In the summer of 1948, the best of the best semipro baseball players gathered in Donna to tangle for Valley supremacy. The first Rio Grande Valley All-Star game pitted the Lower Valley against the Upper Valley.The six-team league was divided into two factions — with Brownsville, Mercedes, and Donna representing the lower Valley; and the Upper Valley comprised of players from Pharr, McAllen, and Rio Grande City.Avila Park provided the perfect diamond — Donna’s 10-acre, 2,500 capacity field was formally inaugurated in 1946 and was at the time, the pride of the Valley. Jeff Stewart, president of the RGV Semi-Pro ...