Aaron Piasecki stands with his parents Jason and Tracey before a game earlier this season.
(Photo courtesy of Jason Piasecki)
By Scott VanSickle
LocalSportsJournal.com
The dream for most young baseball players is making it to the major leagues, and Aaron Piasecki is one step closer to living that dream.
Piasecki was selected by the Houston Astros with the 241st overall pick in the eighth round after wrapping up an outstanding senior season at Troy University. He became the
fifth former Mona Shores player selected in the Major League Baseball draft and the first since Stacy Chupailo was also picked by the Astros in 1994.
“It’s everything I’ve ever worked for,” Piasecki said of being picked for the Astros. “My advisor, Nick Tiano, did a great job finding the (signing bonus) number, and we discussed it and I’m ready to go to work. I was in talks with several teams in the seventh and eighth round, the Astros, the Tigers, the Royals, and the Astros’ pick came up and they selected me.”
Piasecki had a draft watch party at home with parents, Jason and Tracey, and has been receiving congratulations and well-wishes since the pick was announced. The MLB selection caps what was quite a week for Piasecki, who also got engaged to his girlfriend Brooke Stark.
““The support has been unreal. We had (Shores coach Brandon Bard) and his family, Andrew Bard, Howie Bard over at the house and they’ve done so much for me while I was at Mona Shores. I heard from friends I grew up with and some people I haven’t talked with since high school congratulating me,” said Piasecki. “We had a party in the backyard and my mom did a great job setting it up. I didn’t expect to go day 1, but we’ve been watching the TV the whole time. We all got nervous when the phone started ringing during the seventh and eighth rounds.
“I just got engaged too so it’s been an incredible week.”
After celebrating with his family and friends, Piasecki will fly down to Houston to get his contract signed and get his medical evaluations. Once that process is complete, Piasecki will report to the Astros’ Florida Complex League team in West Palm Beach, Fla. While Piasecki will learn more details soon, he hopes to be able to make the transition to the Fayetteville, N.C., Woodpeckers, Houston’s Low-A affiliate, this season.
While primarily a shortstop, Piasecki’s defensive flexibility could lead to a position change. The 22-year-old has also played second base while at Central Michigan and could also see time as a corner outfielder.
But Piasecki is grateful to have the opportunity to continue his baseball career no matter the position, stating the Astros look like the perfect fit for his skill set.
“This is so awesome and it’s still so new for me that I’m almost out of words,” Piasecki said. “This is a really good opportunity with an organization that develops players. (The Astros) play like I like to play and a lot of the guys they drafted are similar style players. I’m just glad for the opportunity.”
And Piasecki knows success at the professional level won’t come without hard work, but he is ready to embrace the challenge.
“For me, it’s about getting on the field and zoning in on defense. It’s a big jump on the offensive side too, you see the guys getting drafted are (throwing) 92-100 (miles per hour), so that’s a jump to get used to.”
Piasecki culminated an outstanding collegiate career with an All-Sun Belt Conference season and helped Troy reach the College World Series for the first time in school history.
The 2022 Mona Shores grad hit .457 and .481 in his two seasons at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek to earn All-American honors. He transferred to Central Michigan for the 2025 season and hit .318 as the starting second baseman. He also excelled in two different stops in wood bat college summer leagues. After earning a spot in the All-Star game for the Muskegon Clippers in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in 2023, Piasecki spent the 2024 and 2025 summers with the Traverse City Pit Spitters of the Northwoods League and finished as the all-time league in career batting average.
While at Mona Shores, Piasecki racked up plenty of awards despite missing his sophomore year due to the COVID shutdown in 2020 and overcoming an arm injury. He earned All State honors as a senior, as well as All-Conference, All-District and All-Region selections as a Sailor, and is the single-season record holder in stolen bases with 42.
LocalSportsJournal.com
The dream for most young baseball players is making it to the major leagues, and Aaron Piasecki is one step closer to living that dream.
Piasecki was selected by the Houston Astros with the 241st overall pick in the eighth round after wrapping up an outstanding senior season at Troy University. He became the
fifth former Mona Shores player selected in the Major League Baseball draft and the first since Stacy Chupailo was also picked by the Astros in 1994.
“It’s everything I’ve ever worked for,” Piasecki said of being picked for the Astros. “My advisor, Nick Tiano, did a great job finding the (signing bonus) number, and we discussed it and I’m ready to go to work. I was in talks with several teams in the seventh and eighth round, the Astros, the Tigers, the Royals, and the Astros’ pick came up and they selected me.”
Piasecki had a draft watch party at home with parents, Jason and Tracey, and has been receiving congratulations and well-wishes since the pick was announced. The MLB selection caps what was quite a week for Piasecki, who also got engaged to his girlfriend Brooke Stark.
““The support has been unreal. We had (Shores coach Brandon Bard) and his family, Andrew Bard, Howie Bard over at the house and they’ve done so much for me while I was at Mona Shores. I heard from friends I grew up with and some people I haven’t talked with since high school congratulating me,” said Piasecki. “We had a party in the backyard and my mom did a great job setting it up. I didn’t expect to go day 1, but we’ve been watching the TV the whole time. We all got nervous when the phone started ringing during the seventh and eighth rounds.
“I just got engaged too so it’s been an incredible week.”
After celebrating with his family and friends, Piasecki will fly down to Houston to get his contract signed and get his medical evaluations. Once that process is complete, Piasecki will report to the Astros’ Florida Complex League team in West Palm Beach, Fla. While Piasecki will learn more details soon, he hopes to be able to make the transition to the Fayetteville, N.C., Woodpeckers, Houston’s Low-A affiliate, this season.
While primarily a shortstop, Piasecki’s defensive flexibility could lead to a position change. The 22-year-old has also played second base while at Central Michigan and could also see time as a corner outfielder.
But Piasecki is grateful to have the opportunity to continue his baseball career no matter the position, stating the Astros look like the perfect fit for his skill set.
“This is so awesome and it’s still so new for me that I’m almost out of words,” Piasecki said. “This is a really good opportunity with an organization that develops players. (The Astros) play like I like to play and a lot of the guys they drafted are similar style players. I’m just glad for the opportunity.”
And Piasecki knows success at the professional level won’t come without hard work, but he is ready to embrace the challenge.
“For me, it’s about getting on the field and zoning in on defense. It’s a big jump on the offensive side too, you see the guys getting drafted are (throwing) 92-100 (miles per hour), so that’s a jump to get used to.”
Piasecki culminated an outstanding collegiate career with an All-Sun Belt Conference season and helped Troy reach the College World Series for the first time in school history.
The 2022 Mona Shores grad hit .457 and .481 in his two seasons at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek to earn All-American honors. He transferred to Central Michigan for the 2025 season and hit .318 as the starting second baseman. He also excelled in two different stops in wood bat college summer leagues. After earning a spot in the All-Star game for the Muskegon Clippers in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in 2023, Piasecki spent the 2024 and 2025 summers with the Traverse City Pit Spitters of the Northwoods League and finished as the all-time league in career batting average.
While at Mona Shores, Piasecki racked up plenty of awards despite missing his sophomore year due to the COVID shutdown in 2020 and overcoming an arm injury. He earned All State honors as a senior, as well as All-Conference, All-District and All-Region selections as a Sailor, and is the single-season record holder in stolen bases with 42.
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