The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-26

we knew she must be telling the truth
Before we could say much more the
umpire called time. and the game pe-
9'"tRemember." said Nellie. as she walked
out and took her place in the pltcher 5
box, for to-day am Frank. ,., not
And She wasi Talk about q girl not
knowing how to throw ball WISH
you might have seen that one 90 ~, ~, /,
If ever you saw more peautllul 0u 4leto
than she shot over the ZONE pa a.
straight into Smiths hands, / would IKE
to know it. She stood up there anu
pitched the first inning without ~ v 3
or mistake striking out TWO OF tue
astonished Red Stockings as tneS
weren't the best batters IN the Guy ailu
watching the bases as II she hau Syes s
in the back of her head. smit54 w. ~ AN
like a deer. too. The way she put OUT
Dawson on second, in the third inning,
has gone down in the history OF amateur
ball playing in this city Tor All time
Well we were glad; we almost lost our
heads As for the Reds. they seeIleu
to get more and more dazed as me saihe
went on, for it was against all tneI boy
ideas that a girl could throw pail IS
she threw that day. The folks who Walcn-
ed the game soon caught on 70 tnp ~.
that there was surprise in it-for poth
Sides. too-and they cheered themselves
hoarse over our little pitcher whenever
she made an especially fine play
But it was in the last inning tnaI sne
made herself famous. HaXel, the RED $
pitcher had put a ball straight over the
plate-he was somewhat excited. l guess,
over the way thing We're going, though
we had not gotten ahead OF them YET
and Smith, who was striking for Nellie
Hartman, made a three-bagger, Just out
of short-stop's reach. 1t was very plain
ly only a three-bagger, and not boy on
our nine would have tried to do anything
more than make his third on II; but DO
you think Nellie stopped there2 Not q
bit of 1t. She just skinned around the
diamond like a regular little racer, and
instead of checking up on third kept right
on Ed. yelled to her to go back, but
she didn't hear him, or wouldn't-and we
all groaned aloud as we saw the fielder
gather up. the ball and slam 1t in home.
Nothing but a miracle would save her, and
she seemed to realize that fact, too; but
she didn't hesitate as most of us would
have done. She just caught her breath,
ducked her head and ran.
Then, when she was within fifteen feet
of home, what ala she do but throw her
self on her side and slide! Yes. sir;
believe it or not as you like, but that
girl seeing that she had risked the game,
Slid home to save II. AS her. fingers
with the ball in ii swept over her not
'iSafe"
Did they cheer? They simply howied
It's wonder to me to this day that the
seats held that shouting, yelling mass
of boys and girls you positively couldn't
hear yourself think. As for the Invinci-
bles, they went crazy-that's the only
word sir! We danced and howled like a
lot of dervishes. We picked her up and
carried her off the diamond on our Shout
ders, with her curls full of dust. and
her face as red as her dress. with ex-
element and happiness. The Red Stock
ings crowded around, too, and shook hands
with her as heartily as the rest; and If
you ever see them now. they always in
quire about the girl who made the home
run on that three-base hit"
That was the first and the last game
of base ball Nellie Hartman played but
ii will never be forgotten by those who
saw it. Her mother says she can't do
such things any more, even to save the
Invineibles from defeat, but she let's her
come to all our games; and, as Smith
says. there isn't a more popular boy in
the city than she. And if you ever want
to make any of US Invincibles talk, just
ask us about our Mascot.
Everard Jack Appleton.