Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-23
Comments of Interest
on Blue Ridge League

MARTINSBURG, July 22.-With Han.
over. Chambersburg and Hagerstowr
punched at the top of the league
throughout the past week, and Mar
tinsburg within striking distance of the
leaders, the. race for supremacy in the
tight little circuit still is as much a
matter of speculation as month ago
At no time for the past six days has
there been more than one game sepa-
rating the first and second clubs. while
the greater portion of the time there
has been only a half game between
During the entire week Hagerstown
kept right at the heels of Hanover and
Chambersburg, never more than two
games away, while Martinsburg has
been within two games of Hagerstown
for that entire period. Not one of the
first four clubs improved its percentage
during the week. all closing with ap-
proximately the same figures they had
at the opening. On the other hand,
Frederick and Gettysburg both gained
somewhat in percentage. although not
enough to improve the standing of
either.
The race for the next week, at least.
will be three-cornered fight between
chambersburg, Hanover and Hagers-
town, and the uncertainty of the out
come is keeping the patrons of the
game all over the circuit intensely in
terested. Martinsburg seems to be out
of the running for the present. having
lost during the past week all the ad-
vantage gained by her squirt of the two
previous weeks This does not mean
that Martinsburg has no chance to win
the pennant, for 1t has. being only four
games behind the leaders. with forty
games yet to play; but for the present
Martinsburg seems to have shot its
bolt and to be drifting along in the
ruck with Frederick and Gettysburg.
to- the front The Mountaineers are
badly in need of another good pitcher
a hurler of the Goodwin type. who can
be depended upon to pitch good ball at
all times. Goodwin, Clarke and Colley
are all pitching for a percentage far
beyond that of the Martinsburg figures
in the standing. but games are being
lost with regularity by hurlers who are
more or less an experiment and who
turn out to be too weak for the class of
ball played in this league. This defect
has been as much weakness with
Martinsburg its pronounced batting
slump during the past month. and until
it is overcome there is little prospect of
the team climbing higher in the race.
The past week, like the two preced-
ing weeks, showed many close and ex-
citing games featured by clever pitch
ing and fast fielding. Chambersburg
and Hagerstown staged a tweIve-in-
ming game. won by the Maroons by the
score of to 2. The same day Hanover
defeated Gettysburg by the same score.
Chambersburg took 2-to-0 game from
Martinsburg. and on the same day Get
tysburg won a 1-to-0 game from Fred =
erick. Hanover won a 1to-O game
from Hagerstown. Frederick captured
4-to-3 contest from Chambersburg,
and the same day Hagerstewn took a
2-to-1 game from Gettysburg. Freder-
lex also won 3-to-2 game from Cham
bersburg. The most remarkable pitch
ing feat Of the present Blue Ridge sea
son was that performed Tuesday by
Johnny Mumford, the big Gettysburg
hurler. when he beat Bill King of Fred
erick in double-header in Gettysburg.
Mumford won the first game by a 1-to-O
score, and came back in the second and
won by stool score. In the two
games Frederick made but eleven hits.
The same day Goodwin of Martinsburg
pitched both games of a double-header
against Chambersburg, winning the
first and losing the second. Goodwin
held the Maroons to eleven hits in the
two games and struck out eleven men.