By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
These days, you can find T.J. Forrest taking food orders, making sure the salt-and-pepper shakers are full and greeting just about anybody and everybody who comes into his popular lunch establishment in Bossier City.
That’s where you can find him now.
But a little more than a decade ago, you could find him on the pitcher’s mound at LSU. And at Arkansas. During his college career, he was on LSU’s team against Arkansas and pitched for Arkansas against LSU.
Which is why Forrest has a perspective unlike any others as the College World Series opens this weekend, featuring Saturday’s game between LSU and Arkansas – the two highest seeds remaining.
“I think that’s the national championship game,” Forrest says. “But unfortunately, they’re just on the same side (of the bracket). But I think it’s going to be a good game. You got two great pitchers going. Two first rounders. Both of them are going to be throwing mid 90s. You got two good offenses.”
Not only does Forrest have experience in the LSU-Arkansas rivalry, he also has experience in pitching in the College World Series.
Both appearances were against LSU, and it didn’t go so well either time in the 2009 CWS.
“Well, what comes to mind was (LSU’s) Blake Dean hitting that ball way out of right field off of me when I when I left one in a little bit on him,” Forrest says.
That year was another time when LSU were in the same side of the bracket. Both won the first game to advance to meet each other. The Tigers took that game 9-1 in which Dean hit the home run off Forrest. After a win by the Razorbacks against Virginia in 12 innings, Arkansas was faced with the task of beating LSU twice. But the Tigers had no trouble this time either, winning 14-5.
Forrest didn’t start either game but threw four innings in the first LSU matchup and 1 1/3 in the second game in which Arkansas used eight pitchers.
LSU would go on to defeat Texas for the national championship with quite a few players who had been Forrest’s teammates in 2006 when he pitched for the Tigers.
“Most of the guys that came in our class my freshmen year were on that (national championship team),” he says. “That was (coach Paul) Manieri’s first year and we weren’t real good.”
The Tigers were 29-26-1 that year and Forrest, who played in high school at Benton and Haughton, pitched in 11 games (starting six). He was 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA.
But the Tigers went nowhere and Forrest knew he had to go somewhere else.
“I had a good baseball experience at LSU,” he says. “I didn’t have the coaching experience I was looking for. They didn’t really take care about in-state guys a lot. You know, we all dream about going to LSU (but) you’re only on a baseball book scholarship. So that was some of the reason why I left. But as far as baseball and the atmosphere and the fans, you can’t beat it. I loved it.”
With no transfer portal in play at the time, Forrest went to Bossier Parish Community College for a year in order to then make the move to another Division I school. It wasn’t a tough selection process.
Not only had Arkansas been his second choice coming out of high school, but experiencing a three-game series at Baum-Walker Stadium while playing for LSU in 2007 solidified where Forrest knew he wanted to go.
“They were really good that year,” Forrest says. “When (LSU) showed up, they had the crowds going, the Hog Pen, people dancing on the dugout. It was like watching a circus. It was crazy. Just fun baseball.”
In his senior year, Forrest had an outstanding season, going 8-1 with 3.38 ERA in 20 games. But the Hogs (43-21) ran into the No. 1 overall seed in Arizona State and were knocked out in the Super Regional.
“I had a good coaching experience at Arkansas,” Forrest says. “You know where you stand with (Coach Dave) Van Horn. I met all my best friends there and the fans, they stay behind you. They showed up every game. The weather’s beautiful. It’s almost like the perfect place.”
With his college career over after the 2010 season, Forrest, who had been drafted twice – once out of high school and then after his year at BPCC (“I came really close to signing,” he says) – was contacted by the Detroit Tigers about a free agent signing.
And you might think he would have jumped at the chance to fulfill a life-long dream of playing professional baseball. But he just couldn’t do it.
“It hurt,” he says of the decision. “It really did.”
Forrest had already had two arm procedures – including Tommy John surgery during his senior year in high school – and realized that was taking a toll.
“I couldn’t reach back and get it like I used to and if you’re already 21 years old and you can’t reach back and do that, what’s that going to do in the long run?” he says. “I just decided, I’m not going to do this. I was going to be 22 years old, making $1,200 a month and jumping to travel to these little small towns just didn’t sound appeasing for me. I didn’t have that hunger to do it.”
Forrest stayed at Arkansas for another semester to get his degree, helped coach at Airline and BPCC for a few years and then came a business opportunity to buy Cascio’s Market Bistro in 2014. “I just decided to go to work for myself,” he says, “and the rest is history.”
And as he goes from table to table checking on customers, he knows he will be asked about the upcoming LSU-Arkansas game.
“I’m going for my Hogs,” he says. “Now, if they weren’t playing each other, I would go for LSU against anybody else. They are still my No. 2 (favorite team). But I gotta go for my Hogs.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com