CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham knew he had someone special on his hands when he first met Travis Bazzana.

The second baseman from Sydney, Australia, walked into the players lounge at Goss Stadium on a recruitment visit and immediately zeroed in on the board displaying program records on the wall opposite the entrance. The way Canham tells it, there was almost a magnetism between Bazzana and that board, and even more so when he saw the team's trophy room.

"You could see it -- he's like, 'We're going to need a bigger room when I'm done here,'" Canham recalled. "He had that in his mind, visualizing that we were going to win more."

Some might see that attitude as presumptuous, but to understand Bazzana, look no further than his swing. Much like his personality, it's unabashedly bold, yet controlled and deliberate in a way that can only be the result of years of hard work.

Ask the 21-year-old how he got where he is nowadays -- more than 7,500 miles away from home, toppling program records at Oregon State as a top 2024 MLB Draft prospect -- and he most often credits his extensive preparation. Simple, right?

Not exactly. Bazzana has plenty of natural talent on his side -- power to all fields and advanced bat-to-ball skills, coupled with speed on the basepaths and athleticism in the middle infield. Those attributes have certainly helped vault him to the status of MLB Pipeline's No. 1 Draft prospect.

But Bazzana's most impressive tool may actually be his ability to see the bigger picture, even when there's no suitable reference for his lofty ambitions.

By forging his own path to professional baseball, Bazzana could change the game for Aussies with big league aspirations, beginning on July 14 in Arlington -- when he is expected to become the first Australian-born player selected in the first round of the Draft.

"The premise of everything I want to achieve is I want to make Australia a powerhouse in baseball," he said. "It's not going to come from me, but I want to start that trend."

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Long before Bazzana began making a name for himself in baseball -- playing alongside grown men starting at 15 years old in the Australian Baseball League and representing his country in the 2019 U-18 World Cup -- he was 5 years old, already going against the grain by declaring "Major League Baseball player" his dream job.

That may not be an unusual answer for stateside kids, but Bazzana grew up playing multiple sports in addition to baseball, including cricket, rugby, soccer, basketball and track and field. Had he stuck to the status quo, his natural path to pro athletics would likely have been going all in on cricket, Australia's de facto national sport.

But he wasn't drawn to cricket in the same way. Thanks to the internet, it was easy for Bazzana to find and watch MLB highlights online -- but it took more effort than just flipping on the television.

"It becomes tough to actively see yourself pursuing Major League Baseball because you're not seeing it, your friends aren't talking about it," Bazzana said. "There's not that external motivation unless you find it, really, internally."

Ryan Rowland-Smith, a fellow Aussie and former MLB pitcher, had a similar experience growing up -- although in his case, he rewatched VHS tapes of the 1993 World Series. A mentor to Bazzana since he was 12 years old, Rowland-Smith knows firsthand the twists and turns on the journey from Down Under to the big leagues.

Rowland-Smith took the typical path for an Australian Major Leaguer: he signed as an amateur free agent with the Mariners in 2000, two months before he turned 18. From there, he spent six seasons in the Minors before getting his first call to the big leagues. Had he not received an offer, the backup plan would have been to try his luck at junior college.

For many in Australia, Rowland-Smith said, it would be unthinkable not to take the sure thing and join the pro ranks as soon as possible. But early in Bazzana's teenage years, he was convinced that going to college in the United States and becoming Draft-eligible was the right move.

"People perceive it as that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Bazzana said. "So it's like, 'If you want to be a big leaguer, why wouldn't you get in the system sooner vs. give yourself a chance to not get picked up later?'"

There were several reasons for Bazzana to bet on himself, primarily that he thought playing 60-odd college games per year would be better for his development. Off the field, he valued the opportunity to earn a degree in psychology and take time to adjust to living on a new continent.

"There's that carrot dangling when you see a professional scout, because you associate that with Major League Baseball," Rowland-Smith said. "Sometimes when you look at the college side, you don't see Major League Baseball in the front view. That's where Travis can see a little bit further than me."

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Australian-born players are not eligible for the MLB Draft unless they've moved to the U.S. (and its territories) or Canada. Only two Aussies who made it to the big leagues were selected in the Draft: Josh Spence (ninth round in 2010 out of Arizona State) and Mark Ettles (33rd round, 1989, West Florida).

Others -- including Spence's younger brother, Liam (fifth round, 2021, Tennessee) and Clayton Tanner (third round, 2006, De La Salle High School in California) -- were drafted but did not play in the Majors.

