Back where it all began: After two elbow surgeries, Pribyl finishing QU career on pitcher’s mound

QUINCY — Everything about Alex Pribyl’s routine needed to change.

Most things, such as when to start his warm-ups and how many pitches he should throw, the sixth-year Quincy University pitcher could figure out by feel or by asking.

Still, the transition from bullpen mainstay to the starter on the backend of a doubleheader created a unique circumstance the right-hander didn’t see coming.

When should he eat?

“Usually, that’s a between games thing,” Pribyl said. “But I don’t like to have food in my belly when I’m throwing. So do I eat right at the start of the first game? I just didn’t know.”

While he leaned on seasoned starters such as his former roommate, current Myrtle Beach Pelicans reliever and former QU All-American left-hander Riley Martin, to discuss typical preparations, Pribyl had to seek the counsel of Hawks sophomore Griffin Kirn when it comes to eating habits and timing when you’re pitching the nightcap.

“Griff has been that Game 2 starter,” Pribyl said. “Do I start moving around in the fourth inning of the first game or the fifth or the seventh? I don’t know. So I had to ask him.”

Kirn’s advice?

“Usually I have my mom or dad bring me a Jimmy John’s sandwich about the second or third inning of the first game,” Kirn said. “So I go down to the bullpen, eat my food and start getting mentally prepared. So that’s what I told him.”

Kirn admitted it’s an important detail you don’t think about until you’re in that position.

“It’s a big thing,” Kirn said. “You don’t want to eat before the game and then be hungry while you’re pitching. And you don’t want to eat between games because that’s when you’re getting loose. You have to figure it out.”

Pribyl’s ability to navigate his culinary quandary and deliver consistent efforts for the Hawks — he’s 2-1 as a starter and has pitched a minimum of four innings in each outing — is a key reason they sit atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference Blue Division standings heading into this week’s series at home against Indianapolis.

His presence matters as much as his strikeouts because there was never a guarantee Pribyl would be providing this team leadership and innings after two surgeries on his right elbow — along with a canceled COVID season — meant he hadn’t pitched in nearly three years.

‘Uh, something’s not right’

Pribyl will tell you life in the bullpen was good his first two seasons with the Hawks.

“Really good,” he said.

As a true freshman in 2017, Pribyl found a role as a setup man for closer Cole Crawford. He appeared in relief in 21 games, fashioning a 1-1 record with a 5.96 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 25 ⅔ innings. He threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts against Northwood in the championship game of the Midwest Regional, allowing the Hawks to hold on for a 2-0 victory and earn their first NCAA Division II World Series appearance.

He also threw two-thirds of an inning against Colorado Mesa in the World Series.

Pribyl returned to his setup role as a sophomore, going 5-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 17 outings. He struck out 35 in 21 innings as the Hawks won 41 games, captured the GLVC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA MIdwest Regional once again.

Everything pointed to him being the anchor of a three-pronged back of the bullpen along with Sam Stephens and Willie Sanchez in 2019.

That changed the opening weekend of GLVC play.

In the second of four games against Rockhurst on March 11, Pribyl worked a perfect eighth inning, getting two groundouts and a strikeout. But he knew something was amiss.

“I threw one weird pitch to the first guy I faced and I was like, ‘Uh, something’s not right,’” Pribyl said.

After the inning, former QU coach Josh Rabe asked the righty if he could go back out for another inning with the game still tied at 3. Pribyl told him no.

“He’s like, ‘What do you mean no?’” Pribyl said. “I told him something’s not right.”

It turned out to be terribly wrong. Pribyl suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery two months later.

The recovery and rehabilitation lasted 10 months, which meant Pribyl was throwing by the time the 2020 season began but wasn’t ready to pitch. That changed a month later when he was cleared to ramp it up the same week QU was set to face Rockhurst in the GLVC opener.

No one took the mound again that season.

Pribyl was throwing a midweek bullpen session, along with QU hurlers Jimmy McDonald and Zach Lamari, when Rabe gathered the team together at the end of the practice and informed the Hawks everything was shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That was the we’re-done-for-the-rest-of-the-season meeting,” Pribyl said.

Now there was no light at the end of the tunnel for his return.

