Rolling Hills Looks to Kirt Kishita--Nearly Everywhere : Prep baseball: Junior pitching star also plays the infield and the outfield and is the Titans’ best hitter.

He may be only a junior on the Rolling Hills High School baseball team, but Kirt Kishita sure doesn’t play like one--and at five different positions, no less.

Kishita, who has pitched and played first base, second base, shortstop and center field, is one of the major reasons the Titans are still in the thick of the title chase in the talent-laden Bay League despite numerous injuries.

In addition to being a versatile player, Kishita is the one his teammates look to for inspiration.

“It’s Kirt’s approach to the game that makes him a leader on this team,” Rolling Hills Coach Garry Poe said. “We’ve rallied around him so many times this season. His enthusiasm for the game is just infectious. He wants to do that little bit extra to be the best, and pretty soon he gets you to thinking that way, too.”

On the mound, Kishita has a 6-4 overall record. But he’s 5-1 in league games, having beaten every team except Palos Verdes and Torrance, whom he has yet to face.

This afternoon, Kishita will try to cool off hot-hitting Torrance in a 3 p.m. game at Rolling Hills. The Titans (10-10 overall, 7-4 in league) are a game behind Torrance and Beverly Hills, who are tied for first place.

Kishita, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, will take an earned-run average of 2.81 with him to the mound. He has struck out 70 batters in 69 innings, and opponents are hitting a meager .198 against him.

More important, Kishita has filled the void left by the graduation of Rolling Hills’ top three pitchers last season, all of whom are now playing college ball--Dan Block (Penn), Frank Nastanski (Princeton) and Ron Campbell (El Camino).

“Coach Poe and I knew that somebody had to stand up and pitch,” Kishita said. “We knew it had to be me, since all of our pitchers had graduated.”

As a sophomore on the varsity last year, Kishita was used exclusively at first base. But he had pitched as a freshman on the junior varsity, so Poe knew Kishita could throw.

He just didn’t know how well.

Kishita went out in Rolling Hills’ opener and struck out 11 in a losing effort against South Torrance. Since then, he has thrown a five-hitter against highly touted Beverly Hills. He struck out nine against Leuzinger and 10 against Inglewood.

“Kirt has extraordinary baseball instincts and a tremendous work ethic, and we’re all reaping the rewards of that now,” Poe said.

Kishita’s best pitch is his fastball, which has been timed around 85 m.p.h. He also has a nasty change-up and uses his breaking ball as his strikeout pitch.

He struggled with his control a bit at first (48 walks). But Kishita is winning the mental battles between pitcher and hitter more often of late.

“When Kirt has had an enemy, it’s been himself,” Poe said. “On the mound, he sometimes gets impatient with himself if he doesn’t get the outs right away. He’s so anxious to do well that sometimes he needs to transfer some of that energy to the hitter.

“He has had to learn patience, just like the rest of us. He’s still learning, but he’s doing a great job in the meantime.”

Kishita said a turning point came for him against Beverly Hills. In a game where he struck out only five, Kishita found he was still getting people out anyway.

“I’m learning to get guys out in certain situations now where I have to be a pitcher,” Kishita said. “Before, when there were guys on base and I had to get a guy out, I couldn’t do it.

“I’m relying on the defense more now. I guess I realize I can’t always get them all out by myself.”

And more than anyone else on the team, Kishita has had to be versatile. He had never played the outfield before Poe put him in center field in a game earlier this season.

And he may not be the slickest infielder around, but Kishita finds a way to get the job done.

“I’m almost starting to feel like an infielder,” Kishita said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I had to go behind the plate and catch.”

Poe would shudder at the thought. Kishita’s right arm is too valuable to the team to have his hand banged up behind the plate.

And so is his bat. With a .404 batting average and two home runs, Kishita is also Rolling Hills’ leading hitter.

“Every game has been a question mark because of the availability of certain players,” Poe said. “That puts a lot of pressure on a guy as multidimensional as Kirt. But despite the pressure, he still represents himself so well on offense.”

Last August, Kishita was the only junior on the 18-man roster of the 213 Area Code All-Star team. Kishita got enough exposure so that Poe’s phone has been ringing regularly with calls from college and professional scouts.

“Next year, Kirt is going to have a lot of options open to him,” Poe said. “He’s got good grades, so the colleges will be after him; plus he’s pretty high on some of the professional follows’ lists as a junior.”

Kishita still isn’t sure about his future, except that it will include baseball. He’s a frequent visitor to USC’s Dedeaux Field to watch college games, but right now, Kishita is focused on adding Torrance and Palos Verdes to his list of league victims.

And Poe isn’t looking ahead to next year, when he’ll have a mother lode of senior talent. He’s aiming at the 1990 Bay League title.