Chad Hall named baseball coach at Ocoee High | Observer Preps

The Ocoee High baseball program will have a new leader at its helm when it takes the field this coming spring.

Chad Hall, an assistant for the team for the last three years, was promoted to head coach at the beginning of the fall following former coach Bobby Brewer’s decision to step down.

Hall, who also has been on campus as a teacher for the last three years, has assumed all responsibilities of leading the program during the fall season. It is his first go-round as a head coach after previous stops as an assistant at Apopka, Lake Brantley and, most recently, Ocoee.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to coach these guys — we’ve got a lot of young talent,” Hall said. “The coaching part I’ve got down — it’s just the scheduling part and the paperwork.”

Hall is from Central Florida and played collegiately as a second baseman at Georgia Southern, where he also briefly worked as an assistant coach afterward. He said he has picked up important coaching lessons during his career from the coaches with whom he has worked — Mike Smith (at Lake Brantley), Eric Lassiter (at Apopka) and Brewer and Sonny Wise (at Ocoee) — and he is excited to implement those things while also molding the culture for the Knights in his own way.

“We’ve got to get the work ethic a little better; I’m holding them accountable for their actions,” Hall said. “The only way I know how to run a practice is the college level — so we (will) have planned practices, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Ocoee has had a winning record in three of the last four seasons and made the playoffs for the first time in 2017. The Knights, who went 14-12 in 2018, will look to build around a core that includes players such as Ethan Long, Orlando Perez and others — including some talented newcomers who have impressed during the fall season.

Hall said his first go-round with making a schedule led to a schedule that will be challenging for the team and his staff. The staff includes returners Chris Hall and Ashton Watts, as well as new additions Clay Schall, son of Olympia head coach Chuck Schall, and Jason Evans.

“We have a tough schedule — we face almost everybody in the Metro,” Hall said. “I just want to see how it goes.”