“First blood for the Regulars!” he shouted in glee, as he cavorted about the bag.
Joe caught the ball as it was thrown in and turned round to face the plate. But instead of making a half turn, he swung completely around and shot the ball to second and before the startled Burkett could get back to the bag the baseman had put the ball on him.
“How about that first blood?” asked the grinning Joe as Burkett passed him on his way in. “Dried up pretty quickly, didn’t it?”
“Wriggling snakes!” chortled Robbie, while McRae quickly shifted his knee out of reach, “was that quick work or wasn’t it? I’m asking you, John.”
“Greased lightning,” agreed McRae. “His arm is working some of the time. His head is working all the time.”
Larry Barrett, the jovial second baseman, came next, and, hitting the ball on the under side, sent it up in the air for a towering foul that the catcher nabbed without moving from his tracks.
“You made monkeys of us that time, Joe,” laughed Larry, as he went out to his position, “but the game’s young and we’ll get back at you yet.”
Markwith, the lanky southpaw, was on his mettle too, and he made short work of the rookies who faced him, setting them down in one, two, three order.
The game went on with varying fortunes, both sides playing good ball. All the players were on their toes, the Regulars to avoid the ignominy of being beaten by the youngsters and the Yannigans inspired by the ambition to show their manager the best they had in stock.
The Regulars scored one in the third, but the Yannigans came back at them in the fifth on a triple by Joe with the bases full that scored three runs, though Joe himself was left at third because of Ledwith’s inability to bring him in.