“Look what he did to the Academy team,” reminded Rodney.
And then further talk was stopped, for the gong rang to clear the diamond. The game was about to begin.
The Stars took the field, for they were to bat last, and Sam faced his first opponent with a smile of confidence on his face. It faded away a moment later, however, as the lad knocked as pretty a three bagger as had been seen on the grounds in many a day.
“That’s the stuff!”
“Line ’em out!”
“Oh, we’re on to his curves all right!” yelled the crowd. Joe, who was on the bench as a reserve pitcher, jumped to his feet and watched the ball roll past Tom who was playing centre. It looked almost as if the batter would come on home, but he held third and the fears of the Stars subsided.
“Fool him now, Sam,” called Darrell to the pitcher.
“Make him give you a nice one,” was the advice the next batter got from his friends. And he did, though it was only good for one bag. However, the run came in, and there were gloomy hearts in the camp of the Silver Stars.
Sam managed to strike out the next man, and his confidence came back. But it was only for a short time. The crowd of Blue “rooters” was making a terrific racket and this may have gotten on Sam’s nerves, at any rate he gave the next man his base on balls and was later hit for two two baggers.
“Oh, we’ve got his goat! We’ve got ’em going! Everybody take a run!” yelled the visiting captain, jumping up and down at the third base coaching line.