NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times
May 7, 2018
By Kurt Streeter
Corvallis OR – Luke Heimlich, one of the best players in college baseball, and certainly its most controversial, strode to the mound, dusted away a patch of dirt with his cleats and lined up for his first pitch.
The home crowd of nearly 3,000, most in orange and black, the colors of Oregon State, cheered, “Luke! Luke! Luke!” They wanted a victory against Arizona State, one of their biggest rivals.
More than that, they wanted a performance that would hark back to a different time — the time before anyone had heard that Heimlich, 22, their hero, had pleaded guilty to a felony: sexually molesting his 6-year-old niece when he was 15.
Otherwise, this game in Goss Stadium seemed completely normal, as has been true all season, which has unfolded in a surprisingly ordinary way. The Beavers are again among the elite. They have a good chance of making it back to the College World Series in June. They might win the national championship.
But, given his past, the question remained, why was Heimlich even on the mound?
In a series of interviews with The New York Times this weekend, Heimlich flatly denied committing the crime he had admitted to, saying he pleaded guilty to quickly dispense with the case and for the sake of family relations.
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