“Bring him in, Jim!” cried the Blue team as the Chenango first baseman accepted the bats that June proffered and strode to the plate, and “Here we go!” shouted a strong-voiced spectator. “Here we go! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!” A hundred others took up his chant and beat time to it with feet on planking or with clapping hands. Whether the pandemonium had its effect on Pitcher Ellis or not, certain it is that his first delivery was grooved if ever ball was grooved, and equally certain is it that Jim Wheelock drove it straight past the pitcher and out of the infield and that Hal Collins tore around from second, touched third with flying feet and slid into the plate well ahead of the ball!
“There’s one of ’em!” shrieked Hoffman. “Let’s have another, Cap! Hit it out! Bust it!”
Joe Taylor tried his best to bring Jim in from second, but failed, finally flying out to centre field and ending the rally.
Still one to two was better than two to nothing, and the home team trotted hopefully out to their places for the beginning of the sixth.
Rider, the Browns’ third sack artist, waited out two offerings and then slammed the next down the base line to Billy White. Billy was having a bad day, and, although he knocked the ball down, he couldn’t heave it to Jim in time to get his man, and another black mark was set against Billy’s fair fame. This poor beginning was speedily remedied, though, when the Toonalta right fielder hit to Despaigne, and Vic, performing one of his circus stunts, grabbed the ball as it bounded past him well to the right and tossed it to Wayne as the latter sped to the bag. Still going, Wayne half turned and chucked underhand to Jim, completing as pretty a double play as one would wish to see. Medfield voiced delight and approval and relief very loudly and very long while Ellis walked to the plate and faced Chase, grimly determined to get a hit. But Chase knew his opponent’s weakness and toyed with him until the score stood two strikes and one ball. Then, however, Ellis managed to connect with the next delivery and send it high into the air behind first base. For a long moment it looked safe, but Wayne got under it after a hard run and squeezed it.
For the Chenangos, Colton flied out to shortstop, Billy White hit to second and was out on a close decision that brought a howl of protest from the blue nine’s supporters and Hoffman made his first--and last--hit, a bounder over shortstop’s head. Wayne went up with the encouraging applause of the Medfield supporters in his ears and faced Ellis calmly. He had been twice up and had two hits to his credit, and he meant to keep his score perfect. But he was reckoning without Fate, for after Ellis had pitched a wide one on the supposition that Hoffman would steal on the first ball, and then had sneaked a low strike across--low ones constituted Wayne’s batting weakness, and he knew the fact and meant to profit by the knowledge--the hit-and-run signal came, Wayne swung at a high one on the inside, missed it and watched the ball hurtle down to shortstop and saw Gas put out at second. Wayne disappointedly tossed his bat to June and went back to the field.