Part 24 (1/2)
”Zip! Hurrah! Roxley!” was the cry, and then followed a great noise from the horns and rattles.
”Brill! Brill! Brill!” was the counter cry, and then the furious din was taken up by the other side.
After that the grandstand filled up rapidly and so did the bleachers, until there was not an available seat remaining. In the meanwhile, a parking place for automobiles and carriages at the far end of the field was also well patronized.
”Some crowd, and no mistake!” was Stanley's comment, as he looked at the ma.s.ses of humanity waving flags and banners and tooting their horns and using various other devices for making noise. ”This is by far the biggest crowd we have ever had.”
”Roxley has sent word all around that they are going to bury us this year,” returned another student standing by. ”They claim they have a team that can't be beaten.”
Down in the dressing-room Bob was giving some final instructions to his men.
”I want you to play from the word 'go,'” he said. ”Sometimes a game is lost or won in the first inning. Don't let them get any kind of a lead if you can possibly help it.”
It had been decided almost at the last minute that instead of covering left field Sam should cover third base. There was a big cheer for the Roxley team when it made its appearance on the field, and another cheer when the Brill nine showed itself. Then came the toss-up, and it was decided that Brill should go to the bat first.
The first man to the bat was a tall fellow who played center field, and as he came forward many of the Brill sympathizers cheered him l.u.s.tily.
”Now show 'em what you can do!”
”Knock it over the back fence!”
The ball came in and the batter swung for it and missed it.
”Strike one!”
”That's the way to do it, Muggs!”
Again the ball came in, and this time there was a foul tip.
”Foul! Strike two!”
Following this second strike came two b.a.l.l.s, over which the Brill contingent cheered. Then came a swift inshoot, which the batter missed by the fraction of an inch.
”Strike three! Batter out!” sang out the umpire.
”That's the way to do it, Muggs!” came the yell from the Roxley cohorts, and there followed a din of horns and rattles.
The second man up for Brill managed to get to first, but the next one went out on a pop fly, and then the man on first was caught trying to steal to second.
”That's the way to do it, Roxley! Keep it up!” And as a goose egg was put up for Brill on the score board the opponents cheered as wildly as ever.
But if Roxley had hoped to score in that first inning, her expectations were doomed to disappointment. The first man up went out on a pop fly, the second on a foul, and although the third managed to reach second base on what should have really been a one-base hit, the fourth man up knocked an easy one to first which ended their hopes.
It was not until the second inning that Sam came to the bat. There were two men out when he grasped the ashen stick and took his stand beside the home plate. He had a strike and two b.a.l.l.s called on him, and then sent a clean hit between first and second bases.
”Run, Sam, run!” yelled d.i.c.k.
”Leg it, old man, leg it!” added Tom, and the youngest Rover certainly did speed for first, arriving there just a second before the ball.