POULSBO — “Clutch,” according to North Kitsap starting pitcher Jared Prince, “is when all the pressure’s on and you do something good.”

If there’s one skill that the North Kitsap baseball team does better than any other, it is just that — being clutch.

Throughout the season, North’s diamond Vikings provide a myriad of examples of making the big play under pressure. No matter the strike count, the number of outs or the score of the ball game, it seems anyone in the North lineup can come to the plate and “make the big play when you need it,” another definition of clutch provided by NK’s Travis Tobin.

As North’s baseball team prepares for the postseason — its first test tonight as it vies for the Narrows League title with Olympia — there is no skill greater than handling the pressure and delivering the clutch play.

And North is darn good at it. The statistics speak for themselves, the key factor being not an individual stat but a collective one: a 13-1 league record and a 16-2 record overall. That means North Kitsap came from behind or broke a tie 16 times this season.

Which begs the question: how did these guys get so good at making the big play? For one, they work at it, said NK coach Steve Frease.

“Clutch comes from hard work,” said Frease. “It’s just a matter of coming through doing your job.”

Through all of the blood, sweat and tears, they’ve each become more intrepid at the plate, each with the confidence they can get the clutch hit — and if they didn’t, someone else did, taking further pressure off each batter.

“We all believe in each other. It’s a team chemistry,” said NK’s Marcus Curtis. “We know each other so well, it’s just what we expect.”

“Regardless of the situation, regardless of whether there’s two outs or not, we know one of them is going to rise up,” added pitching coach Clary Carlsen. “That belief in each other and in themselves leads to coming through in the clutch.”

It also helps these guys have been playing together for years on end in their young lives. Whether it was Little League, Babe Ruth, C team or junior varsity, they each have grown together on teams and know the ins and outs of each other’s games, as well as their own.

“We just have people 1-9 (in the order) that have been in these situations before and they’re not gonna die under the pressure,” said NK’s Kevin Gartin. “We know we’re gonna get the clutch hit.”

“We’ve done it 100 times, being down in the seventh inning and coming back,” added North’s Jordan Henry. “No matter what the score, everybody knows that we can always come back and win the ball game. No matter what.”

Hard work, confidence and experience. That’s a winning formula, one that could see North Kitsap go far in the post season this year. It all starts tonight.