• RETIRED MUSTANG BASEBALL NUMBERS
     
     
    Jaff Decker Retired Jersey
     
    Jaff Decker #22
     
    Class of 2008
     
    Jaff Decker played at Sunrise Mountain from 2005-2008 where he was a 4 year varsity lettermen in baseball and was named to the All-State team 4 consecutive years.  Jaff was selected as the Desert West Region Player of the Year and 1st Team All-State in 2006.  In 2007 he was selected as the West Valley Player of the Year by the Arizona Republic, along with 1st Team All-State and 1st Team All-Desert West Region honors. Jaff was also a 2007 USA Baseball Tournament of Stars participant, named to the All-Tournament Team, and was recognized as the Top Hitter for the 16U USA National Team by hitting .571 at the Youth Pan Am Championships setting a tournament record with 16 hits. As a senior, in 2008, Decker was named the Arizona state high school baseball player of the year, the AIA athlete of the year, the Rawlings National Player of the Year, and the Gatorade National player of the year.  Decker currently holds the AIA career batting average record of .565 and hit a total of 35 home runs with 14 coming his senior year. 
     
    The San Diego Padres selected Jaff in the first round, with the 42nd overall selection, of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft where he began his professional career.  By the end of the 2010 season he was ranked among Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects.  Jaff made his Major League debut on June 19, 2013 with the Padres.  In total, Jaff played 11 seasons of professional baseball where he has suited up for the Padres, Braves, Athletics, Nationals, and Pirates.  In 2018 Jaff Decker was part of the inagural class to be inducted into the Sunrise Mountain Sports Hall of Fame. 
     
    Aaron Bummer Retired Jersey
     
    Aaron Bummer #18
     
    Class of 2011
     
    Aaron Bummer played at Sunrise Mountain from 2008-2011 where he was a 3 year varsity lettermen.  In 2011 Aaron was named a Rawlings Preseason Honorable-Mention All-American and the 18th best prospect in the state of Arizona by MaxPreps.  During his senior season, Aaron broke his leg after his second start only to come back for the state playoffs as the team's closer where he totaled 3 saves in helping lead the Mustangs to a State Championship Runner Up.  Aaron went 4-2 with three saves as a junior with a 1.67 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 42 innings of work.  After the 2010 season Aaron was selected to the All-Region 1st Team.
     
    In 2011 Aaron was selected in the 31st round, pick 959, of the Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Yankees.  Instead of signing with the Yankees, Aaron chose to attend the University of Nebraska where he would play for the Cornhuskers from 2012-2014.  Over his three-year Husker career Aaron went 11-6 with one save over 51 appearances, including 23 starts.  He posted a career ERA of 3.06 with 110 strikeouts in 158.2 innings.  He was selected to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team in 2014 and the All-Academic Team in 2013 and 2014.
     
    Following the 2014 season Aaron was selected in 19th round, pick 558, of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago White Sox and signed a professional contract.  Aaron made his major league debut with the White Sox on July 27, 2017 at home against the Chicago Cubs where he pitched an inning in relief striking out the 1st batter he faced.  Aaron is a current member of the Chicago White Sox.  Click here to check out his MLB profile.
     
    Austin Byler Jersey  
     Austin Byler #14
     
    Class of 2011
     
    Austin Byler played at Sunrise Mountain from 2008-2011.  During his time at SMHS, Austin was selected to the First Team All-Conference and First Team All-State teams in 2010 and 2011.  After the conclusion of the 2011 season, he was selected as the 4A Conference Player of Year, the West Valley Athlete of the Year,  named to the All-Arizona Team, and was a Gatorade National Player of the year Finalist. Austin boasts career numbers of a .533 batting average, 20 home runs, 74 RBI, 68 runs scored, 38 walks (28 intentional) and was perfect in 24/24 stolen base attempts while leading the Mustangs to 4 straight conference titles and 2 State Championship Runner Ups. In 2019 Austin was inducted in the Sunrise Mountain Sports Hall of Fame.
     
    Upon graduating Austin attended the University of Nevada where he was a four year letter winner and became one of the top players in the Wolf Pack program history with 202 starts and a .320 lifetime batting average.  Austin ranks in the top 10 in program history in home runs (4th, 39), walks (5th, 115), triples (5th, 11), doubles (7th, 50), runs (8th, 180) and hits (8th, 242).  Austin returned to the Wolf Pack for his senior season and led the team to a conference title after being drafted by the Washington Nationals in the ninth round of the 2014 MLB Draft.   Austin was drafted again in the 11th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015 where he played 4 seasons in High A minor league baseball for the Visalia Rawhide. 
     
    TJ Geith Retired Jersey  
     TJ Geith #1
     
    Class of 2007
     
    TJ Geith played at Sunrise Mountain from 2004-2007 earning three varsity letters.  During his time at SMHS TJ was select to the 1st Team All-Region and participated in the 5A Senior All Star Game.  After attending graduatin, TJ attended Scottsdale Community College where he played for the Artichokes from 2008-2009.  In 2009 he helped lead the Chokes to the JUCO World Series where they would finish as the Runner Up and was selected to the All-Conference 1st Team.  He posted a 10-2 record with a 2.69 ERA.  During the 2008 season TJ pitched in 71 innings, striking out 59 batters and poted a 4.01 ERA. 
     
    After the 2009 season TJ was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft in the 49th round, pick 1483, by the Chicago White Sox.  Instead of starting his professional career TJ chose to finished out his college career at the University of Louisiana Lafayette where he would play for the Ragin' Cajuns for two years.  In 2010 TJ posted a 6-2 record in 15 starts.  He pitched 90.2 innings striking out 64 batters with a 4.67 ERA and earned Sun Belt Conferance Academic Honors.  In his senior season of 2011 TJ went 6-5 in 14 starts with 3 complete games, one of them being a shut out, and compiled 55 strikeouts over 82.1 innings pitched with a 4.59 ERA.  His six wins in 2011 would lead the pitching staff in that category.
     
    After finishing his college career with the Ragin' Cajuns, TJ was selected in the 39th round, pick 1200, of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays and would sign a professional contract.  TJ spent four seasons playing minor league baseball in the Rays and Houston Astros' oragnaizations with his final two seasons in the AA Texas League with the Corpus Christi Hooks.
     
    Eric Gardner Retired Jersey
     
    Eric Gardner #15
     
    Head Coach 1999 - 2018
     
    Coach Eric Gardner led the mustangs for 21 years, building the program into one the biggest power house baseball teams in the state.  During his career, Eric garnished a 435-181 record, a 71% winning percentage, was a 13 time region champion, a 3 time state championship runner up, and finished in the final four of the state tournament five times.  Eric has been named the region coach of the year 13 times, the state coach of the year 3 times, and has led a program that has sent over 150 athletes onto the college ranks, including 12 players that have played professionally.  The impact Coach Gardner has made in the baseball community has been monumental, where he has led the state coaches association and been an innovator in the off-season training and organization of high school baseball programs.  Eric retires as one of the winningest coaches in Arizona baseball history.  Eric has continued to work as a guidance counselor at SMHS, and plans to pursue a career as an administrator in the future.  In 2018 Coach Gardner became the first coach to be inducted into the Sunrise Mountain Sports Hall of Fame.