Ray Roberts was born on June 29th, 1973 in Oakland, California, the firstborn child of Mark and Jean Roberts. Ray had one younger sister, Becki Roberts, and he was her hero. At a young age, Ray loved baseball, pitching being his favorite position. Growing up in the San Francisco area, he was a diehard Giants fan and even had the opportunity to be a bat boy for them during multiple spring break trips. He played for the WVMI Little League in Vallejo, California all through his middle and high school years. He graduated from Vintage High School in 1992 as a varsity athlete and attended Napa Junior College in the fall. Ray entered the professional baseball draft in 1994 as a left-handed relief pitcher. He was drafted in the 36th round by the Kansas City Royals. He played for two years in the minor leagues in Alaska, Oregon, Illinois, and Delaware. His career was cut short due to an injury to his pitching arm.

Ray returned to California and soon relocated to Reno, Nevada in 1996. It was then that he was quickly introduced to the game of competitive softball. He joined the Bucks Softball team and they traveled all over the United States to play in tournaments making many friends and winning trophies. Ray was always a fierce competitor, no matter what the game was, but he was also a great teacher. He loved sharing his years of knowledge and watching people develop their skills. The true life of every party, Ray embraced everyone and wanted to make sure each person was enjoying themselves, no matter what the occasion was.