After returning to the football playoffs last year following a decade-long absence, the Lopez Lobos are back and hungry for more program success this season.

And over the first few days of practice, players have followed a few words that they feel will help lead to their goal.

It starts with attitude, attendance and — arguably the most important — accountability.

“I see (attitude and attendance) being modeled,” Starkey said. “We’re looking to model exactly what we expect in our team and we want our kids to control what they can control. We want them to focus on what they can control as an individual and how that contributes to helping the team as a whole.

“Everyone is in control of their attitude and their attendance and everyone is buying into it — that’s our focus this week.”

As for Starkey and his staff, their role during the first two weeks is all about figuring out which spots players can thrive in.

And after a successful spring utilizing athletic periods, the Lopez coaches believe they are familiar enough with the team to accomplish that.

“We want to maximize their strengths and we know who can do what for us,” Starkey said. “We had a great spring time with these kids in the athletic period and really identified the strengths and weaknesses of an individual and therefore, the team. We have really customized what we are doing offensively and defensively to maximize that.

“We have to make sure they’re accustomed to the play calls, the verbiage, the communication and energy — that’s what the first week is all about to me.”

Despite being just midway through Week 1 of practice, the Lobos players’ level of mental intensity is high.

Not wanting to dwell on the accomplishments of last season, Lopez aims to leave 2016 in the rear view and focus on readying themselves for the season ahead.

“It feels awesome and to be honest, being out on the field is one of the greatest feelings of all time,” said senior defensive end Josue Lucio, “It’s part of Texas. Football is just part of Texas. Everybody is ready and we’ve been waiting for this moment since last season. Coaches have been telling us that last year was just the beginning— we’re going to start something great with this program.

“In the past, Lopez hasn’t been so successful, but that’s all going to change.”

The mood in general has shifted on the practice field and around the locker room and the Lobos veterans, who have been with the program for the last four years, are starting to notice.

Senior wide receiver Leo Alaniz says practices have a taken a step up as players have begun to work noticeably harder and the schemes more complex.

“We seem a little more professional than in the years before,” Alaniz said. “Now, it’s a lot more intense, more fast-paced with new formations that make you think and try to confuse defenses. We’re making sure to get down the footwork and conditioning especially since it’s going to be more fast-paced (during games).”

While the Lopez players are ready and oozing confidence, Starkey knows that the actual season is still weeks away and his team must use that time to prepare.

“We have a lot of great opponents down the road and a great district that we’re a proud member of, but we don’t have time today to focus on them,” he said. “We have to focus on us and that’s what we’re doing right now.”

The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Charger duo of sophomore Mia Anzaldua and junior Harley Morales is a prime example of what a good pitcher-catcher relationship can produce.

Their relationship not only worked, it anchored the defense during the Lady Chargers’ best season in program history.

It also has led to Anzaldua being tabbed as The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Pitcher of the Year, and Morales earning the title of All-Metro Defensive Player of the Year.

With Morales calling pitches and eyeing the infield, Anzaldua felt at ease as she routinely fanned batter after batter.

“When you have a talented catcher who motivates you to do your best when things aren’t going your way, that definitely makes a difference in the way the game goes,” Anzaldua said of Morales’ presence. “Having Harley as a wall behind the plate gives you extra motivation to push and finish the game strong.”

But for Morales, simply making her teammates comfortable is a large part of her job description.

“I try to pump them up as much as I can,” Morales said. “It’s a lot of work to go out there and pitch in front of everyone and strike out a lot of people. So I try to give as much of my energy to them as I can.”

The duo relies on trust more than anything else in hopes that their on-field relationship translates to success for the entire team.

“I trust her and she knows what to do and when to do it,” Anzaldua said. “Her talking on the field is a motivation and a push. She’s very talented and you look up to her character.”

“Just seeing so many strikeouts every game makes me feel like I’m a part of it,” Morales added. “My pitchers work hard, I work hard and when we put it together, it’s good.”

And it seemed to pay off as Anzaldua struck out 163 batters in 78.1 innings for an 0.89 ERA and posted a 12-3 record in the circle.

On the season, Anzaldua gave up just 30 hits and 10 earned runs on her way to being named an All-District 32-5A first-team pitcher.

Only a sophomore, Anzaldua has shined in her role this season as she was a good complement to junior pitcher and All-Metro and District MVP Cassie Valdez.

However, head coach Ray Cardenas says she has as good an arm as anyone in the Valley and because of her confidence, trusts her just as much as her junior teammate.

“Mia is so special and in most places, she would, without a doubt, have a ton of accolades behind her,” Cardenas said. “She is not intimidated by anything. She’s not fearful of coming inside on them, the name of the batter, the jersey they’re wearing or who they represent. I’ve never seen someone so fearless while attacking and trying to get the ball by and by any means necessary.”

Behind the plate, Morales’ decision-making proved just as valuable.

