Springdale's column. But neither Lanny nor

Haley appeared worried, not even when the next batsman appeared in the person of the Blue's captain and third-baseman. Still, Tom worked a bit more deliberately than usual, studied Lanny's signals thoughtfully, seemed bent on consuming as much time as possible. The Blue's captain swayed his bat back and forth and strove to restrain his impatience, but that he was impatient was proved when Tom's first delivery, a ball that Lanny picked almost out of the dirt, fooled him into offering at it. Clearfield shouted joyfully as the bat swept harmlessly above the ball and the men on bases scuttled back. The batsman grew cautious then and let the next two deliveries pass unheeded, guessing them correctly. The noise which had been for some minutes loud and unceasing dwindled to silence as Tom nodded a reply to Lanny's signal, wound up and lurched forward. The Springdale captain expected a good one and recognized it when he saw it. Bat and ball met sharply and he raced down the first base path.

Cries filled the air, the bases emptied. The ball, smashed directly at Tom Haley, bounded out of his glove and rolled back toward the third base line. Tom, momentarily confused, sprang after it, scooped it up from almost under the feet of the