Chapter XX: On the Ball-Field

Reff Ritter won the toss-up and sent the Browns to the bat. Pepper was the first batter up, and as he took his place at the plate a slight cheer went up.

“Play!” called the umpire, one of the teachers from another school.

Dan Baxter held the ball a second, looked at the plate, and let drive.

“Strike one!” sang out the umpire, although Pepper had not struck at the sphere.

Again the ball was delivered, and Pepper sent the bat around as quickly as he could.

“Strike two!”

Then came a ball,—just a little too high. Then the sphere was delivered once more.

“Strike three! Batter out!”

“Good for Baxter! That’s the way to do it!”

“That ball shot up at the last instant,” said Pepper to Jack.

“It must be the new curved ball,” answered the the young major.

Hogan was the next to the bat. The Irish lad was usually a fairly good batsman, and when he was struck out a cry of wonder went up.

“Baxter is certainly pitching to-day!”

“Here comes Snow! He’ll hit it, I guess.”

Andy had two strikes called on him and then knocked a little foul, right in the catcher’s hands.

“Three out! That was pretty short.”

“And no hit.”

When Dan Baxter came up and took a seat on the bench a grin overspread his face.

“I guess you’ve got ’em going,” said Coulter.

“Sure thing,” answered the bully. “They won’t know where they stand when I get through with them.”

Coulter was the first player up for the Medals, and went out on a foul to third. Then came Paxton, who reached first on a drive to center. The next player followed with a fly to second. When the inning came to an end the Medals had one run.

“Hurrah for the Medals!” shouted some of the students.

“Now we must get on to that curved ball,” said Jack, as Harry Blossom went to the plate.

But Harry could no more than knock a foul and then went out on three strikes.

“Now, Jack!” called out Bart. “See if you can’t whack it out.”

Jack grasped his bat firmly and looked at Baxter sharply. The bully’s face wore a sickly grin. Jack had a strike called on him before he tried to hit the sphere. Then came another strike.

“Baxter is going to strike Ruddy out too!”

“No use of talking, Dan is a great pitcher this season.”

Again the ball came in, but it was too low and the umpire called it a ball.

Then the sphere came in just right. Jack saw it curving and did not bring his bat around until the last instant. Then followed a bunt, and while Dan Baxter fumbled with the ball Jack got to first.

“Hullo, he got to first anyway!”

“Only on a bunt,” came from a follower of the Medals.

The next player at the bat went out on strikes and the student to follow on a fly to third, and thus Jack, though he got to third, failed to score. Then the Baxter and Ritter team came in and made two runs.

“Look at that score! Browns 0, Medals 3!”

“This is certainly a winning day for the Medals!”

“That’s what it is!”

The friends of the Browns said nothing, but looked decidedly glum. The next inning resulted in a goose-egg for each side. At the end of the fifth inning the score stood Browns 0, Medals 5.

“I want to tell you about that curved ball,” said, Andy. “I have been watching Baxter closely. When his arm goes like this, it’s an in-shoot, when it goes like this it’s an out-shoot, and when it is twisted up like this, it’s a drop-ball. Now watch and see if I am not right.”

“You are right,” said Emerald. “I watched it meself, so I did.”

“Well, let us see what good watching did,” said Jack.

Hogan was at the bat, and the Irish lad got two balls and two strikes. Then came a drop-ball, but Emerald raised it up far into center-field.

“Good!” yelled Pepper. “Go, Emerald, go!” And go the Irish cadet did, and reached second-base before the fielder could send the ball up.

Hogan’s two-base hit seemed to put new life in the Browns, and at the end of that inning they had two runs to their credit. More than that, they had hit the ball six times.

“I guess we have solved the mystery of Baxter’s curves,” said Bart to his team.

“Yes, but we are still behind,” said Andy, with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Well, don’t give up yet.”

“Give up? Not a bit of it!” cried the acrobatic youth.

At the end of the seventh inning the score stood Browns 3, Medals 6. Then came a long-drawn-out inning, leaving the score at the ending of the eighth Browns 6, Medals 9.

“This is our last chance,” said Bart. “We must do our level best.”

An out was made and then two players got their bases. Then came a ball which Bart himself lifted to right-field, close to the foul flag.

“Run! Run!” yelled the supporters of the Browns, and run they did, bringing in two runs and leaving Bart on third.

“That’s the way to do it!”

“One more run and the score will be a tie!”

“That was a foul!” grumbled Reff Ritter.

“Of course it was a foul!” chimed in Dan Baxter.

“It was a fair ball,” said the umpire. “Perfectly fair.”

The Medals wanted to argue, but the umpire would not listen. There was a cry from all around the diamond to “Play ball!” and the umpire pulled out his watch.

“Play in two minutes or forfeit the game,” he said, loudly.

Still grumbling, Dan Baxter walked back to the box. He sent in a ball with care and the batsman had a strike called on him. But then came a safe hit and Bart came in, tying the score, 9 to 9, amid a great cheering.

Pepper was now to the bat, but went out on a fly to second. Then came Hogan.

“Now, Emerald, we depend on you,” said Bart, in a low tone.

“I shan’t disappoint yez, not me!” grunted the Irish cadet. “I’m on to his curves, so I am!”

The very first ball came in just as Hogan wished it. He took a step, landed solidly on the sphere, and sprinted like mad for first.

“Foul ball!” sang out the umpire, when poor Emerald was halfway to second base.

“Bad cess to the foul!” panted the batsman, as he walked slowly back to the home-plate. “I thought I had third sure!”

The next ball was too high, and he let it pass. Then came another just right, and once more the Irish youth banged away with all of his might. This time the sphere went down to deep center.

“Run! run!” was the yell. “Run, Emerald!”

“Show ’em what an Irish lad can do!”

And Emerald did run, up to third. Then he saw the second-baseman muff the ball and saw Dan Baxter start for it, and he tore towards home. Over the plate he slid—and the ball came in—but just a second too late.

“The Browns are one run ahead!”

“Andy Snow is up next.”

“He won’t do much.”

“Wait and see.”

Andy had a strike called on him and then got three balls. Evidently Dan Baxter was getting nervous.

“Take your time, Andy,” said Bart. Andy did take his time, and as a result got four balls and walked to first-base.

Harry Blossom followed and Andy got to third. Then came a short hit to first, and Andy came in. By this time the Browns were highly enthusiastic, while the Medals were correspondingly dejected. Dan Baxter “went to pieces” completely, and when the Browns finally went out it was with fourteen runs to their credit.

“Now we must pull up,” said Ritter, with a scowl at Dan Baxter.

“It’s a mountain to climb over,” grumbled Coulter.

Jack was on his mettle and did all he could to steady himself. The first player up to the bat was struck out, and the second went out on a foul. Then one got to first on balls and another followed.

“Steady, Jack, steady!” whispered Pepper. “Don’t go to pieces as Baxter did.”

“I won’t,” said Jack, and shut his teeth hard.

With two out the Medals filled the bases, and then Reff Ritter came to the bat.

“Knock a homer, Reff!” shouted one of his friends. “A home run would mean four runs.”

Reff scowled at Jack as he took his place. Jack looked determined. He threw in the ball with care.

“Strike one!”

“Too high!” grumbled Ritter.

Again the ball came in.

“Ball one!”

Once again the sphere was delivered, and Reff Ritter struck at it with all his might. It sailed over Jack’s head and seemed bound for center-field, when like a flash Pepper at second leaped up and caught it in his left hand.

“Hurrah! What a fine catch!”

“That ends the game!”

“The Browns win! Hurrah!”