OK... some very good answers and I think JoeA kind of combines most of your thoughts in his response...
My opinion... OK. Keep in mind I am talking about two almost identical teams and what sets them apart.
1. I feel it is the ability of the coach to learn the game throught unbiased study/observations and translate that into a practice/game plan. I did not use the word "experience" because that is not exactly the word I was looking. Two coaches that have the same experience might not learn from or use that experience in the same way. It is the ability to put aside the ego when you get your *** kicked and ask yourself.. why did it happen? What can we do to prevent this from happening in the future? What do my players need to improve on/learn and WHAT DID I LEARN THAT WILL MAKE ME A BETTER COACH. I don't know how many times I would see a team make the same mistakes over and over..what did that team and its coach learn?
I was fortunate to be in the same organization that had some very good coaches. One of the coaches was our very own JoeA. I learned alot by watching his practices and playing against him one year when our organization had two 18u teams. One was coached by JoeA and other other by yours truely. We, we got our *** kicked. However, losing to JoeA and watching his practices were some of the best lesson(s) that I ever had as a coach. I chose to learn...
2. Think outside of the box. Being conventional basically makes your team a "vanilla" team in a park full of other vanilla teams. Don't always do what is expected. It thows kinks into opposing coaches game plans and keeps them guessing. A team/coach that becomes flustered by your stradegy is one that is half beaten.
3. Study the other team during the game and make adustments on the fly. Having a game plan for a team you have never played is guesswork. You should have a general plan but a specific one for an unknown team will have to come from what you observe during a game. Learn and learn quickly. Talk to the players on the bench to see what they have observed.. after all they are the ones on the field. Use this to adjust and adjust quickly. We beat some teams where we were big time underdogs simple by exploiting their weakness. For example, without going into great detail, we once played one of the best team in Ohio and won, even though we we the underdogs. The end result was that my pitcher had 12 Ks... 10 of those were by 3 and 2 change ups. You would think the opposing coach should have notice this and make adjustments. But.....
I could go on and on.. bunt when they expect a fake bunt (you would be surprise by how this works).. pick off a runner at 2nd when there is also a runner on 3rd. Many would think that the runner on 3rd would score during the pickoff but you would be surprised how many times the runner and 3rd base coach become spectators when something unexpected happens. Try a pickoff at 1st when the bases are loaded..
Well, I think you get my drift. I don't expect everyone to agree with me and that is Ok.