SCRANTON FANS HAVE A PAINFUL SHOCK
The nine from Mechanicsburg showed up that afternoon on time. They
were a husky-looking lot of young chaps, accustomed to hard toil
in the mills, and with muscles that far outclassed the high-school
boys. But, as every one knows, it requires something more than mere
brawn to win baseball games; often a club that seems to be weak
develops an astonishing amount of skill with bat and ball, and easily
walks off with the victory.
Mechanicsburg was "out for blood" from the very start. They depended
a great deal on their slugging abilities, and declared that no pitcher
the Scranton players might offer could resist their terrific onslaught.
When the first inning was over at last it began to look as if their
boast might be made good, for the score stood five to one. Frazer
was in the box for Scranton, Hugh not wishing to use his star pitcher
unless it was absolutely necessary. He was a bit afraid that something
might happen to Tyree that would put him on the bench and thus they
would be terribly handicapped in their first game with Allandale
on the following Saturday.
Now, Frazer was a pretty dependable sort of a slab artist, and if the
Scranton boys had not had Alan Tyree they might have believed him a
Number One. But while Frazer had a number of good curves and drops,
and a pretty fair amount of speed, he seemed only able to deceive
those huskies from Mechanicsburg in spurts.
Between times they got at him for successive drives that netted two
and three bases each. Indeed, in that very first inning the fielders
of the home team were kept on the jump at a lively rate chasing
smashing blows. To tell the truth, all three outs were made on
enormous flies that seemed to go up almost to the very clouds, and
gave "K.K." out in the middle garden, and "Just" Smith, who had charge
of left field, a big run each time before they could get their hands
on and hold the ball.
In the second time at bat the visitors did not do as much. Perhaps
Frazer managed to tighten up, and pitch better ball. He was very
erratic, and could never be depended on to do consecutive good work.
In every other inning the heavies could not seem to gauge his work
at all, and he mowed them down. Then they would come at him again
like furies, and knock his offerings to every part of the field as
though he might be an amateur in the box.
Hugh watched the fluctuations of the game with more or less solicitude.
They could hardly afford to be beaten by a team like Mechanicsburg, he
figured, as he saw Frazer "fall down" for the third time, and a
catastrophe threaten.
It was the sixth inning.
Scranton had done more or less scoring on her side, so that the
figures were mounting rapidly, and it promised to be an old-fashioned
batting bee. It now stood nine to twelve in favor of the visitors;
and as they had started another of their rallies no one could say what
the result might be by the time Scranton once more came to bat.
There was a small but noisy delegation from the other town present,
and they kept things pretty lively most of the time, cheering their
fellows, and hooting the slightest opportunity when Scranton failed
to connect, or one of the high-school boys did not make a gilt-edged
pickup.
Nor were the Mechanicsburg rooters alone in this jeering. As usually
happens, there were a number of fellows in Scranton who entertained
feelings of jealousy toward the local nine, based on an idea that
they had been purposely overlooked when the choice of players was made.
Chief among these malcontents was the town bully, Nick Lang, whose
acquaintance the reader has already made in a previous volume, and
under exciting conditions. Nick at one time had a good chance of
making the nine, for he was a hustler when it came to playing ball,
and indeed, in nearly every sport; but as might be expected, he
managed to display his nasty temper in practice, and Coach Saunders,
who heartily disliked and distrusted the big fellow, speedily turned
him down.
Nick, as usual, had his two faithful henchmen along with him, Leon
Disney and Tip Slavin; and the trio led the hooting whenever a chance
came to rub it into Scranton. Some of the visitors hardly liked
this; it smacked too much of rank treachery to please them. It was
all very well for visitors to deride the home team in order to
"rattle" the pitcher; but for fellows living in Scranton to indulge
in this sort of thing did not seem right.
Hugh believed he had had quite enough of this see-saw business. If
Frazer was going to "jump" in that miserable fashion the game was
as good as gone. He disliked doing it the worst kind, but he saw
the appealing look Frazer shot in his direction on third when the
visitors once more started their bombardment. It meant Frazer had
lost all confidence in his ability to stop the threatened rally;
and that he was making signs for help.
So Hugh took him out.
It was Alan Tyree who stepped into the box, and began to toss a few
balls to the backstop, in order to limber up his arm; while the
visiting batsman waited the signal from the umpire to toe the home
plate, and get ready to strike.
Just three times did Alan send in one of his terrific shoots that
fairly sizzled as they shot past; three times the heavy batter cut
the thin air with his club, and then walked over to where his companions
sat in a clump, watching curiously to see how the change was going
to work.
Up came the next visitor on the list, who also made light with the
offering of poor Frazer. Did he start a batting bee all over again?
