And the Del Rio League favorite is ...?

SF has 10 one run game lost thanks to the bullpen that cant hold a led

DRL Alum...

Whittier has great potential as evidenced by how close they played St. Paul, how they beat La Serna and how they upset Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Why are they so inconsistent?

As much as we all complain about the lack of respect the teams in the Whittier area get, that respect won't be forthcoming until our teams can make some noise in the playoffs.

I think St. Paul, El Rancho and La Serna all have a chance to go deep in the playoffs.

St. Paul - because of their pitching depth and level of competition they have played. Hitting needs more consistency.

La Serna - good, scrappy ballplayers. Pitching depth is a question to me but they do have some good individual talent. Overall game needs consistency and they need to get hot. Playing teams like St. Paul, Laguna Hills and Patriot have helped their overall game.

El Rancho - Started off the season gangbusters and hit some hiccups. I have not seen them play so my assumptions are based all your comments. They seem to have an overall good team and until some one knocks them off again, they are the team to beat in the DRL.

Ok maybe i should have clarified that i have never been too impressed with St. Paul in the past. But i have been to St. Paul games this season, and they have some very good talent. And for such as young team, they are only going to get better which is pretty scary.

I havent see El Rancho play, but i know what they are about. They have teams just like the last few years, it never changes with them, they are good every year.

As for La Serna, i went to go watch two of their games this season. One was against Patriot, and the other i cant remember what team it was. I dont need to watch them though, because i already know the team they have too, they are a good team.

Props should be given to Whittier, they are battling the tough teams, and they have beaten La Serna. They should be a contender next year in the DRL.

DRL Alum

Can't get over the fact that St. Paul owns the Del Rio league can you?.

I'd take the Swordsmen over anyone in the DRL or in the area right now.

Swordsmen have played some very good teams this year, playing close games with ranked Torrance, El Segundo to name 2 teams. They beat a ranked Westlake team who has 7, yes 7 D1 prospects including Cutter Dykstra, who is projected as a top 5 pick.

They are doing this will a very young team. Starting pitching consists of 2 soph's, a freshman and a senior. On a lot of teams these guys could be #1 starters. 3B, SS...both sophs. This team will do well this year and will only get better in the next few years.

Have you actually been to any games yet featuring ER, LS, or SP? If not, you are missing some good baseball.

Im glad you havent been impressed by SP. They swept La Sena this year and beat Whittier. I have never been impressed by the entire Del Rio league. Its like wathing little league..LOL

You bring up some good points about the divisions. Im well aware of the baseball scene, believe me i am. Bishop Amat is good from their division, but i have never been too impressed with St. Paul. But it goes back to what i said, is that it doesnt matter the team, you still got to play the game.

I know all about the freshman teams and how well they did. But thats freshman ball. Dont get me wrong, LS has some great talent, BUT the fact remains that talent gets better from other teams as well. You cant base it off what they did freshman year. Hopefully they wont fold down the stretch, i want those guys to do well, lets see how they respond though after a 4-3 Loss to Whittier.

True, DRL alum, the coaches don't know how teams will do in advance when tey get into a tournament, but what does that have to do with anything? The teams HAVE played, and they have accuumulated records. These things can then be compared to get a better assessment of the teams.

Yes, LS lost to Patriot (D4), Laguna Hills (D3) and St. Paul (D5) (all ranked top 5). But LS also beat La Mirada, Paloma Valley, Hueneme, and other decent teams.

Now, if you know anything about the current high school baseball scene, the divsions are almost meaningless. Bishop Amat and St. Paul may be D5, but they can compete with D1. Same with D4 Sonora, Patriot, San Dimas, Bonita, etc. If you think that simply because LS is D3 and SP is D5, LS should automatically win, you don't know the baseball scene. St. Paul can and does recruit, and they have lots of good young players.

Can they keep it going...well, the fact that the classes of 08 and 09 were 41-1 as freshmen in DRL, totally dominating ER, SF and Cal, and the JV team winning league the past two years as well, tells me that they still have the majority of that talent and have a good chance of taking league this year and next. DRL is tough and it will be a battle, but they have a team full of guys who have played lots of high level travel ball, junior olympics, scout ball, etc. They won't fold.

The only pitcher that can go the distance has to be soto can't say much for the other starters another is the ace from el rancho great game when they played cal and do not count santa fe out they went 8 with la serna anything is possible

Bottom line untill a local team can win cif than they can have bragging rights untill then just let the boys play ball plus the only real program at la serna has to be soccer they went all the way the other team is cal they went far in cif can't say that about any other local team sorry.......

