Evening star., 1914-08-20
PITCHERS WORKING
HARD FOR HONORS
Best Men of Amateur Mines
Have Already Been in Two
Games in Three Days.
TREASURY TEAM OBTAINS
LEEWAY IN FINAL SERIES
Defeats Eastern in First Of Intersec.
tional Contests Wins
in Section B.
BY a. C. BYRD.

BY n. c. BYRD.
The pitchers of the teams in the
intersectional amateur base ball series
are going to have a hard time of it
this week. There is not a man who
will not be overworked. and it is very
questionable II they will be able to
stan dup under the strain. None of
the three teams is very well supplied
with really good mound talent, Downey
being compelled to bear almost the
whole burden for Treasury: Becker
and "Finney" Kelly for Eastern, and
Ed Kelley for Ninth.
Three of these hurlers have already
worked in two games each this week.
and two games in three days for pitch
ers Is no doing them any good; 1t is
certain to put them in such shape
that they will not be able to show
at their best in the remaining con-
tests. All these men must work with
very little rest until next Monday or
Tuesday, and 1t will be strange II
some of them do not get some pretty
severe bumps before the series Is ended.
Ninth looks to have the best Of the
whole proposition from this standpoint.
1t has played only one game this week.
and in it only one pitcher was used,
cheney. who got away with his con-
test without allowing a run. The Sun
Gay school League team still has Ed
Kelley fresh and in good shape. with
Cheney having an opportunity to rest
before he goes into the box again.
And, judging by what they have been
showing. neither of these twirlers will
srn has 'Finney" Kelly and Buck"
Becker. and Treasury has Downey.
Downey has already worked in a hard
game Monday and another yesterday,
while Becker pitched Monday and start
ed in the contest against Treasury,
and Kelly was on the mound Tuesday
and again in the latter part Of the
game with Treasury. The Treasury nine
also has Bell. but whether or not he will
one or more Of the contests is not
known; and even il he does the fnfield
OF the team will be broken up. Bell
has been holding down the job at sec
ond base and has been doin ggod work,
too.
Downey was mainly responsible for the
victory of the Treasury team over East
ern yesterday in the first game of the in
tersectional series It was Downey's
the contest. but the big hurler also bat
ted well. Besides pitching a brilliant
game. Downey contributed two hits, a
double and a single, to his teams Of
IenSlve play.
There were times when 1t looked as
such was really not the case. He did
not extend himself unless it was abso-
lutely necessary, and, though there were
some hard-hit balls. whenever danger
threatened he frightened up and prevent
ed effective wallops.
Sam johnson, the Eastern clubs best
outfielder. was spiked yesterday and may
not be able to play at his best during the
remainder Of the series even though he
gets back in the game. Johnson's in
ability to perform up. to his usual stand
ard is liable to have lot of bearing on
the final result of the series, too He
is whole lot better ball player than he
has generally been given credit for being,
and the offense of the Eastern club as
well as the defense will suffer through his
absence.
One Of the surprises Of the series has
been the way in which the Treasury club
has been hitting the ball. Treasury has
been In a league in which it has not been
compelled to face good pitching very
often. and yet the players did not score a
great many runs. Notwithstanding that
though, since the nine has been in the
post-season schedule it has been connect
ing with the ball in every one Of its con-
tests. and its batting has had the virtue
Of consistency. In both the games against
Post Office, rated as one of the strongest
organizations in the city, enough runs
were scored as result of real batting TO
give Downey a good lead, margin which
is going to come pretty near insuring the
Treasury nine Of victory in any con-
test in which the big left-hander takes
part. Whether or not Treasury's hitting
streak is spasmodic will not be known
until after all the games have been
played, but if it keeps up the gait 1t is
going it will prove big factor and
probable victor.
Even now the Eastern nine has good
chance, II its pitchers are handled right.
With two men who are admltted 70 pc
clever, Becker and Kelly, the Potomac
League organization ought to put up
mighty stiff fight It might not be bad
policy for Eastern to take chance to-
day and work Cole against Ninth. That
would give Becker and Kelly chance
to rest, which is much needed. Becker
is not a hurler who can do great deal
of work, but when he does not have to go
on the mound often he is generally ready
to give any club a tough fight to beat
him. II Cole could get away with the
game against Ninth today, which would
not be improbable by any means, Kelly
could pitch tomorrow. thus giving Becker
two days of rest: and then he would
make a whole lot better showing against
Treasury than he did yesterday. By
working the men in this way Kelly would
also get two days Of rest before he would
have to pitch again.
Bell and Armstrong played well for
Treasury at second and short. the for
mer handling seven chances and the lat
ter four. Several difficult opportunities
for plays were made good.
Ninth and Union Station engaged In a
brilliant battle in the decisive contest in
the section B series. the former finally
winning by to o. Neither team scored
until the last period. when Forrest
Thompson, on the mound for Station,
weakened and allowed Ninth to count
four times.
Cheney pitched what was probably his
best game of the year for Ninth. He
struck out ten men and allowed the Sta
ton team but two scattered hits. He was
complete master Of the situation at all
times, and at no period did it appear that
his club would haYa to get mora than one