Well, not that any one could notice it. The best he could do was
to fan the air on two successive occasions, and then send up a twisting
foul that Thad Stevens managed to hold, after a pretty erratic chase
back and forth.
Now it was the loyal home fans who began to root long and hard. They
scented victory, and it seemed good after so much bitter humiliation
at the hands of this newly organized team, most of them strange to
their positions, and capable of many fielding errors, but able to
remedy this by their ability to bat.
The third out followed in quick succession. Scranton sighed with
relief, and the fielders had had a rest. They were really getting
tired of chasing wildly after all those terrific smashes, and of
seeing the big fellows running the bases at will.
Hugh led off in the next inning, and the renewed confidence put in
the whole team by the change of pitchers showed itself. When that
inning was over the locals had reduced the lead of Mechanicsburg
to one run; and they fully anticipated wiping that slight advantage
out in the next round.
Tyree still held them close. They knocked several fouls, and one
man actually went out through Juggins in far right, managing to
sprint fast enough to grapple with a soaring fly that came his way
across the foul line. The rest struck out, being almost like babies
in the hands of the wizard Tyree.
Well, the locals not only wiped that lead out but went two better,
so that it now began to look as though they had the game "sewed up,"
with Tyree pitching championship brand of ball, and every fellow
keyed up to playing his best. Wonderful infield work saved Alan
from having the first hit marked up against him in the eighth frame,
for several of the hard hitters were up again, and they managed to
swat the ball with a vim; but only to have Owen, or it might be
Morgan on third, intercept the speeding horsehide, and whip it over
to waiting Old Reliable Joe Danvers on first for an out.
The game really ended with that inning, for Scranton made five runs,
having a nice little batting bee of their own for a change. In the
ninth the visitors got a man on first through a juggle on the part
of Hobson on second, though Julius was really excusable, for the
ball came down to him with terrific speed, and though he knocked it
down he could not recover in time to get it across the infield so
as to cut off the speedy runner.
But when the visitor started to make for second Thad Stevens had him
caught by two yards, his throw down being as accurate as a bullet
fired from a new Government army rifle.
After all, the boys were satisfied to come out of the scrimmage as
well as they did, for those big Mechanicsburg chaps were terrors with
their bats; and equal to making a home run at any stage of the game.
It had been good practice for Scranton, every one admitted, though
some confessed that their blood had actually run cold when Frazer
gave such palpable signs of distress.
Hugh was worried more or less. He wondered what would happen if
Tyree could not play in the big game with Allandale. Frazer might
redeem himself, it is true, for the pitcher that goes to the well,
and is dented on one day, often comes back later on and does wonderful
work. Still, as the following week passed day by day, and Saturday
came closer, the field captain of the Scranton High team seemed to
feel a strange premonition that there was trouble in store for
them.
And his fears did not prove groundless, after all, as it turned out;
for there was trouble a-plenty waiting for the local team, spelled
with a capital T in the bargain.
The day came, and everything seemed all right as far as the weather
went. It was hot enough to make the players feel at their best
without causing them to wilt under the burning rays of the sun.
Clouds at times also promised relief, and the immense throng that
gathered on the open field where Scranton played, for there was no
high fence around it, believed they were due to witness a sterling
game, with the two teams well balanced.
Of course Allandale had beaten unlucky Belleville easily on the
preceding Saturday, while Scranton was "toying" with that aggregation
of sluggers from Mechanicsburg, and almost getting their fingers
burned while doing so. The "Champs," as the visitors delighted
to call themselves, seemed to have an air of confidence that impressed
many an anxious Scranton rooter, and made him wonder how Tyree would
stand up against that mighty slab artist, Big Ed Patterson. This
Allandale pitcher seemed capable of outwitting the smartest batter
by giving just what he wanted least of all, as if he knew every
fellow's weaknesses, and could take advantage of them at will.
Then the blow fell.
It cast gloom over the whole Scranton camp, as the horrible news was
quickly circulated through the various groups. Boys turned to look
at one another aghast, and the grins on their faces assumed a sickly
yellow hue.
Word had been brought to the anxious Hugh that Alan Tyree would be
utterly unable to be on the field that day, not to speak of pitching.
An unlucky accident after lunch had injured his left leg, and the
doctor absolutely forbade his getting into uniform, or even leaving
the house, under severe penalty for disobedience.
It was in the nature of a dreadful calamity, after the way Frazer
had been actually knocked out of the box by those crude players
from Mechanicsburg. Still the game must be played, or forfeited
to Allandale; and Scranton fellows are not in the habit of giving
anything up without the hardest kind of a struggle. So with a sigh,
and trying to appear calm, Hugh turned to his second-string pitcher.