Leiter Among Featured Speakers
At Dec. 5 Baseball Coaches Clinic

Before pitch counts were flashed on your television screen as part of the everyday baseball statistics, Al Leiter actually threw 163 pitches in one April 1989 start for the New York Yankees until manager Dallas Green took him out in the ninth inning.

Several shoulder surgeries for the Berkeley Township native followed before he came back at full strength in 1993 to help lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a second consecutive World Series championship.

Leiter, a standout left-hander who starred in high school at Central Regional in the township's Bayville section before graduating in 1984 and who was selected in the second round of that year's June MLB Draft, went on to produce a 162-132 lifetime Major League Baseball pitching record which included another World Series championship ring with the Florida Marlins in 1997, a no-hitter and two All-Star appearances, including one of them with the New York Mets in 2000 when Leiter helped lead them to their first World Series appearance in 14 years.

There's a lot there for Leiter to touch upon as, for the first time, he will be one of the speakers at the 5th Annual Garden State Baseball Coaches Clinic which is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 5 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield.

"This is huge for us and we're so happy to have him, he had such an outstanding pitching career," said New Jersey High School Baseball Coaches Association (NJHSBCA) vice president Chris Roof, who is in charge of speakers and clinics.

As it turned out, Leiter's only victory in 1989, he made his MLB debut in Sept. of 1987 with the Yankees, was that Friday night, April 14 game in 1989 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees beat the Twins 8-5 that evening, sparked by four RBI from Steve Balboni, who would later be an assistant coach on Roof's staff at Governor Livingston when Balboni's son Mike played for Chris in the late 2000s.

Considered one of the top baseball instruction venues in the northeast is back to a one-day format for some of the finest baseball minds to congregate and offer their expertise.

College, high school, travel and youth baseball coaches from the area and beyond will not want to miss this event, which includes a morning session from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and an afternoon into the evening session from 3 p.m. to  8 p.m.

The price for full day is $125 and for morning or afternoon only session $75. NJHSBCA members receive a 20 percent discount.

Running the clinic, held for the third straight year at the Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield, is the NJHSBCA and Gamers Baseball and Softball Academy, located in Kenilworth.

The clinic is powered by GameChanger and also presented by Gamers.
Here is the list of speakers:

Al Leiter, former MLB pitcher and current MLB network analyst: the importance of old school simple principles of pitching and the acceptance of data analytics and technology.

Dan Skirka, Head Coach Murray State: building culture through competition.

Rob DiToma, Head Coach University of San Francisco: The mindset of baserunning as a weapon.

Eric Tyler, University of Virginia hitting coach: building offensive skills that translate.

Ryan Brownlee, Assistant Executive Director from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA): throwing program solutions.

Ty Blankmeyer, Assistant Coach Vanderbilt University: infield play and the art of playing catch.

Steve Trimper: Head Coach Stetson University: team defensive drills that help you eliminate your opponents ability to score runs.

Mike Rooney, D1 Baseball and ESPN College Baseball Analyst: creating a plan for a two-way ace of your staff.

Josh Jordan, Recruiting Coordinator LSU: grit meets the gear: the powerhouse of catching. 

Bill Cilento, Associate Head coach and Hitting Instructor, Wake Forest University: doing what the game requires - building an offense that can win!

SESSION 1:
(9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
9 to 9:10 a.m.: welcome and intro: Mike Kolesar
9:10 to 9:50: Mike Rooney
9:55 to 10:35: Eric Tyler
10:40 to 11:20: Rob DiToma
11:25 to 12:05 p.m.: Dan Skirka
12:10 to 12:50: Al Leiter
12:50 to 2:50: lunch break / vendors open  

SESSION 2:
(3 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
3 to 3:40 p.m.: Ryan Brownlee
3:45 to 4:25: Steve Trimper
4:30 to 5:10: Josh Jordan
5:10 to 5:30: networking / break / vendors / catchup time
5:30 to 6:10: Ty Blankmeyer
6:15 to 6:55: Bill Cilento

GARDEN STATE COACHES ROUNDTABLES
moderated by Mike Rooney:
7 to 7:30 p.m.: Roundtable No. 1
The Art of Program Building:
Steve Trimper, Dan Skirka, Rob DiToma and Ryan Brownlee.

7:35 to 8:05: Roundtable No. 2
Recruiting & Roster Construction in the Transfer Portal Era:
Bill Cilento, Ty Blankmeyer, Josh Jordan and Eric Tyler.

To be honored as 2025 Garden State Excellence Award Winners will be Chris Roof, Gov. Livingston; Chris Langan, Felician University and Neil Ioviero, Kean University.

The event drew 50 coaches in 2021, 110 in 2022, 150 in 2023 and 200 last year as it continues to grow in size and stature.

To register quickly, click on the QR code.

More information about the clinic may be also obtained by contacting Roof at: croof@verizon.net.