SAGINAW — It took awhile for Bubba Roddy to find his way at the plate in Ryan’s series against Cleburne, but he made it count when he finally came through.

Bubba Roddy

Ryan’s third baseman hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Raiders a 3-2 win over Cleburne on Saturday in Game 3 of the Class 4A Region I area playoffs. Ryan advances to play Keller Fossil Ridge in the regional quarterfinals.

“Finally I came through with a hit,” Roddy said. “I was struggling a little bit at the plate. I was hitting it hard but right at them. But I came through with the big hit. [It’s] probably the No. 1 moment in my career.”

It was only the second hit of the series for Roddy. The senior came to the plate with two outs just after Zach Voight was hit by Cleburne reliever Frankie Valdez, who struck out the first two batters he faced after coming into the game in the eighth.

Roddy battled to a full count with Valdez before launching a fastball into the left-center field gap to score Voight and win the series.

“He’s hit the ball hard the whole series,” said Ryan head coach Bret Warnack. “He hit the ball hard three or four times tonight and yesterday. Finally he got one over their head. That was a huge hit.”

Most of the game was a pitcher’s duel featuring Cleburne’s Ty Taylor and Ryan’s Michael Braswell and Scotty Young. Taylor pitched all but the eighth inning for the Yellow Jackets (28-10). He gave up just three hits and struck out two Raiders.

With Ryan leading 2-1, Braswell was relieved on the mound by Young in the fourth when he put two runners on with just one out. Young was up to the task, as he got Ryan out of the inning unscathed and allowed just one run in 4 2-3 innings.

Young’s only slip up came in the fifth when an RBI single by Cleburne first baseman Shane Ingram tied the game at 2-2. The rest of the way, Young was dominant, striking out six batters and giving up just one hit.

“I brought Scotty in thinking he might be able to get us some strikeouts,” Warnack said. “He did a heck of a job for us on the mound, pitching us out of some tough jams. Pretty big for a sophomore there. He’s got dominating stuff.”

Ryan (27-6) opened the scoring in the first using the small-ball tactics that took the Raiders to their second consecutive District 5-4A title. Ryan Salter reached base on an error and made it to second on a sacrifice bunt. He stole third base and made it to home plate on a passed ball to give Ryan a 1-0 lead.

Cleburne answered in the third when Braswell put two on base with no outs. Cleburne catcher Colby Braddock hit an RBI single to tie the game, but that didn’t hold long.

Tom Robertson, who was running for Ryan catcher Juan Gloria after he singled to open the bottom of the third, made it to second on a sacrifice bunt. A ground ball got him to third, and he scored on a fielding error by Cleburne that made it 2-1 Ryan.

Ryan won the game despite being outhit for the second straight game. The Raiders managed just four hits in the game, three off Taylor in seven innings. Cleburne peppered six on Ryan throughout the game but couldn’t find hits with runners in scoring position. The Raiders were outhit by Cleburne 8-4 in Game 2 on Friday.

Ryan’s attention is now on Keller Fossil Ridge, which swept Fort Worth Arlington Heights in the area round and is one of the premier programs in the area. But if Warnack has anything to say about it, his team will be relaxed and ready to battle.

“For one, you have to enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s stressful but you have to enjoy it while you’re here. That was a fun game. I would have loved to be up 10 runs, but that was a fun game and it makes it even better when you come out on top.”

JEFF ANDREWS can be reached at 940-566-6873. His e-mail address is jandrews@dentonrc.com .

Ryan 3, Cleburne 2

WP – Scotty Young. LP – Frankie Valdez. 2B – R: Bubba Roddy. Records: Cleburne (28-10), Ryan (27-6).