When current senior and marketing major Jackson Teer transferred to Trinity in the spring of 2023, it marked an important decision: he would continue to pitch
“Originally, I was kind of contemplating whether I wanted to play baseball,” Teer said. “I had quit, and I just didn’t really know what I wanted to do.”
Teer had been pitching in Division II, but it was not working out as he hoped. This left Teer at a crossroads. Should he continue to play or look in a different direction?
Teer, a San Antonio local, has been playing baseball since he was eight years old, making a switch from soccer. “It was really because my parents hated watching soccer when I played soccer, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to put him in baseball,’” Teer said.
The move from soccer to baseball could have been smoother, and it took some time to get used to his new sport. “I sucked at it for a long time,” Teer said. “It took like four years for me to be even okay at it.”
But Teer stuck with it, continuing to play throughout high school, where he finally began to earn playing time in his junior year and started to identify with the sport. He had come a long way since he started playing, and he earned the opportunity to continue playing in college. Teer decided to play in Division II at a school far from home, which did not turn out to be the right move for him.
“At my old school, I think being away from home made it a lot harder for me to focus on baseball because I was more focused on other things, like more personal things,” Teer said.
Teer ended up transferring after three semesters, leaving himself without a school and facing the life-altering decision of whether or not he should continue to play baseball. It was not a decision that took long to make.
“After like two weeks, I was like, ‘Damn, I really want to play again.’” So the decision was made: Teer would play ball. Now, it was just a matter of deciding where and making it happen. Teer eventually decided to come back to San Antonio and play for Trinity.
“I reached out to [Pitching Coach Dave Smith], and like an hour later, I got a call from him,” Teer said. Coach Smith and Trinity had recruited​​ Teer when he was coming out of high school, and this history helped to make the normally turbulent transfer process simple. “I had no clue what I was doing, and he’s like, ‘Oh here, you just have to do this, this and this.’ He sent me all the paperwork, he made it a really easy process,” Teer said.

Transferring as a student-athlete presents many challenges, including getting to know your new teammates. Last year’s baseball team had nearly 50 players, meaning there were a lot of new faces. However, Teer’s ties to the San Antonio area assisted him.
“Michael Boeke, a guy here, he’s a San Antonio native. When I came here during winter break, he and I worked out together and had thrown together, so I kind of already had my way in.”
Teer’s friendship with Boeke allowed him to quickly mesh with other teammates. It had only been two months since his arrival, and Teer already felt like a part of the team.
Finding success in meeting his new teammates helped lead Teer to success on the mound. In 2023, Teer made 14 appearances for the Tigers, where he collected 79 strikeouts and a 2.71 earned run average (ERA). Teer also led the Tigers in innings pitched with 86.1, 17 more than the next pitcher.
Teer’s talent shined the brightest in a doubleheader against conference opponent Austin College when he pitched a no-hitter in his hometown. “I had never thrown a no-hitter in my life, so it was a very, very, cool experience. … It gave me a lot of confidence. Like, we had played games before, but we hadn’t played the SCAC [Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference], and I really didn’t know what to expect.”
The pitching of Teer and the rest of the staff helped the Tigers to a 31-16 record and a conference championship. While the Tigers were ultimately bounced in the regional by East Texas Baptist, the program still has high hopes and expectations for the 2024 season, as does Teer himself.
“Hopefully, the national championship. That’d be pretty awesome,” Teer said. “I think just improving on last year would be the first thing. Get past the regional, win the SCAC, be the top dogs again.”
Teer’s path was winding and at times unconventional, but it led him back to San Antonio and Trinity. It is a move Teer is glad he made. “Personally, I feel like I have a love for the game again,” Teer said. “Right here, I’m close to home. Everything is really close to me, so I don’t really worry too much about the personal side. I can focus more on baseball, so it allows me to have more of a love for the game than I did.”
A year ago, Jackson Teer almost decided he would not play baseball anymore. Now, his passion for the game has returned, thanks to the strength of the community around him. When Jackson Teer decided to return home, he had no idea he would find a new one.