A few months ago my brother texted me asking if I had graduated with a Mark Leiter.

Now I graduated from High School North in 2009 with over 600 students, so it took me a while to think back. The name sounded familiar, but I won’t lie, I had to Google it just to be sure.

It turns out that I did indeed graduate from him. I may have even gone to elementary school with him, but I’d have to unpack my 5th and 6th grade yearbook to find out.

In July, Toms River’s own Mark Leiter Jr. traded to the New York Yankees.

Even though I grew up in a divided Yankees/Phillies household, I never became a fan of any major league team.

I was always a Jersey Shore BlueClaws girl (I did some on-field work for them a few summers in a row) and I was a fan of the team that Todd Fraiser played for.

Toms River really knows how to help baseball players grow.

Using my logic of being a fan of whatever team Todd Fraiser played for, I now became a de facto Yankees fan thanks to Mark Leiter.

Half of my family is happy with this.

I have to root for someone I went to school with, right?

Naturally, I was excited to see my fellow Toms River North alumni pitching in the World Series.

Although the Yankees aren’t doing great in the World Series, trailing 3-0, this move from Leiter was great to see.

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

The surname Leiter has become a common name in baseball.

The Yankees pitcher’s father, Mark Leiter Sr., was an MLB pitcher for 11 years, retiring in 2001.

Al Leiter, his uncle, is “A two-time National League (NL) All-Star player, Leiter pitched 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 second overall draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2021.

It seems like baseball runs in the family.

Although 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 tonight’s game.