Gather up your peanuts and Cracker Jacks, Spartan sports fans, because it’s time once again to drape ourselves in the Americana-colored comforting quilt that is baseball season.

The nation’s favorite past time returned to our island with a grand entrance last week, when the Bainbridge High varsity team scored an 11-0 shutout during their home opener against Port Angeles.

The game was called early, after just the fifth inning, due to Bainbridge’s commanding lead.

Though set to face off next on the road against O’Dea, the defending 3A champs, the Spartans were denied their season’s second outing due to rain.

This season’s Spartan squad boasts a surprisingly high number of seniors — 12, in all — with nearly all of them boasting state tournament-level experience.

New to the squad’s roster this year, however, is debuting BHS Head Coach Simon Pollack.

Pollack took over the team when David Smart relocated out of state for work earlier this year and, though new to his current position, he has a long history of involvement with the BHS baseball program. He was the Head Coach of the JV team for the past two seasons and, prior to that, he assisted with the C team and did additional volunteer coach duties.

“It was an easy transition because I’d been with these guys for a while, but certainly there’s a lot of pressure coming with being the head coach and it’s a whole different political ballgame out there,” he said of his early season experiences.

“It’s a real pleasure to be here with these guys and to represent the program here at Bainbridge High School,” he added.

Pollack is also a teacher at BHS, an additional connection he shares with the players which he believes has further eased the process of his assuming the role as skipper.

“I think I’m definitely a conversational person,” he said. “I have a good rapport with my coaching staff, I have a good rapport with the players and we’re all very friendly and we’re trying to build a real positive team atmosphere.”

One assistant in particular, long-time volunteer assistant coach Gregg Mesmer, shares a special history with Pollack.

“Gregg was my coach when I was 10 to 12 years old,” Pollack laughed, adding that they also coached the BHS C team together. “I’ve been coaching with Gregg for a while.”

Though he’s enjoying his new job so far, Pollack admitted that it was not actually something he ever aspired to.

“I never really wanted to be a head coach,” he said. “My dream is to be a professional batting practice pitcher, frankly.”

“I definitely consider myself more of a practice coach,” Pollack explained. “So it’s a challenge for me to get used to a position of responsibility for all levels of coaching at the high school, both the varsity team and JV and C teams. I’m getting  more comfortable with it, but just like these guys out here I will make my mistakes too.”

Mistakes, however, were few during the team’s initial outings, an exciting debut that Pollack said was a mixed blessing.

“Having excitement is good, but having a big head, obviously, is what you want to avoid,” he said. “One foot in front of the other. Baby steps. All we can do is the next pitch and the next at-bat and, like I told the guys, there are going to be days when we struggle, for sure.”

Amidst the early season success and the hype over the star-studded senior-heavy starting lineup, Pollack and Mesmer both said that the first priority of the season is nailing down the lineup and positions.

“Guys are still fighting for spots,” Pollack said. “It’s a season-long fight and we want to keep that competition up and make sure that before we get too set in our ways we make sure that we get everybody a look and see what they’re capable of out there.”

“We’re really excited about the season,” he added.

The squad is a truly cohesive group, Pollack said, with a lot of talent and potential.

“They have a real great attitude about them,” he said, recalling that when the current seniors were freshman, there were about 17 players who entered the program, including the current 12.

“They’re all good friends,” he said. “There’s an intense competitiveness about them, as well.”

Though some have claimed that youth baseball has lost some of its appeal with the increasing popularity of non-traditional sports, and the competition for students’ time today is more fierce than ever, Pollack said that the BHS baseball program remains a staple of the island’s youth athletic community and a popular choice for young athletes looking to leave their mark.

It truly is a game of tactics, he added.

“It’s a wonderful game,” he said.

“Baseball is baseball and you play the game of baseball rather than playing your opponent. You generate energy and momentum and attitude and excitement against an opponent, but the game of baseball will beat you and you got to play the game in order to win.”