Kyle Seebach’s first regular season appearance with the Northern Illinois University baseball team took place more than 600 miles away from his home ballpark in DeKalb.

Seebach entered in relief when the Huskies faced off against Central Arkansas on Feb. 18, recording one out and helping NIU defeat the Bears by a score of 9-4 to improve to 2-1 overall, which was NIU’s best start through the first three games of a season since 2015. The experience was one that Seebach won’t forget, and with one full year now under his belt, the former Rochelle Township High School pitching standout is ready to get back on the field.

“When we went down for our first weekend at Central Arkansas, that was a really fun experience,” Seebach said. “We won our first series and I got my first work in. That was probably one of my favorite times of the year.”

A two-year varsity letterman with the Hubs baseball team, Seebach put himself on NIU’s radar with a strong senior season, going 6-1 with a 1.35 ERA while striking out 41 batters in 36 innings. Seebach also played first base at RTHS, hitting .361 during his final year with eight doubles and two triples en route to earning All-Conference recognition from the Northern Illinois Big 12.

Seebach logged three innings of work over his freshman season with the Huskies, recording one out over each of his first three appearances including an out in NIU’s win against Western Kentucky on Feb. 25. While Seebach said he thought his first year with the Huskies could have been better, the former Hub said he learned a lot about himself and about what it takes to be successful at the college level.

“I didn’t do as well as I hoped but I learned a lot of new things,” Seebach said. “It was a good experience but I’m ready for next year to start. It’s a pretty big difference going from high school baseball to college at the Division I level. You can’t make any mistakes when you pitch, and you can’t miss over the plate otherwise the ball will be hit pretty hard.”

Seebach was one of four NIU players assigned to compete with the Crystal Lake Cardinals this summer, and the 6-foot-8-inch left-hander has already totaled three innings of work, striking out four batters without allowing a run. The Rochelle graduate said he’s added 20 pounds since finishing his career with the Hubs, and his fastball has been topping off around 89 miles per hour.

“I’m working on spotting up my pitches and I’d like to add some more velocity,” Seebach said. “I’d like to get my curveball sharper and I’d like to add a changeup so that I can have a four-pitch arsenal going into next year.”

A two-sport athlete at RTHS who earned an All-Conference Honorable Mention with the Hubs after his senior basketball season, Seebach is currently studying statistics and probability at NIU due to his love for mathematics. He said his years of playing baseball at RTHS have helped him transition to the college level.

“It gave me experience with different batters and learning to throw different pitches,” Seebach said. “I think it helped my command as far as spotting up pitches.”