To this Darrell made no reply.
Following is the batting order of both teams as given to the scorers:
| Fardale. | Fairport. |
| Black, lf. | Crockett, 2d b. |
| Bradley, 3d b. | Dustan, rf. |
| Flint, rf. | Roberts, ss. |
| Darrell, ss. | Conway, cf. |
| Jolliby, cf. | Macon, 3d b. |
| Singleton, 1st b. | Milliken, lf. |
| Tubbs, 2d b. | Anson, 1st b. |
| Buckhart, c. | Warren, c. |
| Merriwell, p. | Ware, p. |
Roberts, Macon, and Anson were three new men on the home team; otherwise the team was about the same as it had been the year before.
Preliminary practice on both sides was sharp and snappy, and it keyed the spectators up to a point of intense interest and eagerness.
Five minutes after the time set for the game to begin the umpire walked out to his position and Fairport trotted onto the field.
“Now they start!” exclaimed Zona. “Oh, girls, isn’t it awfully exciting! I am just as nervous as I can be!”
“I can’t blame you,” smiled Bessie Dale in that tantalizing manner of hers. “It’s natural you should be.[be.] But I am not. See how calm and confident I am.”
“How do you feel, Doris?” asked Zona.
Doris could not have described her feelings had she tried. Somehow there was in her heart a sense of doubt and dread. An inward voice seemed warning her that all was not as it should be.