Pitman High softball star Addison Mettler officially signed her National Letter of Intent on Wednesday afternoon to further her education and athletic career at UCLA. Mettler’s signing comes as she prepares for her senior season this spring.
“It means a lot to me,” Mettler said to a large crowd of family, friends, teammates, coaches and teachers in the Pitman library. “This is a really special day. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a kid, going to UCLA… The fact that I’m actually going there is crazy, but every one of you has had some type of impact on this one way or another, so thank you.”
Amongst the family members in attendance to support Mettler were her parents, Greg and April, and her older sister, Alexis.
“I’ve been coaching this game for about 17 years and the ability to see your daughter rise, be around the game, learn the game, from playing in the dirt… to now being on a huge stage and having the opportunity to be on TV, is surreal,” Greg said. “What amazes me most is knowing that, through everything this young lady has battled, everything she has done, she’s never changed who she was. She knew what she wanted, she stayed true to herself, and made her mom and I incredibly proud.”
Mettler, a catcher, has spent all three years of her high school playing career at the varsity level, where she has totaled 68 hits, 25 walks, 60 runs batted in and a .591 batting average over 40 games. According to Extra Innings Softball, she is currently the fourth ranked overall prospect and number the one ranked catching prospect in the entire nation.
In her sophomore season of 2021, Mettler helped the Pride win a share of the Central California Athletic League Championship by shattering multiple single-season school records, including the batting record (.727), the home run crown (9) and having the most walks (17). In her junior season last spring, she racked up 30 hits, 17 walks, 4 home runs, 19 runs batted in and a .492 batting average in 78 plate appearances over 21 games. After both seasons, Mettler was named All-League, All-District, All-State and Team Most Valuable Player. All these accolades were accomplished while maintaining a 4.23 GPA despite taking multiple AP and Honors courses. She was named a Scholar Athlete in 2022 and has earned Academic All-League in all three years.
“Addie has made a huge impact on Pitman High School,” said Athletic Director Dustin Curtiss. “It’s safe to say that if we had four full seasons, I think a lot of other records would be obliterated in our softball record book.”
When Mettler arrives to the UCLA campus in the fall of 2023, she will be joining one of the top softball programs in the country. This past year, the Bruins were ranked No. 5 in the country after achieving a 51-10 overall record. The team even made an appearance in the 2022 Women’s College World Series, where they advanced to the semifinals of the winner’s bracket before losing to No. 1 ranked Oklahoma, the eventual National Champions.
“My interest in UCLA all started around when I was like eight-years-old,” Mettler explained. “I went on this overnight camp, and I just loved it. There were a few other schools I liked at the time, but I just liked the coaches, the environment and I just love LA. I love being a part of a family and it felt like that ever since I was younger.”
And not only will Mettler look to make a positive impact on one of the best collegiate softball teams in the nation, but she will also look to accomplish her lifelong goal of working in sports journalism.
“UCLA is such a diverse place for me and it’s a place where I’m going to be able to further my career, and that’s huge for me,” she said. “I want to be a sports broadcaster, so I want to be able to have a school that’s going to set me up for that.”
But before she can officially kickstart her collegiate journey, Pitman head softball coach Joe Lewis reminded everyone that she and the Pride have some unfinished business.
“I’m so happy Addie put up all those stats, and now every game, I remember every [opposing] coach say, ‘Put her on. Put her on.’ I’m proud of her and I can’t wait to see what we do next year,” Lewis said with a smile.
Pitman’s season is expected to get started in early March, with Mettler leading the charge as they hope to regain the CCAL crown.