THE SLUMP
That settled the Peace Embassy.
When Jack narrated his talk with Farmer Finkler to Dolph and Ted they
agreed unanimously that any further efforts at securing the land would
be wasted. Perhaps Dolph was a little bit relieved at not having to
face the enemy. Certainly Prentiss and Walker were when the news
reached them. Steve Walker even cut a caper.
“That’s a load off my mind,” he laughed. “I’ve been dodging you for
two weeks, Dolph, for fear you’d grab me and lug me over there to that
ogre’s castle.”
“It was a wild dream from the start,” declared Thorp Prentiss. “He’d
have turned us down, anyway. Probably set the dog on us!”
“I guess we’ll just have to struggle along with the field we’ve got,”
mused Dolph.
“I suppose so,” agreed Prentiss gloomily. “If we only had a track
we could have the Tri-Meet next Spring for the asking. Well, this
is my last year. I’ve done the best I could and if we get beaten as
usual――which we naturally will――it isn’t my fault. Only thing is,
though, that in another year or two we won’t have any Track Team at
all; fellows will get tired of always being licked.”
“Benny ought to do something,” said Dolph vaguely.
“I’d like to do something to old Finkler!” growled Walker savagely.
“Stubborn old mule!”
“Think of his giving Borden a ride, though!” marveled Prentiss. “That’s
the wildest yarn I ever heard. You don’t suppose he dreamed it, do you?”
“Who? Jack Borden? No, he didn’t dream it. Well, I’m off to practice.
The Peace Embassy is dissolved, fellows.”
June came in and the Tri-Meet was duly held at Dixon Academy. As
usual, Maple Ridge ran a bad third, being totally eclipsed by both
her competitors in the track events, although she made an excellent
showing on the turf. Chase won the meet, with Dixon a close second and
Maple Ridge last. Maple Ridge was not disappointed or cast down for the
simple reason that she never expected to get better than third place.
A new captain was elected and Thorp Prentiss handed over the reins of
government with a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile the Baseball Team had been coming strongly. Sam was pitching
better and better every time he was put in the box and his support was
steadying down wonderfully. Jack was still spending much of his time
on the bench during the contests, although he usually got in for two
or three innings in right field or left. His batting was getting more
certain all the time and as a pinch-hitter he was making something of a
reputation for himself. Mr. Shay kept him at the net for half an hour
at a time every practice and Jack could not help but profit by the
work. In the field he was gradually acquiring that ability to judge
flies that he had envied Tyler Wicks the possession of. He learned
to “size up” the batter; to know what to expect from a left-handed
hitter; to judge direction by the batter’s stand at the plate; to tell
by the sound of bat against ball whether the hit was a long, hard one
or one to be handled by the infield. In short, he began to develop
very rapidly what Mr. Shay, the coach, called “baseball sense.” But
all this didn’t give him the coveted position with the “regulars.” He
was still a utility man; substitute outfielder and pinch-hitter. The
difficulty was that Jack had three good players in front of him, all
hard to displace. There was Tyler Wicks in left field, and Tyler was a
very good man, not brilliant, but steady and dependable. In right field
Watkins was almost as good, though more valuable as a batter than a
fielder. In centre Truesdale was all that could be desired. As for the
other substitutes, Jack was already on an even footing with them; in
fact, he stood a little better in the estimation of Mr. Shay and Dolph
than any of them, possibly excepting Joe Williams. And even Joe might
find himself out-distanced if Jack’s batting continued to improve.
Already the latter was hitting close to .300, with only Ted and Dolph
and Truesdale ahead of him.
Maple Ridge lost the game with Mayport Academy, on the latter’s
grounds, the second Saturday in June owing to what Sam called “one
grand slump.” Mort Prince, who started the game for Maple Ridge, was
batted out of the box in the fourth inning when Mayport through a
combination of four safe hits and two errors in the visitors’ infield
tallied six runs. After that Maple Ridge went to pieces. Hal Morris
took Prince’s place and was fairly effective until the seventh. Then
the enemy landed on him fiercely, and when the dust of battle had
cleared away the score stood 14 to 4 in Mayport’s favor, and Maple
Ridge departed homewards with their green banners trailing. There were
some who criticised Mr. Shay for not putting Sam in instead of Morris.
The more knowing ones, however, pointed out that with the whole team
playing like a lot of children the game was lost after the fourth and
that it would have been useless to put in Sam, especially as he would
be needed on Wednesday for the contest with Springfield Preparatory,
the last game before the final one with Chase. Jack vindicated his
reputation as a pinch-hitter in the Mayport fracas, batting for Prince
in the fifth inning and lining out a two-bagger. Unfortunately,
however, he was the first man up and his hit brought no runs; and he
never got beyond third himself. In the seventh inning he took Watkins’s
place in right field, and although he did no worse than any one else
that day he certainly failed to distinguish himself. No errors were
scored against him, but that was due more to good luck than aught else,
for twice flies that he might have captured fell safely to earth before
he reached them. Once he and Truesdale got into a mix-up where their
territories overlapped and the ball struck the turf between them and
Mayport tore off two tallies.
