BURLINGTON, Ontario - Nate Ochoa has done a lot of traveling thanks to the sport of baseball. But the Notre Dame Catholic sophomore has never been to the state of Indiana.

That will change in the near future after the top-ranked 2022 in Canada committed to Purdue.

“I started talking to them just after the Future Games last year,” Ochoa reflected about the Big 10 school located in West Lafayette, Ind. “I’ve been talking to them ever since. Coach Cooper (Fouts) and I started forming a good relationship and everything else just fell into place.

“When they gave me an offer it felt right. It’s been my number one school for awhile now. All the factors were perfect: the distance from home isn’t bad, the coaching staff is fantastic and the team is good.”

A recent call to the Purdue assistant coach ended with a commitment by the 43rd-rated 10th-grade shortstop in North America.

“My (school) coach was talking to them prior about my personality and what they thought of me,” Ochoa said. “My coach told me to call them at a certain time. My mom and I did a facetime call with coach Cooper and he took us through the offer. I committed on the spot. I knew that was where I wanted to go, it was just a matter of the right offer.”

At 6-4 and 180 pounds, Ochoa has qualities that stand out.

“One of the biggest things is my size,” Ochoa said of what was attractive to Purdue. “They think over the next couple of years I will gain weight and get a little more size. They think I can come in and make an impact right away.”

The drive to get better became strong for Ochoa after participating in the Future Games last August.

“That was definitely an eye opener,” the 143rd-ranked 2022 in North American admitted. “That was a realization of how hard the game will get. Up until then I had not seen anything more than low-to-mid-80s, but there it was low-90s. It was a hard week for me. I didn’t hit well.

“So this offseason I made adjustments. The Future Games helped me realize what the next level is going to be like. Seeing the best competition changed my mindset on the future and on what I’ve got to do as a player.”

Michigan, Florida State, Oregon, Alabama and Iowa were others that reached out to Ochoa after the PBR event, with Iowa the only other to give an offer.

“There was nothing bad there at all,” Ochoa said of Iowa. “I liked them alot, I just think Purdue is the better fit.”

While soccer and basketball were sports of interest for Ochoa growing up, baseball eventually came to the front.

“I started house league baseball at nine, but at 11 I started playing field house and I’ve been there ever since,” Ochoa noted. “I’ve been playing that for five or six years.”

Trips as close as Michigan and as far away as North Carolina have been part of the travel, with Ochoa more recently being a member of Team Canada and with it a week in St. Petersburg, Fla., in early March. A week to Palm Beach next week has been cancelled with a May trip to the Dominican in May an uncertainty.

“It was a great experience playing pro teams and seeing that competition,” Ochoa said of the week in St. Petersburg. “I felt comfortable and that I belonged. I learned I’m a better player than I sometimes think I am. After that week I’m feeling in place and that I belong at the higher level.”

It is something that Ochoa hoped would be the case from a young age.

“I always knew I wanted to play for as long as I could,” Ochoa related. “Division I was a dream, but it became a reality a couple of years ago. I just knew it was a path I was going to go.

“I remember coach George (Halim) said I could be a special player. He’s been in coaching and a PBR scout for awhile and I guess he was right about me being Division I.”

The PBR Canada Assistant Director of Scouting helped out Ochoa in more ways than conversation.

“Coach George has always had my back at Fieldhouse,” Ochoa said. “He’s always helping me with a bunch of stuff. He’s stayed with me after midnight helping out, and he’s helped me with recruiting.”

It has Ochoa committed to play a Big 10 school with plans for continued improvement along the way.

“The biggest thing with me now is I’m 6-4, 180 and still a little skinny,” Ochoa said. “But I’m only 16. I know I can hit well, swing it well and my fielding is good. I just need to add some strength.”

And then there is that matter of taking a visit to the Hoosier state for the first time.

“I have some teammates that have been to Indiana but I’ve never been there,” Ochoa said. “My plans are I’m going to go there my senior year.”

A year later it will become home.