Archer Horn anchors cleanup spot in Area Code Games opener

Had it been up to him, though. ...

“I wanted to,” Horn said. “I was excited. I really wanted to face him.”

Horn — a San Mateo native, who is committed to play at Stanford out of St. Ignatius — faced two other Brewers pitchers. Batting out of the cleanup spot as the A’s designated hitter Thursday at Blair Flair on the campus of Long Beach State, the left-handed hitting Horn went 1 for 2, with the 6-6, 200-pound Pence working in relief for one inning between Horn’s two plate appearances.

“It didn’t end up working out, but I took some good swings today,” Horn said.

Horn is teaming with some familiar faces at the five-day Area Code Games, a scouting bonanza featuring an array of the top high school prospects destined to have their names called in the 2026 MLB draft.

There are four West Catholic Athletic League players on the Area Code A’s Upperclass Games roster, including Serra pitcher Kelley Crawford and St. Francis catcher Gino Cappellazzo. Incoming Serra junior Aaron Minton also played in the Area Code Games as part of the A’s Underclass Games roster, along with four other WCAL players, including St. Francis outfielder Jack Leeper out of Menlo Park and Riordan third baseman Santino Williams out of South San Francisco.

Also on roster for the Area Code A’s is incoming Menlo School senior Jack Freehill.

Horn’s biggest WCAL ally in Long Beach, though, is his longtime teammate DJ Delaney. The two first-team All-WCAL baseball standouts out of St. Ignatius were both in the lineup Thursday, with Delaney starting in left fielder. But it came as something of a surprise when both were named to the Area Code Games in early June.

“Archer’s that guy,” Delaney said. “So, I had an inkling that he was going to be on it. But I was just stoked. Just being able to be with my S.I. teammate, and just being able to experience this together, it’s a really big deal, and I never discredit that, our accomplishment for being here, and just being able to play together. So, it’s amazing.”

Horn and Delaney first began playing together when they were 9 with the Starting Line Up club team out of San Mateo. They went on to play together for the West Coast Federals travel team out of San Mateo, and Neptune Beach Baseball Organization out of Alameda, before teaming at St. Ignatius. The Area Code A’s makes it five uniforms they’ve shared.

“I was fired up,” Horn said. “I was honestly more fired up for him. He’s worked for that so much, and we’ve grown up playing together. And, obviously, I was blessed as well to be here.”

There was one key step along their parallel baseball careers where Horn and Delaney weren’t teammates, however. That was in District 52 Little League All-Stars. During their 10s and 11s years, Horn was a member of San Mateo American, but Delaney played for Pacifica American.

“It was weird,” Delaney said of playing against San Mateo American, a team composed of so many of his West Coast Federal teammates. “It was always competitive games.”

Going head-to-head over those two seasons, each team beat the other once. The winner-take-all decider was supposed to take place during their 12-year-old year, but that landed in 2020 and was canceled due to the pandemic.

“It would have been an awesome battle,” Delaney said.

Horn served double duty Thursday, as he also pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief. A left-handed hitter but right-handed thrower, Horn said he is open to doing either if and when the time comes that he has to choose just one.

“Looking for myself as either one,” Horn said. “Just wherever the game takes me.”

Horn’s bat may make the decision for him. He shared the title of WCAL home run king in 2025 with Serra’s Ian Josephson, and ranked sixth in the league and first among WCAL juniors with a .352 batting average. And when he arrived at Blair Field Thursday, he found his name in the cleanup spot in the lineup.

“No surprises from me,” Delaney said. “He’s been doing this since as long as I can remember. He’s grown just a little guy with a little bit of juice to big-time juice, and A+ pitcher. But I’ve seen it through all my high school years, and I know he works his ass off. So, it’s amazing to see.”

The Area Code Games span through Monday with each of the eight teams playing daily, with a home run derby held Saturday at 6 p.m. Games can be viewed via livestream at www.meridix.com/channel/?liveid=areacodebaseball#/.