High School Baseball: Newport’s Ogburn headed to Cal Lutheran

Newport Harbor High senior pitcher Liam Ogburn said he’s bound to NCAA Division III Cal Lutheran to play baseball.

“I visited the campus about a month ago and I really, really love it,” said Ogburn, adding that more than a dozen Division III and NAIA programs showed interest in the right-hander.

Ogburn is 3-1 with a 3.18 earned-run average this season. He has 24 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Cal Lutheran, which is 18-8 and ranked No. 20 in the nation by D3Baseball.com, said he’s excited to play for Coach Marty Slimak, who has 500-plus wins during his 22 seasons in charge of the Kingsmen. Cal Lutheran has won the last two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.

“I think last year he was a student of the game,” Sailors Coach Evan Chalmers said of Ogburn. “He really observed a lot what went on with [pitchers Shaun] Vetrovec and [Connor] Seabold. He’s a real fierce competitor. He wants to do whatever to win.”

— David Carrillo Peñaloza