Being a sophomore on a team with 12 seniors makes you stick out like a sore thumb.

Earning a starting spot? That will get you even more attention.

Such is life for ADM varsity baseball player Jack O’Brien, who been the starter at second base for the vast majority of the Tigers’ games.

But while he had cracked the starting lineup to open the season, O’Brien generally didn’t crack the lineup card. Tigers head coach Jason Book elected to have the designated hitter swing for O’Brien on most occasions through the first two-third of the season to protect his young infielder.

“Early in the season we wanted to take as much pressure off him as we could, so we DH’ed for him quite a bit, just to let him get him comfortable in the field,” Book said. “Now we’ve got him to where he can hit at the plate. He swings a pretty good bat. He’s got a pretty good chance to be successful, and that opens up an opportunity for us to DH for somebody else.”

That decision has paid off big time. Book has cut O’Brien lose and allowed him to hit over the final third of the season, and the sophomore has responded. O’Brien is 7-for-17 with two doubles, five runs and five walks over his past six games, raising his average to .245.

Book said he agreed that some pitchers overlook O’Brien because of his slight frame, adding that in time, no pitcher will be making that mistake.

“He swings it pretty well. He squares a lot of balls up,” Book said. “He’s hit a lot of balls hard right at people for outs, and once he hones his craft a little bit more and gets some more at-bats under his belt, he’s going to be a tremendous hitter.”

O’Brien and the rest of the Tigers (10-21) open the Class 3A district playoffs far from home Friday night with a road contest at the Harlan Cyclones (23-7). You can catch the game live on K107 and raccoonvalleyradio.com, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. and first pitch at 7.