Legacies live on as Steve Hall is commemorated at Vashon High School

For the Vashon baseball program, it’s a time to reflect on legacy.

Legacies like that of Steve Hall, the former — and beloved — head coach of Vashon High School baseball who died unexpectedly in March this year. His positivity and energy built community on-and-off the diamond, and he retired from active coaching after his proudest moment — the 2016 team’s victory at the state 1A championship. (Hall was also, for thirty years, a fixture of the Vashon Thriftway, where he worked in the meat department.)

Legacies like those of current head coach Simon Perrin and assistant coach Chester Pruett, who played on that 2016 championship team — and who helped bring this team back to state competition — and assistant coach Greg McElroy, who was an assistant coach on the 2016 team.

And legacies like this year’s VHS team, who finished their season on May 18 after falling to Seton Catholic, having made it to the first round of the 1A state tournament after defeating Charles Wright Academy on May 11.

The season turned up star sportsmanship from the younger and older players, including the five graduating seniors: Finn Hawkins, Jack Harvey, Finn Magonegil, Chase Bradrick and Will Frith.

“All of these kids have been playing baseball since teeball,” team parent Eric Frith told The Beachcomber. “They’re all very accomplished players.”

This year’s seniors had a similar competitive start in high school to this year’s freshmen, who have competed regularly at the varsity level. So while the team will face a large turnover next year, Frith said, there’s already a crop of younger players stepping up to the plate.

Those legacies all came together Sunday, May 19 for a celebration of Hall’s life at the newly-renamed “Martin-Hall Field,” formerly the James Martin field, which now honors the legacies of both Martin and Hall. Martin spent much of his life tirelessly promoting, coaching and volunteering for baseball on the island.

The celebration included the introduction of the current team members on the field, along with alumni players from as early as 2004 playing in alumni games.

A team led by islander Cheryl Pruett organized the event, which brought hundreds to the high school for a day of baseball and memories.

That turnout is “truly a tribute to the impact Steve had on us and on this island,” said Jim Whitney, a longtime assistant coach to Hall.

Hall’s coaching continued off the field, Whitney said — he cared about the athletes and would check in with them in the aisles at Thriftway. And he always carried high expectations and a belief in challenging the people around him, teasing out the greatness that he knew laid within.

Hall’s Thriftway coworker Kevin Ross recalled getting a taste of Hall’s boundless energy early on at the grocery store.

Ross had asked Hall about a wrestling maneuver, and “instead of a simple explanation, I was on the receiving end of a takedown, a pin, and a bloody nose, all on aisle number three,” Ross said. “I now had a full understanding of what I’d asked, and I made a mental note to never ask any more questions about wrestling.”

Playing sports such as tennis after work, Hall demonstrated his enduring competitive spirit, Ross said — part of how he taught people “to get the most out of ourselves.” It was a part of the love and concern he had for the people in his life — from athletes to coworkers to his family.

Steve Hall was a “room-changer,” said his brother John Hall, likening Steve to the Energizer Bunny.

“When he came into the room, you could feel the energy change, and it was always to the positive,” John Hall said. “He was always looking to help people be better.”

And he taught John a few important things about being a man: Carry yourself with respect. Keep your word. And don’t ever quit.

Sue Hall, one of Hall’s daughters, recalled the inspiring “electricity” and boyish energy that Hall brought to the world every day.

“I could always call him for advice or just to talk,” she said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor, leader and a friend.”

Hall was the “greatest man I’ve ever known,” Sue said, and someone who could be a sight for sore eyes, a shoulder to cry on, a friend to laugh with, or a coach to give you a swift kick in the butt — whatever you needed him to be that day.

Hall’s son Steven Hall, Jr. said that despite the pain of losing his dad unexpectedly, Hall passed on, “amazingly,” with no words left unsaid and no regrets.

“Quite simply, he’s the greatest father a son or daughter could ever have,” Steven, Jr. said. “There have been few (people) … who are as honest, hardworking (and) dynamic.”

Hall was “so fond” of James Martin, Steve Hall Jr. said, and the renaming means their legacies will forever be connected.

“In my eyes, Jim and my father were like two peas in a pod,” Sue Hall said.

Now, Steven, Jr. said, his own 10-year-old son is excited to play on “Grandpa Steve’s field.”

“This feels a sacred ground to me now,” Hall Jr. said. “And I thank you all for making me and my family feel so loved. … If I am to lose my father, I’m humbled that his passing is celebrated in this way.”

A scholarship, the “Coach Hall Swing for the Fences” award, has been established in Hall’s memory through the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation. Donations can be made at vashonscholarships.org.