By M. Weldon Copley
Staff Writer

Boonie Hagy has achieved a certain celebrity status around PHS for his late-game heroics last Wednesday evening. The 5’6” freshman, lovingly nicknamed “Lips,” lifted the Indians to a 1-0 victory over Tabb with a ninth inning walk-off homerun.

“We were at 0-0 all game,” Hagy said Thursday. “I was on deck just thinking that it’d be cool to hit one [a home run].”

An ill-advised pitch was all the opportunity that Hagy needed. A solo blast over the leftfield wall broke the deadlock and kept the Indians’ postseason dreams alive.

“He threw me a fastball pretty much right down the middle and that was it” Hagy said.

Hagy has been a cornerstone for the team on the field and in the dugout. The freshman had hit three homeruns and had been a part of six double plays before Wednesday’s shot, and has demonstrated a quiet leadership not often found in such a young player.

Baseball is a thinking man’s game that demands tremendous focus and physical precision. That tension can become overwhelming sometimes, sending the best of teams into unexplainable slumps and droughts.

But baseball has humor, the game’s longtime answer to destructive tension. Whether it’s a team hair bleaching or good-natured impersonations, the Indians have shown the poise and maturity to handle the stress.

So the kid who got his nickname for cutting himself shaving propelled his team and the school to a berth in the Region I finals against Poquoson.

“It’s the best moment of my life,” Hagy said with a grin. “I guess I’m pretty popular right now, everybody’s talking about it.”

Related: PHS: Champs once again