Olathe Northwest grad is succeeding in baseball despite the odds
By JAYSON JENKS
Special to The Star
The road to professional baseball isn’t always as glamorous as movies and childhood dreams make it seem.
Often, it’s less glitter and more grit. Nate Tenbrink’s path to being drafted is a good example of what hard work can accomplish.
Tenbrink, who graduated from Olathe Northwest and played baseball at Kansas State, was selected in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft on June 6 by the Seattle Mariners. Pick number 222 of 1,504.
“It was a relief, I’ll tell you that much,” Tenbrink said. “I thought of all the hard times I had been through with ball and my college career. I put a lot of work in it. It was always something I’ve wanted to do.”
In any good success story, there always seems to be a moment of truth where it’s time to dig in or go home.
That point in Tenbrink’s young baseball career happened three years ago — his freshman year at Kansas State. As a late signee with the Wildcats, Tenbrink had his work cut out for him.
Never was that more apparent than when K-State released its rankings of roster players — one through 42, with one being the best — after fall ball in Tenbrink’s freshman year.
He was on the wrong end of the list: No. 42.
So what to do when backed against a wall? How do you react to a situation where the pride of even the most humble would take a hit?
At first, Tenbrink succumbed to human temptation: He wanted to leave K-State.
But then something happened. Tenbrink called his high school baseball coach and confidant, Jay Novacek. Novacek, along with Tenbrink’s high school basketball coach, Mike Grove, teamed up to talk Nate into remaining at K-State. Hard work, they said, would fix the situation.
“When you see that number posted, there is a pride thing,” Novacek said. “To be ranked that low freshman year — I think that would have crushed any lesser of a person. It also says a lot that he is willing to believe in people. Heck, I wasn’t the one going through fall ball every day.”
Initially, K-State redshirted Tenbrink, but thanks to solid performances in practices, the Wildcats pulled the redshirt midway through his freshman season.
From there, Tenbrink became K-State’s regular third baseman for the next two seasons, posted a .273 career average and as a senior hit nine home runs. But homers were never a big part of Tenbrink’s game. Instead, he worked many skills, from base running to fielding ability.
His dad, Jerry Tenbrink, attributes that development to Nate’s youth baseball days when his lack of size forced him to focus on important, but often overlooked, aspects of the game.
“That’s what the scouts are looking for — they’re looking for kids who have the five tools (hitting for average, hitting for power, base running, arm strength and fielding ability),” Jerry said.
“They may not be the best at all the tools, but there is only a limited number of people who have all five. That’s what he figured out real quick.”
Yet, even with that grasp of the game, the circumstances that landed Tenbrink at K-State were unorthodox.
He hadn’t made the junior varsity squad his freshman and sophomore years at Olathe North. With Olathe Northwest opening, Tenbrink made the switch for his junior year. It didn’t hurt that the new school needed players to fill its rosters.
“I really didn’t get the chance at Olathe North,” Tenbrink said. “But (Olathe) Northwest gave me the opportunity, and I took full advantage of it. It worked out for the best.”
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