The junior recorded 346 putouts in 364 total chances and recorded a .992 fielding percentage and was an All-District 32-5A second-team catcher.

With having to be the proverbial wall behind the plate, keeping runners honest and making the right throws proved to be that much harder, but Morales was consistent all year long with just three errors.

“When you have girls who throw with so much velocity and motion on the ball, it’s difficult to be a wall back there, but Harley does a fantastic job,” Cardenas said. “She’s got a strong arm, she’s powerful and it helps us defensively that we can have someone who can pick off someone at any base. It gives us a defensive advantage we wouldn’t have without her.

“Everyday she trains on her skills and it shows. Without a doubt she’s the reason our pitching is successful.”

With Anzaldua and Morales around for another year, the Lady Chargers hope to see their defense stay dominant for one more season.

After a historic softball season for the Lopez Lady Lobo program, two of their own will now add All-Metro honors to the list of this year’s accomplishments.

Lopez head coach Jesse Martinez was named The Brownsville Herald’s Coach of the Year, while third baseman Alex Castro has received the All-Metro Offensive Player of the Year honor.

Under Martinez, the Lady Lobos went 9-5 in District 32-5A play (17-13 overall) and earned their first postseason berth in school history, where they fell to District 31-5A champion Sharyland Pioneer.

While the honor is something Martinez won’t personally soon forget, he ultimately credits his players and program.

“It means a lot to me because I have a passion for coaching softball,” Martinez said. “There’s a lot of great coaches in Brownsville who deserve something like this, but I’m absolutely humbled and honored to be considered for this. But it’s the girls and the program.

“It’s the synergy of everything we’re doing that includes the motivation, dedication and all the different things that are coming together here — that’s why it’s happened.”

But the Castro said it all starts with Martinez and the expectations he sets.

“He means a lot to us because he’s the one who pushes us and tells us that we need to get to practice on time and we need to be presentable and that’s true,” she said. “We have to come out and show teams we haven’t faced how strong we are. We have to go out there and show off our batting skills and our defense and everything that he taught us.”

Castro, an All-District 32-5A first-team third baseman, has taken that to heart and showed off this season.

In a district loaded with strong defensive play and strong arms, Castro made pitchers bring their best as she posted a .633 batting average and recorded 57 hits with 31 singles, 17 doubles, six triples and four home runs.

She had 40 RBIs, scored 43 runs and struck out just four times.

But Castro won’t take all the credit as she credits the tutelage of assistant coach Rick Lepre and the competitiveness of her teammates and sister Lexi for her successful season.

“Whenever there is a problem, coach Lepre is always there to help us fix it and I’m thankful for that,” Castro said. “And my team has pushed me really hard, especially my sister Lexi. We’re very competitive and I’m surprised I got this award (Offensive Player of the Year) because it was hard. It was based on how hard the team pushed me.”

Martinez says that Castro already has made a name for herself in the two years he’s been at Lopez and it showed in their playoff series with Sharyland Pioneer.

“She got a lot of respect and ended the season with a couple of walks from the Sharyland Pioneer folks,” Martinez said. “They told me not to take it the wrong way because they have a lot of respect for her as a hitter. Overall, she has developed and she is conscious of her strengths and weaknesses.

“She works hard at correcting things and has things she needs to work on, but she’s aware of the concept and is going to get better.”

Castro will enjoy her All-Metro accolade this season, but will continue to work.

“I am excited to get this award, but I want to keep up the work so I can hopefully get this again next year,” she said.

LOS FRESNOS — Heading into the 2017 softball season, Los Fresnos freshman Reba Reyes knew what she ultimately wanted to accomplish as she began her high school career with the Lady Falcons.

She wanted to be the successor at shortstop following the departure of last year’s senior leader Maya Guevara.

“I have been playing since I was four years old so I expected to at least throw the ball from short to first,” Reyes said. “I didn’t expect the shortstop spot until I realized Maya was a senior last year. After that, I trained for it and I told my dad to hit ground balls to me and throw the ball as hard as he can because you have to be alert. I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Reyes took the starting role and ran with it this spring, and became a solid infield presence for the Lady Falcons. For her efforts, she has been named The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Softball Newcomer of the Year.

Reyes’ first season was a big one as she complemented her infield play with a .490 batting average, paving the way to District 32-6A Freshman of the Year honors.

But while fellow players and coaches were confident they had a potential future starter on their hands, Reyes never got ahead of herself.

In fact, she worked harder.

“It started getting closer to softball season and other people on the team told me I didn’t have to worry about a thing and that I would make varsity,” Reyes said. “I never wanted to have that mindset. It’s good to have expectations so that I could meet them, but I didn’t want to have them so high and not make it. I tried to work hard for my coaches, impress them as much as I can.

“It was a lot to go through, but it was worth it.”

Head coach Traci Blackman began to see signs of Reyes’ potential after she moved into her athletic period following volleyball season.

