District softball begins tonight

District 24-4A is usually among the most competitive districts in all of the major high school sports.

Softball is no exception.

District play kicks off tonight, and it’s hard to figure out which four teams are favored to make the postseason from 24-4A this season.

Manvel (10-2) and Santa Fe (14-4) are ranked among the top 15 in the state and have looked impressive in nondistrict. Angleton has several returners from last year’s state runner-up squad.

Don’t forget about Texas City (11-7-1), Friendswood (11-6-1) or Dawson either. Those teams feature dominant pitchers to go with solid offenses.

“From top to bottom, there is not an easy game in this district,” Friendswood coach Kevin Parr said. “This is the toughest district in the state. I feel like anyone in this district can go to another district and make the playoffs. That’s the sad thing — four teams that are playoff-type teams are going to be sitting at home after the season.”

Manvel came in as the favorite and is up to No. 3 in the state. However, Santa Fe has looked mighty good thus far, even beating two of the top five teams in Class 5A over the weekend.

The Lady Indians have allowed just 11 earned runs in 18 games and have everyone in the district watching.

“Right now, with what they have done so far, I think Santa Fe is the favorite,” Parr said. “It’s hard to tell though, cause you have to be mentally prepared day in and day out to win in this league.”

Friendswood and Texas City, two teams that missed the playoffs last year, open the district schedule tonight. Parr said opening the season with a tough home matchup makes it even more important to get off to a fast start.

“If you start off slow, you could be in trouble,” Parr said.

Weather Troubles

Storms could end up delaying the start of the district schedule tonight.

Most of the county has a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms forecast for today. The chance of rain ends about 6 p.m., but that might not give the fields enough time to be dry for game action.

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Today’s Schedule

Ball High vs. Clear Lake, 7 p.m.

Clear Creek at Clear Brook, 7 p.m.

Clear Springs vs. Brazoswood, 7 p.m.

Dickinson at Alvin, 7 p.m.

Texas City at Friendswood, 6:30 p.m.

La Marque vs. Angleton, 6:30 p.m.

Santa Fe vs. Brazosport, 6:30 p.m.