MARCH 19, 2025 www.wintertexantimes.com 24 WINTER TEXAN TIMES Call today to schedule a free consultation and let us show you how professionally designed marketing materials with clear and consistent messaging can elevate your brand. You Only Get One Chance To Make A First Impression Make It Count With Promos & Prints On Your Side Sales@promosandprints.com (956) 580-7800 1217 N Conway Ave, Mission, TX A Division of Nexus Publishing LLC vision B Team also won its game with Canada. The trophy is housed by the City of McAllen. Martens has the distinction of starting the Ed Martens Senior Texan Softball League some 30 years ago. This year the two divisions had nine teams and 120 ballplayers, about half of them Winter Texans and half local residents, which included nearly a dozen women in the B Division. Zeny Vasquez, from Edinburg, was one of the women playing in her second year. Her husband, Rick also plays but had the role of coach for the USA’s Division B Team for this year’s game at McAllen’s Westside Park. Zeny, who loves softball, didn’t see much difference in playing with the guys. The right-center fielder said one of the perks is “you meet a lot of people from a lot of states.” Among the spectators were friends Diana Van Middlesworth and Gloria Arnold cheering for the Canadian Division A Team. Diana’s husband, Gary played in the game in addition to singing both the U.S. and Canadian national anthems as part of the opening ceremonies. Diana, who spends summers back in Indiana, is a retired school principal and Gary was formerly a science teacher, who remembers many of the players and can recall a lot of the games. The couple had been RVers for about 10 years, but bought a home after friends invited them to visit the Valley in 2019. Diana said she has met people from all over the U.S. Gloria, who met her husband, Don, here in the Valley some 15 years ago and convinced him to spend summers in Minnesota, said he had been playing softball here for 11 years. Being here in the winter is all about the weather and friends she has made. It was a first time visit to the Valley that conSOFTBALL From pg. 1 vinced the couple “this was it.” The league appears to fuel a lot of camaraderie and fun times over what is usually a 15-game season. Mike Brower, the league’s secretary and media specialist for a five-member committee who hails from Michigan, said each season includes a banquet for both divisions. These events are held at various sites in the mid-Valley, which had to be moved up this season because of earlier “cold out” postponements following drafting of players last December. The banquet is one more chance to rub elbows with teammates and opposing players along with spouses after enjoying softball in the middle of winter. The ceremonial pitch was thrown by Ed Martens, who was honored for having started a softball league some 30 years ago. Photo by Herb Moering
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