by John Sullivan
Mid 7: A James Mieszerski single into left field adds another run for MVP. They extend their lead to 6-0 and Passaro will try to close it out pic.twitter.com/u3kJqVDNy4
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 2, 2025
We were treated to a phenomenal 15u Diamond Domination Tournament matchup between two great teams in USA Prime HV and MVP NY East – Tulley on Saturday afternoon. The teams each sent out one of their horses on the mound, with USA Prime giving the ball to big left hander Hunter Shantie, and MVP NY deciding to give hard-throwing Jack Passaro the start.
Shantie got things started in the top of first with two quick outs, but a two out walk and steal put James Mieszerski on second for MVP. With Mieszerski on second, MVP cleanup batter Kyle Kiernan ripped a line drive into left field for a single and an RBI that gave MVP the early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, Jack Passaro seemed very comfortable pitching with the lead. He blew a fastball by the leadoff batter, caught the two batter looking, and induced a groundout for a quick 1-2-3 inning.
In the second, Shantie continued to attack on the mound, which led to getting counterpart Passaro to pop out to lead off the inning. A Jacob Shaw double in the left field gap once again put a runner in scoring position for MVP, but Shantie dug in on the mound and got a swinging strikeout, followed by a weak line out to first to escape the inning without any runs given up. But unfortunately for Shantie and Prime, Passaro looked just as good in the second as he did in the first. He started off his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning by throwing a fastball by Shantie for strike three, and ended it by freezing Giani Martino on a curveball for his fourth strikeout of the game.
Postgame interview with Jack Passaro of MVP. He went 6 1/3 on the mound, only allowing 1 run on three hits and 13 strikeouts! He spoke about his keys to success and ability to pitch under pressure pic.twitter.com/ABRaFUsgRB
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 2, 2025
Shantie had a very good start to the third, notching two quick strikeouts. Micheal Garcia worked a two out walk to put some pressure on Shantie, but he wasn’t fazed, as he got MVP 3 batter James Mieszerski to groundout to short to keep the score at 1-0. In the bottom half of the inning, it seemed like Prime had something going against Passaro after he walked Camden Bradt and gave up a single to Nash Byrne before getting an out. But, with first and second and no outs, Passaro broke off a nasty two strike curveball that caught Nico Genther looking for the first out. Mason Murtagh then laid down a sac bunt for the second out of the inning and Passaro got the big third out by once again blowing an elevated fastball by the batter to leave two runners stranded in scoring position. Passaro had six strikeouts through 6 and he was looking dominant.
The fourth inning started with Kyle Kiernan’s second single of the game and a 1 out walk from Jack Passaro put Kiernan in scoring position. Jacob Shaw proceeded to take advantage and ripped a single into left field that brought home Kiernan and advanced Passaro to third, who would later come in to score on a wild pitch. After a groundout for out number two, Sean Redding stepped to the plate for MVP and sent a fastball back up the middle to score Shaw and extend MVP’s lead to 4-0.
Now working with a four-run cushion, Passaro seemed even more comfortable on the mound in the bottom of the fourth. After a threat in the third, Passaro wasted no time attacking hitters and immediately got Kaleb Slater to fly out for the first out. Passaro then handled Prime’s two and three batters with ease, as he threw a fastball by Brayden Surrano and got AJ Brown looking on a pitch on the corner.
MVP added another insurance run in the top of the fifth thanks to Micheal Huisman. Huisman led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an E4. On a steal attempt of third, Prime’s catcher threw the ball into left field, which allowed Huisman to score and make it 5-0 MVP. The bottom half of the fifth began with a Hunter Shantie single into right field, but Passaro rolled a 3-6-1 double play against the next batter, Leo Gottesman. Passaro then got a strikeout on yet another elevated fastball and MVP brought their 5-0 lead into the sixth.
The sixth was Hunter Shantie’s last inning of work for Prime, and he finished strong, putting up a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. But, Prime still trailed by 5 and Passaro showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, his sixth inning was his strongest inning of work all day, as he mixed his pitches extremely well and caught three straight batters looking for strikeouts 11,12, and 13.
In the top of the seventh, Micheal Huisman once again reached base via a single and stole second. After two strikeouts, James Mieszerski poked a ball into left field to score Huisman and add on another run for MVP. They lead 6-0 with just three outs to get.
Jack Passaro came out for the seventh looking to finish off his complete game and started strong with his 14th K of the game. But, after giving up a walk and a single, Passaro was pulled for Micheal Huisman. Huisman had a rocky start, walking Brayden Surrano and allowing AJ Brown to hit an RBI single into left. Fortunately for MVP, Huisman settled down fast, and got a strikeout and pop out to center to end it . MVP won by a final score of 6-1.
There’s no doubt that Jack Passaro’s outing on the mound was the defining performance of the game. He was extremely impressive all day and he finished his day with 6 and ⅓ innings of work, 1 earned run, 3 hits surrendered, and 14 strikeouts!
Passaro was simply dominant on the mound and we spoke to him after the game about his approach and ability to perform under pressure.
