‘Vallejo’ Film in Development, Chronicling Yankees Legend CC Sabathia’s 1989 Little League Team (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Katcy Stephan It’s a busy week for baseball legend CC Sabathia. GTG Studios has announced its latest film, the Sabathia-inspired “Vallejo,” in partnership with Creative Control and Grapefruit Media.

The coming-of-age film chronicles the extraordinary journey of the 1989 North Vallejo Little League All-Stars, navigating the challenges of growing up in a crumbling city.

At its heart, the film tells the inspiring true story of World Series champion and New York Yankees icon Sabathia, long before his rise to Major League Baseball stardom.

Rapper and Vallejo native LaRussell is set to star. The film news comes on the tails of Sabathia’s election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, in which he earned 86.8 percent of the vote in his first year on the ballot. “In Vallejo, sports was a place of innocence for us; a pass to stay out past the street lights and stay out of the street life,” says Sabathia. “Before I became a World Series champion, I was just another kid from Vallejo trying to survive. ‘Vallejo’ tells the story of me and my friends finding ourselves, making sense of the world around us and trying to avoid the wrong path.” Set against the backdrop of Vallejo, Calif., during the late 1980s, the film paints a vivid picture of a city in freefall, according to the official synopsis. “Grappling with a devastating economic crash, rising crime and systemic challenges, the story captures the harsh realities of the time.