Elliott: Yesavage, Hoffman, Delfino -- East Carolina Pride

Blue Jays Game 1 starter Trey Yesavage pitching for the East Carolina Pirates

October 24, 2025

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

East Carolina Pride runs through the Blue Jays clubhouse.

Trey Yesavage, a former East Carolina Pirate, was the Toronto Blue Jays Game 1 starter Friday night at the Rogers Centre to open the first World Series in Toronto since 1993. His locker is on the east wall of the Jays clubhouse.

The Blue Jays closer is Jeff Hoffman, also a former East Carolina Pirate. His locker is over against the west wall.

The pair have brought more pride to the Carolinas this fall than head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels.

East Carolina Pride has spread all the way to Paris.

“I watch the games with my boys Hudson (12) and Beau (nine) and say ‘hey your old dad went to the same school as those two guys,’” said former Blue Jays minor-league infielder Lee Delfino from Paris, Ont. “Both my sons love baseball. They both love the Blue Jays.”

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Yesavage pitched a scoreless first, fanning Shohei Ohtani to start the game. He then allowed a run in the second -- thanks to a walk, an infield single, another single and a run-scoring single by Kiki Hernandez.

With Braydon Fisher warming in the third Yesavage issued two walks and then a run-scoring single to Will Smith. He struck out Max Muncy to end the third on his 71st pitch.

He pitched four innings, leaving with the score even, allowing two runs on four hits on three walks, while striking out five in his 80-pitch outing.

Yesavage did a starter’s job — he gave his team a chance to win … and they did beating the Dodgers 11-4 before 44,353 fans for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series.

When Jack Morris started Game 1 of the 1992 World Series against the Atlanta Braves it was his 486th career start, including post-season play.

When Juan Guzman started Game 1 of the 1993 World Series facing the Philadelphia Phillies it was his 54th career start in the majors, including post-season play.

And when Yesavage started Game 1 Friday night it was his fourth post-seasonn start and seventh career start. He was the second youngest player to start Game 1, according to whiz Sarah Langs of MLB.com, only Ralph Branca, of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 was younger.

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Delfino, a Leaside where he played for Joe Irvine and Team Ontario grad where he played for coach Marc Picard, was at shortstop for East Carolina from 1999-2001. His roommate was current Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, a former Blue Jays minor league manager and coach. Delfino played shortstop for Team Canada at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg (also known as the Stubby Clapp Games).

“My three years playing for the Pirates are still to this day some of my favorite baseball memories,” said McCullough. “There was nothing like a a weekend series when ‘The Jungle’ was rocking.”

Delfino said he thought when the Jays drafted Yesavage in the first round (20th overall) in 2024 that the young right-hander would be in Toronto “within 2-to-3 years.”

“It speaks volumes for the young man -- he is a big game pitcher,” Delfino said. “I knew he was the real deal and keep hearing what a great teammate he is. He beat Chase Burns (second overall to the Cincinnati Reds in 2024)-- the only other pitcher drafted last year to make the majors this year.”

East Carolina beat Burns’ Wake Forest Demon Deakins 7-6 to win the NCAA Greenville Regional. Burns allowed four runs in five innings, while Yesavage allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings. Yesavage left with a 4-1 lead, but needed three runs in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off win.

Whlle Yesavage didn’t get the win, he certainly outpitched Burns. Carolina Pride.

Delfino said East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin, who caught when Delfino was a Pirate, was here for “Trey’s last start against Seattle and we talked. He said the Yesavage’s family were the nicest people.”

“East Carolina is not in a Power Four conference, but in the past they have been ranked in the top five. The school has produced some arms.”

Former Pirate RHP Gavin Williams is with the Cleveland Guardians, RHP Shawn Anderson is with the Texas Rangers, LHP Carson Whisenhunt is with the San Francisco Giants and RHP Zach Agnos is with the Colorado Rockies, plus Yesavage and Hoffman.

Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman during his East Carolina days

“I still follow East Carolina sports, especially baseball,” Delfino said.

“They draw like Mississippi State,” he said of Clark-LeClair Stadium with a capacity of 6,000, which set a record attendance of 6,054 on April 23, 2024.

Eric Bakich is head coach at Clemson, Bryant Ward is an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UCLA, Godwin stands in the same dugout as the late coach Keith LeClair, who coached Delfino. Now, Delfino teaches hitting and infield to youngsters with the FieldHouse Pirates.

