Selected in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft by the New York Mets out of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Gavin Cecchini was born to perform. He helped his South Lake Charles Little League team advance to the 2006 Little League Baseball World Series as the Southwestern Region Champion and pitched six scoreless innings in his squad's lone win in the tourney. Fast forward ten years when Gavin Cecchini would make his MLB debut for the New York Mets as a call-up in September 2016.

Outgoing Team Italy manager Marco Mazzieri knew it would be his last year at the helm of the Azzurri club so he decided to go out with a bang by recruiting some of the best up-and-coming MLB players of Italian descent. On the top of his list were New York Mets' outfielder Brandon Nimmo and middle infielder Gavin Cecchini. Skipper Mazzieri wanted Gavin Cecchini to play shortstop for Team Italy in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. In the opener against Mexico on March 9, 2017, the 23-year-old Italian American infielder nearly hit a homer to center field but settled for a ground-rule double off reliever Fernando Salas.