WHIZZING IT OVER
The last weeks previous to the beginning of the summer vacation were
busy ones for the boys. They had to prepare for final examinations, and
for those who had shirked their work through the term this was a period
of grief and lamentation.
Bobby and Fred had done good work in their studies right along, and the
coming tests had no terrors for them.
But there was another interest that held the attention of the boys to a
degree greater, it is to be feared, than their studies.
The baseball fight that season between the teams composing the Monatook
Lake League had been fiercer than ever before. All of the teams were
comparatively strong, considering the age of the players, and the
contests had been close and exciting. But in the end it had narrowed
down to a contest between Rockledge and Belden, each of which had won
and lost the same number of games. The crucial game was to be played by
these two hot rivals on the Belden grounds, and feeling was at fever
heat in each school.
While in fielding ability there was very little to choose between them,
it was generally admitted that Belden had the “edge” on Rockledge in the
matter of batting. This had been shown by the scores of the games that
had already been played. The Belden tallies were much in excess of those
rolled up by the Rockledge boys, and the former had a formidable list of
three-baggers and homers. The Rockledge victories on the other hand were
marked by small scores, and had mostly been won by the good pitching of
Bobby in the box.
So the forthcoming contest had resolved itself in the minds of the boys
into a struggle between heavy batting and good pitching. Which of the
two would prevail?
The Belden boys thought that they could give the answer. They had never
before felt so confident, and they were jubilant at the fine showing
made by their team with the bat. It was freely predicted that Bobby
would be sent to the bench before the game was half over. And with him
out of the game, the Belden boys felt that they could simply romp in,
for Howell Purdy, the other Rockledge pitcher, while fairly good, was
admittedly not in the same class as Bobby.
But on the other hand, the Rockledge boys had seen Bobby too often “come
through” to feel depressed at the prospect. They knew that he would have
to face a fiercer attack than usual.
“But,” said Fred, “we are sure that before long Bobby will have those
redoubtable sluggers eating out of his hand. The bigger they are the
harder they fall.” And this fairly expressed the feeling prevalent among
his mates.
Bobby himself said little, but worked away like a beaver to perfect his
curves and slants and develop his speed. He had never felt in better
trim, and in his secret heart had little doubt that he would pull out
the victory. But he refrained from predictions, and to the questions
that were showered upon him by his comrades merely replied that he was
going to do his best.
The great day came at last and was marked by brilliant sunshine. This
was a slight disadvantage for Bobby, because a cloudy day is reckoned as
an asset to a pitcher, as it makes it harder for the batsman to gauge
the ball. Of course this affected the Belden pitcher, too, but not to
such an extent, as the Belden boys were not placing as much reliance on
the pitching as Rockledge was forced to do.
The fact, too, that the game was to be played on the Belden grounds was,
of course, an advantage to that school. The grounds themselves were more
familiar to their nine, and they would have the greater number of
rooters to cheer on the home team and rattle their opponents.
Still it was all in the game, and the Rockledge boys were in high
spirits as they cavorted around the diamond in practice.
The stands were full of interested spectators and there was a great wall
of “fans” surrounding the playing field. The Rockledge boys had come
over in a body to encourage their team. Dr. Raymond himself had a
foremost seat in the grandstand as a guest of the head of Belden school.
The two men were the best of friends and laughed and chaffed each other
on the merits of the respective teams.
Both nines showed up well in practice, making stops and throws and
catches which showed that each team was at the top of its form. It was
evident that the game was to be a hotly contested one, and when the bell
rang the spectators settled down in their seats with the anticipation of
a treat.
Rockledge, as the visiting team, was first at bat. The first man up went
out on strikes and a chorus of cheers arose from the partisans of
Belden. Fred, who came next, whipped a sharp liner to left. If it had
been smartly fielded, it would have gone for a single, but the left
fielder fumbled it for a moment and Fred by great running reached
second. Then it was the turn of Rockledge to cheer. The hit availed
nothing, however, for Barry went out on a pop fly to the pitcher and
Sparrow sent a towering fly to right which was gathered in after a long
run. The inning had ended without a score, and Belden came in for its
half.
That proved short and sweet. Bobby whiffed the first batter that faced
him on three successive strikes. The second man dribbled an easy one to
the box that Bobby had no trouble in getting to first in plenty of time.
