John Archer arrived at STAC as a first baseman in 2018 thinking his bat would earn him a spot in the Spartans’ lineup.

But Head Coach Jon Garvey had other plans for the 6-foot, 6-inch righty with a five-pitch repertoire that includes a nasty slider, his out pitch.

Archer, a graduate student, comes into the 2023 season with a record of 0-1 and has been named the team’s number 2 starter behind Aaron Dona.

“It feels awesome,” Archer said. “It feels like all the hard work that I’ve put in has come to fruition in a sense. But there’s much more work to be done.”

Archer came to STAC from Dobbs Ferry High School where he led the Eagles to a league championship and was named Class B Pitcher of the Year in 2018.

In his freshman year at STAC, Archer was still learning what it was to be a pitcher full time.

“When you’re a hitter and you have a bad at bat, the next guy can pick you up,” Archer says. “But when you’re a pitcher, especially a starter, and you gotta get deep into a game, it’s you for a while.”

“You’ve got to find it deep inside you if you’re struggling,” he added.

Over time, he came up with a plan to improve his pitching skills.

“Always get ahead early in the count and just [trust] your stuff whether it’s a fastball or offspeed pitch that you have faith [is] good enough to get anybody out,” Archer said. “Throw it up there with the full belief that it’ll result in getting the guy out.”

Archer created a conditioning routine to prepare himself for any start.

He, like most of his teammates, is a gym rat.  Two days before a start, Archer throws a bullpen session and has a catch before. It is most important that he stays routine to pitch effectively.  

In 2022, Archer threw seven scoreless innings against Franklin Pierce, earning Pitcher of the Week honors in the East Coast Conference. This was his favorite individual memory. 

“But as a team, my favorite memory was going to the regional tournament in 2021.” Though Archer did not pitch in that regional, it was special for him to have accomplished something with the team.

Archer pitched in game 2 of Saturday’s double header against West Chester University. He had five strikeouts, but allowed seven hits, six runs, and two base on balls over four innings. 

Though not his best performance, Archer is working to put it behind him.

“You have to just not shy away from it, and when stuff gets bad and you have a really bad outing, you kind of have to embrace everything that comes with it… then just stick right back to your process,” Archer said.

“You’ve got to be the same way mentally when you have the worst outing as when you have the best outing.” 

On the academic side of things, Archer earned a degree in Business Management and is working toward a masters this year. He says he’d like to own a business, perhaps a baseball-related business, one day.

And he’d like to continue playing at the next level. “If the opportunities to play baseball are there after college, I’m definitely gonna take them and pursue this to the fullest extent,” he said.

Archer spent the last two summers playing collegiate baseball — one with the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs in Little Falls, New York, and another with the Brockton Rox in Brockton Massachusetts.

His ultimate goal is to “win a ring before I leave,” he said.

“I’m confident this will be the year.”