Unioto utilizes late hits in win over Circleville, locks down second consecutive district title

ATHENS — Alexis Book knew she had a hit in the works. The senior felt it as she stepped to the plate for the third time Friday in the bottom of the fifth inning of Unioto's district final against Circleville. She made contact in her first two at-bats, but was sent back down after flying out in both attempts.

As the old saying goes, third time's the charm.

In her final at-bat, Book made contact. She drilled a fly ball to deep left center field, which dropped against the wall and between Circleville's outfielders. As Book and sophomore Mackenzie Eisel rounded the bases, Circleville committed a throwing error that allowed both runners to score.

After four and a half innings of silence, Book's hit provided the lift Unioto needed. That lift pushed them to their second district title in two years. With one hit, Unioto all but secured its 2-1 win over Circleville in the Division II district finals on Friday night.

"In the box, knowing that this is not going to be my last game, I'm going to get a hit for my team and we're going to advance," Book said. "I saw the pitch and I ripped it. I thought it was gone, but I just kept moving. Then that overthrow to the shortstop, so I kept going to third and they threw it in, and I got there."

Clutch moments at Ohio University Softball Field are nothing new to Book. In last year's district finals and semifinals in Athens, she caught the final outs of both games to propel the Shermans through their tournament run that ended in the regional finals. A hit to propel the Shermans back to the regional semifinals added another accomplishment to that list.

Book ended the game 1-for-3 with an RBI, Eisel went 1-for-2 with a run and Abbie Marshall went 2-for-3. Marshall's two hits, including a double in the first, were the only hits the Shermans had until Eisel ripped a single in the fifth to set up Book's trip around the bases. Ava Dettwiller managed a walk in the second inning, but she, Marshall and Hannah Hull were the only players to reach base early on.

So, while their offense caught up, Unioto stuck Circleville on defense. Hull pitched a complete game in the circle, during which she struck out four batters. She only gave up two hits throughout the game and didn't allow a run until the seventh inning. Aside from one error and four walks throughout the game, the Shermans − who allowed eight runs in the two teams' previous meeting in mid-April − shut the Tigers out.

"The last couple of games, we played our best games defensively, I believe," Unioto coach Rob Hull said. "We're peaking at the right time ... We are a very solid team, and we live by that."

The Tigers never found an opening. Their only semblance of a comeback came in the seventh, when they scored a run on a sacrifice fly. The Shermans, however, shut them down with three straight outs to seal the inning, and a district title.

Unioto is treading ground no other team in program history has reached. Last year, it broke a near three-decade district title drought. It took one year to win the title again. Before this season, Unioto had never won back-to-back district titles.

But the Shermans don't want to rest on their laurels just yet. There is still work to be done. Since the end of last season, they've had one thing on their mind — making it to state.

"We set the goal last year before we walked off that field," Hull said. "They know what they have to do, the work they have to put in. Every team we play, from the end of tournament from this point forward is a very, very good team. We've got to bring our A-game every single time."

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Unioto softball wins second straight district title with win over Circleville