Terry was born in Arlington Heights, IL but his family moved West to southern California when he was 2 years old. Terry is the youngest boy in a family of 7 children (4 boys, 3 girls). He grew up playing in the West Hills little league in Woodland Hills CA where he threw his first no-hitter at the age of 11. Two of his older brothers were also baseball players, with his next oldest brother (a lefty) having pitched in the little league world series. He still blames a broken hand-me-down process in his family for being a righty. His family later moved to Westlake Village, CA where he played baseball with Westlake High School as well as American Legion. His Mom was his biggest fan, having kept score for every game Terry played in high school. Dad was always there to motivate and provide as many reps required. And his brothers constantly motivated him to be better than they were.
Terry played ball at Los Angeles Valley College for 2 years, where he met his future wife-to-be Kim. Terry also played with the LA Valley Dodgers semi-pro team that went on to win the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series. After being recruited to play with Sacramento State, he played on one of only two teams in school history to make it to the College World Series. Kim later joined Terry in Sacramento where they decided to remain after marrying in 1988.
After a few years of doing nothing competitive and reaching 240 lbs with the help of married life and Baskin Robbins, Terry opted to get off his butt and do something to get a handle on his condition. He went all-in with competing in duathlons (run, bike, run), bicycle racing, and competitive running, ultimately winning numerous age group competitions in races all over California. He even qualified with a 3:09 marathon time and ran the 100th running of the Boston Marathon, where his only goal was to beat the guy running with the North Church replica on him (which he did).
Terry coached baseball with the El Dorado Hills Little League for 4 years, including their first District 54 championship in league history. He coached competitive soccer for 3 years. He also coached the Freshmen and Junior Varsity baseball teams at Oakridge High School for 4 years, which gave him the baseball bug again.
Terry joined the MSBL in 2010 after bumping into Derrick Rebensdorf at a Sac State alumni game. He joined as a Giant and has played league with them ever since. He has also played with the Royals, Braves, Pirates, 18+ Tribe, and Buzzards. He has won 2 MSBL National Championships with the Giants, 2 with the Royals and 2 with the Braves. He has also won a
National Championship with the Royals in another league as well as the MSBL Fall Classic. He has won numerous local league championships with the Giants as well as various MSBL holiday tournaments. He has over 125 pitching wins thus far in his MSBL career.
Terry has been blessed with an incredibly supportive wife in Kim so he could “get out and play.” His children Katie and Trevor both have competitive streaks themselves, each continuing to play soccer since graduating college.
Terry was inducted into the Sacramento State Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.
