O’Bannon hopes to make own mark — on diamond

He shares a name and a frame with a man famous for leading UCLA to an NCAA basketball title.

But Liberty’s Ed O’Bannon III decided to give up his father’s game in search of his own success on the baseball diamond.

He and his Liberty teammates hope the move pays off with victories this spring.

“One of the major keys is I just lost the love for the game,” said O’Bannon, who decided to give up basketball about a month before the season. “But also, I saw that baseball was going to get me to the next level, at the collegiate level.

“It was a no-brainer in my opinion. Going into my senior year, if I’m going to focus on one sport, it’s definitely going to be baseball. It’s my first love. It was definitely the sport I excelled in. So I went with it and never looked back. I didn’t regret anything.”

The 6-foot-7-inch, 215-pound O’Bannon is an imposing presence on the mound for the Patriots. And first-year Patriots coach Wilfred Rivera is happy to have him pitching full time, even if he was a bit surprised that O’Bannon gave up basketball.

“He made a big decision,” Rivera said. “He made sure that baseball was his life by giving up basketball. He had it made there, too.”

O’Bannon may have it made on the mound, as well. He has signed to pitch at Pacific, and should lead a Liberty starting staff along with fellow seniors Jacob Klein, Justin Lutes and Zack Reed.

“I’m tickled to death to have him full time,” Rivera said. “He’s just a great kid. He brings a lot to our program. He’s a vocal kind of guy. He’s a fun man. He’s funny. But he’s (also) intense. When he has to step it up, he does.”

While Rivera may be excited that O’Bannon gave up basketball, others wondered what dad had to say about the decision. The elder O’Bannon continued to serve as an assistant basketball coach at Liberty even though his son didn’t play.

“The thing that I got the most from a lot of my peers is, ‘What did your dad feel about that? How did he handle the situation?’” O’Bannon said. “He loved it. He grew up a baseball guy. As a kid he was better at it, but stopped in high school. Right now, I’m living his dream by playing baseball, and he wants me to take it as far as I can go.”

O’Bannon said his fastball sits around 88-89 mph, but hopes to add velocity this season. Scouts seem to agree that his velocity will improve in the future.

“Right now, I know I’m not going to overpower anyone with the fastball,” O’Bannon said. “But I know that they see something further than just numbers on a sheet or on a radar gun. They see a big frame, they see an athletic body and they see that they can work with that in the future. So hopefully that gives me the advantage over the next guy.”

O’Bannon said he hopes to play professionally one day. And if the chance doesn’t come directly out of high school, he’ll head to Pacific with the hopes of getting a crack at pro ball later. But for now, he and his teammates are eyeing a strong 2016 high school campaign.

The Patriots were 21-11 last season, and went undefeated in the Northeast League.

“It’s pretty exciting knowing that I can pursue my baseball career after high school, because not many can say that,” O’Bannon said. “But as of right now, I’m just really excited for this high school season.”

O’Bannon is expected to be a key part of the Liberty rotation, despite throwing just 15 innings in the regular season last year. He went 1-2 with 2.80 ERA. Klein got the most experience last season, going 3-4 with two saves and a 3.67 ERA. Lutes was 3-0 with a 2.47 ERA in 17 innings, and Reed went 2-0 with a 4.20 ERA in 18 1/3 innings.

Juniors Michael Wong and Jordan Moreno are expected to log innings out of the bullpen.

“We’ve got the big four, we call them,” Rivera said. “But we like to think we have the big six, because the other two young men, the two juniors, they fit a role also in that pitching staff. As long as we produce some runs for them, I think they can shut down some teams for us.”

Offensively, Rivera doesn’t sound as confident. The Patriots must replace top offensive weapons Preston Pavlica (.526, 4 HRs, 36 RBIs) and Nick Rush (.489, 6 HRs, 25 RBIs).

“The hitting part, we’re going to have to work on that,” Rivera said. “There’s some struggles there.”

Rivera said Lutes (.364, 17 RBIs), Klein (.359) and Omar Ortiz (.352, 17 RBIs) should key the offense. Ortiz also has signed to Pacific, and Lutes has signed with the College of Southern Nevada.

“Those three guys, we’re going to rely on them and their bats and their leadership to carry this team,” Rivera said.

And O’Bannon is hoping to prove that he’s a baseball player, albeit one with a name most often associated with basketball.

“I wanted scouts, whether it was professional or college or junior college scouts, I wanted them to take my baseball game serious,” O’Bannon said. “I wanted to show that, yes, I’m athletic, but I’m a baseball player, not a basketball player who can play baseball.”

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters