Emmaus’ senior baseball players had to be ready for a playoff game the day after attending their prom. While there were no signs of fatigue, the soon-to-be graduates were greatly helped by a member of the junior class.

Junior Dylan Lehman struck out 10 Liberty batters and allowed just one hit to help his team get past Liberty 10-0 in five innings Saturday afternoon at Church Lane Park.

“This was a tremendous outing,” said Emmaus head coach Mike Mihalik. “I don’t think anybody expects to throw a shut out against Liberty with 10 strike outs. It’s as good as I’ve seen him. I’m really happy for him.”

Emmaus, the No. 4 seed in the eight-team Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoff bracket, advances to Tuesday’s semifinal to face top-seeded Liberty at Hackett Park. The finals are slated for Wednesday back at Hackett Park.

Lehman struck out the side in two of the five innings. He didn’t allow a hit until the top of the fifth when his team had already pulled away to a 9-0 lead.

“When I started I wasn’t locating the curveball,” he said. “But I made some adjustments and it worked a lot better for me.

“The first inning they were up and they were a little rowdy. That intimidated me a little bit. I really thought hard about where I could locate the ball to keep it away from them because they’re really good hitters”

Lehman didn’t allow a baserunner until issuing back to back walks in the third inning then striking out two-hole hitter Grimaldi Gonzalez to end the threat.

Because of a concussion that kept him off the field for two weeks, Lehman’s innings have been limited this year. He’s 4-0 this season. He threw a two-hitter against Blue Mountain on April 7 and struck out eight Pocono Mountain West batters in three innings during a late-March win.

“He’s only had two outings since his gem against Blue Mountain,” said Mihalik. “Today was pretty awesome. He had them guessing a lot. He had two pitches he was throwing for strikes.”

The Hornets got their 10 runs without an extra-base hit. They used four singles and a pair of walks to push three runs across in the first inning.

After Lehman struck out the side in the second, Emmaus used four walks and two batters hit by pitches to score three more runs in the second inning for a 6-0 lead.

Liberty got its first two baserunners in the third inning, both on walks, before the Gonzalez strike out.

The Hornets made it 9-0 in the fourth inning on a single, three walks, one error and Kellan Tulio’s sacrifice fly that made it 9-0.

The Hurricanes got their first hit of the game in the top of the fifth, a no-out single from Jack Bornemann. But Lehman retired the next three batters to keep Liberty scoreless.

Emmaus started the fifth inning with a pair of walks before Wyatt Henseler lined a single to right field to bring home the game-ending run.

While the Hornets left 11 men on base in the game and didn’t get any longballs or base-clearing hits, they still managed to move base runners and score runs.

“It wasn’t perfect offense but it was really good,” said Mihalik. “There were some times when we let some guys on base. Our offense wasn’t home runs or doubles, it was singles and walks.

“We did whatever we had to do to get runs across the plate. Good offense is scoring runs, not necessarily hitting bombs and doubles.”

Mihalik was happy his four senior starters (Evan Marushak, Adam LeMaster, Gunnar Schlichtl and Ryan Kasye) were prepared for the game, a 1 p.m. start that was pushed back an hour because of wet field conditions. Kasye went 2-for-4 Saturday, while Marushak was 1-for-1 but reached base four times after getting hit by pitches in two straight at bats and drawing a walk in his final trip to the plate.

“Seniors did a great job performing the day after their prom,” said Mihalik. “It did not show at all. That was awesome.”

Emmaus improved to 16-4 overall with the win. While top-seeded Easton advanced with a win over Pleasant Valley Saturday, the other half of the EPC playoff bracket was rained out over the weekend and forced to play Monday. No. 2 Parkland beat No. 7 Freedom 2-0, while No. 3 Stroudsburg beat No. 6 Pocono Mountain East 6-5.

Semifinals were slated for Tuesday with the final scheduled for the next day. (See next week’s Press for coverage).

The Hornets, thanks to some great work Saturday morning by the team’s grounds crew, could have an advantage if they reach Wednesday’s finals with more rested pitchers than the team coming from the other side of the bracket.

“A lot of credit to Joe Siekonic, our grounds guy, and some of our assistant coaches for coming out here early this morning and getting this field ready,” said Mihalik. “It was a lot of work.”