2005, marked a stretch of 103 at-bats without a home run (that blast in 2005 also came against SDSU) ... that was his longest career stretch without a home run (surpassing a 35 at-bat streak) ... needed only seven more at-bats to crank his second blast of the season, also against SDSU (Apr. 9) and then seven more at-bats to homer again (vs. Air Force on April 11) ... after his third home run of the season, went 73 more at-bats without a home run until homering against North Dakota State (May 18) in the opening game of the Division I Independent Invitational ... the next day he also homered against IPFW (May 19) ... was named D-I Independent Co-Player of the Week on April 11 after hitting .438 (7-for-16) with four runs, three doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage in games against Air Force and South Dakota State ... had a big two-run single in a four-run sixth inning as the Bears topped No. 2 Nebraska 5-2 on March 28 ... in 11 games against D-I Independent teams in 2006, hit .400 (18-for-45) with 13 runs, five doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI and a .822 slugging percentage ... had 12 multiple-hit and seven multiple-RBI games during the season ... was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI in a 10-2 victory over North Dakota State (May 18) at the D-I Independent Invite ... was 2-for-6 with two RBI against Nebraska-Kearney (Mar. 15) ... was 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, a double, triple and walk against Utah Valley State (Apr. 15) ... saw action at third base for the first in his college career against Lamar (Feb. 4).
2005: Division I All-Independent first-team selection ... played in 55 of 56 total games, starting 54 of those contests, 47 at catcher and seven at designated hitter ... was named the preseason D-I Independent Player of the Year by Baseball America ... batted 191 times, the 10th highest single-season total in school history ... despite struggling with his average, still had a great season as he led the team in home runs and walks, was second in doubles and RBI, third in runs and total bases and fourth in hits and committed only one error behind the plate in 260 chances (.996 fielding percentage) ... threw out 17 runners who attempted to steal ... ranked sixth among independents in home runs per game (0.20) ... hit .300 (12-for-40) with two home runs, 12 RBI and nine runs scored in 11 games against D-I Independents ... named D-I Independent Player of the Week twice during the season (March 29 & May 10) ... earned the award the first time after hitting .615 (8-for-13) with seven RBI in a three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; in that series had a two-run game-winning double in the eighth inning that capped a seven-run rally and helped turn the Bears season around (UNC was 18-13 after that game, only 4-21 before the contest) ... earned other Player of the Week honor after hitting .455 (5-for-11) with three runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a 1.182 slugging percentage in a three-game set with Southern Utah ... in that series with SUU, hit a game-tying solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning in the opener, as Bears overcame 8-0 deficit to win 9-8 in 10 innings; in second game of series smashed a the game-winning three-run blast in the Bears final at-bat in putting the Bears on top for good in a game they trailed 5-1 and won 8-5 ... has hit four home runs in two seasons against Southern Utah, with three of them being either game-winning or game-tying blasts ... hit-by-pitch to start 10th inning at Air Force (Apr. 19) and came around to score game-winning run; did not have a hit in that game but did score three times ... hit a fifth inning home run at Washington State (Mar.13), a blast that proved to be the game-winner ... after not homering in 25 at-bats, blasted the first pitch he saw against BYU (Apr. 27), a ball that went an estimated 440 feet ... including home runs against BYU and Southern Utah, had a streak of home runs in three straight games ... drove in a season-high five RBI on four hits in win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Mar. 27) ... hit in 15 of 17 games during a stretch in the month of March, raising his batting average by over .150 points ... had 11 multi-hit and seven multi-RBI games and a long hitting streak of seven games ... hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in 18 games against teams that made the 2005 NCAA Tournament ... hit .299 (23-for-77 with 23 RBI in the Bears 22 wins during the year ... played summer baseball with the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the Alaskan League.
2004: Division I All-Independent first-team selection ... played in 45 games, starting 40 ... set UNC freshman record for home runs with 12 round-trippers, breaking Steve Thomas' 17-year old record of 11 ... finished second on the team in total home runs but led all Independents in home runs per game (0.27) ... finished third among Independents in RBI (0.98/game) ... hit a home run every 12.4 at-bats during the season ... had a season-high 12-game hitting streak and a streak of four consecutive games with a home run that ran from Apr. 28 at No. 19 Nebraska until May 8 at Sacramento State ... had 13 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games ... terrorized Southern Utah pitching during the season; hit a three-run, walk-off home run off reliever Nick Oldroyd on Feb. 16 and then a final inning grand slam off Oldroyd on Mar. 20 after the Craig Troxell was walked intentionally to load the bases for Ray ... was 2-5 with two runs scored, a double and a three-run homer against Utah Valley State (May 1) ... drove in a season-high four RBI five times during the year, against Air Force (Mar. 16), Southern Utah (Mar. 20), Utah Valley State (May 1), Sacramento State (May 4) and Hawaii-Hilo (May 17), all games in which he homered ... had a season-high three hits versus Southern Utah (Feb. 16) ... saw time behind the plate in 18 games with the rest of his action at the designated hitter spot ... threw out 10 of 26 runners who tried to steal against him ... did not commit an error in 120 chances in the field ... played summer ball with the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod League; was able to go with teammates one day and taking batting practice at Fenway Park.
High School: 2003 graduate of Monarch High ... four-year starter for the Coyotes ... drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 41st round of the 2003 Amateur Draft ... four-time team-captain and three-time team MVP while winning team Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards ... in 2003, hit .612 with seven home runs, nine doubles and 22 walks while slugging 1.075 with a .754 on-base average ... only three runners attempted to steal against Ray all season and two were thrown out ... holds school records for home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, doubles (season and career) and triples ... during prep career (including legion ball) hit 64 home runs and drove in 231 runs while throwing out approximately 87 percent of the runners who tried to steal against him ... two-time Academic All-State and three-time Academic All-Conference ... also played four years of football as a starter at linebacker and fullback, was a two-time all-state selection and helped team to state championship his senior year.
Personal: Born Sept. 5, 1984 in Boulder ... son of Johnny and Cindy Ray ... majoring in business management.
Ray's Career Statistics
Year Avg GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD%
2004.... .302 45-40 149 32 45 6 1 12 44 89 .597 18 3 34 2 .384 2 0 0-0 101 19 0 1.000
2005.... .257 55-54 191 32 49 12 0 11 37 94 .492 20 2 34 7 .330 2 0 0-0 229 30 1 .996
2006.... .237 50-47 186 29 44 8 1 5 23 69 .371 20 3 41 5 .318 2 1 0-0 335 42 4 .990
TOTAL... .262 150-141 526 93 138 26 2 28 104 252 .479 58 8 109 14 .341 6 1 0-0 665 91 5 .993
Ray's Game-by-Game Statistics
2004 
2005
2006
