Then came Dowdy to the bat. He was far and away the best batsman from Gardiner. Prendergast began to edge in.
"Strike one!" from the umpire.
Crack! The leather hung low, a little to the left of shortstop, who raced after it. Prendergast was going in at a tremendous clip. As shortstop reached the ball, he swooped down on it, stopped its rolling, and rising quickly, hurled it in across the plate.
Purcell was waiting, and made a good catch. It looked close.
Everyone eyed Umpire Foley.
"Runner safe home," he decided.
There was a gasp of disappointment, but the decision was fair. Prendergast had made good by a fraction of a second—-and there was a man on first.
"Oh, Dick! Oh, Prescott!" wailed the home fans. "We look to you."
Dick's answer was to strike the next man out, with never a chance for the man on first to steal away from Dalzell and make second. Then a short fly filled first and second. Dick struck out a second man—-then a third.
But this was getting on Gridley's nerves. Despite Prescott's fine pitching, it began to look as though Gardiner High School was fitted for getting the only one or two runs that the game would witness.
In the eighth, Gardiner got a second run, but that inning closed with Gridley as much "stumped" as ever.