“It was quite a bit demoralizing,” Pribyl said. “Honestly, I worked by butt off to get back to where I needed to be in time for the season. To have it shut down right as I’m supposed to be coming back was awful.”

He didn’t allow that to change his approach.

‘I wanted to go out on my own terms’

With the university having transitioned to remote learning and baseball over, Pribyl returned home to Anoka, Minn., where he spent the offseason working out and throwing in hopes the 2021 season would be his triumphant return.

One of his workout buddies also had his own baseball aspirations.

Pribyl’s cousin, Jace Pribyl, is a corner infielder for Dakota State University who has played in all 36 games this spring for the Trojans.  

“He’s who I throw with and lift with every single summer,” Pribyl said.

Despite all the time they spent working out and the commitment Pribyl made to being healthy and strong, there was an issue with the elbow that ultimately wiped out the 2021 season.

Doctors didn’t move the ulnar nerve when he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019, and that nerve was not pressed up against the bone and flat.

“The doctor said it was three or four times larger than normal size,” Pribyl said.

It meant he couldn’t throw a baseball further than 20 feet and limited his everyday activities.

“I couldn’t vacuum or wash my hair,” Pribyl said. “It was that bad.”

So in February 2021, he underwent a second surgery to move the ulnar nerve, reduce the pain and allow Pribyl the chance to use his arm for normal purposes. Pitching again was a different matter and hinged entirely on his ability to feel the baseball and strengthen the arm.

“I didn’t think it looked good,” Pribyl said. “It was like, ‘At this point, God doesn’t want me to play baseball anymore.’ But I said I was going to give it one hell of a chance to come back again.”

After six months of rehabilitation, such a chance existed.

Pribyl started throwing and getting the feel for the baseball back.

“There is still some feeling I don’t get correctly and this part of my elbow is still pretty numb,” Pribyl said, rubbing along his forearm. “Pitching-wise, it doesn’t affect me at all.”

Once he discovered that, nothing could stop him.

“I wanted to come back really, really bad,” Pribyl said. “I wanted to go out on my own terms. I didn’t want something out of my control to be what took me out of baseball. That’s why I’m still hanging around for my sixth year.”

That’s been a boon for the Hawks.

“I really think it just gives all of us confidence,” Kirn said. “Especially when he’s in the bullpen, we all know Prib’s going to come in and do his thing because he’s very good. It’s all about confidence and he gives all of us confidence.”

Plus, he’s an example to follow.

“Even before the arm surgeries, he took a lot of pride in getting better in the weight room and cleaning up things mechanically,” said QU coach Matt Schissel, who spent the previous four seasons as the Hawks pitching coach. “That same work ethic is what has helped him get back to what he is right now.

“These things don’t happen by accident. That’s what a lot of people don’t understand. He’s put a lot of work in here on campus and on his own to get to this point.”

‘He’s a team guy’

On March 20, in the second game of the season and the Hawks clinging to a two-run lead against Missouri Western in the 10th inning, Schissel summoned Pribyl from the bullpen.

It was his first pitching appearance in 1,077 days.

“I started out of the bullpen, which was of course awesome to come back to,” Pribyl said. “And of course, I make every inning interesting. That’s just the story of QU Hawk closers.”

Pribyl earned his first career save in the 6-5 victory, although he allowed one run after hitting the leadoff hitter and then having the defense commit two errors. But he settled in and struck out three of the final four batters he faced.

Each one of them went down swinging.

“He says, ‘Here’s my fastball. Here’s my curveball. If you hit it, you hit it, but you’re probably not going to,’” Schissel said. “He’s going to walk a few guys. His command hasn’t been fully back yet, especially in extended outings. But he competes. He’s unfazed. That’s the biggest thing.

“He’ll walk three guys, then strike three out and here we are back in the dugout. That’s what helped him a lot. He’s an older guy who’s pitched in some big games. Nothing fazes him. That’s been the biggest attribute for him.”

That’s why he reacted to Schissel’s idea to give Pribyl his first career start in arguably the biggest weekend of the season with a give-me-the-ball attitude.

After five relief appearances, including a five-inning stint against Davenport in which Pribyl allowed one run and two hits with eight strikeouts, Schissel decided the right-hander gave the Hawks the best opportunity to quell nationally ranked Illinois-Springfield’s vaunted offense in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader.

