Fort Pierce, FL – On a beautiful, sunny, afternoon in Florida, Cairn was finally able to take the field again to play baseball.   The Highlanders split their opening doubleheader with Del Val.  Cairn won the first game 12-7, while falling in the nightcap by a sore of 10-7.

The Highlanders wasted no time taking the lead in game 1, when sophomore Brian Amantia hammered his first homerun of the season into right center field.  The freshmen duo of Caleb Edman and Mike Sorowice continued their impressive freshman campaigns as Edman would hit his second triple of season.  Would not take long for Edman to score, Sorowice would fly out to center field, but deep enough for Edman to score.  The Highlanders would take a 2-0 lead into the third inning.

Del Val would take advantage of a Cairn error in the third, where they managed to score 3 runs in the inning to go up 3-2.

The Aggie lead would not last as Daniel Morales got first base after being hit by a pitch.  The Highlanders love being a menace on the base paths, and Morales did a great job of getting in the pitcher's head advancing to second on a balk.  Brett Marks, who was 4-4 on the day, would push a ball to right field which allowed Morales to score easily and tie the game at 3.

Ben Spadea would take over on the mound in relief for Nat Ross in the 4^th.  After a shaky start to his outing, Spadea would settle down and strike out the side in the 4^th.  However, the Aggies were able to capitalize on a Cairn error to score 2 and take the lead 5-3.

The Highlander bats came to life in 5^th as Cairn would explode for 5 runs on 3 hits.  Cairn would again cause havoc on the base paths, as the Del Val pitcher was too worried about Josh Melchior, and the freshman would advance to second on a failed pickoff.  Nate Wilson did his job as leadoff batter and advanced the runner to third on a groundout.  Melchior would get rewarded for his hard work on the bases, as he scored on a wild pitch.  Later in the inning, Brett Marks would double down the right field line scoring a run, and putting runners on second and third.  Del Val intentionally loaded the bases, and Sorowice crushed a bases clearing double to left center field giving the Highlander the final lead they would need to secure game 1. 

In the 6^th inning, the Highlanders would tack on 4 more insurance runs capped off by a bases clearing triple from Caleb Edman, his second of the day.  Morales would come on in the 7^th to pitch the final inning for Cairn and secure the win by a score of 12-7.
 
In game two the Highlanders would jump out to 2-0 lead in the 3^rd after Emilio Alvarez would reach base on an error and 2 runs would score.
 
The lead was short lived as Del Val scored 6 runs in the 3^rd to chase the Highlanders starter Sam Dralle.  Cairn got 2 runs back in the 4^th after Josh Melchior would steal 3^rd and then score on an error by the catcher.  Morales then singled to left field, advancing Nate Wilson to 3^rd.  Wilson would then score on a balk, and Morales would move to second.  The deficit was only 2, as Cairn trailed 6-4 going to the bottom of the 4^th.

However, Del Val answered right back with 3 runs of their own to increase the lead to 9-4 in the bottom of the 4^th inning.  The Aggies tacked on another insurance run in the 5^th to increase the lead to six runs at 10-4. 

Cairn attempted to rally back with two outs in the top of the 6^th inning with three straight doubles by, Amantia, Morales, and Marks adding two runs of their own.  But the rally ended their as Cairn would head to the 7^th down four runs.  In the 7^th, Alvarez would single up the middle and then promptly stole second.  After a Trey Valiton walk, Nate Wilson ripped a double to left field scoring Alvarez.  The tying run would come to the plate, but the Aggies were able to secure final out and Highlanders would fall 10-7 and split the opening day doubleheader.

Cairn will be back in action tomorrow, as they will take on Keyon College at 1:00 pm.  Following the game the JV will play Bay College at 4:30 pm.