The players who had looked so gloomy a few moments before brightened up amazingly. After all, Tony Tippen could be hit. It was a pleasant surprise to many.
"Oh, ginger! If we'd only started this thing in the earlier innings!" groaned Tom Clifton, as he picked up a bat. "If Blake could do it, so can I."
With all his judgment, he aimed at the first ball which cut the plate.
It was the hardest swing of which Tom Clifton was capable. The ball, struck squarely, flew to the left of second base. Nat Wingate, leaping in the air with upraised hand, stopped its onward progress. The sphere rolled to the ground.
With a swift dive, Nat recovered it, stepped on the base and shot the ball to first.
It was the nearest the high school team came to scoring that day, Bob Somers, the next batter, going out on a foul.
The Kingswood Stars and their friends were warm and happy. Tony Tippen became the hero of the hour. He accepted his honors modestly.
But Nat Wingate and John Hackett, who came in for their share of lionization, did not take the victory so quietly.
"Now let somebody call us 'Pie-eaters'!" jeered Nat. "I say, Clifton, do we need some dieting? Won't you join us at a doughnut party to-night?"
"Get out!" retorted Tom, angrily. "One more inning, and we'd have had you going."