Anthony Volpe gets best of friend, former Delbarton teammate Jack Leiter in first-ever meeting

ARLINGTON, Texas — Anthony Volpe expected there to be plenty of postgame banter — not from him, but from his buddies back home in New Jersey about his first time squaring off against his good friend and former Delbarton teammate Jack Leiter.

Round 1 went to Volpe.

The Yankees shortstop swung at the first pitch he saw from Leiter for a single and then nearly took him deep in his next at-bat, only for it to fall into a glove on the warning track in an 8-4 win over the Rangers on Monday night at Globe Life Field.

“It was special,” said Volpe, who described Leiter’s stuff as “electric” on a night when the right-hander limited the Yankees to just two runs through five innings before getting tagged for three more in the sixth.

Volpe appeared to share a laugh with Leiter after flying out to the warning track in the fifth inning, though he said they didn’t want to “catch eyes.”

But the first time facing Leiter in the big leagues, five years after they graduated from Delbarton and much longer since they met on a playground on the Upper East Side as young kids, was a full-circle moment for the duo.

They had faced each other only in live batting practice sessions in past offseasons and during the COVID shutdown in 2020.

This time, it was the big leagues.

“Super meaningful,” said Volpe, who was 1-for-4. “I know how hard he worked throughout everything. We went [on] a little bit different paths, but to always reconvene and have each other to lean on with whatever we’re going through is super special.”

Leiter’s father and former Yankee Al Leiter was in attendance, while Volpe said they would have had a bigger group from back home here if not for the real world.

“A lot of people were trying, but they got work [Tuesday], all of our friends,” he said. “If there was a redeye flight or something, they’d all be here.”