Mundelein pitcher Joey Kafka entered his first varsity season assuming most of his work would come out of the bullpen.
That figured to be a good place to grow, given that the junior right-hander had spent most of his career as a reliever and the Mustangs had Valparaiso commit Kenny Nanos and Illinois commit Caden Earing slotted at the top of the rotation. But injuries to both of those starters dramatically changed things for Mundelein.
Ten weeks later, Kafka is a dominant starter.
“Relieving is my favorite part of the game. I love it,” he said. “As soon as those guys got hurt, I knew I had to flip my mentality around and show what I could do on the field.”
On Wednesday, Kafka showed what he can still do as a reliever. He got the ball with two outs and a runner on second base in the top of the sixth inning of a tie game against North Suburban Conference rival Warren in the Class 4A Palatine Regional semifinals, and he threw one pitch that induced a ground-out.
After Braden Carman’s two-out RBI double down the left field line put the fourth-seeded Mustangs back on top in the bottom of the inning, Kafka returned to the mound in the seventh and struck out the side to wrap up a 6-5 win over the 13th-seeded Blue Devils.
“He’s absolutely just one of those guys that battles,” Mundelein coach Randy Lerner said. “Regardless of the situation, we know we’ll get a good, competitive outing from him. Sitting around seeing the highs and lows and swings of the game, to be able to stay locked in for 5 2/3 innings and then to come in like he did is impressive.”
Kafka actually walked Liam Wiley, who hit a three-run homer during Warren’s five-run fifth, to start the seventh before recording three strikeouts, the last two looking.
“After the walk, I really wanted to go to the next guy with the same mentality that they really couldn’t touch anything I was throwing very well,” Kafka said. “So far in the conference, they (the Blue Devils) hit me the best out of anyone. So when I came in, I felt like I really needed to get these outs and show them that I’m one of the best pitchers in the conference.”
Kafka, who went into the game with a 1.57 ERA, improved to 8-0 as Mundelein (23-8) advanced to the regional championship game against either fifth-seeded Prospect or 10th-seeded Palatine at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Mundelein’s original schedule for the week had Kafka slated to start that regional final. But given the one-and-done nature of the playoffs, he was told to be ready to pitch Wednesday. He took that to heart.
“I was sitting at the end of the dugout all game watching hitters, watching their tendencies, watching what they’re doing,” he said. “Their guy (Wiley) who hit the home run, he was really struggling with off-speed pitches, but he hit that fastball really hard, so I wanted to try to keep the ball down on him and not let him get anything he can handle.”
Kafka, who has struck out 53 and walked just 13 in 37 innings this season, routinely has command of all three of his pitches, including a barreling fastball that has a good dose of “arm-wide run,” according to Lerner.
Kafka has also developed a feel for how his body, particularly his arm, feels each day. He was convinced by teammate Baris Brua, who preceded him on the mound in the sixth, to play some light catch before the game. Kafka noticed he didn’t have a feel for his slider, and three hours later, with the game on the line, he course-corrected
“I felt like my breaking ball was not working as it usually does,” he said. “It usually has a lot more vertical break, but today it was moving a lot more horizontally. So in the bullpen I just tried to make that adjustment, starting it up more, so it would run out.”
Kafka’s live arm, mindset for success and confidence he gained early in the season have combined to catapult him into a role in which teammates expect outs whenever he pitches, whether he’s starting or relieving.
“I have a ton of confidence in all of our pitchers, but Joe, the way he’s been pitching all year, I knew he would shut the door and end it,” Carman said. “Getting to know him more this year, he’s one of the most confident kids I know. He trusts his stuff, and he works so hard for it, so he has a good reason for that trust.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
