Immediately Grace ordered Factor out of the box and replaced him with Peterson, who was a left-hander. Peterson had a nasty drop that curved in toward the batter’s ankles, and in short order he retired the home team.
At this stage of the game, however, the score was eight to one in favor of Fardale, and Arlington confidently declared he would never let the enemy overtake them.
The next two innings proved to be hard ones, and neither side scored.
The cadets saw that in Peterson they had a problem that was difficult to solve. Had this pitcher been put in at the beginning of the game, it is doubtful if Fardale would have obtained a run. As it was, it began to appear as if the schoolboys had secured a lead sufficient to give them the game.
No longer were the members of the athletic team laughing and joking, for at last they realized that they were “up against the real thing.”
As the innings passed and the home team continued to hold its lead, Arlington’s confidence increased until it reached the point where he was altogether too sure. Overconfidence is often as fatal in a hard game of baseball as lack of confidence. It has defeated many a team that should have been victorious.
The seventh proved to be a disastrous inning for Fardale. The visitors came to bat with the head of their list up.
Ligner justified his name and his position by catching an outcurve near the end of the bat and driving out a two-bagger. O’Rouke followed with a clean single to right field, and Ligner came home with three feet to spare. The throw to the plate in an effort to stop this run let O’Rouke advance to second.
Yet Arlington had lost none of his confidence, and it still seemed that the cadets had a safe lead.
Chester believed he had found Hardy’s weak spot, which was a high ball close to the shoulder, but he had not discovered that the batter was one of those rare men who have no weak spots. This being the case, Chet was not a little surprised and disgusted when Hardy dropped back on a close one, caught it fairly, and singled. O’Rouke was held at third by the catcher, although it seemed that he might have scored.