DIVISION III BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Tustin Squeezes by La Quinta

Tustin’s Ryan Winmill had been through the situation before. In practice, in games and in his mind.

So it was more or less a reflex action when he laid down a perfect squeeze in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave the Tillers a 3-2 victory over La Quinta in the Southern Section Division III championship game Wednesday at Anaheim Stadium.

“We work on those little things all the time,” Winmill said. “Coach told us before the game to be ready for a squeeze. He knew. I live for the squeeze.”

La Quinta died by it.

The Aztecs had scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead. They gave it back in the bottom of the inning. Little things went against them.

First, left fielder Sean Carlson misplayed a ball hit by Justin Lloyd. It dropped for a double, putting the Tillers’ leadoff man on base.

Mando Fonseca, who had three hits and scored twice, then bunted, attempting to move the runner to third. He also beat the throw. Tim Wilson walked, loading the bases.

One out later, Ronnie Hall looped the first pitch into right field for a single to tie the score. Winmill, a .370 hitter, followed and, on a 1-1 pitch, bunted back to the mound. Pitcher Jim Livernois charged, but the ball went under his glove.

“We’ve worked on the squeeze the first day of practice and we worked on it yesterday,” Tustin Coach Tim O’Donoghue said. “We’ve worked on it every day in between. We spend hours working on fundamentals. It wasn’t luck. It was meant to be.”

That feeling has been building throughout the playoffs. The Tillers, who have reached the semifinals the last three seasons and the title game in 1990, needed to win their final two games to finish third in the Sea View League and qualify for the playoffs.

“We hadn’t won more than two games in a row all season,” Winmill said.

The Tillers (22-9-1) picked a good time to start a significant streak. They won their final six, including upsets over top-seeded and undefeated La Puente Bishop Amat and unseeded Irvine, the preseason favorite to win the title.

“We played some tough teams along the way, but I knew this would be the toughest one,” O’Donoghue said. “La Quinta doesn’t beat itself with mistakes.”

This time, though, the Aztecs did lend a hand.

Fonseca led off the first inning with a double to left and kept going to third when Carlson had trouble with the ball in the corner. Fonseca scored on a sacrifice fly by Hall.

The Aztecs (25-6) also hit into inning-ending double plays in the first and second. The first one cost them a run, as Livernois scored from second on what appeared to be a botched double play. But Joe Linck was called for interference at second base, erasing the run and ending the inning.

The 1-0 lead seemed all that Hall needed. After wobbling through the first two innings, he retired 10 consecutive batters and 13 of 15 heading into the seventh. Hall (12-2) struck out five.

Livernois (13-3) matched Hall’s performance. He struck out only three, but had the Aztecs close heading into the last inning. It appeared to be enough, as La Quinta scrapped together two runs in the seventh.

Carlson doubled and scored when Jose Trejo flared a single into right. Trejo went to second on a groundout and, after Tustin walked Livernois intentionally, Bobby Ruiz grounded a two-out single into center for a 2-1 lead.

“That didn’t worry us,” Tustin third baseman Derek Baker said. “We knew we could come back. You’ve got to do big things to win big games.”