NIU Alum Reflects on Pro Baseball Journey and Impact on huskies Program

Fresh off his first season of professional baseball,NIU alumni Colin Summerhill reflected on his time at NIU and how his pro signing impacted the Huskies’ program.

Summerhill spent two seasons with the Huskies prior to his signing, finishing his tenure ranked third all-time in home runs with 30. He also set the Huskies single-season home run record in his senior year, slugging 19 home runs.

“I came to NIU after I hit below .200 at Troy, and I was just looking for a fresh start, and I turned it into a professional opportunity,” Summerhill said. “So, anything can happen if you just work hard and you believe in yourself.”

Summerhill was signed by the Los Angeles Angels following the MLB Draft in 2024 and spent his first professional season split between two teams in the Angels system.

Despite seeing success at the collegiate level, Summerhill’s offensive production was not the same his first year, slashing .217/.323/.656 with six home runs and 40 runs driven in.

“I don’t think the game itself changed too much for me, it was more the off the field stuff and how I spend my free time,” Summerhill said. “There’s not a lot of free time, your day kind of revolves around the game. When you’re in the season and you’re going through rough patches you just have to be committed to your process and your teammates that much more.”

The Chicago native began the season with the Inland Empire 66ers, before ending the season with the Tri-City Dust Devils for a total of 108 games played.

Summerhill noted getting called up to the next level mid-season was one of his favourite moments of his first pro season.

“Getting called up is a cool experience as you get promoted,you get to go to a new place,get a fresh start,your stats go back to zero,” Summerhill said. “So you say to yourself, let’s do somthing cool here.”

Summerhill also had the opportunity to share his pro baseball experience with his younger brother, Brendan Summerhill, who was drafted 42nd overall by the Tampa Bay Rays, just one year after Colin signed his first pro contract.

“He got drafted on july 13, which was a Sunday,” Summerhill said. “That was our last game before the all-Star break. So, I got to play and I was at the airport, I was flying home for the break and I’m on FaceTime and our house was jam-packed with people, family and friends and I just thought…