“Well, we got one big man left,” coached Captain Tad as ponderous Dutch Hecht stepped up, spat on his hands and took a squint at Wells. The Lawrencetown man knew how formidable Hecht was from previous experience with him and he was taking no chances. He never pitched to the left fielder at all and passed him to first on five pitched balls.
Little Tad had come in from the coaching box for he was on deck, and as Hecht lumbered to first Tad stepped to the rubber with a look of determination on his face. But there were two down and the best that the captain could do was to lace a grounder down to Dick Leslie, the Lawrencetown third baseman, who promptly threw Hecht out at second and retired the side. The score was 0 to 0 at the end of the first inning.
Nothing scintillating marked the second or the third innings. Both Dixon and Wells were pitching at the top of their form and with the best sort of support behind them the batters went down in almost one, two, three order, only two Pennington men reached first base in the two innings and only one Lawrencetown man got a clean hit, a slashing double by Taylor, the red and black team’s center fielder. But the hit went for nothing for the next man up could not advance the runner and his out retired the side.
The beginning of the fourth, however, was different. Freeman, the slugger of the Lawrencetown aggregation, was the first man up and Dixon, although he tried to play safe, put one of the variety that Freeman most liked within his reach and he landed on it for a two base clout into deep right field.
Oleson, the Lawrencetown catcher, and no mean man with the stick, was up next, and on the first ball pitched he poled out a single that all but scored Freeman. The heavy hitter rounded third and started for home when the Lawrencetown coach on the third base line warned him back to the base.
With a man on first and third and none out it looked serious for Dixon and the Pennington team. And it was serious. Miller, the Lawrencetown right fielder, was next up and he slammed a hot one to Buck Hart, Freeman going down with the crack of the bat. Buck played the man going home and with a lightning-like throw to Tad Sloan, nailed him at the plate. But it was such a close call at being a score that it gave the Pennington rooters heart trouble for a moment. Still, there were two men on, and only one out and a single meant that two runs would come in. And center fielder Taylor, already credited with a hit, was at the bat.
He made good a second time, lacing a single into short right field, and Oleson and Miller rounded third and started for home hardly twenty feet apart. Oleson made it standing up but little Tad was crouched over the rubber waiting for the ball as Miller came thundering down from third, and Wade Grenville with a fine throw shot it down into Tad’s mitt just as the runner slid feet first for the plate. Tad and Miller were all tangled up when the dust cleared away. The umpire signaled that Miller was out, and the little Pennington captain got to his feet with a look of pain on his face. His stocking was ripped down the shin and blood was oozing from a nasty spike wound that he had received in the mêlée.
When Miller saw what he had done he scrambled to his feet and put his arm around Tad’s shoulder.
“Sorry, old fellow,” he said. “That’s tough, but I couldn’t help it.”