What am I missing? ER vs. SF — Pretender vs. Contender???

Over the last week, I’ve surveyed six Del Rio League baseball head and assistant coaches to get their opinions about both El Rancho and Santa Fe.

Let me begin by saying I think both clubs are evenly matched. I don’t see much of a difference. In my opinion, Santa Fe boasts more of an explosive offense while El Rancho has a stronger relief corps (I recently wrote a notebook on the subject – Top Del Rio League baseball teams meet).

However, when I spoke to these coaches, whom I will not mention by name, I was surprised how overwhelmingly they thought one team was a serious contender and the other a pretender.

Thoughts on Santa Fe –

Coach #1

“They’re an excellent team with the most talent in the Del Rio League. If they only stopped tripping over their feet, they could win this league.”

Coach #2

“You’re looking at the second place team in this league. They’re just missing one or two pieces but they’re solid. I wouldn’t want to see them in the playoffs.”

Coach #5

“You have to give some credit to their coaching staff. They seem to have figured it out over there. Everyone wants to blame those guys but they’ve done a good job. They should make the playoffs.”

Thoughts on El Rancho

Coach #2

“How long can they do it on smoke and mirrors? They’re an okay team that built confidence on an easy (preseason) schedule. Let’s see how they do in league.

Coach #3

“I’m not sold on them. I think they have talent but so does everyone in the Del Rio. Coach Llanes deserves credit for getting the most out of his guys. But c’mon, they’re not a DRL top 3 team.”

Coach #4

“I think El Rancho is dangerous but that’s more about your team making mistakes than anything. They have some mashers on the team. Just don’t give into them and you should be okay”.

Okay. I understand Santa Fe won the season series but is there that much of a difference between these teams? Is this a consensus among league coaches? Only one DRL coach I spoke with felt El Rancho was as equal, if not more, of a challenger than Santa Fe. Again, what am I missing?

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