Mr. Shay had very little to say either on the way back to Charlemont
or later. A slump is something that is almost certain to happen to the
best regulated ball teams, and scolding seldom helps much. The players
had a lay-off on Monday and a short, if sharp, practice on Tuesday.
The contest with Springfield Preparatory School was not considered
important, although as Springfield had given Maple Ridge several good
drubbings in the past the Light Green was naturally not averse to a
victory. Whether the team had recovered from its slump was a matter
of conjecture on Wednesday, and the school was divided in prophecy,
many predicting an overwhelming defeat for Maple Ridge and others
foretelling a close victory.
The game was played at Springfield. Sam was in the box for the
visitors. From the second inning the contest was a batting-fest, with
honors about even. Sam’s slants struck no terror to the hearts of the
home team and they landed on them unerringly. On the other hand, the
Springfield pitcher fared no better, and with two on bases in the third
inning Gus Turnbull brought the Maple Ridge supporters to their feet by
knocking out a home run that put the Light Green in the lead. This lead
was held until the eighth, when Watkins muffed a long fly and let in
two runners. Shortly after that Watkins pulled off his second error,
allowing a ball which he had been unable to reach in time to catch
to bound by him. It was clear that Maple Ridge was still feeling the
effects of the slump, although convalescence had set in. The infield
made four errors, of which only one proved costly, and Dolph had two
passed balls chalked against him when the game was over. But in spite
of this Maple Ridge triumphed by inaugurating a batting rally in the
first of the ninth, tying the score with Truesdale’s sacrifice fly that
brought in Sam, and taking a two run lead later, when, with two out,
Ted, Dolph and Cassart all hit safely. In the last of the inning Maple
Ridge tightened up and, although Springfield got two men on bases, no
runs were scored, and Maple Ridge traveled home with a 10 to 8 victory
tucked away.
Jack adorned the bench during the whole of that game and it required
all of Sam’s eloquence to comfort and encourage him.
“Don’t you worry, chum,” said Sam. “You’ll get into the Chase game
all right. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shay put you in at right. Will
certainly played like a lobster this afternoon. Maybe we all did. I
know I didn’t have much on those chaps, and that’s a fact. But Will was
absolutely woozy; didn’t make a single hit either, did he?”
“One,” replied Jack grudgingly.
“Did he? Well, anyway, I guess he’s dished. I’m sorry, too, for I like
Will, and he can play good ball sometimes. I dare say Shay will put you
in right field on Monday. Then all you’ve got to do is to play the game
you can play and you’ve got the position cinched for Saturday.”
“Sounds easy the way you tell it,” replied Jack with a smile, “but
suppose I don’t play the game I can play?”
Sam shrugged his broad shoulders. “Then it’s a toss-up, I guess,
between you and Will. Anyway, you’ll get into the Chase game long
enough to get your letters.”
“I don’t care so much about my letters,” answered Jack.
“You don’t? Why not? That’s what every fellow wants, you goop! Think
how swell you’ll look on Class Day with your M. R. on your cap.”
“Maybe it will be too hot for caps,” laughed Jack. “Can I put the
letters on my straw?”
“It’s never too hot for caps that have M. R. on them,” replied Sam.
“Reminds me of a story my dad tells. There used to be a man in our town
who was the glummest, sourest old codger you ever saw. Never smiled in
his life, they say, until one day he got mixed up with a street car and
had two teeth knocked out. The dentist put in two gold ones. After that
the old chap grinned all the time, just to show his gold teeth, and
grinning seemed to improve his disposition wonderfully. He got quite
cheerful and sunny and folks got to liking him. The only trouble was
that he never got asked to funerals because he couldn’t stop grinning!”
“That means, I suppose,” laughed Jack, “that I’ve got to wear my cap
all summer. Not much, letters or no letters! I’d rather be comfortable
than stylish.”
“That’s what they all say,” responded Sam knowingly, “until they get
something to be stylish about. I dare say you’ll be like Pete Bates.
Pete won his football letters in his Junior year. He got so fond of his
sweater that he wore it all the time. Some fellows say he even slept
in it! Anyway, he came into Talcott’s class one morning with it on and
Talcott got so mad he reported him to Benny.”
Sam proved his ability as a prophet when on Monday Jack went into right
field in place of Watkins, benched. For the rest of that week, or as
long as practice lasted, which was until Thursday, Jack and Watkins
fought for that position like two bulldogs over a bone. On Tuesday
Watkins was given a chance to make good again, but failed in a measure,
probably because he was too eager. On Wednesday Jack went back and made
a lamentable muff that doubtless brought joy to the heart of Watkins.
On Thursday, the last day of work, Jack played at right on the second
team and Watkins came into his own again. The other players and the
school at large watched the struggle with interest and amusement and
Jack and Watkins each had his coterie of supporters. One thing that
made Jack hopeful of ultimate success was the fact that at the bat
he could more than hold his own against his rival. Meanwhile the two
boys watched each other like duelists, maintained the most courteous
relations and waited anxiously for coach and captain to give out the
line-up for the big game. Not until then would they know who had won.
But the line-up wasn’t made public until the morning of the game, and
before that other things happened which, if they had little bearing on
the Chase game, at least produced important results.