The next player went out on a pop fly. Then came Tommy Flanders, who did his best to line out a single. This was stopped by the second baseman, who, however, threw the ball to the home plate, thus cutting off the possibility of a run.
"Hurrah! Two men on base, and only one out!"
"Here is where Longley does some big scoring!"
"Jack, are you sure you can hold 'em?" Gif questioned anxiously, as he came up to the pitcher.
"I'll do it or die in the attempt," was the answer, and Jack gritted his teeth.
It was certainly a trying situation, but the young pitcher refused to allow his nerves to get the better of him. He gave a signal to the backstop, and then sent in an outcurve, which the batter swung at in vain. Then he sent in a straight ball, following this by another outcurve, and almost before he knew it the batter was struck out.
"Hurrah!" came from Spouter Powell. "That's the way to do it! Two men out! Now for the third man!"
The Longley player to come up was one of their best batsmen, and Jack realized that to give him anything like a good ball to hit would be fatal, so he fed the man nothing but those which were high and wide. As a consequence the fellow had two strikes called on him and four balls, and took his base, moving Flanders to second.
"Hurrah! Three men on base!" was the Longley yell. "Now, then, Simmons, bring 'em all in!"
Simmons came forward with a do-or-die expression on his face. He had one strike called on him, and then knocked a low one toward centerfield. At once he started for first, while the fellow on third dashed forward for the home plate. The ball was gathered in as quickly as possible, and the runner from first to second was put out. But the runner from third had come in just before.