The Maverick From Down Under

Right-handed pitcher Bryce Collins
is in his first season with the Mavericks

It has been a long journey for new Minnesota State junior right-handed pitcher Bryce Collins as he has traveled far from his hometown of Brisbane, Australia to play collegiate baseball in the United States.

The story of how he ended up heading to America to play started with a professional scout that approached him after one of his games.

“A professional scout came up to me and asked if I had any aspirations to play pro ball and I told him that I did,” Collins said. “He then got into contact with the recruiting coordinator at Indian Hills Community College in Centerville, Iowa and then proceeded to exchange emails with him."

Within six hours there was a mutual agreement in place that would have Collins attending school in Iowa in the coming fall where he ended up playing two seasons before transitioning Minnesota State. At Indian Hills he was voted Freshman of the Year in 2015, where he started eight games while pitching 53 innings and recording 45 strikeouts. He also helped lead Indian Hills to a second-place finish in conference and region in 2015.

The recruitment of baseball players in Australia is a little bit harder for guys to get noticed. Collins also stated that “not as many people play it and it isn’t as popular there. Other sports take more of a priority such as rugby and cricket." Considering that baseball may not be as popular in Australia, Collins felt as though playing for his country would give him as good of an opportunity to get seen as any.

He played for Team Australia at the U19, U17 and U13 World Series which took him to places such as Taiwan, Mexico and the United States (Maryland). He also went up against current big league pitcher Julio Urias of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“The experience playing for my country was awesome, you have a lot of pride putting that jersey on,” Collins said. Playing in Taiwan and Mexico were very unique experiences because the areas that they played in were not the best so to speak. Every time their team left the hotel while they were in Mexico, they had to have police escorting them to and from the field. The ability to experience playing with the national team prepared him for coming over to the United States and not being intimidated.

“Everything over here is pretty similar to Australia which helped me feel very comfortable when I first got here,” he said.

Adjusting to a new culture has been a lot of fun for Collins. He has enjoyed meeting new people while also being able to get a degree playing baseball. An exercise science major, Collins has appeared in six games in his first year with the Mavericks, all in relief.

Currently in the midst of a 17-game winning streak, Minnesota State is rated 21st by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and stands 21-4 overall.