ADEL, Iowa - His given name is Canyon Hopkins, but he's been known as "Moose" since he was born.

He still hasn't attended a minute of high school, but he's already a hero in Earlham.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound graduated eighth-grader launched a 3-2 fastball from Brett Carstens over the left-field fence Tuesday to give Earlham a pulsating 2-0, 11-inning Class 1-A substate baseball victory over Coon Rapids-Bayard on the ADM High School field.

For nearly three hours, neither team budged. Finally, Hopkins became the improbable hero. He said he hadn't hit a home run in three years, since he was in the fifth grade.

"It was a full count, and I was like, 'OK, I'm just going to read fastball, and if it's not a fastball, I'm going to be fooled,' " Hopkins said. "So I got my fastball and made solid contact and saw it go for a ride.

"I knew it was gone. I was just kind of jogging down the baseline.