“I intended to,” replied Arries carelessly. “Fact is, though, I got so far behind in studies I forgot, and then I lost the list of players. You fellows do as you please.”
“Aren’t you going to practice?” inquired Larry half indignantly.
“I? I should say not,” retorted the captain. “Too busy. Besides, we only play for fun, and it’s hard work to practice. Too hot.”
“If you will tell us who the catcher is we’ll find him,” suggested Katsura.
“He’s that big fellow from Bakersfield,” replied the captain rising. “Takes everything in earnest. I’ll have to go to class now. Thank you fellows for coming to my assistance.”
“No wonder they get beaten,” laughed Larry, as Arries strolled away. “Let’s hunt Winans. Katty and a catcher ought to beat all that kind of team without help.”
Winans, they found, was a large, slow-speaking, quick-moving youth. He looked slow, and the ease with which he moved made him appear lazy. The boys found him quite the opposite.
“I’m glad some one in this class wants to play real ball,” he said when they had stated their purpose. “Arries only asked the fellows he happened to know to join the team, and most of them forgot about it. I had to find a few to fill in the game we played, and that was a nightmare. If you fellows want to hustle, I’m with you.”
The following week was a busy one. Winans roomed in a house only a block from the one in which Larry Kirkland had taken up his abode, and two other Freshmen were in the same house. Instead of reporting for practice at the athletic field, the Freshmen decided they could get better results by taking simple practice in the big yard behind the boarding house. Each evening they played until it was too dark to see the ball. With Katsura pitching better and better, and three of the boys able to play fairly well, Larry, who by common consent had been made the leader, felt that for a class team, it would do well, especially as Winans rapidly learned to work well with the diminutive pitcher. It was hard to get nine Freshmen to practice, but usually Larry had six or seven each evening, and as the day of the contest approached he felt confident that his team would furnish a surprise for the Sophomores, who had three of the regular Varsity team. Also interest among the Freshmen increased as the date came near, and Winans sent a dozen volunteers, all of whom were tried out and told to be on hand.
The game was to be played on the athletic field, and after class meetings to stir up enthusiasm, both classes marched down upon the field, shouting defiance at each other, while the upper classmen gathered in the stands and bleachers, watching them with condescending smiles of amusement, and striving to stir the lower classmen up to the point of starting the annual rush.