Huddle up: Narrows Baseball Club brings rivals together

Marques Hunter

Huddle up

The Narrows Baseball Club achieves what most programs aren’t able to do. It brings area talent, who may otherwise dislike each other, onto one team.

It’s always a rivalry when Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools play each other, or when either faces a Narrows League team like South Kitsap, no matter which sport.

If it wasn’t for the Narrows 18-and-under baseball team, they may go on in life with the belief that players on other teams are their arch nemesis.

It’s like rooting against your favorite NFL team. If you don’t like the Pittsburgh Steelers, chances are, you’re not going to like Ben Roethlisberger.

I can’t stand the Dallas Cowboys. Therefore, I can’t stand Tony Romo or any other player associated with the organization.

Tides and Seahawks fans cheer for their team to win. It makes complete sense.

But what about the players?

From high school athletes to pros, they respect each other to a certain degree. They say they wish other players the best, but deep down, if it has league implications, they hope other teams lose.

“We talk about school ball and what would happen if we played,” said outfielder Spencer Manjarrez, a Narrows Baseball Club member who plays high school ball at Gig Harbor. “It’s always good to see those guys, because you don’t after the summer.”

And after facing off against each other in a close loss, they say, “good game.”

But what they’re really saying is, “I’m gonna get you next time.”

When the Major League All-Star Game rolls around each year, we get to see some of the greatest players from some of the greatest rivalries on the same team. We see the Yankees’ Derek Jeter next to the Red Sox’s Dustin Pedroia, or the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols beside the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano.

The parallel here is how the 18-and-under Narrows Baseball Club can bring teams from the Narrows League together as one unit.

If you were to see these players during the baseball season in the springtime, you’d notice different uniforms and a different mentality toward each other. But during the summer, they all put on the white with the black pin stripes and call each other teammates.

I think it’s great. It rids the top layer of disgust one has for a league rival and allows them to actually get to know each other.

Gig Harbor junior catcher Parker Guinn said you don’t really know other players until you’re with them.

“Once you start playing them, you realize they are really good guys, and you end up being really good friends,” Guinn said.

It’s an opportunity to learn from each other, too.

Since the team was relatively young this year, many of the departing 18-year-olds were able to pass down some good advice to the younger players.

Taking talent from schools on the Gig Harbor, Kitsap and Key peninsulas and forming one team is a good way to mesh the area’s talent. It surprises me, though, to see how many of the area’s talented players gravitate to this club.

It goes to show the quality of coaching and the work they do to connect high school ballplayers with colleges.

The Narrows Club erases stereotypes of teams disliking each other and pursues talent, period. They may be rivals during the regular season, but they are on the same team during the summer.

There’s no player hating when it comes to getting your education — and perhaps a scholarship to pay for it.

Reach sports reporter Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246.