Advertisement

'This is a really special place to be right now': Forbes, Allen help Oakmont notch walk-off win over St. Paul

rich garven, worcester telegram & gazette
·4 min read

ASHBURNHAM — Expectations were amped up when the Oakmont Regional and St. Paul baseball teams took the field for a tantalizing matchup with the regular season winding down.

The closely contested contest lived up to the advance billing and ended with senior Ben Forbes driving a 1-1 offering into left-center for a bases-loaded single with two out in the seventh inning to lift the Spartans to a 3-2, walk-off win Monday afternoon.

Oakmont players wear pink during a softball and baseball double header to honor the memory of Elizabeth Reid and raise awareness for Breast Cancer on Monday May 13, 2024 in Ashburnham.
Oakmont players wear pink during a softball and baseball double header to honor the memory of Elizabeth Reid and raise awareness for Breast Cancer on Monday May 13, 2024 in Ashburnham.

“It was great, especially for my boy (senior second baseman) Sam Curtis,” Forbes said before getting emotional. “This whole day is about breast cancer awareness and for his grandmother. I was doing it for him.

“I wouldn’t rather do it for anyone else. She was an amazing woman, and I knew her kind of well.”

Elizabeth Reid peacefully passed away March 11. The Oakmont baseball and softball teams dedicated their games Monday to Reid and raising awareness of breast cancer.

The Oakmont softball team played Monty Tech, which is coached by Dave Reid, Elizabeth’s husband of 51 years.

As for the pregame hype, it all started with a pair of senior aces and returning T&G Super Team selections taking the mound.

Caleb Allen got the ball for Oakmont (13-4) and went the distance, allowing three hits and two runs while striking out 10. He didn’t walk a batter, but hit two of them in his third appearance and first start since May 2 after missing nine games with an ankle injury suffered April 15.

Oakmont baseball players celebrate after Ben Forbes hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Spartans to a 3-2 win over St. Paul.
Oakmont baseball players celebrate after Ben Forbes hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Spartans to a 3-2 win over St. Paul.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound right-hander threw 46 pitches and had an errant pickoff throw in the first two innings as the Knights took a 2-0 lead in the second on RBI singles by freshmen Evan Waden and Cam Swank.

“I just didn’t have my stuff at the beginning, but I settled in after a while,” Allen said. “I was just trying to get my team in a place to win.”

Allen settled in quite nicely, retiring 16 of the final 17 batters, including the last 13. He ended the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings with strikeouts, all but one of them of the swinging variety.

He threw an efficient 60 pitches over the final five frames.

“Those first couple of innings was just finding that feel again, just being comfortable,” coach Tim Caouette said. “He found it, and that was it.”

Jake LeFrancois, who came in 3-0, started for the Knights (9-5).

St. Paul's Jake LaFrancois throws a pitch during Monday's game against Oakmont.
St. Paul's Jake LaFrancois throws a pitch during Monday's game against Oakmont.

The 6-foot, 195-pound right-hander faced 10 batters through three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth after issuing back-to-back walks with two outs. Junior Levi Hessel then roped a single to right to deliver Allen (2 walks, hit by pitch, RBI) and make it 2-1.

The Spartans tied it in the fifth, an inning that started with two strikeouts and ended with one. In between, senior Ty Curtis reached on an error before junior Johnny Losordo (2 hits, 2 walks), Curtis and Allen walked, the last of the three passes tying it up.

“This is a really special place to be right now,” Caouette said. “Everybody is on the same page; they just really trust each other.

“Every guy trusts the guy behind him (in the batting order). They trust the defense, trust the pitchers. So we trust, and we keep battling.”

That was the final inning for LeFrancois, who is headed to UMass-Lowell and whose fastball was 90 on this warm, sunny day.

All told, he allowed five hits and an earned run while striking out seven, issuing six walks and throwing two wild pitches among his 98.

Oakmont's Caleb Allen pitches versus St. Paul on Monday.
Oakmont's Caleb Allen pitches versus St. Paul on Monday.

“He battled,” coach Ed Riley said. “He came back on three days rest and gave us everything he had. I’m not going to mention other stuff during the game, but he pounded the zone, he was around the plate.”

What Riley did openly mention was the Knights’ inability to protect a two-run lead, one of the chief reasons being three errors, two of which contributed to runs.

Oakmont's Ben Forbes leaps in the air after hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Spartans past St. Paul on Monday.
Oakmont's Ben Forbes leaps in the air after hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Spartans past St. Paul on Monday.

“You can’t make mistakes like that against a team like that,” Riley said. “I was just telling them it’s all about making routine plays. We’re not asking you to make SportsCenter-highlight plays.

“This is the fourth game where we’ve done this, we’ve had a lead in a tight game, and we’ve given it away because of routine plays. It’s got to stop.”

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Forbes delivers big hit as Oakmont notches walk-off win over St. Paul