Madera-raised Sagouspe headed to Cal Poly
For The Madera Tribune
Tanner Sagouspe, with his parents Kirk and Vicki, is all smiles after signing a National Letter of Intent to play baseball and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Madera-raised Tanner Sagouspe signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
A product of the Madera Little League and Madera Babe Ruth programs, Sagouspe, who played his high school ball at San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno, is proud to be able to continue his baseball career.
“All the guys and coaches I’ve been with have helped make me the person I am today, even on the field and off the field,” he said. “It’s definitely put me in the position I am in today. Little League, getting picked up in Majors by Greg Jones and Mike Alvarez definitely put me on a path to want to do great things with baseball. It’s definitely been a fun ride. I couldn’t be more grateful to grow up in this town. My family have all been born and raised in Madera. We’re more of a football family. It’s cool to hear the stories from my grandpa and my dad when they went to Madera.”
In addition to being able to play for a good baseball program with Cal Poly, Sagouspe is happy to be not only close to home, but also at a city he loves visiting.
“It didn’t hurt that SLO was on the coast,” he said. “It’s a great place and a great community. I’m excited to grow as a person and develop as a player.”
Sagouspe was in contact with Cal Poly before his junior year started, which was eventually cut short because of COVID.
“They saw me at a few events,” he said. “Every once in a while, we would talk. It was towards when COVID started and the season started, I was dealing with a few injuries. I was worried the recruitment was going to stop. I didn’t know how long COVID was going to last. They reached back out a month after the season ended that they were still interested. I was talking to them for a few weeks and sending them videos and working everyday. I was hitting and working in the weight room. I was blessed to receive an offer in June.”
Sagouspe also had offers from UC Santa Barbara and St. Mary’s but wasn’t too sure. However, when Cal Poly finally offered, he was all in.
“I committed a few days after. It was awesome,” he said. “Their baseball program has great coaching. They are more oriented about player development than winning or just building the program. It’s about making the players the best version of themselves. That’s the reputation they have. The coach has done a great job over there. It is San Luis Obispo. It’s one of my favorite places to go. It’s a great school. Academics is something I value a lot. I worked really hard in high school for the academic side. San Luis Opispo is a perfect place for me. We vacation in SLO all the time. I just love that area. It all worked out perfect and couldn’t be happier.”
Sagouspe, who graduated from SJM with a 4.33 grad point average plans to major in business administration.
Sagouspe’s parents are at every game, dating back to his All-Star days in Little League and Babe Ruth in Madera. He said they are happy he is playing close to home.
“They were definitely pumped that I decided to stay in California and rather close on the coast,” he said. “I would not be surprised that they don’t miss many home games. It’s awesome they will be able to come and watch. Even teams we play aren’t too far away. It’s going to be an exciting few years of baseball.”
Although known as a dominating pitcher and shortstop in his years at Madera, he move to catcher and outfield at San Joaquin Memorial.
“I was the back-up catcher on varsity my freshman year,” he said. “One of our outfielders tore his labrum and they needed an outfielder. They threw me out there. From that point on, I played outfield. It was only this year I came back to catcher. I got recruited as an outfielder. Catcher is also in the talks. They might put me in there a little bit.”
To say Sagouspe had a great senior season is probably an understatement. He batted .490 for the Panthers with 11 home runs and 48 hits. Five of his home runs came against home town Madera South.
“It was a fun season,” he said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to. It was a great year to watch the team develop. We had a very young team. It was a fun year, definitely. It’s about the journey and not about the outcome. I had a great time.”
Sagouspe was joined by Josh Castro, Charlie Monterrosa and Michael Monreal as Madera players at SJM and has continued a pipeline of Madera baseball players at SJM.
“It’s cool to have other players from my hometown,” he said. “I’m just so grateful for the community I grew up in Madera. The coaches and people, I’m so close to them. They have really made me the young man I am today.”
Although playing baseball professionally is the end goal for Sagouspe, he knows he sill has to get an education.
“That would definitely be the end goal,” he said. “I want to work on getting my education out of the way and see where that takes me. I want to be on the path of a happy life. If baseball works out, it does. I’m going to try to play as long as I can. If not, I know that I’ll have a good education and know I’ll be able to start a family and go from there.”
