The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-15
Leading Blue Ridge League
by Good Margin-Martins-
burg in a Bad Slump.
DONNELLY IS RELEASED
By HARVEY A. BUSH.


Martinsburg. W. Va. Aug. H-with
but two Neeks remaining of the schedule
of the Blue Ridge League. 1t now appears
that Martinsburg. champions OF last
years Tri-City League and winner of the
Inter-Leasue series with the champions
of the Cumberland League. Is about out
OF the race for the pennant this year. and
may be compelled to fight to the last
ditch to prevent Hanover from oustinS
her from second place.
Furnishing the sensation OF minor
league baseball in the East during the
month Of July. and putting up a game
that caused fans all over the circuit to
rick her as the winner of this year
race, Msrtinsburs has slumped badly
thus far in August. and is now going as
badly as at any time this season. Last
week she lost two out of three in cru
cial series with Frederick. and this week
she was licked two out OF three in Sc
RES with Hagerstown. and lost one to
Hanover by a score of II to l. Of the
five games played this week at the time
this was written. Martinsburg had won
one lost three and tied one. while Fred
erick had won three and lost two. thus
increa sing her lead to a margin that
Martinsburg can hardly hope to wipe out
in the next two weeks. unless there
ut n toIhpittc IcNCisdA VI ioiih VI
the two teams.
With the exception of one game every
game lost by Martinsburg during the last
two weeks was lost on errors behind the
pitchers at critical perioAs-the one big
weakness that the team has consistently
shown throughout the season. In the
first four games played this week. Mar
tinsburg made - base hits for a total of
L.
hits for a total of % bases. Martinsburg
made Il runs to 10 scored by her oppo-
nents. The error column shows why the
games were lost, as Martinsburg made
IL errors in the four games. while her
opponents made ). This is about the av-
erage for the past two weeks. and Is
causing any amount of adverse criticism
among the patrons of the game here. OF
the 26 games lost by Martinsburg thus far
this year. 70 were lost directly by mis-
plays which permitted opponents to score
the winning runs. Many of these games
had apparently been won by clean. hard
hitting The team still leads the league
in hitting. but is a very poor last in team
fielding.
One of the big factors in the present
slump OF Martinsburg has been the unex-
pected weakness with the stick developed
by Reggie Rawlings. Country Morris.
and Bill Donhelly. generally regarded as
the best trio of hitters in the league.
Donnellys work in this department be-
came so pronouncedly weak that he was
released this week, and left for Cam
bridge Nd. where he will play in the
independent Peninsula League. in which
Zachary. Johnson. and other Washing
ton boys are playing.
Donnelly, until two weeks ago. was one
of the hardest and most consistent hit
tiers in the Blue Ridge League. hitting
at SIS clip for the first thirty games.
After that he fell of sharply in his stick
work, and this seemed to affect his field
ing also. Morris has replaced Dom
nelly in the center garden. and. while
his stickwork has also fallen of badly.
he has been an improvement in the de-
fensive work.
Rawlings work with the bat has been
of an unfortunate nature. for, while he
has been driving the ball hard. he has
been hitting into the fielders hands. He
is expected. to come around again. how
ever. into his former form. and to again
clout the ball where they amt" with
that degree of regularity that has made
him the leading hitter of the league. In
one recent game he was up three times.
drove long double against the right
center fence, singled to right. and sent
one almost to the extreme center fence
that was pulled down by a remarkable
running catch. Rawlings has been rob-
bed of more long drives by sensational
catches than any other player in the
league.
Shortstop "Skeets' Hayes, a Washing
ton boy. and '.Stuffy'' johnson, the reg
ular catcher. have been the sensations
with the stick during the past few
weeks. In that, time Hayes has been
hitting at $40 clip. while johnson has
been hitting for an average of $50 \
feature of Jchnson's stickwork has been
his long drives against the left fence.
He is a left-fielder hitter and the left
tielders lay for him constantly, but
with little success. as he frequently hits
either just inside the foul line or be-
tween fields. In one recent game he
hit the first one on a line over third.
the ball going to the fence for a
double. The next time up he drove one
between fields, the ball hitting the top
of the fence sd feet from the plate.
Hayes stickwork has been featured by
his sharply driven singles to center or
right center, frequently with men on
second or third. resulting in many runs.
Hayes has been covering much ground
at short. making many remarkable stops.
but his pegsing to first has been poor
because of the fact that he fails to
come In on grounders. allowing the ball
to play him and thus making his throws
longer and more hurried. When he over
comes this weakness. ne win be just
about the best shortstop in this league.
Martirsburg has been acutely aware
for some time that she has no first base
man, and that she has lost many ball
games by reason of this big weakness.
The bag has been played at different
times by Morris. Donnelly, Shipley.
johnson. and others-any one. II SEEM
ed. who wasn't needed elsewhere-and
most OF the time 1t has been played
poorly. At present Shipley Is trying to
play the initial bag, and while he is do
ing as we'll as any of the others, he Ii
making a mess of II. 1t IL probable that
a finished first sacker could get a good
berth here. and be sure Of a regular
place next year II he made good the
remainder Of this season.
Under the management Of Eugene
Hanks. Hagerstown has been slowly
climbing in the percentage. although
remaining in fourth place. with little
chance of finishing in a better posi-.
ton. unless Hanover should take q
decided slump. II was Hagerstown
that put what il expected to prove
the fatal crimp in Martinsburg's PEN
nant chances. she having won nine
out of fourteen games from the lat
ter. Hagerstown now has . strong
team. the improvements being chiefly
noticeable in her pitching stan. the
addition OF wslcher. swallow. Barton