After his playing days came to an end, Rowland-Smith founded NxtGen Baseball as a means to support developing Australian baseball players. Bazzana was on NxtGen Baseball's first overseas showcase trip, a 10-day stint in the U.S. -- and even though he wasn't the best player on the field, the then-12-year-old stood out.

"He was a little bit more under the radar, but just watching him, it was the same profile off the field as what it is now," Rowland-Smith said. "Vocal, loud, in-your-face -- that presence."

Before heading back to Australia, Rowland-Smith held one-on-one player evaluations. Some just went through the motions, he remembers -- but not Bazzana, who put pen to paper and took detailed notes that he went on to reference years later in conversations with Rowland-Smith.

Bazzana's standout presence both on and off the field was even more apparent at the 2019 MLB College Showcase, where Oregon State discovered its future star second baseman. Rowland-Smith was on hand to see the young Aussie impress several college programs by playing hard and going about his business with intention across 10 whirlwind days in Arizona.

"'The only way I'm going to get these schools' attention is just every little thing I do has to have some sort of purpose,'" Rowland-Smith said of Bazzana's mindset. "He felt like someone was watching him, even when he was 10th in line to go run the 60-yard sprint."

Committing to play at Oregon State, one of the top Division I programs in the country that has won three national championships and produced 43 Major Leaguers, was one of Bazzana's more conventional decisions.

But the way he went about that, too, is telling -- which is why the moment Canham offered a scholarship and a spot on the team to Bazzana remains a fond memory of recruitment for the Beavers' head coach.

Canham remembers extending the offer, then holding out his hand for a visibly emotional Bazzana to shake. Bazzana expressed his deep gratitude but didn't accept on the spot -- he wanted to talk it over with his parents before making such a significant decision.

"The fact that he didn't get sped up in that environment, that told me right there … that's our guy," Canham said. "That's why he's so special. Because when the arena is putting pressure on you and trying to speed everything up, you pause and you know what your values are."

Bazzana has not hesitated to pass up immediate gratification in order to do what's right for his future. After his freshman year, Bazzana got the opportunity to play in the esteemed Cape Cod League, an offer that not many would turn down. But he did.

Instead, he spent two and a half months at Driveline Baseball, knowing that a break from competing would allow him to focus on honing his skills. Bazzana posted a 1.122 OPS in his sophomore year (up from .902 as a freshman) and played the following summer in the Cape, where he won the league batting title and took home MVP honors with the Falmouth Commodores.

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Throughout his amateur career, Bazzana hasn't been satisfied with being a prototypical leadoff hitter, so he put in the work to make his game more versatile, tool by tool, as demonstrated by his breadth of Oregon State records that range from single-season stolen bases to all-time home runs.

"He can be whatever player he needs to be," Canham said.

That ability will be key for Bazzana if he makes it to the Majors and continues to defy precedent by staying there.

Australian-born pitchers have traditionally had more sustained success in the big leagues than their position-player counterparts, with four pitching in at least 10 MLB seasons: Liam Hendriks (active), Grant Balfour, Peter Moylan and Graeme Lloyd.

But only three Australian-born position players have recorded more than 502 plate appearances -- the minimum to qualify on batting leaderboards in a 162-game season -- in their career: Dave Nilsson (3,153 PAs from 1992-99), Craig Shipley (1,433, 1986-98) and Joe Quinn (7,370, 1884-1901). Rays rookie Curtis Mead could become the fourth if he spends enough time in the Majors this season and beyond.

Bazzana wants more than just a taste of The Show -- he wants longevity, too.

"I think it's setting the expectations and the goals and aspirations higher than just being there," he said.

But all the ambition in the world means nothing without any exposure, something that is difficult to come by for Australians with Major League dreams. Bazzana hopes to change that.

He may not be the first Australian to play DI college ball, but he certainly has the highest profile. Rowland-Smith, for one, believes having someone like Bazzana to look up to would have inspired him to pursue college ball rather than signing as an amateur free agent.

Bazzana and close friend Jimmy Nati, a sophomore infielder at Stanford, hope that others follow their path from Australia to the top level college baseball to, eventually, pro ball. Bazzana knows his selection won't singlehandedly turn the tide.

But perhaps it will usher in a new era.

Just as Bazzana envisioned himself and Oregon State enjoying success when he first visited, he sees a future where the burgeoning baseball talent in his home country not only gets opportunities at the highest level of the game -- but also becomes a force to be reckoned with.

"Hopefully, one day I can be at a World Baseball Classic against Mike Trout, Bryce Harper -- all these guys I looked up to -- and compete," he said. "Go with my guys from Australia and those people that I care about back home that I grew up with, and go compete and win something on the world stage."