Anthony Bassett, infielder for the Cerritos College baseball team left his family and all he knew behind in Nicaragua to chase his dream to play baseball professionally in the United States.

Born and raised in Nicaragua, Bassett said his childhood was fun, an experience he wouldn’t replace for anything but economically things weren’t always easy.

Bassetts’ parents taught him to value and appreciate his family and what he has despite financial struggles, he said it’s made him realize and cherish everything he can here and the opportunity he has now in the United States.

Growing up playing ball was instilled in him from a young age, his family started teaching him how to play and one day his mom took a day off work to take him to his first practice

Bassett went on to play in the U18 World Baseball Classic for Nicaragua and explained in Spanish his journey getting there.

“In Nicaragua, they’re overlooking all the leagues that are there, then a pre section list comes out of the invitees to the practice and slowly they start cutting players,” Bassett said, “I’ve been on team Nicaragua since U10 and then from there I made the U12, U14, U15 until the U18 team which is when I moved to the U.S.”

When he got to represent his country in the U18 WBC he said it was an honor and filled him with pride, an experience he described as beautiful having to have played in the tournament and getting to meet players from the big leagues around the world.

He learned a lot in Nicaragua having learned and experienced different ways of playing the game from different coaches.

“I feel very grateful for having played there [Nicaragua] and having learned to play the way I play now,” Bassett said, “Coming from there it motivates me more here [U.S.] to know that no one knows me, I want them to know my name.

A lot of sacrifices were made for Bassett to continue chasing his dream of playing baseball at a higher level, leaving his family behind in Nicaragua was one of the biggest.

Bassett said, “I left my family over there, my mother, my grandparents, all my family that was over there, I haven’t seen them in four years, I haven’t been able to go back.”

The move from Nicaragua to the U.S. was a big and drastic change for Bassett because he only knew the basics of English.

Over time the change grew on him as he played his first college baseball season at LA Harbor in 2022 and over the summer he joined the MLB Academy Barons which led him to meet some people who helped him find his way to play for Cerritos College.

“Franky [Lopez] the pitcher and Calix [Armijo] were playing on my team, we became friends and they explained to me what was happening at Cerritos and that Coach Fernley was going to come, I had heard really good things about him and decided to take the opportunity to play here,” said Bassett.

Baseball isn’t the only thing Bassett likes to do, in his spare time he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, catching up with his mother who now lives in the U.S. and playing mini golf.

Playing in the MLB is the ultimate dream Bassett is chasing and hopes to one day make it and play for his favorite team the New York Yankees.

“Ever since I was seven years old my dream was to play for the Yankees and to be like Alex Rodriguez. He was the player that inspired me when I was a kid,” Bassett said.

Currently, looking to transfer isn’t at the top of Bassett’s priority list at the moment although he does have an offer from a university to further his playing career, he’s focused on enjoying his time at Cerritos right now and having fun with the team and his teammates.

Bassett believes he’s not ready to decide on his future yet but believes God will lead him to the best path.

“I’m focused on ending the year with the team the best we can, become champions, win as many games as we can and let God see what I deserve for the future,” Bassett said.