Two of the Rio Grande Valley’s elite softball squads have been recognized as some of the state’s top teams on the diamond Tuesday.
Both the Edinburg Vela SaberCats and Lyford Bulldogs were tabbed as preseason top 10 selections in the first Texas Girls Coaches Association poll of 2021 at the Class 6A and 3A levels, respectively.
The SaberCats start this season off as the No. 6 team across Texas in Class 6A joining third-ranked San Antonio O’Connor as the only Region IV teams to earn the preseason distinction.
Vela is the only softball team throughout the Rio Grande Valley to be featured in the TGCA’s Preseason Top 10 poll in back-to-back seasons after the SaberCats debuted as the third-ranked Class 6A team in the state in 2020.
Edinburg Vela maintained a spot in the TGCA Top 10 during every week of the 2020 season that was cut short due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The SaberCats had tallied an 18-3 overall record, a 2-0 mark in District 31-6A and had outscored their opponents 178-49 when their season was interrupted in mid-March.
Lyford, meanwhile, clocked in at No. 5 overall in the TGCA Class 3A Preseason Top 10 poll which represents the highest statewide ranking of any RGV softball team so far this year.
The Bulldogs are one of two Region IV teams included in the Class 3A preseason poll joining top-ranked Santa Gertrudis Academy.
Lyford had tallied a 9-1 record when its season was stalled in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and had outscored its opponents 75-22 in those games.
The SaberCats are set to start the 2021 high school softball season against the PSJA North Raiders on Tuesday, Feb. 16, while the Bulldogs will begin their 2021 campaign against the Brownsville Rivera Raiders on Friday, Feb. 19.
Practices for softball teams across the Rio Grande Valley are scheduled to begin in mid-January.
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