Cavin sisters lead Conant

Updated: May 9, 2011 8:40PM

Miranda Cavin wanted to help her older sister, junior Conant starting pitcher Briana, as much as possible.

Briana Cavin required little back up.

Miranda Cavin’s two-run first inning home run sparked the Cougars’ offense and Briana Cavin’s extraordinary one-hitter smothered visiting Barrington in the No. 11 Cougars’ 10-0 whipping of the No. 15 Fillies Monday afternoon in Hoffman Estates.

Miranda, a sophomore catcher, fouled off a stunning 10 pitches with two outs in the bottom of the first. With the count at 3-2, after fouling five consecutive pitches, Miranda smashed a shot over the left-field fence.

“She kept throwing outside and I was able to make contact with those, and she finally came inside with a pitch and I was able to go with it,” Miranda Cavin said.

“I wanted to do as much as possible to help my sister out,” she said. Sophomore Sarah Thompson (2-for-2, 2 doubles, 3 RBI) followed with a two-run double that extended the Cougars’ lead to 4-0.

Briana Cavin took control from there. In the five inning game, Cavin threw a perfect 4 1/3, retiring the first 13 Barrington hitters and struck out a season-high 11 hitters as part of a masterly performance that took her record to a gaudy 17-1.

After recording a 1-3 putout to start the game, Briana struck out the next seven Barrington hitters.

It was her highest single-game strike out total since she fanned 15 in a game as a freshman.

The Cougars (21-1, 10-1 MSL West) collected 12 hits, including four extra base shots. Thompson added another RBI double in the third, part of a five-hit, five-run explosion that punched the lead out to 9-0

It was a family affair, she explained. “I’ve been working with dad [Tom] a lot recently to help me get my speed back, and I think I threw as hard and fast today as I have all year,” Briana Cavin said. “I’ve been timed at 66 [miles per hour], and I think I was that fast today.”

Liz Owen reached base on a sharp single up the middle for the Broncos (20-10, 8-4).

Briana was particularly effectively forcing Barrington’s hitters to chase-high fast balls. She credited her sister with the assist. “My sister’s very good at reading people and knowing what they’re going to go after,” she said. “She called a lot of high fastballs.”

Senior first baseman Paige Ward (2-for-2) added a two-run double for the Cougars. Just to complete her impressive day, Briana Cavin (1-for-4) added an RBI-scoring single.

“It’s just very exciting to have this kind of start,” she said. “Conant’s never had a team win this many games at this point in the year, and it’s great to beat a great team and program like Barrington twice in the same year, which we haven’t done in more than 10 years.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.