As an eighth grader stepping down into Hogan’s Hole, Charles Henderson Middle School student Will Reeves didn’t think he’d be able to hit a homerun, although he joked about it at practice.

But, during the Trojans’ game against Brantley, he did just that.

Reeves said he really hadn’t been focused on hitting the ball when he stepped into the batter’s box that at bat, but as he rounded first base he heard his coach tell him the ball went over the fence.

“I was really focused on pitching, because I was going to go in that next inning,” Reeves said. “I talked about doing it during practice and stuff, but I never thought I would actually do it. And, when I hit it, I was waiting for it to hit The Monster because I knew I hit it pretty far, but when I got to first that’s when my coach said it was gone. I got really excited.”

Reeves said he didn’t have much going through his mind as he rounded the bases besides the pure joy of knowing he had hit the ball over the fence.

And, although the team didn’t win against Brantley that night, Reeves said his teammates were just as happy as he was to have seen him hit a homerun over The Monster.

“They were excited for me,” Reeves said. “They congratulated me and stuff. They were just as happy as I was.”

But, rest assured his first homerun won’t be his last if Reeves has anything to say about it.

“I’ll hit a lot more in the offseason, work harder in the offseason. Last off season I didn’t really do that much. I would like to hit more than one next year, so I’m going to try to push myself a little harder next off season.”

Reeves said at the end of the day, he would like to thank his coaches for giving him the guidance and direction he needed to be able to hit the homerun.

“I have trouble on slower pitchers,” Reeves said. “I am always out front, and they helped me stay back and that’s really how I hit it over, being ale to stay back and wait on that pitch to hit it over.”