PREP BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Tustin’s Hall Steps Back Into Lead Role : Baseball: Player who craved a chance to pitch will now help Tillers in semifinal contest against Irvine.

All Ronnie Hall wanted was a chance to pitch last season.

Not too much to ask, was it? Never mind that he had never thrown in a game. Or that Tustin High school was rich with pitching.

Hall was determined to pitch. So much so, that he sought a demotion to the junior varsity.

“I wasn’t going to get any experience and I wasn’t going to get any better sitting on the bench,” Hall said. “I certainly wasn’t going to help the team sitting down.”

Hall has helped the team this season.

The Tillers (20-9-1) play Irvine (23-7) today in the semifinals of the Division III playoffs at Rancho Santiago College. That they’ve come this far is due in large part to Hall. He has less than two years’ pitching experience. And certainly, on-the-job training has been rough. But without Hall, the Tillers would have been plowed under long ago.

Hall was steady during the regular season and masterful in the postseason. He is 10-2 this year, with two of those victories coming in the playoffs.

The Tillers defeated Kennedy, 17-3, in the first round. Hall threw four no-hit innings, striking out six, and left leading, 14-0.

The next game, Tustin starter Tim Wilson struggled early against Walnut. Hall came on in the second and pitched six innings, allowing only two runs, in a 6-5 victory.

“We’ve depended on Ronnie a lot this season and he’s come through,” Tustin third baseman Derek Baker said. “He can really dominate.”

Something you don’t have to tell Irvine about. The Vaqueros have already seen Hall’s act, up close and personal.

Hall shut down Irvine, then the ninth-ranked team in the nation, in the Sea View League opener. He struck out eight and allowed four hits in a 6-0 Tiller victory.

“I was real pumped up for them,” Hall said. “I was so confident out there, I knew I could do it.”

Hall has known it all along. He just needed a chance and some time.

Although he has played baseball most of his life, Hall was known more as a hitter rather than a pitcher. Even now, he can win games just as easily with a bat or his arm.

Hall, an outfielder, is hitting just under .400 with two home runs and 29 runs batted in. He’s had more than his share of clutch hits, including a grand slam to beat Corona del Mar earlier this season.

But his arm strength was so impressive that Tustin junior varsity Coach Greg Jennings wanted him to try pitching.

“He was always bugging me to try pitching,” Hall said. “So I finally got on the mound and went from there.”

Well, it wasn’t quite that easy.

For starters, Tustin already had plenty of starters last season. With Tom Cerasuolo and Tim Wilson around, Hall wasn’t likely to get many chances.

“I wasn’t upset that they weren’t going to use me, but it was frustrating,” Hall said.

So much so that Hall asked to go down to the junior varsity, where he could pitch. Even then, things didn’t go too smoothly.

Hall struggled in his first start against Foothill. He got into trouble by walking batters. He won the game, but Hall was still a diamond in the rough.

“It was tough learning to pitch,” Hall said. “It took a while to get the hang of it.”

Not that practice didn’t make perfect. Hall was 6-0 on the junior varsity, guaranteeing himself a starting spot on the varsity.

Hall has come through this season, although there have been difficulties. He has had to learn to control his temper, which he turns on himself more often than not.

A week after shutting out Irvine, Hall was racked by University. He left in the fifth inning trailing, 14-2.

“That was tough,” Hall said. “I couldn’t get my curve over and I was just laying my fastball over the plate. I got madder and madder at myself.”

Said Baker: “Ronnie can lose his temper quick. He’ll get real down on himself.”

It didn’t take long for word to get around the league. Hall was greeted by hecklers at some games.

“I just put too much pressure on myself,” he said. “I just know how good I am. When things weren’t going well, I’d get upset. Then I would let the fans get to me. I had to learn to control things and stay focused. I had to rebuild my confidence.”

Hall won four consecutive games after the University fiasco. That did a lot to boost his self-esteem.

“I knew I could do it all along,” Hall said.

All he needed was a chance.

Also in Division III:

La Quinta (24-5) vs. Santa Fe (25-1) at Cerritos College--The Aztecs were going to go as far as pitcher Jim Livernois could take them this season. He has them in the semifinals and will try to put La Quinta in its first championship game since 1979. The Aztecs lost to Lompoc, 9-2, in the title game that season. Livernois (12-2) has been exceptional in the playoffs. He threw a four-hitter in the Aztecs’ 4-2 victory over Santa Fe Springs St. Paul in the first round. He hung tough in a 7-5 victory over Woodbridge in the second round. He even pitched two innings in relief in Friday’s 4-1 victory over Ontario in the quarterfinals. Santa Fe, the second-seeded team, will counter with Ryan DeWitt (6-1). DeWitt is the team’s leading hitter with a .490 batting average, but Mark Kotsay is the Chiefs’ most dangerous batter. He has 11 home runs, three in the playoffs, and is hitting .470. Catcher Rodrigo Barajas is hitting .453 and has hit safely in 25 of the team’s 26 games.

DIVISION I

Encino Crespi (27-2) vs. Esperanza (23-5) at Blair Field--Crespi, the top-seeded team, will start Keith Evans (8-0). However, hanging around will be Jeff Suppan. Coach Scott Muckey will likely use Suppan (11-1) as a closer. He has 124 strikeouts and only 13 walks this season. Suppan, who will attend UCLA next season, is also deadly when he’s not pitching. He has 11 home runs and 51 runs batted in. Catcher Casey Snow, son of Cal State Long Beach Coach Dave Snow, is hitting .481 with six home runs and 42 RBIs. Esperanza Coach Mike Curran has been this route many times before. The Aztecs won the title in 1986 and reached the final in 1987-88. Esperanza reached the semifinals two years ago, where they lost to Diamond Bar. The Aztecs will started George Hart (3-0), who was injured most of the season. Hart went five innings, allowing only three hits, in a 7-2 victory over Edison in the second round. He’ll also have help behind him, as Mike Herlehy (8-1) and Marcus Jones (11-2) will be available. The Aztecs have outscored opponents 27-7 in the playoffs. Catcher Jason Murietta, who led Orange County in hitting, had a home run and four RBIs in an 8-1 victory over Hesperia Friday.