Quickly the Jefferson players arose from the bench and trotted out onto the field. The Lowell boys on their bench stirred nervously, eager to get into the fray. Everson carefully selected his favorite bat from the row of them which was on the ground before the bench and stepped to the plate.
There wasn’t a sound to be heard on the grounds or in the stands. Everywhere was silence. Mellen stood there in the pitcher’s box, the new white ball in his right hand, eying Everson with intense scrutiny, trying to solve what his greatest batting weakness might be. Everson looked back at Mellen, waiting, perhaps a little nervous but with a look of determination on his face. He stood at the rubber, his feet slightly apart, his bat firmly grasped, his head to one side as if listening, but his eye on the white round thing in Mellen’s hand, and he never took his eye off that ball. The game was about to begin. The first ball pitched might decide the game. His turn at bat if successful might win it, his failure to do just what Hughie had instructed him to do might lose the game. Mellen began to wind up. He pulled back his right arm, twisted himself, looking back of him; he turned back again facing the batter; he brought forward that strong right arm of his, the ball started toward the plate, a white streak. The game had begun.
[CHAPTER XX]
THE FIRST GAME
| LOWELL | JEFFERSON |
|---|---|
| Everson, 2b | Laird, 3b |
| Larke, lf | Beach, cf |
| Talkington, cf | Church, 1b |
| Robb, rf | Hollins, ss |
| Hagner, ss | La Joy, 2b |
| Case, 1b | Warcford, lf |
| Delvin, 3b | Twitchell, rf |
| Gibbs, c | Brest, c |
| Black, p | Mellen, p |
“Ball one,” called the umpire as the first ball released by Mellen sank into Roger’s big mitt, and the crowd settled itself temporarily to watch the big battle. Mellen had sent up a wide one just for a feeler and Johnny let it go by. The second ball cut the plate in the middle, but Johnny never made a move.
“Strike one,” said the umpire.
Everson struck at the next one only to foul it off over the stand and it was two strikes and one ball. Mellen quickly sent up a good one guessing that Johnny would be looking for a ball, but Everson saw it was going to be good and took a hard swing at it and met it squarely, knocking a very fast grounder over second base which looked good, but La Joy of Jefferson hurried over, made a very graceful reach with his right hand, and turning, threw, without looking, straight to Church, and Johnny was out by a foot. One out. The crowd sat up, for it was a hard ball to field, although Larry made it look easy.
Larke was the second man up. He fouled off the first two balls offered to him, let one pass for a “ball,” and as the next one seemed to be coming where he liked it, swung hard at it and missed.