The captain stood somewhat back from the plate,
a fact that induced Wayne to try him with the
speedy outcurve. Reed lunged with a powerful
swing, pulling away from the plate, and he missed
the curve by a foot.
Wayne did not need to know any more. Reed
had made his reputation slugging straight balls
from heedless pitchers. He chopped the air twice
more, and flung his bat savagely to the ground.
``Two out--play the hitter!'' called Wayne to
his team.
Clark, the third man up, was the surest batter
on the Bellville team. He looked dangerous. He
had made the only hit so far to the credit of his
team. Wayne tried to work him on a high, fast
ball close in. Clark swung freely and cracked a
ripping liner to left. Half the crowd roared, and
then groaned, for the beautiful hit went foul by
several yards. Wayne wisely decided to risk all
on his fast drop. Clark missed the first, fouled
the second.
Two strikes!
Then he waited. He cooly let one, two, three
of the fast drops go by without attempting to hit
them. Burns valiantly got his body in front of
them. These balls were all over the plate, but too
low to be called strikes. With two strikes, and
three balls, and the bases full, Clark had the advantage.
Tight as the place was, Wayne did not flinch.
The game depended practically upon the next ball
delivered.
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