The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-15
LAST HALF OF nth
WAS HOW THE LOCALS WON
YESTERDAYS GAME.
sylacauga- Montgomery Game One OF
Greatest Exhibitions Of Baseball
Ever Seen Here, the Battle
Raging for IL Fierce Innings.

gomery and Sylacauga have played on
the local grounds. and probably the most
days.
1t was q magnificent struggle-a bitter
fight for eleven long innings-every mo
ment of the eleven innings filled TO the
brim with sensational, lightning baseball.
From the moment that Hobbie opened IN
the first inning to the time that Frlz
three-bagger in the last half OF the
eleventh inning scored the winning run
unprecedented. Except for the tremen-
dous outhurst of enthusiasm incident to
the Chattanooga double-header on that
June afternoon of 1892 nothing like the
excitement Yesterday has been seen at a
baseball game in Montgomery.
That the game was going to be one Tor
blood was evinced in the first inning
when three Sylacauga men went to bat
and were out in l. 2, order, not even
a scratch being made off Starr. In the
locals half Hogg did the same thing
Hobbie, Moore and Wallace going out
in the order named.
In sylacauga's half of the second in.
ming Starr repeated his performance Of
the first inning, Stickney. Andrews and
Ward going out in rotation. In the To-
calls half of this inning something nap
pened-Fritz surprised Hogg with a two
Dagger, scoring on Cade's long single. j.
The score was now l and in favor OF
the locals and this way 1t remained until
the first half of the fourth inning when
Starr hit Stickney and punched signles by
Sorrell and Weaver put Sorrell over the
plate for Sylacauga and tied the score.
In the last half of the sixth dumb play
ing by Sylacauga put Creekmore over,
making 1t and l in favor of the locals
In the first half of the seventh Andrews
got over the plate, tieing the score again.
The eighth and ninth innings resulted in
blanks for both teams and at the end Of
the ninth the game was tied up and e
Then the real excitement began. the
only cool. steady people on the grounds
being Starr and Hogg who. with the
rhythmic steadiness of piece of we'll
balanced machinery were shooting balls
over the plate.
The tenth inning passed with nothing
doing by either team, the score still tied
q and 2-and the crowd gradually get
ting wilder and wilder.
The eleventh inning was coming on and
the tension in the stands and on the
bleachers was approaching the bursting
point. The nervous strain was something
terrible and a sudden hush so dense,
thick and deep fell over the crowd that
one could make holes in 1t with an UNI
brella.
In the first half of the eleventh an I'M
fortunate wild throw by Hobbie at short
for the locals put Weaver over for the
visitors.
The score was now and . in favor of
thud into their shoes and then to the
ground, while the gloom depicted on
hundreds of sorrowful faces was filled
with pathetic despair. One small rift of
hope struggled through the angry looking
clouds. however--the locals still had their
half of the inning to play. One tally
would tie the score for the third time
that afternoon and two would win the
game.
BY the same kind of wild throw that
scored Sylacauga in the first half of the
eleventh Moore managed to get around to
third base with only one out. A long fly
now would tie the score That fly was hit
but alas! 1t was too short and Moore was
nabbed at the p!ate-two out and groans
from the crowd who though that all was
over.
What was all this going on? Motley got
a line hit followed by Pettus's single
Renewed hope was inocculated into the
crowd by the crack of those sticks, sun
shine was chasing the gloomy clouds from
hundreds of faces and the delighted
shrieks of the now frenzied crowd would
serve as an inspiration to a drygoods
store dummy.
There was man on second and one
on first Fritz with resolute air was
walking to the plate. True. ne had not
the second inning scored the first run of
the game, but he was due. and IF he can
only hit that BALI came in hoarse whis-
pers through the clenched teeth of men
with palid. drawn faces. "One ball,
yelled the umpire-"strlke one swiftly
following and pulling out. hollow groans
from the crowd.
Suddenly there was a crashing sound
at the plate-the prayers of the crowd had
been answered. Fritz had hit that ball
and the little horsehide sphere was fly
ing through the air taking a graceful
downward shoot way back Of the Syla-
cauga leftfelder, There was glorious
golden sunburst over the crowd Motley
and Pettus were scamPering over the
plate with the winning run, and the most
wildly exciting game Of ball ever played
in Montgomery belonged to the locals.
Starr pitched a phenomenal game of
ball-three hits, two in the fourth and one
in the ninth, were made off him. Only one
base on balls did he give, striking out
two men. Hogg also pitched a great game,
only giving one base on balls, striking
out nine men, but nine hits were made
off him One of the most sensational
things of the game was superb stop of
a line drive from Stickney's hat that
would have been good for two bags easy
by Moore. The wonderful play brought
out thunders of cheers and Moore was
compelled to doff his cap several times
official score is.