Tessmer attended Cochranton High School in Cochranton, Pennsylvania, and would be accepted to the University of Miami, playing on their baseball team. He would play in the 1994 and 1995 College World Series for Miami, and was named Coral Gables Regional MVP. He was drafted in the nineteenth round by the Yankees in the 1995 MLB Draft, and began playing for the team\'s Single-A affiliate in Oneonta, New York, pitching 38.0 innings with two wins and a 0.95 ERA. The following season, he moved up to the Tampa Yankees and had a career-best 12-4 record and a 1.48 ERA. He also had 104 strikeouts, the highest total of his career.\n', '

Jay was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame at its 45th Annual Induction Banquet on Thursday, April 11, 2013.\n', '

Tessmer was promoted to the AA Norwich Navigators for 1997, but struggled and fell to 3-6. He returned to Norwich the next year and after improving his ERA to 1.09, he was promoted to Triple A where it was boosted to 0.49. That season, he made his Major League debut against the Anaheim Angels, where he struck out two hitters. He ended his abbreviated Major League season with one win and a 3.12 ERA. In 1999, he had three wins and forty-two strikeouts at AAA, and again played briefly for the Yankees, posting a 14.85 ERA over six games. He struggled with his consistency in 2000, however, going 4-8.\n', '

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