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06/11/2020 12:00 AMBaseball has always been a core piece of Johnny Pollock’s life. Johnny first picked up a bat and glove in his backyard as a one-year-old, and his passion for the sport has continually grown stronger since then. Now a senior at North Branford High School, Johnny went on to become a pivotal member of the Thunderbirds’ baseball squad.
As a junior, Johnny solidified spots on the All-Shoreline Conference First Team and the All-State Class S Team after notching a 6-3 record with a 2.03 earned-run average to go with a .293 batting average. Entering his senior year, Johnny was named one of North Branford’s captains with fellow senior Bret Fee.
“I was always in the backyard with my dad and mom. I always had people around me that wanted to just help me play and have fun with me,” Johnny says. “It’s definitely where I found my love for the sport—all the people around me that gave their time to help me grow.”
Johnny played third base for the T-Birds when he wasn’t on the mound. Head Coach Billy Mitchell was impressed with how Johnny pitched during his junior season, noting the right-hander’s performance against Notre Dame-Fairfield in the first round of the Class S State Tournament. Johnny came in to pitch the last three innings of the game in relief and, even though North Branford ultimately took a 9-6 defeat in nine innings, Coach Mitchell credits Johnny for gutting it out and keeping the T-Birds in the game in a pressure situation.
“Johnny came in from third base cold and did an unbelievable job for us for three innings. That’s what stands out to me,” says Mitchell. “The situation we were in, he did a great job.”
When it came to naming his captains, Coach Mitchell says it was “a pretty easy decision,” to bestow that honor upon Johnny. Mitchell calls Johnny one of the hardest-working players he’s ever coached and says that his effort always translated to the field.
Johnny says that all the upperclassmen accepted him and treated him as one of their own when he joined the program in his freshman year. As he advanced up the ranks, Johnny was excited to take on a leadership role and be the one who was helping the newest T-Birds improve.
“Going into freshman year, I was very bashful and shy. By the end of high school, I was really able to come out of my shell and enjoy myself,” Johnny says. “I remembered how I felt timid as a freshman, and I wanted to make sure that any underclassmen felt comfortable and a part of the team. I wanted them to enjoy their time on the field, rather than just feel a little held off.”
After playing with his parents in the backyard, Johnny joined his first tee-ball team at age five. He continued going to parks with his family and friends in order to work on his game.
Johnny started to take baseball more seriously when he was 10, playing both Little League and at the AAU level with the Connecticut Bombers. On one occasion, Johnny played a doubleheader in New Jersey with his AAU team and then came back to Connecticut for a Little League game that same day.
In 8th grade, Johnny started waking up at four in the morning just so he could get in some reps before he had to go to school. When the last bell of the day sounded, Johnny wound go to North Branford High School to work out again for two hours, after which he’d head off to practice. On top of that, Johnny would typically work out three days a week throughout the winter.
Johnny did all of these things because of his love for baseball. He feels lucky to have a great support system with people who always encourage him to keep working. Aside from the athletic aspect, Johnny says that all the hard work he put in helped change his overall mindset.
“I saw how my body was transforming. My mood changed the healthier my lifestyle was,” says Johnny. “I was always a happy kid, but there were sometimes random things would get me frustrated. But after putting your mind and body through all the work, you kind of get a new appreciation of everything.”
When Johnny was working out for those two hours before practice, he was doing so alongside fellow captain Fee. Johnny and Fee have been playing baseball together since tee-ball, and the two of them are essentially brothers. While both athletes are disappointed that they couldn’t play their senior season, Johnny and Fee have been long tossing and practicing their pitching at the high school as they prepare for the next stage of their careers.
Johnny is going to play baseball at UConn Avery Point for two seasons before he makes his decision about where he wants to play next. Johnny plans on pitching and playing third base for those two years, but is looking to transition into a full-time pitcher after that.
As he gets ready for the next stage of his career, Johnny looks back at his time at North Branford and appreciates how baseball is much more than just a sport to him. For Johnny, baseball is an essential part of the person he’s become.
“Baseball is a majority of my identity. As a baseball player, you should hold people at a certain level of respect. You realize that it’s a team sport. There’s no individual that completely carries a team or lets down a team,” Johnny says. “It’s a group process, no matter what comes in between. It’s a humbling sport. You won’t get on base 70 percent of the time, and even that is considered pretty good. You learn to be humble and to let your actions speak for you.”