Tim Mayza 18 is one of seven inductees for the 2024 Millersville Athletics Hall of Fame class. Millersvilleathletics.com is featuring each of the inductees in a series of spotlight stories. The entire class will be recognized at a ceremony on Sept. 20 as part of Millersville’s Homecoming weekend. Click here to view the Millersville Athletics Hall of Fame.
Before his successful Major League Baseball career as a pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, Tim Mayza starred as an All-American on the mound for the Marauders.
From 2011-13, Mayza won 21 games as a Marauder, posting a 2.98 ERA while helping Millersville baseball to an NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship and a pair of PSAC East titles. His collegiate career lasted three seasons, as the Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the 12th round of the MLB Draft, but Mayza racked up 185 strikeouts and 211 1/3 innings, which ranked him third in Millersville history in both categories.
Mayza made an immediate impact as a starter for the 2011 NCAA Atlantic Regional championship team and quickly became one of the most high-profile pro prospects in Division II. As a freshman, he won six games and logged 65 2/3 innings with just nine extra-base hits allowed and a team-best 4.27 strikeout to walk ratio. He allowed just three hits in seven innings in his first PSAC Tournament appearance, defeated Mercyhurst in the NCAA Atlantic Regional, and pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings against No. 2 Mount Olive in game three of the Division II World Series.
Mayza was just getting started, however. He was stellar in the postseason again as a sophomore, holding California to one run over seven innings in the PSAC Tournament. That summer, Mayza accepted an invitation to the prestigious Cape Code League where he was named Baseball America’s No. 6 Division II Prospect. Mayza more than lived up to that billing in 2013. He led the PSAC with a 1.55 ERA, ranked seventh in the nation with 11 wins, pitched the second-most innings in Millersville history, and tossed three shutouts. Ranking first on the team, Mayza allowed a team-best 6.66 hits per game. Mayza was voted All-PSAC East First Team, All-Atlantic Region First Team by three organizations, and Daktronics All-America Third Team. Mayza was Millersville’s game-one starter in every series that season and went 2-0 in the postseason, allowing four runs in 16 innings. He dueled two other future professional pitchers that season, beating West Chester’s Joe Gunkel with a complete-game shutout, and then topped future MLB pitcher Lou Trivino of Slippery Rock in the PSAC Tournament with a four-hit, nine-inning shutout.
Mayza worked his way through the minor league ranks for four seasons and became the second Millersville alum to appear in a Major League Baseball game on Aug. 15, 2017 when he pitched a scoreless inning of relief against the Tampa Bay Rays. Mayza has since pitched in more than 300 games for Toronto, and pitched in the MLB Playoffs in 2022 and 2023. At the time of his induction, Mayza ranks 10th in Blue Jays’ history in career appearances and second in career holds.
Despite being drafted as a junior, Mayza diligently pursued his bachelor’s degree from Millersville, and graduated in sports business in December of 2018. As an active major leaguer, Mazya earned a master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 2021. Mayza’s wife, Darian, was a Millersville cheerleader and graduated with a degree in math education in 2014. Tim and Darian are the parents of two sons: Everett and Graham.
