Stassi officially signs at UCLA

One of the finest athletes ever to come out of the Mid-Valley made a big step toward taking his talent to the next level on Friday.

Max Stassi, a senior catcher on the Yuba City High baseball team and one of the top-rated high school players in the country, celebrated signing his national letter of intent to play for UCLA with a large group of family, friends, teammates and even local politicians at Honker Gym.

"Anytime you have a young person that dedicates themselves that much, you have to be proud of them and realize that it shows a lot about our community," Yuba City Mayor Rory Ramirez said.

Stassi started playing varsity baseball as a freshman, and it didn't take long for the power-hitting catcher to draw the eye of top programs with a batting average of .580. Stassi also led the league in home runs and RBIs — a Tri-County Conference triple crown.

Stassi gave a verbal commitment to the Bruins before even taking the field for his sophomore season, his father and coach Jim Stassi said.

"I was just excited," Max Stassi said. "I've been waiting for this moment for a couple of years."

Last season, Stassi led the Honkers to their second straight Sac-Joaquin Section Div. III title by batting .461 and belting a school-record 15 home runs. He's also had pair of stints on the gold-medal winning USA Baseball Youth National Team.

With one year left to play for his father, and with younger brother, Jake, Max Stassi is ready to put aside the national exposure and keep up the Honkers' legacy.

"Even with all this going on I'm still highly focused in the section championship," he said.

Stassi marks the 10th player in Jim Stassi's tenure to go directly to a Division I program. Among those is the oldest Stassi brother, Brock, a pitcher in his second year at the University of Nevada, Reno.