He did not even attempt to jump up and tag the fleeting sphere as it passed far above his bead, realizing the absurdity of such a proceeding.

His business was simply to recover the ball, and get it in home as rapidly as he could.
But before this could be accomplished Thad Stevens was lying on the ground among his mates, panting for breath, but a pleased grin on his face, while some of the fellows were patting him happily on the back, and telling him that he had saved the day for good old Scranton High.
That ended the scoring for Scranton, although "Just" Smith did manage to get on first by means of a scratch hit.

Joe Danvers tried to equal the performance of the backstop, but while he met the ball and sent it far afield, unluckily.

It went too high, and this enabled Major to get beneath, with the result that the fly was caught, and the side went out.
The excitement started all over again when Belleville came to bat for their turn.

It was plain to be seen that they had "blood in their eye," and meant to redouble their efforts to score.
An error, together with two fair hits, put a couple of the locals on the bases.