“He couldn’t stand the gaff,” put in Sparrow.
“Any pitcher will get knocked out of the box sometimes,” argued Bobby. “Then, too, he had been pitching six hard innings and was tired. I was fresh when I went in and only had two innings to pitch.”
Hicksley had left the bench as soon as the last man was out. He could not bear to wait to see the praise that he knew would be showered on his rival. He had been joined by Jinks and Bronson, and the three were now slouching grumpily toward the school buildings.
“Doesn’t seem as if they were tickled to death because Rockledge won,” commented Fred, as he looked at the group.
“Well, the rest of us are, anyway,” cried Sparrow. “We’ve made a mighty good start, taking the first game.”
“I can see the pennant flying from that pole already,” jubilated Skeets, pointing to the flagstaff back of center field.
“You’ve got dandy eyesight, Skeets,” laughed Bobby. “We’ve got a long way to go yet.”
“One swallow doesn’t make a summer,” cautioned Frank, who, while he was as pleased as the rest, did not want his team to be too confident.
“And if the Ridgefield nine is as good as the Somersets, we’ll have our work cut out for us,” remarked Mouser. “Those fellows gave us all we wanted to do to win.”
“They put up a bully fight,” agreed Shiner.