POLAND — Logan Nichols wasn’t taking any chances.

It was the opening day of first grade, and Nichols wanted to make sure he had an alliance.  He was determined to avoid going through the unfamiliar world of grade school alone. He spotted a somewhat familiar face.

He approached Jed Quint. They were T-ball teammates the previous summer but hardly knew each other.

“The very first day, I went over and I said, ‘My name’s Logan, you wanna be my best friend?'” recalls Nichols, now a senior at Poland Regional High School.

It was typical Logan Nichols. He’s an energetic go-to guy looking to make something happen. The response was typical Jed Quint. He’s a quiet, go-with-the-flow guy, willing to be part of it all.

“He seemed like a great guy,” says Quint now. “So I was up for it.”

It was a match made by happenstance or destiny, but it worked. The friendship that started that day endured. They’ve been teammates, buddies and confidants. You rarely see one without the other. Nowhere has that been more evident than the sports teams they were on together.

When the recent basketball season ended, Colleen Quint, Jed’s mother, got to thinking about the long-lasting bond her son and his best friend have developed. It prompted a fond look back at their history as teammates.

“I was feeling really nostalgic,” said Colleen. “Then it really hit me that this would be the last time Jed and Logan would play on a team together. That’s what made me think that it had been every sport, every season, every year with multiple teams. It made me wonder how many teams that really was.”

57.

That was the number Colleen discovered. From first grade through their senior year at Poland, those two boys had played on 57 teams together, between, soccer, track, basketball, baseball. That number didn’t even include teams the boys had played on separately or the games they had played together for fun in various backyards and pick-up games.

“I knew it had been a lot, but I had no clue,” said Kris Nichols, Logan’s mother. “Looking through pictures, photo after photo after photo, there’s Jed and Logan. It really had been more than I realized.”

You ask either one of them and they’ll tell you it’s just them being friends, even though you can tell they understand the value of their special bond.

“It’s nice with a lot of changes with teams and program, there’s been one constant beside me the whole way,” said Nichols.

It wasn’t just sports. Life seemed to revolve around them being together.

“It’s been a ton of fun,” said Quint. “I’d say the biggest part has been getting to know him so well. We were on 57 teams together, but there was Whiffle Ball in his backyard and things like that. So we spent like every single day with each other.”

It’s been an amazing run of sports teams and seasons that have been the nucleus of two families, but the end of basketball season closed the book on that chapter.

“Not only in sports but life in general, they’ve just been very complimentary,” said Kris Nichols. “On the field or on the court, they’re good supporters of each other, but they’re also good teammates in life as well as sports.

“I don’t think anyone expects a friendship like that. They’ve been joined at the hip pretty much since they were six years old. We knew they did get along better than most kids. They had other friends, too, but it was always something very special between the two of them.”

Fast friendship

Who knew that day in first grade would lead to such a friendship, such a special bond between kids, family and ultimately community.

Though they’d been on the same T-ball team that summer before first grade. They had gone to separate kindergarten programs. They never met during that summer baseball season. It was a mad scramble of kids in the summer, but it might have provided Nichols a slightly familiar face that first day of grade school.

“I was lucky I did, I guess,” said Nichols. “I was as smart then as I am now.”

That fall, soccer became the first team of their 57. Being teammates on the field quickly led to being better friends off it.

“After every Sunday soccer game ended, it would be him asking, ‘You want to come over?’ or me asking, ‘You want to come over?’ So obviously we didn’t just want to be together on the sports field but also wanted to be with each other after as well.”

It wasn’t like they were twins. If anything, it was their differences that made them work so well together.

“They’ve had this very symbiotic relationship on the athletic field right from the very beginning and that’s how their personalities are,” said Colleen Quint. “Logan is the extrovert, the out-front guy, while Jed is a little more reserved. They’ve stayed best friends through all of it.”

Nichols is the scorer. He makes things happen. He’s the energy that ignites the team. Quint is the player that does the simple things. He knows what needs to be done. He’s the player that often helps Nichols be the player he is.

“On the basketball court, they’re complete opposites,” said Poland boys’ varsity coach Tyler Tracy. “Logan is fiery and Jed is very reserved. Both are very effective leaders. Jed leads by example and is a good leader. Logan is constantly talking. They’re complete opposites. Watching them play together, you’d think Logan would dominate, but it’s not that way.”

Tracy says their similarities also are a factor in their common bond.

“They’re both very intelligent and have a drive to excel,” said Tracy. “Logan shows in his emotions and Jed shows it in his actions.”

Tracy coached the two boys the last two seasons with the basketball team. Because his Knights were so close as a team, he didn’t truly recognize the connection Quint and Nichols had. He saw a close bond with the entire squad. It’s something he says Quint and Logan played a significant role in.