It was at that point that she saw how far along Reyes was in her softball development.

“Just watching her fielding, her flooring and her athletic abilities, I was very impressed,” Blackman said. “As freshmen, they are players still developing, but you can see she was a little bit ahead of some of the other girls. She sets expectations high for herself and I’m going to as well for the next three years. She still has some fine tuning to do but that will come.

“She can end up being a great leader just by her work ethic and presence.”

From that point on, Reyes admitted that shaking the freshman feeling off the field was hard as her older teammates took on harder classes and more responsibility.

But on the field, she believes she fits like a glove.

“When I’m playing, I feel like I fit in because everyone is working so hard,” Reyes said. “During the game, you have that want-to-win kind of feeling and when I look around, we’re all so dedicated. When I felt that I fit in on the field, it was a good feeling and I didn’t feel so much like a freshman.”

Though the program has a short history, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers have spent most of it becoming one of the dominant softball programs in the Valley.

At the forefront of their meteoric rise has been pitcher Cassie Valdez.

In her junior season, Valdez put together another big season as she helped guide the Lady Chargers (26-8, 14-0 District 32-5A) to their first district crown and regional quarterfinal appearance in history, earning her The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro softball Most Valuable player award for the second year in a row.

For the third-year varsity player, Valdez’s latest accolade is just another chapter in her high school story.

“It’s truly an honor because there are a lot of great players out in the RGV,” Valdez said “To be named MVP is truly an honor because I’ve worked for it. Having a great team my freshman year, sophomore year and this year makes great memories — I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.”

Valdez, who also was named the District 32-5A MVP, lit up opponents in the circle. She racked up 193 strikeouts and posted a sparkling 0.87 ERA in 96.1 innings en route to a 13-5 record.

Valdez was just as dangerous at the plate, where she recorded a .471 batting average behind 13 singles, 21 doubles, nine triples, five home runs and 55 RBIs.

She also served as the team’s third baseman, where she had 24 assists, 13 putouts and just five errors on the year to go along with an .881 fielding percentage.

But aside from filling up the stat sheet, head coach Ray Cardenas says Valdez’s impact on the team has made her the face of the program.

“Whoever thinks of Brownsville Veterans softball, they think of Cassie. She’s been here since she was a freshman,” Cardenas said. “That really helped us turn the program around. She has so much passion for the game and we don’t have to push her and (she) is self-reliant. Whatever needs to be done, she does it and goes above and beyond … she has that instinct of being a winner.

“It is a pleasure to coach her, it’s an honor to have her on our team and we’re blessed with her and her work ethic.”

With one more year left in her prep career, Valdez said she is going to cherish what she has done up to this point, but also will look to her teammates to continue putting a down a foundation for the program.

“I can’t take advantage of (these memories) because it feels great winning games and striking out girls — it’s something I wouldn’t trade for anything,” Valdez said. “As a team, we’re going to strive to be better than we were the year before. We’re all going to have goals. As for me, I’ll be looking for more strikeouts, RBIs and more hits — I’m sure the girls have the same kind of goals.”

And Cardenas has no doubts that Valdez will come back as an even better player next spring.

“Knowing her, I think she’s going to work extremely hard,” Cardenas said. “Everything she’s ever worked for, she has — here’s a kid who is never satisfied. I think she will tear it up even more. She will work on everything because that’s the type of kid that she is.

“She doesn’t really need to, but she has that instinct and passion to excel.”

2017 All-Metro Softball Teams

Most Valuable Player

Cassie Valdez, Brownsville Veterans

Offensive Player of the year

Alex Castro, Lopez

Defensive Player of the Year

Harley Morales, Brownsville Veterans

Pitcher of the Year

Mia Anzaldua, Brownsville Veterans

Newcomer of the Year

Reba Reyes, Los Fresnos

Coach of the Year

Jesse Martinez, Lopez

First Team

P – Christa Valdez, Port Isabel

C – Lexi Castro, Lopez

1B – Jianna Calvillo, Los Fresnos

2B – Lydia Fernandez, Brownsville Veterans

3B – Miranda Perales, Los Fresnos

SS – Tabitha Fernandez, Hanna

OF – Aliah Quiroz, Porter

OF – Naomi Barbosa, Brownsville Veterans

OF – Aileen Castillo, Lopez

DP/UT – Emily Ayala, Rivera

Second Team

P – Kassi Rubio, Lopez

C – Samantha Padilla, Los Fresnos

1B – Kianna Silva, Brownsville Veterans

2B – Melanie Loa, Los Fresnos

3B – Ariana Arceneaux, Hanna

SS – Leslie Solis, Lopez

OF – Leawny Rodriguez, Los Fresnos

OF – Sabrina Garza, Port Isabel

OF – Yvonne Ramirez, Pace

DP/UT – Becky Ibarra, Lopez