Sydlik's slam powers Oak Ridge into Area round

CONROE, Texas - Autumn Sydlik hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel the Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles to a 10-5 victory in the Class 6A Region II Bi-District playoffs at home on Thursday night.

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Carter Spexarth smacked a line drive to left field to lead off the inning. Jessica Rodriguez walked and then Gabby Davila got an infield single to load the bases with no outs before Sydlik cleared the bases with her deep fly ball to left field for the grand slam, giving Oak Ridge a 7-3 lead. Sydlik finished the night going 2-for-3 at the plate with six RBI’s and two runs scored.

Oak Ridge (22-8) wasn’t done as Amanda Cunniff got an RBI-single to left field to score Cheyenne Cavanaugh to make it an 8-3 game. Spexarth got an RBI-single on a hard ground ball to score Amber Serrett, followed by a Rodriguez RBI-single to left field on a line drive scoring Veronica Villafranco to take full control with a 10-3 lead.

The Lady War Eagles heart of the lineup made their mark on the game as each player from the fourth through the eighth spot in the lineup had multiple hits, as they combined for 10 of Oak Ridge’s 14 hits on the night.

Klein Oak (21-5) would score two runs in the top of the seventh inning with two outs, however couldn’t sustain the rally as Jessica Rodriguez got the next batter to fly out to end the game.

Rodriguez got the complete game victory, scattering eight hits, three earned runs, three walks and five strikeouts on 122 pitches.

Oak Ridge will face the winner of the Lake Travis vs. Leander Rouse game in the Area round next week.