“They tried to set the tone for the team,” said Tracy. “Last year’s team, was very tight and was very close. I thought that was a strength of ours. Jed and Logan, being seniors and leaders, they took an interest in other kids. Jed and Logan set that example.”

Tracy said he started to recognize that connection and history between Quint and Nichols during team dinners at the Quint household. He saw pictures of the boys when they were young. He could see the roots of what became the close-knit team he had.

 “They were the guys making sure everyone was involved in everything, ” said Tracy. “When practice happened, 12 guys would show up together and be together. Jed and Logan made sure that happened.”

The impact on their friendship played a significant role in their respective families. The exploits of Jed and Logan always affected the lives of Bill and Colleen Quint and Rick and Kris Nichols. Bill and Rick coached the boys’ teams at various times. Colleen has done the score book for the baseball team while Kris kept the basketball score book.

There were often calls between parents about misplaced uniforms and gear that ended up at one house or the other There was the taxiing of the two boys between houses, something that didn’t end until the boys each got their driver’s licenses.The parents joked about finding some magical way to transport one kid to the other’s house in an instant.

Jed has been to Nichols family reunions. A niece of Kris Nichols asked if Jed lived with them. An eight-year old nephew of Colleen Quint, who lives on the West Coast, often asks how Logan is doing.

“They’re family is part of my family,” said Kris Nichols. “It’s more than just sports and more than just friendship. It’s a strong family bond. You almost never see Logan without Jed and Jed without Logan.”

The two boys have been coaches and officials at the youth level. Their connection serves them well in working together in those instances while also serving as great role models to younger kids.

“There’s that great phrase that it takes a village to raise a child,” said Colleen Quint. “I think the story of these two boys and all the teams they’ve been on together really exemplifies that in a lot of ways. I could name half a dozen other families in town that have done the same thing in terms of pitching in and arranging rides back and forth. That’s all happening automatically in a small community like this.”

Another unique aspect of it all is that the two boys have maintained such a friendship and tradition of playing sports together in an age that has kids pulled every which way. There’s so many distractions today that lure kids away from sports but nothing proved stronger than the relationship between Quint and Nichols.

“While I was feeling nostalgic for what it meant for these two boys and our two families, it also made me feel nostalgic for a different era, where kids grew up doing all three sports and were on all the teams together and were playing baseball in the backyard” said Colleen Quint.”That’s what these boys did, but its not necessarily the norm anymore. It was great in 2012 that a couple of boys were a throw back to that time.”

It is such a special thing that the Quints haven’t even seen it with their other children. They have an older son and a younger daughter. Both have been involved in sports and neither have had quite the same experience that Jed formed with Logan.

“They’re both athletes and haven’t been on as many teams or with one single kid,” said Colleen Quint. “Just within my own family, it’s a real anomaly.”

New chapter

This past basketball season was not only No. 57 but also the last, for now. Last year, Quint decided not to play soccer.  Nichols chose not to play baseball. That was a challenge for both boys and a taste of the future.

“It wasn’t the same,” said Quint. “I played second all my life and Logan played short. That year, I moved to short. It really didn’t feel the same.”

It was strange for the parents as well. The Nichols didn’t see the Quints at soccer games. The Quints missed the Nichols at baseball games. That will be the case again this baseball season when Quint plays his senior year but Nichols doesn’t.

“It’s sad in such a big way,” said Kris Nichols. “It’s part of life but a part I don’t like.”

Kris Nichols admits she began to tear up at the recent basketball banquet when Jed’s name was announced with Logan’s to follow.

“I hadn’t put it all together until that moment,” said Kris Nichols. “I realized I wasn’t just losing Logan but losing both of them. It’s not a good thing. We’d like them to go back to being six and do it all over again.”

Both boys are still mulling over college choices. Nichols says he wants to stay in Maine. Quint is interested in Bates but also was just recently accepted at Bentley. Regardless of their choices, they’ll go their separate ways. The only question now is the distance.

“That first stretch will probably be the toughest, from when we leave to Thanksgiving,” said Nichols. “We’ll still Facebook and text and stuff, but it won’t be the same as talking face to face.”

Nichols admits he didn’t even think about the basketball season ending the string of teams he and his friend had shared together. It didn’t dawn on him until he was asked about it.

Both boys are glad for what they experienced and appreciate the friendship they have, but they’re not looking backwards. It’s hard to be nostalgic when you’re just a teenager. Instead, they’ve closed the book on one part of their lives and are ready for what comes next. And they’re not ruling out playing together on team No. 58.

“We’ll probably be on the same men’s league team,” said Nichols. “So we’re not done yet.”

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