Lucky Seven Read Free Page A

field.
    The game got a slow start. Neither team scored until the third, when the lead-off man for the Magpies, Harold Jones, banged
     a double, followed by three singles in a row by Petey, Artie, and Steve Johnson. Steve was batting clean-up today.
    The game ended with the lopsided score: Magpies 11, Bluejays 3.
    Jamie, on the bench, had never suffered through a longer game in his life.
    The win placed the Magpies one game away from the pennant. It was now between themand the Catbirds, the only other team who had suffered just one defeat all season.
    The final game pitted the two top contenders and was played on a neutral diamond. What a terrible surprise it was to Jamie
     when he discovered that again Ted Salin had left him out of the lineup.
    He felt deeply hurt. Was Ted deliberately humiliating him in front of the team? And this—the big game of the year!
    He tried to be reasonable about it. Maybe Ted was right in doing this. Maybe Ted meant to show that a manager was there for
     a definite purpose and orders were given to be obeyed.
    The game got under way. Marty Abrams, on the mound for the Magpies, shot the ball in like a bullet and kept the Catbirds scoreless
     for the first two innings. In the bottom of the second Johnny Myers, the Magpies’ fleet-footed centerfielder, banged out a
     single. Kenny Schatz walked. Danny Myers, Johnny’s tow-headed brother, connected with a terrificdouble that brought in two runs. In the next inning they scored two more on errors.
    The fans went wild. The only person who felt glum was Jamie Wilcox, who sat with his arms crossed and chewed gum very slowly.
    Something surprising happened in the top of the third. It was as if the Catbirds had been playing possum all this while. They
     got to Marty and started hitting him all over the lot. No matter what he threw, they hit it.
    Ted took Marty out while they were still ahead, 4 to 3.
    Bernie Dingle, the tall, long-armed redhead who replaced Marty, wasn’t much more effective. The Catbirds scored three more
     runs before the Magpies could get them out.
    Score: Catbirds 6, Magpies 4.
    Artie led off with a walk in the bottom half of the third. Then Steve got a scratch hit, putting himself on first and Artie
     on second.
    Dickie Stutz was walking toward the plate when Ted’s voice boomed from the dugout: “Dickie, wait a minute!”
    Ted came over and looked at Jamie. A grin spread across his even white teeth. “All right, Jamie. You’re back in the game!
     Get up there and lay one down!”
    Jamie’s heart, rising in the knowledge he was back in the game, hit rock bottom again at Ted’s last three words.
    “What—again?” he exclaimed.
    Ted laughed. “Again, Jamie. They’ll expect you to hit away. Only, we can’t take a chance of hitting into a double play. We’ve
     got to advance those runners. It’s a surprise attack, Jamie. We need it—and you can do it.”
    “Oh—all right!” Jamie said despairingly. “You’re the boss!”
    He sprang from the bench, picked up his favorite bat and strode to the plate.
    The pitch came in. His right hand slid down to the fat part of the bat.
    A beautiful bunt!
    The runners advanced one base. Jamie was thrown out at first, but that didn’t matter.Johnny Myers doubled and the ball game was tied up, 6-all.
     

     
    Both teams continued to play heads-up ball. The game remained deadlocked until the top of the sixth, when Artie flied out
     and Steve grounded to short for the second out.
    The crowd tensed. The Magpies’ fans were shouting for a hit, the Catbirds’ for a strikeout.
    Once again it was Jamie’s turn to bat. From behind he could hear his teammates urging him to send one out of the lot.
    “Hit it!” he heard Ted Salin say. “Hit it, Jamie!”
    He watched the first one breeze in. It was chest-high. He swung.
    He connected solidly and started running around the bases. The tremendous roar that exploded from the grandstand told him
     it was a home run.
    The Catbirds went down,