Beavers pitcher out after report
Oregon State's top pitcher, who as a teenager pleaded guilty to molesting a 6-year-old girl, released a statement Friday saying he has asked to be excused from playing.
Luke Heimlich said in the statement he didn’t want to be a distraction to the team, which began play in an NCAA super regional Friday night in Corvallis, Ore., with an 8-4 victory over Vanderbilt. His attorney, Stephen Ensor, released the statement hours before the game.
“I'm so proud of our team’s accomplishment and don’t want to be a distraction, therefore I've respectfully requested to be excused from playing at this time,” Heimlich said in the statement.
Heimlich was cheered by the crowd at Goss Stadium when his name was announced with the rest of the team during pregame introductions. He was in uniform.
Heimlich’s criminal history was first reported by the Oregonian on Thursday. In an editorial accompanying the article, the Portland newspaper said it learned about Heimlich’s 2012 conviction while doing a routine background check before running a profile on him.
Prosecutors initially charged Heimlich with two counts of molestation for abuse that began when the girl was 4, the Oregonian said. He pleaded guilty to one count of molestation between February and December 2011, a period during which he was 15. Prosecutors dismissed the other charge as part of a plea bargain.
He entered a diversion program, received two years’ probation and was ordered to attend sex offender treatment for two years, according to court records. He was sentenced to 40 weeks of detention at Washington’s Juvenile Rehabilitation authority, but the sentence was suspended and he served no time, according to court records, because he successfully completed probation.
Heimlich was classified in Washington state as the lowest-level sex offender with little risk of repeating the behavior. He finished probation and court-ordered classes in fall 2014, around the time he moved to Corvallis to attend Oregon State.
In the Beavers’ victory Friday over the Commodores (36-24-1), first baseman K.J. Harrison hit a three-run homer in the first inning, then second baseman Nick Madrigal’s tworun double put Oregon State (53-4) ahead for good in the second after Vanderbilt had scored three times to tie it in the top of that inning.
at Texas A&M 7, Davidson 6: The Aggies (40-21) wasted a 6-0 lead against the upstart Wildacts (35-25) before winning their super-regional opener on George Janca’s two-out basesloaded single in the 15th inning. Davidson scored three times in the sixth, twice in the seventh, and tied it in the top of the ninth on Cam Johnson’s RBI single.
at Louisville 5, Kentucky 2: Drew Ellis hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, and the Cardinals (5110), seeded No. 7 nationally, got a solid start from Kade McClure to open their super regional with a win over the state-rival Wildcats (43-22).