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TAMPA - King beat Plant, 4-2, in the Class 5A, District 8 championship game on Friday to ensure a home game when regional play begins Tuesday. District runnerup Plant will be on the road.
Plant coach Bo Puckett had planned on limiting starter Ken Wadsworth (6-0) to 60 pitches because of the senior's four-inning outing Wednesday. Suspecting that Wadsworth would not be pitching long on only one day's rest, King coach Jim Macaluso instructed his team not to swing until they had taken at least one strike.
"Wadsworth is a very good pitcher," Macaluso said. "Knowing his work at mid-week, we thought our best shot was to make him throw as many pitches early as we could."
The strategy paid off. In the first, after Wadsworth retired the first two batters, shortstop Jeff Bromley walked and promptly stole second. Then three successive walks brought him home with the game's first run and by the end of the inning, the Plant pitcher had thrown 34 of the 69 pitches he would throw before leaving after three.
In the third, the Panthers ran themselves out of a rally. After center fielder Corey Brown singled and was caught stealing, Lions center fielder Marek Carter robbed Dylan Brown of a hit with a diving catch in center. Chris McCurdy then doubled only to be caught attempting to steal third to end the inning.
King pitcher Phil Laliberte (6-4) was holding the Panthers (22-6) in check, relying more on his change-up as the game progressed.
Lions second baseman Zach Livingstone opened the home half of the third by drawing a walk and coming all the way around on a Plant infield error to put King up 2-1.
King (17-7) added two insurance runs in the sixth on four hits begun by Rafael Quintana's single and a bunt by Stephen Locke that put runners at the corners. It set up RBI singles by Joe Cole and Ronnie Cosse to put the game away.
"This is a wonderful win for us," Macaluso said. "Anytime you win a championship in this county, it's great because the opponents are always so good. I'm looking to carry this momentum into the playoffs."