The next batsman fouled off two in succession, and then Bobby struck him
out with a fast high one that cut the center of the plate. No one had
got to first, and the Rockledge rooters cheered Bobby lustily as he came
in to the bench.
They felt still better when Mouser caught the ball on the end of his bat
for a ripping three-bagger to center. The cheers turned to groans,
however, when Mouser took a chance and tried to steal home. It was a
rash play at that stage of the game, for no one was out, and even a
sacrifice would probably have brought him home. As it was, the ball was
waiting for him when he slid into the plate and he looked rather
sheepish as he rose and brushed the dust from his uniform. Sheets laid
down a clever bunt, on which by good running he reached first. Shiner
followed with a daisy cutter between first and second that carried
Sheets to third, though Shiner himself could get no further than the
initial bag. The inning ended when Billy Bassett hit into a double play.
“That was an awful bonehead play of mine,” said Mouser regretfully, as
he and Bobby walked out from the bench to take their places in the
field.
“Don’t let it worry you, Mouser,” Bobby consoled him. “That was a whale
of a three-bagger that you knocked out, anyway. Any one of us is liable
to make a mistake.”
The second inning resulted in another blank for Belden. The first one up
went out by the strikeout route. The next one proved a little more
difficult, for he refused to bite at the balls that Bobby put over until
the count stood at three balls and no strikes.
“Wait him out,” shouted Ormsby, the Belden captain. “He’s getting wild.”
The next ball split the plate for a perfect strike, but the batsman,
obeying his captain’s command, let it go by. He refused to offer also at
the next one, which also went for a strike. The count now stood
three-two, and if Bobby was in a hole the batter was also.
Cool as an icicle, Bobby wound up and put all he had on a high fast one
that fairly smoked as it went over the plate. The batter made a wild
lunge at it but missed, and the ball sank with a thud in the catcher’s
glove.
“You’re out,” called the umpire.
“That’s going some, Bobby,” cried Fred from short. “Keep it right up.
They can’t hit you.”
This was a little premature, for the next man connected with the first
ball pitched and sent it whistling over Bobby’s head. It had all the
earmarks of a single, but Mouser redeemed his previous error of judgment
by leaping into the air and making a superb catch that brought the crowd
in the stands to their feet. The Rockledge rooters were jubilant, while
the Beldenites were correspondingly depressed.
The next two innings passed without a score for either side. Both
pitchers were doing excellent work, and while the Belden boxman, Erlich,
was hit rather freely, the ball seemed to find a fielder in the way
every time. Twice the Rockledge boys had men on bases, once by an error
and the other time from a passed ball, but were unable to bring them
around.
In the fifth inning, Rockledge broke the ice. Skeets led off with a
rattling single to right. Shiner sacrificed him neatly to second. Billy
sent a hot one between short and third that looked as though it would be
good enough to bring Skeets home, but the ball was retrieved so smartly
and thrown into home by the Belden left fielder that Skeets, who had
rounded third and started on his homeward journey, saw that he could not
make it, and had all he could do to scramble back to third. In the
meantime Billy had reached second.
With one man out, Bobby came to the bat. The first was too high and he
let it go by. The second was waist high and right in the groove, and
Bobby swung at it with all his might. There was a sharp crack as the bat
met the ball, and then the latter sped out almost in a line between
right and center. Bobby dropped his bat and was off like a flash, while
Skeets and Billy came galloping home.
As Bobby rounded first, he saw that the right and center fielders were
still chasing the ball. By the time he had reached second the right
fielder had picked it up and was steadying himself for the throw to
third. The chances of the ball and batter getting there at the same time
were about even. But two runs were in anyway, and Bobby knew that he
could afford to take the chance. He put on extra speed and slid into the
bag just a fraction of a second before the third baseman clapped the
ball on him.
“Safe!” cried the umpire, and the Rockledge crowd went wild.
Erlich stiffened up then and let the next batsman down on strikes.
Spentz, who came next, hit the ball hard, but it was gobbled up by the
center fielder, and the inning was over with Bobby left on third.
But at any rate two runs had tallied, and the way
the game was going those two runs seemed big enough to win.