Lake Bachar kicked three field goals in a Division III national championship game. Twelve years later, the Winfield native and former Wheaton North Falcon is pitching in the major leagues.

Bachar was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, Aug. 3, as part of a deadline-day bullpen overhaul, according to MLB.com. He arrives in Pittsburgh with a 9-5 career record, a 3.88 ERA across 101 appearances and four years of team control remaining.

As a senior at Wheaton North, Bachar earned all-conference honors in both baseball and as a kicker on the football team. He dreamed of kicking in the SEC or Big Ten, attended camps and went through the recruiting process, but no Division I program committed. He landed at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a Division III football powerhouse.

Bachar told MLB.com that bigger programs liked his leg strength but questioned his consistency. Wisconsin-Whitewater gave him his chance.

The Warhawks got more than a kicker. As a sophomore in the 2014 Stagg Bowl, Bachar drilled three field goals to help Wisconsin-Whitewater capture the national title. That sophomore season he earned first-team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors and was named an All-American by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Over three football seasons he averaged 37.5 yards on 108 punts, pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line 43 times.

Baseball re-entered the picture the summer before his sophomore year. Playing American Legion ball back home, Bachar started hitting 90 mph on the radar gun. He credited a 25-pound weight gain from football training with unlocking the velocity.

"I gained like 25 pounds that summer. I was in the gym doing football lifts," Bachar said. "Then when I hit 90 I remember thinking, 'I could do this.'"

He sat out his freshman baseball season but went 7-1 with a 2.24 ERA as a sophomore, earning All-Region honors. By his junior year he had 103 strikeouts, fifth-most in the country, and was named an All-American in his second sport. Baseball America ranked him the No. 1 prospect in the Northwoods League in 2015.

The San Diego Padres selected Bachar in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB Draft. After years in the minors, he was claimed off waivers by Miami on Sept. 3, 2024, and made his big-league debut that season.

In 2026 with the Marlins, Bachar posted a 3.84 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 21 walks in 58.2 innings across 38 appearances. His average fastball sits at 94.5 mph, but his whiff rate of 30.6 percent ranks in the 86th percentile, per Sports Illustrated. His arsenal runs six pitches deep: four-seam fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, split-finger and sinker.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on a video call Aug. 3 that Bachar's versatility attracted Pittsburgh. Bachar has pitched multiple innings in nearly half his 2026 outings, including three-inning stints on three occasions, according to TribLive.

He was the sixth reliever Pittsburgh acquired since the start of July, joining Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval, Kirby Yates, Brandon Eisert and Ron Marinaccio in a bullpen rebuild. Bachar won't become a free agent until after the 2030 season, giving the Pirates a multi-inning weapon through at least four more Octobers.