"I'm glad he hit that ball, and yet it makes me mad!" he grated. "I might have done the same myself. Just look at that—just look at it! It's a home run! It ties the score!"
He was right.
CHAPTER IX.
SPARKFAIR'S HIT.
Sparkfair sat down on the pitcher's plate and watched Hodge circling the bases.
"Hereafter," he observed, with a doleful grin, "I'll put my fielders over in the next county when you come to bat."
Bart's hit reminded Dale of Dick Merriwell's first appearance at Fardale. He recalled the fact that Dick had come to bat in the ninth inning, with two men out, the bases full, and three runs needed to tie the score. Merriwell managed to connect with the ball after two strikes had been called. He drove it far over Barking's head, clearing the sacks and coming home himself, thus winning the game by a single run.
That recollection was decidedly unpleasant to Spark.