Former Millersville College Pitcher Makes The Big Time! Story

It was an ordinary day.  That was until I opened my morning newspaper and read the inch high headline on Page 1.  It read..."IT'S LIKE A DREAM".  And directly above the headline was a large picture of a fellow dressed in a New York Yankees uniform, getting ready to throw a left-handed pitch.  The New York Yankees pitcher was Tim Mayza, who will be playing in the World Series beginning tonight.  The caption below the photo read that Mayza, who was picked up by the Yankees organization in July, made the big club in August and now he'll be participating in his first World Series, beginning tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Now...I'm a National League fan, but who can't cheer for someone who played college baseball for Millersville State College, where I went to college and graduated from many years ago!  The New York Yankees faced Mayza for years when he pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays, and they had a plan for retooling his arsenal.  These were tough times for Mayza.  Maybe the toughest in his 11 professional seasons, which were spent entirely with the Blue Jays from the minute he was drafted in 2013.  "You're in a little bit of darkness," Mayza said this past week.  "You're in limbo and unsure of what the future holds.  It was really hard mentally and emotionally."  Mayza was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on June 29.  He made his first appearance with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders, the Yankees' Triple-A club, on July 24.  He was back in the big leagues on August 16.  And now, a season filled with ups and downs has brought Mayza to his first World Series.  Has to be an UP! to him!!  The Yankees will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 tonight in L.A.  Months after his midsummer break, and a few hours spent mulching in the garden at home, Mayza's career is alive and well.  "I'm glad to see him with a big smile on his face," college teammate Jesse Mowed said.  "There was a time where I think he just didn't know.  He's back to himself again.  He's really enjoying the experience."  Hey...who wouldn't be?  What carried Mayza through were his connections to Millersville.  He had tough-love conservations with coach Jon Shehan and an unbreakable bond with a group of friends that called themselves the Hound Dogs.  The four recruits happened to arrive at Millersville around the same time.  They shared an apartment, a dugout and ultimately their life's journeys.  Mowed, from Waynesboro, and Sunken, from Camp Hill, were pitchers.  Mark Maiorano, from Millstone Township, New Jersey, was an outfielder.  Mayza was the best player in the group, a multi-sport athlete who graduated from Upper Perkiomen in Pennsburg. Shehan discovered Mayza at an American Legion All-Star workout, which was an important recruiting tool 15 years ago.  "Anytime you sign a 6-3", athletic lefty, it's a good thing," Shehan said. " I would say he was a pretty big deal for us.  But I was such a young coach.  I really didn't know what we had."  Mayza's velocity, in the mid-80s at Upper Perk, jumped not long after his arrival at Millersville.  Shehan put Mayza on the mound in the Division II College World Series as a true freshman.  The summer between sophomore and junior year is when Mayza's stock really started to rise.  He was invited to the prestigious Cape Cod League and returned to college as a legitimate pro prospect.  Radar guns began to show up for Mayza's starts during his junior season, when he posted a 1.55 ERA in 15 games.  He was drafted by Toronto in the 12th round that spring.  Shortly before his final season at Millersville, with six inches of snow on the ground, Mayza asked Mowen to have a catch.  The two walked over to Boemesderfer Stadium, cleared out some space on the track and threw long toss.  Mayza needed to strengthen his arm before the opener.  He couldn't let the reality of winter in the north slow him down.  Once he reached the minors in 2013, there was another roadblock.  He endured two seasons that were so miserable a member of the Blue Jays front office asked him if he was :allergic to the strike zone."  Shehan was concerned the end might be near for MU's prized lefty.  "I really didn't think his career was going to last very long," Shehan said.  "Sometimes the conversion was one-sided.  It was, 'Tim, if you don't figure this out between the ears more than anything else, it's not gonna last.'"  Mayza's results began to change in 2015, his third season.  He made his big-league debut two years later.  As much as Mayza's buddies admired him and believe in him, no one could have expected what these years have brought.  That a ballplayer from a Division II school in Pennsylvania could have endured for this long.  That Mayza could pitch for the Yankees!  That he could wear pinstripes in the Fall Classic!!  All of Mayza's closest friends will attend Game 4 in the Bronx next week.  Mowen and Maiorano grew up as Yankee fans.  Mowen said it took his breath away when his favorite team signed one of his favorite people.  Another friend, Bobby Sunkel has cheered for the Boston Red Sox, the Yankee's bitter rivals, for his entire life.  Sunkel is still debating wearing Yankee gear as a show of support.  Mayza had an 8.03 ERA when the Blue Jays cut him.  He had a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings with the Yankees.  The lefty made only two appearances against the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians in the first two round of the playoffs.  He said he hopes to remain on the active roster, which will be announced today.  If he does make it today, there's a chance Mayza will be summoned from the bullpen to face Shohei Ohtani or Freddie Freeman or some other Dodger's All-Star.  I just want to see Tim get the opportunity to pitch," Mowen said, his voice cracking with emotion.  "That wold complete my baseball career."  And...more than a decade after they lived in the same apartment at Millersville, they'll be in the same stadium.  One in uniform.  Three in the stands.  The World Series....they made it together!!  And...I can hardly wait to see the game tonight.  "LET'S PLAY BALL!"   It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.