Still it was all in the game, and the Rockledge boys were in high spirits as they cavorted around the diamond in practice.
The stands were full of interested spectators and there was a great wall of “fans” surrounding the playing field. The Rockledge boys had come over in a body to encourage their team. Dr. Raymond himself had a foremost seat in the grandstand as a guest of the head of Belden school. The two men were the best of friends and laughed and chaffed each other on the merits of the respective teams.
Both nines showed up well in practice, making stops and throws and catches which showed that each team was at the top of its form. It was evident that the game was to be a hotly contested one, and when the bell rang the spectators settled down in their seats with the anticipation of a treat.
Rockledge, as the visiting team, was first at bat. The first man up went out on strikes and a chorus of cheers arose from the partisans of Belden. Fred, who came next, whipped a sharp liner to left. If it had been smartly fielded, it would have gone for a single, but the left fielder fumbled it for a moment and Fred by great running reached second. Then it was the turn of Rockledge to cheer. The hit availed nothing, however, for Barry went out on a pop fly to the pitcher and Sparrow sent a towering fly to right which was gathered in after a long run. The inning had ended without a score, and Belden came in for its half.
That proved short and sweet. Bobby whiffed the first batter that faced him on three successive strikes. The second man dribbled an easy one to the box that Bobby had no trouble in getting to first in plenty of time. The next batsman fouled off two in succession, and then Bobby struck him out with a fast high one that cut the center of the plate. No one had got to first, and the Rockledge rooters cheered Bobby lustily as he came in to the bench.
They felt still better when Mouser caught the ball on the end of his bat for a ripping three-bagger to center. The cheers turned to groans, however, when Mouser took a chance and tried to steal home. It was a rash play at that stage of the game, for no one was out, and even a sacrifice would probably have brought him home. As it was, the ball was waiting for him when he slid into the plate and he looked rather sheepish as he rose and brushed the dust from his uniform. Sheets laid down a clever bunt, on which by good running he reached first. Shiner followed with a daisy cutter between first and second that carried Sheets to third, though Shiner himself could get no further than the initial bag. The inning ended when Billy Bassett hit into a double play.
“That was an awful bonehead play of mine,” said Mouser regretfully, as he and Bobby walked out from the bench to take their places in the field.
“Don’t let it worry you, Mouser,” Bobby consoled him. “That was a whale of a three-bagger that you knocked out, anyway. Any one of us is liable to make a mistake.”
The second inning resulted in another blank for Belden. The first one up went out by the strikeout route. The next one proved a little more difficult, for he refused to bite at the balls that Bobby put over until the count stood at three balls and no strikes.
“Wait him out,” shouted Ormsby, the Belden captain. “He’s getting wild.”