Baseball | July 13

DeKALB, IL – Max Vaisvila (Villa Park, Ill./Wabash Valley College) of the Northern Illinois University baseball team signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees on Monday.
 
Vaisvila joins Gavin Baldwin, Cole Smith and Ivan Dahlberg as Huskies from the 2026 Mid-American Conference champions to sign professional contracts. The left-handed pitcher was a First-Team All-MAC selection and went 8-0 with a 3.09 earned run average. Vaisvila struck out 87 batters in 85.2 innings pitched and finished the season in the top-five of the MAC in complete games, ERA, WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) and strikeouts.
 
He was named the MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after throwing eight shutout innings in two appearances, helping guide the Huskies to their first MAC Championship. Vaisvila threw a seven-inning shutout on May 20 in NIU's 11-0 win over Western Michigan, striking out 10 Broncos while allowing just one hit and one walk. He threw a perfect ninth inning against Toledo in the championship game with two more strikeouts.
 
Vaisvila was named to the Midwest All-Region First Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings this season. He is the first Huskie since Kam Smith in 2021 to earn All-Region First Team accolades, and the first All-Region First Team pitcher since Matt German in 2006 and 2007. Vaisvila was the National Pitcher of the Week on March 31 after throwing a nine-inning, one-hit shutout against Bowling Green with 14 strikeouts.
 
There are four Huskies in program history to have signed a professional contract with the Yankees. NIU Hall of Famer Fred "Fritz" Peterson played for the Yankees from 1966-1974 and was an All-Star in 1970.
 
NIU won a single-season program record 36 games in 2026 and was the #3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional. The Huskies earned their first NCAA Tournament win in program history on May 29^th in a 12-10 victory over Coastal Carolina.
 
--NIU--