Graduation day, high school baseball championship dogpiles and visitors from Major League Baseball teams marching through the family living room.
That's a sampling of the whirlwind spring experienced by the Sacramento area's two top prep draft prospects.
Max Stassi and Andrew Susac are catchers for Yuba City and Jesuit high schools, respectively. They are friends, having played during summers past on showcase travel teams where their defensive skills, ability to drive the ball and leadership abilities enhanced their national profile.
Their lives are about to change on Tuesday – baseball's draft day. It's also decision day as Stassi and Susac face a win-win prospect that very few 18-year-olds encounter: secure a lucrative signing bonus of what could be in excess of $2 million for a first-round pick and become a professional right away, or head off to college on a full-ride scholarship, Stassi to UCLA and Susac to Oregon State.
"The worst thing that can happen is they go to college, and how great is that?" said Jim Stassi, Max's Yuba City coach and father.
Draft projections have Stassi going in the first round and Susac going no later than the second. Either way, it looks like an up year for local prep products as the region has not had a first-round pick out of high school since Tony Torcato of Woodland went to the Giants in 1998. The region has not had two first-round picks in the same draft since 1972, when three went – Jerry Manuel (Tigers) and Mike Ondina (White Sox) of Cordova and Joel Bishop (Red Sox) of McClatchy.
Twenty local products have signed national letters of intent to play college baseball on scholarship, and a good many of them may not get drafted as Major League Baseball no longer has the draft-and-follow process that let teams keep rights to players beyond the year they were drafted. What is certain is Stassi and Susac are on the radar – and on the clock.
A representative from each major league team has been in contact with Stassi and Susac. There have been text messages, personal workouts and in-house visits. Stassi graduated Friday, then took a red-eye flight to Boston on Saturday. He will work out for the Red Sox today.
"I'm trying to catch my breath now, here in the hotel," Stassi said. "It's a real big honor, all of this, and I'm having a blast."
Said Susac: "All we can do is wait and see. I can't control the draft. College, I can control where I go. It'll be a family decision."
Same with the Stassi clan. Both families will try to play it cool at home on draft day, eager for the phone to ring.
"As much as I'm going through, I know it's even harder on my parents (Nick and Shawnna)," Susac said.
Said Stassi: "I would agree with that 100 percent as my parents (Jim and Racquelle) are the ones dealing with all the calls, too."
Jim Stassi said the process has become all the more grueling because his son had a sore shoulder earlier this season, though all is well now.
"It's been very hectic," Jim Stassi said. "But some of this has been fun, too. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Call The Bee's Joe Davidson, (916) 321-1280.
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