.6 years ago, during an Environment-friendly Guard cricket suit in Sydney's interior west, a skinny teen coming from the northerly beach fronts was actually battle sixes onto the hill at Drummoyne Oval.Representing Northern Area in the state's premier under-16 competitors, the left-hander slammed 34 (31) during the training last versus Sydney Cricket Nightclub to help chase after the 208-run intended with a handful of rounds to spare.That growing cricketer was actually Travis Bazzana, that today came to be the initial Australian to become selected in the opening around of the Big league Baseball Draft.On Monday morning, the Oregon Condition second baseman was actually gotten due to the Cleveland Guardians as the No. 1 general pick along with a potential signing incentive of as much as AU$ 15.5 million, although the exact body is actually yet to become confirmed.But prior to starting a rewarding baseball profession, Bazzana was a talented cricket natural born player collecting hundreds at institution, club and also representative level.Cricket coach Josh Miller, who has mentored the Northern District Environment-friendly Guard side for virtually a years, still remembers Bazzana's Drummoyne assault." It was actually an incredible innings," Miller said to Fox Cricket today." You don't really observe stuff like that in Environment-friendly Defense cricket." Watch every round of the England v West Indies Exam collection LIVE & unique to Fox Cricket, accessible on Kayo. New to Kayo? Begin your free test today > Aussie makes MLB record, general no. 1!|00:26 Miller, the Supervisor of Cricket at Barker College and the Junior Process Supervisor at Northern District, coached Bazzana for two times between 2016 and 2018 prior to the sporting phenom committed to baseball." He was a very, excellent batter and also an incredibly talented ball-striker," Miller proceeded." Definitely not a slogger by any means, however he took the video game on. He might rack up all over the ground." Things that attracted attention along with him was actually most likely his athleticism. He definitely possessed a cannon throw, as guys that play baseball do, however only the method he transferred the field, you recognized he was an exclusive professional athlete." Bazzana, who likewise participated in basketball, rugby as well as football in the course of his youth, led Turramurra Senior high school in the direction of its initial Alan Davidson Shield title before playing third-grade cricket among grownups at Roseville Area CC, becoming the nightclub's youngest centurion.He was actually selected for the Eco-friendly Cover side in 2016, participating in together with future Sydney Thunder player Toby Gray and also Australian under-19 representative Corey Miller.But his correct contacting was baseball-- before cricket matches, Bazzana would heat up through practising his baseball swings." He was actually a handy cricketer, it's often talked about whether he could possess been a cricketer or otherwise," Bazzana's father brown Gary informed CODE Sports." However he was regularly even more enthusiastic about baseball." Oregon State's Travis Bazzana. Photograph through Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire by means of Getty ImagesSource: Getty ImagesApart coming from his raw ability and unnatural athleticism, Bazzana's competition and also expertise were promptly noticeable to Miller. He may certainly not have actually been actually one of the most gifted cricketer in the Northern District squad, however he worked more challenging than any of his colleagues." Travis' devotion was actually unrivaled. I have actually not viewed a young athlete as driven," Miller said." The hard work, the disk, that was actually all incredibly noticeable to observe." He excelled when the video game was difficult as well as when he had a definitely crystal clear objective to become trying for. That constantly keeps you in pretty good stead as a sportsmen, if you have that competitive touch when you're under pressure." Although handling both summer sporting activities was draining for the university trainee, with cricket and baseball consuming his whole weekend break, Bazzana gained from the skill-sets he obtained in both sports. Last year, he said to MLB Pipe that cricket's focus on regular connect with helped cultivate his bat-to-ball skills.Since relocating to the United States in 2021, Bazzana has actually acquired approval for his plate field, understanding which pitches to sway at or leave alone. His hand-eye balance and decision-making at the plate can, a minimum of partly, be actually attributed to his time as a cricketer." The technique he attacked the sphere and the swing of the bat was best," Miller clarified." It was actually fairly noticeable exactly how effectively his baseball edge transferred across." Oregon State's Travis Bazzana.Source: Information Corp AustraliaIn a moving doors minute, Bazzana decided on to prioritise baseball in 2018, making his launching for the Sydney Blue Sox later that year and also standing for Australia at the 2019 Under-18 Planet Cup.Needless to state, it ended up the correct telephone call, but baseball's increase was actually cricket's reduction." His functionality coming into Eco-friendly Shield screamed that he was actually mosting likely to be actually an impressive cricketer," Miller carried on." Just because of his devotion as well as the amount of time and effort as well as discipline he needed to what he was actually carrying out, I think he can possess found a technique to become a decent cricketer." He failed to have the most ideal year in Veggie Cover ... my hunch is baseball was the right choice." Those fellas, they often tend to find a method to do well in whatever they perform, only through that willpower and style." Nevertheless, talking to The Book of Joe podcast earlier this year, Bazzana confessed he from time to time skips the sensation of leather-made on willow." A bunch of my best buddies were playing cricket as well as I was playing with them as well as enjoying it carefully, but I was consistently putting in the extra work for baseball," Bazzana pointed out." I would certainly be actually striking baseballs before I visited go play my cricket video game." I had a good time playing cricket and also carried out miss the sporting activity after I entirely dedicated to baseball at sixteen.".