[CHAPTER XIII]
OUT AT THIRD!
Had you looked over Will Temple’s shoulder you’d have seen, very neatly set down in his score-book—a brand-new one for the occasion—the following batting orders of the rival camps:
The Wigwam—Brown, 2b.; Thursby, ss.; Meldrum, rf.; Gifford, lf.; Groom, cf.; Crossbush, 3b.; Murdock, 1b.; Craig, c.; Porter, p.
Mount Placid—Cochran, 1b.; Benson, ss.; Smith, lf.; Walters, cf.; Connell, 3b.; Phillips, 2b.; Hanford, c.; Williams, p.; Cather, rf.
At the last moment The Wigwam had thought it best to put its full strength in the field at the start, and so it was decided that Mr. Gifford should take Peterson’s place in left. In that way the line-up would contain the best batting talent. In arranging the order of batting Mr. Gifford started out on the assumption that Steve Brown was the fastest man on bases and that, once on first, he would be able to advance without aid. Consequently, Ed Thursby was to follow him, since Ed, although not a hard hitter, was a fast runner between bags. Meldrum was as good a bunter as the team possessed, and Mr. Gifford was placed fourth in the hope that he would be able to score one or more of the preceding players. Groom and Crossbush were fair hitters, while Murdock was rather weak. Sam was to follow the latter and, if possible, clean up. Porter was the weak man at bat.
Of the Mount Placid team, Cochran, Connell, Phillips, and Williams were councillors, although, as The Wigwam learned afterwards, only Cochran and Williams were players of experience.
Both teams showed nervousness in the first inning or two and the play was rather ragged. The Mount Placid fellows were at least a year older than their rivals, all being, probably, over sixteen, while the visiting boys were all under that age, with one, Ralph Murdock, only fourteen. Along the base-lines was assembled quite a good-sized audience, representing Mount Placid, Greenwood, and The Wigwam. Naturally enough, the Greenwood fellows rooted for Mount Placid, and, so far as cheering was concerned, The Wigwam was bested from the start. Mount Placid, bunched together some seventy strong behind the third base-line, chanted: “Rah, rah rah! Who are we? We are the boys of M. P. C.! Team! Team! Team!” Greenwood, nearby, gave less often her, “Greenwood! Greenwood! Greenwood! Rah, rah, rah! Rah rah, rah! Greenwood!” The Wigwam, still fewer in numbers, did its best under the leadership of Dick Barry, and its novel cheer, short and sharp, was applauded from across the diamond: “W! Rah! I! Rah! G! Rah, rah, rah! W! Rah! A! Rah! M! Rah, rah, rah! Wigwam!” In spite of the fact that there were only some thirty Wigwam supporters there, Dick Barry managed to get excellent results.
Steve Brown started the game by striking out, and Thursby and Meldrum were thrown out at first. Mount Placid fared no better at bat. Cochran flied to Mr. Gifford, Benson struck out, and Smith made the third, Crossbush to Murdock. No runs, and, so far, no errors. But the second inning told a different tale. Mr. Gifford flied out to left field and Groom fell victim to Mr. Williams’s slow ball. And then, with two gone, the Mount Placid third baseman fumbled an easy attempt of Tom Crossbush’s and that youth reached first. Murdock received an in-shoot on the elbow and took his base, briskly rubbing his arm. Then Sam, cheered hopefully by The Wigwam boys, lined one into deep centre and Crossbush reached the plate a yard ahead of the ball and scored the first tally. That gave the blue-shirted youths something to celebrate, and Dick Barry didn’t let the opportunity get by them. A minute later, however, the inning was over, George Porter fanning.