Former Toms River stars reflect on Little League title

The dream of playing baseball beyond Little League had taken Casey Gaynor from his hometown of Toms River, N.J., to Rutgers and now Youngstown, Ohio, where he turned on the television set in his host family's home earlier this week and came across a game that rekindled fond memories.

In 1998, he played on the Toms River East team that won the Little League World Series against Kashima, Japan. And now, 12 years later, Gaynor saw a similar process unfolding with another hometown team, Toms River National, on its way to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series.

"It just reminds you of how fast time has gone," said Gaynor, 23, a pitcher for the single-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers, an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in the New York-Penn League.

Indeed, time has zipped by for members of the 1998 team affectionately known as "The Beasts of the East." Only four players from that team went on to play college baseball. And of those, only Gaynor and Todd Frazier, teammates for a year at Rutgers, now play professionally. The rest found occupations in other fields.

But Monday night's Mid-Atlantic Regional title game win over Council Rock Newtown helped put things into perspective. "It's unbelievable it's been 12 years," said Frazier, 24, a shortstop and first-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2007. "Some of those kids on this year's team were just being born [in 1998]. It's kind of cool. They're doing the same thing we were doing."

From 1995 to 1999, Toms River went to Williamsport an unprecedented three times, including back-to-back in 1998 and 1999.

Even current Toms River National player Kevin Blum, who hit six straight home runs in the regional, knows the history. "We're very aware of those teams," Blum said. "We know all about Todd Frazier and Casey Gaynor."

Frazier, who now plays for the Louisville Bats, the Reds' triple-A affiliate, holds those memories dear. In fact, he can give a play-by-play account of critical moments in the final games leading up to the Little League World Series.

He still remembers his performance at the plate in the 12-9 title win over Japan - 4 for 4 with a home run and an intentional walk.

"One of the best games I've ever played," Frazier said, laughing. "I didn't really want that game to end, to be honest, because we were enjoying it so much. It really was incredible.