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Saladino: Plant ready for the next stage

By Eduardo A. Encina, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, April 9, 2008

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TAMPA — The celebration was tempered and moments after Plant dispatched Wharton 10-0 in five innings Tuesday, there was no hanging around. The Panthers emptied the visiting dugout at the University of Tampa and quickly filed out, as if it were a business trip.

The Panthers (21-1) finished Saladino pool play 3-0 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where they face Brandon, a 12-2 winner over Armwood.

Plant made quick work of Wharton, taking an 8-0 lead on Andrew Virgili, who entered the game boasting a 0.60 ERA. The first five Panthers reached base, four on base hits, and Plant took a quick three-run lead before Wharton picked up a bat.

Shortstop Mychal Givens was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including an RBI single in the second that gave Plant a 5-0 lead and a two-run single in the third that made it 8-0. Each Plant hitter reached base and three — Givens, pitcher Mike Lashbrook and leadoff hitter Justin Salas (who doubled twice) — scored two runs each.

It was a dominating win over an opponent expected to give Plant a game, but afterward, there was little hoopla.

"I think mentally we never want to be too high or too low," Plant coach Dennis Braun said. "I think this year we're finally understanding that."

Lashbrook (3-0), making his first pitching appearance in two weeks, held Wharton to five hits over five innings and struck out three. He entered the fifth having allowed just two hits until the Wildcats loaded the bases on three singles, but Lashbrook induced a long flyout to right from Virgili.

Now the Panthers face a single-elimination format for the rest of the tournament, a welcome test for a team favored to go far into the postseason.

"This is pretty important because the past couple years we haven't made it all that far in the Saladino," Lashbrook said.

"I think this time we're ready to win it all."