Luke Heimlich Won’t Pitch Friday For Oregon State

Oregon State lefthander Luke Heimlich will not pitch the Super Regional opener against Vanderbilt Friday, asking out of the assignment because he did not want to be a “distraction” to the team.

Heimlich’s decision follows a report in The Oregonian on Thursday that the junior as a teenager pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a 6-year-old female family member. The newspaper, while doing research on Heimlich for a story, discovered Heimlich was cited for failing to update his sex offender registration status in April.

Redshirt junior righthander Jake Thompson, a first-team All-American, will start instead.

In a statement released through his attorney Stephen Ensor, Heimlich said, “I have taken responsibility for my conduct when I was a teenager. As a 16-year-old, I was placed on juvenile court probation and ordered to participate in an individual counseling program. I’m grateful for the counseling I received, and since then, I realized that the only way forward was to work each day on becoming the best person, community member and student I can possibly be. I understand that many people now see me differently, but I hope that I can eventually be judged for the person I am today.

“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 registered as a sex offender after arriving at Oregon State. He was 11-1, 0.76 with 128 strikeouts and 22 walks in 118.1 innings this year and is the No. 43 player on the BA500, but several teams have told BA’s John Manuel that Heimlich is off their draft board.