Mike Forbes, Who Coached CHS To State Baseball Titles, Resigns

Central High head baseball coach Mike Forbes resigned last week after eight seasons and two State Championships.

The veteran coach has accepted an offer to become head baseball coach at Brusly High.

Forbes compiled a record of 149 wins, 134 

losses, and one tie for the Wildcats. He said he is very grateful for the opportunity afforded him in Central. “I was a young, unproven coach who was given the chance to build a program at a major 5A school and was allowed to run the program,” he said. He said he enjoyed working with his players and coaches and will always be grateful to them.

In addition to his 5A State Championships in 2017 and 2018, Coach Forbes won Bi-District Championships in 2015 and 2019.

Forbes coached many outstanding players including LSU star and major league baseball prospect Ma’Khail Hilliard who made All-State under Forbes. A recent All-State player was Brant Husser who played on Central’s 2017 and 2018 State Championship teams.

Forbes himself played at Central High as an outfielder from 1997 to 2000 and was District MVP, Baton Rouge Baseball Player of the Year, 1st team All-State, and a participant in the All-Star game.

Forbes played for Bossier Community College, where he was 1st Team All-Conference, and later for Delgado Community College, where he was Conference MVP, All-Regional, and Honorable Mention All-American. He was a member of the NJCAA All-Star team that represented the USA against China.

After the 2003 and 2004 seasons at UNO, Coach Forbes played for the Winnipeg Goldeyes, St. Paul Saints, and River City Thunderbolts of the professional Independent League. 

Forbes was assistant baseball coach at Central in 2008-2009. He left to become head coach at Silliman Institute, where he compiled a record of 24-19, until returning to Central in 2011.

Forbes said he is looking forward to coaching at Brusly High, which has had a lot of success in recent years. “Brusly is a very special community, and they are willing to do whatever it takes. Spending time with people there, I realize it will be a good fit for me and my family.”

Recalling some of the more memorable games of his career coaching at Central High, Coach Forbes cited Game One in the 1st round of the playoffs in 2015. No. 26 Central was paired with No. 6 Sam Houston, which was posed for a championship run. With Ma’Khail Hilliard on the mound for Central, the Wildcats beat Sam Houston handily. “It was at that moment that I realized we had a very special group of young men,” he said. Central won the first round!

“It was also a thrill for us to host the regional playoffs in 2017 and 2018,” he said.

In 2017, Central found itself in a three-game playoff series against Live Oak, its Livingston Parish rival from across the Amite River. Winning the playoffs was essential to making it to the quarter finals. Game Two went into extra innings, and Central finally won in the 13th inning. “I was overcome with emotion and felt so much pride for our athletes and our community.”

Most memorable of all was Central’s State Championship game against West Monroe, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation. “If you stacked us up player by player, nobody in the State of Louisiana thought we could win that game — except that our team believed in themselves!

“We lived the dream!”