The Unioto Shermans put their two best pitchers to the test Monday, and came away with a passing grade in a 2-1 Division 2 District Semi Final victory over Sheridan, at OU's Bob Wren Field. Earlier in the evening at Athens High School, SVC rival Zane Trace saw a 5-0 lead evaporate in a 12-5 upset loss to Circleville.
Unioto 2, Sheridan 1
Unioto starter J.D. Blevins and Sheridan's Dylan Emmert were weaving their magic on the mound through the first three innings of a scoreless tie. In fact, the first three hits of the game belonged to the Generals, which they collected in the third and fourth inning, but were held scoreless.
Sheridan threatened in the top of the fourth, when they base-runners advance to first and third bases, before the Shermans' caught the Generals Hunter Hardy in a run-down to squelch a scoring opportunity.
Unioto answered by scoring both of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Blevins collected the Tanks first hit of the game, then later scored on Harley Patterson's RBI double. Patterson later scored on an error to make it 2-0.
That score held-up until Sheridan's last at-bat in the top of the 7th inning when Emmert struck-out, but reached base on a passed ball on the play. He would later score on a wild-pitch. Patterson gained the save by striking out the final batter while stranding runners at first and second.
J.D. Blevins got the win, holding the Generals to three hits.
CORRECTION: Harley Patterson gained the save in relief, going the final three innings and fanning 7 Sheridan batters.
LINE SCORES....
Unioto 2/4/2
Sheridan 1/3/4
Unioto will face Athens in the District Final at 7pm Wednesday at Ohio University. The Bulldogs advanced with a 10-2 win over Logan Elm.
Circleville 12, Zane Trace 5
The Pioneers got off to a quick start, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first inning. They added three runs for a 5-0 advantage in the fourth inning to take what appeared to be a safe lead.
That's when the roof caved-in. Circleville would proceed to score 6 runs in the fifth inning, 5 more in the sixth and one in the seventh for a 12-5 victory.
Circleville 12/13/4
Zane Trace 5/7/2
The loss for the Pioneers, ended a (22-6) season.
To hear the Unioto vs Sheridan game play-by-play with WKKJ's Mike Smith and B. Jay Dailey, go to our podcast link found below....
(Coach Tony Taylor)