Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — It’s been 28 years in the making. But Unioto has finally tasted success on the big stage.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
Striking often and early, the Shermans (23-3) were in full command throughout Thursday night and fought to bring home their first Division II district championship since 1995, defeating Hillsboro by a 6-2 final.
“We told the girls today how long it had been since we won a district title,” Unioto coach Rob Hull said. “These girls have absolutely worked their tails off for this. They’ve done everything that we’ve asked them to do. I’m just super proud of them.”
On Wednesday, in the team’s district semifinal win against Jackson, it took Unioto’s Morgan Daniels until the sixth inning to tally a base hit.
On Thursday, it took two pitches.
On an 0-1 offering, she roped a hit down the left field line that got past Hillsboro’s left fielder. Daniels showed her speed and dove head first into home plate for an inside-the-park home run, putting the Shermans ahead 2-0 — and creating early momentum that lasted throughout all seven frames.
“We wanted to get on them early,” Hull said. “We have a lot of speed and with [Daniels and Book] on the bases, anything can happen. But to take a 2-0 lead against a pitcher like [Hillsboro’s Camryn Spruell], that sends a message right from the start. Hats off to Hillsboro. Spruell is one heck of a pitcher. But what we did last night versus tonight, we made our adjustments when we had to.”
The Shermans never let their feet off the gas, but they got help in the process as well.
In the bottom of the second, with a runner on, Alexis Book ripped a single to center field and Hillsboro committed a fielding error. That allowed Book to book her own way around the bases and score, extending Unioto’s lead to 4-0.
Hillsboro (21-3) attempted to mount a rally in the fourth inning when Kinsey Gilliland led the team’s at-bat off with a solo bomb off the university’s scoreboard to cut the lead to 4-1.
Book, however, answered in the bottom half when she laced an RBI single through the right side, pushing the lead to 5-1.
Put simply, and like Book’s at-bat in the fourth, Unioto continued to have an answer for everything Hillsboro did.
The Indians’ Camryn Spruell launched an RBI single to cut into the deficit at 5-2, only for Unioto’s Ava Dettwiller to smoke an RBI single of her own for a 6-2 score — ultimately, sealing the district championship.
The win is the Shermans’ second against the Indians this year after the clubs split two meetings this spring.
On March 27, Hillsboro topped Unioto by a 5-3 final, only to drop an 8-6 decision on April 8.
“We learned the way we wanted to hit the ball and the way we wanted to pitch them,” Hull said. “We knew how they attacked the ball in the first couple of games. We called a rubber match in the district tournament when we played at Gallippolis [on April 8]. But our whole approach was to be aggressive at the plate. We wanted Spruell to throw a lot of pitches and wear down. She battled. But tonight, we executed that game plan and came out victorious.”
Statistically, Hannah Hull tossed a complete game, allowing just five hits and an earned run while striking out four batters.
“I have to give props to [Hannah],” Hull said. “I don’t know if the runs that Hillsboro scored were earned or not, but she threw another gem against a great hitting team.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
Book went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Daniels was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and Dettwiller was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
For Hillsboro, Spruell took the loss, allowing five earned runs and striking out eight batters. She also went 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Gilliland was 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI.
While the Indians end their season after winning conference and sectional titles, Unioto advances to a Division II regional semifinal against Gnadenhutten Indian Valley at 5 p.m., May 24 at Philo High School.
SPONSORED BY NEIL COLEMAN INSURANCE
