Then the game started, Nye in the box for the Badgers, Dan Young catching, LaCroix on first in place of Morgan, Jones playing third for Bennett, and an unknown at second. The umpire had announced the latter’s name as Sloan, or something like that, but no one had ever seen him before or heard of him. He was a well-set-up youngster and, in spite of the spills he had made during practice, carried himself like a ball player. The “fans” watched him and reserved judgment, asking each other how Steve had managed to get hold of him at less than a half-hour’s notice. For it had been five minutes past three when the accident had happened that had sent three of the Badgers’ best players to the hospital, Bennett, as was learned later, with a broken leg, Morgan with three ribs caved in, and Pitcher Cotton with enough contusions to keep him out of the game for a week at least. Morgan, said that evening’s paper, would be back at work in a fortnight possibly, but young Bennett was out of it for the rest of the year. Ripley occupied the mound for Damascus that afternoon, and was discouragingly effective. After “Hop” Nye had escaped punishment in the first half of the initial inning by the skin of his teeth, a fine stop of a possible two-bagger by Cross and a phenomenal catch of a long fly by O’Neill warding off disaster, Harrisville went in to be mowed down one, two, three by the elongated spit-ball artist of the visiting club. No one got the ghost of a hit in that inning or any other while Ripley was in the box; no one on the home team, that is. Damascus had better luck, touching up Nye for three hits with a total of five bases, but failing to score for all of that. The game went to the sixth a pitcher’s battle pure and simple, with Ripley getting the long end of it, both teams working like beavers and not a runner passing second. Wayne’s opportunities to distinguish himself were few, for strike-outs were numerous. Four chances were accepted by him in the first five innings, but none was difficult. At the bat, he followed Manager Milburn’s advice the first time up and tried his best to work a pass. But Ripley was not generous that way and Wayne soon walked back to the bench with the umpire’s “He’s out!” in his ears. In the last of the fifth, with LaCroix on first base and none out, he had a second trial at the plate and, after getting in the hole, landed on a straight ball and smacked it squarely into third baseman’s hands.