The plan was for the Emporia AAAs’ Jonathan Hrabik to go two innings before getting replaced by another reliever.
The plan flew out the window when Hrabik came out with dominant stuff in Emporia’s 8-4 victory over El Dorado on Tuesday night.
Hrabik, who entered the game in the top of the fifth in a 4-all tie, received a pleasant surprise on the mound when his curveball showed violent break.
“It was dirty,” Hrabik said. “I was just keeping my fastball low, and they were taking the bait on the curveball.”
So much so that El Dorado not only failed to get a run against Hrabik in the final five innings — the team also didn’t muster a hit.
In five relief innings, Hrabik faced 17 batters, with the only two runners reaching base on errors in the fifth and ninth innings.
Meanwhile, the better Hrabik looked, the more Emporia coach Ryan Oden was convinced he could go additional innings.
“He got into a groove,” Oden said, “and as a pitching coach, my gut instinct is to leave him in.”
“I kept getting strikeout after strikeout, so he left me in,” Hrabik said. “I don’t even know how many strikeouts I had.”
Hrabik fanned eight and walked none, never allowing a runner past first base.
Oden said it was Hrabik’s command — and not just his curveball — that helped make the difference.
“The key is working ahead,” Oden said. “You can do more then, and you can get fine with your pitches when you do that.”
After trailing early, Emporia tied it in the bottom of the fourth on a clutch hit by Cameron Smith at the bottom of the lineup.
With two outs and runners on second and third, Smith lined a single into center, scoring a pair and knotting the score at four.
The Emporia outfielder contributed hits in his first two plate appearances, showing positive signs after working on a dramatic change in his batting stance to open himself up more to the pitcher.
“What we see from him in the (batting) cage is what we saw from him tonight,” Oden said. “The more confidence he gets in his new stance, the more we’re going to get out of him.”
The AAAs took the lead for good with a pair in the bottom of the fifth.
Alex Reyes led off with a single, moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a stolen base.
After Solis walked, Harrison Stone lined a shot off the pitcher’s leg for an RBI groundout, and Adam Tebben followed with an RBI single to right to make it 6-4.
It would be enough run support for Hrabik to close it out. The right-hander struck out the side in the sixth and retired 12 consecutive batters at one point.
“They didn’t know what was coming,” Hrabik said. “I could throw (my curveball) at any time.”
Solis and Smith led Emporia with two hits each.
Emporia (11-9) will play host to the Mike’s Classic this weekend at Soden’s Grove. The AAAs first game is 8 p.m. Friday against Lansing.
Tuesday at Emporia
Emporia 8, El Dorado 4
El Dorado 030 100 000 — 4 7 2
Emporia AAAs 011 221 01X — 8 8 3
W — Jonathan Hrabik. L — Levi Bell.
2B — Emporia: Jonathan Hrabik, Joe Solis. SB — Emporia: Taylor Clark, Jared Krause, Alex Reyes, Jonathan Hrabik, Cameron Smith.
Emporia highlights — Jonathan Hrabik 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 8 K, 0 BB; Joe Solis 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2R, BB; Cameron Smith 2-4, 2 RBI, R, SB.