American International College

Gary Barcher was a four-year starter at second base and shortstop as a member of the AIC baseball team, helping transform the program into a regional power, which culminated with capturing the 1979 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division II-III championship.

He had a career .290 batting average while totaling 133 hits, 23 doubles, 111 runs scored and 54 RBI in his 126 career games played. Barcher was a First-Team All-New England selection in 1978 and was selected to play in the 1978 New England College Division All-Star Game.

The two-year captain made his mark on the AIC record book, setting the career marks for games played, hits, at-bats (464), runs scored and walks (93), and set the single-season records in runs scored (36) and doubles (12) in 1978.

Barcher was named AIC’s Alumni Memorial Award winner and was an ECAC Merit Medal recipient in 1980; both awards combine academic and athletic excellence. Barcher has spent the last 33 years as a teacher at Bloomfield (Conn.) High School, where he was honored as the school’s 2006 Teacher of the Year and was named the 2009 Project InVEST National Teacher of the Year. He has been the school’s varsity boy’s basketball coach since 1999, amassing over 300 victories while capturing two state championships with two state runner-up finishes, three conference titles and two division titles.