Joe kept up his good work, not allowing a hit in the sixth. In the seventh he was pounded for a two-bagger, and then he “tightened up,” and there were no runs for the Clevefields.
They were fighting desperately, for they saw the battle slipping away from them. Pittston tied the score in the eighth and there was pandemonium in the stands. The crowd went wild with delight.
“Hold yourself in, old man,” Gregory warned his pitcher. “Don’t let ’em get your goat. They’ll try to.”
“All right,” laughed Joe. He was supremely happy.
There was almost a calamity in the beginning of the ninth. Pittston’s first batter—Gus Harrison—struck out, and there was a groan of anguish. Only one run was needed to win the game, for it was now evident that the Clevefield batters could not find Joe.
George Lee came up, and popped a little fly. The shortstop fumbled it, but stung it over to first. It seemed that George was safe there, but the umpire called him out.
“Boys, we’ve got a bare chance left,” said Gregory. “Go to it.”
And they did. It was not remarkable playing, for the Clevefields had put in a new pitcher who lost his nerve. With two out he gave Joe, the next man, his base. Joe daringly stole to second, and then Terry Hanson made up for previous bad work by knocking a three-bagger. Joe came in with the winning run amid a riot of yells. The score, at the beginning of the last half of the ninth:
| PITTSTON | 7 |
| CLEVEFIELD | 6 |