Toms River High School North Alum pitching in the World Series

A few months ago my brother texted me and asked if I had graduated from a Mark Leiter.

Now, I graduated from High School North in 2009 with well over 600 students, so it took me a while to think about it. The name sounded familiar, but I'm not going to lie, I had to google it to make sure.

Turns out I actually graduated from him. I may have even gone to elementary school with him, but I'd have to pull out my 5th and 6th grade yearbook to find out.

In July, Mark Leiter Jr. was traded from Toms River to the New York Yankees.

Despite growing up in a split Yankees/Phillies household, I never became a fan of any major league team.

I've always been a Jersey Shore BlueClaws fan (I was an on-field announcer a few summers in a row) and I was a fan of whatever team Todd Fraiser played for.

Toms River really knows how to develop baseball players.

Going by my logic of being a fan of the team Todd Fraiser also played for, I now became a de facto Yankees fan through Mark Leiter.

Half of my family is happy about it.

I have to support someone I went to school with, right?

Naturally, I was excited to watch my former colleagues from Toms River North pitch during the World Series.

While the Yankees aren't doing particularly well in the World Series and are down 3-0, this play from Leiter was great to see.

Leiter was drafted by the Phillies in 2013 and returned to New Jersey to pitch for the Jersey Shore Blueclaws during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The Ladder surname is common in baseball.

The Yankees pitcher's father, Mark Leiter Sr., was an MLB pitcher for 11 years and retired in 2001.

Al Leiter, his uncle, is “a two-time National League (NL) All-Star, pitcher for three World Series-winning teams, and threw a no-hitter in 1996 during his tenure with the Marlins.”

His cousin, Jack Leiter, was the Texas Rangers' second overall draft pick in 2021.

Seems like baseball runs in the family.

While the Yankees may be 3-0 against the Dodgers in the World Series, we wish Mark Leiter and the entire team the best of luck in today's game.