Murrietta Works His Way Up : Division I baseball: Esperanza catcher, the team’s vocal leader, leads Aztecs against Simi Valley in title game tonight.

Esperanza catcher Jason Murrietta didn’t need to worry when he hit a brief slump early in the playoffs. He had worked through them before.

Long slumps. Season-long ones.

Murrietta batted .237 as a sophomore last year, the second-lowest average among Aztec starters.

It was a tough season for him, but cut him a break. After all, he was only a sophomore.

“It was all confidence,” he said. “I was a sophomore, and there were a lot of good pitchers in our league, guys like (El Dorado’s) Shawn Holcomb. They scared me.

“But this year, every time I go up to the plate, I’m thinking that no one is going to beat me.”

And only a few have.

Murrietta has more than doubled last year’s average, batting .565 in the regular season to lead Orange County.

After getting only one hit in the first two playoff games, Murrietta’s average has slipped to .531 entering tonight’s Southern Section Division I championship game against second-seeded Simi Valley.

He rebounded in a hurry, though, and his key hitting in the quarterfinals and semifinals have helped the Aztecs reach their fourth championship game in eight seasons.

He drove in the first run of the game on a groundout in the first inning of a 2-0 semifinal victory over top-seeded Encino Crespi.

In the quarterfinals, he was two for four with four RBIs, including a towering home run in an 8-1 victory over Hesperia.

The homer, which gave Esperanza a 7-0 lead, cleared the 385-foot mark in Adelanto’s Mavericks Stadium, home of the Class-A High Desert Mavericks of the California League.

“Jason went off against Hesperia,” Esperanza Coach Mike Curran said. “The homer he hit was out of a Class-A park, and that was no short distance.”

Murrietta said the home run surprised him. It was his first of the season in 81 at-bats.

“It was such a big field that a home run was never in my mind,” he said. “The Hesperia pitcher threw me a curve. It was a shock.”

Not nearly as big a shock as his performance so far this season.

Murrietta’s rise through the ranks took time. He needed time to adjust to the varsity level after moving up as a freshman during the 1991 playoffs, joining a team that was top-ranked nationally before losing in the section semifinals.

As a sophomore, he started in right field and later moved to catcher, the position he had played since T-ball at age 5.

It was a difficult, frustrating season, with pitcher Marcus Jones and shortstop Poncho Ruiz slowed by injuries. The Aztecs finished 10-14.

The season gave Murrietta time to adjust to the Empire League’s top pitchers, guys such as Holcomb, Los Alamitos’ Ben Rada and Katella’s Jaret Wright.

Murrietta has learned to be patient, to wait for that right pitch. He has learned that just getting on base can be as important as swinging for the fence. Thirty of his 43 hits this season have been singles.

“The toughest thing in my career is stepping up from the lower levels,” Murrietta said. “I had a difficult time last year, and I knew this had to be my year.”

Curran said he thinks Murrietta could be widely recruited as a senior. Catchers with solid defensive skills and offensive punch are always in demand.

“He’s a very good defensive catcher,” Curran said. “He’s much better than he’s given credit for. He’s only had three people steal on him in league. He’s only a junior, but he plays like a senior.”

The Esperanza’s media guide describes Murrietta as a “vocal leader.” That could be the biggest understatement of the season.

He’s very vocal. And he’s not shy about telling you so.

At catcher, Murrietta plays a position where he’s seen and heard. His chatter pumps up his teammates and sometimes irritates opponents.

During the Upper Deck Classic, a player from Miami Westminster Christian spit on Murrietta after crossing home plate. Murrietta went after him and had to be restrained by teammates.

“There’s always so much action behind the plate,” he said. “You can pick your team up, get everyone going with yelling and screaming. It’s especially important if the game gets dull, and minds start to wander.”

Murrietta takes stolen bases personally. It’s an ego thing. Stealing on him means you’re challenging him. So is running on a dropped third strike. That’s why some of his tags get “a little aggressive.”

His aggressiveness carries over from the football season. Murrietta was a starting safety on the Aztec team that tied Los Alamitos, 14-14, in the section championship game.

The football championship was one of four section titles the Aztecs have won during the 1992-93 school year. A baseball title would make it five, a feat that Esperanza officials think could be unprecedented in section history.

“It would be great to play on two CIF championship teams in the same year,” Murrietta said.

But he knows winning it all will be difficult, even with Jones, the Aztecs’ ace, on the mound.

That’s because he knows how good Simi Valley is.

The Pioneers, top-ranked in USA Today’s national poll, won the Upper Deck Classic and are batting .389. They have outstanding power hitters in Kevin Nykoluk (.476, 10 home runs), Ryan Hankins (.510, 12 home runs) and Britten Pond (.519, six home runs).

Murrietta respects them, but wants badly to beat them. He thinks he knows how.

“Simi Valley is a fastball team,” he said. “Marcus has to establish a changeup, get them down 0-2 or 1-2, and then come at them with the heat, which is what he’s best at.”

Murrietta offered no predictions, but added that the Aztecs are ready.

“The pressure’s not on us at all,” he said. “We’re one of only three county teams left in the playoffs, and no one expects us to win. And we can play with them.”