Radnor, PA - The Cairn baseball team avenged a loss on Thursday with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at Cabrini by scores of 10-2 and 14-1 to complete their season with a 17-17 overall record. With two wins on Saturday, the Highlanders finish the season with seven conference victories their most in a single season in program history.
Game One - Cairn defeats Cabrini 10-2
Cairn scored four runs in the top of the first and added six runs across the sixth and seventh to earn a 10-2 victory over the Cabrini Cavaliers in Game One.
Aaron Takacs and Josh Field each collected three hits at the dish to lead the offensive effort for the Highlanders. Cairn exploded for 15 hits in the game and played errorless defensive en route to the victory.
On the mound,
Sam Dralle worked four innings allowing two runs (both earned) on six hits and four walks while striking out three to earn his fifth victory of the season.
Daniel Morales worked three shutout innings to earn his first save of the season. Morales allowed two hits and one walk while striking out five to secure the victory.
The Highlanders opened the game by taking advantage of a pair of Cabrini errors to score a four spot in the top of the first. The Highlanders got it started with a double by
Aaron Takacs to plate
Nathan Wilson from first. Takacs then stole third and came around to score on a throwing error by the catcher. Later in the frame,
Keith LeNoue reached on a fielding error. On the play, two more runs scored and the Highlanders took a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the stanza, the first three Cavaliers reached on base hits to score a pair of runs, but that would be all the Cavaliers would get across the plate.
Sam Dralle ran into some more trouble in the second, but got out of a bases loaded jam with no outs with a strike out, an infield fly, and a fly ball to end the frame. After a bit of a rocky start, the sophomore starter settled down to toss four, two-run innings.
In the fifth, Dralle gave way to
Daniel Morales. Morales tossed three-shutout innings, allowing just two hits.
The Highlanders added six insurance runs across the sixth and seventh to build a 10-2 lead. Cairn scored four runs in the sixth thanks to run-scoring knocks from
Daniel Morales (two-run double) and Josh Field (RBI-single) before plating the final run in the frame with a double steal.
Andrew Philips drove home
Brendan Keller in the seventh with a double and scored on an error on the right fielder for a little league home run to complete the scoring.
Morales allowed one hit in the seventh, but closed the door and gave the Highlanders the 10-2 victory.
As mentioned,
Aaron Takacs and Josh Field each collected three hits in the game to lead the Highlanders' 15-hit effort in Game One.
Game Two - Cairn defeats Cabrini 14-1
The Highlanders got on the board first with an RBI double by
Brendan Keller in the second inning before exploding for seven runs in the the third to take an 8-1. Cairn added a single run in the fourth before tacking on five insurance runs late to take the 14-1 victory over the Cavaliers.
In his final game for the Highlanders,
John Burlaga tossed a complete game, three-hitter to earn his third victory of the season.
With the game tied 1-1 heading to the third, the Highlanders put seven runs on the board with six hits.
Daniel Morales delivered the big blow with a three-run double in the left-center gap. In the inning,
Emilio Alvarez,
Andrew Philips, and
Jacob Allen all knocked run-scoring base hits in the frame.
In the fourth, the Highlanders added a run on a fielder's choice to make it a 9-1 game.
After a scoreless fifth, Cairn tacked on five more runs in the sixth with RBI from
Brendan Keller, Allen,
Alejandro Fernandez, and Alvarez to push the lead to 14-1.
While the Highlanders were piling up the runs,
John Burlaga was tossing a gem. In his final game of his career, Cairn's lone senior went all seven innings allowing just one run in the second on three hits and five walks while striking out six.
Burlaga faced the minimum in the second, sixth, and seventh thanks to a pair of double-play balls in the sixth and seventh.
The Highlanders complete the 2017 season with a 17-17 overall record. With a pair of victories this afternoon, they set the program record for conference victories in a single season with seven.
