How One Student-Athlete Found Herself Through the Game of Softball

Written by: Jeremy Dawson

 

“For as long as I’ve been playing, softball has always been a routine event in

my life,” said 20-year-old Taylor Archer. “Despite the fact that I moved

often, it was the one solid thing I had and I was lucky enough that it got me

to college as well.”

 

Archer is a junior softball player at the University of Rhode Island. She is

listed as a catcher/infielder.

 

As a student-athlete life can often be overwhelming and leave out the time

for a social life. Archer claims, “I’ve learned time management, and knowing

when to be social. The hardest part is knowing how to balance it all.

 

Not having time to be social is usually a trait acquired when an athlete

begins playing in college, but Archer was ahead of the game.

 

She was born in Long Beach, California, but before she was even a year old

her family moved to Orlando, Florida. Due to her father, Len Archer,

working in the hotel industry, Archer was always on the move growing up.

 

In all, Archer lived in six different states all across the US. She lived in New

Mexico for four years, three years in Los Angeles, and three years in Rhode

Island, all giving her just enough time to not really grow up in one place.

Archer says, “The hardest part of moving around was always being the

‘new girl’. Growing up is tough, as most kids know, but I think it’s harder

when you get to a new school and all the kids already have their friend

group.”

 

At the age of seven however, Archer picked up a bat and began playing softball in Los Angeles. No matter where she moved after this she never put the bat down.

 

Archer said that she doesn’t have much interest in any other sports. She played soccer for three years but never got into it like she has with softball. Not only has Archer been playing softball for a long time, but she has developed a great game along the way.

 

She lived in Milford, Massachusetts throughout high school and helped them to a State Championship victory her senior year.

From there Archer was being recruited by multiple schools and narrowed it to three colleges, URI, PC, or Fairfield. She decided on URI because of the Journalism department.

 

Like a love for anything though, it hasn’t always been great. “Trust me, it is a blessing and a curse, sometimes I hate it, sometimes I love it,” Archer said. “I hate it when I think about what other kids my age are doing, having a social life. But I love the competition and being part of a team. The best friends I have now are people I met through softball.”

 

URI played against UMass Lowell this past March and Archer had a huge game.

 

It was the bottom of the first inning and Archer was up for her first at-bat of the night. The bases were loaded and Archer stood there with an intense focus.

 

The first pitch came in and Archer swung. The next thing you know, the ball is bouncing deep into left field and two runs are scored. URI won that game by two runs so Archer’s double decided the game.

 

Last year, as a sophomore at URI, Archer finished in the top five on the team in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, batting average, and led the team in runs batted in. She has been named the Student Athlete of the Week at URI.