“As much as it would have been great to see (Hoffman) a flamethrower with the Jays, he didn’t have the off-speed pitches he needed,” Delfino said. “It was tough he had to bounce around for a few teams. I’m really happy to see him shut down teams (one run in 7 1/3 innings over six games) in the playoffs. Jeff was always at the top of the Toronto prospect lists.”

Then, in general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ whirlwind July of 2015, where he overhauled 1/3 of the roster he acquired SS Troy Tulowitzki and RP LaTroy Hawkins from the Rockies for SS Jose Reyes, RHP Miguel Castro, RHP Jesús Tinoco and Hoffman, who had pitched in 13 games at class-A Dunedin and double-A New Hampshire that season.

Has Delfino, who played three seasons and 229 games in the Blue Jays system — class-A Auburn Doubledays, class-A Charleston AlleyCats and class-A Dunedin Blue Jays — ever considered finding his old East Carolina jacket and going to stand near the third base dugout to wave to his fellow ex-Pirates?

Turns out Delfino gave his jacket to his grandfather, Louis, a “big-time New York Yankees and Blue Jays fan,” but he found Carolina Pride driving the track to his grandson’s games. Louie passed eight years ago and his grandmother Muriel passed at the end of COVID.

Former Pirates and Blue Jays farmhand Lee Delfino

“They kept scrapbooks, my father gave me a bunch of binders about three months ago, it’s too funny looking at the old stuff,” Delfino said. “I got them back and I didn’t even know that they existed. My father gave me the jacket ... it’s a little tight.”

“I am extremely proud of attending East Carolina and now to get the opportunity to watch two guys, two key guys, from the same school be here ...” Delfino said, “I hope my two sons grow up to play for the Toronto Blue Jays ... or the East Carolina Pirates.”

Delfino said he was the same age as his oldest son when the Atlanta Braves met the Blue Jays in 1992. He cheered for the Braves since he saw so many games on TBS. He wanted to be different and admired third baseman Chipper Jones.

Delfino’s father worked for Coca-Cola and had been to Atlanta on business, bringing his son back a Braves foam finger. So there in the 500 level of the SkyDome, surrounded by Blue Jays fans sat the youngster from Pickering, Ont.

And in Game 6 Mike Timlin fielded an Otis Nixon bunt and fired to first baseman Joe Carter for the final out.

“I secretly cheered that the Jays won the World Series,” he said.

Delfino said of the current Jays, “I love the way this group has rallied, it’s not one or two guys. It’s a special group.”

East Carolina proud.

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The Good

Addison Barger, who did not start since lefty Blake Snell was on the mound, pinch hit for Davis Schneider in the sixth, facing lefty reliever Anthony Banda -- for the first pinch-hit homer in World Series history ... Jays had as many hits (14) off Dodgers pitching as the LA arms allowed in four games against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS ... CF Daulton Varsho tagged Dodger lefty Blake Snell for the first home run by a left-handed hitter he allowed all year -- a two-run shot in the fourth inning to even the score at 2-2. The last time Snell gave up a homer to a left-handed hitter was Juan Soto two years ago ... George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero, Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement and Barger each had multiple hits ... Kirk had a team-high three hits, reaching base four times. Five players with multiple hits are the most in a World Series game since five players also had multiple hits in Game 4 of the 2019 Fall Classic for Houston (Jose Altuve, Mickey Brantley, Alex Bregman, Robinson Chirinos and ex-Jay Jake Marisnick ... Kirk is the 25th catcher (31st occurrence) to reach base safely at least four times in a World Series game. He is the sixth to do so in the opening game of a Fall Classic, joining Thurman Munson (1977), Elston Howard (1962), Wes Westrum (1951), Hall of Famer Bill Dickey (1938), and Hank Gowdy (1914) ... 2B Bo Bichette made a fine play ranging far to his right. Bichette was the second player in World Series history to start in a Series game at a position he had never played in the regular season, joining Patsy Dougherty, who started Game 8 of the 1903 World Series in right field for the Boston Americans ... Mason Fluharty, Seranthony Domínguez, Chris Bassitt and Eric Lauer all had scoreles outings.

The Bad:

Clement tried to go first-to third on an infield single by Springer and was easily thrown out at third base ... RP Braydon Fisher gave up a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani in the seventh.