Vaughn played college baseball at California, and won the Golden Spikes Award in 2018.

Vaughn attended Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, California.

[5] He played collegiate summer baseball in 2017 for the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast League.

[12] Considered a top prospect for the 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft,[13] Vaughn was selected by the Chicago White Sox with the third overall pick.

[18] After the season, on October 10, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.

[24] On defense he played right field, he had the worst outs above average (OAA) rate in major league baseball, at -16.