April 13, 2008

Chuck Curti chuck@blackcollegebaseball.com

4/2/2008

To see Anthony Archie strolling around the baseball field, it might be tempting to ask if he's gotten lost. At 6 feet tall and a robust 270 pounds, Archie looks like he might be on the wrong field. Don't be fooled. Archie is right at home on the baseball diamond, and the junior at Elizabeth City State is fast becoming one of the most feared hitters in Division II.

As of April 1, Archie was tied for 11th in the nation with a .485 batting average. He's also hit 5 homers and driven in 25 runs while accumulating an .803 slugging percentage (17th in Division II) and an on-base percentage of .534 (33rd).

ECSU head coach Terrance Whittle said Archie is also hitting better than .300 with runners in scoring position.

"I'm surprised that I'm doing so well in my first year at a four-year school," said Archie, who played his first two collegiate seasons at Chesapeake College in Maryland. "My first two years in juco, I think the highest I ever hit was .420."

While Archie might have sneaked up on the rest of the CIAA, he was no secret to Whittle. Whittle said he recruited Archie out of Anne Arundel High School in Maryland, but the slugger had to go to junior college to get his academics in order.

"When we got him, it was really a steal for us because there were a lot of schools interested," said Whittle, who uses Archie primarily as a designated hitter but also a backup first baseman. "He gives us that other power hitter in the lineup. He's given us a huge dimension in our offense."

Archie had been accustomed to always being the clean-up hitter, but at Elizabeth City State, he has been asked to bat seventh. That's by design and not because of any deficiencies Archie has offensively. His primary job is to act as protection for Nick Johnson.

Johnson is ECSU's proven power hitter. He's coming off a season in which he hit .367 with six homers and 33 RBIs. With Archie in the lineup, opponents are finding it tougher to pitch around Johnson, and Johnson has benefited. Already in 2008, Johnson is hitting .402 with six homers and 37 RBIs.

Both Johnson and Archie are part of a potent Vikings lineup. Dusty Todd, J.J. House and Troy Andrews are all hitting over .350 for ECSU. The Vikings (16-9, 3-1 in the CIAA) also have Meshaw Taylor, the reigning conference player of the year.

"We're a great hitting team," said Archie. "They can't pitch around everybody. They have to pitch to somebody."

Archie said he hasn't minded dropping down in the batting order. He said hitting seventh allows him to not only relax a little more - he's not expected to hit a homer every time he goes to the plate - but see more fastballs.

The amount of fastballs he sees could change, however. Now that his "secret" is out, he isn't likely to keep on getting the treatment that a typical No. 7 hitter gets.

Even if Archie does start to see more off-speed pitches, breaking balls and balls off the plate, Whittle is confident that the big guy can make the proper adjustments.

The only alterations the ECSU coaching staff had to make with Archie, said Whittle, was move him back in the batter's box and also get him to sit back on his back foot a little longer, enabling him to shift his weight all the way from the back to the front rather than from the middle to the front.

Best of all, said Whittle, Archie has learned how to make his own adjustments in the box. And, unlike most typical power hitters, Archie is not prone to strike out a lot. So far, he's striking out only once in every 16.5 at bats.

"He has great plate discipline," said Whittle.

Archie said he would also like to learn to hit to all fields. Right now, he's a dead pull hitter. Whittle, in fact, said he gets a little uneasy in the third-base coach's box when Archie comes to the plate. The coach is also surprised that more teams haven't tried to shift an extra fielder to the left side, much the same way major-league teams move an extra defender to the right side for Boston lefty David Ortiz.

As for his girth, Archie said that has not presented him with any problems -- although, the one year he did play football in high school, he said it was to work on his quickness.

"He's very athletic for his size," said Whittle. "There's been very few times that we've had to pinch run for him."

Perhaps his athleticism should come as no surprise. Both of his parents were involved in sports at Johnson C. Smith University; his father played basketball, and his mother played basketball and softball.

The softball genes must have taken over. Archie has played baseball since he was five, and he doesn't plan on stopping any time soon. He said he's going to get into a summer wooden bat league to continue to improve as a hitter.

Of course, he also has that dream of one day being drafted by a major-league team. For now, he'll concentrate on helping Elizabeth City State win the CIAA title. With North Carolina Central moving on to the Division I ranks, the conference is back to five teams and no longer has an automatic NCAA berth for the winner, so the conference tournament will likely be the ultimate prize for CIAA teams this season.

Shaw University and Virginia State likely will be ECSU's two biggest obstacles. The Vikings already have split with Virginia State and will see the Trojans again April 6. The Vikings have all four of their games with Shaw yet to play; their March 30 doubleheader was called because of inclement weather.

Elizabeth City will need Archie to continue his torrid offensive pace if it is to contend.

"This is a great hitting team," said Archie. "Pretty much one through nine can hit. It doesn't matter where I'm hitting, as long as I'm hitting."

Orginal article can be found at the following link: http://www.blackcollegebaseball.com/news/gen/2008/4/2/040208itp_Anthony%20Archie.asp?path=gen