When they came to the bat the Excelsiors did their best to get in two runs, but there was a triple play between the first and second basemen and the shortstop of the Lakeports, and the runners failed to score. Then a short fly to third finished the inning. Once again the score went up on the board:
| Excelsiors | 1 | 0 |
| Lakeports | 0 | 1 |
"Anyway, that looks a little better," said Fred.
"It looks like a nip-and-tuck game," said Mr. Corsen to his gentleman friend. "Still, I bank on the Lakeports."
"And I am just as confident that the Excelsiors will win."
So far Paul Shale had not been to the bat, but now it was his turn to face Si Voup and he did it as calmly as possible. He had two strikes called on him and two balls and then knocked a little fly to first base.
"Come home!" cried somebody. "You don't know how to bat!" And Paul walked to the bench feeling very sore.
But the bad luck did not continue, and before the inning came to an end the Lakeports scored two runs. Then the Excelsiors made four runs. The score now read, Excelsiors 5, Lakeports 3, and our young friends felt rather glum.
"Brace up, fellows," said Joe. And then he added: "Do you want another pitcher or catcher?"
"No!" was the immediate answer. "You are all right."