Sorry guys the best team that was out there for la serna had to be the 2006 team that was a great season........

i agree its nice to see local teams getting recognized, but face it people. DEL RIO LEAGUE TEAMS do not get much recognition. Its been that way for the last few years.

delrioHB: I can't agree with your arguement about how La Serna should get more recognition because they have faced better competition then other teams. And its for one reason:

Every team that you say has played a weak schedule, has played certain teams in TOURNAMENTS. Which basically you dont know who your playing at the time you sign up, but later on when the schedule is released. You dont think every coach would love to play highly ranked teams? La Serna got into a good tournament, with Laguna Hills and Patriot, but they were still losses. St. Paul on the other hand is two divisions lower then LS, LS should have beaten them all three times.

My point is that teams shouldnt be penalized because they end up playing bad teams in tournaments. If they are winning, then they are doing what they have to do. If they arent worthy of a certain ranking, that will show come CIF playoff time.

La Serna is playing good ball right now, they beat El Rancho in a good game. But the question is can they keep it going. They have the target on their back now, we will see if they can handle the pressure, i know a few of those guys can. It will be an exciting end to the DRL race, Cal and El Rancho will be looking to finish strong.

I agree with UPDATE that it is good to see DRL getting some notice. But I still think the local teams have not gotten quite the respect. If you look at the teams that Alhambra has played, for example, and look at their records, you'll find that they have played a weak schedule, with several really bad teams. By comparison, La Serna has played several ranked teams, having only lost to Laguna Hills (to a guy who is currently 8-0); to 17-1 (!) Patriot; and to St. Paul. La Serna's opponents have a very good cumulative record. LS's 11-5, considering the quality of competition, including its own tough DRL, is a good record. I think maybe 7th or 8th was warranted. But a mention is nice. Congrats to the coaches and the kids. Keep it up!

I guess we'll have to wait until CIF to see if the DRL can show that it is one of the strongest leagues around.

CIF-SS 2008 COACHES’ BASEBALL RANKINGS
As of Apr. 7, 2008
El Rancho dropped a couple spots, and La Serna stayed in "others" mentioned. Del Rio is still getting some representation in the D3. Not bad considering there are 13 leagues with 82 teams being considered for the rankings.
Rk. DIVISION III
1. Alhambra
2. South Hills
3. Crespi
4. Notre Dame/SO
5. Laguna Hills
6. Paramount
7. San Gorgonio
8. St. Francis
9. Cajon
10. El Rancho
Others: La Serna,Paloma Valley,Mayfair

Just want to tell our LS guys Good Luck, Play Hard, Keep your focus in today's game at ER.
Wish I could be there it's going to be a great game.

Play Hard
Have Fun
Stay Safe

My bad, Huh? Thought it was in a different context. Regardless, a lot of ball left.

The previous post regarding (((4))) games was in response to Murrays "One game into the Del Rio League season" in the original topic paragraph.(see above)

Huh: True, only 4 league games into the season, and anything could happen, but the teams have played around 15 games. That's enough to make some assessments based on the records, strength of schedule, etc. I see a good battle ahead, most likely involving ER, LS and Cal, but SF is a decent team (though those lofty batting averages are clearly a function of the quality of competition- they are 8-5 overall, but only 1-3 in the tough DRL), and Whittier still could make a run. They are a pretty good team, too. DRL is pretty solid this year.

4 games in and LS and ER look to be the best teams. The LS team is so scrappy, and more importantly, has 4 good pitchers capable of starting and beating any DRL team, the best catcher, and the defense to complement the pitching. We'll see if they can de-throne a good ER team and the other DRL contenders.

LS vs ER. 3:15 at ER on Friday.

We're (((4))) games into the season!

El Rancho is still the team to beat until they are beaten by one of the other teams in the league, that might happen today at Cal High.

Good assessment, Roger. From having seen many game sthis year, it is clear that there is parity among many of the local programs. ER, as the returning champ, should do well. I agree with Insight, though, that will determine the champ, and I'd say LS' top 4-Burke, Soto, Serna and Langstaff- are better than anyone else's in DRL, which gives them more options. And don't count out Cal Hi. They had a good showing against some tough competition in Vegas. Santa Fe is good and could be very good. The next couple of weeks will tell a lot.

I think that what I've been commenting on about strength of schedule will play out in CIF. IF ER, LS and Cal do make the playoffs, Cal and LS will fare beter because of the greater number of quality pitchers seen.

Any DRL team could beat another on a given day, and La Habra showed that they can beat the Sonora powerhouse. Lots of good players in the Whittier/La Habra area.

This league is always decided when each team plays there oponents twice in the same week. It comes down to who has the best number #2 pitcher on there staff, as well as relievers. In 2006, La Serna won it because of Balderman, M.Burke and Petropulis. El Rancho and Whittier were favored because of Rodriguez and Dominquez each better than Balderman and Burke but together they were better any of Whittier or El Rancho's other pitchers.
Last year, La Serna and Cal were favored and El Rancho won it because there two pitchers were better than Matt Burke or Leibert. Which team in the Del Rio league has two starting pitchers better than Burke and Soto?
There aren't any, so they should be the favorite.