When the Peninsula Sports Club honors Poquoson High senior Baker Green with the Julie Conn Outstanding High School Male Athlete Award at its 74th Annual Headliner’s Night on Monday, it will be a tribute to a vanishing breed: the three-sport athlete.
Or, maybe in Green’s case, the four-sport athlete.
Green has done more than just play in 16 seasons during his four years at Poquoson. Amazingly, he has qualified for Class 2 state track and field meets or advanced as far as football or baseball state semifinals in 15 of those 16 seasons.
It was the quality of his achievements, however — not just the quantity — that prompted the PSC to honor him as the top high school athlete on the Peninsula for the 2023-24 school year.
“This is the highest honor I’ve ever gotten as an athlete,” said Green, who will sprint for Eastern Kentucky University’s track and field team next year. “It means a lot, not just to me, but also to the family, friends and coaches who have helped me become the athlete I am today.”
Typically small at 5-feet-8 and 160 pounds on a Poquoson football team that features few players larger than 200 pounds in any season, Green went about putting a stranglehold on the Conn award from his first touch of the 2023 season. After missing much of the 2022 season with a broken leg, he broke 66 yards for a touchdown run on the Islanders’ first play from scrimmage.
By the end of the first quarter — the only 12 minutes he would play in the win over Southampton — Green had run for 141 yards and four touchdowns on just five carries.
“Coach (Bill) Ward (the Islanders’ offensive coordinator) knew I was nervous after coming back from the only major injury I’ve ever had, so getting the ball and scoring on the first play was big,” Green said.
He hardly slowed down thereafter, rushing for 1,177 yards and 22 touchdowns on the way to all-state honors. Green also started in the defensive backfield for a Poquoson team that won Class 2 Region A for the third time in his four-year varsity career to advance to the state semifinals.
“I don’t think there’s any team around with more heart,” he said. “You look at how few guys there are that are 6 foot or 200 pounds, but there isn’t anyone on the team who didn’t love to hit.
“Playing football in Poquoson is special because the whole community has your back. When you walk into the 7-11 to get a Gatorade before a Friday night game, complete strangers will wish you luck.”
Green followed in the winter by winning the Class 2 indoor track and field 300-meter state title in a meet-record 35.1 seconds. That capped a phenomenal state meet in which he scored 31 points by also finishing second in the 55 while earning third in the long jump, triple jump and on the 4×200 relay.
“After being seeded first in the 55, then finishing second, I had to prove I deserved the No. 1 seed in the 300,” Green said. “Setting the meet record was a great way to get my first state championship.”
Three more were to come in the spring as he juggled his duties in track while starting in center field for the Islanders’ baseball team.
“Time management is the key,” said Green, who often went from study hall to the baseball field to the track and then to lift weights. “But I love to compete and I love to win.
“As a kid, I was not the kind to sit around the house. I always had that competitive itch and liked to be out playing sports.”
Green, who had bests of 10.9 seconds in the 100 and 21.56 in the 200 this spring, overcame “my worst start ever in a meet or in practice” to win the Class 2 outdoor state 100. He then torched the field in the 200 for the gold, adding to a day in which he also scored points in the long jump, triple jump and 4×100 relay.
Busy or not, Green led the Islanders’ baseball team in batting average until late in the season before falling off a bit. He still finished with a .321 average while stealing 27 bases in 27 attempts on the way to all-state honors for a second consecutive season.
Most important, Green — playing in a baseball state final for the third time in four seasons — helped the Islanders win the state title. He played a key role, bunting the winning run to second base in the bottom of the 10th inning.
As he walked back to the dugout, he counseled teammate TJ Check to “be aggressive.” Check obliged with a single that drove in Brody Bunting, who had reached on an error, with the winning run in the 2-1 win over Lebanon in Salem.
“I’ll remember everything that happened that last half-inning for the rest of my life,” Green said. “It’s awesome to have had so many great coaches and teammates, and made so many memories in my high school career.”
Peninsula Sports Club’s 74th annual Headliner’s Night
What: Banquet honoring Peninsula-area athletes with NFL quarterback Tyrod Taylor as featured speaker
When: 5:45 p.m. Monday
Where: Hampton Roads Convention Center
Tickets: peninsulasportsclub.com
