Hal now came up. There were two out and he wanted a hit. The second ball looked good, so he hit it for a grounder to the right of Laird and raced to first, but Laird made a stab, got the ball, and without setting himself, made a very quick but low throw to Church. The Jefferson Captain, however, made a beautiful pickup and Hal was out.
Now it was the second turn for Jefferson at bat.
Hollins without waiting drove a hot grounder right over first base that looked like a hit, for Hal was playing about twenty feet off. Somehow or other, however, Hal got over near it, threw himself the last six feet of the way, stopped the ball while falling and then, as he lay on the ground, tossed to Miner, who had covered first, for a put out. The rest of the Lowell team looked pleased, for he had saved a hit and the crowd was excited. The Jefferson boys couldn’t figure how they could get hits when such fielding was possible.
At any rate they all thought this but Larry. He walked up to the plate and stood there swinging his bat carelessly. Wherever Miner pitched a ball, Larry would reach up or down with his bat and touch the ball somehow. He fouled off one after the other until he had lost seven balls over the stand behind him and then he hit the eighth one fair and square for a long liner to center which ought to have been good for a double, only Talkington raced over and by extremely fast fielding held it to a single.
The seven fouls and the hit by Larry had made hard work for Miner and so when Warcford came up for his first time at bat he hit a Texas leaguer to short left which fell safe and he took first while Larry reached second.
It looked as though Jefferson would score surely, and especially with Twitchell at the bat and runners like Larry and Warcford on the bases. It looked even more dangerous when Twitchell hit the first ball Miner pitched for a very fast grounder right over second, but Everson raced over, made an almost impossible stop, tossed the ball to Hans on second who relayed it to Case at first completing a fast double play and letting Miner out of a dangerous hole.
It was the beginning of the third inning. So far Jefferson had the better of it, two hits, while Lowell hadn’t had a man on base.
Arthur came to bat and struck out. So did Gibbie and when Black came up Mellen made it a strike out for the side, for he got Miner, too.