WORCESTER — Under normal circumstances, Ben Forbes would’ve been at Fenway Park Friday night. The Oakmont junior had Red Sox-Yankees tickets and would have loved to see if any Red Sox players could etch their name into the history of baseball’s most iconic rivalry.
Instead, he became part of Oakmont baseball history.
Forbes pitched six shutout innings of relief with eight strikeouts, drove in the tying run with two outs in the seventh, and knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning, powering the No. 4 Spartans to the program’s first state championship, 5-3, over No. 2 Medfield in the Division 3 title game at Polar Park.
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“It’s just the best feeling of my life,” Forbes said. “I can’t imagine a place I’d rather be right now.”
With the Spartans down to their final out in the seventh, Forbes lined a single up the middle to drive in junior Ty Curtis and tie the game at three. But his job wasn’t done.
FINAL (12 inn.): No. 4 Oakmont 5, No. 2 Medfield 3
— Mike Puzzanghera (@mpuzzanghera) June 16, 2023
The Spartans put up a pair in the top of the 12th, and @OakmontBSBL is the D3 state champion for the first time in program history.@GlobeSchools @ORHSAthletics pic.twitter.com/rmI6HPA10T
After the Spartans (23-2) loaded the bases in the top of the 12th, Forbes knew his fly ball to right field was deep enough to get a run in. Jayden Downing — who started on the mound for Oakmont — followed him with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to bring home another.
All the while, Forbes was shutting down the Warriors (18-6) on the mound, keeping them off the scoreboard and stranding six runners on base in the first three extra innings.
“They’re the best-hitting team we saw all year,” Oakmont head coach Tim Caouette said of Medfield. “To hold that team to three runs over a billion innings like that is just unheard of. That was unbelievable.”
The Warriors jumped out to an early lead when senior Scott Donahue drilled a first-inning homer to left-center, eclipsing the 399-foot mark on the Polar Park fence. He reached base five times Friday night, including two intentional walks.
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Senior Jack Collins pitched eight innings for the Warriors with 10 strikeouts and had three hits, including a pair of doubles, at the plate.
“This is one of the better baseball games I’ve been a part of in the last 35 years, and it stings a little bit,” said Medfield head coach Dave Worthley. “But both teams battled. The game was full of good plays on both sides.”
Senior Colby Gouldrup doubled twice, drove in a run, and reached base four times for the Spartans and sophomore Johnny Losordo collected a pair of hits, stole a base, and knocked in a run while playing stellar defense at second base. The Spartans finished the season with 12 straight wins.
“It’s kind of hokey and cliché, but we kind of joke around and we say, ‘Champions find a way,’” Caouette said. “We found a way today … It’s unreal. I feel like I’m dreaming.”