“Hurrah! That’s the time we showed Colby Hall what we can do!”
The Longley Academy boys went wild in their enthusiasm and danced around the field like so many Indians. And they had good cause to be elated, for they remembered only too well the drubbing they had gotten at the hands of Colby Hall the season before when Jack and Fred had made such records for themselves.
The Colby Hall cadets could say nothing against the record made by the Longley nine. They had put up a stiff fight from the start and deserved their laurels.
“Our defeat was largely due to Halliday and Bangs,” declared Spouter. “Between them they let in at least five runs.”
“That’s exactly the truth,” answered Dan Soppinger. “If I were Gif I’d read the riot act to those two players.”
“Oh, I don’t think I’d be too hard on them,” came from Jack. “Anybody might have muffed that ball down in center field, and any of us might have struck out as Brassy did.”
“But both of them made several other errors,” put in Walt Baxter.
On the way back to Colby Hall the students were free in their comments on the game, and there were many uncomplimentary things said about Brassy and Halliday. Those two players tried to excuse themselves as best they could; but a baseball player who has not made good seldom gets any sympathy.
“I’ll give you both another chance in the game with Hixley High,” said Gif at last, in talking the matter over with the two players. “But if you make a single error it will cost you your positions.”
The game with Hixley High came off on the following Saturday and was won by the narrow score of 7 to 6. In the second inning Halliday made another wild throw from center to second, and Brassy Bangs made a bad fumble in the fourth inning, and as a consequence both were retired and substitutes put in their places.