Keeping His Course

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Toby stationed himself at first, hitched up his trousers at the knees, and coached loudly and incessantly, while Billy Conners, back of third, followed his example to the best of his ability. Harry Glass stepped to the plate and seemingly dared Frank to “put ’em over!” Just what did happen during the next ten minutes is not for me to attempt without the scorebook to refer to. I know that Harry Glass tried to bunt and was thrown out at first and that “Snub” Mooney took his place. You’re to bear in mind that during these proceedings Toby’s voice was cannoning across the diamond and that Billy Conners’s voice was flying back like a startling echo! And this had its effect on Frank Lamson. Snub tried hard to find something to his liking, but Frank only put one good one over and Snub walked. Whereupon Toby’s voice arose to greater heights.

“All right, fellows! We’re on our way! He hasn’t a thing! Watch that, will you? Take a lead, Tony! Take a good one! Oh, more’n that! He won’t throw it! He wouldn’t dare to! He’s tired out. O-oh, what a bluff! Come on again, Tony! Now then, Tim, whale it! If you don’t want to hit, wait him out! He’ll give you the base if you wait! Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!”

Tim, being a pitcher, was not supposed to hit, but this time he did, and the ball went straight between Arnold, playing second, and the shortstop, and Tony trotted home. Tim went to first and might almost have reached second. Then Toby, batting last, whacked out a two-bagger that scored Tim. Billy Conners put Toby on third with a scratch hit down third base line, and Jim Lord dropped a foul and Toby scored. After that, well things got confused. Errors multiplied and Frank gave some two more passes and there were some more hits, one, by Gus Whelan, a three-bagger. When the inning was at last over the Towners had accumulated a nice lead of five runs, and the score stood 7 to 2!

Tim Chrystal had his bad innings as well, and Toby, who was catching him, and doing a very good job, too, spent some anxious moments. The sixth was especially trying to Tim and the Towners, for in that inning the visitors got to Tim for four hits with a total of six that sent three more runs over. Meanwhile Frank Lamson had settled down again and the Towners made no more circuits until the eighth. Then, when Harry Glass got to first base on the third baseman’s fumbling of an easy ball and was sacrificed to second by Snub Mooney, Tim Chrystal took it into his head to bunt and laid the ball down in front of base. George Dodson faked a throw to first and then wheeled and pegged down to third to get Harry Glass. Harry, seeing a world of trouble ahead, doubled back to second again, found Tim speeding along from first, changed his mind as the ball passed him into Arnold’s hands, and streaked once more for the corner sack.

By that time about half the Spaniards had gathered along the base line to take a hand in the festivities. Back and forth sped the ball and back and forth dodged Harry, always escaping by a hair’s breadth. Now and then, by way of adding an extra thrill, some one would fumble and Harry would get a new chance of life. But in the end they got him, though goodness knows how the official scorers scored that play, and George Dodson, somewhat relieved, tossed the ball along the ground to the pitcher’s box. As it happened, Frank Lamson had been taking part in the pursuit and was as far from the ball as any one, a fact which struck Tim Chrystal, on second now, at that instant. Tim promptly legged it for third. Three or four dismayed Spaniards hustled for the ball. George Dodson got to it first, scooped it up and hurled it to third. But, as the third baseman was several yards from the bag, the ball continued busily into the outfield and Tim continued on his way rejoicing, bringing home the eighth run for the Towners and joy and hilarity to his friends.

Again, in their half of the eighth, the visitors decreased the lead. It was Arnold who was directly responsible, for he got a two-bagger off Tim and stole third standing up a minute later. Then Pete Lord smashed one at Manuel Sousa that that youth couldn’t handle cleanly and Arnold beat the throw to the plate by inches only. After that another hit, and an error by Tony George, gave the Spaniards one more tally. And the ninth began with the score 8 to 7, the visitors but one run behind.

The Towners tried desperately to add to their margin of safety, but Frank Lamson, although he passed the first man up, struck out the next, made the third fly out to center fielder and himself tossed the ball to first for the final out. Toby was very glad that the opponents were down to the tail-end of their batting list when that last half of the ninth inning commenced, for Toby felt that it would be rather too bad to lose the game after securing the lead they had secured in the fourth. Many of the spectators from the Head had trundled away by now, for it was close on 5 o’clock, but the townsfolk stayed loyally on.

Frank Lamson was first up, and Frank, who had not distinguished himself greatly with the stick, was bent on getting at least one good whack. Besides, he had the feeling that, on the whole, Tim Chrystal had out-pitched him, and he wanted to do his bit to spoil that youth’s record. And after Tim had got two nice strikes across and had only wasted one ball in the operation Frank saw something coming that looked good and let go at it. Toby, watching the ball streak safely into short left field, remorsefully told himself that that was his fault, for he had called on Tim to “sneak one over,” and Frank had outguessed him.

Then Hal Mason, center fielder, bunted and Tim threw wide and Hal was safe. [Toby] knew he would steal and watched him closely. But with Frank Lamson on third he didn’t dare throw down to second. Instead, he [pegged hard to Tim] and Tim very neatly relayed the ball to third and Frank was caught a yard off the base. After that Toby breathed easier, for with one out and two strikes on Catcher Dodson things looked brighter.