Back on track: Gabe Graulau's big night powers Jupiter past Benjamin as postseason looms

JUPITER – Jupiter baseball's cold spell is officially over.

Warriors pitcher Ethan Trivison befuddled an explosive Benjamin lineup with his offspeed arsenal, steering Jupiter to a second straight win.

He got a bit of help from Gabe Graulau, who collected two hits, each with the bases loaded, to tally a game-high four RBIs.

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It was a much-needed victory at an important juncture of the season for Jupiter – not to get into playoffs, but to feel comfortable once there.

With Jupiter entering their game against Dwyer in early April boasting a five-game win streak, many baseball savants had Jupiter pinned as the county's team to beat in class 7A.

Since that 7-3 loss, questions have arisen.

Jupiter's elite offense looked uncharacteristically stagnant against Royal Palm, and suddenly, they'd lost three games out of four heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

If last week's 10-0 beat down of True North Classical Academy was venting, Monday's grind-it-out, 6-1 victory over Benjamin was calming confirmation that the Warriors are back on track.

“About two weeks ago, we lost three out of four,” head coach Kyle Young said. “Last week we won two out of three. We pieced it together versus True North and came in today knowing we had to win tonight.”

Things started off a little rocky, to borrow Trivison’s own word in description of his first inning.

The visiting Bucs scored a run in the top half of the first, appearing to have the sophomore figured out before he got things settled down.

Once they did, he was difficult to hit, generating a variety of whiffs from up and down the Benjamin lineup.

“My changeup was really working,” Trivison said. “I was throwing it really well in the bullpen and so felt really confident in it. Curveball, slider, everything. A bit of a rocky start, but I was able to zone it in.”

When it comes to the bats, Jupiter has made a practice of riding the hot hand with a few lineup switches.

It seems to be paying off. Whether it’s that adjustment or simply a mental flip, Graulau was locked in.

Acting as ‘Mr. Clutch’ from the six-hole on Monday, the junior tallied a pair of bases-leaded hits to generate all the offense that Jupiter needed.

“I just try and find a pitch I can drive,” Graulau said. “One of them, he threw me a first-pitch curveball that missed high and I was just ready to hit after that. I knew he was going to have to come at me with a strike.”

After his two important hits, the junior also came in to close out the game on the mound.

With all three phases of the game returning to a state that is far more familiar and suited for playoff baseball, Jupiter has quickly shown that the fluky streak is behind them.

“It was a rough week, but we worked really hard in practice and we worked really hard to get that morale back up,” Trivison said. “Big win last Friday, and that kind of got us going into this week.”

For as close as Jupiter and Benjamin are locationally and for all the familiarity between the programs, Monday’s matchup between the squads in six years.

Graulau says that added an extra element of enthusiasm to the Warriors dugout, something that helped galvanize the success the team found in the contest.

“Everyone was just super excited for the game,” Graulau said. “When everyone is excited and everyone is hyped and the dugout has a lot of energy, we always play good. When we’re on that high note with energy, we can beat anybody.”

Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Gabe Graulau propels Jupiter over Bucs as Warriors get back on track