Brock Netter, Editor

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — Unioto will be the first to tell you that it didn’t play a perfect game on Thursday night.
But the most important thing is that the Shermans got a win and, in the process, chased the monkey off their backs.
Unioto (22-6) was able to take advantage of a couple of Westfall miscues, turning errors into runs, as it scored its third — and most important — victory over Westfall this season, a 4-1 final in a Division IV district title game.

CREDIT: Levi Hughes/SOSA
The win marks the Shermans’ first district championship since 2018.
“Winning a district is not easy, and it’s something you can’t take for granted because it’s not guaranteed to happen just because you have a good record,” Unioto coach Tony Taylor said. “Baseball is the easiest game to win, and the easiest game to lose. This is my 37th year coaching, and I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been around some great players and great teams, and winning with this group is really special.”
Highlight film
Jacon Zickafoose opened the game with a leadoff double before later scoring on a passed ball, putting Unioto ahead 1-0.
Westfall (14-12) committed a fielding error in the next inning, leading to another runner crossing the dish and extending the lead to 2-0.
The Mustangs just simply couldn’t get out of their own way.
Later, with a runner on second, WF committed a throwing error that allowed the run to score, making it 3-0. And, two batters later with two runners on, KB Perkins logged a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-0.
Westfall had one final chance in the seventh to score, and managed to get a run across, thanks to an error on Unioto’s part.
However, the Mustangs hit into a double play in the next at-bat, sending the Shermans to the Sweet 16.
“When you do the little things right, throw strikes and play good defense, good things are going to happen,” Taylor said. “It makes the game pretty easy. It’s hard to beat a bad team three times, and even harder to beat a really good team like Westfall three times. Every game is different and it’s won in different ways. We just happened to come out on top.”
Perkins on point
Unioto fell short of its ultimate goal last season and Perkins wasn’t a part of it, having missed most of the year due to injury.
However, he’s been a dominant force all season long and the SVC Player of the Year was ready for his moment in the team’s biggest game to date.
“He’s everything to this team. He plays the game with a type of mojo that makes everybody around him better,” Taylor said. “We feed off of him every game and he’s a joy to coach.”
Perkins admitted before the game started that he didn’t have his best stuff. So he told his defense to be ready to make plays.
They had his back, just like any other time he’s taken the mound. And much like those times , he picked up the win going the distance, allowing just four hits and striking out five batters.
“As I was warming up, I knew I didn’t have my stuff working since the ball was feeling a little weird coming out of my hand,” Perkins said. “But I trust my teammates behind me that they’ll back me up and they did that tonight.
“I don’t think many people expected us to make it to this point, let alone win a district title this season. But we sat down as a team with all of the coaches before the season and laid out our goals. There’s only three of us seniors, but we knew we had a shot at winning. So we put our heads down and got the job done.”
WATCH: @UniotoBaseball’s @KeeganSnyder10 & @K44erkins discuss today’s victory over Westfall, what winning a district title means to them, Perkins’ day on the mound, learning from their first two matchups with Westfall and team chemistry. pic.twitter.com/sS0J7VMpYG
— Brock A. Netter (@SirBrockNetter) May 29, 2025
Stat book
Following Perkins’ final line on the bump, Zickafoose finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Callaway Ratliff was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
For Westfall, Cory Green took the loss in six innings of work, allowing an earned run on five hits while striking out six batters.
What’s next
As Westfall’s season comes to an end, Unioto moves into a Division IV regional semifinal against London, who beat Marengo Highland by a 7-4 final to advance out of the Central District.
That game will take place at 5 p.m., Tuesday at Ohio University.
SPONSORED BY SHANE MAIER — STATE FARM INSURANCE AND HOMELAND CREDIT UNION

