Image by Keith Johnston from Pixabay

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) – With the Major League Baseball postseason underway since Sept. 29, four graduates of the Sacramento region’s Little League teams represent the area in both the American and National leagues, with more than 140 total former Little Leaguers participating in the postseason to win the World Series.

The National League has two Sacramento-region graduates and they are Robert Gasser of El Dorado Hills Little League and Nick Mears of Rocklin Little League, playing for the Milwaukee Brewers. The American League has Nick Sogard of Fair Oaks/Orangevale Little League playing for the Boston Red Sox and Dom Núñez of Land Park Pacific Little League playing for the Cleavland Guardians.

Gasser is a pitcher for the team and made local Milwaukee headlines during his May 2024 MLB debut. He attended Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, as well as the universities of New Mexico and Houston. Gasser was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2021 with the 71st overall pick before he was traded to the Brewers in 2022, assigned to play on Double and Triple-A teams.

Mears, also a pitcher for the Brewers, attended Rocklin High School and Sacramento City College, and was signed as a free agent in 2018 to the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing across three levels of baseball before being called up to the major league in 2020. Mears spent some time with the Colorado Rockies before being traded to the Brewers in July 2024.

Sogard is an infielder for the Red Sox and attended Jesuit High School in Carmichael. He was originally drafted to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019 with the 368th overall draft pick and traded to the Red Sox in 2021. He was promoted to the 40-man roster for the first time in July 2024, but was optioned to start the 2025 season at the Triple-A level. Sogard was called up to relieve pitcher Romy Gonzalez after an injury on May 10.

Representing Land Park Pacific Little League is Cleavland Guardians catcher Núñez, who was drafted out of Elk Grove High School in 2013, despite a commitment to play collegiate baseball at University of California, Los Angeles. He was drafted in the sixth round to the Colorado Rockies and made his MLB debut in August 2019. Núñez had short stints with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates before signing a minor league contact with the Guardians in January 2024. He was elevated to the active roster after catcher Austin Hedges suffered a concussion in June.

After the American and National League Wild Card Series games, the Major League Baseball World Series is scheduled to begin on Oct. 24. To see the entire list of Little League graduates in the MLB and other notable alumi, visit www.littleleague.org/who-we-are/alumni/active-mlb-alumni.

According to league information online, the Sacramento region has more than 25 Little League programs. To learn more about how to sign up for a team, visit www.littleleague.org/play-little-league/league-finder/ to find active teams, rules and policies. To start or grow an existing Little League program, visit www.littleleague.org/play-little-league.