By Matt Stout
Staff Writer

Goffstown pitcher Kory Kiro boasts a plus fastball, slider and curveball. He’ll need all of them this weekend when he and the Goffstown Legion team, including shortstop Craig McGee, plays rival Jutras Post 43 in a two-game set starting Saturday, July 8. (Goffstown News/Matt Stout)

Pete Kiro never intended to hurt the Jutras Post 43 Legion baseball program. In fact, two years ago when he put a call into the state office in Concord, he was hoping to give Jutras an edge, another avenue to build upon the most dominating decade by any New Hampshire Legion team not named Sweeney Post 2.

But it didn’t turn out the way. What was originally a bid for a junior Legion team ­ an idea born when Kiro coached in East Hartford, Conn., where junior teams act as feeder programs for the parent clubs ­ quickly turned into a push for Goffstown’s own Legion team at the recommendation of the state director.

After nearly 30 years without a club, the town could support it. Parents and players pushed for it. Kiro, who said he was probably in line to take over for coach Tom French when he steps down next year, loved Jutras but couldn’t deny the draw of starting a new program based in one of the state’s baseball hotbeds.

It all led to the Goffstown Legion baseball team’s formation in late December 2004. It also created a rivalry that may one day grow into the state’s hottest.

When Goffstown and Jutras square off for two games in two days starting Saturday, June 8, at Goffstown High, their natural rivalry will still be in its infancy. Jutras is a state power, owner of four state titles in 10 years, and already has a heated rival in Sweeney.

Goffstown, in only its second year, is young. A victory, though always important in District B, would probably hold more significance because of the respect it can earn a team.

Yet, there’s no denying the things that make the match-up attractive. While only a river divides them, the majority of players share the same zip code. They’re the only two teams that draw predominantly from the same high school ­ Jutras with seven Goffstown residents and Goffstown with 16. There’s also the history and familiarity that’ll always tie them together.

“Every time we played, you can feel that it’s a rivalry,” said Goffstown resident and Jutras pitcher Tom MacDonald of the team’s two showdowns last season, both Jutras wins. MacDonald’s father played for Jutras during the 1970s, which is the main reason he chose to play there over Goffstown.

“It’s kind of like our second rivalry because we already have one with Sweeney,” he added. “But anytime you get two close towns like that, it’s gonna be a rivalry. It’s kind of like a brotherly love thing.”

And don’t get that wrong. The blood that binds these two teams isn’t the bad kind.

Admittedly, French “wasn’t too happy” when Kiro first left his staff to start his own team. French said his team usually consists of about 50 percent Goffstown players, but at times, the town accounted for upwards of three-quarters of his roster. On that 2003 state championship team, Kiro, then an assistant, said five starters and as many as four bench players were Goffstown natives.

Frankly, the town served as a pipeline, one that may some day funnel primarily into Kiro’s team.

“It definitely hurt our program,” French said, “because there are kids over in Goffstown that would be playing on my team.”

But French said he understands it also creates a chance for 18 more athletes to play baseball between Goffstown, Bedford and Manchester, which essentially is the point of Legion ball.

“We’re good friends and we’re still good friends to this day,” Kiro said. “All the bad blood that people think me and Tom have is the farthest from the truth. It lasted, as far as verbally, all of about 10 minutes.”

The players, many of whom have played together on the Goffstown High team, certainly hold no ill will toward each other either. The game, though, means different things to different people.

Steve Desjarlais, a 2005 Goffstown grad and Jutras catcher, said he’d love “to put a spanking on them,” but “it’s not something I look forward to, like I get pumped up for a big game or anything like that.”

“I can see that,” said Goffstown’s Evan Turcotte, the only one of Kiro’s players to switch over from Jutras. “They’ve been there, done that. They’ve won state. We’re just another team on their schedule.

“But we see it as more than that,” he added.

Who wants it more will be settled this weekend. How heated the rivalry will become, however, won’t be decided for years to come.