Better Together: Chase Pollock & Ashton Roache

By Brian Carter

'You can observe a lot just by watching,' says the great Yogi Berra. While quite obvious, it's true. Over the past two seasons, the TFS baseball team has crushed the record books, securing a State Runner-Up finish in 2024 and a Sweet 16 (Round of 12) appearance in 2025.

Several players had a hand in that success and made major contributions. Any observing the team however, would notice the strong bond between senior Chase Pollock and junior teammate Ashton Roache.

Pollock is an ace pitcher who holds several all-time and single-season records on the bump, while also ranking third all-time in hits. Roache has the most raw talent of any baseball player to ever suit up for the Indians, and has the all-time homerun, runs, walks, and steals records. With family ties to the MLB level, the aspirations are high for him, and he's delivering on that with a recent commitment to the University of California (Cal). Both are tremendous athletes on their own, but they rely heavily on each other.

"Over the four years that I've known Chase, I've seen him develop significantly," says Ashton. "We have not only won and lost together, but we have also grown and learned from one another, which is why I see him as a brother. Since we were selected to be the team's leaders this year, we always held one another responsible and understood that we needed to give it our all every day."

"My relationship with Ashton has grown closer and closer every year," adds Chase. "Playing summer ball together and staying together over breaks helped grow our relationship. When I see him working hard it motivates me. I think we rely on each other in a positive way, and feed off each other's energy. For example, when we are in the box our goal is to get it to the next guy with an unselfish at bat."

The word accountability is used a lot around coach Justin Pollock's teams. Chase and Ashton both embrace the expectations and the leadership that's been cast on them, and everyone around them reaps the benefits.

"I have gained a lot of knowledge from this program and environment, but I believe that the most important lesson I have learned aside from baseball is how important accountability is," echoes Ashton. "You can never improve if you keep making mistakes rather than owning up to them. I've come so far that it means a lot to me. Despite my terrible freshman year, I continued to train even though I felt incapable. Even though I had no idea what I would gain from the training, I still worked hard day and night. God gave me the talent; all I needed to do was put in a lot of effort to make it show."

For the Nassua, Bahamas native, he has a goal of breaking a few more school records, and to make it more difficult for others to reach those numbers. That inevitably will come as he completes a much bigger goal.

"My goal as a player is to just become more consistent," adds Ashton. "In this game of failure, the only way you can continue to be great is by being consistent. Committing to a high-end D1 program feels fantastic, but I now hold myself to even higher standards. The objective is not to commit to a large program. Being the best in the program from the first year is the goal."

Chase (Toccoa, GA) recently completed his academic career, but has a unique path to the next level that he will pursue.

"Next year I will attend P27 Baseball Academy, a post-grad school in Lexington, SC. After a year of development there I will be going to a college to play baseball."

While Chase will be fine-tuning his craft in another state next year, Ashton will be sharpening his own skills while obliterating more TFS records. Sometimes legacies are realized long after a player leaves a program. In this case, those were cemented while still on campus. And there's still more to be written.