I Might Be Wrong: Better DSL is better for everyone
Winning the Desert Sky League title wasn’t really much of an accomplishment three years ago.
Qualifying for the playoffs meant out of the DSL merely stringing together a few league wins.
In recent years the league’s playoff teams were comprised of a really good Silverado, an average Barstow team and which ever of the other three teams that could collect a league win or two.
Two seasons ago Burroughs made the playoffs as a two-win team. It’s two wins coming from Victor Valley and Granite Hills.
There was little excitement in that, but luckily things have changed.
Welcome to the DSL 2009. It’s a completely different league because it’s a much better league and one with the post season up for grabs in the final week.
The Desert Sky League is good — possibly as good as any other league in the Eastern Division. It’s been a slow change that has shown real results this season. The DSL teams are a combined 31-15 this season. In the past the Mojave River League has dominated their High-Desert brethren. Not so this season Desert Sky League teams went 5-4 against the Mojave River League this season.
Barstow needs a win tonight against Granite Hills in order to qualify for the post season while Victor Valley and Burroughs also square off.
“I like a challenge,” Barstow senior Brandon Martel said. “I don’t want to go an blow teams out and go to the championship game without a challenge. Where’s the fun in that? I like the challenge that other teams pose against us.”
Two good DSL teams are going to get left out of the playoffs. There are no longer at-large bids available in the Eastern Division since the Mountain Pass League and its eight teams joined. Eight-team leagues are guaranteed four playoff spots while smaller leagues get three.
It might not be fair, but that’s how it will be.
It’s news that probably hasn’t made being a Barstow fan easy.
The Aztecs hopes of getting back to the CIF-Southern Section Eastern Division championship game could end before the post season even begins. Could the Aztecs be among the best 16 teams in the Eastern Division? Yes, they could, but they’ll never find out with out a win tonight.
It’s better this way. Trust me.
The DSL season has been an exciting ride to watch this season rather than a formality. Many of the games have been decided by a handful of points and could have gone either way into the fourth quarter.
These DSL teams will be battle tested and better for it.
While there are any number of factors that help to determine a game, this should better prepare the three Desert Sky League playoff teams for the postseason. It would not be a surprise to see two DSL teams in the semifinals just like last season when Barstow and Silverado met in the penultimate round.
“We’ve seen weaknesses the last couple weeks offensively and defensively that we’ve had to improve on,” said Rubio of learning from playing the DSL teams. “We’ve seen them because the teams that we are playing are executing and exploiting us.”
Which ever two teams make it into the postseason will respresent the best the DSL has to offer.
If the Aztecs can win tonight they will enter the playoffs for the fourth straight year and earn a shot to defend the playoff success they had a season ago.
And they will have earned every bit of it.
