CRESTVIEW — Before Seth Forrest took his first class at Crestview High School in 2013, he already made an early impression on the baseball team.
Pitching in the Justin Richards Scholarship tournament that June, Forrest helped lead the Bulldogs to an upset win.
Three years later, he hasn’t duplicated that performance, but he embodies the Bulldog spirit, coming out of the bullpen as a middle reliever and supporting his teammates however he can.
“He’s been good for us for three years,” Crestview Coach Tim Gillis said. “I expect big things out of him next year (when), hopefully, he’s going to step into a role that will be expanded a little bit.
“He’s a guy that’s always upbeat. The kids all like him. He’s a good-hearted kid and that’s good to see.”
Forrest said playing for Gillis makes it easy to stay upbeat.
“First of all, it’s the great coach we’ve got (that makes playing for the Bulldogs fun),” Forrest said. “He comes out here every day and keeps us encouraged and tells us to keep our heads up. Even if I have a bad inning, he tells me to just do my best.”
In addition to pitching, Forrest can play the outfield, but there’s no doubt which position he prefers.
“I like holding the ball in my hand with everybody having their eyes on me looking for me to throw or strike or get a ground ball or pop up,” he said. “If we start off with a fast righty and I come in, I throw them off with my slowness. My ball tails some, and they haven’t seen that all day.
“They’ve seen fastballs all day and I come in with my slow, junk curveballs.”
Having left-handed pitchers is a team luxury, Gillis said.
“Lefties are tough to hit,” he said. “The thing about lefthanders is if you can throw strikes, you can be effective. The more you have, the better off you are going to be.”
Forrest said he doesn’t try to model his game after any particular pitcher, but that former Bulldog teammate Matt Gillis, another left-handed pitcher, had a big influence on his life.
“He (Matt Gillis) really helped inspire me in my relationship with God and on the field, being a good player and a good teammate,” Forrest said.
Tim Gillis hopes the potential Forrest showed almost three years ago will pay dividends.
“We’ve just got to get him locked in during serious situations,” the coach said.
“We will probably pencil him into a starter spot next year, but there’s a long ways to go before then, and you never know what will happen.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Seth Forrest is Crestview's lefty with heart