South Jersey’s Joey Loperfido and Davis Schneider turned minor league doubts into World Series dreams

TORONTO — After the 2022 minor league season ended, Joey Loperfido and Davis Schneider were catching up at a Philadelphia bar.

The South Jersey natives were back home and went out for a weekend. Loperfido had finished up a season with the Asheville Tourists, the high-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Schneider ascended three levels of the Blue Jays system to finish the season with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons, but he wasn’t feeling optimistic about his future.

“I remember talking to him,” Loperfido said. “He was like, ‘Man, they put me on the development list. I think I’m going to get released in spring training. I think I’m cooked.’”

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Loperfido, recounting the story from one of the media day tables last week before the Blue Jays took on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series, couldn’t help but smile at the memory. That day at the bar, he encouraged his friend to stay the course and focus on having a strong spring.

But neither of them could have predicted how the 2023 season would unfold for Schneider, culminating in a historic major league debut for the utility player that September. Nor could they have foreseen Loperfido being dealt to Toronto at the 2024 trade deadline to reunite with his friend.

Or that they would find themselves representing South Jersey on baseball’s biggest stage the following October.

“Just to hear him say that he didn’t think the future is going to be super bright, and then to see him here now, it’s unbelievable,” Loperfido said.

They took different paths out of their South Jersey high schools, but have now ended up in the same place: the World Series. Schneider, 26, was drafted by Toronto out of Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees in 2017, while Loperfido, also 26, took the college route. After graduating from Haddonfield, he headed to Duke and was drafted by the Astros in 2021.

For a few games in August, Millville native Buddy Kennedy joined them on the Blue Jays, making it a trio of South Jersey stars playing for Canada’s team. Kennedy — Schneider’s former travel ball teammate on the South Jersey Young Guns — signed a minor league contract with Toronto after the Phillies designated him for assignment in July.

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Kennedy played two games for the Jays this season before being designated for assignment again, and was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers. He returned to the Toronto organization in September on another minor league deal. Although he won’t be playing in the World Series, he is guaranteed a ring thanks to his time with both clubs.

“It was kind of cool for us to be able to share that experience,” Schneider said. “Being three kids from South Jersey, grew up, same age, playing baseball together, it’s pretty awesome. It’s still pretty cool. I mean, we’re from small-town New Jersey, so the fact that we’re here, it’s pretty awesome.”

During their junior year in 2016, Kennedy, Loperfido, and Schneider were named to The Inquirer’s All-South Jersey team as infielders. Kennedy hit .536 and tied for the South Jersey lead in home runs with nine. Loperfido hit .431 and led the area in triples (six), while Schneider led in doubles (16), and both had an area-best 28 RBIs.

In 2017, they made the list again, and Schneider was named player of the year.

“It’s crazy,” Loperfido said. “I think South Jersey and the baseball community there is a lot better than people give it credit for. I know Davis, and I vividly remember when Mike Trout broke into the big leagues, and even after that, with guys like Zac Gallen, we take a lot of pride in it. And I know that South Jersey and the greater New Jersey area takes a lot of pride in their baseball.”

In high school, Loperfido can recall playing against Schneider in just one exhibition game, since Eastern and Haddonfield weren’t in the same conference. While they weren’t close friends like they are now, they still were aware of each other’s talents. They both were named to the same Carpenter Cup team in 2016 as local all-stars.

Nine years later, Schneider and Loperfido were contributors down the stretch for the pennant-winning Blue Jays. Loperfido, primarily coming off the bench, has made the most of limited opportunities, hitting .333 with an OPS of .879 over 41 games this season.

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He was named to the American League Championship Series roster as a replacement for Anthony Santander, who was removed because of injury. Loperfido made his postseason debut as a pinch-runner in Game 5 against the Seattle Mariners. He is not on the World Series roster.

“I know that there’s so many people that helped Davis and I get to this point, whether it was high school, travel ball, Little League, and for them to kind of play a part and get to see us up here now, it’s unbelievable,” Loperfido said.

Across 82 games this regular season, Schneider hit .234 with a .797 OPS and 31 RBIs. In the playoffs, most of his opportunities come against left-handed starters. Schneider started against Blake Snell in Game 1, playing left field and hitting second in the order.

With the World Series now in Los Angeles, Schneider has many people back home watching, including his 96-year-old grandmother.

“I have a lot of text messages and everything like that, people saying congratulations,” Schneider said. “And the fact that people are watching everything, it’s still awesome. I love being from New Jersey and being from where I’m from, and it’s a lot of good people back home.”

And those doubts in the Philadelphia bar three years ago now feel a world away.