.6 years ago, during the course of an Eco-friendly Cover cricket match in Sydney's internal west, a slim teen from the northern seasides was actually battle sixes onto the hill at Drummoyne Oval.Representing Northern Area in the condition's premier under-16 competition, the left-hander slammed 34 (31) during the course of the training final versus Sydney Cricket Nightclub to assist chase the 208-run target along with a handful of rounds to spare.That growing cricketer was Travis Bazzana, that today ended up being the initial Australian to be selected in the opening sphere of the Major League Baseball Draft.On Monday early morning, the Oregon Condition 2nd baseman was purchased by the Cleveland Guardians as the No. 1 total choice along with a prospective finalizing bonus of around AU$ 15.5 thousand, although the specific body is actually as yet to become confirmed.But just before plunging into a rewarding baseball career, Bazzana was actually a talented cricket natural born player compiling hundreds at school, nightclub and representative level.Cricket trainer Josh Miller, that has mentored the Northern Area Eco-friendly Cover side for almost a many years, still always remembers Bazzana's Drummoyne assault." It was an incredible innings," Miller said to Fox Cricket recently." You do not definitely observe stuff like that in Eco-friendly Defense cricket." View every sphere of the England v West Indies Test series LIVE & exclusive to Fox Cricket, accessible on Kayo. New to Kayo? Beginning your cost-free test today > Aussie creates MLB record, overall no. 1!|00:26 Miller, the Director of Cricket at Barker College and the Junior Pathway Manager at Northern District, coached Bazzana for two seasons in between 2016 and also 2018 prior to the sporting professional devoted to baseball." He was an incredibly, terrific batter and also a quite accomplished ball-striker," Miller carried on." Certainly certainly not a slogger by any means, yet he took the video game on. He could rack up around the ground." The thing that stood out along with him was actually possibly his athleticism. He undoubtedly had a cannon throw, as men that play baseball carry out, however merely the method he relocated the industry, you understood he was actually an unique professional athlete." Bazzana, that additionally played basketball, rugby and also volleyball in the course of his youth, led Turramurra Senior high school in the direction of its initial Alan Davidson Shield headline prior to playing third-grade cricket one of adults at Roseville Area CC, becoming the club's youngest centurion.He was actually decided on for the Environment-friendly Cover side in 2016, participating in together with potential Sydney Thunder player Toby Gray and also Australian under-19 representative Corey Miller.But his true contacting was baseball-- prior to cricket matches, Bazzana will warm up by practicing his baseball swings." He was actually a convenient cricketer, it is actually typically discussed whether he could possibly possess been a cricketer or otherwise," Bazzana's father brown Gary informed CODE Athletics." Yet he was actually consistently a lot more passionate about baseball." Oregon Condition's Travis Bazzana. Photograph through Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire through Getty ImagesSource: Getty ImagesApart coming from his raw capability and also unnatural athleticism, Bazzana's competitiveness and professionalism and reliability were instantly evident to Miller. He may not have actually been actually the absolute most accomplished cricketer in the Northern Area team, however he functioned harder than some of his allies." Travis' devotion was actually second to none. I have actually certainly not viewed a youthful sportsman as driven," Miller stated." The hard work, the drive, that was actually all incredibly apparent to see." He succeeded when the activity was tough and also when he had a really clear goal to become going for. That always supports you in pretty good stead as a sportsmen, if you have that reasonable streak when you are actually under pressure." Although handling the two summer sporting activities was actually taxing for the university pupil, with cricket and baseball eating his whole weekend, Bazzana benefited from the abilities he attained in both sporting activities. In 2014, he informed MLB Pipe that cricket's emphasis on consistent call helped develop his bat-to-ball skills.Since transferring to the USA in 2021, Bazzana has actually gotten appreciation for his layer discipline, knowing which tosses to swing at or lay off. His hand-eye coordination and decision-making at home plate can, at the very least partially, be actually attributed to his time as a cricketer." The way he struck the sphere and also the swing of the bat was elite," Miller clarified." It was actually pretty apparent how properly his baseball side transmitted all over." Oregon Condition's Travis Bazzana.Source: News Corporation AustraliaIn a gliding doors moment, Bazzana selected to prioritise baseball in 2018, making his launching for the Sydney Blue Sox eventually that year as well as standing for Australia at the 2019 Under-18 Globe Cup.Needless to state, it ended up being the appropriate telephone call, but baseball's increase was actually cricket's loss." His performance entering into Veggie Shield shrieked that he was going to be actually an impressive cricketer," Miller proceeded." Just because of his commitment and also the amount of time and effort and also discipline he had to what he was actually performing, I assume he might have discovered a means to be a decent cricketer." He failed to possess the best year in Veggie Defense ... my hunch is actually baseball was the right choice." Those fellas, they have a tendency to locate a means to do well in whatever they perform, only through that self-control as well as self-control." However, speaking to Guide of Joe podcast previously this year, Bazzana admitted he sometimes skips the feeling of leather on willow." A lot of my best buddies were playing cricket and I was actually having fun with them as well as enjoying it carefully, yet I was constantly placing in the additional work with baseball," Bazzana said." I would certainly be actually hitting baseballs just before I visited go play my cricket game." I possessed a fun time participating in cricket and did overlook the sport after I totally committed to baseball at sixteen.".