Eric Stinglen (pictured) and Matthew Meyers combined to face one batter over the minimum iin the five inning no-hitter. Cairn athletics photo

Langhorne, PA - The Cairn baseball team continued their winning ways with a doubleheader sweep of the Valley Forge Patriots on Thursday afternoon. The Highlanders emerged victorious with a 24-11 win in Game One after a sloppy showing from both sides. Cairn cleaned up their play for Game Two, and shutdown the Patriots on both sides of the ball. Eric Stinglen and Matthew Meyers combined for a five-inning, darkness shortened no-hitter in a 13-0 victory.
 
Game One – Cairn defeats Valley Forge 23-11

The Highlanders used a two-out rally in the first to take a three-run lead. Aaron Takacs doubled down the leftfield line with two outs to start the rally. The Highlanders brought in their runs on a triple from Joshua Field, a single by Emilio Alvarez, and a single up the middle by Keith LeNoue.
 
After an RBI triple by Valley Forge in the top of the second, the Highlanders responded with two runs off a sacrifice fly by Nathan Wilson and a single by Field.
 
The Patriots scored a single run in the third and two more in the fourth to pull within one at 5-4. Cairn once again responded with a six-run fourth inning that featured RBI knocks from Jake Allen, Field, Alvarez, and Caleb Maige.
 
Immediately after the big inning for the Highlanders, Valley Forge turned in a six-run frame of their own. The Patriots took advantage of two errors in the frame, a theme for both teams in the contest. Cairn and Valley Forge each made seven errors in the game that led to a combined 14 unearned runs.
 
The six-run frame brought Valley Forge within one of the Highlanders at 11-10. Cairn responded with 12 runs over the next two innings including nine runs in the fifth on just four hits. Andrew Phillips and Nathan Wilson each collected two-RBI singles in the fifth to fuel the massive inning.
 
After the nine-run fifth, Cairn plated three more in the sixth and took the 23-11 victory over the Patriots. In the contest, only three half innings featured a zero on the board. Cairn was held scoreless in the bottom of the third while the Patriots were held without a run in the first and seventh. Every other half inning in the game had at least one run scored.
 
Game Two – Cairn defeats Valley Forge 13-0

While defense was at a premium in the first game, the same could be said for offense in the second game. The five-inning darkness shortened game featured just five hits between the two sides. Cairn blanked the Patriots across the five innings and held Valley Forge without a hit in the contest.
 
The Highlanders took advantage of 11 walks in the game including eight walks in the first three innings. At the end of the third, the Highlanders had scored nine runs on just three hits. Nathan Wilson delivered the big blow in the early going with a bases-clearing, three-run double to right-center in the third.
 
Cairn added four more runs in the fourth with RBI from Dan Bierc, Brendan Keller, and Jonathan Jaynes.
 
As mentioned, Eric Stinglen and Matthew Meyers combined for the five-inning no-hitter. Stinglen worked the first three innings and walked two batters while striking out four. Meyers struck out one in two perfect innings of relief.
 
On the afternoon, Aaron Takacs led the Highlanders with a 5-7 effort from the plate. Takacs drove home five runs and walked three times across the two games. Wilson went 2-5 at the dish and brought home seven runs on the day.
 
Cairn will next take the field when they travel to the RussMatt Invitational for a double-header against Stockton University beginning at 2:45 p.m. on Mar. 11.