Milo Rushford made history Friday as the first athlete at Walden Grove High School to have a number retired. The 2022 alum currently plays for the Columbia Fireflies, the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
Rushford was joined by family, friends, coaches and the baseball team at Walden Grove’s baseball field for the unveiling ceremony. The tribute recognized a high school career that included four years on varsity, multiple program records and a senior-season run to the state semifinals in Tempe—the deepest postseason surge in school history.
“I guess it just reminds me that despite playing, baseball sometimes feeling like a more selfish journey, the support that everyone gives you, the help along the way and the relationships you build that make them maybe want to retire your jersey one day is the special thing that you take with you,” Rushford said.
The 2022 valedictorian with a 4.66 GPA, Rushford originally planned to play for New Mexico State University. Those plans changed when the Royals selected him in the 18th round of the 2022 MLB Draft at No. 535 overall.
Rushford’s records with the Walden Grove baseball program include all-time hit leader, single-season hit leader, career home run leader and single-season home run leader.
Walden Grove baseball head coach Gabe Jimenez, who was a junior varsity coach during Rushford’s tenure, cited those records and Rushford’s off-field character as the primary reasons he advocated for the jersey retirement.
“If there’s anybody that we would want — all of our kids in the program, from seniors all the way down to an incoming freshman — to follow an example of it would be No. 12. It would be Milo Rushford,” Jimenez said.
Walden Grove Athletic Director Corey Noble said Rushford is the ideal choice to become the first athlete in school history to receive the honor.
“The accomplishments on the field or in the sport, obviously, have got to be worthy of that, and his certainly are,” Noble said. “But also, the accomplishment beyond high school, and he obviously clears that bar, being drafted by the Royals, playing professional baseball here. He’s the valedictorian, he’s a great student, he was a great student-athlete. He’s Captain America. He’s what everybody would want their athletes to be and to work toward being.”
Rushford’s rise
For Rushford, the decision to go pro wasn’t difficult. Professional baseball is the family business; his father, Jim Rushford, played professionally from 1996 to 2010, including a 23-game stint with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002.
“I always hoped that one day I’d be able to play pro baseball, even though, of course, it seemed a long way away,” Rushford said. “At the end of my senior year, there was a little bit of talk about it, and it’s something you dream of as a kid. Once that opportunity got presented, I couldn’t pass on it. I had to take it, and I’m very grateful I was given that chance.”
After receiving a $125,000 signing bonus, Rushford began his climb through the minor leagues.
He played for the Arizona Complex League Royals — a Rookie-level affiliate of the Kansas City Royals — in 2022 and 2023 before splitting time between the ACL Royals and Columbia Fireflies in 2024. In 2025, he was officially reassigned to Columbia. He also played professionally with the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League in the 2023-24 winter season.
Rushford had a .200 batting average and a 17-game on-base streak in August with the Fireflies this past season.
“All those challenges I faced in my first few years, and all the lessons and relationships and all that really shaped me into becoming the adult I am now. It’s a big adjustment but, really, the lessons you learn are invaluable,” he said.
Rushford, who attends virtual classes at Glendale Community College in his free time and is halfway to earning a bachelor’s degree, says one of the biggest challenges in professional baseball is overcoming failure.
“In pro baseball, you’re going to fail. You’re facing other guys who were best from where they were from, and so you have to learn to roll with the punches, constantly take the negatives, and find an opportunity to learn and grow from it and come out the other side better,” he said. “If you can keep stacking those learning moments rather than taking the burden of failure on, then you start building into someone who can handle a lot of adversity.”
While the lifestyle of a Single-A ballplayer isn’t overly glamorous, it’s improved in recent years. Rushford described the “gritty” reality of long bus trips and hotel living—including one four-hour ride where the air conditioning failed.
Single-A players earn a minimum base salary of $26,200 per year, a figure that has more than doubled since the 2023 collective bargaining agreement. While the league now mandates furnished housing and daily meals for players, many players opt for part-time jobs in the offseason to bridge the gap.
Rushford says he has been lucky not to have to look for work in the offseason.
“It leaves me more time for training and getting ready, and I’ve been fortunate in that aspect, for sure,” he said.
Making the Bigs
Only about 10% of drafted players will reach the Major Leagues. The number drops closer to 8% for rounds 11 through 20. But Rushford knew what he was getting into when he signed with the Royals. His dad wrote a book about it. Jim Rushford’s memoir, “The Pizza Guy Delivers,” chronicles the odd jobs — including delivering pizzas in San Diego — that he worked to keep his MLB dream alive. In fact, Milo was named after the pizzeria where his dad worked.
“My dad faced plenty of adversity in his own career, and I think all the challenges he faced really taught me to persevere,” Rushford said. “He watches every at-bat. Every play, he’s recording, clipping and breaking down. So, yeah, he’s definitely in my corner.”
As he prepares for his fourth professional season, Rushford is focused on a breakout 2026. And he’s taking some lessons learned with him into the year.
“People who succeed are the ones who refresh and get right back to it. The next day, they put their best foot forward. They don’t take a confidence hit, and they just keep going,” he said. “They trust in their abilities and that despite having some struggles now, that eventually they’re going to put it together,” he said.
Some of Rushford’s most enduring memories from his high school days are bookended by his first and last seasons with the Walden Grove program.
“A lot of memories from my freshman year, because it was my first time experiencing school baseball and the bus rides with the team, the friends from that year, and then, of course, my senior year,” Rushford said. “That was a really big year for us. We had a lot of success. We made it pretty far into the playoffs, and the team really bound together, and that was a really special year.”
As for a backup plan if baseball doesn’t pan out, there’s time to think about that later. While Rushford has taken several science and philosophy classes, his future after baseball is undecided.
“I haven’t thought about a Plan B, I’m just riding on Plan A,” he said. “But I have been fortunate to find myself in a decent position if I ever need a Plan B.”
FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER! ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News & the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
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