FAYETTEVILLE, Ark - So much of the talk regarding Andrew Vaughn revolves around the future.

Which team will pick him at the top end of the Major League Baseball draft come Monday? How quickly might he impact a big league lineup?

Ask Cal's star first baseman, however, and he prefers to savor the present.

The Bears will play TCU on Friday in their first NCAA Regional game since 2015, meaning this will be the first postseason experience for the nine juniors that have led this 2019 team, which features not a single senior.

That group includes Vaughn, who has produced a monster encore after last season becoming the first Cal player ever to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top amateur player. He's a finalist for the award again this year.

He's hitting .387 with 15 homers and 49 RBI in 50 games, to go with a .549 on-base percentage that ranks third in the country. Late Monday afternoon, there's a good chance Vaughn becomes the highest drafted player in Cal history.

So when reporters gathered around him earlier this week after the Bears learned they'd made the postseason, the first question thrown at him pertained to which big league team he might call his future home.

Vaughn was more eager to talk about the unfinished business he has in a Cal uniform.

"That's why I came here," he said, "to be a Cal Bear, go to the playoffs and get a chance to go to Omaha (site of the College World Series). 

"I just want to focus on playing with my team, being out there with my guys. That's the biggest thing, the most fun. The draft stuff is in the back pocket. It's going to happen. But playing baseball is way more fun right now."

Vaughn's numbers jump off the page, but perhaps the most impressive trait he's shown this season is the ability to remain focused. Dozens of Major League scouts have flocked to Cal's games to get an up-close look at him. Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter and fellow Yankee legend Jorge Posada were perched in a suite at Husky Ballpark last week watching Cal play Washington. The Marlins have the fourth overall pick in the draft.

Vaughn has taken the spotlight in stride and continued to punish opposing pitchers as the Bears' No. 3 hitter. That hasn't gone unnoticed by younger teammates.

"You could never even tell he was under any kind of pressure," sophomore third baseman Quentin Selma said. "That's his personality, too. He's a laid-back kind of guy. I don't think any of that ever gets to him, and that's why he performs so well."

An avid fisherman, Vaughn seems to treasure life's simple pleasures. And that includes time with family. His parents, Toby and Diana, and sister Madison have made a majority of Cal road trips this season, and Vaughn often can be found eating breakfast with them at the team hotel on game days.

When a player draws this kind of attention, his family rides out the experience with him. Toby and Diana have conducted their share of interviews as reporters have tried to dig beneath the surface to learn all they can about their son.

"It was his dream to play college baseball, and for us to watch him do it," Toby Vaughn said. "We're pretty tight, the four of us. It's been a great experience."

With his combination of power, ability to hit to all fields and disciplined approach to the strike zone, many consider Vaughn the top overall hitter in this year's draft class.

Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman is widely projected to be drafted No. 1 overall by Baltimore, and some expect Vaughn could go as high as No. 2 to Kansas City. The Chicago White Sox pick third.

The highest a Cal player has ever been taken is No. 5, when the Seattle Mariners plucked pitcher Brandon Morrow at that spot in 2006. Vaughn may set the new standard.

The MLB Network has shown interest in perhaps sending a camera out to capture Vaughn at his family's home when he gets picked Monday. But it's possible he'll still be on the road with Cal if the Bears win their four-team Regional in Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend. Toby Vaughn thinks his son will be just fine with that.

"He doesn't have to sit and think about (the draft)," Toby said. "There's 1,200 kids out there hoping to hear their name. Good for him to not have to think about it and just play baseball."