Hall of Fame
Port Orange, Fla. native Jared Mathis joined the Embry-Riddle baseball team in 1994 and later turned out to be one of the players that helped put Embry-Riddle baseball on the map. He helped the Eagles move from the bottom of the league standings to become a perennial contender for the conference crown.??
In his first season, Mathis worked his way into the starting catcher role and led the Eagles to their first ever postseason appearance. In his sophomore year, he caught every inning of every game and was instrumental in the Eagles capturing the program’s first conference regular season championship. His performance during his sophomore campaign earned Mathis second team All-America honors, making him the first position player at ERAU to earn All-America honors.
Following his senior year, Mathis signed a free agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers and played professionally for the Brewers organization for six years. The work ethic and dedication that defined his career at Embry-Riddle helped Mathis reach Double-A Huntsville and earned him several awards, including the Mr. Hustle Award with the Ogden Raptors in 1997, the Coaches’ Award with the Stockton Ports in 1998 and the Rocky Award with the Huntsville Stars in 1999 and 2002. The Huntsville Stars declared Sept. 4, 2000 as Jared Mathis Day and the following season he led the Stars to the Southern League title.
Mathis finished his career with the Eagles as a three-time All-Conference and two-time All-Region selection. His impressive offensive abilities still ranks among Embry-Riddle’s best as he is among the Eagles’ all-time top 10 in hits (1st, 275), games played (3rd, 202), doubles (3rd, 49), RBI (3rd, 149), total bases (3rd, 360), triples (4th, 12), stolen bases (7th, 73) and batting average (9th, .374).??Mathis graduated from Embry-Riddle with a degree in Aviation Business Administration. He and wife Brittany reside in Atlanta, Ga. with children Cameron and Macy, where Mathis is the Assistant Vice President of Property for WKF&C Agency.
“Jared is a goal-oriented individual that always strives for perfection in everything he does. I was thrilled that a local player with his ability level would chose Embry-Riddle since the baseball program was relatively new and had not experienced much success up to that time. What I did not know was that Jared would be the cornerstone of our program’s success in the years to come. Jared earned All-Conference, All-Region and All-American honors which are impressive enough, but that really does not express his true worth to the Embry-Riddle baseball program. He got it done in the classroom and on the field. He exemplified what student, person and player are really all about. I never worried about him academically or his work ethic and conduct on the field. He is what we want our sons to grow up being like. I cannot give him any higher compliment.”
--Greg Guilliams
ERAU Head Baseball Coach (1992-2007)
“Jared wasn’t a highly recruited player. He wisely chose Embry-Riddle and he left his mark not only as a student-athlete, but also as a PERSON. Jared was a tireless worker, good student, loyal teammate and incredible athlete while attending Embry-Riddle. He is well respected by his friends, colleagues, peers and teammates. He was the role model for me as a freshman and set the example of how to handle yourself on and off the field. I learned the behaviors it took to be successful by observing Jared in his day to day walk of life.”
--Nick Mingione
ERAU Baseball (1997-2000)
“When I think of an Embry-Riddle Sports Hall of Fame, I can’t think of anyone else more suited for the second HOF class than Jared Mathis. He was the key part of a new developing tradition at ERAU and was the staple of our lineup for years. He is at or near the top in most all-offensive career statistical categories at Embry-Riddle so it’s easy to see that he was a success on the field. The important thing to consider is that he didn’t earn those records by being an average player that played a lot of innings. Instead, he earned them by being a guy with the target on his back each game. Jared was a rock, the foundation of our team and handled the pitching staff as well as I have seen any collegiate catcher.”?
--Luis Nesmith?
ERAU Baseball (1997-98)
