Two serious injuries haven’t slowed this athlete down. Tyler J. Pollock, known as T.J. to his teammates. TJ loves baseball and it shows.

“Dad would take me outside and throw balls to me,” he said. “I was only two so I started learning really young.”

Basketball was the other sort TJ learned to like around grade three. He plays on the high school team now. His best basketball season was in grade seven when the team went undefeated and took the championship in the District

“Dad (Jay) played football and baseball,” he said. “My mom played softball. My sister Brianna is 14 and plays volleyball.”

His other sister, Heather, four and has plenty of choices ahead of her.

Although TJ played ball early, it wasn’t until he was seven that he started on a regular team, the Little League team for Grand Mesa. He played on the majors there as well.

When the family moved to Fruita, he began to play for the Middle School team.

We went to Districts,” he said. “ We lost our first game to Monument and then beat everyone else. We had to beat Monument two times, which we did. Then we went to State where we took second place.”

Playing on the double ABC League, a competitive league for 13 – 14 year olds, TJ got more experience as the team traveled to tournaments on the Eastern Slope. This experience has helped last season’s high school team because most of the players were playing in that league. This could be why that team won seven straight in the southwestern league and made it to state even though they were young and not expected to do much of anything.

TJ played freshman ball under Landon McKee, JV under Kent Clinkenbeard, then played some varsity at the end of his freshman year.

Near the end of the season he misjudged a pitch, which broke his left hand. This caused him to sit out the remaining games.

As a sophomore, TJ stuck to shortstop. He had pitched as a freshman besides playing shortstop.

The second injury came in the fifth league game when he was stealing second base. The catcher made a bad throw, which caused the second baseman to step into him injuring the PCL, Posterior Crucfiate Ligament located under the kneecap. This was repaired and will take nine months before he can shed a brace he needs to wear when doing activities.
With a GPA of “3.9ish” TJ is aiming for college where he most likely will major in business or journalism. Arizona State might be the place where baseball could enter in as a factor.

“I like writing,” he said. “My math is good but I like history better. Everyday new stories are added to history.”

TJ’s dad was the subject of one of his writing assignments.

“Dad was a probation officer,” he said. “He is a mental health therapist now. He has many interesting things to tell.”

Sports writing could be one of his fields someday. He talked about writing an opinion article on why Matt Holliday didn’t make MVP and Troy Tulowitzki didn’t win the golden glove but instead both awards went to one Phillies player.

“There are more people in the east to cast votes than in the west,” he said.
TJ will be successful thanks to all the things he has learned in school and sports. His philosophy is “Don’t be someone you’re not.” What a great way to live life!