When Allen “A.J.” Pollock was 4, he was already playing catch and practicing his batting stroke.

With his dad at work, Pollock’s mom would play catch and throw young A.J. a pitch or two.

“She used to throw to me and I remember hitting her in the leg,” Pollock recalled. “She definitely had it after that.”

Mom might be feeling a lot safer, but pitchers sure aren’t now that Pollock is whacking line drives on high school fields throughout the state.

Pollock is an All-State shortstop at RHAM High in Hebron. He batted .322 as a freshman starter on the varsity. He batted .489 as a sophomore in 2004 when RHAM won the Class L state title. Despite breaking his foot halfway through his junior season, Pollock still finished with a .389 batting average.

Headed to Notre Dame in the fall on a baseball scholarship, Pollock got out of the gate his senior season with a 4-for-5 effort in an opening-game 17-3 drubbing of St. Paul. He went 12-for-18 to begin the season for a RHAM team that is off to a 7-1 start, which includes a 6-1 mark in the rugged Northwest Conference.

Pollock’s prowess with the bat has earned him the JI “In the Spotlight” honor.

Pollock may have begun honing his skills at a young age, but when he arrived into the RHAM baseball program, his physical appearance hardly offered any indication of what the future might hold.

“When A.J. came into the program he was a pipsqueak,” RHAM baseball coach Paul Steiner said. “He was a skinny little kid and if he was 5-foot-1 and weighed a buck ten, he was lucky.

“But you could see he could throw hard and he had great hands. He started to drive the ball a little bit. His father was over six feet tall so you knew A.J. would get bigger.”

He may have been a runt, but Pollock still won the starting shortstop job as a freshman.

“I was tiny, I can’t believe coach stuck with me at shortstop,” Pollock admitted. “I knew I’d grow because of my dad and coach Steiner was big on weightlifting. Being small helped me in the long haul because I would try to get the most out of my body. I’m putting the same swing on the ball now at 6-1, 180 pounds that I did when I was smaller. Only some of the balls that used to be doubles in the gap are now going over the fence.”

Last fall, Pollock got involved with the Baseball Factory, which is based in Maryland. Through the Baseball Factory Pollock was able to play with a team at a tournament in Arizona. That tournament turned out to be the beginning of his path to Notre Dame.

“The Baseball Factory evaluates you and contacts schools for you,” Pollock said. “They have a pretty good knowledge of what certain colleges needs are. Colleges needed to see me play and the Baseball Factory had a team in Arizona. I did lights out. It was the best I’ve ever played to be honest with you. I played in six games and went 10-for-14. On my flight home I got a message from Notre Dame. They made me an offer, and after visiting the campus, that’s where I wanted to go.”

Pollock had seven doubles and five RBIs in that tournament. But the senior standout can do more than just hit. Steiner believes Pollock has all the tools to play at the college level.

“He’s probably our fastest runner, or at least in the top three,” Steiner said. “He’s got good hands and quick feet. He’s a line-drive hitter with power. He can hit it into the gaps pretty good, and if a guy makes a mistake, A.J. can hit a home run. Very seldom is he an easy out. And he can throw hard. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being a closer if he really wanted to be.”

A three-time All-NWC performer, Pollock’s head has never been swelled by his success.

“It’s great when one of your two best players is your hardest worker,” Steiner. “Matt Grosso and A.J. are lifelong friends and they work their butts off, which is terrific. A.J. is someone you can hang your hat on in your program. When practice starts, he’s all business. He’s a great leader in that regard. The kids love him.”

Grosso will head to the University of Connecticut in the fall on a partial baseball scholarship. That means Pollock and Grosso will be rivals in the Big East Conference. It will be a different feeling for Pollock not to have Grosso beside him in the dugout.

“I’ve never played against him,” Pollock said. “I’ve played with Matt for six years. I played with him on the Connecticut Ropes, an AAU team out of Glastonbury, and for four years in high school.

“Matt and I are very competitive in everything we do. It’s a healthy competition. If I hit a homer, he’ll try to hit one. It keeps us on our game.”

Grosso keeps on his game in the classroom too.

“If he wasn’t getting a scholarship, Matt might have been able to get into Notre Dame academically,” Steiner said. “Matt said in fifth or sixth grade that he wanted to go to Notre Dame. Now, he’s got that opportunity.”

That means a whole new crop of fielders in the college ranks are likely to get an uneasy feeling when Pollock steps up to the plate.