“My thought was we’ve seen good stuff for three or four innings every weekend out of the pen so why not get those three, four or five innings to start the game,” Schissel said. “He’s a team guy. I’ll ask him every week, ‘How does the arm feel? What do you want to do this week?’ And he always says, ‘Whatever the team needs, that’s what I want to do.’”

So they met in the North Campus locker room three days prior to the start of the four-game series to discuss the starting option.

“(Schissel) was like, ‘What do you think about it? Here’s my thoughts. Here’s how I think it can work,’” Pribyl said. “He was like, ‘I think you can put up zeroes and give us a chance.’ I thought, ‘It’s the same thing, just in the first.’ That’s how I have to approach it.

“It gave me quite a bit of confidence, especially since it was UIS. That’s one of the biggest rivals we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Pribyl worked five innings, striking out nine and walking six while allowing three runs and four hits. The Hawks lost 8-3, but Pribyl had given them a chance.

He’s done that every outing since.

The righty worked four innings in a 5-3 victory over Southern Indiana, allowing two runs while striking out a career-high 10. Last weekend, Pribyl and the Hawks beat Lewis 18-4 as he struck out six and allowed three runs over four innings.

“I still like closing, the adrenalin rush of the late game and being able to be that dude,” Pribyl said. “But now I get to feel what it’s like when you have the dugout hyping you up. You get that big zero and you come in and the guys are giving you high-fives and screaming, ‘Let’s go.’ It really riles you up.”

‘I’m seeing the fruits of my labor’

Although he’s heading back to the bullpen this weekend, Pribyl’s approach won’t change.

“It was my job to go put up zeroes when people weren’t putting up zeroes,” Pribyl said. “That’s still the same.”

So is the attitude.

“My mental approach is act like I’ve been there before,” Pribyl said. “So if I do something cool or I walk four, it doesn’t matter. A lot of other teams will feed off that if you get down on yourself or start screaming. I’m a big believer that baseball has a way of humbling you very fast.

“So as soon as you want to get hyped up about something, someone is going to do something to put you right back in your place. That’s why I try to keep a very even keel.”

Yet, the return to the bullpen allows Pribyl to regain the rush he’s always enjoyed.

“When I go out for one or two innings, it’s straight adrenaline,” Pribyl said. “It’s a bull running into the China shop kind of deal.”

And it works. Pribyl has struck out 114 batters in 70.2 career innings with an 8-3 record and one save.

“When you’re a starter, you have to think about the long-term effects and you have to stay focused on the entirety of the thing,” Pribyl said. “I can’t lose myself in the dugout by chirping and talking to my teammates. I try to put myself in a tunnel. If you ask the guys, I don’t do a lot of talking in the dugout when I’m starting.”

Still, he soaks in the energy being back in the dugout provides.

“Last year with COVID restrictions, I wasn’t allowed to travel with the team,” Pribyl said. “We couldn’t sit in the dugout. So we had ourselves a peanut gallery up in the top right corner of the stadium. It just wasn’t the same.

“To be back in the dugout, to be one of the dudes who the guys love to watch pitch, to have a pretty significant role on the team, it’s humbling but also extremely satisfying. All my hard work went toward something that is now playing out. I’m seeing the fruits of my labor.”

There is no guarantee the journey ends when this season does.

Pribyl has talked to at least one coach with connections to the independent leagues and could help him find a team that needs relief help. All it takes is for the right scout or coach to see him pitch to open the door to another opportunity.

“How do I give up the opportunity to play baseball if somebody wants me to play baseball?” Pribyl said. “That’s every kid’s dream. How do you say no?”

Pribyl knows that’s a longshot, and he has future plans already in place.

He will graduate in May with bachelor’s degrees in biology and psychology with plans to enroll in a trade school and become an electrician. He also will be getting married in September to Abby Kastenholz, who he met his freshman year at QU.

So baseball doesn’t need to be a priority past June, but the fact it is a priority in his life again right now is something Pribyl will forever treasure because it has afforded him the opportunity to write his own ending.

“I’m blessed to be back pitching,” Pribyl said. “I’m humbled and I’m blessed.”