When the two high-school nines took the field they were found to
consist of the following players in their batting order: 
Scranton High Player
Position
--------------------------------------
“Just” Smith Left Field
Joe Danvers First Base
Horatio Juggins Right Field
Owen Dugdale Short Stop
Hugh Morgan Third Base (Field capt.)
“K.K.” (Ken Kinkaid) Center Field
Julius Hobson Second Base
Alan Tyree Pitcher
Thad Stevens Catcher

Belleville High Player
Position
--------------------------------------
Conway Left Field
Gould First Base
Wright Right Field
Waterman Shortstop
“O.K.”  Kramer Third Base
Major Center Field
O’Malley Second Base
Kinsey Pitcher
Leonard Catcher

Of course the home team elected to go into the field in the opening inning.  This brought “Just” Smith to the bat to start things moving.  Well, he proved to be the “round peg in the round hole,” for what did he do but tap the very first ball up for as pretty a single as any one would want to see.  This was certainly a good beginning.  Joe Danvers “whiffed out” after knocking several foul strikes.  That was one down, but the eager Scranton fans were saying to each other: 

“Notice that our fellows don’t seem to have any trouble as yet in getting to Arthur Kinsey this fine afternoon!  Oh! wait till they limber up, and you’ll see them knock him out of the box.”

“Yes, just wait,” some of the local rooters would call out, “and see how he mows your fellows down in one, two, three style.  Arthur always starts in easy and stiffens up as he goes along.  He has pitched two games in an afternoon, and won both.  They do say he was better at the end of the eighteen innings than when he started.  Yes, please don’t take snap judgment on our poor pitcher.  There, did you see how Joe Danvers nearly broke his back trying to hit a ball that didn’t come within a foot of the plate.  He’ll have them all guessing pretty soon and eating out of his hand.  The game is long, my brother, don’t settle it in the first inning.”

Owen got in his little bunt, all right, and succeeded in advancing the runner to second, as well as saving his own bacon.  So there were two on the bags, and as many down, when Hugh stepped up and took a chance at the offerings of the wily Kinsey.

Hugh managed to pick out a good one and sent it like a bullet straight at the shortstop, who knocked it down; and finding that he could not reach first in time, as Hugh was jumping along like the wind, sent it over to second, where he caught Owen just by a fraction of an inch, and Mr. Hitchens waved him off; so after all the brave start, no score resulted.

In their half of the first, Belleville did no better.  In fact, they only got a man on first through an error on the part of Joe Danvers, who unfortunately slipped in reaching for the ball, and as his foot was not on the bag the umpire called the runner safe.  But he died there, Alan Tyree cutting the next two men down as a mower in the field might the ripe grain with his scythe.