Rival Pitchers of Oakdale Part 33

CHAPTER x.x.x.

THE GREATEST VICTORY.

The sixth inning was over before Springer reached the Oakdale bench.

He found the boys in high spirits, for they had gathered two more tallies by taking Crowell's measure, while again Hooker had pulled through without being scored upon, which made the scorers' record six to three in favor of the visitors at the beginning of the seventh.

Oakdale seemed to have the game bagged.

When the seventh pa.s.sed with the score unchanged on either side and Hooker apparently "still going strong," it began to look as if Springer would get no chance to do any pitching in that game. But baseball is sometimes most uncertain, which is one reason why the game is so popular in America. In the last of the eighth, with one man gone, the locals finally took Hooker's measure and began batting him to all quarters of the field. Almost before the gasping, excited spectators could realize it, Wyndham had made one run and the bases were all occupied, with one of the strongest hitters of the home team at bat.

Springer had limbered up, with Stone catching him, in the first of the seventh while Oakdale was at bat, and now Eliot stepped upon the plate, giving a signal which meant that Roy was to retire and Phil was to take his place.

Phil was sorry for Hooker, who showed that he was fearfully upset and chagrined, and, as he pa.s.sed the unlucky pitcher on his way out to the firing line, he said in a low, sympathetic tone:

"Don't you care, old ch-chap. It happens to the best of us; I got mine in that Barville game, you know. Next time you'll make good."

But could he now "make good" himself? That was the question, of a most disturbing sort, which insinuated itself upon Springer as he stepped into position and received the ball from Captain Eliot. The anxious Oakdale crowd gave him a cheer.

"There's Springer!" he heard a voice shout. "He'll stop it. Hold 'em, Phil--hold 'em!"

"I must, and I will," thought Phil.

Eliot smiled on him encouragingly as he adjusted the cage and stepped back into position, crouching to give a signal. The Wyndham coachers began chattering, and the local crowd "rooted" hard. Surely it was a moment to test the nerve of any young pitcher.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The local crowd "rooted" hard.]

Phil caught Roger's signal, nodded, and bent the first ball over. The batter hit it to the left of the pitcher, and Springer, shooting out his gloved hand, simply deflected the ball enough to prevent Nelson, who was almost directly in line, from getting it. The Wyndham crowd yelled madly as another runner scored and the hitter reached first safely.

"This pitcher's the easiest one yet!" shrieked one of the coachers.

"Nail the game right here, fellows. It's easy! it's easy!"

Fear sought to fasten its benumbing clutch upon Springer. What if he could not stop Wyndham? Rackliff would hear that he had warned Eliot about the signals, and, seeking retaliation, would betray the fact that he had likewise wagered money that Wyndham would win. To everybody it must seem that Phil had at last shown himself thoroughly despicable and untrustworthy by betraying his own team on the field. This thought actually made him sick and giddy for a moment.

"Never mind, Spring--never mind," Eliot was saying. "That was an accident; it wasn't a hit. Get the next man; get this fellow. You can do it."

"I must, and I will!" thought Phil once more.

He shook off the touch of fear and steadied himself. Again Eliot gave a signal, and again he nodded. Strangely enough, the next batter hit a liner to the left of Springer, almost precisely as the other had done; but this time the pitcher's gloved fingers caught and held the ball, following which he instantly turned and snapped it to first base before the runner, who had started down the line, could get back.

It was a double play, and a mighty shout of joy was flung forth from beneath the fluttering crimson banners of the Oakdale spectators.

Again Phil was cheered.

"Well done, Spring," complimented Eliot quietly, as Phil reached the bench.

Then Herbert Rackliff, pale and desperate, rushed forth to the bench, catching Eliot's arm and saying:

"Perhaps you're not aware that Mr. Springer has bet money on this game.

He has bet money that Wyndham will win. If you don't believe me, ask him."

Roger turned to Phil. "Is this true?"

"Yes," was the husky answer, "it's true. I gave this sus-sneaking blabber seven dollars to bet on Wyndham, and I'll never gug-get over being ashamed of it as long as I live. He's the creature who gave away our signals to Wyndham. I hope I lose that mum-money, and, if you'll trust me, I'll do my level best to make myself lose it."

The Oakdale captain turned on Rackliff. "Get off the field," he ordered sternly. "Get back where you belong, and be quick about it."

Herbert retired, his last remaining hope being that Phil would go to pieces in the ninth.

But Springer was strengthened and steadied by a great desire, and, although Oakdale's lead was not increased, he pitched so well that the slender margin was sufficient to give the visitors the victory. Not a Wyndhamite reached first, and two of the three who faced Springer were mowed down on strikes.

The overjoyed Oakdale crowd charged onto the diamond and surrounded the winners as they were giving Wyndham a cheer. Springer was swept off his feet and caught up on the shoulders of the crowd, who bellowed his name again and again. Looking downward, he saw that his right leg rested on the shoulder of Rodney Grant, who was cheering madly.

In the dressing room, a little later, Grant came up quietly and put forth his uninjured left hand.

"Put it there, partner," he begged. "You sure turned the trick, and you held them down handsomely. It was a great victory."

Springer seized the proffered hand, laughing to hide the fact that joy threatened to blind his eyes with tears.

"It was a great victory," he agreed, thinking, however, of the victory he had won over himself.

"Sure," beamed the Texan. "And now Oakdale ought to win the championship; she ought to win it with you and me--and Hooker, for pitchers." He said this laughing in a way that robbed his words of any touch of egotism.

Oakdale did win the championship, without the loss of a single game.

Grant and Springer did the greater part of the pitching, the work being divided almost equally between them; but Hooker was not wholly forgotten, and he obtained some opportunities, actually pitching one complete game in a most creditable manner.

Herbert Rackliff saw no more baseball after the Wyndham game, for his parents were notified that he had contracted a p.r.o.nounced case of pulmonary trouble, and, this being confirmed later by the family physician, he was hurriedly shipped to Colorado, in hopes that the dry and bracing atmosphere of that State might restore him to health.

Although the boys of Oakdale charitably refrained from making much talk about him, he was little missed by them.