By ROY HESS and KEVIN NARRO | STAFF WRITERS
It’s being billed as the biggest high school softball tournament ever played in Brownsville.
The Brownsville ISD Invitational Tournament begins today and runs through Saturday with round-robin competition at the city’s six high school fields plus five fields at Brownsville Sports Park.
In all, 40 teams are participating.
“The field in this tournament is going to be more competitive than last year,” said Rayner Cardenas, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial softball coach and tournament director. “This year’s field is the largest group the Brownsville Invitational has ever hosted. Almost all the schools in the Rio Grande Valley are in it, and five teams from Laredo will be joining us as well.
“All games will be played with a round-robin format,” Cardenas added. “Every team will play five games in the tourney. There will be no championship game.
“The best performance from last year was Edinburg Vela with a 5-0 record. This year the tournament is wide open.”
Action begins at 10 a.m. today with McAllen Rowe at Brownsville Veterans, McAllen Memorial at Brownsville Hanna, La Joya High at Brownsville Lopez, McAllen High at Brownsville Pace, La Feria at Brownsville Porter, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at Brownsville Rivera, Lyford vs. Mission High at BSP Field 1, Mercedes vs. Rio Hondo at BSP Field 2, Santa Rosa vs. Harlingen High at BSP Field 3, Port Isabel vs. Valley View at BSP Field 4 and Raymondville vs. Donna High at BSP Field 5.
Each site has either three or four games scheduled today. After the 10 a.m. tournament openers, game times are noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Cardenas said some of the other interesting matchups for the first day include Mission Veterans at Brownsville Veterans (2 p.m.), Laredo Cigarroa at Lopez (2 p.m.), Edinburg High vs. Lyford (noon at BSP Field 1), Vela vs. Rio Hondo (noon at BSP Field 2), Mercedes vs. Los Fresnos (2 p.m. at BSP Field 2), PSJA Memorial vs. Edcouch-Elsa (4 p.m. at BSP Field 3), Laredo LBJ at Pace (4 p.m.), PSJA High at Porter (4 p.m.) and Laredo United South vs. Sharyland High (4 p.m. at BSP Field 4).
Tournament action continues at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
WHAT’S ON TAP
Elsewhere in the tournament, several area schools will prepare for notable matchups, starting with Lyford, which will look to continue its hot start with a matchup against Port Isabel at 10 a.m. and then a rematch with Edinburg High at noon.
The Lady Bulldogs are fresh off a 5-0 tournament run in the Port Isabel-Los Fresnos event, and on Tuesday, beat Edinburg High 8-4.
Rio Hondo will also be in action as it takes on Mercedes at 10 a.m. today followed by a noon tussle with Edinburg Vela.
San Benito enters the round-robin event with a few big games on the slate. The Lady ’Hounds will meet Port Isabel at 2 p.m. followed by a big matchup against Edinburg High at 4 p.m. On Friday, San Benito will play Rio Hondo, followed by Rio Grande City, and on Saturday, it will be arguably the biggest game of the tournament when San Benito takes on Edinburg Vela at noon.
Santa Rosa gets its play started with a 10 a.m. game against Edcouch-Elsa, followed by a matchup with Harlingen High at noon. The Lady Cardinals will meet Edcouch-Elsa at 4 p.m.