TAMPA - The plan was for the Plant bullpen to be active almost all night long.
Heading into Thursday's Saladino Tournament semifinal game against Alonso, Panthers coach Bo Puckett figured he'd be switching pitchers every couple of innings as what has been a long week of games started to show in his staff.
Instead the only walk to the mound he made during the Panthers 2-1 victory was to congratulate starter Ken Wadsworth after he recorded his eighth and final strikeout to end the game.
Wadsworth pitched an unexpected complete game, holding the Ravens to four hits as he put Plant in the Saladino championship for consecutive years. Plant, which last won the tournament in 2000, will play Chamberlain at 7:30.
The story of the night was pitching.
The trend throughout the tournament has been lots of hits and several runs. Wadsworth and Alonso starter Chris Whelan did their parts to buck that.
Whelan held the Panthers (11-2) to two hits through four innings before Plant was finally able to piece together a couple of walks with three singles to score twice in the fifth.
That gave them a 2-1 lead and that was all Wadsworth would need to finish the night as he retired the final six Ravens in order, including three by strikeout.
"I kept him in there because he needed this game," Puckett said. "I've had him here for three years and I felt he needed this game. He had his stuff. To take him out would have been a travesty."
Alonso (11-3) took the early lead on a single by Chris Harley in the second and threatened to add more but ended the inning with runners on first and third.
It looked like the Ravens were starting to figure out Wadsworth and stayed patient when his pitches sailed high or wide but they only managed four base runners over the final five innings, one by way of a hit.
"We needed to put the ball in play like we did in the first couple innings," Ravens coach Landy Faedo said. "We did a good job at the beginning of the game but I guess my kids got caught up in the excitement or whatever and they started chasing the high balls."
