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Seven years after leaving the University to play professional baseball, the Virginia native earned a bachelor’s in engineering science.
John Ghyzel ’24 spent his baseball career trying to throw a ball over home plate.
Once that ended, he looked home again—to the University of Rochester.
The Northern Virginia native was part of the Class of 2018 but left during his junior year to pursue a career in professional baseball. He re-enrolled at Rochester in the spring of 2023 and earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering science. “It took a little while, but I got it done,” Ghyzel says. “It gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment, and it opens doors in the future.”
Ghyzel and his wife both had full-time jobs in Virginia, so taking classes on the River Campus wasn’t an option. But he contacted Nick Valentino, an assistant director in undergraduate studies at the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, and set a path toward graduation.
“Coming back and trying to complete a degree while managing working full-time was a whole other challenge in itself,” Valentino says. “Throughout this process, John was friendly, optimistic, thorough, determined, and hard-working. You couldn’t help but cheer for the guy!”
A fast start to a dream career
Ghyzel’s father, Paul, grew up in Rochester, New York, and his grandmother, Evelyn Ghyzel ’56N, was a graduate of the University’s School of Nursing. So John knew early on about the school. Although he wasn’t highly recruited in baseball coming out of high school, he wanted a college that would offer a great education and a chance to play competitive baseball. Rochester checked both boxes.
Ghyzel was an audio and music engineering major through his first three years. He was also a star pitcher, with a fastball so promising that Rochester baseball coach Joe Reina contacted a friend, Cincinnati Reds scout Lee Seras, who came to Rochester to scout the right-handed pitcher. The Yellowjackets play in NCAA Division III, far from the Division I powerhouses that land tomorrow’s big-league players, so visits like this aren’t common.
It was during a pre-draft workout in May 2017 that the six-foot-five Ghyzel dazzled professional scouts with a fastball that reached 99 miles per hour. Word traveled fast, and several major league teams contacted him. Two weeks later, the Reds selected Ghyzel in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball draft. Two weeks after that, he made his professional debut with the Billings (Montana) Mustangs, a team in the rookie-level Pioneer League.
“It was a no-brainer because the Reds gave me a really good signing bonus,” Ghyzel says. “And there’s also a rule that if you leave school early after being drafted, the team that drafts you must pay the rest of your tuition if you go back. I knew that someday I wanted to earn my degree.”
At the time, Ghyzel was just the second Rochester pitcher ever drafted, joining Michael Weiermiller ’83, who was chosen in the 14th round of the 1981 draft by the Minnesota Twins. Last June, pitcher Nolan Sparks ’24 became the third when he was selected in the 13th round by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ghyzel made the Midwest League All-Star team in 2018 and peaked at Double-A (two levels below the major leagues) in 2021. But that year, a physical exam revealed that one of the muscles in his right rotator cuff had atrophied. Ghyzel went to physical therapy, and even though conditioning improved his shoulder enough for him to pitch that season, the results weren’t great. “I lost a lot of velocity and command because my shoulder just wasn’t working the way it needed to,” he says.
The Reds released Ghyzel, and he began thinking about completing his college education.
The ‘remote’ possibility of a degree
University administrators actively contact students who have left school to determine whether there is a path forward toward earning a degree.
“Our goal is to see students graduate,” says Alvin Lomibao, an assistant dean for undergraduate studies at the Hajim School. “We know there are many good reasons why a traditional four-year sequence would be interrupted, but that doesn’t stop our commitment to helping students achieve their academic goals. We rely on strong partnerships with the College Center for Advising Services, the University Registrar, and many academic departments, to identify pathways for students to complete their degree requirements.”
When Ghyzel contacted the Hajim office, Valentino took the lead. Rochester officials determined that he would have to take classes in person to finish his audio and music engineering degree, but Valentino offered another option: a BA in engineering science. “In the past five years, engineering science has been an effective way for these students to earn a degree from Hajim due to the freedom of engineering science electives and the variety of ways to satisfy core requirements,” Valentino says.
Ghyzel was 20 credits shy of a degree but had already completed his requirements for a math minor. Over the next two summers, he took online courses at Rochester and at Liberty University in Virginia.
In August 2024, Valentino sent word that Ghyzel had officially graduated.
“Rochester was awesome, and Nick Valentino was awesome,” Ghyzel says. “They were motivated to help me and do everything to get my degree. I was surprised it was such a smooth process.”
Ghyzel enjoys his current job, where he helps run a pitching training facility in Sterling, Virginia, and aims to always have a connection with baseball. Now armed with an engineering degree, he hopes there can be an intersection between the two, similar to what Rochester alumnus JJ Ruby ’21 (PhD) has done as senior director of research and development for MLB’s Houston Astros.
Ghyzel understands the value of a Rochester degree and encourages others to follow his path if possible.
“Everyone is in different scenarios, financially and time-wise,” he says. “I spread five classes over two years, but I got it done. And I have a degree from a great university. Because of it, my future has a lot more possibilities. It’s a great feeling.”