Madison and Willmar lead the way with nine selections each

Rochester, Minn. – The 2026 Major League First-Year Player Draft was held July 11 through July 12. This year’s draft was twenty rounds with 97 Northwoods League players selected.

The highest Northwoods League alum picked in this year’s draft was Vahn Lackey, a junior catcher from Georgia Tech. Lackey was picked 3^rd overall by the Minnesota Twins. Lackey played for the Traverse City Pit Spitters in 2024.

The Madison Mallards had a league-high, nine players drafted this year. The highest pick for the Mallards was shortstop Jake Schaffner from the University of North Carolina. Schaffner was selected by the Boston Red Sox with the 20^th pick in the 1^st round. The Willmar Stingers also had nine players selected. Their highest pick was Isaac Morton who was selected in the 6^th round by the Chicago Cubs. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected a MLB high seven Northwoods League players.

The full list of 2026 NWL draftees can be found here: 2026 NWL MLB Draft

As the Northwoods League continues the 2026 season, fans everywhere can take advantage of games streamed each night on FloSports.tv. Games are viewable on PC or on mobile devices, tablets, and select smart TV services.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 33^rd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 425 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (BAL) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (NYM). League games are viewable live on FloSports.tv.