Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-27
BY II. c. BYRD.

Hc IllSH SCnOOl series mas now pTdC-
tically resolved itself into battle be-
| tween Tech, Western and Central for the
championship. Central and Tech both
have to meet Eastern and Business, and
either of the two is strong enough to
upset the dope and win one of the games.
thus putting an entirely different COM
plexion on the status of affairs, but such
is not likely to happen. Unless one OF
the teams is crippled to such an extent
that it will be decidedly weakened the
games that decide the championship will
be played between the three mentioned
schools
How these three schools stand as re-
CARDS their comparative strength is a
something that will not be decided In
it's entirety until after the games have
been played; then 1t may not be. Tech
and Central are both confident they
will defeat Western, but it may be said
that Western stands at least an even
chance to win one of the games Cen
trail will probably be hard team for
the others to beat, perhaps more so
than will Tech. The Blue and White
school gave evidence of much strength
in it's game against the Props yester-
day. which would lead one to believe
tndI DdHc OIluuc SIulACO OAl VIC 4NAoA-
ual Trainers when they won from it
in the opening contest for the two
schools.
1t was stated yesterday by one who
ought to know that both Tech and Gen.
trail have little the better Of Western
is the case, it will be no easy task for
either Of the pair to win from the Red
and White school, as will likely be shown
before the end Of the series
Mt ha
said in regard to the relative abilities of
the three teams by interested or disin-
terested persons, the whole matter
summed up in a nutshell defines itself
about as follows: The team which has
courage to stick it out until the end,
giving every iota OF its energy at all
times. is the one whose efforts will
finally be rewarded with success.
There were many places in yesterdays
game between Western and Business
when Ifs could be inserted that would
change the whole complexion of the game.
The largest percentage OF the little wore.
though, came through those who said IF
Business had not made errors 1t would
have won." That sounds rather ridicu-
lous when the other side of it is also con-
sidered. IT. Adams had not misjudged
Woods high fly to right field in the first
inning with two down Business would
not have scored either Of its two runs
secured in that period Again in the sec
ond inning 'if'' the umpire had not called
Business man safe at third when he
was plainly out three feet there would
have been no one there to score on the
sacrifice fly hit by the newt man up. and
Business would not have had Its third
run. Yes, there are a great many things
likely to happen in any ball game. espe-
cially one between scholastic teams, to
which an "'if' might easily be applied !;
that is what makes base ball the game 1t
is and gives it the popularity 1t deserves.
There is some very poor supervision
somewhere in connection with the high
school series. AS matters stand there ap-
pears to be nobody in charge Of the
games. at least nobody on whom respon-
sibility may be fixed for the things which
are done wrong or not done at all. 1t
seems that the amount Of attention paid
to the genes is very small. Yesterday
contest was a glaring example OF what
should be and was not done
After the two teams had had fielding
practice and the pitchers had warmed up
and the umpire was ready to start the
game it was discovered that nobody had
thought that bases were necessary. Con-
sequently the game had to be delayed at
Mast half an hour until after q messenger
had been sent to two or three places to
hunt them up The sacks were not found
and a trip had to be made to sporting
goods store to secure some.
the field. 1t looked as though 1t had not
been seen to since the time Of the last
game. 1t was In just as poor condition as
when the first game was played on 1t.
There was not foul line marked of, ana
IL was practically impossible 70 rthe um-
pire to tell when a ball went foul or fair
il it struck within few feet of either
way.
There ought to be somebody appointed
in the high schools as committee to see
that grounds and everything pertaining to
the games are arranged beforehand, SO
that there will be no delays such as yes
terdays. Also 1t would not hurt in the
least to have the grounds fixed up a little
before each game. Anyway. the foul lines
ought to be lined of,
If one of the teams loses the champion
ship by having the umpire call foul ball
fair. or vice versa. there will be q clamor
raised when 1t will be too late. It would
hardly he winning the championship
through batter ball playing to have q ball
lost in the big ash pile or mud pond out
In left field.
Some day the left fielder of one Of the
high school teams IL going to founder in
the mud pond in left field at Union
League Park. That is not intended as
joke either.
Stearns, the Western shortstop must
be given credit for pulling of a mighty
good play yesterday. The youngster went
over and trapped line drive with his
bare hand and made the play at third,
where he had the man out by three feet.
Business has ball team that will be
hard for any Of the others In the high