Brooklyn, NY - The Cairn softball team earned a pair of victories over the Brooklyn Bulldogs on Tuesday night. The Highlanders used big fifth innings to carry them to victories of 9-1 in Game One and 19-8 in the second game of the doubleheader. Cairn scored a total of 19 runs in the two fifth innings, tallying seven in the first game to bust open a 2-1 game and earn a 9-1 mercy-rule shortened victory. It was much of the same in Game Two with a 12-run fifth inning turning an 8-7 deficit into a 19-8 mercy-rule victory once again.
 
Game One – Cairn defeats Brooklyn 9-1 (5 innings)
The Highlanders opened Game One by scoring a quick run in the top of the first inning. With one away Meagan Maratita walked and then swiped second before Jessica Rolo brought her home with a double. Angela Paskitti walked to put runners on the corners later in the inning, but a strike out ended the inning and stranded two on the pads for Cairn.
 
Much like the Highlanders scored in the top of the frame, the Bulldogs scored in the bottom of the first. A leadoff single came around to score on a one-out single later in the frame. Brooklyn also stranded two in the first as Maratita, Carin's starter, earned a strike out and a pop out to end the frame.
 
The game remained tied until Katelynn Reiss brought home Haley Tinney with a single in the third. Tinney had walked earlier in the frame along with Maratita. After taking a 2-1 lead the Highlanders left two more runners on the bases, when a fly out to right ended the inning.
 
In the fourth, the Bulldogs threatened with a runner on second with one away, but Maratita wiggled out of trouble with a strikeout and a comebacker to end the inning and keep Cairn in front by one.
 
In the fifth, the Highlanders' offense exploded for seven runs to put the game out of reach. The Highlanders took advantage of three walks and an error to score seven runs on four hits. The majority of the damage came with two away. Cairn had already scored two runs on a single by Reiss before Katelyn Loveless chased home two more with a single of her own. The big blow of the inning came after Charlotte Camp reached on an error to load the bases. Haley Tinney stepped to the dish and ripped a triple to clear the bags and give Cairn the 9-1 lead.
 
The bases clearing triple gave Cairn an eight-run lead and after a perfect bottom half of the inning ended the game and gave Cairn the 9-1 victory.
Katelynn Reiss and Haley Tinney each finished with three RBI, while Reiss put together the only multi-hit game for Cairn with a 2-3 effort at the dish.
 
In the circle, Meagan Maratita earned her seventh win of the season to improve to 7-3 tossing five innings and allowing one unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out five.
 
Game Two – Cairn defeats Brooklyn 19-8
The second game of Tuesday's double-dip was a much higher scoring affair. The two teams combined to tally 27 runs across five innings of play. Cairn jumped on the board first with a four spot in the top of the opening stanza. Keely Congleton delivered a two-run double for the big blow in the inning.
 
In the second Cairn added two more on a single from Jessica Rolo before the Bulldogs tied the game with a six-run bottom of the second. The Bulldogs hammered a three-run homer before three straight batters drove home a run each on a pair of singles and a groundout to tie the game.
 
The Highlanders threated in the top of the third, but left the bases loaded and the game remained deadlocked at 6-6 into the fourth.
 
Cairn scored a single run in the top of the fourth on a fielder's choice to take a 7-6 lead. That one run could have been more, but once again the Highlanders left bases juiced for the second-straight inning.
 
The Bulldogs scored two runs in the bottom of the inning on a two-out, two-run single to take an 8-7 lead heading to the top of the fifth.
 
Once again, the fifth inning is when the fireworks happened. The Highlanders scored 12 runs on seven hits and three errors to take an 11-run advantage. Meagan Maratita led off the frame with a triple and scored on an error to tie the game. Three-straight singles produced another run and a groundout made it 10-8. Four-straight walks and a hit-by-pitch later, the Highlanders held a 13-8 lead. Katelynn Reiss then knocked a two-run single.
 
Keely Congleton ended the rally with an RBI single and when the dust settled the Highlanders led 19-8.
 
Brooklyn put a runner on in the bottom of the inning, but could not bring her around and the Highlanders earned a 19-8, run-shortened victory.
 
Five Highlanders finished with multiple hits with Reiss leading the way with a 4-4 effort and four runs scored. Congleton went 3-5 in the game with a double and five runs batted in.
 
In the circle, Haley Tinney earned the victory to move to 2-3 with a five inning performance allowing eight runs (six earned) on eight hits and five walks while striking out eight.
 
The Highlanders will take tomorrow off before traveling to Cedar Crest to take on the Falcons in a CSAC doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.